The 2025 NBA Worst Contracts Draft With Joe House and Wosny Lambre

Summary

Summary of "The 2025 NBA Worst Contracts Draft With Joe House and Wosny Lambre"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Bill Simmons Podcast
• Host/Author: The Ringer
• Episode: The 2025 NBA Worst Contracts Draft With Joe House and Wosny Lambre
• Release Date: March 6, 2025

In this engaging episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, host Bill Simmons teams up with regulars Joe House and Wosny Lambre (Big Woz) to conduct their annual NBA Worst Contracts Draft. This fifth iteration focuses on evaluating and ranking the most detrimental contracts currently impacting NBA franchises.

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1. Introduction to the NBA Season

Bill Simmons kicks off the episode by highlighting the invigorated state of the NBA season. He remarks, “The league feels like it's been supercharged over the last couple of weeks” (05:18), noting the surge in competitiveness and the unexpected rise of teams like the Denver Nuggets and the resurgence of the Warriors and Lakers.

Key Points:

• Increased competitiveness across the league.
• Surprise performances from traditionally underperforming teams.
• Improved dynamics post-trade deadlines.

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2. Luka Doncic Trade and Its Impact

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the recent Luka Doncic trade, which has drastically altered team strategies and league dynamics. House emphasizes the brilliance of combining high-IQ players: “Luka kind of just pretty much automatically be embraced by the crowd at Crypto” (06:12). The hosts laud the synergy between Luka and LeBron, highlighting LeBron's rejuvenated performance.

Notable Quote:

• Big Woz: “He's a force fucking multiplier like that dude because of his basketball brain” (06:31).

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3. Current NBA Contenders

The trio discusses the top contenders in the league, focusing on the Celtics and Lakers rivalry. House describes a Celtics-Lakers game as “fascinating” but adds, “a team I would not want to see in a series” (07:05). They delve into the strategic shifts teams have undergone, particularly the Lakers’ adaptation to Luka's playstyle and LeBron’s strategic energy management.

Key Points:

• Celtics and Lakers emerging as legitimate contenders.
• Strategic team adjustments enhancing competitiveness.
• Concerns about player health and team chemistry.

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4. The Worst Contracts Draft: Rules and Process

At 25:13, Bill outlines the rules for the Worst Contracts Draft:

• Selection Method: Circular pick without snake order.
• Criteria: Contracts deemed the most unfavorable based on financial burden and player performance.
• Wonders: Contracts now include coaches and GMs for added complexity.

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5. Key Picks in the Draft

a. Bradley Beal – First Pick by House

House opens the draft by selecting Bradley Beal, labeling his contract as “the worst” due to its immovability and financial strain on the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards. Beal’s no-trade clause exacerbates the situation: “Bradley Beal has a no trade clause... he basically has the franchise by the barrel” (25:28).

Notable Quote:

• House: “Bradley Beal has a no trade clause... like the impact of the Bradley Beal contract on the face of the league over the last seven or eight years” (03:50).

b. Nico Harrison

Big Woz ranks Nico Harrison as a top detrimental contract, citing a projected loss of up to $2 billion for the Dallas Mavericks. Harrison’s contract severely hampers the team's financial flexibility and competitive prospects.

Notable Quote:

• Big Woz: “How much money it will cost the Dallas Mavericks just over the next five years. It is going to take much longer than that for them to properly recover” (33:28).

c. Joel Embiid

Embiid's substantial contract is scrutinized due to his recurring injuries and inconsistent performance. Bill expresses concern over the $300 million commitment for a player whose availability is questionable.

Notable Quote:

• Bill Simmons: “$300 million for a guy who doesn't seem like he's going to be able to play that much” (46:22).

d. Paul George

Paul George receives criticism for his injury history and decreased performance, making his $243 million five-year deal highly unfavorable.

Notable Quote:

• Big Woz: “Paul George's injury history and decreased performance make his contract undesirable” (50:27).

e. Scotty Barnes

Barnes' $50 million contract is deemed excessive for his role and performance level, positioning him as a "fourth banana" on his team.

Notable Quote:

• Big Woz: “$50 million as a fourth banana” (58:09).

f. Kawhi Leonard

Despite defending Kawhi's value, the hosts acknowledge the financial strain his contract imposes, especially given his limited playtime and defensive contributions.

Notable Quote:

• House: “He just straight up does not play” (59:35).

g. Patrick Williams

The Bulls' $90 million contract for Williams is criticized as unjustified, especially considering his performance metrics.

Notable Quote:

• House: “Patrick Williams... $18 million per year... problematic” (61:30).

h. Terry Rozier

Rozier's drop in performance post-contract extension raises red flags about his value, shifting from a prolific scorer to a rotation bust.

Notable Quote:

• Bob Woz: “Terry Rozier’s ability has plummeted” (63:21).

i. Jamal Murray

Murray's $243 million deal is heavily critiqued due to his injury risks, making it a significant financial gamble for the Denver Nuggets.

Notable Quote:

• Big Woz: “Jamal Murray's injury risks make his $243 million contract a gamble” (74:22).

j. Rudy Gobert

Gobert’s sizable contract is questioned despite his defensive prowess. While House defends Gobert, the overall cost-benefit remains a concern.

Notable Quote:

• Bill Simmons: “$35 million... he is going to stick around” (77:22).

k. Additional Notable Picks

Other players like Dejounte Murray, Ben Simmons, Emmanuel Quickley, Grant Williams, Zion Williamson, Grayson Allen, Demonte Sabonis, Dame Lillard, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, Jalen Green, Andrew Wiggins, Ja Morant, O.J. Anunoby, LaMelo Ball, and Grant Williams are also featured, each receiving their share of criticism based on their contracts and performance.

Notable Quotes:

• Bill Simmons: “You have to pay the money you have” (74:42).

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6. Reflections on the Draft Outcomes

Bill Simmons reflects on the cumulative negative impact these contracts have on NBA franchises, emphasizing financial drain and impaired team competitiveness. The hosts express concern over long-term franchise sustainability, fearing that these contracts will lead to diminished revenues and reduced team value.

Key Points:

• Significant financial burdens jeopardize team flexibility.
• Contracts hinder competitive balance and future prospects.
• Concerns about the NBA’s long-term economic health.

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7. Conclusion

The episode wraps up with the hosts reviewing their Worst Contracts Draft selections, expressing both regret and frustration over the financial missteps of NBA franchises. They anticipate heated discussions from affected fan bases and underscore the importance of judicious contract negotiations.

Notable Quotes:

• Bill Simmons: “It was the worst contracts draft” (100:13).
• House: “He’s just not worth what they’re paying him” (87:18).

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Highlighted Quotes with Timestamps

• House on Bradley Beal: “Bradley Beal has a no trade clause... he basically has the franchise by the barrel” (25:28).
• Big Woz on Nico Harrison’s Impact: “How much money it will cost the Dallas Mavericks just over the next five years” (33:28).
• Bill on Joel Embiid’s Contract: “$300 million for a guy who doesn't seem like he's going to be able to play that much” (46:22).
• House on Paul George: “He just straight up does not play” (59:35).
• Big Woz on Jamal Murray: “Jamal Murray's injury risks make his $243 million contract a gamble” (74:22).
• House on Patrick Williams: “Patrick Williams... $18 million per year... problematic” (61:30).
• Bill on Rudy Gobert: “$35 million... he is going to stick around” (77:22).

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Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a critical examination of the NBA's financial strategies, highlighting how excessive contracts can undermine team success and franchise value. Through thorough analysis and candid discussions, Bill Simmons and his guests shed light on the pressing issue of unfavorable player contracts, urging teams to adopt more sustainable and performance-aligned financial practices.

Transcript

[Bill Simmons]

It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel. The NBA season hitting full stride. Don't foul out on your chance to win with America's number one sportsbook. Bet on fun markets like Live Quarter, player props and parlays. Plus enjoy our new NBA Player prop pages. Your one stop shop for player props that include FanDuel's exclusive performance trends, tracking the last five games for top markets. They even do that. The app is safe, secure and easy to use. When you win, you'll get paid instantly, so download the app today. Bet with FanDuel, official partner of the NBA. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Listen to the end of this episode for additional details. Must be 21 + in President elect states game problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com coming up. It's time. The annual NBA Worst Contracts Draft with House and Woz. It's next. This episode is brought to you by VRBO Private Vacation Rentals. With vrbo, you always get the whole house so you and your fellow fans can cheer on your team in peace. What's worse than watching a game with somebody who's not rooting for the same team? You're rooting for nothing. But that's why if you book a vacation house with vrbo, you know all the people in your house. They'll be friends. They'll be family. Ideally, they'll be the ones who also root for my teams. Plan a winning vacation. Make it a vrbo. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. If you missed it, we did a rewatchables on Monday night. It was Rocky, the 1976 Oscar winner. Can't believe we didn't do it yet. It was me and Chris Ryan and Van Lathan. So please go check that out. Check it on The Ringer Movies YouTube channel as well. I'm also on the Prestige TV podcast every Sunday night doing White Lotus recaps with Joanna and Mallory. And we have a great time doing that. We're brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook as well, by the way. And they're doing the 30 on 30, those little profit boosts that we do every Friday. You have to pick a 30 points plus score. Who's going to get at least 30. Look at all the matchups. I'll tweet out my picks who I think might have the best chance to do it and if you hit, you get a 30% profit boost on it. So let's say Jokic on Friday night is like, I don't know, minus 128. You hit that, you get 30% on top of what you win. Be sure to claim the PBT place your 30 on 30 bet for Friday. Just look for 30 on 30 in the FanDuel sportsbook app. So I think this is the fifth year we've done it. Me and Big Woz and House, we draft the worst contracts in the league. It sounds like a negative podcast. It's actually very positive because we have a lot of laughs. We have a great time talking about it. We're going to talk Warriors, Lakers at the top with House and Wa and then dive into the worst contracts of 2025 in the NBA. This is always a blast. Can't wait. First, our friends from pro.

[Big Woz]

All right.

[Bill Simmons]

We've been doing it every year since 1977. The worst NBA contracts draft. One of my favorite times of the year. We always wait for the perfect week of the season. Far enough away from the playoffs, right after the trade deadline, guys start getting sidelined, scratched bodies start breaking down. Perfect time to do this. And we have a couple doozies at the top. How's just thinking back this decade, who was your favorite worst contract of the decade before the guys this year it was probably the Ben Simmons. Right when he had all that money left, that was he number one or somebody else?

[Big Woz]

No, no, no, no. Nobody will ever rival Bradley Beal. This. We really should change the name of this. Bradley Beal has a no trade clause. Like the impact of the Bradley Beal contract on the face of the league over the last, you know, seven or eight years. Just unbelievable. Mind blowing. Dearly.

[Bill Simmons]

It was unbelievable to you as it was happening. And the no trade pushed it over the top. Is there anybody else you would put wise? Would you put Simmons above that or no?

[House]

Oh, Ben Simmons, Bradley Beal, I think those are the creme de la creme, specifically because Ben Simmons got a max contract and then never played. And when he did play, he didn't want to take layups. So yeah, those two are the ones that immediately come to mind. Obviously they're legacy deals, like John Wall out there. Like, there's a few other doozies, but.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, yeah, there was a Westbrook one. I forgot. Yeah, we had that Wall Westbrook trade combo. Simmons was five years for 177, and I think the last four was just complete regret by everybody who had him. So we should mention, you know, we've been trying to stay Positive on the pods with our ringer NBA coverage. This is a decidedly negative podcast, but we have fun. Hey, there's great contracts, great trades, great teams. The storylines are awesome right now. How sweet. We haven't talked on the pod. We have the warriors and Lakers as legitimate contenders all of a sudden.

[Big Woz]

Unbelievable, Wonderful.

[Bill Simmons]

The league feels like it's been supercharged over the last couple weeks. We were like worried, oh, my God, this is just going to be Cleveland, Boston, OKC and literally nobody else. And now all of a sudden, Denver's in there, the Lakers, the Warriors. The Knicks are kind of lingering a little bit, but Woz, super fun NBA season all of a sudden.

[House]

Yeah, I mean, I think the Luka trade definitely took this thing into a whole different gear. Obviously we spent a lot of time talking about what happened, why it happened, how it happened, but the actual basketball to watch. Luka kind of just pretty much automatically be embraced by the crowd at Crypto, where he is just playing to the crowd and just straight up he's in it. And it's kind of amazing that it's come together in nine freaking games this way.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, well, it's even more amazing that some people were saying, I don't know, I don't know how those guys are going to play together. Two ball dominant guys. It's like, what? Literally two of the highest IQ guys we've had in the last 30 years on a basketball court. I'm pretty sure they'll figure it out. It's been fun to watch. And how I want to drop the.

[Big Woz]

First F bomb of the. I mean, he's a force fucking multiplier like that dude because of his basketball brain. And you put the two biggest basketball brains on the planet together. Yeah, I think they're gonna figure it out. But think about where we were in the first third of the season. The criticism levied against the NBA. And it was proper criticism. Are we really going to do this goddamn retirement tour thing with LeBron and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant? We have to watch all these sh. Games with these shitty teams. And now look where we are. Look where we are.

[Bill Simmons]

So we have a Celtic Laker game Saturday night. That's, you know, other than first, Cleveland OKC game is probably the most fascinating game in the season. And it's two guys that the Celtics have real history with. Right. They played Luke in the. In the finals last year. And then LeBron has been their biggest foil of the 21st century. Both on the same team. They're so weird to watch just as a team now they have no center, they have no point guard.

[Big Woz]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[House]

Jackson Hayes dropped 20 points in the first half.

[Bill Simmons]

Long arm Jackson. But you watch them and you're like, I don't know why this is working, but it's working. And this is a team I would not want to see in a series when everything slows down and you have to play the same team every time for two weeks. And I just don't want to see these guys under any circumstances. And LeBron looks rejuvenated. And by the way, LeBron started to look rejuvenated two weeks before this trade. I'm just flagging that. I'm just flagging that. Yeah, he's hopping a step for about two weeks.

[Big Woz]

Earlier, you say the same thing about Steph. As soon as they, they acquire Jimmy Curry, he dropped a 56 on us. Like, hey.

[Bill Simmons]

Did you say Jimmy Curry? You've already had your first malapropism of the pod.

[Big Woz]

I did say it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, whatever.

[House]

That's. That's the new duo, though. But no, LeBron seems to have a pep in a step. He had a chase down block the other day where I'm just like, this guy's now back to chase down blocking people.

[Bill Simmons]

I loved it.

[House]

They've smartly decided that, no, Luka Doncic is the point guard. The Orchestrator will just work around, I don't know, one of the three best players in the NBA, and they've been rewarded for that. And the JJ Redick stuff is absolutely working. Every time the Lakers social media account posts one of his post game speeches, I know it's bullshit, but I'm bought in. I'm like, I'm ready to run through a wall for this guy. It's amazing to watch. It's a great fight, what the Lakers have been doing.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, it's very Dan Campbell Lyons, ish, those speeches he does. And, you know, it's little stuff with him, like the pulling back Dalton connect. Right? Guy gets traded out of nowhere, goes to Charlotte, meets everybody on Charlotte, trade gets rescinded. It's like, ooh, hey, man, good to see you again.

[Big Woz]

Have you been.

[Bill Simmons]

Boy, this is awkward. And yet he's, he's, you know, inspiring him. It's not like he's a huge part of the team, but he's one of their best nine guys. They kind of need him. Um, I've been fascinated watching, and I've talked about this on the pod before, but watching LeBron just like his fucking Terminator brain, recalculating how he should be used with Luka having the ball this much. And I think he immediately embraced. I don't need to actually use as much energy as I used to. This is actually really good for me. Now I'm like picking my spots in short bursts. It's very similar to that first Miami season when Wade was awesome and he didn't know how to pick his spots that year, especially as we got in the playoffs. And now, you know, he's such a good three point shooter. He wasn't in 2011, now he is. But then he's also figured out the defensive rebounding. It's a really great team to watch right now. And I'll say this, I know a lot of Laker fans as this was. I can't even describe how euphoric they are. They went from like, this is a wrap. I don't like watching this team. I can't take another ad up and down. He's hurt. He wants to play the four. LeBron's padding his stats. He's not playing defense. This sucks. We're fucked. For the decade to in a flip. Just like it's like they inherited money from some aunt they never knew. It was like, my aunt just gave me $10 million. I hadn't seen her in 12 years. That's the attitude. They're going absolutely crazy house and I might have to move.

[Big Woz]

They deserve to be going crazy. Like, that is the only rational response in the face of, you know, the most extraordinary, irrational trade in the history, maybe of professional sports. I mean, I guess that the Sean Watson.

[Bill Simmons]

No, it's at least basketball. I think it's the craziest, most indefensible trade we've had in basketball.

[Big Woz]

All of sports. All of sports.

[Bill Simmons]

And we said this when the trade happened. And I know I said this on this pod. This is the greatest thing you ever did for Luka Doncic. We talked about this was when we did the trade deadline pod like a week after. It's like, well, yeah, maybe you were worried about some stuff, but you just did him the greatest favor you could have ever done them.

[House]

You lit a fire kick in the ass.

[Bill Simmons]

Yes. Now he's going to have a comeback. And that's the other thing with LA is LA loves comeback stories. LA loves like, oh, Ben Affleck. He's made gone, baby, gone. He's back. He looked like he had hit rock bottom. Now he's putting his career back together. And this Luka's as great as he is, but he was a little bit of a comeback story. It's gonna Be fun to watch him get in better shape. Embrace vegan food, embrace smoothies, embrace the Versaclimber. All this stuff.

[House]

He's going to be getting vitamin D, he's going to be getting a Hailey Bieber from Erdogan. Is that.

[Bill Simmons]

He needs a celebrity relationship soon. It's going to. He's going to be playing all the hits. It's going to be great. Fellas. I don't want to see this team in a playoff series if I'm basically anybody. And I'm sure there's going to be ways as we keep watching them that you can solve some of their deficiencies. But right now it just. If you have two guys who are putting up 60 points a game, that's. I just don't want to see a team like that. So that story's been great. And then Golden State.

[House]

Oh, excellent. The Jimmy thing is excellent.

[Bill Simmons]

Can we officially say that worked out way better for them than getting kd? Because when we did the trade deadline, we were like, hmm, I don't know, what are we getting from Jimmy? And we were all bullish on the Jimmy part. But I think now that we've watched it, the fact that he can give them this two way defense stuff doesn't really necessarily need the ball. You don't get all of the up and down personality stuff that sadly KD brings to the table from time to time. We saw it the other night on tv.

[Big Woz]

Wait, wait though, like Jimmy in Miami didn't cover himself in glory in terms of.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm just talking this season. House. Well, happy Jimmy. We've seen Jimmy's teeth this season.

[Big Woz]

He was Bitch Jimmy for 45 to 60 days. Like you really want to say from an. If you're comparing the emotional kind of component of it, I'm not sure that I'm willing to concede. I think kd, if he had been into it, would have arrived with the very best attitude.

[Bill Simmons]

But I don't know if. I don't know if he was into it.

[Big Woz]

I do.

[Bill Simmons]

Wasn't into it.

[Big Woz]

The other thing about he didn't want.

[Bill Simmons]

To go to Golden State. House.

[Big Woz]

If he did want to is what I'm saying, right? If it had been in his brain that that was where he wanted to.

[Bill Simmons]

Land, she'd be my uncle. I mean, he didn't want to go to go House.

[House]

This is the thing, this is where I disagree with you. House is when's the last time Katie was happy somewhere.

[Big Woz]

20. 16.

[Bill Simmons]

Golden State. 17. Yeah. 16. 17. Golden State. That was the last full happy.

[House]

So like, the guy's just been, you know, perpetually unhappy. Like, everybody remembers that last year in Golden State, like, people think this Boudenholzer thing is, like, out of left field. It's like, go look at the last year in Golden State. Like, this guy was miserable. A lot of people described it as morose for an entire season for the best team in the league by far. Right? Obviously, the Brooklyn thing blew up. And look, I've kind of defended what Jimmy did because it's just like, look, you guys don't want to pay me after I've basically overachieved my entire tenure here. I'm blowing this thing up. It was ugly. But he got the right outcome for himself in his career. He got his money in Golden State, and now he's on a team that I think is as scary as anyone. And it's specifically because they got Jimmy Butler. The defense has taken another step, and Jimmy is just seamlessly fitting to the offense, which I kind of thought would be the case because he played in a similar offense in Miami around, you know, Tyler Herron, Duncan Robinson getting free on the three point line. Now it's Steph Curry, right? It's crazy.

[Bill Simmons]

The other thing, it's so funny with basketball how you can just add one guy and the entire team slides into place. Right? Like, now Moody is kind of doing a Wiggins impersonation defensively. And he was really good the other night in that. In that Knicks game. Pods who had the ball too much and they were almost using him as like a second, second playmaker because they didn't really have another choice. Now he just is who he is, which is a guy on the side who can hit some threes and rebound and play hard. And then Draymond doesn't have to worry about anything at all other than throwing entry passes to Jimmy or setting screens for Steph. And you feel Roselle and I talked about it Sunday. It's like, you can see it's like a different human being. Steph. Now Steph had weight of the world on his shoulders. Just looked like he had played nine games in ten nights every night. And now he's skipping around the way he played at msg and he's a little tweaked ankle and he's just dancing and prancing the whole day, which was awesome. So, you know, it's funny because we talked, I don't know how many months ago about how this league was a prisoner of the LeBron Steph eras and they couldn't move on and create These new stars. So now ironically they might get these two. The thing to watch for me is can Golden State get into the four or five? Can they get OKC in round two? Because I want to get them earlier than later and I think avoid that Lakers Denver combo. Let those guys beat the hell out of each other because those are, those are going to be tough matchups for them. But if they can play okc, I know OKC is excellent and they're a really good young team and they're having a great season. But Golden State, okc, they've already had awesome games. That's a team that I think Golden State feels like we can play with this team. And I just feel like if we end up we could have a round two where we could have Celtics, Knicks, we could have Lakers, Denver and we could have Golden State okc. Those would be three of the four series and I don't even know who they're realistic. Yeah, and then it would be Cleveland against somebody crappy before we get to worst. And I'm sorry, I may be a tangent, but am I the only one who thinks Cleveland is clearly the favorite right now?

[House]

You are 100,000 50 million percent the only one.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay?

[House]

And I'm not buying this reverse jinx crap.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm not reverse jinxing anything. I wanted a ball last year.

[House]

Sniff this out. We knew you were going to do this reverse jinx. Look, the Celtics went out to a 25, 3 lead. I think that's for a reason. I think they are just a nightmare matchup for Cleveland because they get Cleveland out of their base offense which is ball movement, quick hitting, all of that stuff. The Celtics being so switch heavy, it's just like. No, like Garland, you got to beat somebody. You know, Donovan Mitchell, you gotta prove that you're an all NBA caliber shot creator finisher. You got to beat somebody. You know it's going to be Drew Holiday, it's going to be Tatum, it's going to be Brown. Like they're going to force these guys to play in the one on one and I think they're going to be fine.

[Big Woz]

Like honestly it all depends on the health of the Celtics. When those two teams get together, that will be it. That's the most important thing for that matchup.

[Bill Simmons]

Two things, health. I thought the Phillies super bowl really fucked me up pass.

[Big Woz]

Well, you didn't have me on to help steer you so no one to blame.

[House]

Did you put money on KC for that?

[Bill Simmons]

Bill, you were in New Orleans eating fried oysters.

[Big Woz]

I could have jumped on the Phone.

[Bill Simmons]

No. I've had a lot of regrets and I've spent a lot of time thinking about what went wrong with the, with my super bowl pick, because my instincts are telling me, Philly, I've talked about this. But I do wonder sometimes if hunger is the most underrated noun in sports. And that's what worries me about Cleveland versus Boston. As Boston plays hard. Tatum plays hard every night. The team gives a shit. But Cleveland hasn't been there before. And every guy in that team, when they play the Celtics, it will be the most important two weeks of their life. And the Celtics can't say the same. And there's that little edge of like game seven at home. Donovan Mitchell with like, holy shit, I could actually make the Finals. This is my moment right now. The Celtics had that last year. Going back to back is really hard. The history of the NBA is like, this is the single hardest thing you can do in the NBA is win the second time in a row. And that's what worries me. That the health. What am I getting from Porzingis? What am I getting from Holiday? And then this Cleveland team that just can play everybody 30 minutes a game or less. They have incredible depth. They have a bench, they have a huge lead. They're going to play somebody absolutely shitty in round one, right? Like, truly shitty. Whoever that eight, nine, that is going to be a shit team. They're going to get a sweep in that and they're just going to be fresh in round two. And that, you know, that's. That's a real thing. So those are my concerns. House, who would be the 4 seed in the east on Blanken? That would be Indiana.

[Big Woz]

Milwaukee.

[Bill Simmons]

Indiana. So, I mean, Milwaukee's playing better in Indiana.

[Big Woz]

Detroit's making a push, by the way. Let's not rule out Detroit.

[Bill Simmons]

No, they had a tough loss last night. Was this guy Schroeder has been really good as on the Pistons. That was a sneaky trade. I don't know why Miami didn't want him, especially when Terry Rozier has died as we're going to cover in the draft.

[House]

He's on ball menace. He plays his ass off on defense. Like, this guy really tries. He takes his matchup personal every single night. Obviously, he's a yapper and gets under the skin of every single one of his opponents. Sometimes his own teammates, too. But that's neither here nor there. I just. I just think he's a gamer, man. And every now and again he'll get you some buckets blow by guys driving kick guy. He'll make his threes every night. Like, I. I've always been a Schroeder guy.

[Bill Simmons]

They played him. He came off the bench yesterday. Hardem went nuts yesterday, and Schroeder kind of took him in the fourth quarter and was just doing a whole bunch of German Schroeder things on him and just defending him full court, annoying him and harder was getting better and better. I think that Detroit team, that Detroit Knicks series is going to be an absolute bitch for the Knicks. And I can't wait because they are going to be trying to get into fights, try, you know, shove him. Matches get chippy. They're going to try to work on towns. They're going to try to hit Brunson. They have wise. Where do you. So that I talked about this Sunday, Ron Holland, who's, I think, averaging an altercation every 10 minutes. Is he on your radar yet? Yeah, he's a little radar testy.

[House]

He's. He's on my radar, obviously. Freaking Steward. Beef stew.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, Beef Stu is number one now.

[House]

Pretty much ready to rumble no matter who the opponent is. The guy almost murdered LeBron James two years ago. Uh, but, yeah, Ron Holland is fun. I like that he's. I like that they haven't been afraid to throw him on the deep end, man, and just let him sort of figure it out. Um, I think coming into last year's draft, people saw him as, like, kind of the most, you know, sort of physically athletically gifted of the bunch, if not, you know, the most skilled and crafty. But I like what I've seen from him so far. I think Steph is coaching these guys up. I really do.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, I agree. I like how feisty they are. Feisty team. Okay, we're going to. We're going to take a break, and then we're going to do the worst contracts. Draft house. Are you playing FanDuel 30 on 30?

[Big Woz]

Every time you put one out, I ride.

[Bill Simmons]

Cause you can cash in on betting with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook every Friday night. The ringer we came up with this idea with them. 30% profit boost if you pick a player to score more than 30 points. And what's really fun is you can look at the matchups like we got tomorrow. You can look at, like, Phoenix, Denver, and be like, oh, Joker's going off. That feels like a 30 pointer. Just throw. Just grab his 30 on 30 and you're ready to go. Fanduel the home for all your favorite prop bets. Whether you want to ride with my picks, because I'll be making picks on Friday on Twitter or make your own. Just look for 30 on 30 in the FanDuel Sportsbook app or head to FanDuel.com BS for your chance to score a bigger payout this Friday night. Make every moment more with FanDuel. You must be 21 + presidents like states are 18 + president in D.C. where Joe Howe says Peter Schrager given D.C. a lot of love recently on this podcast opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens Restrictions apply including any token expiration max wager amount. See [e-mail], game problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com this episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra Michelob Ultra A superior light beer and the ultimate trophy. Win or lose, you're bound to enjoy the ride with a good beer in hand. McLob ultra crisp refreshing only 95 calories. A superior light beer. No matter the game, sport or season, Superior is worth playing for. Always be prepared for a win and order Michelob Ultra today. Available on doordash by the way. Enjoy responsibly. 2025 Anheuser Busch Michelob Ultra Light Beer St. Louis, Missouri must be 21 plus to order alcohol. Alcohol available only in select markets all right, it's time. The Worst Contracts Draft I think this is our fifth one to the four or five might be the fifth one. And the rules are as follows. We go, we go in not snake fashion. We just go in a circle. I'll read the you have to say the contract or I'll say it after you pick the guy. And the thing is, it's almost like reverse NBA trade value. The worst contract in the league. The one you wouldn't want the most. The most untradable contract. The one that if you were a fan of the team, you'd be like, oh my God. And there's one clear winner this year. We'll see if it goes. House, did you want the first pick or you didn't? Because we have one wrinkle this year. Coaches and GMs are now eligible for the worst contract. Strap.

[Big Woz]

And we've done coaches before.

[Bill Simmons]

In the GM case, we don't even know what the contracts are. But you could still take a guy.

[Big Woz]

Doesn't matter.

[Bill Simmons]

Doesn't matter. Anyway, House or wise, one of you can have you want the first pick Wise or do you want it?

[House]

I'll go first. It's all good. It's so obvious. It's almost like a Ceremonial first pick in the sense that I agree we all know what the outcome is going to be and it's got to be Bradley Beal of the Phoenix Suns.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow. Wow. That was not who I had on my board.

[House]

I, I why I have him fourth, no shot. And the reason, and the reason why is we just went through this exercise. The Suns were desperate to move this guy. They spent basic. They did all kinds of tactics. They tried to bench him to get him to remove his no trick. Like they, they tried everything to get this man off of their team. Like they had Jimmy Butler on hold, like ready to go, locked and loaded. They were going to improve their roster. They called everyone. It was not possible. This is an immovable, it's literally can't be moved.

[Bill Simmons]

This is an interesting case because it actually is untradable. So from a worse contract, you can't trade it. I don't know. He's winning me overhouse.

[House]

You can't, not only can you not trade him. Okay. And like there was this sort of like I did. Well, Bradley Bill still a, you know, a decent contributing play. Like the other night, the, you know, KD and Bud game, they completely took off after Bradley Bill's ass went to the bench. And then the, so he's getting 50 million this year, 53 million next year, and then 57. Well, he has got a player option.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, hold on.

[House]

I wonder if he's going to take his place.

[Bill Simmons]

Sean's is reporting he's exercised it. Yeah.

[House]

His player option is 57 million in 26. 27. All while holding a no trade clause, which means he basically has the franchise by the barrel. Okay. To me, this is still because of the two extra years, still the worst deal in the NBA. And I get it. There's other guys here that I'm like, wow, this is tough. But Bradley Beal to me is the worst.

[Big Woz]

So I quite love it. And I'll just interject quickly. I think it would be fine if we wanted to rename this worst contract. We just call it the Bradley Beal Memorial worst contract and just do it every year. Name this for Bradley Beal. Like arguably one of the worst contracts in the history of bad contracts in the, in the.

[Bill Simmons]

I would argue we should name it after Andre Blatch.

[Big Woz]

That was only $27 million.

[Bill Simmons]

I know, but they, they gave him an extension and then amnesty him before the extension kicked in. We're never going to top that. That's never going to happen in the history of the league ever again.

[Big Woz]

I beg for them to do that. With John, when they gave John Wall the Giant extension.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. That could be the John Wall too.

[Big Woz]

The reason that Beal deserves this top billing is because he set two franchises back. A grand total of how many years? It'll be at least 14 to 15 years. If you add up the number of years that Washington is going to take to recover and be competitive and how long it will be before Phoenix is competitive again, that's truly amazing. You got to give up. Give it up to Tommy Shepard for that one.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, it's also funny that they, the way they got him was they Chris Paul was an expiring. Right. That they could have bought out after his next year. And then they had Ayton who they wanted to get rid of and they somehow turned that into Beal and then another guy who's going to be in this worst contracts draft a little bit later. It was like they took two things where they actually would have had some flexibility and now they're just stuck. I just want to mention his last two years. He's averaging 18 a game with 51, 40, 42, 82 percentage splits. And on paper you could go to basketball reference in 50 years and be like, Bradley, man wasn't that bad. This contract's devastating. When do you think his last season playing 61 games was?

[House]

House would know this way.

[Big Woz]

Right before the extension. Right before, like, you know, it was before the extension.

[Bill Simmons]

The 20, 18, 19 season.

[House]

There you go.

[Big Woz]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow. How many playoff games do you think he's played since he lost to the Celtics in the Kelly Olynic game?

[Big Woz]

He definitely, Russell Westbrook single handedly dragged the Wizards into the playoffs. So he played four games as they got their asses swept in that series. And then I don't know how many was as he played three, four games for the Suns.

[Bill Simmons]

He's played 15 total. So they're not making it this year. So that'll be eight playoff games. Fifteen playoff games in eight years for Bradley. Anyway. A stunning number one pick. But I kind of liked it. Bold. People tomorrow in the papers would be like big Waz bold with his first pick.

[House]

You know. And I gotta say, going through this list, there's just not as many. Horrific.

[Bill Simmons]

I know. Yeah, there's, there's. We have the same depth. Yeah.

[House]

Most of these contracts are like not that terrible. Some of them you could be like, oh, they, it's kind of risky. But most of these deals, like even if a guy is slightly overpaid, it's not a franchise killer the way this Bradley Beal thing is. And I'm sure. I'm pretty sure. I know your next pick is going.

[Bill Simmons]

To be but yeah, it's tough house your next pick.

[Big Woz]

Well, this is so I respect was because he's a traditionalist. He went with the OG here. This is an out of slightly out of left field. But you know this. This guy changed. He altered the course of two franchises. Speaking of you know a five to ten year recovery window for one franchise and another franchise that's going to enjoy it should be at least another decade of prosperity. It's. It's Nico Harrison. I mean what Nico Harrison. I don't know how much money that man made and I know that he is going to. I hope he's beefing up on. On the current offering of Nike sneakers or whatever because that man is going to return to the sneaker business. He is. There is no franchise in the NBA that he can go to now. There are no more jobs for him. In terms of a front office. How do you tell your fan base? Yeah, well even quietly. Yeah. We brought him in because he's got this relate. No you. No no, no. This is his last job in a front office. And I keep looking for the definitive economic impact like nobody's done the soup to nuts of. Of how much money it will cost the Dallas Mavericks just over the next five years. I think it's going to take much longer than that for them to properly recover because of what happened to Kyrie. But I. It's very. At the very, very lowest conservative estimate. It is a billion dollars. It is a billion dollars in diminished value for that Dallas franchise. When you think about the impact on revenue from. From attendance. Okay, fine. All of that is. Is getting walloped. The revenue that they're going to get there and over the air, you know, in their local broadcast. They don't have a regional sports network that they're on. They switched that. How are they going to get advertisers to pay anything to. For people right. Merchandise partners. How do you. How do you tell the. What are you going to tell those people? So on down the line you can go through six or seven or eight categories. The ways the team make money, the way that the teams have cash flow wallet just take it right off. I think the ultimate economic impact is going to be between a billion and a half and $2 billion. And think of how remarkable it is in this era where in every sport we look at them, we say the best investment that a rich person can make is in a professional sports franchise. Because no franchise ever goes down in Value this. Look at the alchemy he performed here. He took the golden goose and turned it into a gold pile of shit. Magnificent. That is the worst contract in professional basketball.

[Bill Simmons]

And we don't even know how much he makes. And he's number two in the worst contract draft. Yeah, I did something on my pod at the top on. On Tuesday, and I was thinking about it. Cause remember, like, when LeBron left Cleveland the first time, and they would do those franchise values every year, and last year he was on Cleveland, they were like the number two team. And then a year later, they were like 28th. And it was just. They went from being, like, worth, I don't know, a billion point two to, like, being worth, like 500 million. This is 15 years ago. If Luka wins the title with the Lakers this year, you could argue Dallas might. They. Like, this might be a. They have to move in the middle of night and go somewhere else. Like, just break leases. Like, like, who is the guy in the Colts? Or say, yeah, they just moved to Baltimore in the middle of the night one night. It might be a move in the middle of the night one night. I don't know how they recover. And the way sports is consumed now with all these little kids get attached to players instead of teams. And all these kids love Luka. I don't know how they come back, like, wow, this might be like a death blow.

[House]

It's tough. I gotta say, I've been one of the biggest, like, look, elements of wanting to move on from Luka were justifiable people in the media. Right? Like, there are elements to it, but I'm like, I understand why a team would say, you know what, man, this guy is gonna be problematic after we give him $350 million. The bottom line is trading for ad just. It just. You just couldn't. You just had to do something more or better than you did.

[Bill Simmons]

You had to get twice as much in the trade. And then. Even then, I'm not sure. Yeah.

[House]

And then AD goes. It's just like the way he framed it in the media was about availability. AD Goes down immediately the first game he plays. And now Kyrie's gone. Lively's gone.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, did you see. Did you see kids thing? Do you see Kid's thing about. He was. He took real offense that people thought it was the increased workload that. That hurt Kyrie's knee. And he's like. It was a fluke injury. It was like, dude, we've been following the NBA our whole lives. Like, this is Klay Thompson. Going down the 2019 finals because he was playing like crazy minutes and doing some crazy workload, and then all of a sudden his. His leg blew out. Like, this is what happens in the league. The more you put on these guys, the more likely it is they're going to break down. Dumbass.

[Big Woz]

I have a question. I have a serious question. Because that trade was immediately followed by the Lakers trying to acquire Mark Williams and then for whatever reason, having cold feet about that.

[Bill Simmons]

And when they backed out, when they shook out a trade and backed out, became the first team in 15 years to back out of a trade, it.

[House]

Was a smart back out.

[Big Woz]

They use the physical. Dallas acquired a hurt player and then got him hurt, and somehow he passed the physical. So I wouldn't, oh, I like this house.

[Bill Simmons]

So the better move would have been to back out of the trade because of the physical, because of the reaction. But now you've lit a fire on deluca. That would have been a better outcome.

[Big Woz]

You've also opened to the entire league the possibility that Luka's available. Let's see that auction. Let's see how the rest of the league responds to that. Let's have a proper. I thought there was a possibility. I put it in the text threads within the first 12 hours that there was, like, this crazy Machiavellian play. I wish that that's what had come to pass. But what Dallas did is, is prove to all of us they showed their ass in terms of their inability to run very basic downside cases, like, here's the hope for outcome. Kyrie's awesome. AD's injury is behind him. We have all these Giant guys. We're going to be good, and we're going to really compete this year. Then we have a window. But the downside case that any sensible, like, rational business person would conduct is what happens if AD's injury is lingering or, you know, can't be overcome quickly? How does that impact, you know, the rest of the team? How does that impact directly? Kyrie. What's our assessment of the injury risk to Kyrie going forward? Like, what happened to Dallas is not extraordinary. It's the downside case. But now, now the rational basketball response, the only thing that would make sense and possibly win the fans back. They got to throw Nico into the bushes. They got to trade ad.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, Nico needs to move. I mean, why would he even want to stay in Dallas now? He should resign.

[Big Woz]

Great point.

[Bill Simmons]

Here's the thing. I'll make a prediction because we saw this in 2011 when Cleveland miraculously won the lottery. The year after LeBron left. I, I just think Dallas wins the lottery now. I'm gonna bet on it. No, I'm gonna bet on, on FanDuel.

[Big Woz]

No. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Dallas wins the lottery.

[Big Woz]

No way.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Big Woz]

This is like absolutely not.

[Bill Simmons]

We gotta say basketball at Dallas. Oh, they got Cooper flag. Everything's okay. You don't like this idea house like 100:1 odds.

[Big Woz]

Well, I mean gambling on it and, and it coming to pass are two different things. Of course I'll gamble on it.

[Bill Simmons]

God. God. You took that, you guys took that so seriously. I'm up. I don't know how he's still on the board. It's. It's very reminiscent of the 2014 NBA Draft when he fell to three. Vince Carter was half man, half amazing. He's half man, half available. He's Joel Embiid.

[House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Five years, $299.5 million left by the end of this season because he's been scratched for the rest of the season. 452 games played. 440 games missed. It's a very sad story. I don't mean to sound so excited talking about it. I'm just excited he was still on the board. I'm just going to read through his injuries. Guys in college. Stress fracture in his lower back. Ms. March Madness right before the draft. Stress stress fracture, navicular bone in his foot. 2014 rebroke the same thing. 2015, left meniscus tear. 2017. Fractured orbital bone 18 finger surgery. 2020, right meniscus tear 2021. So we tore meniscus in both legs, torn ligaments, right thumb 22 fractured same orbital bone 22. Right torn lateral meniscus. 23. There's two different meniscuses, I guess in his right knee. Tore both of them. Bell's palsy. 24. And then this year they don't, they're not even telling us what the injury is. It's just left knee swelling. Management that now he's out. And what's weird is the left knee was the one that's only been operated on once. Unless they're not telling us about one. And then the right knee, which isn't even the one that's having all the swelling, has two operations, four years left. It's I, there's no way out of this. And we've seen with the big centers like once you keep breaking down like this, there's really no path back. And maybe if there's a path, that's 50, 60 games. Brutal contract wise. Why did they do the extension Will ever. Will we ever figure this out? Why did they do it?

[House]

I think they did it because it's like before he went down last year, he was basically averaging 35 points. He was having the best scoring season since Michael Jordan literally in like 1988, right? And so the idea being like, look, when this guy was on the floor for us, he was amazing. And, you know, even in his limited capacity against the Knicks, he was pretty good. So the idea is like, oh, he's going to get back to that form before he went down midway through the season. I think the problem for me, and what makes this a justifiable pick is that, you know, guys go down and it's like, all right, he's got an acl, he's got a pcl, he's got a broken fibia, he's got whatever, ankle, whatever. This is the problem. This is the procedure we're gonna do. This is how long it's gonna take for him to come back. It's gonna be fine. They can't even tell us what is wrong with his knee and what they're gonna do. People are throwing out micro fracture surgeries.

[Bill Simmons]

Do they even still do that?

[House]

Dude, that's how dumbfounded they are by what they can do to address the problem in his knee. And it feels like this kn nothing.

[Bill Simmons]

Left to fix, they said. So they do the extension. But then Bon Temps writes that piece right before the season starts about how Philly finally has their plan to peak in the playoffs, and Embiid says I'm never playing back to backs again for the rest of my career. That would have been my extension. Red flag. Call me nuts to just add the 3 million, 3 years and 170 million to a contract. I'm already worried about House, from what you saw from Embiid in the Olympics, would you have given him an extension under any circumstances?

[Big Woz]

Can you remind me, you did this outstanding podcast with the executive producer of White Lotus, David, David Bernad Bernard, and he described this phenomena. He said one of the best pieces of advice he ever got was from. I can't remember who the famous person was that gave him this advice. It had to do with, you know, you get inside of. Was it the monkey cage? What was it? It was inside.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, yeah. You. You can't. You can't get used to the smell of shit.

[Big Woz]

You grow so acclimated to the smell of the shit that you cannot identify that there's a bad thing, that you're in a bad environment situation. So for me, the problem with the Sixers goes all the way back to what I will forever argue was an ill advised and ill conceived return to the playoffs by Embiid. He wasn't ready, he wasn't healthy. We know this was right. He had a 50 point game in the first game in Philadelphia. I went up there and watched it. It was awesome. But he also had many dramatic moments where he went down on the floor and stayed on the floor for several minutes and then went to the locker room and then came back. That whole situation of him coming back to the playoffs and playing under the highest leverage situation in the shape that he was in with his knee in the condition it was in, and then you go from that to the Olympics, which are barely six weeks later. And even less than that when you consider the training and the USA team says, look, it's on the player to make the decision about the player's health. And what we saw from him looked like a competent Joel Embiid. Now. Well, he, he had some impact.

[Bill Simmons]

Didn't look as explosive. No. They used his size really well. But he, you could tell he wasn't 100% right.

[Big Woz]

Right. And so we come off of that and that's the moment when, when the extension is given after the, the Olympics. And Windhorse had a great story this week about some of the decision making and some, oh, they, they went, you know, the Sixers talked to every single knee specialist in the world and got.

[Bill Simmons]

By the way, that's a red flag.

[Big Woz]

They wanted the assurance. The problem with the extension is what the fuck was the rush like?

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Big Woz]

How about him just play the season, see what happens now? Maury said, then do it. Quote, that Windhorse attributed to him was like, we didn't want to arrive in the summer of 25 and have the uncertainty, the potential chaos of him going somewhere else. And my question is, why the fuck not?

[Bill Simmons]

Why not? He would have been 32 and had played 60% of the games in his career. I listen, I've known Darrell a long time. I think if there's a flaw with him, I think he wants to be liked by players. And we saw that with the, when the Harden thing fell sideways. And I just think he likes Embiid and wanted to take care of him and chose to see it as a glass half full versus a glass half empty thing. And I think the owners like Embiid too. And ultimately like that was what was so funny about last week when they're leaking out like this was Darrell's fault. Darrel did this. It's like the owner makes the decision that you stop, it's that one person is signing that extension and one person is asking all the questions and getting all the answers for it. But it's a devastating, devastating contract.

[House]

Let's just say presumably he plays three more years on this knee in 28, 29, he's going to be owed basically $70 million. That's tough.

[Bill Simmons]

We don't. There might be some insurance wrinkles with this. That's right, because we found out more info about Zion's contract as he. As the months came out, and there might be some wrinkles with this, but as of yet, we have not heard of any. And this just seems like a straight $300 million for a guy who doesn't seem like he's going to be able to play that much in his age.

[House]

30. What would that be?

[Bill Simmons]

31 next year. Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Woz]

If we were gambling on this before, like, what do you think is more likely he retires in the next two years or he makes it to that third year of that contract?

[House]

Oh, he's gonna make it to the.

[Bill Simmons]

He's making it. We have not seen. The only person we've seen retire is Andrew Luck.

[House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, just walk away from money. And that was seemed like a. More like, I don't want to put my body through this anymore.

[Big Woz]

Okay.

[House]

He's not going to retire before this contract is up. He can't. His. His accountant will not allow it.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay. Yeah, you can.

[Big Woz]

So 20 games a season out of him for the Sixers.

[House]

Hey, it is whatever I gotta do to make it to the finish line. And listen, look, I think Joel Embiid is a bit of a tragic figure.

[Bill Simmons]

A lot of a tragic figure. I mean, everybody likes him.

[House]

It's. And he is what it is really badly. It's just his body just straight up has not cooperated, and that sucks. But at the end of the day, he's going to have like $600 million in career earnings.

[Big Woz]

Yeah.

[House]

I don't feel that bad for the guy, you know?

[Bill Simmons]

Right. Well, how's it good? House and I are old enough to remember doing this dance with Bill Walton way, way, way back when. Yao Ming. Greg Odin. Sure. Ralph Sampson. There's been a lot of big dudes that their bodies couldn't hold up because just fundamentally, it's really hard for a 7 foot 3 person to run up and down a basketball court nine months a year and jump up and down and land on things. You're. You're playing with fire. All right, we're gonna take one more break, and then we'll do the rest. This episode is brought to you by the new MGM original series, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue. All right, here's one for the mystery fans. There are 10 passports, nine bodies and one deadly secret. That's the setup for nine bodies in a Mexican Morgue, the new MGM original series that'll keep you guessing till the very end. A plane crashes deep in the jungle. Nine passengers survive until they don't. One by one, the survivors start dying in brutal, mysterious ways. Now they're not just fighting the elements, they're fighting to stay alive. Starring Emmy award winner Eric McCormick, this gripping thriller will have you second guessing everything. Watch Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue. Streaming now on MGM with new episodes Sundays. By the way, great movies on mjn. This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Michelob Ultra. A superior light beer and the ultimate trophy. Win or lose, you're bound to enjoy the ride with a good beer in hand. Michelob Ultra crisp, refreshing, only 95 calories. A superior light beer. No matter the game, sport or season, Superior is worth playing for. So sign up for ultra [e-mail] courtside and you can enjoy some of these games with a nice beer in your hand. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2025 Anheuser Busch. Michelob Ultra registered light beer, St. Louis, Missouri. Must be 21 plus to order alcohol. Alcohol available only in select markets. All right, come back. W is up. There's one. One big kahuna still left on the board.

[House]

This is the last obvious. This is just horrible contract in my opinion, left in the league. There's ones. There's other ones that are like, all right, this is pretty bad, but this is, like horrific. And it's Joel Embiid's teammate, Paul George.

[Bill Simmons]

I honestly thought these two could be 12 in the draft.

[House]

No. Easily. I think so. I think you can make arguments for both.

[Big Woz]

We are in this situation with this worst contract draft where we have one guy who cost his team like a billion and a half dollars and another guy that costs his team $500 million. And both of those franchises are looking at a decade of pure effing misery coming up. Yeah. Amazing.

[Bill Simmons]

So Paul George is four years to 11.63 years after this one.

[House]

Yep. He's option in 2728 for 56 mil. Probably opting into that one.

[Bill Simmons]

I couldn't figure out a way to look this up because I'm not smart enough. But when somebody drops six points a game, just fundamentally, when somebody goes from 22 to 16 and they played. They're like year 12 or later. It usually does a comeback. I remember talking about this with Jermaine O'Neal 20 years ago. Who when you go from being a 2410 guy or 2211 guy and now you're like a 15 and 9 guy, it doesn't come back. And that would be my fear with Paul George. And they said something's wrong with his finger, but it doesn't explain the lack of explosiveness.

[House]

It's so bad. And this is the thing. I think we got to give cut Daryl a break here a little bit in the sense that last year on the Clippers, Paul George was an all NBA player performer. He was his. The Clippers on off numbers with Paul George on both offense and defense. He was their best player last year. He was a bonafide star NBA player last year. And he's coming to the 76ers environment just turned into a pumpkin. Like I don't think we could have foreseen this. This.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, we could have foreseen House. This is one of those. We see this in sports sometimes the you had to do it, but you didn't feel awesome about it as you're doing it. Signings.

[Big Woz]

We. We had this argument in October when we were doing the over under pod. Me, you and Rosillo. And I'm the only one that. That chose the over for Philadelphia. I own it. But I did understand the thesis. I understood all of the moves that Philadelphia made in their off season. It was a gamble. It was an all in all the chips to the center of the table gamble. Where that Philadelphia team, on paper, as we entered the season looked like it had the potential to compete. I'm not saying beat, but compete with Boston. Boston is the standard. How can we get put guys around Joel Embiid? The whole thing revolves around Joel Embiid's health. That is, you know, obviously the biggest part of the gamble. But the other side of the gamble is that Paul George will show up. The thing that the Sixers had done successfully in the two seasons leading up to this season is in those chunks of time that Embiid was missing, they could tread water and they were able to tread water through, you know, the players that they had. Paul George was supposed to be the Treadwater character, but that dude showed up. I will never. This will always be Paul George for me and I hope when he gets into the hall of Fame that they put this picture up as part of the montage for his legacy. Him putting his mouth on his wife's titty on spring break. You know, during. Right before the All Star.

[Bill Simmons]

I.

[Big Woz]

You know, the players that aren't involved with the All Star game are off on their version of having a break. And that man has the gall to put on his Instagram his mouth on his wife's titty. That will forever be the Paul George moment for me. That will. I'll always think of him under his. That's it. That's it.

[Bill Simmons]

Next year's year 16 for him in the NBA.

[House]

Wow.

[Bill Simmons]

The year after that would be year 17. And then the last year of this contract will be year 18. Not feeling great about it. And he's another one that's had some. Some physical stuff. Right. He's got the rod in his leg and all kinds of things. Well, House, you're up in the. And the. There's. I think there's one prime time guy left here, but we'll see if you take them.

[Big Woz]

Oh, interesting. Because now. Now I'm officially kind of.

[Bill Simmons]

You feel like the draft is dropped.

[Big Woz]

Yeah, I'm having a hard time.

[House]

We're at the drop off.

[Bill Simmons]

I think there's one good one left.

[Big Woz]

But let's see we can do.

[Bill Simmons]

House is already. It's round two, and House is already like flummoxed and can't figure out who to pick.

[Big Woz]

No, I'm not flummoxed. I know who. Who I want to put in here. And you know, I'm prepared to take all of the slings and arrows. It's Scotty Barnes. I don't like the Scotty Barnes extension. I don't like it what one bit they. They have. This is the thing. Right. And the reason why I'm putting him in at this moment. I know what I'm going to take from. From. From Toronto, the Bullets. I'm about to take from. From the Raptors. But somebody proved to me that he is not Zach Levine. Somebody proved to me that he is not Trae Young. The problem with paying a guy that's not ready to be the leader of the team. And look, you. You can say he's been hurt. Well, yes, he's been hurt. He's only into the fourth year of his NBA career. I don't want guys that are missing chunks of time the way that Scotty Barnes is missing time now.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay, wait, can we give the contract because he's on the last year of his rookie deal, which is 10 million next year. We're kicking in five years. 224. He's. You're not a fan well, he's, he's.

[Big Woz]

It's his worst year shooting percentage wise of his entire career.

[Bill Simmons]

So I've been, I've been saying this for a while and the Toronto fans get mad. I'm not against Scotty Barnes becoming potentially a guy, but they've been. He's been treated from day one like he's a future franchise guy. Remember, he wasn't in the KD trade.

[House]

Yeah. And I got yelled at a few years ago because I implied that he wasn't the next Kawhi Leonard. People thought I was insane and kept saying, look at his rookie stats compared to Kawhi. I'm like, guys like, this is not. I think Scotty Barnes is a really good player.

[Big Woz]

Me too.

[House]

I don't think he's anybody's really good.

[Bill Simmons]

I think he's a good player.

[House]

I don't think he's anybody's idea of a number one option. I think around the right circumstance where he would be de emphasized and just kind of just solely allowed to focus on his strengths and not, you know, firing up threes on a regular basis.

[Bill Simmons]

Controlling the ball at the end of game. It's that Iguodala Philly situation, right. Where it's like, all right, you're not really a number one guy, but if you're a number three guy on an awesome team, you might be awesome.

[Big Woz]

Tell me when he will make his first all NBA team.

[House]

Hey, he made the all star team last year. House.

[Bill Simmons]

He's an NBA all star All Star.

[House]

So he's knocking on the door theoretically on all NBA games.

[Big Woz]

Great theory.

[House]

I've never been the biggest Scotty Barnes person, but I don't see his contract as like some kind of death to Toronto's future. I think some of the team building they've, you know, taken, the actions they've taken in that direction I think are highly problematic. But I don't think Scotty Barnes is like some horribly overpowered.

[Bill Simmons]

I love it. House has replaced Trump as the number one enemy of Canada. I love it. I put the Conchuk brothers.

[Big Woz]

I put him where I put them because we've seen this, this song and dance before.

[Bill Simmons]

It's good. And you warned us about Bradley Beal. You've warned us about guys in the past. Scotty Barnes averaging 28 and 6, he's shooting 27% from 3 and the team.

[Big Woz]

Loses year after worst shooting percentage.

[House]

So here's what I compare Scotty Barnes to. I compare it to the deal that Wiggins got off of his rookie extension where Glenn Taylor said that well, Andrew Wiggins promised me that he was going to work his ass off in an off season. And so I gave him the max contract extension. Like, he hasn't put it on the court that he's worth that, but he promised me, he gave me his word. I think if Scott, I think I look at his deal like that. Like you look at the talent where they drafted him. The idea that they're just not going to give him, you know, a max extension, I think would have been problematic for their management. And I'm like, in a few years, can Scotty Barnes be the finishing piece even at a slightly inflated or an inflate or vastly inflated according to Joe Howe's contract, Could he be help a winner, like, elevate their situation the way Wiggins did for the Warriors? I think he could potentially. That's why I'm not so, so down.

[Big Woz]

When he's a fourth banana. Okay, I'll keep my eye on it.

[House]

$50 million fourth banana.

[Big Woz]

There you go.

[House]

I just came back from, from the grocery store. It's not that far off, I'll tell you that much.

[Bill Simmons]

He. He turns 24 in August. Listen, they need him to be a number one guy if they're going to pay him that kind of money. And I know how.

[Big Woz]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

How I like the pick. You used history some. I think this young guy might be a max guy. So I'm giving him a max when there's no actual evidence he's a max guy. And look at his stats. And his basketball reference page is really good. We have seen this go wrong many times. I like the wig and see too well, guys, I feel like I've already won the draft. I got Joel Embiid with the third pick, Kawhi Leonard still on the board. I don't know. What are you guys doing? Three years, $149 million. He's played 20 games this season. He's played 249 games in six years for the Clippers. He's played 15 playoff games. Yeah, when it. What is he, Cal Ripken Jr. All of a sudden, what is happening?

[House]

You know what's so funny, Bill, is that when I looked, I looked at Kawhi's contract, but I looked at it next to Paul George's and I was like, yeah, that's all that. And plus, like, he's been playing so well recently. I'm like, ah, but you're right though. It is.

[Bill Simmons]

I watched last night and it's like there's Kawhi during a timeout wearing a wearing A, you know, jogging suit. It's like, I guess he's not playing.

[House]

He just straight up does not play. And that's what.

[Bill Simmons]

Never know if he's going to play. You go to a Clipper game, it's like, oh, Kawhi's warming up. He's going to play. This is great.

[Big Woz]

I'll confess, I might have a little softer view on Kawhi, because at the end of the day, I think that everything the Clippers have done with him has been part of the wildly successful arrival of the Intuit Center. I think what Ballmer did was try and create a credible product.

[House]

Yes.

[Big Woz]

Not an incredible product, a credible product. And the way that he did that was he used Kawhi as the vehicle. It has been a gross overpay from really the, the ever since he arrived from, from the Raptors. Each of the let the two extensions were gross overpays. But for the purposes of what the Clippers are trying, the identity that they're, you know, they want to be relevant and the risk of him, you know, not being available was kind of worth it. Risk.

[Bill Simmons]

It's the fact of him not being available. So the case for. The case for this contract. They had a really fun Lakers game a couple nights ago, and Kawhi played, played 40 minutes, 13 for 23, 33 points, 10 rebounds, and looked like he was every bit as good as the.

[House]

Better than Paul George.

[Bill Simmons]

And that's why he did it. Now, if he, if you got it, saw a tweet tomorrow and it's like, Kawhi Leonard has been shut down for the next three weeks, wouldn't be surprised at all. And that's why for 50 million a year, I got to put them on there. 249 games in six years for the Clippers is nuts wise. You're up.

[House]

My next contract is like this. I feel like this contract goes under the radar because this franchise is just known for ineptitude, basically. But it doesn't get talked about enough. And to me, this contract just signals like everything this franchise is about. And it's Patrick Williams of the Bulls.

[Bill Simmons]

I had him on my list.

[Big Woz]

Interesting.

[House]

Like, this dude is going to make $18 million per year until 2029. And like, he's never been good. He's not good now. And like, what? There was no reason to do this. Like, they.

[Bill Simmons]

Who are they competing against? 5 years, 90 million for Patrick Williams. He's like a ninth man.

[House]

This guy has been theoretical. It's like, oh, look at the. The body and the three and d And it's just never, ever materialized. And it's just what the Bulls do. Nothing they've done, aside from finally, thankfully moving on from Zach lavine, makes any sense whatsoever. But are we even sure that they're even going down the rebuilding path? We don't even know if that's the case, man. But the. Patrick. As soon as they inked this, it was like, what are they doing? Why would you do this?

[Bill Simmons]

The Bulls are your. Your guy in your fantasy league, your. Your friend that you haven't Talked to in 12 years who doesn't really make any moves and then every once in a while will spend $58 in the free agent auction. You're like, oh, there he is. It's like trying to finish sixth place. What's this guy doing? I just like speed in the league. He likes being on the email threads. They're embarrassing. I. I had Patrick Williams, too. He's 26 minutes a game somehow this season, averaging 37% from on field goals House. And I've never. I just don't get it. When I watch them, he doesn't really jump out of the TV. There seems like there's 20 guys like him. I don't know why you would pay him. I think five years for 50 would have been kind of aggressive. I don't get it, dude.

[House]

For the season, he's shooting 37 and a half percent.

[Bill Simmons]

He can't shoot from the field, guys.

[House]

But.

[Bill Simmons]

Hey, how's your up?

[House]

This is crazy.

[Big Woz]

It's time to have the Terry Rozier.

[House]

Oh, my goodness.

[Big Woz]

Welcome, welcome.

[Bill Simmons]

Now, two years, 51.5 million left for Terry Rozier.

[Big Woz]

Look, on the face of it, 25 million bucks for a shooting guard that's capable of being a prolific scorer. It's okay. The problem is we have a sizzle reel from this season that shows him actively, actively undermining the ability of the Miami Heat to win basketball games.

[Bill Simmons]

It looks like he's completely lost his ability to play basketball. Because I looked up when they made the trade last year because I remember thinking, like, oh, getting Terry Rozier for what they gave up, like a first for him. I would much rather do that than give all the shit you had to give up for Dame Lillard, which included Tyler Herron. Right. So when they traded for him last year, he played 30 Charlotte games. 23.2 points a game, 36% from three. Yeah. And. And was playing awesome and was like, crunch time.

[House]

He was a good player. I thought Miami made a great pickup.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. This year his stats are almost half. He's 11.8 points a game. He's shooting 40%, shooting 29% from three and eye test wise he might be the worst rotation guy in the league. And I don't know what happened. And there's lots of theories floating around, not hard to find. But you know, it really seems like whatever there might be a scandal with him there might not with some of this betting thing, but it really seems like it sent him into an absolute tailspin. But they keep playing him as the part. I don't get House.

[Big Woz]

I wonder, you know, we can theorize about stuff that doesn't take us into uncomfortable territory. No team in the NBA has more double digit leads that they've coughed up in the fourth quarter than the Miami Heat. And I on the Ringer Gambling podcast just this past Monday said one of my favorite betting strategies over the last couple weeks and will be until the end of the season is to find situations where Miami has a lead going into the fourth quarter and watching them cough it up, they down the stretch in the last six minutes of the game have no apparent game plan. It's ISO to hero but Rozier's contribution to that and again, who knows, I wonder if they quietly went to him and were like, dude, we're really not.

[Bill Simmons]

Trying to make the playoffs. Well, so you know they're the 7 seed right now, 29 and 32, Orlando's 29, 34, Atlanta's 28 and 34. So they could fall to the 9 seed pretty easily if they wanted to.

[Big Woz]

The shocking thing seems like they want to.

[Bill Simmons]

They are a bottom half of the league from a talent standpoint. The weirdest thing to me that I think helps your theory, House, is why they didn't want Schroeder. Why don't they want him?

[Big Woz]

Great point.

[Bill Simmons]

Like they, they actively try to not keep him in the trade. It's like that guy actually would have been a really fun heat that would have helped you and now instead you're playing Terry Roger. I don't I've never seen some somebody who is not past his prime. Right. He was young. He's I think he was. I'm going to say he's 30. I've never seen somebody crater.

[House]

He's 31 on St. Patrick's Day.

[Bill Simmons]

I've never seen somebody crater where last year you're watching going man, Terry Roger, could he make the all star team to this guy is now the worst rotation guy in the league. Good pick House. I feel really bad with my next pick. Doesn't make me feel good I almost want to take a shower after. He's somebody I did not like for a long time and he really won me back over the last couple of years. I really respect him. I really feel bad for him. I feel for him and this is way too soon, but I have to take Kyrie Irving. He only has two years left at 84.9 million. He's not playing this year and I don't think he's playing next year.

[House]

Wait, is this for the extension that Nico Harrison is going to eventually, eventually give him this summer?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, regardless, he's. If he can't. This is. This. These. Kyrie, the ACL injury. When it happens at this point of the season, it's usually a season and a half.

[House]

Next season is done.

[Bill Simmons]

We saw it with Jamal Murray. In football you can come back in less than a year and basketball, it doesn't seem like you can. So basically he's not going to play again on this contract. And I feel bad, but I don't see a worse contract left than two years. 84.9 for a guy who can't play. So not his fault stuff.

[House]

And again, I, I do. I think Dallas was good. They were basically going to be over a barrel this summer and have.

[Bill Simmons]

They would have maxed him a max.

[House]

Extension for four years, which would have been kind of insane with a lot.

[Bill Simmons]

Of scary history for.

[House]

But now they squeeze a lot of that and so maybe that'll be a mitigating factor in the next deal. But yeah, he's not playing next year.

[Bill Simmons]

Wait, you're saying that a team owned by Patrick Dumont, who just traded the most popular guy in the history of the franchise since Dirk the Witzky, and then. And then talked all kinds of leaky shit about him after they traded him, would do something shady, tough.

[House]

He said he wanted them to exhibit the work habits of one Shaquille O'Neal. That was. Yeah, that was tough. Am I up now?

[Bill Simmons]

You're up now. Go ahead. Unless. Actually, let's take one more break and then you're. This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. During the season, every baseball team plays 162 games. It's a true test of endurance. It's not enough to have a hot month or two. You need sustained dominance throughout. Well, the same is true for your small business. It's not enough to have a great Q2 or even a great year. You want year over year growth that starts with better hires that'll be there for the long haul. To find Those hires, use LinkedIn. LinkedIn has strong hiring data and insights that you won't find anywhere else to help pair you with the best candidates, from unique skills and interests to the connections you have in common. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality talent. LinkedIn also lets you go beyond people who are actively applying. In a given week, 171 million LinkedIn members aren't actively seeking jobs, but they are open to new opportunities. That's a big pool to miss out on. If you're not hiring with LinkedIn. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com Simmons that's LinkedIn.com Simmons to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. I love looking at real estate. You could be in the market to buy or rent, whatever it is. You might just like scrolling around seeing what's out there. You might like checking out neighborhoods, then go into Google Earth and then checking out the overhead thing in the neighborhood. I don't know, whatever floats your boat. You might like looking at big mansions on the water in Massachusetts. I can neither confirm or deny. I've never done that. Whatever reason you're looking, I recommend the Redfin app. Redfin. It's gotten better every single year. It makes it fun to search all the homes for sale, apartments for rent in your neighborhood, filter for price, beds, baths, square footage, so much more. And if you find a place you love, Redfin makes it really easy to go see it in person. Schedule a tour right now from the app. Plus, if you're looking to sell, Redfin agents know how to get you the best price possible for your home. That's because they close twice as many deals as other agents. And with the listing fee as low as 1%, Redfin's fees are half of what others often charge, which means you'll have more money to put toward your next home. So whether you're looking to buy, rent or sell, Redfin's got you covered. Download the Redfin app to get started. All right, let's go. Speed round from now on. Wise, you're up. Who do you got?

[House]

This is kind of easy for me to be honest. And it's Brandon Ingram, another guy who? Nobody. They tried to trade this guy for two straight years. Basically, David Griffin was like, bro, we're not paying you a penny over your current salary. Like it's not going to happen. They fought and they fought and fought. Nobody would take this guy.

[Bill Simmons]

Golden State would needed a Forward, it wouldn't take.

[House]

It was like, no, thank you. Everybody said, no, thank you. And then, of course, like the Raptors, for reasons I still don't understand, traded for the guy, gave him the extension three years, $140 million. And then, you know, right after my guy, Jake Fisher is like, yo, they're probably going to trade RJ Barrett next summer. Like, like, what was the point of this? I don't get it. He's not a fit next to Scotty Barnes. He never plays any defense despite, you know, the physical tools in the profile. He's always just been a kind of like, give me the ball, let me cook. And not going to elevate a single thing around me. Hates taking spot up threes. I don't understand the trade. I don't understand this deal. Jerry is then basically.

[Bill Simmons]

Basically since 2019, to be fair, it's three years, $120 million extension. 120.

[House]

Sorry, not four.

[Bill Simmons]

And it's still awful because that's $40 million a year for a guy that they. That New Orleans could not trade for a solid year as an expiring contract.

[Big Woz]

I love it because it's a confession about how they feel about Scotty Barnes. So it's wonderful. It feels like it validates.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, it's a win for House.

[Big Woz]

Yeah, it's a. It feels like an extra win for me.

[Bill Simmons]

I also, I love putting a worst contract on here that hasn't officially kicked in yet. I think.

[House]

Kudos.

[Bill Simmons]

Kudos to everybody involved. It's on Musa Harry. Who? Remember there was that moment when it was like, could the Knicks just turn over the entire franchise to him? Is this guy the next. See the next guy? And he did a great job with the Raptors in the 2010s, but holy shit, the last five years. I disagree with basically everything they've done. I just don't understand it.

[Big Woz]

House, you're up this one. I understand the controversy surrounding it. I have to, though, put a bright light on Jamal Murray because an enormous, enormous contract for a guy. Remember where we are with him in terms of his injury situation and his execution. Our recency bias will tell us this guy is a mad killer when he's healthy. But the dude's only been healthy for about six weeks now, and I adore him. Next to Joker. I want to be very plain about this, very clear. I love the contribution of Jamal Murray to the Denver Nuggets. I'm very excited to see how this playoff shakes out. But his injury history class, he does to that to that franchise. What he does to that franchise when he can't play ruins an all time historical figure in the Joker. It takes so much off the table with the Joker. So when you're staring at it says five years, $243 million. That's a big. That's a big gamble. That's a big. That's all I want to say. That's a big gamble.

[Bill Simmons]

First of all, classic House backhanded compliment. Talks about what great fitty is. Then complaints about the contract. The extension was four years for 207.8. That kicks in starting next year. I'm personally fine with it.

[Big Woz]

How many games are going to play.

[Bill Simmons]

I had him way later in the draft. You have to pay the money you have.

[House]

He definitely made my list. But it's like you're the Nuggets. This guy's been a part of the greatest team in the history of your franchise. You drafted the guy. They love the guy. If the Nuggets make another finals run or two, I think this is completely justified to keep the ERA going and all that.

[Bill Simmons]

But.

[House]

But I'm not going to lie, Houzz. Some of these Jamal Murray box scores to start the season, definitely my eyebrow was raised for a while. The performance with Team Canada in the goddamn Olympics, that was scary stuff for me. But as of lately, he's dropping 50 on guys. He's looking.

[Big Woz]

I love it.

[House]

I'm feeling more confident, but I love it. Scary. When you think about his injury history.

[Bill Simmons]

I think House has moved into the clear number one spot for a guy who's going to take the most shit online from this draft. And I can't wait for it. I'm going to read you the salary years for my pick. Yet another great pick. I feel like I'm dominating the draft now. 43.827, $587 this year. So almost 44 million this year. Three year extension kicking in for 109.5 million next three years. That's right. The stifled tower himself, Rudy Gobert, I had him circled. So they had. This is a really interesting one. They had him at 43.8 this year and 46.6 next year. And they, they thought they would get all smart. They're like, hey Rudy, let's wipe out that player option for the 46.6 and we'll give you the three years 109. And then we'll turn Karl Anthony Towns into DeFincenzo and Julius Randle. And it's a reallocation of money. It's going to be great. So Rudy Gobert, who is having the worst statistical season he's had, is it fair to say he is unplayable in a Lakers series, an OKC series, and a Golden State series?

[House]

I don't think so. I don't think that's a play. Fair characterization.

[Bill Simmons]

Look, you think he sees the court in the Lakers series? You think he sees a fourth quarter?

[House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

In a Lakers series with Luka and LeBron in the game?

[House]

Yes, 100%, I think. I think Rudy was the anchor of by far the league's best defense last year. He was key to beating Joker in the playoffs. I mean, it was a trio, but Rudy played a major part in sort of like keeping Joker contained. They win that in a dog fight, you know, seven game series.

[Bill Simmons]

And then he got played out the court by Luka Doncic in the next series.

[House]

They justify it. They justify it by saying, look, $35 million, that's probably the going rate for starting centers. This guy's always been an ironman in terms of playing. Takes his, you know, his conditioning and his body really super seriously to stay on the court. I like, I understand the pick, Bill.

[Bill Simmons]

But why is that? That's not why they did it. I would be fine if that's why they did it. They did it because of the money. Because they. They are worried about how much money they're paying. They didn't want to pay Towns what he was paying. And they looked at it as like, we can get off this Randle deal hopefully next year because they'll have an awesome season for us. He'll go into free agency. Guess what? Julius Randle will be opting into the $32 million next year. So they didn't get out of that contract. DeFincenzo. They're going to lose. And now they're stuck with Rudy for three more years. And I don't know, man, they're going to lose Nas Reed now. Naz Reed is gone. Like, he's done. He's leaving. They can't keep him House. There's no chance they keep him. He is going to New Orleans. He'll go to Brooklyn. He could go to your Washington Wizards. He's going to be making $35 million a year next year and it will not be in Minnesota.

[Big Woz]

I think that Minnesota is going to find a way to keep him. I think that there's dinner right now. Yeah, dinner. That's great.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, Dinner bet.

[Big Woz]

I mean, he will not be on Minnesota next year.

[Bill Simmons]

It's not happening. He's not. He's not happening.

[Big Woz]

Well, look, I mean you, you just went through. They moved cat. Nobody had that on their radar for money saving purposes. I think they understand the value. We'll see it in the playoffs. I think the Naz Reed is going to make such a compelling case over the course of these playoffs if Minnesota goes anywhere. Honest to God, my favorite matchup of the entire first round is Oklahoma City, Minnesota. I pray to God that we get that as our opening ground in that thing. And the toll it's going to take on Oklahoma City sets up that, that matchup against potentially Golden State in a second. God, it's so juicy. But to go back to the point around Nas Reed and Rudy Gobert, if the Gobert extension was for the purposes of, you know, does it make a more palatable as a trade asset? But they have to do something to keep Nasrid and I think Nasrid will stay with Minnesota.

[Bill Simmons]

What do you think, Wes?

[House]

I think Rudy's going to stick around. The idea that they had a three center rotation last year is just an anomaly. Like you can't keep three centers who are basically paid their market value on your roster when all of them are basically kind of start a caliber. So I don't know, I think they figure out how to do, how to make the Nas Reid thing work. I just, I'm just not as disgusted by the Rudy deal and I guess I've kind of become a Rudy convert man. I just think a lot of the stuff he does gets a little bit underrated.

[Bill Simmons]

I can't believe this.

[House]

He's expensive, but I'm going to be.

[Bill Simmons]

Texting you guys when he's sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter of a Lakers series. Watching LeBron and Luka run pick and rolls wise, you're up. By the way, Julius Randle still available.

[House]

Another one. I take no joy from this, but dejounte Murray after this year he's got three years at about 32 per coming off of an Achilles injury and it's just, it's tough. You tear your Achilles at guard and you're like one of your main strengths is basically your athleticism, your shiftiness. Yeah, I, I, I'm not seeing it for him and the deal is tough. I, I, I, I think this is going to end up being a bad deal for New Orleans. Man.

[Bill Simmons]

Four for one, 14 for him. I mean it could be worse. They could have traded Dyson Daniels in the. Oh wait, how's your up?

[Big Woz]

It's mandatory if we're doing a worst contract draft. We've mentioned his name once but he has to officially be a selection is Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons has to be the Ben.

[Bill Simmons]

Simmons buyout you just think of anyway. Okay.

[Big Woz]

Yeah. You can't have a draft and talk about bad contracts. Rosillo sent a hilarious text this week. Watching him on the Clippers. Just making an observation around what seemed to be Ben Simmons instincts for. For passing the ball. Some of like just hard to really thread the needle in terms of what he was trying to accomplish. Where the ball was going.

[Bill Simmons]

At this point.

[Big Woz]

It's an honorary pick for. For Ben Simmons. For me at this stage.

[Bill Simmons]

I like it. You know, I'm upset that Patrick Williams is gone because this is right where I thought I was going to be able to get him. But he's not. He's not on the list anymore. I got to do a manual quickly. We got to go back to the Raptors.

[House]

Wow.

[Big Woz]

Unbelievable.

[Bill Simmons]

Got to do it one more time. He's in the first year of a deal that pays him five years. 162.5 million. And I kind of like Emmanuel quickley. Like he's 38% from three. He's instant offense off the bench. But his destiny on any good team, on an actual good team would be a sixth or seventh man. A bench score, instant offense. That's how you'd want to ideally use him. And you don't pay 30 plus million dollars a year for a guy like that. You pay like $14 million a year. You pay. The Celtics are playing Peyton Pritchard 7 million a year.

[House]

Well, he's paying him. He's on the opposite of a bad contract. That's an amazing contract they got for Peyton Pritchard right now.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. Right. That if we were doing the best contracts. That's when I'm up there for sure. I just. It's just too much money. If it was 5 for 100, I'd be like, all right. I guess. But when you're talking about that much and now you're basically locked into Barnes and Ingram and Quickley as your three expensive guys. Where the fuck are you going at that point? What do you think's going to happen? You're going to win 38 games? Like, I just. I honestly do not understand what Toronto is doing anyway. Wise. You're up.

[House]

This is pretty easy for me and it sucks. But it's Grant Williams.

[Bill Simmons]

This guy has three for 41.

[House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Still.

[House]

And he's just not an NBA player anymore. Straight up. Doesn't play. Just. Just. He's just done. He's.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, he. He blew out his knee. But you're saying next year.

[House]

Next year. He's. Even when he was. Was playing and he was getting ticked this season, it was pretty disastrous. Um, this was another. He was another Nico Harrison, sort of unearthing, just never. Never panned out. Yeah. Grant Williams. I think he's done.

[Bill Simmons]

All right. House.

[Big Woz]

Am I allowed to do a combo deal? Because these guys, to me, fit this. The exact same profile, and they are also in this. In this gamble phase.

[Bill Simmons]

Why would you be able to take two picks in the same pick? I don't understand.

[Big Woz]

All right, then I'll choose Zion because, you know, you can. You can imagine who the foil would be, who the other guy's name is. Would I say. But I won't say it. He could still be a viable pick. You know what? We. We need proof that Zion can play basketball.

[House]

For season, I had.

[Bill Simmons]

I didn't know where to put him on the board because he's technically has 4 for 163 left, but they have all these different outs for games played, for weight, weighing him, and it seems like a movable contract. I also think teams would have traded for it in February if they had put it out there. And I don't think they. I know teams kick the tires on it. I'm positive. And I think New Orleans was like, no, we need. But maybe this summer we could see something. He's looking. I wanted to work these games, though. I did, too.

[Big Woz]

I wanted to work.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay, well, I need a wet guy. And this is very similar to what I just laid out with Emmanuel quickly. Grayson Allen at four years, 70 million to basically be my ninth man. Like, yeah, he's shooting 43% from three. He's Sam Houser. He's in that kind of level of like those white dudes the Cavs have. There's a bunch of these guys, and guess what? None of them are making 17, 18 million a year. They're all making, like, three. They're making four. They're making two. They're making. Oh, man. We found this guy in the waiver wire. They're not making this. So congratulations, Matt Ishbia. You did it again.

[Big Woz]

I mean, he's making Austin Reeves money.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[House]

Yeah. That's crazy. He's making more than Austin Reeves.

[Big Woz]

He's making more than Austin Reeves.

[House]

That's correct.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm glad you brought up Austin Reeves because fuck the spurs again for not making an offer that summer. I said it that whole month, and everybody's like, what? Why are you just saying this because you want the Lakers to lose him? It's like, no, I'm saying because Austin Reeves is good and he should have gone. Now that's somebody. If he got a quickly deal, I would have been like, all right, little high, but I would do it wise. Who do you have?

[House]

I don't want to draw the ire of this fan base, but for me, it's the most a bonus. I'm sorry.

[Bill Simmons]

I love when you do this. You do this every year.

[Big Woz]

This is over. You do it every year.

[House]

I think the team. Teams limitations are based on their commitment to this dude playing center where just like straight up, you cannot guard the paint. Shouts to Doug Christie. He's changed up the game plan to make it just straight up. Everybody just packs the paint and we allow teams to shoot threes now. That's it. We cannot guard the paint with demonic Sabonis at center. And they just committed to it. And I get it. He gets rebounds. He's a great guy. I get it, all of that. But like, this guy is just not worth what they're paying him to me.

[Bill Simmons]

So they're paying him four for 186. It's year one of the new extension. Listen, hey, Bill, if you're another team.

[House]

And you've identified Sabonis as somebody you want, why. Why do you want him at that number?

[Bill Simmons]

Because I want to win 43 games.

[House]

Okay. Thank you.

[Bill Simmons]

I think there's a world where you could build an awesome team around him, but I think it's really hard. Like, you really have to put a lot of thought into every other player in that roster because he does have some limitations. But you're right.

[House]

Like, he's like the center version of Ben Simmons would have panned out. Wow.

[Bill Simmons]

Every year sabotage just takes straights. Who do you have? House.

[Big Woz]

I'm going back to an old favorite of of mine. This guy is near the end of his career doing a very distinguished job of helping franchise, you know, with a. With a tremendous talent, you know, try and see the best outcome. This is Damian Lillard time.

[Bill Simmons]

He's playing well lately. Wow.

[Big Woz]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

Three for 161 for Dame Lillard.

[Big Woz]

The problem is the amount that's left on this contract at his age and the history in the NBA of guards with his profile being effective. It's just really the end of the year thing. I said up front that I am. I'm glad that he's playing well because I'm glad for Milwaukee to be good. Yeah, I'm pissed at Milwaukee and our guy. Doc.

[Bill Simmons]

Doc, we're going to get to play golf with at Bel Air with Doc we got to say nice things about now you pissed off another fan base.

[Big Woz]

Well, I don't think so because he's doing what he's all that he can do there.

[Bill Simmons]

161 is. 161 is a gulp and wait for the playoffs.

[House]

You're going to regret this in the playoffs.

[Big Woz]

I'm trying to put it in the right category. He's going to be good. Milwaukee. I'm pissed at Milwaukee. I honestly think the portist drug thing was. Was a bummer, but if I don't think they should have traded Miles. I know that they needed, you know, some. Some cap savings and that Kuzma is a live body. But I will tell you, come playoff time, without any reservation or hesitation, a moment will come and Kyle Kuzma will have the effing ball at that moment and it is going to go badly. Is going Chris Middleton. I trust Kyle Kuzma. I do not.

[Bill Simmons]

Best of luck to the Bucks for my next pick. First of all, House has won the draft for pissing off the most fan bases. He locked it up two rounds ago. Oh, yeah. Don't be mad. The Dame fans. I can't believe this guy's still available. Three years, 66 million Kentavius. Caldwell Pope goes to Orlando.

[House]

Rough year in Orlando.

[Bill Simmons]

Leaves Denver Christian Brown comes in, is immediately like twice as good as he was, goes to Orlando twice good. Come on, man, Hear the stats. 60 games, 8.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists. Congratulations on all that. 31% from 3. Yeah, he's rocking the 9.0 PR.

[House]

Not what he brought in to do.

[Bill Simmons]

And he's playing 30 minutes a game. And you could argue if anyone playing 30 minutes or more a game, he might be the least useful player. And I know there's good. Look, he's a good defensive player. There's metrics. But great locker room guy, Great locker room guy, all that. But I promise you they were looking for more than what he's given them this year with this contract. So he is my pick. Wallace, who do you have?

[House]

Ah, man, now I'm starting to get into guys that I really actually like as players.

[Bill Simmons]

That's part of the draft.

[House]

This is tough. I think the Jalen Green deal is a tough one. Just the up and down, inconsistent nature of his game, man. Two weeks he's up, three weeks he's down.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, can we give the deal 1 for 12 and then next year 3 for 105 as an extension, which.

[House]

Yep. With a playoff season at the End of it.

[Bill Simmons]

And by the way, good content for us. Cause he's going to be in 58% of the fake trades we make in June.

[House]

Yeah, we try to get them a superstar.

[Bill Simmons]

When we get to jamin Booker and we try to, it's like, well, Jalen Green will be in it.

[House]

And I think the ultimate indictment of Jalen Green and the deal is that that Fred Van Vliet goes down and the offense just goes into the tank because they don't have a creator who can effectively get them into decent offense. And it's like Jalen Green, like you're right here, like you should be stepping.

[Bill Simmons]

Up here, does not create for. He cannot create anything for anybody else. That would be the criticism.

[House]

I really like Jalen Green.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, there was a moment last year when it really feel like it all came together and I have not seen it was waiting. House, you're up.

[Big Woz]

I can't believe this guy is still available, to be honest with you. And I, I'll, I'll take, you know, the criticism for some of my earlier picks, but Andrew Wiggins is still on the board. Look at this size. Look at this man's contract. And please tell me the next time that you think that he is going to play 60 games in an NBA season. Please, please tell me the next time you think that that's going to happen. He's at 49 games right now. He played 49 games last season. He is living off of a contract that was a reward for helping the Golden State Warriors. Second best guy in the totally reasonable.

[Bill Simmons]

You always forget to say the contract. Three years, 85 million. That counts this year.

[Big Woz]

That's a lot. It's a lot of money left for a guy that looks like he's lost some interest in. His interest in basketball has always been kind of an open question.

[Bill Simmons]

Except for the championship year, everyone's getting groggy. We're nearing the end of the draft and I haven't really pissed off a fan base yet. And I also haven't made Woz laugh hysterically with a pick yet. And I think this is going to be it. It's the most controversial pick of the late rounds. I gotta do it. Four years. 163 million. John Morant.

[House]

Stop it. Get the hell outta here.

[Bill Simmons]

Listen, it's the end of the draft. I'm just trying to get. I'm just trying to get value. Why doesn't he play? Why doesn't he play?

[House]

This was serving his body for the postseason, folks.

[Bill Simmons]

What's wrong? Shoulder now. What's Going on.

[Big Woz]

When I asked for permission to combine players, I wanted to do Zion and JA together because to me they fit the same kind of like, when is JA going to be able? Like, if the idea with him over his entire career will be to preserve him for the playoffs, then what does that do for your team? You're paying.

[Bill Simmons]

He's 25. What are we preserving him for? He should be playing every game.

[Big Woz]

He can't. There's no proof that he can, but he is.

[Bill Simmons]

This year he's played. He's played W38 games this year. He played nine games last year. He plays 29.4 minutes a game. He doesn't even play 30 minutes a game.

[House]

Conserving him.

[Bill Simmons]

They're very kid gloves bubble wrapping him and now yesterday he didn't play well and he's like, I don't know if my shoulder is going to be good the rest of the year. So now I have a fundamental shoulder issue on top of all the other baggage. Like, look, there's 10 teams that are paying that contract without blinking. I'm just flagging it. We're near the end of the draft, the contract. The numbers are pretty high for somebody who doesn't seem like he's going to play all the time.

[House]

Okay, not mad at it.

[Bill Simmons]

Who do you got? Wes.

[House]

This hurts me because he's one of my favorite players in the league, but it's OG Anunoby.

[Bill Simmons]

I was wondering when he'd go 5 for 212.

[House]

It's a huge deal with a guy who has an extensive injury history, especially muscle injuries, which tend to happen with, you know, a lot of overusage. Which, news flash, he plays with Tom Thibodeau. Ask Luwell dang about that. Love og. I love watching OG play. I love his approach to the game. But this is so much money for a guy who doesn't create his own shot ever. He's not some great distributor. It's like, man, this is a lot.

[Bill Simmons]

And he's a very good defender. But I will also say the Tatum and Brown aren't exactly quaking in their boots when they see him. And that was one of the reasons they. They did that thing. I'm with you. He's for the injury issues with him that always are lingering. 212 is a scary number. House, I'll give you one more pick.

[Big Woz]

Thank you. And I want to say this name so we can have a quick conversation about him. I'm going to draw a distinction between him and Scotty Barnes. I'm taking lamelo ball here and the distinction that I want to make.

[Bill Simmons]

See this is when the draft gets great. John Moran and lamello ball. I love it.

[Big Woz]

Well, here's the distinction. I think lamelo ball could definitely make an all NBA team and it could be like right around the corner. It's just not going to be in Charlotte and I don't really quibble with Charlotte paying him this contract. I think it is commensurate with his talent. But his talent. He is a loser. He's a serial loser.

[Bill Simmons]

You mean a loser of games, not an actual human loser.

[Big Woz]

Okay, Correct, correct. There is no proof to the contrary. He's never played basketball in this situation, a serious situation where his team has been a winning where his team has.

[Bill Simmons]

Been high fiving and shaking hands in celebration after games. It's a unique experience for him.

[Big Woz]

We're missing the winning component now.

[Bill Simmons]

Good win. I can't believe we won seven games in a row. It's never been said with his talent.

[Big Woz]

If he can stay healthy, another guy who can. You know, we keep seeing these nagging ankles here and there but his talent is such that if he was with the right situation, with the right coach, this would be an incredible contract potentially because I think he is supremely talented and I like his swag. It just needs to be redirected. So in this circumstance with this team, tough one.

[Bill Simmons]

I like it.

[Big Woz]

I don't think it's bad money. But you know what? I'll take his career over Scotty Barnes and everybody from Toronto can go ahead and send me poop sandwiches. I'm fine with it.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll recap the draft before I make the last pick was took Bradley Beal to kick us off house. Took Nico Harrison, I took Joel Embiid and then it went Paul George, Scotty Barnes, Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Williams, Terry Roger, Kyrie Irving. I felt bad about that one. Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, Rudy Gobert, Dejante Murray, Ben Simmons just in ameritis just has to be picked anyway.

[Big Woz]

There's a million bucks.

[Bill Simmons]

House just above the board. I took Emmanuel quickly, then Grant Williams, Zion Williamson, Grayson Allen, Demonte Sabonis Dame lowered Kentavius Caldwell Pope, Jalen Green, Andrew Wiggins, John Morant, O.J. anunoby, LaMelo Ball in the last pick of the draft only because he has to another guy. He's like Ben Simmons. He has to be in their house is so excited. Zach Levine 3 for 141. We gotta have him, Zach. Zach was outside the door knocking like hey guys, contract party.

[Big Woz]

That's right.

[Bill Simmons]

Hey, anybody home? Okay. I mean the. The case for that, even though he's had a really good year, is the Bulls traded him and didn't even get stuff back.

[House]

They got a hill of beans.

[Bill Simmons]

Got bad contracts from other teams.

[House]

Literally a hill of beans.

[Bill Simmons]

So apologies to the following people for not getting picked. Julius Randall, 2 for 64. Jimmy Butler, 3 for 159. Chris Middleton on houses. Wizards 2 for 65.

[House]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

Zach Collins, 2 for 35.7. Part of that. Zachary, how is he not in our draft?

[House]

Yeah, he should be. Zach Collins, definitely should be.

[Bill Simmons]

Kevin Herder, 2 for 35.

[House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

1 for 11 this year and then kicks in 3 for 47. Lori Markin and 5 for 237. I did look at him for the.

[Big Woz]

Last couple of hard at it.

[Bill Simmons]

I almost took him over Job morant. Gary Harris 2 for 15. Just had to put it there. Principal Buddy healed 4 for 38. Can't believe he didn't get drafted. Teams are trying to sign him as an undrafted free agent for the draft right now. Drew Holiday, 4 for 134. And another guy that got like a fucked up finger that I thought about this.

[House]

Bam. Adebayo. He's having a horrible season. Everybody thought this was going to be a breakout year, particularly on offense. That just straight up has not happened. He's got a sterling reputation amongst people in our profession, so he won't get killed in the media, but he's been a disappointment.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, we've hit the end. I had a wonderful time.

[House]

Me too.

[Bill Simmons]

It was the worst contracts draft. My favorite part is that everyone's going to be the Madison House.

[Big Woz]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

I feel like maybe the Memphis fans come after me a tiny bit wise. Who's coming after you?

[House]

Probably Sacramento.

[Big Woz]

Definitely Sacramento.

[Bill Simmons]

Sabonis. Yeah, The Sabonis hive coming at you. This was a blast though. Thanks to Ceruti and thanks Kyle and thanks as always. You can watch this as a video podcast on Spotify. I don't know why you would because you just finished the podcast, but it's also going to be available on the Bill Simmons YouTube channel. He listed a house on Fairway Rolling. And on the Ringer gambling show you can listen to Woz on group chat with Mahoney and Barrier on the Ringer NBA show. Great to see you fellas. Thank.

[Big Woz]

On the way.

[Bill Simmons]

Must be 21 plus in President select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + in President D.C. gambling problem. Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplianma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-87-7-8, Hope NY or text hopeny in New York.