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00:00SF Standard, River Island's guest line, and he's on video, so hey YouTubers, check it out.
00:06Look, there's Tim Kawakami. Hi, my friend. How are you?
00:09How you doing, guys? What's going on?
00:10We're doing pretty good. I want to start with that team that didn't win last night, the Golden State Warriors.
00:16Your tweets, your article recently has absolutely caught my attention.
00:22We've been talking about it for a few weeks.
00:24Let me start with this. Can you tell the listeners how close were the Warriors to acquiring Kawhi Leonard at
00:33the deadline, and what does that mean for this summer?
00:36Yeah, I mean, obviously it depends on interpretations.
00:39I have heard for a couple weeks now, couldn't confirm it until recently, that at least the Warriors thought they
00:46were really close.
00:47And people around the league were kind of whispering about, like, hey, Kawhi almost was a Warrior.
00:53Like, I didn't hear it at the time, but kind of trickling out in the days afterwards that the Warriors
01:01and Clippers had some really serious talks to the point, as I reported a couple days ago, that generally the
01:08terms were met.
01:08I mean, they agreed to, let's put it that way, until the Clippers did pull out.
01:11Now, listen, the Clippers could have said, we're okay, okay, and then we decided whether it wasn't close.
01:17I don't know that that part of it, what the names were involved, that I don't know, and I didn't
01:22say.
01:23I just know that there was definitely conversations, and definitely the Warriors, from the Warriors' side, I think, at least
01:29for sure, they thought they had something going.
01:32The Clippers, for a while, had something going in their minds, and then they pulled out.
01:37And what does it mean for the summer?
01:38This is just the same general thing, but very specific names involved.
01:42Well, the Warriors are, once again, going big game hunting.
01:47There's definitely an intention to add one more player to this now.
01:51Porzingis is out there, too, so you can't quite say Porzingis and this other player,
01:56but I think there's some amount of feeling that they're going to have a real shot at bringing Porzingis back
02:01at less than $30 million a year,
02:03which is kind of the only way this all works.
02:06Maybe get Draymond to an extension under the $27 million player option he has for next year.
02:12Give him more years, more money, but less average annual value, and that kind of puts it all in play.
02:18They're going to go for Kawhi Leonard if his contract is void, and I know Clippers fans are mad that
02:24I'm just saying it.
02:25I'm not the only one who's saying that this seems like a very live possibility as a result of this
02:32investigation against Kapp's circumvention.
02:34Not the only thing that happens, but one of the things, theoretically, that could happen automatically would pop up on
02:41the Warriors' radar.
02:42LeBron James is the other name.
02:45It's kind of why I wrote the column like a week ago.
02:48He said Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James could be their two guys.
02:51There was kind of a reason for that is because the Kawhi Leonard thing was beginning to get known,
02:58and if it's not Kawhi, here's the thing I didn't quite spell out there because it gets complicated.
03:04The one team that I've heard that people around the league think other than the Warriors for Kawhi,
03:08if this all happens down this way, is if LeBron leaves the Lakers, they would have a lot of cap
03:14space,
03:14and Kawhi likes L.A.
03:16So that would make LeBron available under that scenario, and guess who would be interested in LeBron James?
03:23So this all ties together.
03:25The Warriors are going to be aggressive.
03:27They really – there might be a last dance field.
03:32We've been talking about this for, what, three, four years now?
03:34Yeah.
03:35It really might be that.
03:37Again, it doesn't mean it's over after a year, but they might really want to maximize next year.
03:42Or Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler back whenever he's healthy.
03:48Add a player, try to keep Porzingis.
03:51Is this a championship team?
03:53It's not far.
03:55I'll put it that way.
03:57Again, there will be questions about health.
03:59There will be questions about age.
04:00So what are you losing by trying to go after Kawhi Leonard and or LeBron James?
04:05I think Kawhi would be higher on that list for the Warriors if they could get him, if they could
04:10have that conversation.
04:12But somebody like that, if they can get him without subtracting Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green or Porzingis,
04:21this is what we're looking at this summer.
04:23It doesn't mean it's going to happen.
04:25It does not mean it's going to happen.
04:26I think this is what we're looking at the Warriors attempting to do.
04:28We've seen that they try to get, you know, you know, Paul George and I'm blanking out, Laurie Markkinen.
04:35They got Butler last year.
04:38Like, you know, Warriors fans can get frustrated, I understand.
04:41But they have not only shown the willingness to do this, they've shown that they can do it occasionally.
04:47Jimmy Butler was a massive move.
04:48It's kind of forgotten because you're not playing.
04:50I mean, they're going to try to do something like that to really, really put a line under next season.
04:57And you can understand why.
04:58How many more years were Steph's playing like this are you going to get?
05:01I mean, how many?
05:02This is all precious.
05:03This is all they'll never have this again.
05:06And so I think whether they're successful or not getting a player like this,
05:11they're probably going to get somebody, whoever it is.
05:14But at the highest level, they're going to try to do it.
05:16Absolutely going to try to do it.
05:18And if you put this into the last dance kind of prism,
05:21wouldn't LeBron James be a better fit with a one-year deal
05:24as opposed to having to pay Kawhi over the long term?
05:28I guess so.
05:29But you don't have to exactly fit the it's all over after one year.
05:33LeBron's 41, going to be 42.
05:35I think, you know, positionally he would be an interesting fit.
05:41Locker room, I don't know.
05:41Kawhi, you could say the same thing.
05:43Kawhi is the perfect positional fit.
05:45What do they need?
05:46They need someone who can go guard the best wing player on the other side.
05:50They don't really.
05:51It's been Draymond a lot this year, and that's not quite the best use of Draymond.
05:55And they need someone to go get a bucket, you know, against tough defense.
05:59And, you know, they don't have that other than Steph.
06:04We've seen it.
06:04We were saying it when Steph was healthy.
06:06We clearly can see it now.
06:07And I don't know.
06:09And they couldn't pay Kawhi $200 million.
06:13They couldn't.
06:13They just wouldn't have the cap space to do it.
06:15They would have the $15 million.
06:17Would Kawhi take $15 million?
06:18These are all questions.
06:19I'm not sure.
06:21But I think Kawhi would be the more valuable player.
06:24He's younger.
06:25Obviously, he could get hurt again.
06:27We know that.
06:27But LeBron's the 41.
06:30How much longer is that going to go?
06:32It's a question I would imagine they would take either player.
06:36But Kawhi is the one who answers the, okay, what really, really could fit if all the other things being
06:43sustained,
06:46basically counting, you know, saying Porzingis and Jimmy coming back healthy.
06:50Kawhi Leonard is, man, that is a fit.
06:53Personality fit?
06:53I don't know.
06:54Culture fit?
06:55I don't know.
06:56Health fit?
06:56I don't know.
06:57But if you just kind of try to figure out what they would do, if they're going to make this
07:02run,
07:02go guard Shea Gilgis-Alexander and go match up with Chet Holmgren and go try to take down Jokic.
07:10This kind of player, the value of player is Kawhi Leonard.
07:15I mean, it would have been Paul George two years ago.
07:17Kawhi Leonard is that version of that, I think, right now.
07:20Tim Calcami, SF Standard with us.
07:22Willard and Dibbs, 95-7 the game.
07:24Okay, let's say, Tim, they get knocked out at some point of the play-in tournament.
07:29They are in this very sought-after lottery.
07:32So now next year's first-round draft pick actually has a number next to it.
07:36Are they also rebooting the conversation with Giannis with first-round draft picks and maybe Draymond's contract again?
07:46Yeah, I mean, I should have said that.
07:47Giannis is always out there.
07:50I don't know if they can get him.
07:52You know, Giannis, the trade market will always be hot for Giannis.
07:56It might be a little cooler.
07:57We'll see.
07:58I don't know.
07:59No question.
08:00That pick, I was going to say, unless they get number one.
08:04But even then, maybe number one would be in the conversation and would really start the conversation if that's what
08:11is going to happen with Giannis in the offseason.
08:15I thought Giannis was going to be traded for the last two cycles, probably should have been traded the last
08:19two cycles.
08:20Milwaukee held on to him, so I'm always going to – since then, I'm going to be a little hesitant
08:24saying they're going to trade him.
08:25They should.
08:26They have walked up to this line in two – probably more than two, but really in two, the last
08:33two, and haven't traded him.
08:35I don't know what it's going to take to get him.
08:37Sometimes you have teams flame out in the playoffs that you don't think would, so all of a sudden maybe
08:42they're more interested in giving up an extra pick and two extra picks, whatever.
08:47But, yeah, I think that's the first call.
08:50Is Giannis a better player, you know, whatever, all these other things, a perfect fit for what they got?
08:56That might knock out Porzingis or maybe Porzingis would have to – whatever.
09:00But, yeah, I think Giannis would be the first call.
09:03I just don't know that they've got enough.
09:06They didn't have enough at the deadline, and now some other teams are going to have even more picks to
09:11trade than they had, maybe even more than the Warriors had to trade.
09:16It's going to be discussed, obviously, but I think that one – they might have had their best shot in
09:24February when some other teams had limited a number of picks.
09:27That's going to change as the year – as the NBA calendar flips, and Kaminga was a part of that,
09:35right?
09:35Is Milwaukee going to be interested in that kind of player?
09:38Didn't work out at that point.
09:40The Warriors don't have a Kaminga to put in a trade.
09:42Now they don't.
09:43They might have a pick, and NBA people are now starting to kind of like, wait a minute here.
09:49The Mavericks came up from 11 and got one last year.
09:53What's going to happen with the Warriors if they're sitting at 11?
09:55Like there's some – like it's like 8%, 8.5, whatever percent it is to get one of the top
09:59four picks, 2% chance to get number one.
10:02The odds are they will sit at 11 if that's where they are.
10:05But there's some gossip around the league.
10:08Hey, what happened if the NBA somehow got that pick to Steph Curry?
10:13One of Steph Curry's primaries.
10:14I do not believe in, you know, the NBA having an influence in these picks.
10:19But I'll just say I've heard it now a couple times.
10:22Hmm.
10:23Hmm.
10:24Wouldn't that be interesting if the Warriors got one of those picks?
10:26And if they got one of those picks, they might just want to use – these are good players.
10:29Like this is a great draft.
10:30You might just want to go.
10:31Let's just go.
10:31One of these players could produce immediately.
10:35You know, that's certainly part of it.
10:39And I think the 11th pick could produce immediately.
10:43That's how good this draft is.
10:44So that's all part of this, you know, evolving conversation.
10:48But, you know, the Warriors have some – as always, the Warriors have some things going.
10:52They have some plans.
10:54And the Kawhi thing surprised me when I first initially heard it at the deadline because I heard it after.
11:00Again, I didn't hear it during.
11:01I heard it after.
11:02But, again, an indication, a symbol of this team is relentless.
11:07It's very – it's restless.
11:10And they do have a finite – I mean, it really is obvious to everybody with Steph missing as many
11:16games as he did.
11:17And yet it's being as good as he's been when he has been healthy.
11:20This has got a ticking clock of all ticking clocks.
11:24Are you going to take advantage of it?
11:25Are you not?
11:25I sometimes roll my eyes at the Warriors fans screaming about they're not maximizing Steph's prime.
11:32They're not maximizing.
11:32Like, they've tried.
11:34Like, you can't win a championship every year.
11:35Guys get hurt.
11:36It's tough.
11:37They blew two lottery picks.
11:38There's no question about that.
11:39But they also won four championships.
11:42Now, with kind of a, like, kind of a gray to getting darker line at the end of this, maybe
11:51you've got to push it all in.
11:52Maybe you've really got to go, this is what we're going to do.
11:54We're going to go after this veteran player who might really be more valuable to us than to anybody else.
12:01And let's see if they can get him.
12:03And all that being said, and I think that you're spot on with the approach,
12:06Coach, can you imagine Steve Kerr walking away from this team and this scenario where they are going to probably
12:13try to go all in on adding next year?
12:17I don't think so.
12:18I mean, I don't think any decision has been made on his part.
12:20He didn't want to talk about it when I went up to him a couple days ago.
12:24And I get it.
12:24He doesn't want to be the story.
12:25But it's a story, and there's no question.
12:29He did say on the record going into the season, hey, you know, I'll make my decision.
12:33We'll come, you know, we'll think about this and whatever's best.
12:36He said, but you know what?
12:37If everything goes well, maybe I'll come out of the all-star break and we'll have a deal.
12:40That did not happen.
12:41And it's very clear it did not happen.
12:43There have been no serious talks to my understanding about bringing him back.
12:47But they know it's going to be a quick thing.
12:48If he wants to come back, they'll figure out a way to bring him back.
12:51If he's not sure, then, you know, what, do they have to pay him more?
12:56I don't know.
12:57It's all going to be in negotiation.
13:00But knowing Steve Kerr and his competitive level and his joy he gets out of coaching
13:05Steph Kerr, who wouldn't?
13:08And just the ability to say, okay, maybe we can get one more real shot at this,
13:15I think the bet is that Steve Kerr will be back.
13:17Now, maybe it's his last year.
13:19Maybe he signs a two-year deal.
13:21You know, with the understanding it might only be one.
13:24But around the Warriors, at least, the sense is that he will likely be back.
13:28Now, Steve, again, is giving no obvious hints.
13:33And I think he's preparing himself.
13:36If he wants to make the decision to walk in.
13:38Not that he has.
13:39But if he wants to, he's getting that kind of figured out in his head.
13:43He doesn't want to go down the road and go, you know what, I kind of really want to get
13:47out of here.
13:47But, you know, emotionally I'm not ready.
13:50Like, these are some things that I think he's got to sort out.
13:54But, and I've been wrong before.
13:56I did say I don't think Bob Myers is going to leave Steph Curry, and he did.
13:59And that was three years ago.
14:01But I don't think Steve Kerr is going to leave Steph Curry and Draymond Green in a locker room that
14:07he loves.
14:09You know, if he gets tired and he's worn down, maybe that's possible.
14:14I think that's the way it would happen.
14:16But I guess I could do another year.
14:18And this could be really fascinating.
14:20Now, if he doesn't want to coach LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, that would be different.
14:24But I don't think that would be something that would get in his way.
14:27I think he'd understand that this locker room had a lot of big personalities come through here.
14:32Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, you know, Chris Paul, right?
14:37We've seen a lot of these guys.
14:38And nothing's broken apart.
14:40It's been some interesting stuff.
14:41But nothing's been terrible.
14:44And I think he'd like the chance to go win it.
14:46He'd like the chance to go play in Oklahoma City or San Antonio with a loaded roster if they could
14:53do this.
14:55And I don't want to under-emphasize the Porzingis part of this.
14:58Like, to have the center, and again, is he going to be healthy?
15:01These are all these questions.
15:02That's how they got him is that there are these questions.
15:05But we're seeing how talented this guy is.
15:08We're seeing, like, this guy likes the big stage.
15:10He does.
15:11Like, he's a big presence in the locker room.
15:13And he's been in a really good mood.
15:15Doesn't mean he's coming back to the Warriors.
15:18Doesn't mean they can get him at a number that would make sense for them.
15:21Doesn't mean that he'll be healthy if he resigns from them.
15:24But I think that there are ways this could happen.
15:29And Porzingis is a really interesting part of it.
15:32TK, what do you think of the first week with actual games for Tony Vitello?
15:37Well, I've been really interested that he has not changed his lineup.
15:43Yep.
15:44You know, that's okay.
15:46I get it.
15:46You can understand why.
15:48Play it back to your head.
15:49He's a guy with no major league experience.
15:51What's he going to want to do?
15:52He's going to want the guys to know that he's not going to be a tinkerer.
15:55He's not going to be Mr. Platoon.
15:57He's not going to screw around with their routines.
16:00But like this, I wasn't like they were great enough that, hey, let's make sure Patrick Bailey is getting all
16:06these at-bats.
16:06Now, Susak played last night.
16:08We saw what happened.
16:09The Casey Schmidt at first base experience has been interesting.
16:13But I get it.
16:14I just did not expect it.
16:15I thought Encarnacion would have gotten a start or two at first base already.
16:19I would have thought there would have been some kind of moving around a little bit.
16:22There hasn't been.
16:22And I understand it.
16:26I think he is going to have, like, ideas.
16:30You're going to see his ideas is what I want to say.
16:32You can see, okay, he just did this for five games.
16:35I get it.
16:35I can understand.
16:36There's like a, I don't know, I mean, like a Tony La Russa to him.
16:40You can see, like with Shanahan, you see what he's trying to do, right?
16:44You don't even have to really ask him.
16:46It's great that you can.
16:47And he will usually explain it.
16:49I think with Vitale, we're going to see these things.
16:51Like, sometimes with Kapler, you weren't always sure.
16:54Was he doing something to trick something else?
16:56And what was exactly the logic there?
16:59Was he overdoing it?
17:00Was he getting, you know, the direction from Farhan Saidi?
17:04I don't think that's going to be with Vitale.
17:06I think we're going to see this.
17:08He keeps going back to talking about the SEC, and I know it bothers fans sometimes.
17:13And I think he understands that.
17:15He tries not to talk about it as much.
17:16But I feel like he's an SEC football coach.
17:20Like, there's messages he's sending just by the things that he does.
17:24And, man, he's committed to, or I is playing second base.
17:27He's committed.
17:28If Devers can't play first, he's going to play Casey Schmitter first.
17:31He's committed to these things.
17:34And this is normally the way you get the best things out of your players.
17:37Now, if they're not good enough, then you have to change at some point.
17:41But I understand.
17:42So he sticks with Logan Webb.
17:43Now, that wasn't the most dramatic move.
17:45He's Logan Webb.
17:45He's in trouble in the third inning.
17:47He's good enough that he's got a track record that he's probably going to get you to the fifth.
17:51But it was important that Vitale did that, and Webb pitches through the sixth in a game they lose.
17:57But I'm sorry, a game they win.
17:58That was the one they win.
17:59And I just think that we're seeing some larger themes where Vitale doesn't have to do the hit and run
18:08in the fifth inning to look at me.
18:10I'm making this game.
18:11Go look at me, control the game.
18:13And I think I respect that.
18:16We'll see if it means anything.
18:17You know, managers, what are they really, you know, causing the win-loss record?
18:21I don't know.
18:22But I think we're seeing those things, and I kind of appreciate that I can kind of think along with
18:26him in the bigger picture instead of going, man, he's just trying to show off.
18:31He's just trying to do stuff.
18:34And I think that in the long run, if they have the right talent, we'll see, is the way to
18:39play this with this.
18:40This is basically a lineup full of veterans.
18:43They've got to play.
18:44They've got to be good.
18:45But I get that larger theme from Tony Vitale.
18:49And to your point, it's Bailey back in today, catching and hitting eighth, and Susak after a three-for-three
18:54night back to the bench.
18:56And it just makes me wonder, Tim, do they have enough talent for any of this to matter?
19:01Is this team going to be good enough talent-wise to even make the wild card?
19:06I think, I mean, I've thought that for a few years.
19:09And they haven't been way off.
19:09They've been mediocre.
19:10But my sort of running theme is they've just got to be better than the Diamondbacks and the Padres.
19:16Because you're better.
19:16If you finish second and no Giants fan wants to give away the division to the Dodgers, but I'll go
19:21ahead and give it away.
19:22I don't think that's a major reach to say that.
19:25If you finish ahead of the Diamondbacks and the Padres, you're going to be a wild card.
19:28And if they had just done that in the last four years, they would have been a wild card.
19:32You go look back and look at it.
19:34That takes five more wins.
19:36Four and a half, four more wins.
19:38If you go crazy, eight more wins.
19:40Get to 89.
19:41I think they've got enough talent for that.
19:43We've seen it.
19:43They were horrendous for that one stretch last year, like late July into August.
19:48You take that out.
19:49I know you can't take it out because this is what your record is.
19:51But they were a pretty good team except for that terrible stretch, like a five-week stretch.
19:55They can avoid that.
19:57And I think they can.
19:59I think they have the talent to avoid.
20:00And that doesn't mean they're anywhere near the Dodgers or the Phillies or the Cubs maybe or the Brewers.
20:06No Giants fan wants to hear that.
20:09But small steps, right?
20:11Small steps.
20:12If Vitalo holds that clubhouse together, which I think there's a shot at, a good shot at it.
20:18If they get anything normal out of Devers, Adamez, Chapman, Bader, Ramos, like we know the names, I think they
20:28should be an 85-win team.
20:29If you're an 85-win team, it's about half the time you're going to make the wild card.
20:33And if you're 86, it's going to be about 60% of the time.
20:36And go up and down to 87, they're probably going to make it 90% of the time.
20:41That part I think they've got.
20:42Now, they've got to be better structurally throughout the whole franchise before they're going to try to take down the
20:46Dodgers.
20:47I think that's what we're seeing in the farm system.
20:49I really like what Posey's been doing with the farm system, adding these high-priced international players, just putting talent
20:57in there, talent which you can either play when they're ready in two or three years, or you can use
21:02to trade.
21:02And I think they can definitely trade some of these guys right now.
21:06Gonzalez, I probably wouldn't trade him.
21:10He's just one of these top, top talent guys that they have not really had in the system, other than
21:15we know Bryce Eldridge.
21:17And I do think Eldridge is going to be a key part of this, because I think he's one of
21:20their best five-hitters right now.
21:22He's not with the major league team.
21:24They probably need one more dynamic bat.
21:26The problem is he's a left-hander first baseman DH, and they've got three of them, probably, if you count
21:31Arias, which I kind of do.
21:33And it's also why they couldn't keep Dom Smith, which fans point out.
21:36He's a really good player.
21:37They just couldn't keep him with all these other left-hander first-base THs.
21:40But I think they've got to figure out how to get Eldridge up there, add a dynamic bat.
21:46I think then we'll say, okay, they've got some things.
21:49They're not as good as the Dodgers.
21:50No way.
21:50They're not close.
21:52Just get to the wild card, see if they can get in there and win a round or two and
21:56see what happens.
21:57And then you have these younger players to use as ammunition for trades when you really need to make a
22:03big trade
22:03or to really stock your roster in two to three years if they move up and are capable of filling
22:11these spots.
22:12This is what they needed.
22:13This is what Zaidi failed at.
22:15No question.
22:15He failed at that.
22:17And I'm beginning to see it really materialize in the Posey era.
22:21And that's what you have to do in order to go up against the Cubs and the Dodgers and the
22:27Phillies
22:28who are just frankly better than you and have been better than you for five years.
22:32TK, great stuff.
22:33We love it.
22:34Thank you so much, my friend.
22:36You got it, guys.
22:36Thanks.
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