- 20 hours ago
Mark Medina of Forbes and FOX Sports Radio joins Willard and Dibs to discuss his recent conversation with LeBron James' agent Rich Paul, where LeBron will sign, and more.
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00:00Out to the River Islands guest line we go, and on YouTube as well, we welcome in Mark Medina.
00:05How you been, friend? What's going on?
00:09Mark, good to see you, to talk to you.
00:11Nothing going on other than, once again, we have a summer where we're waiting for what LeBron James is ultimately
00:16going to do.
00:17No doubt. So when you spoke to Rich Paul, did you get the sense that he was just lying to
00:21you through his teeth the entire time?
00:25You never know, because I'm not a mind reader, but this was Friday afternoon, and I asked him point blank,
00:31you know, how do you handicap this?
00:34He didn't have any answers. I asked, you know, when should we expect a timeline?
00:39And he said, well, I don't think we're going to expect any time soon.
00:42So I drilled him on it. I said, well, is this going to be a month? Should we expect weeks,
00:46days?
00:47And he said, I don't think you're going to get a decision in the next few days.
00:50So your guess is as good as mine, but for what it's worth, this doesn't actually provide clarity.
00:56I think it actually just captures the intrigue and the uncertainty around the league.
01:01When you talk to different executives with other teams that have no horse in the race, there's a lot of
01:07mixed feelings.
01:08Some think the Warriors have the edge because of Steph and Draymond and the proximity to LA,
01:13and some say, oh, Cleveland because of the farewell tour and the familiarity there,
01:17and some think Miami because of Giannis.
01:19So it's really anyone's guess.
01:21And what do you think?
01:22Like being around LeBron enough to have a better gut guess than maybe most of us or all of us,
01:28like what does your gut tell you that he's looking for?
01:33I wish I could tell you, but here's where the uncertainty stems from me is that I think the goalposts
01:39have clearly shifted.
01:40In the past, the idea that LeBron James would take this huge discount deal was something that he wouldn't do
01:47ever since leaving Miami.
01:49He also made it clear when we've asked him how much longer he wants to play.
01:53It was always about playing at all-star caliber level and not having a relegated role.
01:59But now it's obviously changed because he's not getting a max deal.
02:02When he's joining a team, he's definitely not going to be the number one, number two, or maybe even number
02:09three option.
02:10And so before this, my sense, talking to people, my own intuition, is I thought Cleveland was a non-starter.
02:17Because even though the farewell tour would be a lot more organic because of his history there, the team has
02:24a flawed roster.
02:25And unless, you know, they make some trades with Dennis Schroeder and do some cap flexibility, James Harden's new deal,
02:33they only have veterans minimum contracts to give, where I thought the Lakers, for all their imperfections, they would have
02:38more money to offer.
02:40But obviously that wasn't enough either.
02:42So I think the Warriors are still in the mix, but there's still a lot of ifs to that scenario.
02:49Mark, here's what I've been having trouble with the whole time, and maybe this is just a me problem,
02:53but the LeBron James I know orchestrates everything ahead of time always.
02:59And I'm having the hardest time buying the narrative that's developing here,
03:04which is he left the Lakers and had no idea what he wanted to do and is just sitting there
03:08listening to offers.
03:09Is that really what's happening?
03:11Because that doesn't sound like him to me.
03:15No, it's a very good point.
03:16I think LeBron James even now is very calculated, but I think unlike the earlier parts and vast parts of
03:24his career,
03:25he didn't have the leverage.
03:27So last year, when the Lakers didn't give him an extension, yes, the writing was clear on the wall
03:32that the Lakers are preparing for Luka Doncic's next era and they're prioritizing him.
03:38But it was an ultimate game of chicken where the Lakers didn't want to lose him.
03:43They just want to keep him on their terms.
03:46And same thing with LeBron.
03:47So I think with all this, LeBron's still being calculated, but he's having to be adaptable because he's no longer
03:54in the driver's seat.
03:55I think the other thing that's fascinating, and take it for what you will, but when I was asking Rich
04:00Paul about everything,
04:02he likened LeBron James to Teflon, that regardless of what decision he chooses, he's going to get criticism for it.
04:11He'll get praise for it.
04:12And in some respects, it almost doesn't matter anymore.
04:15And so as this pertains to the Warriors, when I've talked to folks, some immediately say,
04:20hey, you know the reaction was when Kevin Durant went to the Warriors, he got zero credit for any role
04:26with helping them win the championship
04:27and a lot of blame.
04:28And the identity was around Steph Curry and the same thing would be with LeBron.
04:33But you look at the positives with that, he and Steph obviously have that Olympic experience.
04:39They can rekindle that.
04:41He and Draymond are now friends.
04:42Our flight from the Bay, because this team's older, they're probably going to not have as many practices and cheer
04:48-arounds.
04:49So there's a lot of times LeBron will still be in LA to be with family.
04:53So even if they're imperfect with their contention status, you know, it could still be a fun experiment.
05:01And it's not like if he wasn't there, they would already be competing for a championship.
05:06So he at least improves the odds a little bit.
05:09So I think your central point, his thought process hasn't changed, but clearly the circumstances had.
05:16So if he's had to try to deal with this in real time a little bit.
05:19Is there enough still out there free agency-wise or trade-wise to where he can lay back and see
05:25what team shakes out
05:26and what team might still be competitive enough to where he could land there and make a big move?
05:34I can't think of anything only then if Anthony Davis gets traded.
05:38But I think the Washington Wizards have been pretty clear with their inaction
05:43and just talking to people familiar with their thinking is that they don't want to trade Anthony Davis.
05:49You know, they have been trying to establish a veteran-laden team with this young core roster,
05:56hence why they re-signed Trey Young.
05:58Even though there's questions about his leadership defense,
06:01they feel like he has such a dynamic talent as a scorer passer,
06:04it could complement some of their young players.
06:07And they have some really good defenders like Alex R. and Bilal Kolobali.
06:11So as this pertains to Anthony Davis, they know that there's questions about his durability,
06:18his consistency level, but I think they're pretty comfortable with it, all things considered,
06:23because A, they have a center in Alex R. that can play the five,
06:28and Anthony Davis is more comfortable at the four.
06:30And they have, I don't know if they're thinking playoffs yet after talking to Will Dawkins this past season,
06:38but clearly they're no longer a laughingstock in the NBA.
06:43They could actually build something.
06:44So, but outside of that, there's no dominoes.
06:47There's no major free agents that have to make decisions.
06:50Giannis Antetokounmpo has already been traded.
06:53And so this is obviously different than free agents of yesteryear era,
06:58where it was always these big guys making pitch meetings.
07:02Now all those major decisions are usually done before free agency,
07:05or if there is a major decision, it's because of a trade with Giannis or Jalen Brown.
07:10Mark Medina is with us, wrote a really nice article for Forbes
07:13after talking to LeBron James agent Rich Paul over the weekend.
07:17So, Mark, in that conversation, I wonder what your sense was here,
07:21because we've both been told this decision will be driven by a chance at another ring.
07:27We've also been told this decision is driven simply by LeBron's happiness.
07:32Are those two the same thing?
07:34And which one feels like the bigger deal to you after that conversation?
07:40I think in fairness to Rich, you know, he's working on behalf of LeBron,
07:45one of his many clients.
07:46And so a lot of the things he couldn't answer for,
07:49but the thing that he was making clear to me is that he's almost operating from a blank slate,
07:55that before he felt compelled to go to the Miami Heat so he could win his first championship.
08:01He felt compelled to go back to Cleveland to kind of do right with his exit there
08:07and help them deliver a championship.
08:08And now the word again that he used is that he's Teflon.
08:12There's no one that he has to answer to.
08:14It's really about what makes him feel comfortable.
08:17And clearly money can't be the biggest factor
08:20because he's no longer going to be one of the highest paid players in the NBA.
08:25But that doesn't mean he's just going to take any deal.
08:28Same thing as it comes to winning.
08:31You know, I think there's a clear difference in not wanting to join a rebuilding team
08:36or a lottery team versus a team that's already tailor-made to win a championship
08:40and would already be in contention if he wasn't there.
08:43So you look at the Knicks, you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs,
08:48I'd be very surprised if LeBron would join any of those teams
08:52because they're already in the hunt.
08:55But the same token, you look at any of the rebuilding teams, same idea.
08:59So as it pertains to money, if I had a guess, this is just my guess,
09:04he'd be more inclined going with a team that can offer him the mid-level
09:08or at least closer to the mid-level as opposed to doing a veteran's minimum
09:12because, again, even though he's clearly going to have to make sacrifices
09:16compared to earlier in his career, that would be a huge jump from going
09:21to making $52 million one season and then a couple million dollars the following season.
09:27It seems a little far-fetched that he would go that far down,
09:30but I wonder about if you're looking at it from the outside
09:33and you look at this Warrior team, they're probably not a contender even if he comes here.
09:38Does that become the number one strike against a possible Golden State move?
09:44It very well could be, but it can also be intriguing
09:47because he can at least give the Warriors a little bit of an extra boost to make that run.
09:53And clearly, as we've seen, the Warriors, you never bet against them
09:57because they have Steph and Draymond,
09:59and it's about trying to make sure you can have as best health as possible.
10:04Now, there's a lot of questions on can you do that
10:06when you have so many players that have to be load managed with care,
10:10but they're not a team that's just going to be a laughingstock.
10:14And at the very least, this could be a fun team to play with, right, your final year.
10:19I think the only thing that would leave me skeptical about the Warriors
10:23outside of the obvious is looking at the farewell tour.
10:26I think that he'll obviously still get a respectful reception,
10:30but it would be so much different than he would be in Cleveland
10:33where they have that connection, he has that history.
10:37Where with the Warriors, there's literally zero history there.
10:41So a lot of complicated variables, but new ones that LeBron's weighing right now.
10:47Mark, does it make sense to you that Draymond Green would opt out of his deal
10:52if the Warriors weren't getting LeBron James?
10:57Well, I think it's one of those things that if there's always a possibility,
11:02you always want to at least give themselves a chance.
11:05And I think in knowing how Draymond is, this isn't coming from him or Rich Paul,
11:10but just thinking how he operates, I think he would do that
11:14if he had some relative optimism they would get LeBron.
11:17But I think he's also doing that with the idea that he's had this partnership with the Warriors.
11:22He wants to collaborate with them to give themselves a best chance to win.
11:28And if things don't work out, they can work out the terms respectfully
11:32that if nothing else, he's at least getting what he would have gotten with that player option.
11:37So I think what Warrior fans are also thinking right now,
11:42especially because it's at least a moment of pessimism
11:46based on what we're hearing and the odds and all of these things.
11:50Meantime, while they're waiting, all these other players are going off the board.
11:55Where does this leave the Warriors if he says no?
12:01Well, like Warrior fans probably won't hear it,
12:04but it will probably be the same as it has been in recent seasons
12:07where the Warriors are saying, yes, we want to win
12:10and we still have Steph Curry and Draymond Green, he have a chance,
12:13but we also want to protect the future.
12:15So the sense I get is that the Warriors are more inclined to want to keep their draft picks.
12:21They have draft picks in the first round from next season up until 2033.
12:26The only exception is in 2030, it's top 20 protected.
12:31I don't see them mortgaging those draft picks just to make another move.
12:36Now, here's another thought process, and I can understand why fans would disagree with it,
12:42is that they would counter, hey, we've made win-now moves with Jimmy Butler, right?
12:46And when Jimmy and Moses Moody were healthy, they were in the mix,
12:50and they could run that back.
12:52Now, the quick counter to that, especially to Jimmy Butler,
12:55is that when he's coming off an ACL injury,
12:58and the Warriors know more than anyone with Klay Thompson
13:01that the first season you come back with an ACL injury,
13:04or not the same player, that's always a gap year,
13:06and the following year very well could be another questionable year.
13:11So that's, I think, what understandably leaves some of the Warrior fans in angst,
13:17but I think the Warriors will counter, well, if there's no such great moves to make,
13:23why get rid of all these draft picks just to make a marginal upgrade?
13:28So that's where the Warriors are.
13:30Mark, great work. Thank you for the time.
13:33Great to hang a little bit and see your face.
13:35It's been a while, so really appreciate it.
13:39Great to see you as well.
13:40Keep killing it here and Fox Sports Radio in general.
13:42Indeed.
13:43Thanks, Mark.
13:44Okay, Mark, we'll talk to you again soon.
13:45Mark Medina, article is on Forbes.
13:47We'll talk to you again soon.
13:47We'll talk to you again soon.
13:47We'll talk to you again soon.
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