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00:00with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, who joins us now in the River Islands guest line
00:04and did a hell of a sneaky piece over the weekend
00:07with regard to what the Warriors actually offered the Milwaukee Bucs.
00:13And yeah, it was a lot of draft picks, but there was something else
00:17that the Bucs were looking for, and that's maybe why the Warriors' phone call
00:21wasn't the one they were looking for.
00:23Hi, Ramona, how you doing?
00:25What's up, Mayor? How are you?
00:26We are fantastic. Can you shed some more light on that?
00:29Warrior conversations with Milwaukee?
00:33Yeah, look, they were four unprotected firsts.
00:38I know that everything they had, they offered, right?
00:44They could have offered, right?
00:45And I don't think there's the Bridges trade, the McHale Bridges trade,
00:49I think there were five, right?
00:51But in terms of, he's a much younger player, Bridges, and obviously Giannis is Giannis, right?
00:57But they gave all that they could give, you know?
01:00And I think there were some people, you know, the Warriors, like, there was even,
01:06is it four? Oh, that's a lot. Unprotected? Whoa, that's a lot.
01:09Like, that was even hard to digest, but the idea of getting Giannis was enough, right?
01:13To go that far.
01:15And the Bucs just didn't really, they didn't really gain a lot of traction there.
01:19Obviously, there was players in the deal, too, okay?
01:21Because the salaries had to match.
01:22But the players were not the, that was not the real incentive for Milwaukee to do the deal.
01:28It's really about draft capital.
01:32And I think that was, the sense I got was Milwaukee just was looking for,
01:38they're really looking for more, not just draft capital, but they want a really good young player,
01:42really good, like, and not just young prospects, like somebody who's had success already in this league
01:47and could be seen as a replacement star.
01:50In addition to, you know, one team told me they wanted all our good young players and draft capital.
01:55Like, it's, you know, it feels like that, it feels like they were just wanting, you know,
02:01a whole lot of everything.
02:02And the read that I got from most of the teams that engage with Milwaukee is that they're just not
02:08ready,
02:08they just weren't ready to trade in yet.
02:10Like, it's more of a gating the market kind of time for Milwaukee rather than we're ready to make that
02:16big decision.
02:17Yeah, a little bit of a trial balloon.
02:19And so if the Warriors were going to try to throw in salaries to even make this happen,
02:23did you get any sense on who those players might be?
02:27Yeah, I think it's what you guys assume, right?
02:29I think it would have had to be Draymond.
02:31It would have had to be, and by the way, I think that's the only trade Draymond was ever discussed
02:35in,
02:35you know, and probably one of the young guys.
02:40I think Kaminga would have been that deal too, instead of the Porzingis.
02:45Instead of that one, instead of that trade.
02:48But then you had to make the salaries match, right?
02:50So, you know, would it have been Buddy Heal, would it have been Pods or Moody?
02:56I'm not sure exactly, but I know the four draft picks that were unprotected that were in there.
03:01That's what the whole deal would have been about, right?
03:06And that's, you know, in the modern NBA where first-round draft picks are so hard to come by,
03:12I think that was surprising to folks that Milwaukee wasn't more interested.
03:17Like, there wasn't a lot of back and forth, a lot of counters.
03:21Ramona Shelburne, ESPN, is with us here on Willard & Dibbs 95.7 The Game.
03:26Okay, so you bring up the name Pods, which I don't even know if you're aware of this.
03:31He's such a lightning rod to this particular fan base.
03:35What does the league think of him, and what kind of contract offer do you think he may or may
03:41not get coming up?
03:42That's interesting. I think that, you know, he had a really high value as a rookie.
03:50He sort of over-performed, and he kind of came back down to earth, right?
03:54And there's been a lot of inconsistency, so I don't know that he is going to have a huge market,
04:01right?
04:01But there are a lot of teams with salary cap space.
04:05This isn't like in years past, you know, this isn't like the Kaminga market, right?
04:10But that number is going to be real interesting, Mark, because the Warriors have done a really good job of
04:16protecting their future salary cap space.
04:18I think there was a blank quote in my story saying, like, it's not an accident that the Warriors, the
04:24Lakers, and the Clippers, and the Heat all have salary cap space in 27, right?
04:28So whatever number they offer to Pods, like, that matters for that salary cap space that the Warriors have, right?
04:34That matters down the road. And I hope he answers that, you know, that Jordan Poole was a little more
04:42accomplished at the time they gave him that deal.
04:44He had a lot more leverage. I would think he's going to get a little more than Moody, right?
04:49But we'll see. See where that lands, because that's an interesting one for their future.
04:56And is he coveted enough league-wide to where he might be a potential, I don't know, sign-and-trade
05:03target if the Warriors want to revisit the Giannis question?
05:09I think the Warriors will revisit the Giannis question, by the way.
05:12I think everyone who was in on Giannis at the trade deadline is also going to be in on Giannis
05:20this summer.
05:22You know, before the draft. I mean, the big takeaway quote from that, from the piece we did, was the
05:28owner of the books, Wes Eden, saying, like, you know, we can't let him get to free agency.
05:32It's too much of a loss for us if he gets to free agency, if he just leaves.
05:38That's why it's important that you're able to, you know, to offer somebody an extension a year early, you know,
05:48and then you have a gauge on whether or not they're going to resign with you or if they're going
05:52to, you know, as a free agent, what they're going to do.
05:54I think that's a – but his extension offer couldn't come until October.
05:59So that's what I think is – it's going to be a really – it's going to be a weird
06:03thing to handle because the next transaction cycle is in and around the draft, and there's another transaction cycle in
06:09and around free agency.
06:11We asked about pods as the assignment trade target.
06:14I – in terms of where he would fit in, like, let's see what happens with Austin Reeves first.
06:20Like, I feel like that'll kind of set the market on that position.
06:27Austin's probably just going to resign with the Lakers, but he does have a market outside the Lakers, so we'll
06:31see what they do.
06:33We'll see what the timing is.
06:34I think that the potential of a Giannis trade is also just going to affect everything else still, just like
06:41it did at the trade deadline this year.
06:43We saw teams sort of hesitant to pull – the Warriors waited on the Porzingis trade.
06:46I think they had that teed up for quite a while, but they were waiting to see if they were
06:51really in or out on Giannis, right?
06:53And it wasn't until the last – the night before, I guess it was, that they kind of finally made
06:58the call, right,
06:59when they're not serious about moving him right now, but let's do the Porzingis trade, right?
07:03And that's how I kind of anticipate it's going to go again this summer for everyone involved in it.
07:09Yeah, so Ramona, with Porzingis now in the building and in and out of the lineup,
07:13but has looked interesting, I think, when he has played, how do you currently see the Warriors offseason shaping up
07:22in terms of their desire to have Porzingis back, or what else might be out there for them?
07:28I think they absolutely love Porzingis.
07:32He's like – he is the prototypical, you know, see-per-player, right?
07:37He's a perfect five for them, for that system.
07:40He's what they've always been looking for, a five that can shoot, that can handle, that passer.
07:46The question for him, you know, Anthony Slater and I wrote a story about this a couple weeks ago,
07:50is, you know, what do they really think is going on with his health?
07:54Can he manage it?
07:55Can they count on him?
07:57And I think that, you know, you now have a two- to three-month sample size.
08:02You know, by the end of this year, they'll have a better sense of what's going on with him,
08:06and can he manage it?
08:07I think they'll have a much better sense there, because I think they really like him.
08:11I think he's a really good player for them.
08:12I don't know what his market is outside of Golden State,
08:17because nobody knows if he can really stay healthy.
08:19I mean, he makes $30 million now.
08:20Is he going to get the same kind of offers on the open market?
08:25It depends on how confident teams are in his health, in their situation.
08:30But he's still a really good player.
08:31He's like the best healing raiser in the NBA, right?
08:35When you put his offensive stats in, and just his presence on the floor,
08:40to the Hawks, to the Celtics, to the Warriors, like, he just needs two winnings.
08:45So I think that matters a lot.
08:47But I'm going to say this, and I do think it is connected to the future of Steve Pearl.
08:54You know, obviously, that's probably something you talk about every day, right?
08:57Yeah.
08:58In San Francisco radio?
08:59Often, just, yes.
09:00Yeah, I mean, I don't see the worry, regardless of what happens with Steve,
09:04I don't know.
09:06I don't know where Steve is on his own decision-making here.
09:09And maybe it depends on how the season ends.
09:11Maybe it depends on, you know, where Steph's health is at.
09:15You know, what's going on with his knee, et cetera.
09:17But I don't see them really changing their system,
09:21as long as Steph Curry's on the team and healthy, and they're built around him.
09:25But Steve Kerr matters, and the reason they play this way
09:29and the reason Porzingis is as good as he is
09:31and why he fits so well is because they're running Steve's system.
09:35So, you know, it's just a lot up in the air.
09:38You know, you can't say one without the –
09:40you can't answer the Podensky question without knowing the Giannis question,
09:43without answering – without knowing the Steve Kerr answer,
09:46without knowing the Porzingis thing.
09:48So they're all connected.
09:50Ramona Shelburne here on 95.7 The Game.
09:52I want to go back to the trade deadline and just ask you about
09:55what you heard about the Chris Stapp's, like, market.
09:58Were the Warriors the only team trying to get something done,
10:01or were there other teams that were trying to clamor to get him on their team?
10:06I think there were some other teams that they –
10:10I think most people –
10:11he had an attractive contract because he's an expiring deal.
10:16Right?
10:16Like, I mean, if he plays for you, cool,
10:18but if not, it's $30 million off your books next year.
10:20So he had some other – they had some other teams,
10:23but I think the Warriors were the team that was going to give Atlanta the most.
10:28Right?
10:28Like, Atlanta liked Kaminga.
10:30They liked his upside.
10:33Buddy was sort of thrown in as a – you know,
10:35he had to make the math work.
10:36Right?
10:36But they liked Kaminga.
10:38You know, that's going to be a better home for J.K.
10:40You know, he fits there.
10:43But, you know, there's also a connected tissue between the Warriors
10:46and Hawks front office, right, between the – you know,
10:48I was the general manager in Atlanta, and he was with Golden State for a while.
10:54So they know each other really well.
10:57I think those were good – those were good trade partners.
11:01But, yeah, they had – they had more offers.
11:03But in terms of people that wanted him
11:06and thought he would really help them and contribute,
11:08I think the Warriors were the most aggressive,
11:09and they were the strongest – strongest suitor.
11:12Right?
11:12Because he just really is exactly what they needed.
11:15He just has to stay on the court.
11:17Ramona, I want to get your take on something
11:20that we're going to be discussing for much of the day.
11:22The Warriors have been very, very clear
11:24that they want to make the playoffs.
11:27There is absolutely no tank in their DNA.
11:30How would you sort of reason and compare, let's say,
11:35a potential first-round series for the Warriors
11:37versus getting a lottery pick in a stacked draft?
11:43Oh.
11:44Man, I would think.
11:46I don't know.
11:47This draft is so good, man.
11:50I just think, like, the way to get better in this league
11:53is to get a player in a really high-caliber draft class.
11:57Like, have you seen this – to me, the Warriors and the Heat
12:00are in very similar categories.
12:02Like, they don't – they never go play for the draft pick.
12:04They never give up.
12:05They always think they can pull something out, you know.
12:08So, um, and Sunday –
12:12Oop.
12:1518th or whatever it is.
12:16Like, they – you know, the Heat have found Ivan Hawkins.
12:18But Willis Podensky drafted somewhere in that range, right?
12:21Um, but I think, like, if you want to get a really impact player
12:25and another – another guy who could be in that – the role that we thought
12:31Jonathan Kamingo was going to be in, you probably need a lottery pick.
12:34Like, um, so I – yeah, I – I don't know.
12:38Unless – the way they're playing it, it reads to me like they're just trying
12:41to stay in it.
12:42They're going to be in the play-in, obviously.
12:45And hope Steph comes back and can create something.
12:48But what does that get you?
12:49First round with Oklahoma?
12:51First round with the Spurs?
12:53Is that – is that really worth it?
12:55Did Matt have a lottery pick?
12:57I don't know.
12:59Everyone really been that good against those teams.
13:01I mean, if Steph's, like, really hot, I don't – I don't know
13:03what that really gets you.
13:06Ramona, as I said, we're going to be – we're going to be discussing
13:09that a lot.
13:09Hey, thank you.
13:10Thank you for – for jumping in with us.
13:13Yes, I have a – I have a speaking thing in seven minutes.
13:16Nice.
13:17That's where I'm going.
13:18Well, then leave.
13:19You got to go, Ramona.
13:21No, I got to park.
13:22I got to – I got to park and then walk in someplace.
13:24So, I got to – I need five minutes to figure out where exactly I'm going.
13:27Best of luck.
13:29Crush it.
13:29Vaya con Dios.
13:30All right.
13:31All right.
13:32See you.
13:32There he goes.
13:33Okay.
13:33Ramona Shelburne, ESPN.
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