Mm-hmm

... will just make things a little bit more interesting, make them a little bit more competitive, but also provide a infrastructure for guys like Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis and Dalyn Swain to develop.

And for you guys it's, like, a little bit further along, right? Because you have this, like, young, All-NBA franchise point guard in Maxie, uh, did the incredible top Sixers tank job to get VJ last year, who's just incredibly fun to watch.

And then now you're kind of reinserting, like, a veteran player, but not somebody who's, like, deep into his 30s, that it feels like there could be a timeline that extends beyond just, can they catch lightning in a bottle if Embiid stays healthy? And, like, that looked great against the Celtics in that playoff series, um, you know, watching that game seven and just, like, the takeover.

That was a lot of fun.

But, like, what was beyond that? And I think if you are a fan base trying to invest in a team, you n- you need to have something a little bit more than just, like, can they get out of the first round this year, especially if you're as old and as expensive as the Sixers were.

So I totally get that sentiment.

So quick scouting report on both of those guys and what they add, and were you surprised that Simons only got the contract that he did on the open market?

Anything you wanna add?

Yeah.

I mean, it's just, it's so prohibitive.

You guys have talked about it.

Just team building now requires so much depth.

And if you have a guy, especially on the 30% and even more so on the 35%, the 25% max is a little bit more manageable.

And so this is a big discount.

So, I wonder if, like, we have this wave where more guys start taking discounts, but a lower percentage of the guys who take discounts actually benefit from it, and then it swings back the other way, and it's like, "Well, we're not benefiting from this, so we're not gonna take discounts." And then the discounts become more powerful again.

And any thoughts on some of these undrafted free agents that the Bulls brought in?

I don't know too much about the undrafted guys.

Awaka was kind of on my radar.

He was like a fringe second round pick, like big 6'10 physical slap guy.

He's going to be on two-way sellers as well.

I believe more of a scoring guard, three-point shooter is on a two-way.

I believe Atwell, who I don't know much about, is on an exhibit 10.

But I'm definitely curious on what your take is on this one, Will.

But if you're the Nuggets picking at 26, who in your mind would be just an awesome result for them to end up with there if they stay at that spot?

There's three guys that stand out in sorta like the almost Aaron Gordon power forward type of mold.

Um, and I think that's a archetype that they could really use.

So the names that we've talked about, um, so far, I talked with, uh, Adam and D-Line last week, um, and Vote about Zuby Ejiofor.

I think he'd be an awesome fit, just a really hard-nosed guy, defends really well, super smart player.

Uh, cannot really shoot it right now, and he's kind of in the tweener four-five in, I don't want to say a bad way, but just in, like, a little bit of a challenging fit kind of way.

Um, but next to Jokic, I think he would just be amazing, um, and really could use his defensive versatility, uh, to, to help them.

But everything else that he does, like his physicality, how he plays bully ball on offense, his defensive versatility, these are all things that you're like, "This would be so useful on the Nuggets," but in the back of your head, you're like, "What if he just is a complete non-shooter? Like, how would that affect things in an offense?"

And then it comes down to how do you rebuild with lottery reform coming? How do we even know what rebuilding the right way is anymore? What's your best guess how lottery reform is going to impact the team building that the Bulls and the Kings and teams like them are trying to do?

It's such an interesting question because we've really never seen anything like this in terms of the league adjusting rules to change how teams build their rosters.

So I think the Bulls and the Kings are, to your point, in a similar situation where they don't have a lot of future Bertrand draft capital from other teams.

But they also can't really rely on, you know, manipulating the standings and trying to get up in the draft the way that they could in years past.

So I think it's going to be really scouting guys and hitting on the draft no matter where you go.

I think the Kings are in a tough spot here just with their salary cap and not really being able to take on bad contracts.

They might have to get off of some guys.

yeah.

Mm.

I think with the guys that have gone back to school with the NIL stuff, that's probably pushed him.

I, I would feel pretty comfortable saying he's a first-round pick.

But I could see it.

Um, I think the other thing is just, like, how do you...

What is your...

At a certain point in the draft, you're starting to think more about, like, what your team needs, um, and less about, like, peak outcomes in terms of their talent level.

But is he another guy that you kind of like the skill set if, if he were to fall to a Denver?

How do you feel?

I'm sure you guys love him.

He was awesome at Arizona.

I will say t- to your point about me covering the Bulls, like, that's my full-time job, so I'm coming into my draft coverage kind of through the lens of how do these guys project to be in the next level, at the, at the NBA level, as opposed to, like, how good are they or how dominant they, can they be as a college team.

So I do think that there's a big difference there just in terms of the way I'm viewing it.

Um, so, you know, and, and I'm working through these scouting report videos, and that's really the lens I'm looking at it through is, like, how, how can a guy like Braedon Burries impact, uh, whatever team drafts him in the NBA? Um, Burries, I think, is gonna be in that top 10 range, whether it's, like, around eight or nine or maybe, like, slightly past it.

Like, I, I kinda like some of the teams a little bit better for him if he falls to a Golden State at 11 or a, I mean, OKC at 12 would be just, like, oh my God, unbelievable.

So what's kind of your general interpretation of, of Koa Pete having, you know, watched the season from a more outside perspective than me and Kevin?

... that maybe you see and, and, you know, the, the crowded guard class might have something to do with pushing him down to that, like, 9 through 12 range?

Yeah, I think so, just because, like, you, you look at the quality of this draft and there's not a Wembanyama or a Cooper Flagg at the very top.

But I think what makes this draft special is the talent that you have from, like, two to five or six.

Um, some people would have, you know, an Acuff or a Wagler or even a D- Adi Mara in that category just because there's so few centers in this class.

Um, but last year, like I think, you know, you're, you're talking about him or Trey Johnson at six.

Like, I think that's kind of the category that you'd put him in in most drafts.

Um, I think that there's probably some people that would've liked him over a Kon Knipple, uh, in last year's draft too, and obviously Kon was great his, his rookie year, and he's gonna be an awesome player.

So what's kind of your general interpretation of, of Koa Peat having, you know, watched the season from a more outside perspective than me and Kevin?

Yeah.

It'd be kind of surprising if all these smaller guards go in the top 10.

Um, but it was hard for me to pick out a spot where somebody really wanted a center like that.

Um, I do think he's that talented, really good as a facilitator and, like, a post hub.

Um, really, really good rim protector.

Moves his feet actually pretty well, can play good drop coverage.

So I like him.

Right

Yeah

... you have Brown, you have Buries.

So I think all those guys are kind of in, in the same tier, and the way that the lottery played out, I feel like the Clippers, you know, th- they could potentially trade their pick.

I feel like that would be, um, they're kind of ripe for a trade.

But they, they have Darius Garland.

I don't think they're gonna really be taking a Darius Acuff, uh, because you can't really play both of those guys together.

So maybe they go Wagler.

Oh, wow ... is that just, like, outrageous or is he, is, is he kinda like still a mid-first round kinda guy?

Mm-hmm

... you have Brown, you have Burries.

So I think all those guys are kind of in, in the same tier.

And the way that the lottery played out, I feel like the Clippers, you know, th- they could potentially trade their pick.

I feel like that would be ...

Um, they're kind of ripe for a trade.

But they, they have Darius Garland.

... is that just, like, outrageous, or is he, is, is he kind of, like, still a mid-first round kind of guy?

But I don't think they have any cornerstone young guys that I would be like, "Our number one." Now they get the opportunity to select their guy.

guy.And I think the other thing with that is they made these big trades at the deadline to try to hurry up where they were headed, right? And but they still didn't have that guy.

And so were you gonna bank on Trae Young to be this long-term piece that you're building your whole organization around? And obviously, Alex Sarr is a really good player, and he showed a lot this year.

Keyshawn George, a nice player.

Um, Trey Johnson, you draft sixth overall last year.

Those are great pieces.

But to go out and make moves, and it's not like they overpaid or, or even paid a lot to get Anthony Davis and Trae Young in the door, but they're still missing that A-one guy, and I think they can really find him number one overall.

Yeah