- 1 day ago
Willard and Dibs react to LeBron James keeping the Warriors and the rest of the NBA waiting and wonder if it sounds like LeBron to not know where he's going to sign. Does he actually not know?
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00:00Everything around here continues to center around la decision, part due, or whatever the hell we're doing.
00:08And it doesn't feel good right now, but I keep what I was saying a minute ago in the back
00:13of my mind.
00:14Whatever we thought was going to happen last week was fool's gold, and this might be too.
00:19All we're doing is reading material and quotes and intel that may or may not be true.
00:26Mark Medina, who does stuff for Forbes and Fox Sports Radio, and he spoke directly to Rich Paul and wrote
00:34an article for Forbes that came out over the weekend, and he will join us in 15 minutes.
00:39Awesome.
00:40But until then, actually, it should be maybe 25 minutes.
00:43But until then, look, I do think our audience, you haven't had a chance to speak on this yet.
00:49And, you know, all of us had a whole week of kind of back and forth and percentages and feelings
00:56and all of that.
00:58So I'm anxious to kind of hear where you are on this whole thing.
01:02I would love for it to happen, but with each passing day, it feels more and more like LeBron and
01:08Rich Paul and company might be just, you know, dragging the Warriors along by the nose.
01:13Just kind of playing the Warriors, so to speak.
01:16Not that they need multiple suitors for LeBron to get what he wants, because ostensibly he's going to take a
01:22lesser than deal no matter where he goes.
01:24But I do think that he's just kind of sitting back and waiting to see what situation might suit him
01:30the best.
01:30And I thought for so many reasons that this was the one, you know, stay on this coast and close
01:36to home and play with your buddies and an easygoing head coach and, you know, give it a try.
01:41As a Golden State Warrior, it made so much sense to me.
01:44I thought that it would happen, which is why I went into the Calshi market and traded on the yes,
01:50whatever.
01:50It's neither here nor there.
01:51But the more it goes on, the more now it feels to me like, you know, Joe Lacob is just
01:56kind of sitting by the phone and waiting.
01:58And the phone's not ringing and LeBron's out there, you know, romanticizing and going out there and dating everyone else.
02:05But do you buy that?
02:06Like, let's start there.
02:07This is one thing that I can't.
02:09I just, I don't know.
02:11I feel like we're being taken on some sort of a ride here because I just, I do not know
02:18who this person is if what we're being told is true.
02:22And here's what I mean by that.
02:24The LeBron James we've come to know would never do this.
02:28Never.
02:29Never not know.
02:30He has been in control of this league for two decades.
02:34Yep.
02:35I, this, and so maybe this is just me.
02:38But I am having the hardest time buying the idea that LeBron just woke up a week and a half
02:46ago and went, I don't want to be a Laker anymore.
02:49Okay, LeBron, who do you want to play for?
02:51I don't know.
02:52Now, let's just tell the Lakers that I'm not playing there and they'll just sit here and we'll take phone
02:59calls and see what unfolds.
03:03That's what we're being told.
03:04I'm like, there's no way that does that sound like LeBron James to you?
03:09No, it doesn't.
03:10But I also think that he could be sitting back and waiting to see where everything else shakes out.
03:16In other words, Jalen Brown's now a sixer.
03:18Sure.
03:18And so he looks at that situation potentially and says, yeah, that, that actually would be a great team.
03:23And, you know, Miami and Giannis and Pat Riley and the backstory and all the rest of it.
03:28I'm sure he feels how he feels about that.
03:31And also he feels the way he feels about Golden State.
03:33Like, he knows Steph.
03:34He's played with him.
03:35He knows Draymond.
03:36They share an agent.
03:37He played for Steve Kerr in Paris.
03:39I don't think there's any mystery in that part of it.
03:42But I do hold out for the fact that maybe he's just waiting to see how everything sorts out and
03:49then be able to airdrop himself onto whatever team he wants.
03:52I mean, but also, like, keep in mind, I feel like we're being sent mixed messages.
03:58And maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I certainly hear, I hear both of these things a lot,
04:05and they mean opposite things to me.
04:06Number one, LeBron definitely will be making his next choice based on a championship possibility.
04:15Next sentence.
04:17This next choice is being driven by joy.
04:20Right.
04:22Wait a minute.
04:22Unless you want to give me some sort of narrative on how those two things are married and they're going
04:29to have a baby together, like the chase for a ring in Philly is what brings me joy.
04:35Really?
04:35A Philadelphia winter with the angriest fans that this country has ever known, that brings you joy.
04:44And a co-star who wants to talk now, apparently, as much as Draymond after every game.
04:53And a center who plays less than Steph and Jimmy.
04:58So, if that brings you joy, okay, great, go find joy.
05:04But that doesn't sound right to me.
05:07So, which is it?
05:09Because the Warriors does sound like joy.
05:12The LeBron that we know, his friends, wine, golf, close to family, high-level basketball IQ.
05:20That sounds joyous to me.
05:22Does it sound like a ring?
05:23Hell no.
05:25Hell no.
05:26Then again, kind of none of these do.
05:29I love how everybody's like, ooh, chance for a ring.
05:31I'm like, are you joining the Spurs?
05:33Right.
05:33If you're joining the Spurs, I hear you.
05:35If you're not, then all of these teams are third best in their respective conference, I think.
05:44Yeah, the Thunder would be another one.
05:45And I don't think he's joining the Thunder.
05:47And so, like Miami, he makes them better, but they don't become top two or three in the East.
05:53And I think Philadelphia would be the one where you could look at and say, okay, him and Jalen Brown
05:57and Joel Embiid.
05:58Like, that becomes a very interesting situation, and the East is a lot more wide open, quote-unquote.
06:05But what is it?
06:06Is it the joy and the fun of being 42 and playing with your buddies?
06:10Or do you want to, like, go somewhere again and just grind?
06:14And does he want to go to Cleveland and play with James Harden?
06:18Again, I've worked myself to a spot where none of the answers make any sense.
06:23Right.
06:24That's how I feel in this moment.
06:26Or at least I can shoot holes in all of them.
06:29Yeah.
06:30Cleveland, already a box that you've checked.
06:34And while people go, oh, it's going home.
06:36Is it?
06:37Rich Paul has already said he's going to maintain residence in L.A.
06:40That's where his whole family is.
06:41I don't care what the address is.
06:43My home is where my family is.
06:46Cleveland?
06:47Right.
06:47With James Harden in the winter across the entire country from your family?
06:52And more games, obviously, in the East because you're in the Eastern Conference.
06:56You know?
06:57Miss me with that's home.
06:58But if that's what, again, I'm not, like, whatever you want to do, dude.
07:03But I can poke holes in Cleveland.
07:05I already poked holes in Philly.
07:07I don't think Miami would be that good.
07:10I can poke holes in the Warriors, obviously.
07:13They're the olden state Warriors.
07:15All of these things, I can poke holes in all of them.
07:18So there's no perfect fit.
07:20But he's going to have to pick one of them, which is why I'm not really giving up on the
07:24idea.
07:25If what you want us to say is the Warriors are an imperfect fit, you're right.
07:30So are all of the other choices, in my opinion.
07:32Right.
07:33And so it ultimately comes down to what does he really desire the most?
07:38And I have thought through this whole process, and I've been gone for so long.
07:42It feels like this story has been dragging out, and I believe it has.
07:45But you want to be close to family.
07:48And if you play here, you could jump on a private jet at 10 o'clock and fly home.
07:52Totally.
07:53And be in your bed at 1130.
07:55And then, you know, no practice the next day or whatever, and you could zip back.
07:59Like, to be able to commute at that level 360 miles on a private jet, that's probably easier
08:05than actually driving to, like, I don't know, Livermore or driving to Santa Rosa.
08:09Or even easier is just kind of, you know, flying them up also.
08:13Like, I don't want to make it sound like LeBron's got to get on a flight after every single game.
08:17That doesn't sound fun.
08:18But, yeah, that's easier.
08:20Is it perfect?
08:21No, that's imperfect, too.
08:22Like, I fully admit that.
08:24I just don't know what's driving this bus.
08:27And I feel like we've been told a bunch of different answers to that.
08:33Everything's driving the bus.
08:34Right.
08:34Except for money.
08:35And I don't know if I buy that either.
08:38I mean, if it was really about money, he would have stayed and signed with the Lakers, right?
08:42I don't think it's fully about money, but I don't know that that means that a minimum salary
08:46and the mid-level exception are equal.
08:49Maybe they are.
08:50It's what, you know, you used to make 50.
08:52Now you're going to make 15.
08:54Or you're going to make four.
08:55I don't know.
08:56Does that matter to you?
08:57I don't know.
08:58It depends on the person.
08:58And I wonder about the ego part of that because you are the king.
09:02Yes.
09:03The self-anointed king.
09:04And you're used to making a certain salary that is requisite with how good you are.
09:08And, well, last year you actually took less.
09:10Last time out with the Lakers.
09:12And so, do you want to wind up making, like, a lot less?
09:16Does that hurt your feelings?
09:17I don't know.
09:18Or does the Players Association hate what you're doing?
09:21Because you're an elite player taking a small number.
09:24Alex in Chicago.
09:25Here, let's take a call real quick.
09:26Hey, Alex, thanks for calling.
09:27What's up?
09:28Yo, yo, what's going on, guys?
09:30Hey, listen, I think I got the master plan, man.
09:34I need a drum roll or something, man.
09:36I think I got the master plan for the offseason for the Warriors.
09:39This is big.
09:39This is big.
09:40I've been waiting for this.
09:41Okay, yeah, Dibbs does the drum roll.
09:43All right, listen.
09:43Oh, first.
09:45Go ahead.
09:47Listen, so, I appreciate you.
09:49First thing first, right?
09:50I want to talk about that summer league really quick.
09:53I think they got four players on that summer league squad that they need to go ahead
09:59and give contracts for the Warriors.
10:00First one I'm going to say is LJ Sire.
10:05Chance McMillan.
10:06I don't know how to say his last name.
10:09Chance McMillan, very high three-point shooter, okay?
10:13They need to go ahead and get him a contract, get him in the mix,
10:16and then De'Bion Smith, give you another guard, another point guard situation.
10:21He averaging, I think he's averaging about 12 points in the G League or whatever,
10:27but I think these guys would be very strong, you know, coming into the Warriors mix, right,
10:33for that young core, starting to build that young core.
10:35You still add that Yatchel, and Will Richards should be taking that step this following year.
10:41You know what I'm saying?
10:42So, that take care of your young guys, right?
10:45Okay?
10:45Okay.
10:46Then, after we do that, after we do that, let's go ahead and acquire DeMar DeRozan.
10:54Now, look, I know everybody like, eh, but look, check this out, though.
10:58So, DeMar DeRozan averaged 18 points, shooting 47% from the field.
11:05He's a certified bucket, mid-range bucket getter, right?
11:10You go ahead and acquire that.
11:11Let's move off of LeBron James.
11:13Let's not, you know, we kind of wait on him.
11:15You know what I'm saying?
11:16We acquire LeBron.
11:18We acquire DeMar DeRozan, get him, you know, in the fold or whatnot, see how that, you know,
11:24go ahead and see how that works out.
11:26Then, after we got DeMar DeRozan, then we hit the Pels for the trade, right?
11:34I'm going to say another big thing, right?
11:35And when we hit the Pelicans and get ready to do the trade situation, yes, we want to get Murphy.
11:42And I say they should try to bring Poole back to Golden State.
11:47Oh, boy, oh, boy.
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