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00:00out to the river islands guest line we go odyssey sports nba insider nick fridell
00:06insider calls are brought to you by hyundai and the all-new hyundai palisade hybrid hello
00:12nick fridell how are you good guys i wish i could be out there with you um you can be
00:23if only it were that easy to get from where i am
00:26out there lucas and i tried to work out the logistics but uh i'll have to get out there
00:32again once this warrior season ends i mean the warriors don't play till thursday we tried to
00:37invite steve kerr last friday he said the same thing i got in a car this morning and drove straight
00:42here i don't understand all these difficulties everybody keeps talking about where are you nick
00:47well i think in about uh april 20th or so right around then if not a little sooner
00:54i will be able to hop in anybody's car that wants to drive me whip was going to give me
01:00a ride too so
01:00uh we could have we could have had that uh on the way to the game but one of these
01:06days i'll be able
01:07to uh to see mr celebrini myself here uh just like the uh warrior second half last night woulda coulda
01:14shoulda so uh all right let's let's let's dive in and and before we go micro i actually want to
01:20go
01:20macro i was thinking about this today and i i want to get your response on this um because the
01:26chris taps porzingis illness thing is not some sort of shocking development they knew this the warrior
01:33we knew this the warriors knew that this was a possibility so nick walk me through why the warriors
01:41made the deal that they made because their their consistent promise over the last year and a half was
01:48no matter how things go with jonathan we're not giving him away for nothing and as i sit here
01:55today it kind of feels like they gave him away for nothing mark i think that the short answer here
01:59is
02:00that at least for me steve kurt's very honest sometimes i'm sure he would say too honest in his
02:07dealings with the media uh but when he spoke right after the deal uh was finalized the warriors as an
02:16organization and steve is the spokesperson on a day-to-day basis of that organization said hey
02:21look we looked at all the medical rectors we talked to all the doctors our training staff feels
02:28comfortable that chris stops can stay healthy and be on the floor so at some point there there was some
02:36kind of breakdown because there's no way you make this deal there's just no way you make the deal unless
02:42you feel that going in and he comes over he goes through a couple workouts everybody says hey he
02:49looks pretty good you know we we feel comfortable putting him out there he plays in that boston game
02:55and you're thinking hey this could work you know there was a lot of rust in his game certainly
03:00but mark for it to get to the point where it's gotten now everybody deserves blame here because this
03:09deal no matter what the hell kaminga does or does not do in atlanta to trade for a player who
03:15is not
03:16healthy enough to be able to be out there it's just a rough look for everyone involved so i don't
03:23think
03:23they would have made this deal unless they felt that they could keep him out there healthy on the floor
03:30it is a major setback for everyone but as far as blame goes i think it is all around because
03:37uh mike dunleavy and the front office everybody was consistent in what you said we're not just
03:43going to give away kaminga for nothing and the way it's looking right now at least in the last six
03:48weeks or so this season is unless kaminga makes or excuse me uh porzingis makes a big turnaround health
03:55wise that that looks like exactly what it is have we gotten any word yet nick as to whether or
04:00not he's
04:01gonna make the upcoming road trip nothing official dibs we asked her about that again last night
04:08and he said he doesn't know and i i mean at this point the reality for no matter what side
04:13of of any
04:14of this you're on with the warriors this is truly a day-to-day deal they don't know and that's
04:21about as
04:21honest as he can be uh in the moment so uh it's just it's really rough to think that it
04:30all of the
04:32the distractions and all of the possibilities that everybody talked about the deal finally gets done
04:39you have hope for the immediate moment of hey porzingis is a really solid player when he's out
04:45there but everybody knew what this was and mark you you touched on it at the beginning we all knew
04:50what
04:50this could be but now the worst case scenario is here and so what happens on this trip what happens
04:57in the future dibs whatever whether he travels or not at this point he's gonna need time to get himself
05:03back into shape of plane whenever that time comes to begin with so i i think we're a while away
05:10from
05:10actually seeing him if we do see him again this season and congratulations on uh you know being
05:17rewarded for a good answer with the uh the big air horn here at sap center well i have to
05:23laugh
05:23because in my old days when i would do tv the bulls when i was in chicago they had a
05:29lot of games in
05:29cleveland and the cleveland uh game ops department would see me down on their floor and anytime i would be
05:37down there at noon on sports center they would play all their video montages in a in a build up
05:46in a
05:46like a dress rehearsal for that night that night's game and they turn all the lights out so i was
05:51just
05:51like yeah whatever let's just fight through the horn at this point and see what happens i i i want
05:57to
05:57i want to chuckle at that but but you just made us feel very small nick i i mean we
06:02we uh we worked
06:04with people for weeks in order to get that horn to turn on at the right time and the next
06:09thing you
06:10know you're like i used to be on sports center in chicago at like i i'm you know what i
06:15mean like
06:15i i i don't know i thought hoity-toity yeah a little bit yeah just just throw the drip on
06:20for
06:20the rest of the segment here that's what i deserve after yeah i was wondering where it was great yeah
06:25thank you uh insider calls especially ones with big snooty ones like nick fredell are are brought to
06:33you by hyundai and the all-new hyundai palisade hybrid learn how it makes everyday epic at hyundaiusa.com
06:42hey nick did signing gi santos sure not a huge money deal is that any so trade jonathan sign gi
06:50that any
06:52sort of an indicator about steve kerr's future i don't believe so mark i've seen that opinion out
06:59there steve kerr loves gi i mean i know he's talked to you guys about him he loves the spirit
07:05that he plays with he loves that he continues to improve it really is a success story for
07:10player and for team but do i think that gi santos and his new deal is the difference between whether
07:17steve kerr decides whether or not he wants to continue coaching the warriors i i do not i would only
07:23tell you anecdotally the same thing we've been talking about since the cominga deal was finalized
07:29which is it's not just steve kerr it's everybody in that organization even if they really liked
07:35cominga there was a relief of oh man it you know it's over the divorce has happened everything that
07:42led up to that point everything that had hovered throughout the the first part of the season it's
07:47done and to jonathan's credit he's made the most of his opportunity early in atlanta although i would
07:53caution everybody who's going nuts over these first three games and saying we've seen this before you
07:58know he's he's done this he he's had really good stretches for several weeks at a time the question
08:04is could he consistently play winning basketball night tonight and could he stay healthy and those
08:09are the things that he's gonna have to answer with the hawks but he's off to a great start i
08:13just think
08:14that everybody when that deal went down internally was like ah so uh the gi not just promotion but the
08:24new
08:24deal i i think that that's good for the warriors as a whole it's certainly a fair price for both
08:32sides
08:32but i i absolutely don't think that that is some kind of harbinger of things to come uh with kirk
08:39what
08:40about for brandon pajemski who will be eligible at the end of the season to get maybe a moses moody
08:45type
08:46three-year extension where do you think pods and the team are as they try to avoid another cominga situation
08:54dibs all i can say with pods is having talked to him at different points throughout this season
08:59he really genuinely seems to enjoy this team and the organization i know that at least a portion of
09:08the fan base got all frustrated with some of the things that he said
09:12not just this year but in the last couple years but i think this is still a very good player
09:17i think he is
09:19developing i think he's got time to come into his own a little more the the real question to me
09:25is
09:25how much money does he want because if he wants big money i don't know how far uh they're going
09:31to go
09:32and you know what that looks like you mentioned moody moody took a a team friendly deal and he still
09:38is
09:38improving as a player but 12 million that's that's not that much uh a year anymore in the nba i
09:45would
09:45think pods is gonna look for a lot more than that but what that number is only he and his
09:51agent know
09:51right now so i would still lean towards pods being with the warriors down the line but it depends on
10:00not just his number but it depends on him improving consistently even more because i think we'd all agree
10:08that while he's certainly at his moments in the first half of that game last night against the
10:13clippers was one of his best of the year the issue for pods is that there are nights where you
10:18see it
10:19really clicking for him and there are nights when he just doesn't have as much of an impact on the
10:23game
10:24kerr really likes him that is clear the coaching staff uh believes in him he's just got to be able
10:30to take his game from the level he's on right now to a different place in order to feel good
10:36on
10:37his ability to continue to improve in these next few years whenever the deal comes down
10:42nick fredell is with us here on withered and dibs 95 7 the game we're at sap center getting ready
10:48for
10:48the sharks but also talking out the dub situation all right nick let's go back to kind of that first
10:54question that i asked you because um look let's call this what it is the warriors are in the middle
11:00of a pr disaster and so i i want to know what their options are to get out of this
11:08they can't control
11:09christophe's health they cannot control jonathan's highlight dunks and his play in atlanta if this
11:17simply turns into a 30 million dollar salary slot what are their options to recalibrate for next season
11:27mark this is the problem that the warriors have and i think this is where reality is hitting
11:33everybody involved not just in the organization but fans as they start to learn more about the cap
11:39and what can happen the warriors don't have that many different options i mean part of the the thinking
11:46with porzingis was hey you keep the slot but he's going to be a free agent at the end of
11:51the year why
11:52would another team make a deal to to to sign him what why are you going near a player who
11:58has the health
11:59issues that he has and continues to exhibit with what's going on so i when you have steph at the
12:09number he's at and he's not going anywhere you have jimmy at the number he's at and you know could
12:16somebody take his contract back and is an expiring in the summer maybe but the words have made it clear
12:22to jimmy hey you know we're gonna stand by you but he's at 55 million or wherever he's at and
12:28then
12:28you've got draymond at 27 or 28 million on that player option that everybody pretty much expects
12:35him to pick up mark as far as the porzingis stuff what happens we'll see there aren't that many moves
12:42for them to make frankly i mean that really is the biggest issue in all of this because there's only
12:49so many different directions to go when you have that much money in your veteran guys on the books
12:56already okay what about lebron i think it has a chance to draw an absolute bleep load of headlines
13:08throughout the summer but at this stage lebron is to me the second best player that's ever played
13:17but lebron is not the lebron that we've come to know for so long and for so many years i
13:25think it
13:25would be a hell of a fun storyline and i think it'd be really cool to see lebron and steph
13:31i just don't
13:33believe that lebron is going to be that much of a difference maker at this stage of his career
13:38to take them from wherever they're at to some kind of different place i mean even if i agreed with
13:45you
13:45there though nick like as we all know this is in some way creating um an avenue for steph to
13:53feel like
13:54he's got a shot at meaningful basketball like how else can they i i get it when people are like
14:00got to get younger well no not yet not how did you tell steph then that we're getting younger
14:05do you know what i mean like how else can they do that don't you think he would like that
14:10i think i think steph would love it i'm i'm certain that draymond would love it and we'll see
14:16how his contract situation plays out and whether his name pops up in the discussion of another deal
14:23i mean mark the other the next question though to any lebron question is okay you know anybody would
14:28love to sign lebron and and the the pairing is awesome what's lebron willing to take i mean lebron's
14:35got an ego just like everybody else lebron's coming here for the vet minimum i you know does that mean
14:41you
14:41have to clear out a spot for brawny too you know there are there are plenty of questions that make
14:49it a fantastic topic to discuss for stuff like we're doing right now i just don't see lebron at the
14:59very very end of his career being the type of player who puts them inside some sort of different
15:07conversation but i'm sure anybody who's sitting out there saying well let's just put lebron and
15:13steph on the same team and see what happens and then see what else can happen i i would just
15:18be
15:18surprised not only if it did happen but if the money and everything else could work to a point where
15:25you
15:25went oh lebron's gonna take a zillion dollars less to make sure that all of this checks out i i
15:34think it is
15:35really really fun to think about i don't know how much of reality is based in it though yeah and
15:42i
15:42guess he would be taking the chris stapp salary slot of about 30 million and just looking at salaries this
15:48year cj mccollum is almost a perfect match as is friend of the program andrew wiggins nick what about
15:56wiggins return oh god hi this is andrew wiggins dibs what are we doing to think of all the wiggins
16:06conversations that we've had through the years and to the idea that wiggins would come in here i i
16:13mean in a lot of ways guys the star power certainly isn't the same and that the headline making ability
16:20isn't the same but i think the impact would be very similar in that wiggins would help he would
16:27make them better he fits in the locker room he is very well liked what if you put andrew wiggins
16:32on
16:33this team right now is he making as far as the difference goes between you know the eighth spot
16:39the ninth spot in the west which is where they're going to land uh more than likely and wherever he
16:46could push them it's the same thing i'd say about lebron put lebron on this team right now are they
16:52fun as hell yes are they interesting to talk about all the time especially if steph and lebron are out
16:58there yes is lebron taking you to a place where you're thinking okay with healthy steph and healthy
17:05lebron we have a legit chance at at least pushing in the western conference i don't believe so and that's
17:13the biggest issue we're going to talk about not only today but for the last or for the next four
17:19or five months because they're again when you have the money spent the way that they've spent it
17:25there are only so many other moves that you can make so uh nick fredell with us how how willing
17:31are the warriors i know they've been willing but as things unfold here draymond looks to be in
17:37serious decline jimmy butler's acl not intact steph curry turns 38 in 11 days how willing are they to
17:46still talk about giving up future first round draft picks knowing that their core is that old and broken
17:52look mark i think they're willing to have any conversation that anybody wants because they want
18:00to do right by steph curry they want to give him one more chance but and this is where i
18:06caution
18:07everybody again for the next few months and in any trade conversation you could throw every pick in the
18:14world into a deal i mean let's use yannis because he was the focal point going into the trade deadline
18:21i
18:22think he's going to be the focal point again in the summer take every pick you got and then throw
18:28in
18:29any other player that you want basically besides steph yannis would make this team a hell of a lot
18:34better they certainly would be a hell of a lot more interesting than they are right now but yannis
18:40and 38 year old steph and whatever else you place around them again just for me i don't think that
18:49is
18:51nearly uh enough to get you through the top of the western conference and that is the the the puzzle
18:59that they're they're just stuck in it it really it feels like no matter which direction you turn i
19:05think they can improve the team i just don't know how they can get back up to that highest pedestal
19:13that everybody's used to seeing them on and when you have players at the age that they do at the
19:18money
19:18that they're at that's where this gets really tricky so mark i'm with you i mean warriors fans they
19:25care as much as any fan base in the league the problem is that when you start looking at the
19:31realistic steps that it would take to acquire anybody and how far of a gap there is between
19:37the top of the west and where the warriors are right now that's where i start to go yeah i
19:43think
19:44this season and how it's unfolded is a peek into the way the next year or two is going to
19:51look as we
19:51ride out the rest of uh steph and his career out here in the bay
19:56oh yeah thanks for the good news nick good talking to you
20:02i love you guys this is this is a pr this is this is threatening right now to be a
20:08real pr disaster nick
20:10i mean it is right now mark when you have porzingis not able to play yep and and just the
20:18absolute
20:20frustration within the fan base i mean you can feel it i don't know if you guys have been to
20:25any of these games the last week or so but you can look around it's just not the same inside
20:30chase right
20:31now there is there is just uh almost apathy setting in to at least the rest of the the six
20:38weeks here at
20:39the end of this season and again this is where you say okay well you've got a lot of competitive
20:45people and joe lakeup's going to spend whatever he has to spend to try and improve the roster but
20:50we're talking about uh huge money deals especially for steph jimmy and to a lesser extent draymond
21:00that are on the books and you can bring you know anybody you want in here uh from a gm
21:08perspective
21:08and i know the fan base is all upset at mike dunley he's not a wizard i mean he doesn't
21:13have magical
21:14powers the deals are what they are the money is spent where it's spent it's why the the salary cap
21:21in
21:21this era especially it's tougher to maneuver i think they're gonna try like hell to make a move
21:26i'm just telling you as i watch this team i'm not sure what that move is that makes you feel
21:34that much different about the place that they're in right now i mean if jimmy's healthy and steph is
21:40healthy and porzingis is healthy you feel a little bit better and draymond's playing at a different
21:47level than what we're seeing right now but jimmy has a torn acl and steph's about to be 38 and
21:53draymond
21:54just is not the same player that he used to be and those are all realities of what's going on
22:00with
22:01this team on top of the fact mark we started the conversation on porzingis now we'll end it with
22:06porzingis in that he's just not out there something's really going on uh and you feel for him but this
22:13is
22:13a business and they made this move and you've traded for a player that cannot help you on the floor
22:19of
22:19course that is going to piss off the fan base that has come to expect greatness from a team
22:26uh nick great stuff and we'll uh we'll tip one for you when the sharks score tonight
22:31i i wish i was there and i will be soon whenever this ends have fun guys we will we
22:36will can't wait
22:37thanks so much there it is that was odyssey sports nba insider nick fredell
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