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00:00Josh Hart's tweet gives us a perfect transition to my Knicks.
00:06And in case you missed it, Clutch Sports CEO and founder Rich Paul did a segment on his outstanding show
00:12with my guy Max Kellerman, Game Over,
00:14where he used a whiteboard to break down just about every single landing spot for his client and great friend
00:24LeBron James.
00:25And that included the Knicks, who, by the way, have added Andre Drummond.
00:30I like it under the circumstance to replace Mitchell Robinson.
00:35Listen, not the same in terms of defense, but Drummond is a terrific offensive rebounder.
00:42Thought that was an excellent move.
00:44And how about this from the post-Steph Bondi?
00:48Jalen Brunson played through the finals with a wrist injury that required surgery.
00:55Pretty impressive when you consider it.
00:57Anyway, take a listen to Rich Paul.
01:00I think it's difficult, right, because the last thing you want to do is mess up something like that, right?
01:07The Knicks has a good thing going.
01:09You know, that'll beāif the Knicks hadn't won, there would be no board.
01:14He'd be going to the Knicks.
01:15He'd be going to the Knicks.
01:16Jalen Brunson would literally have to pick up the phone and say, hey, man, it's no issue with me.
01:26It's no issue with me.
01:28Jalen, balls in yourā
01:30And I'm not saying that that wouldāI'm not saying that that would make him make his decision.
01:34But at least it would put him on the table.
01:35Yeah, because you've got to respect thatā
01:38Have the Knicks called?
01:39Yeah.
01:40Knicks checked in?
01:41I talkedāthey checked in.
01:43So I didn't like this.
01:45I didn't like any of this.
01:47Look, I can't believeāand good for Rich Paul and Max Kellerman.
01:51They are turning LeBron's free agency in the summer of LeBron 2026 into a terrific episode of Game Over.
02:00It is officially a podcast, right?
02:03And as someone who still writes notes on a notepad and insists on a long notepad, I can appreciate a
02:11great whiteboard.
02:12And I can appreciate something like this and fleshing it out.
02:15But to say out loud that LeBron would be going to the Knicks if they had not won, I find
02:23that to be absurd.
02:25First of all, do we know that the Knicks would want him?
02:28I'm being dead serious here.
02:30Let's say the Knicks lost in the NBA Finals.
02:33Let's say San Antonio beat them.
02:35Not crazy.
02:36They were heavily favored.
02:37They were favored to win.
02:38They were favored by five and a half points to win game number five.
02:41So they wouldn't just run it back?
02:44They would just sign LeBron James?
02:46The whole second apron conversation wouldn't exist?
02:49You know, it does take two to tango here.
02:52I think that for Rich Paul to say that is, well, rich.
02:57Because unless he knows for a fact that James Dolan and Leon Rose and Mike Brown, who coached LeBron, obviously,
03:09that they would have 100% signed LeBron James and Jalen Brunson would have given a big thumbs up on
03:15that.
03:16I've got a big issue with that.
03:18Also, what does a championship have to do with it?
03:22Seriously.
03:23And listen, I love LeBron James.
03:26I think LeBron James is sensational.
03:28I would love LeBron James on my Knicks.
03:30But in theory, if LeBron wanted to take his name and his game and his legacy to a different level,
03:38he would sign with the Knicks.
03:39No one has them favored.
03:41They're not in Vegas right now.
03:42They're not even in the Eastern Conference to win another championship, to win the Eastern Conference.
03:47So why don't you do it, Rich Paul?
03:49I think he's just saying this to get a reaction.
03:52I don't think he knows that Leon Rose or James Dolan would even want LeBron James.
03:58Also, LeBron could have picked the Knicks, albeit under different circumstances,
04:03albeit with different management, different kind of situation at different times in his career.
04:08Of course, we all know about the ill-fated decision,
04:11which was done a stone's throw from Madison Square Garden.
04:14A lot of smart people thought he was going to New York.
04:17Instead, he took his talents to South Beach.
04:19So I think this is kind of hypothetical, absurd, look-at-me nonsense.
04:24This, of all the things that he said during this incredible edition of the Game Over podcast
04:30and turning the Summer of LeBron into a literal game and podcast episode
04:37where you have to kind of go through the whiteboard and we're going to
04:40and see exactly what the hell Rich Paul means, this bothered me.
04:43This is the one that I said, I don't think he's telling the truth.
04:48Oh, I don't think he knows.
04:49That, please, go side with the Knicks.
04:52Call, you call Jalen Brunson.
04:55This wouldn't bother me.
04:56As a Knicks fan, this, there's history, it's loaded, layered, come on.
05:02Now, Paul might have made his strongest case for the Cleveland Cavaliers,
05:07but it had less to do with the roster and more to do with the key LeBron connection.
05:14Now, let's go up here to the C-Town.
05:18Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, Allen.
05:21Dan and Grant, which is the Gilberts, plus Kobe.
05:25He was there when LeBron won there.
05:27Big, big, big X factor.
05:29Let me talk to you about Brandon Weems.
05:31Brandon Weems is basically LeBron's brother.
05:36That is a big feather in the cap.
05:40Big feather in the cap.
05:42Big feather because of Brandon Weems.
05:44Now, don't get me wrong.
05:46Dan and Grant and Kobe, we know them.
05:48I miss my guy, Nick Gilbert.
05:49I can only imagine what Nick Gilbert would be saying to me right now.
05:52Talk about the best guy to talk to.
05:54The best.
05:56Now, the negative is, and this is no offense to Harden, no Garland,
06:01because he loves Garland like he loves Max.
06:05Garland, by the way, a clutch client.
06:07So, you know, I don't consider that to be a negative when it says no Garland.
06:13I just think that's Rich Paul being a little bit grand here with some clutch clients
06:18and trying to ultimately be a little rich.
06:22Rich, also, speaking of Rich, they maxed out, the Cavs did today.
06:26Sham Sharania broke the story.
06:28Donovan Mitchell got a max contract.
06:30Four years of well over $250 million.
06:34Phenomenal for Donovan Mitchell.
06:35You know I love Donovan Mitchell.
06:37Worth every single penny.
06:38So, this, in listening to what Rich Paul had to say,
06:44and also the fact that the Cavs were originally number two on my list behind Golden State
06:53when LeBron and the Lakers had their parting of ways,
06:57I really think right now that we are looking at the Cavs as the leaders in the clubhouse.
07:04They were number two for me behind Golden State originally.
07:07Today, after watching on Netflix the Rich Paul Max Kellerman pod
07:13and going through this and LeBron and everything that he said about the Gilbert family and Weems,
07:21Weems is someone you have to take into account because, look, that's LeBron's guy.
07:26And if Rich Paul is going to call him family, we need to take that into account.
07:31So, today, based upon this, if you're asking me, and you are, it's literally my job,
07:40where I think LeBron James is most likely to sign, I think it's going to be Cleveland.
07:47I also think if it's going to be Cleveland, it'll be shorter term in the process.
07:52I think the longer it goes means he's considering other options on the board.
07:59There was a thought process this weekend that we would know who would win the World Cup
08:06before we know where LeBron James is going to play basketball this year.
08:10If it's Cleveland, wouldn't it make sense that it was this week?
08:16Just something to ponder here when you start thinking about the summer of LeBron.
08:21Then we have the 76ers, who entered the Chats after trading for Jalen Brown
08:27in a move that shocked the NBA world.
08:31Philadelphia, everything changed.
08:33Do they have his attention as Windhorst is reporting?
08:37How could you not have the attention when you have Maxie, Edgecombe, Brown, and Bede?
08:43They're missing.
08:43All they really need here is a power forward who can think the game and shoot.
08:48That's why he's in the middle.
08:49But think about it.
08:50So, what is the thing?
08:53He loves Maxie.
08:54So, we don't even have to talk about that.
08:57I think Vijay, he helps Vijay understand really how to play the game.
09:02Vijay's a baby and he's already good.
09:04Super talented.
09:04Plays both ends of the floor, plays hard every night.
09:08The benefit that he gets, he should, I mean, it would be ridiculous.
09:14Obviously, Jalen Brown, right?
09:15Embiid is health and habits.
09:17100%.
09:18If the health and habits of Embiid are there, it's a really good team.
09:20But what I mean is they need a guy to come in and make that.
09:24That, by itself, doesn't necessarily work.
09:27Right.
09:27But if you add the right guy, LeBron James is the one guy who might be able to unlock that
09:33and get that to be a team.
09:35Yeah.
09:35He enhances everything.
09:37Yeah.
09:37He unlocks everything there.
09:40So, I've got a full page of my scribble just based on what he had to say about Philadelphia.
09:45And I think that listening to Rich Paul and the follow-up questions from Max Kellerman, which was absolutely brilliant.
09:54I love our guy, Max.
09:55And you see, Maxie has the star, right?
09:58And that's, and I'm obsessed with Maxie.
10:00I think he's one of the best players in the entire league.
10:03He's everything right with sports.
10:05Obviously, when you talk about his intelligence and his energy and how he's a freight train, but he's always in
10:10control.
10:11Maxie, to me, is a huge part of this.
10:14Everything that Rich Paul and Max Kellerman said about Vijay Edgecombe, I agree with and I've said before.
10:20And Vijay is not one of their clients.
10:24Brown is terrific.
10:25Then they even got into the negatives here on Joel Embiid.
10:29And I thought that was pretty significant because you know I'm not a Joel Embiid fan.
10:33You put LeBron in the middle of this and if he could bring a championship to Philadelphia, man, that'd be
10:41incredible.
10:42You think about the process.
10:43The process, to me, is fake.
10:45Sam Hinckley was the most overrated executive in the history of sports.
10:49He never got another job after that.
10:51Then you had Daryl Morey.
10:53That was a mess.
10:54If you put LeBron right smack damn in the middle right here, that team wins the championship.
11:01No hesitation.
11:03You know, that's not what I want as a Knicks fan.
11:06But yes, the fact that Rich Paul and Kellerman dove as deep as they did into Philly and use those
11:14words.
11:14And even the reference that Kellerman mentioned it with Brian Windhorst and the attention, that makes sense.
11:21I think that Philly is absolutely in the conversation and a real possibility when it comes to LeBron James and
11:30his next destination.
11:31Could LeBron team with Nikola Jokic in the Mile High City?
11:36Here's what Rich Paul had to say about that.
11:38Let's get over here to the Mile High, right?
11:42Murray, Johnson, Gordon, Jokic.
11:47They got one big hurdle.
11:48They still got Peyton Watson, who's a restricted free agent, right?
11:55Kroenke family, we're close to.
11:57So ownership, Harris.
11:58He's got the Midas touch too, Kroenke.
12:00He's one in everything.
12:01Yeah.
12:01Is Denver actually a legitimate destination?
12:04It wouldn't be on the board, Max.
12:06So here's what's interesting.
12:10Kroenke.
12:11Of all the things that were said about Denver, first of all, the inclusion of Denver to me is noteworthy.
12:18Because I would not have put Denver on the list in terms of somewhere I would think LeBron would want
12:25to go.
12:26Basketball-wise, buckle up.
12:29The Nuggets would make a lot of sense.
12:31Jokic and LeBron playing together.
12:33They wouldn't even need a training camp.
12:35We're talking about two of the smartest ballplayers in the last 50 years in the NBA.
12:40It's the Kroenke piece, okay?
12:43And obviously, Kroenke is a phenomenal sports owner.
12:46You know, LeBron knows him incredibly well from Los Angeles.
12:49Obviously, Kroenke not only runs and owns the Denver Nuggets, owns and runs the L.A. Rams.
12:56So the fact that he listed these four names, went through it, included it, didn't put them on the outskirts
13:05here of this diagram, I thought was a big deal.
13:08But I want to make a big deal about this, okay?
13:11We'll get into a couple other coaches and executives and owners on this board who were not mentioned.
13:18And I thought that was noteworthy.
13:20The inclusion of Kroenke, to me, is a huge deal.
13:25Now, I never thought I would be saying this about the Minnesota Timberwolves as a destination for King James.
13:31Let's get to Minnesota.
13:34I mean, if you want to win.
13:35You got Ant.
13:36You got LaMelo.
13:39You remember when Ant said, it's okay.
13:42We got Jay McDaniels.
13:44So it's okay because we got Jay McDaniels.
13:47And then you have Gobert, plus Tim Conley, and that ownership group.
13:53So what I love here is, A, that they were included.
13:57And it's not like they were on the outskirts somewhere.
14:00They put Minnesota right under James' name.
14:06That, to me, is noteworthy.
14:09Nothing on this board clearly was done by accident.
14:12And I loved Kellerman's reaction with Ant and Mello.
14:17I mean, again, Carmelo Anthony is always going to be Mello.
14:20We're talking about LaMelo Ball here.
14:21But Ant and Mello and McDaniel and Gobert, LeBron James on this team,
14:28not only as a player, but as a leader for someone like LaMelo Ball and even for Ant,
14:36this team wins the West.
14:38This team could beat OKC.
14:39This team could beat San Antonio.
14:42This, because I think they're dangerously close.
14:45You put James on this squad, and LeBron has always been.
14:50Now, people assume this will be his final year.
14:53I'm not convinced.
14:54LeBron's talked about this in the past, right?
14:57Give him two years.
14:58You give him two years in Minnesota, I think Minnesota can get over the hump.
15:04And considering the Timberwolves have never won a championship before,
15:08obviously that would be amazing for the long-suffering fans here of the Timberwolves.
15:14Now, here's what I really want to get to, because this was a big deal.
15:19Maybe, in my opinion, the most surprising thing was how Rich Paul, literally on this board,
15:27had the Warriors pushed and positioned to the outside looking in when it came to his whiteboard.
15:35Because there have been so many reports that Golden State was the favorite to land him.
15:40Here's what Rich said.
15:41You see Steph and Dre up there.
15:44Don't forget about Steph and Dre.
15:45Here's what's crazy.
15:46OK, so this tells me a lot.
15:48This doesn't tell you anything.
15:49You're playing four-dimensional chess right now?
15:53Or you just tipped your hand?
15:54No.
15:55I will say why.
15:56All I'm doing is showing you the board.
15:58Silence, everyone.
15:59I will say why.
16:00Ready?
16:00Go ahead.
16:03Everyone's reporting.
16:04And I know you say, what do they know?
16:06It's Cleveland or Golden State.
16:09Golden State was the big one.
16:10But you, of all these things, you just have this Golden State up in the corner.
16:13So either you're doing that purposely to throw us off the scent,
16:19or Golden State really is not as much of a frontrunner as people think,
16:22or not as much in the lead as people think.
16:24You can think whatever you think.
16:26This is just my board.
16:27You decide what you want to think.
16:29So this is where I really want to get into the whiteboard,
16:34because we've got LeBron James here.
16:37And we've got these teams here.
16:41And we've got Steph and Draymond here.
16:46Not a single mention, by the way, of Steve Kerr.
16:50Not a single mention of ownership.
16:53This, to me, is noteworthy.
16:56Then today, you have the report from Anthony Slater over at ESPN,
17:01the Warriors don't think they're going to get him.
17:05So when James and the Lakers had the parting of ways,
17:11this was my number one.
17:13Cleveland was my number two.
17:15And it's interesting where these two teams are on the old whiteboard.
17:19So, all of a sudden, you see, in chronological order,
17:24you see LeBron leave L.A.
17:27There are the reports that Golden State's the favorite.
17:30Golden State wants to land Anthony Davis.
17:34We talk about it on Shine Time,
17:36how Anthony Davis should not leave the Washington Wizards,
17:39doesn't benefit Washington.
17:40Then you see this board, and you have Steph and you have Dray
17:45on the other side, barely even a mention,
17:49didn't even spend too much time on it.
17:52Ownership is not a factor.
17:54The Hall of Fame coach is not a factor.
17:57And the fact that they're over here, noteworthy to me.
18:02If I'm a Warriors fan or a basketball fan like me,
18:06and I keep talking about, at the end of the day,
18:08the fact that I wanted this, LeBron, going here to Steph and Dray,
18:14because I wanted fun.
18:16Who do I root for?
18:17I root for me.
18:18I wanted to see Steph and LeBron doing the night-night together,
18:23watching the game over pod,
18:26looking at where you see them on the whiteboard.
18:29That's not it.
18:31That's not what I'm looking for here.
18:33So that, to me, is problematic.
18:34And if I'm a Warriors fan in conjunction with today's ESPN report,
18:40color me concerned.
18:41Then, of course, you have the Miami Heat.
18:43Now, they did appear in the main circle,
18:46but Rich Paul did not have a whole lot to say about them.
18:50Now, you go down south.
18:54Mitchell, Wiggins, Giannis, bam.
18:59Plus Pat, plus Spoh.
19:03So if I'm a Heat fan, I'm concerned.
19:06And I told you when it came to Miami,
19:09and there was enough smoke where I was like, eh,
19:12I'll throw it into the discussion.
19:14But really, they're not a team that's mentioned or featured or discussed.
19:23I mean, he didn't say anything.
19:26He didn't take notes on it.
19:27They didn't spend any time on it.
19:29And I still maintain this all goes back to Riley,
19:33and it goes back to James,
19:35and the fact that they had a bad breakup.
19:38He was there for four years.
19:40LeBron lived up to his end of the bargain,
19:41won a couple chips.
19:42The two years, he didn't win a championship.
19:44Made the NBA Finals.
19:45Pat Riley's stubborn.
19:48I, you can't rule it out because it's still Spolstra,
19:51it's still Miami, it's still Giannis.
19:53I don't think it makes basketball sense.
19:56I don't think, you know, Cleveland, the return, makes sense.
19:59You can always sell Cleveland if you're LeBron James.
20:02Always.
20:03It's home, final two years, kid from Akron.
20:06If he takes Donovan Mitchell to the finals,
20:09takes Cleveland to another championship,
20:11that's fantastic.
20:12That's, that's tremendous.
20:14Takes Miami, it's the old shoulder shrunk.
20:17No one's going to get too excited about that.
20:19So that, I think that Rich Paul told you everything you need to know
20:25about Miami based upon what transpired
20:29and where he put them,
20:31the lack of putting them on the board,
20:33and everything that goes into the mix.
20:36I mean, look at this board, right?
20:38Miami is, it's like part of the dry erase situation.
20:42That's not what you want here.
20:44Mitchell, Wiggins, Giannis, Bam.
20:49Eh, doesn't do much for me.
20:52See, if he goes to Philly, that's a championship team.
20:55He goes to the Knicks, that's a championship team.
20:58And he's not.
20:59Goes to Cleveland, they can get over the hump.
21:01They can win the Eastern Conference.
21:04Obviously, it'd be a really nice fit from a Miami standpoint.
21:07For LeBron, doesn't do anything.
21:10I'll tell you the team that I was surprised by, the Mavericks.
21:14Now, they're not on the inner circle here,
21:16but Rich Paul had a lot to say about the advantages they have,
21:21which almost have nothing to do with basketball.
21:25Dallas and Maasai.
21:27Now, in Dallas, they got oil, they got golf,
21:30you got Macau and the Sands Group,
21:32and then with Maasai, you got the whole continent of Africa.
21:35A lot comes with Dallas and Maasai.
21:38So here's what's interesting about Dallas, right?
21:41Because he literally writes, oil, golf.
21:46I mean, it's crazy.
21:48Maasai, who's an unbelievable executive.
21:51Obviously, we know about Cooper Flagg.
21:53Obviously, we know about Dusty May.
21:55The fact that he included these guys
21:59and some tangibles and intangibles,
22:01but didn't include that with Golden State,
22:06he's not going to Dallas.
22:07I would be absolutely floored.
22:10The inclusion is not just interesting
22:13if you're a Mavericks fan.
22:14It's noteworthy in a negative way
22:17if you're a fan of the Golden State Warriors.
22:19That's something that would concern me.
22:22Then you have the Spurs, and listen,
22:25this is what we have for the Spurs.
22:28No Wemby?
22:30Nothing.
22:31Rich Paul had next to nothing to say about them.
22:34Now, obviously, it is the game over pod,
22:37and it could be game on at any single time
22:40when it comes to Rich Paul, right?
22:42But Rich Paul is, I think he's a supremely bright guy.
22:49This goes back to my original take
22:51on the San Antonio Spurs.
22:54I think Paul and LeBron could sell any of these teams.
22:59Any of these teams.
23:01Except the Spurs.
23:02Except the Spurs.
23:03I don't think Miami does anything for LeBron.
23:05The Spurs, they could win a championship
23:07this upcoming year without LeBron James.
23:09No one bats an eye.
23:10They're literally the favorites today,
23:12as we speak, to win a championship.
23:14If they win with LeBron, he's going to get killed.
23:17If they lose with LeBron, LeBron's going to get killed.
23:19But LeBron won't get killed in the court of public opinion
23:23on any of these teams,
23:25with the exception of the San Antonio Spurs.
23:28So, that's something to keep in mind.
23:31And again, looking at the whiteboard,
23:34the diagram, understanding the game over pod,
23:38I don't think he's going to the San Antonio Spurs,
23:40which is what I said originally here on Shine Time.
23:44Last but not least, we also have the Boston Celtics,
23:46who appeared on the fringes of the board.
23:48Not much was said about them,
23:50and they do not appear to be a likely landing spot.
23:54Big reason for that, well, they no longer have Jalen Brown,
23:58which Brad Stevens discussed yesterday.
24:01The path looked a little bit more challenging
24:03with 70% of our cap,
24:05and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players.
24:09And the reality in this era,
24:12and in this day and age,
24:14at the NBA,
24:15and you could see it obviously
24:19with the last couple of champions
24:21and some of the teams
24:22that were at the very top of the league
24:24when it was all said and done
24:26at the end of this year,
24:27is that you have to do a great job
24:30and you have to have the optionality
24:31to do a great job of building out depth
24:34that can hopefully replace
24:36the irreplaceable individual.
24:39I've lost sleep over the fan part of this.
24:41I get it.
24:42Like, there's a bunch of seven jerseys around.
24:45I'm pretty sure I bought a couple.
24:47So, I get it.
24:51First of all,
24:52let's just say it went noted
24:54that he put Brad and Tatum on there.
24:56And that was almost like it was Rich Paul's way
24:58of just reminding people
25:00that Brad Stevens, in his mind,
25:02as a high-powered agent,
25:04is still one of the best in the business.
25:06Jason Tatum, still a superstar.
25:08Now, I give Brad Stevens credits
25:10because yesterday was the first day
25:13that deals were officially legal
25:14and the first opportunity he had
25:16to speak to the news media, he spoke.
25:19That's a great job by Brad Stevens.
25:21He didn't run from anything.
25:23They also had one of the owners up there,
25:25made sure everyone knew
25:26it's not a financial situation in Boston.
25:29Brad Stevens, Jason Tatum, LeBron James.
25:33It's not happening.
25:35I was stunned that he put these guys on there.
25:38I think that's calculated
25:41on the part of Rich Paul
25:43as a way to give Brad Stevens some love.
25:45I don't think there's any question about that.
25:48Stevens yesterday painted
25:51another picture of nothing, word salad.
25:55Reporters in Boston, I thought,
25:56did an unbelievable job asking Stevens,
25:59well, you know, is this a spot or a situation
26:01where the team is going to be better?
26:03He said, we'll find out.
26:04He likes Paul George.
26:06He praised Jalen Brown.
26:07Let me tell you all, everything
26:08that this was code for at the end of the day.
26:11The only thing that this was code for
26:13was we had to trade Jalen Brown.
26:17He can't say we traded him
26:19because of his Twitch stream.
26:20He can't say we traded him
26:22because the team blew a 3-1 lead
26:24against Philadelphia.
26:25And, you know, he felt like
26:27he had to get rid of him
26:28because he called in,
26:29Brown did season of his life.
26:32I mean, otherwise, at the end of the day,
26:34they would have never traded Jalen Brown,
26:36but Brown put him in a position
26:38where they had to trade him.
26:39Now, having to trade him
26:41and trading him to Philly in the division
26:44to an Eastern Conference foe
26:46and giving Philadelphia a real shot,
26:49even with Joel Embiid,
26:50who's a losing ball player,
26:52a real shot to win a championship,
26:53that's a different story.
26:55Trading him is one thing.
26:56This atrocious deal,
26:58that's one of the worst deals I've ever seen.
27:00And I have historically,
27:01we go back to Butler.
27:03I love Brad Stevens.
27:04I think he's remarkable.
27:05That trade remains
27:07the theater of the absurd.
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