00:00You know who one of the people I talk to about this that really enjoys the pickup is our good
00:04buddy Kevin Gray, A.G.
00:06He likes it a lot, and one of the things that we were kicking around that I am pretty excited
00:13about is
00:14you look at some of the draft picks that he has made, right?
00:19So, he traded DeMar DeRozan to pick up Kawhi Leonard.
00:25Obviously, picking up Kawhi Leonard was the key to that 2019 championship.
00:30But the No. 2 scorer on that team was Pascal Siakam, who was picked up 27th in the 2016 draft,
00:41went on to become a four-time All-Star.
00:43O.G. Ananobi, 23rd pick.
00:48Free agent, undrafted free agent on that team?
00:50Yes.
00:51Fred Van Vliet.
00:51Yeah, that's right.
00:52And so, for Ananobi, and so, with Fred Van Vliet and Siakam, obviously, you have people who can score as
01:03well.
01:04And O.G. Ananobi, who was taken with the 23rd pick, he became a very good defender.
01:10And so, at a time where I know you have a lottery pick, but you also have OKC's pick in
01:14this draft,
01:15this is the kind of person that I am kind of excited that they've got picked up
01:19because of the potential of a late first round, like, a gem that they could pick up.
01:24So, you're saying that he has kind of a vision.
01:28For sure.
01:29He knows what he wants to accomplish as soon as he walks into the door.
01:32Yep.
01:33He walks in the door of that place and says,
01:35I need a couple of these things, and there's some dirty work that needs to be done.
01:39Pascal Siakam will do dirty work, but can score also.
01:42For sure.
01:43Van Vliet kind of gives you that point guard option that, you know, really is a point guard guy.
01:49But then he makes that look of, I need a transcendent player, and I'm willing to trade the house for
01:58it.
01:58Kevin, when you look at this roster right now, is it constructed in the way that you have the dirty
02:04work dudes,
02:05but you also have the transcendent player?
02:08Is Cooper Flagg the transcendent player?
02:10Is he the Kawhi?
02:13I personally think he is, and I think the scenarios are very fascinating, right?
02:18Because you've seen plenty of people comp out, high-end comp out Cooper Flagg to be Kawhi Leonard,
02:25just in terms of his versatility, scoring ability, and defensive versatility.
02:30So I like it that it's not even, like, star for star.
02:34It's, oh yeah, no, they could be the same player, potentially.
02:37Yeah, and obviously Kawhi's game, you know, got very precise and extremely good.
02:42Potentially, yeah.
02:43And the moments that he lived in, too.
02:45He's already been there.
02:46Cooper hasn't been there yet.
02:47We'll see how he responds to those moments.
02:49But the rest of the thing, I think now he's, like, that's what he needs to be tasked with,
02:54is finding those other pieces, because he might already have that piece in place.
02:58But he also, again, I'm sorry, he also has somebody who, as you just said,
03:03is that talented and willing to do the work, willing to do the defensive stuff.
03:08And I think that's what made Kawhi good.
03:10Obviously, not playing was the tough part, but he was willing to do those things
03:14so nobody else in the team had an excuse not to.
03:17And you look at the buildup of the Denver team, in addition to that,
03:22the buildup of the Denver team is obviously what led him to be executive of the year.
03:26But I totally understand if you don't want to talk about our new decision-maker
03:31being the executive of the year 13 years ago.
03:34That's fine.
03:35I accept that.
03:36And just like a lot of people, I probably just wince a little bit when you're like,
03:40yeah, he was an executive of the year.
03:41And you're like, that was 13 years ago.
03:43But I hear what you're saying.
03:44I'd much rather focus on, like, the Raptors and the championship buildup there and everything.
03:49So, you just brought up a term that I think is a great one, vision.
03:55And this is probably unfair to some people involved.
04:00I think it's more directed at people like Nico.
04:04I've seen multiple people who are like, now you have a grown-up in the room
04:08to take charge and make the decisions.
04:10And again, I don't necessarily think that they're talking so much about Finley or Riccardi.
04:16I think that is still directed at Nico Harrison.
04:20Now, his press conference is going to be later today.
04:22And this might not be the way he wants to say it,
04:27but we were talking about this with Bobby in the hall.
04:29If somebody asked him about it, which kind of feels inevitable, right,
04:34about the Luka trade, how much goodwill would he get with this community
04:39if he was like, I was shocked.
04:40That was one of the most foolish basketball things I've ever seen.
04:45And maybe it's not a great idea, but strictly in the business world,
04:49but strictly for the fan base, don't you think the fan base would be like,
04:51I love him?
04:53Yes.
04:55And I'm trying to figure out, because if he just said,
04:59I had nothing to do with that.
05:01Which is a valid answer.
05:03And there's no reason for me to even talk about it,
05:06because we're about to turn this Mavericks organization.
05:08If he did that, I'd still be happy with it, too.
05:10I got it.
05:11But I understand trying to get back the fans that you lost.
05:14That's like the sugar, right?
05:16Like, you're talking about eating a healthy diet.
05:18But the sugar part would just be, oh my god, it was so stupid.
05:22Why did they do that?
05:23He doesn't ever have to address it.
05:25Ever.
05:25For sure.
05:26Because I don't know how many, but did Mark Cuban ever address,
05:30I don't know, the Mark Aguirre situation?
05:33I was going to say, it feels like the answer is yes.
05:35Probably, yeah.
05:36Mark Cuban was like, yes, I'll talk about whatever you like.
05:39But that does make, I would, that would be cool.
05:43Because you also have a person who has respect around the rest of the league, too,
05:48that's kind of commenting on that.
05:50So I see what you're saying there.
05:51But the grown-up in the room part, Kevin, that line right there,
05:55somebody who's willing to say yes and no, no, we aren't going to do that,
06:00this is why, and has the idea of what he wants and wants to accomplish,
06:04and isn't just kind of spoon-feeding a lot of people around him.
06:08He's just like, here's the leadership, follow me if you want to go there.
06:11I know what I'm doing.
06:13And it's not, well, I've got to go have some learning bumps along the way.
06:17And he's not afraid of being a wheeler and a dealer,
06:19which is kind of exciting, but at the same point, especially...
06:24Because your face, everything in this room might look different.
06:27And you could see how that would make this fan base especially nervous.
06:33What that means for the future of Kyrie, I'm honestly not sure,
06:36because I understand the logic of, hey, if we're wheeling and dealing,
06:40I've got to start with one of my biggest assets.
06:42But on the flip side, I can see how you're like, well, no,
06:45you have to have some sort of veteran presence
06:47if you're going to move this team in the direction that we want.
06:49And with all due respect to P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford,
06:53I need somebody who's more entrenched.
06:55And that person is Kyrie Irving.
06:57And we still haven't got a chance to see him play alongside with Cooper Flagg.
07:01If that is the direction that they want to go, I could see that as well.
07:05But it does feel like the Mavs, who in the last year and a half
07:10have not gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews for a lot of their basketball decisions,
07:14have gotten a positive review for this one.
07:17But you do feel that if somebody's going to ask that question,
07:20it's Mack, and then Kevin Sherrington follows up?
07:22Man.
07:24Kevin Sherrington has a chance to do the funniest thing, right?
07:30Like, you know.
07:32What's the funniest thing?
07:33I'm just saying.
07:33Or you don't want to go there yet.
07:35No, I just feel like if Kevin Sherrington would ask Ujiri about his relationship status,
07:41at least then he could be like, see?
07:42That's what I do at every press conference.
07:45Now, could that get him in trouble?
07:46Well, probably so.
07:48But I do think that that is very amusing.
07:51Now, the other thing I will say, if we're just playing devil's advocate on Ujiri,
07:56for as much success as they had, take a look at his last three seasons, right?
08:01All right.
08:01So 2023, and this is still with Nick Nurse as the coach.
08:05They finish 41-41.
08:07They move on from their coach.
08:09Then they go 25-57.
08:11Then they go 30-52.
08:14And then that is the end of his tenure in Toronto.
08:18Now, there's a few things at play.
08:19But I don't want to undersell the fact that he was still in charge when they had three straight seasons,
08:24none of them above 500, none of them in the playoffs.
08:27And so I understand people's concerns about, like, how far in the past are we trading right here?
08:32But he did get into a sort of battle of wills with the ownership group when it came to Vision
08:39and control.
08:40And guess what?
08:41Like, in most instances, the person who owned the team or the conglomerate, they won out.
08:47And Ujiri did not.
08:49And his team suffered.
08:50And he was let go.
08:51So you're saying here, somebody texted in moments ago, Vision got smoked by Thanos.
08:56I mean, if you want to say Thanos was the ownership conglomerate, that actually is pretty accurate.
09:02And here's the thing, though, is right now, Patrick Dumont and company, although it feels like since they've come on,
09:12it has been a whirlwind of misdirection and no direction and what are we doing?
09:18Yes.
09:18It's felt that way.
09:19But right now, if you hire somebody like this, you are telling yourself, I have to take my hands off
09:26of this and let them do their thing.
09:28And I hired them for a reason.
09:30I went through the process and told other people no, so I feel like this is the right guy.
09:35I have to say, I will be here to write checks and help make these decisions along the way,
09:40but you're here to put this organization back on the map.
09:43Yeah.
09:44And look, so somebody just said, are we truly looking at a two to three year rebuild window?
09:49No, that's an awful long time to watch the Mavericks be terrible.
09:52Well, that depends on how healthy and ready to roll Kyrie is and who you draft and how quickly they
10:00assimilate.
10:00Because, like, I'll just give you an example.
10:02Kyrie took the extra time.
10:04He's back and he's healthy.
10:06And then you draft, let's just say, Caleb Wilson, and he assimilates to the big time game pretty quickly.
10:12Well, that's a lot that you just added.
10:14You just, you already have Cooper Flagg and hopefully healthier Daniel Gafford.
10:19I know lively is a little bit of a trickier thing, but I just told you you're going to add,
10:23you know,
10:23Caleb Wilson or Acuff or Kingston Flemings or whoever, Michael Brown,
10:27whoever your selection is in the first round and a healthy Kyrie.
10:32That's more than most people are going to add.
10:34And that's one.
10:35Yeah, that's, I mean, look, that would be great, too.
10:38I wouldn't freaking love that.
10:39They still owe us.
10:40The NBA still owes us.
10:40Hey, man, if you told me that that was part of the trade, too, is we got DeMonta and Flagg,
10:45then I'd be like, okay, well, I kind of see what you're going for there.
10:49And so...
10:49And then you're bringing Niko back?
10:50Yeah, no, no, definitely not.
10:52I feel like that is a non-starter.
10:54But the Mavericks do have an ace in the hole in terms of they have Kyrie coming back
10:59or at least have him as an asset to use.
11:01And that's something a lot of rebuilding teams wouldn't have.
11:04We're the KNC Masterpiece right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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