00:00new nba analyst and front office insider for espn it is bobby marks good morning sir
00:07how are we doing man we're doing pretty good i feel like a lot of people walked away
00:11impressed with the press conference from masai ujiri yesterday but we're not really looking
00:16to win a press conference the mavericks are looking to win games what do you think about
00:20the hire of masai ujiri for the mavericks yeah i mean i think he's one of the you know one
00:29of the
00:29top not just nba executives but sports executives that we've had in the last you know certainly got
00:37in denver in 2010 and probably the last 15 years prior to him leaving in uh in in toronto and
00:43everything the ability to you know handle the carmel anthony negotiations back with denver and
00:48then win a championship with the raptors and make the kawaii trade i think i looked it up i think
00:5312
00:53out of his 15 teams were playoff teams um when he was in charge and uh no i think i
00:59think it's a
00:59terrific hire i think um you know certainly uh you know an organization that uh you know looked
01:06you know tried to swing for the fences here and um you know i think i think he'll do uh
01:11he'll do a
01:11really good job and um you know he's got the bones of a really good roster and he's got some
01:16draft picks uh this year um to be able to make an impact over the next couple couple weeks and
01:21months
01:21and then we'll have another number one draft pick hopefully if the nba sets us up right when you
01:26guys have the draft lottery on sunday right well that will be interesting you know i mean kind of
01:33where uh where dallas is at number eight right now and the ability to move up i think they're i
01:37think
01:37i still think even if they don't move up and you're at eight there that's kind of like the cutoff
01:41point
01:41i think um i think this draft is really good but i think there's eight like really really good
01:48players there um you don't want to fall back at all but i i do think they'll walk they should
01:53walk
01:53away with something pretty good you you got a chance to get your eyeballs specifically on one
01:58guy that our chuck cooperstein said this morning he really likes and that's mikhail brown yeah like
02:04what was what were your thoughts on on him physically because backs are always kind of question
02:09yeah i drove up um well i flew up i didn't want to drive from fort myers orlando i took
02:15the lazy
02:15approach 25 minute flight you know um and uh yeah it was it was good i'm i'm really glad i
02:23went up
02:23there yesterday and sat with michael and um and his dad and his mom and um saw him um work
02:30out for
02:31about two and a half hours with a bunch of other draft prospects and he looks healthy um he's you
02:37know
02:37he's ready to go he's been you know basically doing two days um you know for last uh i think
02:42he told
02:42him he's been working out since mid uh mid april and um so for the last uh i guess for
02:47the last month
02:47and everything uh you know he's got good height um you know playmaker can shoot the ball a little
02:54bit of everything had the opportunity to sit with him for about an hour and i really enjoyed it i
02:59enjoyed uh my visit there and i think uh he's solid it's a you know it's funny it's a draft
03:04of guards
03:04i will say you know you'll hear about you know debonsa and boozer and peterson and uh wilson kail
03:11wilson up top but then there's a group you know with michael and darrys acuff and um kingston flemings
03:18and keaton wogler um that kind of are the next level and it's um what i told michael was you
03:25got to
03:26find out you got to figure out how to separate yourself from from the group there and um but all
03:29four are really good um and that's why i was saying you know the eight guys in this year's draft
03:34and
03:34there's a bunch of bigs after that and everything brayden burst too i think you could put him put up
03:38there too from arizona who is a big guard i mean he's a he's a grab and go guy he's
03:43about 215 pounds
03:44but yeah it was a good visit um i'm excited for uh the lottery i'm excited for the combine next
03:50year
03:51next next week with uh with everything and as i said like dallas you'll walk away with uh with a
03:56good
03:56pick and then you get kyrie coming back you have cooper and you've got certainly some other players on
04:00this roster and as i said like you know and besides walking into a this is not a rebuild you
04:05know it shouldn't be a rebuild as far as because there are uh there's a good there's a good nucleus
04:10in place well that's that's the the fun part of it is you know playing gm a little bit and
04:14kevin you
04:15and i do i've done this a lot don't us all of us media folks do that yeah for sure
04:19but the you know
04:21as you're saying you got the where the mavericks are on the draft that's really going to kind of
04:25justify what they get there but if you're building that team around cooper flag what is what is the
04:30best thing we've been trying to figure out what best goes next to him or with him for the next
04:35five ten years well you'll i would say like you know considering that um you know kairi did not
04:41play this year if kai was if kairi was a free agent this summer he'd be probably the top free
04:45agent out
04:45there um so you basically you're getting the top free agent back um who could have been out there and
04:51it is not it's coming off that injury i think i think he is going to make cooper a lot
04:57better than
04:58what he was and cooper was really good this year um so i think with uh with kairi and then
05:04of course
05:04knock on wood you got to get derrick back um you've got the two centers there now you've got to
05:08figure
05:09out as far as with the other you know what's you've got max you've got naji clay's got another year
05:14left um how does he fit going forward um you know pj of course this is going into year one
05:20of the
05:21uh of his extension here so the the bulk of this this group is um the bulk of this group
05:27is back
05:27now it's messiah and you know jason kidd and that front office and everything to figure out okay what
05:32works what doesn't who fits and where do we go and i think um you know you're not trying to
05:37take
05:37steps back just based on your inability that you don't control your picks over the next you know
05:42three or four years that's a big part of it and where the lottery reform is coming uh next year
05:47um so um they're in good shape um but it's now you know we all talk about things on paper
05:52in the
05:53offseason here and it's um you know how do you kind of add to what you what you see what
05:57you like
05:57already what do you do you have a sense for what the league perception is on derrick lively because
06:03we all felt like draft steal after that first year but obviously he's got all the potential in the
06:09world and that's been the story throughout his entire career but running into injuries what's the
06:13perception across the nba about him durability i mean that's the biggest thing i thought i think
06:19we saw it in his rookie year um what um what he could do and the impact he can do
06:24i think for him
06:25it's just staying healthy uh you know it's one thing to have a lot of talent and upside and and
06:31come in and impact the game whether it be blocking shots or defensively but it doesn't help if you're on
06:37the sidelines for 50 games for for an example and everything so that's i think that's the perception
06:42there is that he's got to be on the court you know if he's if he's healthy um it gives
06:46dallas a
06:47different different look um with uh with their starting five now you'll be part of the coverage
06:52for the draft lottery on sunday at two o'clock but then also nba on espn doubleheader tonight
07:0176ers against the knicks at 6 p.m central timberwolves against the spurs at 8 30 p.m central i
07:07realize it's
07:07just the eastern conference semifinals but with the way things are laid out do you feel like
07:13knicks fans or the knicks organization will think it's a big disappointment if they don't at least
07:18make the nba finals i would think yes uh it's funny you know the playoffs are such it's such an
07:25interesting dynamic of the roller you guys have been through the roller coaster of emotions and
07:30everything like that i would expect a different philadelphia team to come out i think the team we saw
07:33in games five six and seven tonight uh and that will be interesting you know it's funny if you lose
07:38tonight if you're new york then you're like oh doom and gloom you go to philly down you'll lose home
07:42court advantage and everything but yeah this is for new york it's as good of an opportunity they've had
07:48um certainly look up at the other bracket with detroit and um and in cleveland and new york hasn't
07:54fared well against detroit uh oh i mean they've gotten their head knocked in a bunch this year
07:58um so but it is an opportunity they are clicking uh they've won their last two games by a trillion
08:04points and everything like that and we'll see i mean if you can you get to you get to 2
08:09-0 and you
08:09get you get to go down to philadelphia this weekend and try to steal a game there then yeah i
08:14think you're
08:14the ability to get through these right the ability to get through these rounds quick i think that's the
08:19biggest thing we learned is that you got to get through these series you can't prolong series because
08:23then you get a tatum injury and then he's not playing game seven you've got some other things out
08:27there as far as some plays guys and everything should uh victor women yama never try to get 12
08:32blocks again in a game or you know what's the funny thing with victor is so i i do um
08:38you know
08:39well you know i went up and saw michael and one of the things i've been i've been doing the
08:42last three
08:43weeks i sit a lot sit with a lot of these draft prospects i think i've done about 70 guys
08:47already
08:47and help them with their interview when they meet with the team and one of the questions i ask at
08:52the
08:52end it's really it's always the hardest question if you have the ability to play three on three
08:56and you could pick two um not two guys you play with in college and then two guys who play
09:01who
09:02play in the nba who would you pick and sometimes players really stumble on it however when we get
09:07to the nba part everybody has told i think 98 of the people have told me victor to the point
09:13where
09:13i've banned i have banned victor from my from my three on three i have not as soon as they
09:19like it
09:19comes out of their mouth i go nope can't do it um so it is uh yeah he's a special
09:24player and i think
09:25he showed it and um in uh game one they got him win you know they gotta you know they're
09:30they gotta
09:30have a an important game tonight uh tonight too let's try to even that series i the earlier in the
09:36season i had said the phrase a fully realized victor wimbanyama and i and we kind of were like
09:43are we there yet are we at that point or is there still even more for him well i think
09:49defensively i
09:50think we're there i think offensively i felt like kind of some of the i don't want to say bad
09:55habits
09:55but kind of creeped in for game one where you he just becomes so reluctant on shooting the three
10:01ball and when it's going in it's great but i think i always say i'd love to see him closer
10:06to
10:06the basket a little bit more and it's up to d'arren and um stefan and and um and dylan
10:11harper to
10:12get him the ball there and everything like that so i think offensively i think there's still
10:16i still think there's more there i think defensively is you know defensively is kind
10:20of you know who he is which is a generational player how intriguing is this minnesota team
10:27because once they knocked off denver it felt like people just started the countdown for okc and san
10:33antonio in the western conference finals but here we are anthony edwards is back they pull out a tight
10:38win how intrigued are you by minnesota a lot and i think uh certainly gobert how he played in the
10:44denver series and then uh you know certainly in uh in game one and then you get edwards back and
10:49we'll see if they get io back uh who had a calf injury and they've gotten great play out of
10:55um i
10:56call him terrence shannon jr i guess they call him tj shannon who really hadn't played that much this
11:00year and had had an injury and then mcdaniels has been awesome offensively with and he's a great
11:05defensive player here and i am intrigued uh you know it's a team that's gotten to the conference
11:10finals two years in a row and just hasn't been able to get get through um you know can they
11:16get
11:16through sanatone i mean okc's of course uh is a juggernaut and everything like that but for at least
11:21this series um they're in it you know once you steal a game on the road um you know it's
11:26a it sets up
11:28pretty good things now you talked about all the draft profiles i was curious about one more player
11:33because his name has been thrown around a lot how do you feel about nate amant
11:39sweetheart of a kid really uh uh you know he's got the length uh i have one of my best
11:45friends
11:45is an assistant at tennessee so i followed him all year and talked about him at length uh he's a
11:51tough
11:51kid you know he's he's got to put you know a little bit more weight on it and uh in
11:55his frame he you
11:56know he dealt with an injury uh towards the end of the year and really try you know he wasn't
12:00healthy
12:00in the ncaa tournament at all and pushed through it and stuff so i think um you know the one
12:06thing
12:06and i told him this the one thing i can my what i want him not to do is just
12:10float you know i always
12:11see when guys just kind of float on the perimeter and everything like that but i he's got a he's
12:16got
12:16a ton of upside i mean he really does and he's a great human being and he's got a great
12:22story about
12:22him and everything like that so yeah i i like him a lot i think uh this draft's good i
12:27mean this
12:28draft's really good here uh as we talked about a little bit here outside of the top nine you know
12:33guys
12:33here you get the michigan guy the bigs with mara and johnson and lindenburg um you know cream lopez
12:40is a big out of uh who's in new zealand and everything like that there's a there's a group
12:44of uh you know it's deep even when if they're still at 30 um with that last pick in the
12:50first
12:50round i think you can still find a a player with uh with that pick too and awesome stuff 76ers
12:55next tonight at six o'clock central on espn followed by timberwolves and spurs at 8 30 and then the
13:02draft lottery starting at 2 p.m central on sunday bobby thank you so much for the time
13:09appreciate it thank you there you go bobby marks right here on 105 three in the fan
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