Will Bucks’ Shocking Moves Keep Giannis? + JJJ’s Injury & Knicks’ FA Reaction

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective – "Will Bucks’ Shocking Moves Keep Giannis? + JJJ’s Injury & Knicks’ FA Reaction"

Release Date: July 2, 2025
Hosts: Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps, Marc Stein
Description: Brian Windhorst and a team of ESPN's Insiders delve into the intricacies of NBA life, analyzing team strategies, player movements, and pivotal moments shaping the league.

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1. Milwaukee Bucks' Strategic Moves and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Future

The episode opens with an in-depth analysis of the Milwaukee Bucks' recent acquisition of Myles Turner. Hosts discuss whether this move will solidify Giannis Antetokounmpo's commitment to the team or if Giannis is considering exploring other options.

Key Points:

• Signing of Myles Turner: The Bucks have signed Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract, aiming to bolster their defense and complement Giannis on both ends of the court.

• Implications for Giannis: While the signing seems like a strategic fit, there is speculation on whether this move is enough to keep Giannis satisfied or if he seeks further incentives to remain with the Bucks.

Notable Quotes:

• Brian Windhorst [03:14]: "The Bucks are signing Miles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract. And that wasn’t even the biggest woe."

• Marc Stein [04:40]: "Damian Lillard is going to get $22 million over the next, each of the next five years on the cap sheet of the Milwaukee Bucks."

2. Damian Lillard's Injury and Waiver by the Bucks

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Damian Lillard's unfortunate injury and subsequent waiver by the Bucks, raising questions about the team's long-term strategy and financial health.

Key Points:

• Injury Details: Lillard sustained a torn Achilles, sidelining him for the majority of the upcoming season.

• Financial Impact: The waived contract, amounting to $22.5 million, remains on the Bucks' cap, limiting their financial flexibility for future moves.

• Team Dynamics: The loss of both Lillard and Turner is viewed as a double setback for the Bucks, affecting their championship aspirations and roster stability.

Notable Quotes:

• Brian Windhorst [28:14]: "If you really wanted to do this, why didn't you do it four days ago? You did four days ago, and you announced to the NBA that you've got cap space."

• Marc Stein [24:12]: "You lose them over being cheap. There's no other way to put it."

3. Indiana Pacers' Efforts to Re-Sign Myles Turner

The conversation shifts to the Indiana Pacers' attempts to retain Myles Turner amid the Bucks' aggressive pursuit, highlighting cap management challenges.

Key Points:

• Trade Moves: The Pacers traded their 2025 first-round pick to New Orleans to alleviate some of their financial burdens.

• Contract Negotiations: The Pacers offered Turner a three-year deal in the low $20 million range, which Turner declined, leading to his signing with the Bucks.

• Financial Constraints: With existing commitments like Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Halliburton, the Pacers find it challenging to offer Turner a competitive contract without exceeding the luxury tax threshold.

Notable Quotes:

• Brian Windhorst [19:21]: "The Bucks haven't paid off the Dame trade yet in pick. They haven't paid off the Drew Holiday trade in pick."

• Marc Stein [21:31]: "But the problem is that this sends just a real tough message to your team and your fans that you reached the finals."

4. Jaren Jackson Jr.'s Turf Toe Injury

Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies faced a setback with a turf toe injury, adding to the list of NBA players dealing with significant injuries this offseason.

Key Points:

• Injury Details: Jackson Jr. required surgery for a turf toe in his right foot,预计他将缺席约三个月。

• Impact on Team: This injury hampers the Grizzlies' depth and rotation, especially during a critical period as teams prepare for the upcoming season.

Notable Quotes:

• Marc Stein [37:12]: "Just not ideal to on Monday agree to give Jaren Jackson 200 and some million dollars and on Tuesday announce that Jared Jackson is having to have turf toe surgery."

• Brian Windhorst [39:58]: "But I mean hopefully it happened early enough in the summer that he'll be able to rehab for most of the."

5. New York Knicks' Free Agency Moves

The Knicks made strategic signings during the free agency period, aiming to strengthen their bench and provide better depth for the upcoming season.

Key Points:

• Gerson Yabusele: Signed using the mid-level exception, Yabusele impressed during the Olympics and a short stint with the 76ers, showcasing versatility and shooting ability.

• Jordan Clarkson: Acquired on a buyout from the Jazz, Clarkson brings scoring prowess and experience to the Knicks' rotation, addressing their need for reliable bench scorers.

• Team Fit: Both additions are seen as valuable rotations players who can provide instant offense and improve the Knicks' overall depth.

Notable Quotes:

• Brian Windhorst [42:28]: "They use their entire taxpayer mid level of 5.7 million on Gerson Yabusele, who really impressed me in the Olympics with France last summer."

• Marc Stein [43:26]: "Jordan Clarkson has always been a guy who's gotten, you know, four or five, six, seven threes up a game."

6. Historic NBA Contracts and Supermax Deals

The episode touches upon a landmark contract in NBA history, emphasizing the evolving landscape of player salaries and team commitments.

Key Points:

• Record Contract: Shade Gildas Alexander (likely a fictional or altered name) signed a record-breaking contract of $285 million over four years, setting a new benchmark for player salaries.

• Supermax Implications: The discussion includes the significance of supermax contracts and their impact on team dynamics and salary cap management.

Notable Quotes:

• Tim Bontemps [46:19]: "He could have gotten five next year, but he went ahead and locked this in."

• Brian Windhorst [46:19]: "He's eligible for four years. And I think the revised number was. Do you remember what it was? I think 218 or something like that."

7. Upcoming Live Show and Final Remarks

Concluding the episode, the hosts promote an upcoming live show and reflect on the season's highlights and challenges.

Key Points:

• Live Show Announcement: The Hoop Collective is hosting a live show on July 12th at the Brad Garrett Comedy Club, featuring special guests and NBA insights.

• Community Engagement: Acknowledgment of contributors and listeners, fostering a sense of community among fans.

Notable Quotes:

• Brian Windhorst [49:43]: "All right, thank you to Jackson and Blair, our producers. Thank you for listening and watching to the Hoop Collective podcast."

• Tim Bontemps [50:31]: "Once those stage lights are on, boy, you're in your element, too."

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Conclusion

This episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective provides a comprehensive analysis of the Milwaukee Bucks' recent strategic moves, the implications of Damian Lillard's injury, the Indiana Pacers' cap struggles, notable player injuries like Jaren Jackson Jr.'s, and the New York Knicks' proactive free agency signings. The discussion extends to historic NBA contracts, highlighting the dynamic nature of team-building in the league. Throughout the episode, the hosts offer insightful commentary, supported by their extensive knowledge of the NBA landscape, making it a valuable listen for fans seeking to understand the complexities of team strategies and player movements.

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Note: All quotes are attributed based on the provided transcript and are represented in the format (Speaker [MM:SS]). The names and specific figures mentioned are as per the transcript and may contain fictional or altered information for illustrative purposes.

Transcript

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[Tim Bontemps]

Foreign.

[Brian Windhorst]

Welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing on Tuesday evening. July 1st. Started the new league year. Joining us from New York City, the headquarters of the NBA, it's Tim Bontemps.

[Marc Stein]

Hello, Brian.

[Brian Windhorst]

Joining us from Dallas, Texas. Not the capital of Texas. Band McMahon.

[Tim Bontemps]

Howdy. Partner's not the capital, but I'd say it's a top two city behind the Capitol.

[Brian Windhorst]

Oh, you rank Austin number one in Dallas number two or Dallas number one in Austin? Number two.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I said behind the capital. Okay, Austin's the capital. I think Dallas is the second best city behind Austin in the state of Texas.

[Brian Windhorst]

Austin is a excellent city, especially excellent in the spring and fall, not so much in the summer. By the way, San Antonio is underrated and somebody's going to listen to me on that front at some point.

[Tim Bontemps]

But San Antonio has attractions like a seven foot, whatever he is now eight Frenchman.

[Brian Windhorst]

But did you see his goal that he had in Japan?

[Tim Bontemps]

I watched his soccer highlights.

[Brian Windhorst]

No Montevs. Did you see that?

[Marc Stein]

I did because we did it on television today.

[Brian Windhorst]

Now, you know, you never know with these things. Like LeBron used to, like take 60 full court shots and then he would make one of them and then it would be on the news and people would be like, oh, my God. I mean, I can't make a full court shot. I'm just saying, like, for all I know, Victor tried this for a half hour, but the one that made the rounds, he was probably 30 or 40 yards away and he bent it in like Beckham into the corner. It was like, absolutely.

[Marc Stein]

You'll be very happy to know, McMahon, that I told the national audience watching get up that I informed them that Brian had discovered Victor and therefore he knew all about Victor.

[Brian Windhorst]

Shocker. I just think you slipped that in there. I really appreciated that.

[Marc Stein]

I was quite pleased with myself for that. Make sure that people know the truth, the truth about your discovery.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I'll Tell you what, wait until Wendy sees Wimby's first hole in one. Then he'll really love him.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right. While Bon Temps and I were on first take, on Tuesday, Bon Temps announces. We got breaking news. And I was like, what? Because, you know, I, you know, I didn't. I was hoped it was real breaking news. And he wasn't like, Simone Fontechio got traded to the Heat.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know, Bon Tims is an excitable sort. So I understand your skepticism.

[Brian Windhorst]

It was breaking news.

[Tim Bontemps]

This one. This one was.

[Marc Stein]

I knew I would not have interrupted Shay Cornett for to say Simone Fontechio had anything happen with him, but this was worth it, I think.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. So he says the Milwaukee Bucks are signing Miles Turner to a four year, $107 million contract.

[Tim Bontemps]

And that was like, whoa. And that wasn't even the biggest woe.

[Brian Windhorst]

And you know, Bontemps and David Dennis Jr. Are there and they're kind of analyzing this. And I was kind of like, hold up. How'd they do that? How'd they do that? Even when I first started looking on social media, people were like, oh, what a great signing. What a coup. I'm like, okay, that's all fine. Cool. How'd they do it?

[Tim Bontemps]

That's a lot of money that they didn't have to offer.

[Marc Stein]

Brian and I did spend five minutes on live television guessing as to how they did it.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah.

[Marc Stein]

And so Bonstor, we never would have guessed what they did.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. So Bontemps is like. And look like, you know, I don't want to, you know, give too much credit to Bontemps way, but he's pretty quick on his feet. He's pretty good analyzing the NBA, you know, he's like, well, maybe they traded Kyle Kuzma. And I was like, okay, that still doesn't seem possible. So we go to why.

[Tim Bontemps]

Because somebody would want Kuzma.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, the Pacers aren't taking Kuzma for.

[Marc Stein]

I didn't think it was either, but that was right around the salary number that he was starting at. And so I was like, well, maybe that was it. Maybe. Nope, wasn't that either.

[Brian Windhorst]

I was thinking maybe they got him to go to Brooklyn, but they have no first round picks. Like, yeah, I don't know. And so then Shams reported it that they were waving and stretching Damian Lillard. And I like, I like, I like, gasped. I couldn't believe it.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's only owed 112 million.

[Marc Stein]

Only 22 and a half million on the books. As Jackson correctly points out, as my family of Mets fans knows it is Bobby Bonilla day here in New York and it is now also Damian Lillard day. He is going to get $22 million over the next, each of the next five years on the cap sheet of the Milwaukee Bucks.

[Brian Windhorst]

I just remember the Laker fans like lamenting the luau dang wave and stretch for five years. It was like maybe five or six million dollars or something like that. Maybe it wasn't that much, but it was, you know, it sat on their cap for a while and there was like a celebration, freedom from Luol Dang Day. And I remember Nicholas Batum, you got a $27 million buyout and the Charlotte fans had like a celebration after three years when they got out of that deal. By the way, the wave and stretch thing goes, however many years you have left on your deal, you double that plus one. So Dame has two years left. Actually next year was a player option which he'll be picking up is now guaranteed.

[Marc Stein]

It is, it is guaranteed.

[Tim Bontemps]

He gets to pick up his player option and doesn't even have to be there, right.

[Brian Windhorst]

And, and then, so that's five years and that's where, you know, you get the number. And so then now I'm thinking like what the Bucks fans are going to be saying in like 20, 29, 20, 30, when.

[Marc Stein]

Well, well, this is the thing because, you know, look, obviously we'll get into a lot of this deal, but like, that's the thing about when you, when you stretch somebody like this, you do the wave and stretch. Like you can always trade a contract. No matter how bad a contract is, no matter how underwater it is, it always gets to a point where it's an expiring deal or it's at a point where you could turn it into something we talked about the Michael Porter Jr. DSR. Like, look, I can debate the merits of whether it was a good trade or not, but like that they ended up turning that deal into something else, right? Eventually, like every deal. Gilbert Arenas and Richard Lewis back in the day got traded for each other.

[Tim Bontemps]

I believe, like, man, I guess Bradley Beal has been traded with his no trade clause once. Now, Phoenix has had a hard time.

[Marc Stein]

I mean, he has. That was because they let him keep the no trade clause as part of the trade. That's a whole other thing. But the point is generally it waving and stretching is always bad because it gives you no outs going forward. And now like the Bucks are going to have 22 and a half million dollars locked onto their cap sheet through the rest of the decade.

[Tim Bontemps]

A quality starter. That's a quality starter salary slot that.

[Marc Stein]

They are Mikhail Bridges. They have Mikhail Bridges locked onto their, onto their cap sheet and no player.

[Tim Bontemps]

And by the way, he will be on their books right through the time they pay off the draft picks and swaps owed to get them in the first place. And I love the Damian Lillard deal. When it happened, it obviously didn't work out. It didn't produce a single playoff series win for a variety of reasons. But whoa, is this a bold. And I love, I love the Miles Turner Giannis fit. Myles Turner is basically a younger, little bit more dynamic version of Brook Lopez. Like, I love the fit, but my God, I mean, they're not a better roster than they were last year. Even if you consider Turner an upgrade, you're not a better roster than you were last year. Last year you weren't close to good enough.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. They, they replaced Brook Lopez with a younger and mildly better. It doesn't move the needle.

[Marc Stein]

Right, because you know what they, you know what they haven't done? They haven't replaced Damian Lillard.

[Tim Bontemps]

The 50 million dollar salary that they're paying anyway.

[Marc Stein]

Right.

[Brian Windhorst]

They, they were the number five seed last year with Brook Lopez and Dame Lillard. I know that there was some injury time that Lillard missed, obviously, but, but so they've replaced Brook Lopez and you know, let's, let's pencil Miles Turner in. I'll give him a 10% premium on all of his stats.

[Marc Stein]

20, say 20. Okay, 20 say he's 20% better. Forget the stats.

[Tim Bontemps]

A significant upgrade.

[Marc Stein]

Sure.

[Tim Bontemps]

Kevin Porter Jr. As we speak, is their starting point guard. And I get. You can say, well, whatever. Giannis is gonna have the ball. And saying, still Kevin Porter Jr. Is in your starting lineup. And then like, I don't, like, I guess you could try to do something to upgrade that, but do you think Chris Paul's going to Milwaukee?

[Marc Stein]

No.

[Tim Bontemps]

Maybe, Maybe Malcolm Brogdon going back to Milwaukee.

[Brian Windhorst]

But like, my God, again, not really needle moving. All right, so I had somebody explain a version of the strategy to me. I'm not endorsing this. I'm just going to tell you what I was explained. Somebody explained why, how the Bucks could justify this. All right, so Dame is on the books 22 and a half, let's call it 23. Miles Turner deal averages $27 million a year. So basically for the next four years, it's $50 million for the two of them. Okay, so this year, Dame was on the cap for a little over 50 million. And that was a You know, a blank spot on the cap. Maybe he comes back. Let's just assume that he doesn't. Maybe he does. But it's $50 million you weren't going to get production out of. So now they've reduced the dame number to 23 for this year and they bring in Miles Turner and It's again about 50 million. And so now you have a productive player in that $50 million spot. And secondly, you reduce yourself below the luxury tax. And so you are in theory not paying tax and you get access to the distribution, which I don't know, let's say it's 10 million. We don't know what it's going to be.

[Marc Stein]

So now they're already maybe not going.

[Brian Windhorst]

To pay the tax, but sure, that's what I'm saying. Well, whatever. Okay, so whatever. That's sort of the rationale so that you know, and who knows what Dame would have would been next year. So you're getting a player for two.

[Tim Bontemps]

Years, probably not playing next year.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I mean, in 20, 20, 27, the last year of his contract. So the hit in the first two years is quote, unquote, mitigated because then.

[Marc Stein]

He got three more years. I mean, listen, that, that's all well, that's all well and good. That is an explanation that you give. When I was talking to executive today who I thought sum this up very well said. This is something that you do when you're sitting in a room in July trying to dig yourself out of a hole and you talk yourself into this and you tell yourself it's a good idea. And then a couple years from now you're going to look around and go, what do we do? And who knows if people in charge now will be in charge in a couple of years and then it might not matter. But this is a. I mean, you use a variation of this line today on tv, Brian, but this is the equivalent of having a mortgage on your house and then subsequently taking out three separate mortgages on it all at the same time and having a second, third and fourth mortgage on your house and just quadrupling down on whatever it is you're doing.

[Brian Windhorst]

I said to buy a sports car. I also later said that it was like you've heard of robbing Peter to pay Paul. This is taking out Peter's 401 and then taking it from Peter and then paying Paul. That's kind of what it's like because the bucks, they've already given away their draft picks for the next five years, so they can't Trade those. They've already capped themselves out. And what I mean by capped out, they don't have cap space this year or next year because of Dame, so they can't go to that. So now they've tapped their cap space in 20, 30.

[Tim Bontemps]

And again, they haven't paid off the Dame trade yet in the picks.

[Marc Stein]

No.

[Tim Bontemps]

Which those picks are just keep getting more. More valuable.

[Brian Windhorst]

McMahon. They haven't paid off the Drew Holiday trade in pick.

[Tim Bontemps]

Fair point.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah. I mean, and the thing that's hard to square on this. And look, maybe Brooke Lopez didn't want to be back there, but like, look, Bucks fans today I wrote a story with Jamal Collier about this. Bucks fans have been one mentioned saying you haven't watched Brook Lopez play. He can't move anymore. Like Brook Lopez. Brook Lopez is not as good as he was three years ago. He's still fine. You weren't winning the championship this year with Damian Lillard on the books for 54 million anyway, dead salary. I don't see. Unless. Unless you knew that Yansen Akupo was leaving. If you did, if you did not do this move, which if. If you did. Okay, I get it. You got to keep yon said a coupo. I understand that. Not saying you shouldn't. But the better path for the Bucks to try to build a championship team again around Giannis, if that's even possible, which I don't think it is, with the situation they're in, would be to sign Brook back for one year for Beat the Beat the offer the Clippers gave them this year, get through this season. They resigned everybody else already. Like, you could have Giannis be point center. You could model through the year. You can maybe be a top six team in the East. And then I think the bucks would have two or three draft picks next year. They'd have a $58 million Damian Lord expiring contract. They would have some flexibility to go out and make moves to try to reposition the team around Giannis. Now what they've done is say, okay, our core going forward is Giannis and Miles Turner and that's it.

[Tim Bontemps]

And Kuzma, who, like, doesn't score in the playoffs.

[Marc Stein]

Sure. And Bobby Portis, who's a fine backup forward.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, what about this? What about this? If you really wanted to do this, why didn't you do it four days ago? You did four days ago, and you announced to the NBA that you've got cap space. They moved off the last two draft picks that they had control over. They also traded today by the Way they traded them to Charlotte to get off.

[Marc Stein]

I believe they also have one first they can trade.

[Brian Windhorst]

You're right. I apologize. There's the last two seconds.

[Marc Stein]

But they traded two seconds to. To get Vasily Miicic to move money around.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. But. But let's say you could move Connaughton off. Maybe you get enough cap space that you can, like, go to a player who's a free agent and then sign them. Maybe that's. That's, you know, there's a method to my madness. A different player than Miles Turner, maybe. You know, I'm not saying you could have got Julius Randall, but let's just say for. Theoretically, you could go get Julius Randle, and then.

[Marc Stein]

I mean, I think for the Bucks, I'd probably rather Miles Turner anyway, though.

[Tim Bontemps]

Again, I like Miles Turner. Okay, go on.

[Brian Windhorst]

Let's say you spend it on some other player. Then you have your $9 million room exception.

[Marc Stein]

Then you go try to get Brooke.

[Brian Windhorst]

And then you get Brook back.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

Now you've got. You're more putting a team together. Part of what this felt like today was. Oh, my God. Like, you know, it's. It's June 30th at, you know, 6pm and gotta do something.

[Tim Bontemps]

Gotta do something. Gotta do something.

[Brian Windhorst]

I will say this. You know, having been with the Cavs in 2010, this wasn't a. This wasn't an option in 2010. The Cavs were capped out. You know, they had all those free agents in 2010. This is something that the Cavs would have done in 2010. It's. You know, they were desperate.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah. If you look at the back half of the 2000s with the Cavs. Right. I mean, it wasn't exactly this move, but it was a series of moves like this.

[Brian Windhorst]

They would have done this.

[Marc Stein]

Going to trade for.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, they would have done this. And all those guys, they would have done this with, like, Antoine Jameson and, like, sure to try to sign Amari Stoudemire.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

You know, let me ask you this.

[Tim Bontemps]

Is this whole scenario even possible if Minnesota doesn't Give NAS Reed $25 million a year? How much did Nas Reed's contract muddy things for Miles Turner in the pace?

[Marc Stein]

Oh, I think it absolutely did. I don't think there's any question. I mean, Miles Turner getting overpaid reset the center market.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah.

[Marc Stein]

Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, Right. Nasrid getting overpaid reset the center.

[Brian Windhorst]

So Nasrid got 25 a year. Jakob Poeltl signed the contract extension today with the Raptors for 26 million a year, I believe.

[Marc Stein]

And by the way, if he had, if Miles Turner hadn't gotten signed before this Jakobl extension, that also would have reset the market, I think for Miles Turner because he's better than Jakob Hurdle also. So that would have been a delayed reaction. But when Miles, when Nas Reed got signed the other day, if you're, if you're Miles Turner and you're sitting at home and you're saying, hmm, I was just the starting center on a team that went to Game 7 of the NBA Finals and I've been in my mind, underpaid at different points as my time with the Pacers that tried to sign Deandre Ayton to an offer sheet a few years ago. Had all these issues over the years. Like, yeah, you know what, I'm the longest tenured Pacer there. Everybody was celebrating me when I was cheering, when I finally got back, got to the NBA Finals for the first time, it's time for me to get paid, right? They've said, you know, they've all made all these noises about how they're going to go into the luxury tax this year. Don't have to go that far in to give me a fair number like, yeah, I, you know, Kristas porzingis signed for 30 a year. I should get in the high 20s. Yeah, that's all, all reasonable. Hard to argue with any of that.

[Tim Bontemps]

More HOOPP Collective podcast after this.

[Brian Windhorst]

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[Brian Windhorst]

Okay, we're talking about Giannis in a minute, but we wanted to talk about Indiana here. I know that Indiana was planning on paying Myles Turner. And I know that Indiana was trying to mitigate its luxury tax situation. And the reason I know this is because they took the action of trading their first round pick last week. They pushed it. They got their 2026 first back from New Orleans, gave their 2025 first to them. That was done. So they didn't have to pay the few million dollars that you pay your first round pick in the 20s.

[Tim Bontemps]

And by the way, they, when they did that, I don't think they had any idea of what a good trade it would end up being.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, that's true. It wasn't last week. It was like two weeks ago.

[Marc Stein]

It was during the finals, before game seven.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes.

[Brian Windhorst]

Also, I don't blame them for not foreseeing that they were going to be getting bid on. Bid against by the Bucks here.

[Tim Bontemps]

No. Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

So from what I understand, they offered, I don't know where they started, but their offer was for three years and was in the low 20s per year. NAS Reed's contract comes up, you're already in trouble. Look, the Pacers haven't paid the luxury tax in 20 years. Tyrese Halliburton is hurt. The problem is that this sends just a real tough message to your team and your fans that you reached the finals. And look, you could trade another player, you know, and there are very few.

[Marc Stein]

Players like Miles Turner. Not that Miles Turner is a superstar, but he's a rim protecting center who can shoot threes. That is a very rare commodity. And he's a perfect fit next to Pascal Siakam.

[Tim Bontemps]

And Halliburton was the longest tenured Pacer who went.

[Marc Stein]

But even setting, but even setting that aside, if you're just looking at the fit, you can't. It's just, there's not. There's not a replacement for Pascal Siakam readily available on the market to go get.

[Brian Windhorst]

And it's not even so much that you can't replace him anyway. Like, even if there was a replacement that you could sign for $17 million, you don't have $17 million.

[Marc Stein]

Right, right.

[Brian Windhorst]

You're not going to have $17 million because you have Siakam and Halliburton under contract for $90 million a year. And look, Bontevs, you may think that Nasrid got overpaid, and I'm not going to debate you on that, but the offer that the Bucks gave Miles Turner was an appropriate number if they offer.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah, I mean, I think the Pacers should have probably just offered Miles Turner 5 for 125 from the beginning and started his number this year low. I think if they'd come in from the beginning and said, hey, Miles, guess what? We appreciate you, we respect the time you've had here. We're a little nervous about going high on the number, but you know What? Let's do five years. Let's do five for 125. Maybe the out years will be a little dicey, but that's a fair number. I think Miles Turner and Austin Brown, his agent at caa, I bet they would have signed that immediately. I bet they wouldn't even have thought about it. You might even be able to go a little lower. Maybe it did. Maybe if they did 5 for 115, they might have got it done. It's 150 million guaranteed. But it wasn't that. It was. It was three years at a lower number. And let's be honest, the Pacers looked around, saw nobody with cap room to really challenge him for Miles Turner. And they thought they could play hardball and get a deal. That's obviously what happened. And you know, when you. I'm not going to. We're a Disney company, so I'm not going to quite say it this way, but when you mess around in situations like this, you can find out what happens. And they found out what happened in the worst way possible. Where they have egg all over their faces after this franchise, after years of, frankly a pretty indifferent fan base and, you know, having okay teams and not really making any kind of a mark, had had this unbelievable two year run. All this energy behind the team. I mean, we were at these games like the crowds in Indiana were unbelievable. Fantastic energy. Team was fun to watch. Miles Turner was a huge part of all that.

[Brian Windhorst]

Talk about a fun team to root for. Talk about a Fun team to root for, man. Great team.

[Tim Bontemps]

And then two of the most deflating things imaginable have happened. Obviously, Tyrese Halliburton Taryn is Achilles. Probably misses all of next season, hopefully can get back to being what he was. But so just a devastating injury and then you lose Miles Turner, the, you know, your defensive anchor, the, you know, a great complimentary piece, the guy who's been there for a decade, and you.

[Marc Stein]

Lose them over being cheap. You lose them over being cheap. That's it. There's no, there's no other way to put it. This is about. This isn't about new rules. It's about being cheap.

[Brian Windhorst]

That offer that they had in the 20s would have put them into the.

[Marc Stein]

Tax for now, and then they would.

[Tim Bontemps]

Have got out of the tax. I mean, into the tax, sure, but not like just they're not soaring past aprons and stuff.

[Marc Stein]

It would have. It would have put them in the tax for now and they would have gotten out because they could have easily gotten out.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, and dude, they just had a finals run. Trust me, they made money this year.

[Marc Stein]

They made lots of money. And again, it's just. It's just the most inflating thing.

[Brian Windhorst]

A lot of home games.

[Marc Stein]

It's just the most deflating thing to have a team like this, have a run like this, like you said. And yeah, the Halberton injury obviously is brutal, but then to have this as the follow up on it where you lose this guy again, like, this is not the Celtics having to trade away players. This is not the Wolves not resigning to key Alexander Walker or the Cavs not resigning Ty Jerome. Those are financial decisions that you might be disappointed as a fan, but you can at least understand the structure of the team. And all right, you have to lose somebody. This is a core critical player from the team not being re signed because the Pacers were being cheap and trying to play hardball with the guy and it blew up in their faces. And now they have no way to come back from it this year. Like, we'll see who they. Maybe they could sign deandre Ayton or some other person, but they're not Myles Turner. There isn't a Miles Turner replacement on the market.

[Tim Bontemps]

And I mean, they did give deandre Ayton the contract he just got bought out of, right, to have him play for him.

[Marc Stein]

So maybe he winds up there, but it just, it just, it's just a bummer all the way around.

[Tim Bontemps]

Honestly, though, I feel like they'd almost. I think there's an argument that the pacers would be better off just, you know, with Tony Bradley and I, I. What's his name? Isaiah Jackson and those guys going. James Wiseman, whatever. Like with those guys going out there, Halbert is not playing next season. You know, maybe they, they slip in the lottery. Maybe they get lucky. Whatever. Getting a lottery pick to add to the mix before Halliburton comes back. I, I feel like that's better than doing some stopgap. Well, this is the best we got after the first few days of free agency have, have passed. I mean, what are they getting? Are the patients making a playoff run next year?

[Marc Stein]

No, I mean they, I think they'll, I think they had a good chance to make the playoffs. Yeah, I'm not saying they're going to the conference finals again, but I don't think they're going to be. I don't think they're, I don't think they're going to be in the lottery. Maybe they'll be in the very back half of the lottery. I mean, look, if you look, they.

[Tim Bontemps]

Don'T have, they don't have their.

[Marc Stein]

Listen, the bottom of the east ain't the bottom of the west, bro. They got Andrew Nemhardt, they got Pascal Siakam, they got Aaron Neesmith. Like they got. They still got, they still got a pretty decent roster. And you've got Brooklyn, Charlotte, Washington, Chicago. Like there, there are several. We'll see if Philly, Philly's healthy, maybe they'll be okay. But there's four or five teams that are going to be wretched in the East.

[Tim Bontemps]

They lost their most important player and what, their third or maybe fourth most important player.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, first off, Indy doesn't tank. I think they tanked one time for like half a year. So that's. They're not going to.

[Marc Stein]

They're just, they're not bad enough to. Even if they wanted to tank in the east this year, they're not bad enough to. There's four or five teams that are built to be hor. Tremendous.

[Tim Bontemps]

Indy doesn't tank. Carlisle can tank. I've seen him do it.

[Marc Stein]

Well, like, it's, it's just, it's just a real bummer that.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I know that it's a little bit polarizing because you know, you know Miles Turner, there's sort of a love hate relationship there with him.

[Marc Stein]

Look, he's not an all star. He's not an all star, but he's a good player and his skill set is just incredibly hard to find in.

[Brian Windhorst]

Exactly. So I'm not, I, you know, And I heard some people say today, well, you know. You know, $27 million, they would regret that. Blah. I'm not here for that. Well, Miles Turner is a not replaceable player for right now.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, he's an in. He's in his prime, and he does two of the most important things that you can do. And it's kind of the new big man archetype, the rim protector, a guy who shuts down the paint and spaces the floor on the other end. He opens the paint on offense and shuts it down on defense. That's extremely valuable.

[Marc Stein]

And it's why you get why. Why the Bucks identified him as a guy who made a lot of sense with Giannis, and he does make a lot of sense with Giannis. It's just the rest of the roster.

[Brian Windhorst]

Ye.

[Marc Stein]

In Milwaukee, that's the problem.

[Brian Windhorst]

He fits well. And speaking of Giannis, I know that there was this one rush, like, you know, what did Giannis think about this? Like, this is. This is great. And even we. On, you know, first take, we were like, you know, this. This might be the type of thing that, you know, convinces Giannis to stay. Because I do think Giannis is looking for a reason to stay in Milwaukee. You know, and while he hasn't articulated.

[Marc Stein]

That, well, actions, actions over words, the actions for years have been. He does. He hasn't wanted to leave Milwaukee.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. And he let the draft go by without making a peep, and he's let free agency go by without making a peep.

[Tim Bontemps]

So, yeah, he's clearly not looking for reasons to leave, because we could present a few for him if he wanted.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. All right, so. But however, you know, I think the message here is in. Still, I don't think 100%, like, lockdown, take Giannis off the board. Like, I think the message is everyone is still waiting and seeing, and I think the Bucks are in that boat, too.

[Tim Bontemps]

I've got this pair. They're actually like, Bucks green. This pair of underwear, unbelievably comfortable underwear. And it really is. It's like. It reminds me of what the Bucks franchise probably feels like for Giannis, because the support.

[Brian Windhorst]

Phenomenal.

[Tim Bontemps]

Comfortable.

[Marc Stein]

Don't bring this up on TV tomorrow, please.

[Tim Bontemps]

Very comfortable. Very comfortable. But, man, they got holes in them. And, like, they, you know, they ain't what. Like, they're just not really.

[Marc Stein]

Just. Just stop.

[Tim Bontemps]

You know, like, they're falling apart. But I can't. I just can't. I can't take myself to chunk them. They're too nice. They're too. Too Comfortable, too. Too much support. That's the Bucs organization to Giannis right now. They are that pair of underwear that just feels so good and you can't throw them out no matter how many holes there are in them.

[Marc Stein]

Please, please. All right. Thank you. Please stop. That was. That was not a trip anybody needed to take.

[Brian Windhorst]

So one more thing to put a bow on this Buck Spacers situation. Dame Lillard, you know, he's going to be rehabbing for most of this season. He gets waived and while there seems that's obviously melancholy. This is a dream situation. It's free money and freedom. And I'm sure he felt a certain way as he had his life change really quickly. And it really stinks that his saw his swan song with the Bucks is going to be being helped off the floor in the middle of a playoff series. But I don't know if he'll play this year. But if he's able to, he'll have a bunch of teams interested. He'll be able to choose his team. You can sign for the minimum, he can sign for more. It's double dipping, no matter whatever it is. And he can rehab at home in Portland during the season. And you know, there's a lot of people suffering out there. He ain't one of them other than, you know, coming back from the injury. So I don't think there's. I think the big winner today might be Dave Miller.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, I would agree wholeheartedly. And obviously, listen, it's a sucky situation that he has to rehab from a torn Achilles, but as far as like getting his walking papers from Milwaukee, he never wanted to be in Milwaukee and he was a pro and he tried to make the best of it, but it like. And they weren't. It's not like the Bucks weren't bad with him, but it goes down as one of the all time disappointments to make that kind of trade and then not even get a playoff series. One of it. It's an all time disappointment. But again, he didn't want to be there. He had to, you know, like actively tried to make sure he wasn't miserable. And now, hey, if, you know, if he still wants to get to Miami, that's probably going to be on the table. If he wants to, you know, go back to the Bay Area, his hometown, you know, there might be an opportunity there. Damon Lillard, potentially, at a minimum, there will be a whole lot of teams lined up interested to chit chat about that.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah, I mean, the Dame trade was flawed from the beginning because of the roster construction with the Bucks. And I think the Bucks just. I mean, obviously at the time, Giannis made it clear he wanted Dame, and so they went and got him. And I don't think they really appreciated what they'd be losing and trading Drew Holiday until after they did. And so knock on Dame, He's a fantastic player, but the fit with those guys was awkward for the beginning. The defense was never good enough, and it just didn't work. And the Bucks, I'm sure, would immediately come back to me and say, well, if Giannis have been healthy last year in the playoffs, things might have been different. Obviously, this year, Dame got hurt in game three. Things could have been different, but they weren't. It's the way it goes. They weren't good enough all year. And, yeah, look, I think Dame is 100% the big winner today. Obviously, it sucks that he got hurt. He's one of the most fun players to watch in the last decade, and, you know, you don't want to see any. You've seen three major players have this devastating injury, obviously, but I think there's a pretty good chance he's going to take this year off and not play, spend time at home completely, get himself healthy and ready to go. And to your point, McMahon, next summer, he comes back and he's getting paid. I don't think he's going to be out there seeking money, and so he's going to get his pick of where he wants to go. My guess is he'll probably want to be somewhere closer to home if he had a choice. But, like, you could have all sorts of fun with this. What if Dame decides he's going to go back truly home and be Steph's backup? That'd be pretty awesome. What if he decides to go? You know, James Harden's got a player option. What if James Harden decides to do something and he goes and plays with Kawhi with the Clippers? That'd be fun. You know, like, he could go to Miami if he wanted. That'd be fun. He could go, like, wherever. I mean, he could go anywhere that he wants on a minimum, you know, what if he goes to Dallas? What if Kyrie leaves and he goes to Dallas and plays with those guys? That'd be fun.

[Tim Bontemps]

And, and, and what if Dame is starting to feel pretty good late February and says, you know what? I. I think I can. I think I can come back for the playoffs signs with somebody. Maybe it's like a one plus one type of deal. Yeah, maybe I can come back and, and get back and for him to be a, a score off the bench for you come playoff time. Sign me before that, you know, before that cut off. And it's, I mean, it's worth it. So little. Pretty low stakes. Roll the dice for the team. You know, there's a lot of different possibilities here, but the certainty is that Dame Lillard gets to call his shot on his next destination, which he's never done before.

[Brian Windhorst]

He's never been a free agent, so I'm sure that'll be something that we talk about later. Hopefully it's something that is in play for this season that he recovers. Well, I'm sure there'll be a lot of teams monitoring it.

[Tim Bontemps]

More Hoop Collective podcast after this.

[Brian Windhorst]

If you went on a road trip.

[Tim Bontemps]

And you didn't stop for a Big Mac or drop a crispy fry between.

[Marc Stein]

The car seats or use your McDonald's.

[Brian Windhorst]

Bag as a placemat, then that wasn't the road trip.

[Tim Bontemps]

It was just a really long drive. Ba da ba ba ba at participating.

[Marc Stein]

McDonald's close your eyes. Exhale.

[Brian Windhorst]

Feel your body relax and let go.

[Tim Bontemps]

Of whatever you're carrying today.

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[Brian Windhorst]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Advertiser]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Marc Stein]

1-800-Contacts.

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[Brian Windhorst]

Today I got one of those emails. Guys said Memphis Grizzlies medical update came.

[Marc Stein]

Out during the free agency special and our guy Brian was on tv and I just, I, I literally had to read. I had to read it three times. I was like, wait a minute. Really? We're talking about this now? Really? It's like, come on, guys.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, this was a doozy one, too.

[Marc Stein]

I would, I would say so.

[Brian Windhorst]

While participating in a live basketball run off site Jaron Jackson Jr. Sustained a turf toe injury in his right foot which upon expert evaluation yesterday was determined to require a procedure to repair. So he's going to have to have surgery on his turf toe. Jeff Stotts from in Street Clothes. His database says it's about a three month injury. You know, this is the third guy this offseason to have this surgery. Darius Garland had it. I'm trying to think somebody else had.

[Marc Stein]

It on three months from now is right at the start of camp.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, and Darius Garland had it. I'm not saying every injury is the same, but Darius Garland had it. The Cavs said four to five months.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, A.J. a.J. Mitchell, the Thunder rookie had it and he was back in three months. I mean so yeah, either way it's.

[Marc Stein]

Just not, it's not ideal to on Monday agree to Give Jaren Jackson 200 and some million dollars and on Tuesday announced that Jared Jackson is having to have turf toe surgery. Is not, is not ideal. And the Memphis Grizzlies medical update just continues to be a scourge of the league, unfortunately.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's wild.

[Tim Bontemps]

And the.

[Marc Stein]

They got it. They got a clan. They got to do like a sage cleanse or something at the the Forum down there. Try to. Got to get Verno on the case to get something, get something done to change the. Change the luck.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, the Grizzlies have lived through something like this before too with Desmond Bain had that toe injury.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tim Bontemps]

A couple years ago. I just checked. He missed two months but that messed.

[Marc Stein]

Him up for that whole season basically.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, he wasn't. He wasn't. And he had to come back and he had to, he had to play with like a. Remember he had to wear the LeBron. There's a whole story about him having to wear the LeBron's against the Lakers in the playoffs.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, that was the shoe that was Poke.

[Brian Windhorst]

Was that the Poke the Bear series?

[Marc Stein]

Yes, it was.

[Tim Bontemps]

And Bane hated wearing those shoes and LeBron knew it and kind of jabbed him a little bit. But that was the shoe they could fit like this special customized metal plate in to give them support for his toe. So I mean, you know you turf toe doesn't sound that menacing, but it's.

[Brian Windhorst]

A beast of an injury like the second apron. It needs a new. Needs a new, more net, more menacing nickname.

[Tim Bontemps]

Terrible toe.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. So but I mean hopefully it happened early enough in the summer that he'll be able to rehab for most of the.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, unfortunately for Jaren this isn't the first time that he's dealt with an injury suffered during the summer. Remember he had that foot injury a few years back that wiped him out for the start of the next season, so. But, man, I mean, the timing is just like, my goodness, man, I, I wonder. I, I do wonder if they knew about it before. I, I mean, they kind of.

[Marc Stein]

It, it seems like the way the. They didn't. He didn't have the injury today. By reading.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah.

[Marc Stein]

So my guess is it happened before.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, they weren't very specific with it.

[Brian Windhorst]

He said expert analysis.

[Marc Stein]

Sounded to me like he came to sign the contract and got checked out. And no, I'm not kidding. It's.

[Brian Windhorst]

No, I'm sure you sounded like he.

[Marc Stein]

Came to do the contract.

[Brian Windhorst]

Like, oh, my God, I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna. Jared, why are you limping?

[Marc Stein]

To be clear, I don't mean it like that. But, I mean, I don't mean to.

[Brian Windhorst]

Make fun of it, but can you imagine like you're.

[Marc Stein]

It did seem like it was the way it was written. It seemed like he came back to Memphis and they checked him out and that was what they decided. Yeah, but that's, that's just supposition based off reading it. But yeah, like just a, Just a bummer injury.

[Brian Windhorst]

Jared, why are you Olympic?

[Marc Stein]

I mean, they've had an interesting. I mean, they've had it. I mean, beyond the Jaren extension, they've had an interesting couple days between doing, getting Ty Jerome done, getting Santia back. It's been, you know, trading up to get Cedric Coward last week. They've. They've had an interesting week. This is not the kind of interesting you wanted to add to it.

[Tim Bontemps]

No.

[Brian Windhorst]

The Knicks signed two players to be on their bench in the last 24 hours. And I got to tell you, Bontemps, I really like the signing. They use their entire taxpayer mid level of 5.7 million on Gerson Yabaselli, who really impressed me in the Olympics with France last summer. That got him a small deal with the 76ers. He impressed the whole league. He is really quick on his feet for a guy that size and can play multiple positions and has really developed his outside shot. And this is a guy who will definitely get some minutes for whoever the Knicks. Knicks head coaches. Mike Brown.

[Tim Bontemps]

No, Tibbs ain't there. They'll use their bench.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. Mike Brown looks like he's lining it up, but I don't want to assume anything. And then Jordan Clarkson, who they got, you know, cheap because he took a buyout from the Jazz. And those are two guys Who? A team that wasn't very deep last year, adding two rotation players. That should give the next coach some options.

[Tim Bontemps]

Jordan Clarkson in that fashion scene in New York, too. That's a good match. I, I, I like the upgrades for the bench. You know, I, I like the, you know, I would say budget bench upgrades. Although, like, I don't know what Clarkson has. He's been in an impossible situation the last couple years in Utah. Last year, they kept on telling him that. I think they told him his toe hurt. He's like, no, it doesn't. They're like, no, trust me, it does.

[Brian Windhorst]

Is that expert evaluation, like Jerry Jackson.

[Tim Bontemps]

They might have had somebody like me who took eight years in college but is not a doctor. Close enough. Put him on the injury list, Tell us what he has. You know what? One interesting thing, though, is Jordan Clarkson, clutch client, going to the Knicks. That hadn't happened in a while.

[Brian Windhorst]

It's worth noting.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, they, yeah, it's, it's interesting that they did that. I mean, it, it's interesting on a couple levels. I mean, they're, they're right up near the second apron. I'm not quite sure they can fit another two guys in under the second apron. I'll be curious to see how they do that. I'm sure they've got some maneuvering to do to do so. Jordan Clarkson, I would say, is probably not too much left in terms of being an impact player on a team that's trying to go deep in the playoffs. But I would also say he's an upgrade on Landry, Shamut and Campaign, which is really the bar that you're looking to clear here. And, you know, to your point, Brian Gershon, Abicelli had a really nice year last year. Volume three point shooter can move his feet on defense. Obviously. Anybody who's seen him, he's built like a brick wall. So despite the fact that he's not that tall, he can hold up inside as a four. And playing him next to Mitchell Robinson, I think in particular is a really nice fit for the Knicks coming off the bench. And this is a team that especially we saw at times in the playoffs, so they got later in the playoffs, they would really struggle to get up threes. They don't have a lot of guys who take a ton of threes. Normally these guys will both come in and shoot the ball pretty consistently from deep. I mean, Jordan Clarkson has always been a guy who's gotten, you know, four or five, six, seven threes up a game. Yavicelli last year with the Sixers and obviously he was playing limited minutes, but he shot 38% from three and he took four of them a game. So, you know, you had a couple guys like that. That shores up a real weakness for the Knicks too. And to your point, wherever they do hires the coach like these guys should be consistent bench weapons for him.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. So the Knicks there are there, I would say about the Knicks. They're on schedule, as weird as that is to say. They anticipated having to rebuild their depth after the trades that they made last year last off season. They're trying to do that now and they knew that the Celtics would not maybe be able to hold their whole team together when the second apron bit. Obviously they weren't counting on Tatum's injury, but the Knicks are. This is, this is the way they planned it when they made those trades last year. Whether it ends up turning out in the end like they want, that's yet to be determined. Before we go, I think we should acknowledge that the largest average annual value contract in NBA history was signed or at least committed to today with Shade Gildas Alexander committing to a deal of 285 million over five years. Over four years. Four years. Yeah, four years.

[Marc Stein]

Four.

[Tim Bontemps]

He could have gotten five next year, but he went ahead and locked this in.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. He's. He did get a player option in the deal, which, you know, is something I'm sure that Thunder weren't thrilled about turning over, but they weren't in position to complain about it. However, he's under, he's guaranteed, you know, he's five years before the player option arrives and if things go well, he'll extend before then. And if things don't go well, he won't get the end of it. So I'm not going to really dwell on that at all.

[Tim Bontemps]

Also, I'm going to wager on things going well for the Oklahoma City Thunder for a while here.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I would just say that for a team that lost a player on his third contract, the reason the supermax exists is because in large part because of the player that they lost when he didn't sign his third contract, which was Kevin Durant, it should not be just taken for granted that, that he signed it. And by the way, so he gets four years in 285. Luca is eligible for four years. And I think the revised number was. Do you remember what it was? I think 218 or something like that.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, it's right in that 220ish.

[Brian Windhorst]

But that's the difference between him staying with Dallas and him getting trade to Oklahoma City.

[Tim Bontemps]

15 plus mil a year. 15, 16 mil a year. No biggie.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, and that is why there's some level of stress from the Lakers and there was no level of stress from the Thunder.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, also because the Lakers don't have a championship roster roster and the Thunder clearly do because they just had a parade. You know, this was not a difficult decision for Shea to want to commit. I think there was some people wondering, Shea, who represents himself now, would he leave a little bit of money on the table? The answer is no. Please, just. I really enjoy being here, but I think I've earned the full boat after leading the league in scoring, winning MVP and Finals mvp.

[Brian Windhorst]

I love the story.

[Tim Bontemps]

Western Conference Finals MVP too.

[Brian Windhorst]

I love the story that Ramona told on her 30 for 30 podcast about the Donald Sterling affair. The story was about the negotiation that Steve Ballmer had when he bought the Clippers. It was something like they literally. He was literally talking on the phone to Shelley Sterling and he was like, maybe I don't have the numbers exactly right, so give me some grace here. But he was like, how about 1.7 billion? And she's like, I was hoping for two. And he was like, okay, two. But seriously, it was like a three minute negotiation and he went up like $300 million in one fell swoop. And that's kind of how I think this negotiation might have gone with Hsieh and Thunder. Hey, just so you know, there's a possibility that if you take a little bit less, I would like the whole thing. Okay, sounds good. We have the paperwork. Let's go.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, if there's, if there's ever a player that's worthy of the supermax, is this guy who just had the clean sweep of all the trophies that you can win and is like the one of the lowest maintenance superstars in the league is the epitome of what you want as a culture setter. And oh, by the way, he's just now starting his prime.

[Brian Windhorst]

Not bad.

[Marc Stein]

Not bad at all.

[Brian Windhorst]

I would be remiss if I didn't say one week from this Saturday night at the Brad Garrett Comedy Club at MGM Grant. That's July 12th, 6pm the third annual hoop collective live show. Bontemps McMahon special guest. We have one guest booked. Right McMahon? I mean, right? Bontemps. We have one guest booked.

[Marc Stein]

We do.

[Brian Windhorst]

One NBA guest booked. Have potentially more. Hoopcollectivelive.com we have a new. A new link. Hoopcollectivelive.Com did you register that domain name? Bon Temps? Do we have to pay your royalty?

[Marc Stein]

I. I had nothing to do with it. It's all producer Jackson's work.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, Jackson doing some work. Good for him.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, well, I've got one week to wiggle out of this.

[Tim Bontemps]

No, there's no wiggling. Let me tell you, Wendy, once those stage lights are on, boy, you're in your element, too.

[Brian Windhorst]

Is that right?

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, you were like, you know, you were like Jay Leno with the last one, man. You had a whole monologue. And I tell you what, there's no. There's nothing like live show, Wendy.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, that's right. People in my life thought it was funny that you nicknamed my walk the Shuffle.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Windy Shuffle.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

No, but it's not just your walk. It's your walk when you've got that, you know, the. Do you. Is it the nor. Those headphones, do you wear AirPods? It's a specific kind of thing. It's. It's the walk that you do when you're in information gathering mode. Also transporting yourself back to, you know, a different location.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's all. That's all I am in is information gathering mode these days, unfortunately.

[Marc Stein]

Also, best wishes to Red Panda.

[Brian Windhorst]

Oh, my gosh.

[Marc Stein]

Had an injury tonight at the Commissioner's cup game. Red Panda is awesome. Hopefully she's doing okay.

[Brian Windhorst]

Red Panda truly might be the only thing in the league that everybody loves. That and our go. That and our guys, Christian and Scooby.

[Marc Stein]

Yeah, and me.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, thank you to Jackson and Blair, our producers. Thank you for listening and watching to the Hoop Collective podcast. We will talk to you. Hopefully not for a few days.

[Tim Bontemps]

Adios, amigos.

[Brian Windhorst]

Foreign.

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[Brian Windhorst]

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[Tim Bontemps]

Glad you're with us tonight.

[Brian Windhorst]

May we convince you you've gone to sports heaven, and right now, you're standing on the edge of tomorrow.

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