00:00The NBA's free agent period kicked off with quite a few interesting moves and smart teams doing
00:13smart moves on the first day of free agency. So let's kick it off with the Houston Rockets as
00:19they add Finney Smith. I like this move for them a lot on both sides of the ball. I think it meshes
00:25with KD really well on offense. I don't think it is a straight line can fix the defense that they
00:30lose with Dylan Brooks, but it is still, it's a three and D guy. And one that I just, I think it
00:36fits what they're looking to do. I think it fits any kind of need that they have. And I think that
00:41you can get some really interesting lineups out of this. Like if you wanted to go like, um, Fred
00:49Van Vliet, Thompson, Finney Smith, KD and Shengun, that's great. And then you look at the second
00:56unit that you can throw out there with Eason, Jabari, um, that they have Steven Adams and, uh,
01:02I know I'm missing a couple of other pieces. Like there are, there are pieces that you can,
01:06Whitmore, sorry, that you can put out there as well. Like you have an entire second unit to feel
01:10good with, but you can also like Shengun and Adams. It was a rebounding, just massacre for teams. And so
01:16you can put, um, Adams in there and just slide everyone out, kind of Fred Van Vliet out. And now
01:22you have just this insane length lineup. You worry a little bit about Finney Smith being quick enough
01:26to guard guards, but Thompson can take the toughest matchups, um, and all of the matchups. KD isn't
01:32defensively what he was, but it just, it feels like there are just so many different options to
01:36mix and match with now. And we saw that out with the Thunder, um, how they kind of built a team that
01:42could work in all different situations to the point where they were just like, yeah, we're just going to
01:45adjust, even though we're the best team, we're just going to adjust to what you were doing and
01:48see what happens. Um, Houston feels like they're putting together a team that can fit all of those
01:54different things. So I'm really interested to see what this unit looks like. Cause I think they put
02:00together a fascinating basketball team with Imei Udoka being an excellent coach, being able to put
02:05it all together. It's a tough loss for the Lakers, um, that they already need a center now. Like
02:09this is not a minor piece that they are going to have to replace. The one advantage it does give them
02:15is that it now the NBA salary cap has so many different things, but they now have access to
02:21a $14 million non-tax mid-level exception and a $5.1 million biannual exception. So they can actually
02:29fill in some guys like that 14.1 that kind of screams Aiton to me, right? Um, so they can fit Aiton
02:35into that and now try to get Timu Finney-Smith out somewhere for the 5.1, um, biannual exception
02:44and hope that you piece something together with that. But, um, it's, it is not an insignificant
02:51loss for the Lakers and it's a really smart pickup for the Houston Rockets. Nikhil Alexander-Walker
02:57goes to the Atlanta Hawks four years, $62 million, a strong off season continues. I think this is
03:03maybe it's, it feels like a touch of an overpay. I think if you, if I like actually took a beat to
03:09look at some of the other contracts that are out there, it probably is in line with a few guys who
03:14around his talent level anyway. But, um, if you don't look at the contract part of it and just
03:20look at the roster, like they are building something here with, um, again, starting unit,
03:25depending on health and what you want to do, what would trade Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, KP
03:30and Okongwu, you have Risa Shea in there as well. Now Nikhil Alexander-Walker with, uh, just over $15
03:37million coming off the bench, being productive in that sort of a way as well. I think that maybe you
03:42would want a little bit more productive depth that you can throw out there, but as far as starting
03:47sevens go, that is one of the better ones you can put out in the Eastern Conference right now.
03:53The Denver Nuggets make a couple of big splashes as they trade Michael Porter Jr. to Brooklyn for
03:59Cam Johnson. Then they sign Bruce Brown to a one-year deal. This is a team that desperately needed
04:04NBA level talent to play on their basketball team. And so I am, we know Bruce Brown can fit
04:12on this team. Like that is obvious. And to be able to turn MPJ into Cam Johnson, who like, you know,
04:19good stats, bad team sort of a thing, but to now see how he will fit in either playing with Jokic
04:24or just running the second unit on his own. I, I think that this is a very fascinating move
04:30for Denver and one that I do think checks a few boxes and it just kind of, you're basically doing
04:38a one for two. And some, we talked about it in hockey earlier. You don't, it is tough to make
04:45four quarters equal a dollar with that. But I think in this case for a team that like, yes,
04:49like I don't think either of the guys here at their peak are as good as MPJ is at his peak.
04:55Although again, injuries and all of that aside, but I, I do think that for what they needed,
05:02where they just needed more actual basketball players that you trust in any moments to check
05:11that box is a very, very good job. I think for the Nuggets on the Brooklyn side, like MPJ is a
05:17tantalizing player. I, I fear with his health issues. I feel with him being wildly inconsistent
05:23that having him be kind of the guy now in Brooklyn, I'm not overly optimistic. I, I will, I will put it
05:33that way. Uh, Jordan Clarkson goes to the Knicks. Uh, this is a fantastic depth scoring option for New
05:38York. Again, this was another team that just needed NBA talent to be able to come off of the
05:43bench. And he helps that immensely right away. This is like just basically the exact type of a
05:50player I think that they needed coming off of their bench. And we will see what the coaching
05:55situation is, but this, this, this is the type of move that the Knicks needed to be doing. And this
06:02is a great pivot in not getting Kevin Durant or maybe Giannis not even being available or anything
06:07like that to be able to go out and make this type of a move, I think is very, very smart work by the
06:12New York Knicks. Um, just a reminder, um, wherever you are consuming this, whether it is podcast form
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06:38tip jar that is available on any of the pages to check out the description. Let's get back to the
06:44basketball as D'Angelo Russell is going to the Dallas Mavericks. It's a two year, $13 million deal.
06:49It is a very inexpensive move for the Mavericks. And I think like if you get his best case scenario,
06:54this is an excellent pivot with Kyrie Irving, uh, Irving dealing with an injury. And then we talk
07:00about what Dallas looks like, where again, you go kind of seven, eight deep and you really like what
07:05they are starting to put together. If the bad D'Angelo shows up, this can be a little bit tricky
07:10when you are kind of handing the keys of the car to that guy. And by the way, uh, Cooper Flagg is the
07:16most important prospect we've had in a little bit. Uh, and the last important prospect that we had
07:20took us to the NBA finals, then we traded him for no good goddamn reason. But, uh, this
07:24gets kind of important to making people forget about that other one. So, um, if you could not
07:29screw this up entirely, that would be great. And that is a lot to put on, um, D'Angelo Russell and
07:33to just hope that there is some consistency that finds its way through there. A couple other moves
07:39that caught my eye, Ty Jerome to Memphis, three years, $28 million deal, maybe a little bit more
07:44offensive responsibility with this team than he had in Cleveland, but there were some real sparks in
07:48Cleveland that looked very interesting. And so I'm, I'm interested to see what he does with more
07:53responsibility and, uh, a little bit more weight on the shoulders, given Memphis, the moves that
07:58they have made here this off season. Luke Cornett adding some really good forward depth for the
08:03Spurs. Four years might be a little bit long, but four years, $41 million. I think it's fine.
08:07It is, um, a good depth move for them, um, behind Victor Weminyama, who we are all expecting to be
08:15back, uh, living like a monk now, apparently. But, I mean, you look at him and you are very, it would
08:21not take a whole lot to say, oh yeah, no, there could be health problems here. So, some very, very
08:26strong usable depth going behind him. Brooke Lopez to the Clippers, a really good depth center signing
08:32behind Zub, and something that can kind of help a second unit out there for the Clippers. If nothing
08:37else, it is five more fouls you can throw at Jokic in a playoff game. And Karis Levert goes to the
08:43Pistons. They're dealing with a unique situation, as Malik Beasley was a pretty strong secondary option
08:48for them. Now, he's involved in a gambling scandal, and so that's not a contract that's going to be
08:53happening for them. I was higher on Beasley than some, um, but I, and I'm also very high on Levert, and I
09:00think much higher on him than others as well. But I think this is a very good pivot, pretty good counter
09:05to what was happening with a couple of their bench players. So, that is the story from NBA Free Agency.
09:12Keep it locked here on Couch Potato Diary. Make sure you hit that subscribe button, as we're going to be
09:16breaking down, um, a lot more from basketball's offseason, as some of the big moves keep happening.
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