- 19 hours ago
Is LeBron Waiting on the Warriors to make a move and get someone like Anthony Davis?
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00:00If you want to weigh into this LeBron conversation, the latest from Rich Paul, his agent, 888-957-9570.
00:08Are you feeling any breadcrumbs that maybe lead to the Warriors?
00:11I think that piece of sound from Rich Paul, they are talking about, hey, LeBron, don't just trust the roster
00:17on paper.
00:18A lot can change in the months to come and even into the regular season that will make the roster
00:24right now,
00:25what you see on paper look and feel a whole lot different in the future months.
00:31One thing that is interesting as well, Dibs, that I was thinking of last night was the,
00:38we talked about this a little bit, I think, last week, maybe on Friday.
00:42It feels like the Wizards have all the leverage in a potential Anthony Davis trade conversation in a negotiation.
00:50And that is, I think, it's what Shams has said over and over.
00:54Or that's the guy that LeBron wants the Warriors to acquire.
00:57And if that happens, maybe that would be enough to, you know, officially convince him to sign with the Warriors.
01:03But as of right now, because it's all played out in the public,
01:07it feels like the Wizards know that the Warriors might be kind of desperate for AD,
01:12meaning the Wizards can ask for a whole hell of a lot from the Warriors in order to trade him.
01:17If, say, LeBron takes a leap of faith and signs with the Warriors,
01:22and then the Warriors approach the Wizards and try to trade for Anthony Davis,
01:27the price probably comes down because the Wizards no longer have the leverage
01:32because the threat of LeBron not signing with the Warriors is suddenly gone.
01:35If he already is with the Warriors, then the ability to acquire AD maybe becomes a little bit easier.
01:39Perhaps, but that is presuming that Washington wants to trade Anthony Davis in the first place,
01:45which I'm not able to wrap my head around that reality.
01:49And for me, if Washington actually is ready to win after three years of tanking,
01:53and I think that they are, well, then Anthony Davis gives you a much better chance to win.
01:57But the other piece of it, the caveat, is if Anthony Davis wants to get an extension
02:03and Washington does not want to extend Anthony Davis and give him the max money
02:08or give him a five-year deal that Anthony Davis would want,
02:11well, then Washington now is a much more motivated trade partner
02:15because you've got Trey Young there, and Trey Young just got an extension,
02:18and you have a young core, and so you're looking at the future of your team
02:22and you're thinking, all right, we're ready to be good.
02:25We'd love to have Anthony Davis here,
02:27but I don't know if we want to give him four years on top of the one year he still
02:31has after next year.
02:32So that's the only intriguing piece as far as, will Washington even want to trade him at all?
02:38Do you think LeBron's delay is at all related to Anthony Davis' contract extension?
02:44Because he's not contract extension eligible until August 6th, Dibs.
02:50Do you think this lasts long enough to where Anthony Davis gets an extension
02:54and then the LeBron business happens?
02:57He very well could, and that's 16 more days.
03:00That's two weeks from Thursday.
03:02So if we play that out as the scenario, so LeBron is thinking, you know what,
03:09I really want to have Anthony Davis by my side, and I want the Warriors to trade for him,
03:14and right now Washington is just sitting on their hands saying, hey, I mean, we want to extend him.
03:19We can't until August 6th, but, you know, when we get to August 6th,
03:23we're going to go ahead and extend Anthony Davis because we like the player,
03:26and we want to go ahead and have him stick around.
03:29So if you're the Warriors, then you can either totally blow them away with an offer that's over the top,
03:35or you can call their bluff.
03:37And by calling their bluff, you're calling LeBron's bluff because if LeBron really wants to be a Warrior
03:43with Anthony Davis, then there's only so much you can do to kind of nudge Golden State
03:49into making that move happen now.
03:52I ask that because these next two pieces of sound that I want to play, I think, hint at the
03:57idea
03:58that this might take a little bit of time.
04:01Unfortunately, it's already been a little, it's been a lot of bit of time,
04:04but maybe it's going to take a little bit more time.
04:06Rich Paul didn't just do his podcast.
04:08He also went on the Pat McAfee show, courtesy of ESPN,
04:12and he had this to say to the guys.
04:15Here's Rich Paul.
04:16More on LeBron.
04:19Yeah, just having a little patience with him.
04:22Obviously, Pat, it's his choice.
04:24You know, I have a job to do to set the table for him, but it's his choice.
04:28And in my conversations with Adam, which obviously, you know, Adam,
04:32the greatest commissioner of all leagues, you know,
04:35we understand where the league is at and things of that nature as it pertains to the schedule,
04:39but it's a very conflicting thing because this is a very important choice for him.
04:43You cannot rush it.
04:44I think he's earned the right not to be rushed.
04:46It's not a thing where you're toying with people's emotions
04:49or trying to make it about anything more than the fact that, hey,
04:52this man has a very important layer decision to make across business,
04:57across family, across basketball.
05:01And, you know, basketball is the business, obviously.
05:04But, you know, you just have to be patient with him.
05:07I don't know, Pat.
05:07I wish I did know.
05:08I don't know, and I don't.
05:11I don't know.
05:13Rich Paul says, just please be patient with LeBron.
05:17And Pat McAfee at the end.
05:18Come on.
05:19And Adam Silver, we understand your schedule stuff, but please just be patient.
05:24This is really important, a really important decision for LeBron.
05:28Can we please just be patient and not rush him, please?
05:31We can.
05:32I mean, we certainly can because we have no other choice, you know.
05:38You have no choice.
05:39He doesn't have to make his decision now.
05:41It would be cool if you could.
05:44And it just, I hate to make everything about my toddler, but, like, you can, all right,
05:48you're going to sit there until you eat your vegetables.
05:50And she can sit there and not eat her vegetables.
05:53And so I'm going to sit there because I can't do anything else until you're done eating.
05:58And if you don't eat, then you're going to go to bed hungry, which means you're probably
06:04going to be a nightmare in the morning if you even make it through the night.
06:07So, I mean, you can decide to release the NBA schedule anyway.
06:12And your TV partners are not going to be thrilled.
06:15And Amazon right now is sitting on however many games they're going to get, and those
06:20peacock games, those 8 o'clock games that you love so much.
06:23So is LeBron, Myla, and are you Adam Silver and the TV partners?
06:29The TV partners are, yeah, me and my wife.
06:31And, you know, Adam Silver is probably right in there with us.
06:36And, yeah, LeBron's sitting there like, yeah, we can be as stubborn as we want to be.
06:41No, I won't eat my broccoli, a.k.a. no, I won't go to this Warriors roster without Anthony
06:46Davis.
06:46Or, no, I won't make a decision because I don't have to.
06:50And, okay, if I want to wait until August 6th when Anthony Davis is extension eligible,
06:55I can wait until August 6th.
06:57And you know what?
06:58I could sit at this dinner table until September 6th if I want, or October 6th, because ultimately
07:05if he decided, you know what, I'm going to take a two-month sabbatical.
07:09Well, I'm going to go to Nepal and go on a deep retreat and really think about it.
07:15I'll be back on October 1st.
07:17Well, then what are you going to do about it, Adam Silver and, you know, Mike Dunleavy and
07:22all the rest of you?
07:23You can pivot and give up the chase, or you can just continue to burn a candle and hope
07:29that come October 1st, when he comes back from his deep emotional retreat, maybe it's
07:33ayahuasca with Aaron Rodgers.
07:36If he just decides to disappear, what are you going to do about it?
07:40What are you going to do, hot shot?
07:41Well, ultimately, Adam Silver has to come up with a schedule.
07:44Oh, yeah.
07:45And you've got to let these teams know, like, when you can use your building for, you know,
07:51I don't know, Cirque du Soleil or Olivia Dean.
07:54I know that there's usually when it comes out, which is what, mid-August, the NBA schedule
07:59comes out?
07:59Yep, second week.
08:00I don't know if there's, like, it must be set by this date, though.
08:05Like, I don't know, like, when the absolute latest deadline is.
08:08Because just because they kept to that schedule doesn't mean that's the latest that they can
08:11let everybody know.
08:13I wonder when the cutoff deadline time is for the schedule.
08:16Well, I would bet that, and I don't know the process fully, but I would imagine that
08:21each team has given the league a certain amount of dates that are blackout dates.
08:25You know, dates where our building's not available and dates where the building is available.
08:31And so that's part of what gets put into the computer.
08:34But if you're thinking about Amazon Prime Video and NBC Universal Peacock, and they are now
08:41featured partners, they want to have these featured games.
08:44And so I'm sure they would love to be able to go to their advertisers and say, yeah, we're
08:51going to have 11 Warrior games with LeBron, Draymond, and Steph.
08:54And, you know, the date's to be determined, but we know he's going to be a Warrior.
08:58The schedule's coming out in a week, but we know we've got 10 of these babies.
09:02And right now, they can't.
09:04No, they can't.
09:04They don't know where the hell he's going to be.
09:06And Dave McMenamin, who, of course, has covered him for a very long time, most recently in L.A.
09:12when he was with the Lakers for the last eight years, was on SportsCenter earlier today
09:17and had this to say about LeBron's free agency.
09:20I've been told from a source, quote, nothing happening today.
09:24And, you know, as Rich Paul stated on the podcast on Monday evening, LeBron doesn't know.
09:29Rich Paul doesn't know.
09:32And, you know, people around the league, including Commissioner Adam Silver, are trying to put
09:36pressure on the James camp to make a decision.
09:40Rich Paul said on the podcast that he had a conversation with Adam Silver in New York about
09:44Silver's comments, saying that I really need LeBron to tell us what he's doing so we can
09:50put the league schedule together.
09:52And Rich's statement to him was, you know, he doesn't really know.
09:56So how can he rush the decision?
09:58It's not like he is waiting on his choice and there's some elaborate rollout planned.
10:04And so as LeBron is weighing the options, the only thing all of us can do is just wait.
10:11Nothing happening today, says David Miniman, according to a source.
10:14It's now 512, 513 Pacific.
10:16So it seems like he was right there.
10:18There's there's been no news.
10:20And that makes it sound like, again, according to the LeBron side of things, no decision has
10:26been made.
10:27He's still running through all the voice notes that was left for him.
10:32He's still trying to figure out what's best for him.
10:34He hasn't made a decision yet, Dibs.
10:36He's still considering all the options.
10:40Adam Silver, you can't rush me because I haven't even come to the end of the process yet.
10:45I haven't made my decision.
10:46Don't rush greatness.
10:47I'm in the middle of making my decision.
10:49Don't rush me.
10:51I mean, yeah, don't rush me.
10:53And it'd be great if he could make the decision if he hasn't already.
10:57But he's the one who ultimately is in control, the whole thing.
11:01And so he's got ostensibly four teams who are still in on LeBron, you would most likely
11:07think Golden State, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Miami.
11:10And so those four are a little paralyzed as far as what other moves to make.
11:14And even beyond that, the next tier down of free agents are also paralyzed because if
11:20you're DeMar DeRozan and you'd like to go out and get your contract or James Harden,
11:25you opted out and you'd like to know just how much you can opt back in for with Cleveland.
11:30Same thing as Draymond Green.
11:31And even further down the list, there are other players who are probably waiting to see what
11:37shakes out.
11:38You've got the commissioner waiting to make the schedule.
11:40The media partner is waiting for the schedule to be made so they can pitch to their advertisers.
11:45The advertisers wondering how much we want to go in on advertising because we want to
11:50know how many of these LeBron games we get and on and on and on.
11:54It's a trickle down.
11:55And at the top is the giant waterfall that is LeBron James.
11:59And right now he's got the water turned off.
12:02And you cannot convince me he's not enjoying this.
12:05Even if we talked about it earlier, it's not his main motivation.
12:09His main motivation isn't to flex on the entire sports world that he's still this otherworldly
12:17figure.
12:18Even if that's not his main motivation, he's enjoying this.
12:22He's enjoying everybody listening to every word that Rich Paul says on the Game Over podcast
12:28with Max Kellerman that I can be honest, I haven't listened to until the last few weeks.
12:34When, of course, this decision became highly publicized late June, early July, he's loving
12:41it.
12:42He's loving the attention.
12:43There's no doubt.
12:44Yeah, and that's where I took offense, not offense, but I took my eyebrows went up.
12:49But the one thing Rich Paul said about, oh, he's not doing this for the attention.
12:52If he's not doing it for the attention, then this wouldn't constantly be out there in the
12:58mainstream.
12:58And I just joked earlier about him going on a retreat or ayahuasca or you go to Nepal and
13:04chill with the monks or you hike Everest, whatever you could.
13:08If you really wanted to have some downtime while you make the decision, you could go away and
13:13you could not have Rich Paul doing podcasts and Shams Sharania with reports and Brian
13:20Winhorst and Dave McMenamin who are all out there.
13:24They're doing their job.
13:25And this is a story.
13:26But if it came out that Rich Paul comes out tomorrow and says, you know what, guys, he
13:30hasn't made his decision.
13:31And LeBron James is going to go away for two weeks to an undisclosed ashram.
13:38And he's going to spend some time by himself away from the media.
13:42There'll be no decision until August 6th.
13:45And we'll get back to you guys then.
13:47That would be a thing.
13:49But he likes the attention.
13:51I think that he likes the fact that he's in control of this entire league.
13:56He is running the league right now.
13:58Speaking of ayahuasca, it's a very obvious reference to Aaron Rodgers.
14:03Did you see Aaron Rodgers on social media earlier today?
14:07J-A-M-E-S.
14:10LeBron.
14:11Did you see Aaron Rodgers on social media?
14:14I just wanted to get that out there.
14:14He's very famously kind of cut off all ties and relationships with his family.
14:21He posted on social media pictures of him with his mom, his dad, his brother, and more with
14:28the caption, another bonding week, hashtag fam.
14:32All right.
14:33So it seems like he's maybe reconnecting with his family after all these years.
14:37Well, the famous story, which might be mythology, it was that he got Christmas presents sent to
14:44him and he sent them back.
14:45Like that was what always the story was about the disconnect between he and his family.
14:50Some of these things get blown way out of proportion or other things are actually true and things
14:57that happened.
14:58I don't know where that one lies, but good for you, Aaron, because as I've told you and
15:03Goo and I have this conversation all the time, like you get your parents and then when they're
15:08gone, as mine are, they're gone.
15:10And I'm coming up on, God, it's gotta be 10 years without my mom and more without my dad.
15:17And, you know, I remember, I remember the last minutes with my mom, we were there and
15:22she was, she was in what they call the death rattle, Grandy, where she was like, basically
15:28like kind of writhing back and forth.
15:30And then she sat up and she looked right at me.
15:33I was there with my sister and I'm mommy, mommy, I'm here.
15:36And she looks at me and she goes, get out of my life.
15:40Oh my God.
15:40And I started, so me and Gail were cracking up.
15:44Like, who says that?
15:45Who says that on this door?
15:46I thought it was going to be something like, you know, soft.
15:49Get out of my life.
15:50So me and Gail are like, shut up, dibs.
15:53Basically, so we go down to talk to the lady, we go down to talk to the lady in hospice
15:58and
15:58it was, it had to be, it was the Christmas game, Warriors and Cavs.
16:02And this had to be 20, maybe 17 and, uh, you know, hospice lady's so nice and she's walking
16:09us through what's going to happen.
16:10And they had the game on in the waiting room.
16:12And so I'm looking at the lady from hospice and I look over at my sister and she's watching
16:16the game.
16:17And then the hospice lady would turn to Gail and I'd go up and I'm looking at the game.
16:21You're playing tag team.
16:22So this goes on for like two or three minutes.
16:24And I finally turn and look at my ex-wife and she looks at the two of us and she's
16:28like
16:28shaking her head.
16:30You absolute losers.
16:31And this was the game where there was a late flagrant and it was like a one point game
16:35and they had to review it.
16:36We had it on mute.
16:37And so I'm trying to figure out what's going on.
16:39What's going on here?
16:40Meanwhile, this wonderful woman's talking about, you know, the last couple of weeks, it's going
16:43to be this, it's going to be that, and I'm looking at my sister like, that's got to be
16:47a flagrant one, you know?
16:48Anyway.
16:49Back then you were worried about LeBron and now you're still worried about LeBron.
16:53Here we are, yep.
16:54That was almost a decade ago.
16:56Fortunately, my mom passed quickly and quietly in the next couple of days.
16:59But long story short, Aaron Rodgers, your parents.
17:03Like, I'm happy that you and your parents are so close.
17:05You go to the ball game this weekend with them.
17:07Yep.
17:07That's awesome.
17:09Can I share with you something I tweeted yesterday relating.
17:13to LeBron and the Warriors.
17:15I don't think I saw it.
17:16I want you to tell me if you disagree with any of this.
17:19This is just, I was thinking about this last night and I was like, you know what?
17:22I'm going to write this down and I want to see how Twitter responds, which is a very
17:26dangerous thought to have.
17:27But I just simply wrote, what I believe, dot, dot, dot.
17:32Number one, LeBron wants the Warriors and the Warriors know this.
17:38Number two, but he thinks other rosters are better and he's right.
17:43Number three, the weight is to put pressure on the Warriors to trade for Anthony Davis.
17:49Number four, but the Warriors won't do that and they shouldn't.
17:54As a result, LeBron doesn't have his ideal situation to choose from.
17:59You agree with that?
18:00I agree with all of it, except the fifth piece is the one piece missing, which would be your
18:08conclusion, which would be, therefore, LeBron is going to blank.
18:13Like the way you walked all that through, I thought was great.
18:16He's waiting.
18:17He's waiting for this to happen.
18:19And, you know, he's not going to get his ideal situation.
18:22And so, if you don't have your ideal situation anywhere, what do you do, LeBron?
18:28I think, ultimately, my read is that he's still going to choose the Warriors, which is
18:33the game of chicken the Warriors are playing.
18:34We were talking about earlier, the Anthony Davis stuff.
18:36And maybe it is as simple as the Wizards not having any interest in trading him.
18:40I haven't heard the Wizards being super eager to extend Anthony Davis.
18:44I don't know why you would be.
18:46He has two more years on his deal.
18:48It's a player option, so it's up to him.
18:51And it's a lot of money, like $62 million.
18:54So, it's not like it's a very cheap player option.
18:58He would want to pick that up.
19:01I do think, ultimately, though, that he would choose the Warriors, which is, I think, what
19:05the Warriors believe, which is what I was getting at by saying the Warriors know that
19:10LeBron wants the Warriors.
19:11This is my read, not my reporting.
19:13But all the responses that I got, and I got a lot of them from angry Warrior fans saying,
19:19well, if he wants the Warriors and it just takes getting AD, why don't you go and just
19:23trade two or three first-round picks for AD and get it done?
19:27And I got a lot of other responses.
19:29But I think the one thing that I want to try to emphasize to Warrior fans more than anything
19:36else, and I got this text that just came in on the text line a little bit ago.
19:40The 360 addressed this to both of us, Dibs, and also to Willard.
19:44The 360 writes,
19:46Grandy, I think you, Dibs, and Willard care too much about future picks.
19:50Would you seriously rather just watch the greatest player in franchise history go out
19:56like Kobe?
19:57You'd rather watch a repeat of last year.
20:00360, I appreciate the text.
20:02I do not want to watch a repeat of last year.
20:04That was not fun.
20:05But I also don't want to hinder the future so much so that we have to watch a repeat
20:13of last year in the next six years.
20:16I don't want that at all.
20:18But I think the one thing that I need to try to emphasize, Dibs, to Warrior fans out there,
20:22because I saw so many of this, so many responses featuring a similar sentiment, was in order
20:29to make a trade, Dibs, to acquire somebody that makes a difference on the level that
20:34a healthy AD would, right?
20:37We're talking about a move that maybe would convince LeBron that this roster is good enough.
20:41Not only do you have to give up multiple draft picks to get it done, you have to have the
20:47money in a contract attached to a player that at least has a little bit of value.
20:54Why did the Boston Celtics trade Jalen Brown to the 76ers and theoretically not to the Warriors?
21:01Let's just say the offer was the same.
21:03Two first round picks, two second round picks, but instead of Paul George, the Warriors offered
21:09Jimmy Butler.
21:10Well, the Celtics would prefer the Paul George offer from the 76ers because Paul George making
21:16the same amount of money as Jimmy Butler, but he's healthy and he's not coming off of an
21:21ACL tear.
21:22The Warriors big money player that they would offer in any one of these theoretical trades
21:27is old and coming off of a torn ACL.
21:31So that immediately means you have to pay up more to get that deal across the finish line.
21:37I think there's a misconception among a lot of Warrior fans, at least that I interact with,
21:42that think Jimmy Butler is an asset that actively helps you get good players in here.
21:47No, he's not because he's hurt and you have to then pay more future assets to get some
21:52somebody to take on that contract and then still give you something of value that convinces
21:58LeBron to come here.
21:59And that makes it a lot more difficult, I think.
22:02And, you know, Paul George has had his injury history, much like Anthony Davis has, but he
22:07is close to, if not ready to go this upcoming season.
22:10So Boston, they didn't trade Jalen Brown because they're going to go into a rebuild mode.
22:15I don't think that they, for whatever reason, like the tandem.
22:19And I don't know if it's internal strife or if Jalen Brown was somebody who was a little
22:24bit of a heavy load, but Paul George's contract will come up before Jalen Brown's.
22:29So you made that move and it was controversial and he kept Tatum, but they're not looking
22:34to tear it down and rebuild.
22:36And that's why I look at Washington and I just don't know if they are looking to rebuild
22:41yet again.
22:42So let's just play with the idea that Washington does want to trade Anthony Davis.
22:48They don't want to extend Anthony Davis because, you know, Anthony Davis has had an injury history
22:54and they've already got Trey Young signed longer term.
22:56So they do actually want to trade Anthony Davis, but they also want to win games starting this
23:02year.
23:03They're not going to take back Jimmy Butler.
23:05So that's where you'd have to come up with a third party to get involved in this and be
23:11the conduit so that Washington gets actual basketball players and the Warriors get Anthony Davis.
23:18And then, you know, the third team would get probably picks from picks from Golden State.
23:24The Warriors would get picks to Washington.
23:25That team would take on Jimmy Butler and get picks as well.
23:28And so I think you'd have to have a third team get involved because right now your two
23:33goals don't match up between you and Washington.
23:36The 408 on the text line.
23:38I don't understand why we're just automatically assuming Butler is valueless.
23:43He could easily be clay in 2022.
23:47Sure, he could come back and he could be good.
23:50But there's a lot of ifs.
23:52There's a lot of coulds.
23:53And Jimmy Butler now versus Klay Thompson then, that's a pretty darn big difference.
23:59Jimmy Butler will be 37 by the time next season begins.
24:02He will turn 37 in September and he's owed 56, almost $57 million this year.
24:10However you slice it.
24:12I just want to emphasize this more than anything else on this topic today.
24:17The Jimmy Butler contract, it is an expiring deal.
24:22It will be worth more.
24:23How about this, Dibs?
24:24It will be worth more and it would be easier to move off of it at the trade deadline.
24:28Yep.
24:29Definitely.
24:29Because at that point, maybe he's back or maybe he's close to back and you have teams
24:34check out the medicals and they say, yeah, you know, he'll be back soon.
24:37But it's also an expiring that only has a couple of months left on the contract.
24:40But as of right now, it is not a contract that teams are lining up to acquire.
24:46And if that is the facilitator, if that contract is the facilitator of a move, you're going
24:54to have to pay more than a different team would.
24:57You know, the Kawhi deal, right?
24:59The Kawhi trade that's currently on hold to Toronto because of the aspiration investigation
25:05by the NBA, it was agreed upon by both teams.
25:08The Raptors were giving away two first round picks, two second round picks, a first round
25:15pick swap, plus Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick, okay, to make the money work.
25:21The Warriors could have traded Jimmy Butler essentially for Kawhi to make the money work.
25:25But what do the Clippers want in return?
25:27They want players that can play and can be decent for them in addition to the draft picks.
25:33So if you're saying, well, the Clippers accepted two firsts and two seconds and one swap plus
25:39the money to make it work, why couldn't the Warriors have done two firsts, two seconds and
25:44a swap plus Jimmy Butler?
25:46It would have had to been more because Jimmy Butler is not worth as much as the combination
25:51of Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick because they're younger.
25:54They are healthy.
25:56Do they make a lot of money combined?
25:58Yes, they do.
25:58But what's if I'm paying a lot of money to a player?
26:02The number one thing I want is availability.
26:04And those guys are available.
26:05Jimmy Butler isn't unless you're a team that is not interested in winning.
26:09And Washington is now a team that is interested in winning.
26:13So they went three years of tanking.
26:15And now they've gotten the Bonson.
26:17They have a great young core and they've got Trey young.
26:20And so they want another big piece.
26:22And if it's Anthony Davis, they may want to extend him.
26:24We don't really know.
26:25But if it's not Anthony Davis, they don't just want to take back somebody who won't play
26:30until January or February.
26:31I'm glad you pointed that out about Klay because he was 31 in that season when he returned.
26:37And two brutal injuries, but 31.
26:40Right.
26:40And the Achilles happened about 15 months after the ACL.
26:45And that year was just that year was delayed due to COVID.
26:48It was the 2020-2021 season.
26:51And he was just getting ready to head into camp.
26:53The season started later.
26:55Yeah.
26:55And in November.
26:56Something like that.
26:57Yeah.
26:57I was just looking it up.
26:58And so that happened.
27:00And it took him 14 months to come back from the Achilles.
27:04And when he did, it was January of 2022.
27:06And he was 31 years old for Jimmy Butler.
27:09When he comes back after 10, 11, 12 months, whatever it is off the ACL.
27:13You mentioned that he's going to be 36.
27:1637.
27:16He's 36 right now.
27:18He'll be 37.
27:18And he's played a lot more basketball.
27:20So the likelihood of his return to excellence, it can happen, but it probably won't happen
27:27right away.
27:27So if you're looking to acquire Jimmy Butler, you're doing so realizing that he probably
27:33isn't going to be a big time contributor for you right away.
27:36Yeah.
27:38The 808 asks us, do you think LeBron is holding out because he wants to come to Golden
27:43State?
27:43I think if he wanted to go to the other teams, I think it would have been done.
27:48I agree with you, 808.
27:49I do.
27:50I think the game the Warriors are playing is they believe that LeBron wants to come to
27:55the Warriors for a number of different reasons.
27:57They might know that Intel because of Draymond.
28:01Maybe they know it because of Steph.
28:02Maybe it's just a guess and a hunch on their part.
28:06They know that LeBron ideally would want Anthony Davis and they might know if they acquire
28:10Anthony Davis that LeBron would immediately sign with them, but they don't want to give
28:15up the assets that it would take to get Anthony Davis in here and then be forced to extend
28:20him.
28:21Think about this.
28:22Just think about this, Dibs.
28:23Let's say you let's let's say the Wizards aren't even holding you over the barrel for
28:28Anthony Davis and you get him for two firsts, maybe there's a pick swap in there and it's
28:34Jimmy Butler essentially and that's it.
28:36It's not a terrible, terrible, crazy amount of assets going there, but Anthony Davis is
28:44demanding that it is an extension and it's a max four year, $275 million contract extension
28:54for Anthony Davis.
28:55All right, and let's say LeBron signs as a result, but you get one year, like let's
29:00just say it's one year of LeBron and I know that there's rumors that he's going to play
29:03two, three, who knows?
29:05Let's just say it's one year of LeBron, but you're forced to accept four years of Anthony
29:10Davis.
29:11Do you want multiple years of hell with Anthony Davis when he's going to be in his mid to
29:18late 30s, probably already more injured than he's already been just for one year of LeBron
29:24and Anthony Davis?
29:25Is that worth it to you?
29:26You might say, yeah, maybe that's how you feel, but I just, I don't want to be stuck
29:31with an aging already often injured Anthony Davis.
29:34I really don't want anything to do with that contract.
29:37So I think the Warriors playing hardball with LeBron in that sense, the, the, the, the bad
29:41result is that he doesn't come Anthony Davis and LeBron.
29:44And I get that.
29:45That's terrible because last year was ugly.
29:47I think though, that's better than the alternative of dealing with three years of Anthony Davis
29:54without LeBron.
29:55And it's just terrible with 60 plus million dollars every year going to that guy.
29:59And it would be probably four years because he signed for this year.
30:03He has a player option for next year at 63 million.
30:05So you would ostensibly buy out that.
30:08But if you're talking about a four year deal for 275 million, whatever it is, so you'd
30:14probably be this year.
30:15And then you'd be erasing the player option here.
30:17So it would be five years of Anthony Davis.
30:19And he will be 34 in March.
30:21So you'd be looking at 34, five, six, seven, and his 38 year old season when he's making
30:26$76 million.
30:28And, you know, Steph would likely be gone by then.
30:31And you'd be left with Anthony Davis and pods first mentioned in the show.
30:35And I mean, Anthony Davis, Anthony Davis, when healthy is phenomenal.
30:40He's a top 10 player still in the league, but he just doesn't, he doesn't stay healthy
30:44often enough.
30:46Last year, it was 20 games.
30:48The year before it was nine games.
30:49And so when you're looking at nine games with Dallas, he played 42 with the Lakers.
30:53So he played about 60% of the season.
30:56But if you're going to look at giving up draft capital and sinking in long-term money, I
31:02don't want to do it on a guy who is going to be 38 by the end of the contract.
31:06You're just repeating the situation you're in now, which is you have an old team that's
31:11kind of expensive.
31:12And so you're going to double down with LeBron in theory, short term.
31:16And then you'd also be tripling down with Anthony Davis long-term.
31:20And that's just not to me, a sound move.
31:22The 415 asks on the text line, 888-957-9570, would you rather be forced to extend Anthony
31:30Davis or Jimmy Butler?
31:33A Jimmy Butler.
31:34Yeah.
31:34Because he's not going to get the max.
31:36Like those contracts will not be equal, I don't think.
31:39And he has a better injury history, despite the ACL tear he's currently on.
31:43He does have a better injury history than AD does.
31:45Jimmy Butler does, yes.
31:47And also, he is older, but I think that...
31:49I don't want to do either of those.
31:51Well, Jimmy Butler would not get a five-year, $275 million deal.
31:55Those days are over.
31:56So, you know, if you're looking to keep Jimmy Butler and extend him, which I don't necessarily
32:02think that I would do, or give Anthony Davis the max for five, I'd rather give Jimmy another
32:07two-year, $110 million deal, which I don't want to do that.
32:12Two-year, $110 million.
32:13Isn't that what he got last time, basically?
32:15Could you imagine?
32:15Yeah.
32:15Yeah, he signed a two-year, $110.9 million contract with the Warriors.
32:21Right now, the Warriors, according to Basketball Reference, they have $210 million on the books
32:25for next year.
32:26The year after, they've got $55 million on the books.
32:29And they've been craving this level of optionality for a long time.
32:35And now Steph's going to get $70 million if he wants it.
32:38So, that takes a big chunk of what you have.
32:40But next year, you've got Chris Dapps on a player option for $20 million.
32:45And then Moses and Al and Yaxal and Guy, that's it.
32:50Which has been the whole point, right?
32:52Right.
32:52It's been the whole point.
32:53And if you're, it would be different, it would be way different, Dibs, if this was 36-year-old
33:00LeBron, and you were getting a multi-year commitment for him, from him, like four years, and then
33:07he's saying, I'm only doing that if I'm getting to be teammates with Anthony Davis again, and
33:13you give him an extension.
33:14Okay, that's different.
33:15Because you have Anthony Davis and LeBron James together for four years or whatever.
33:20But it's 41, 42-year-old LeBron for, you know, one year, maybe two at the most, but
33:27it might just be one year, and then you're having to swallow the multiple years of Anthony
33:32Davis after the fact.
33:33I just don't want to be left with that contract.
33:35I don't want to be left standing at the altar with Anthony Davis and paying him $65 million
33:42a season towards the end of that contract.
33:44Even more than that, quite frankly, as things continue to escalate and just look ahead to
33:49next year and take Jimmy Butler out of it.
33:51But Steph, he gets an extension in August if he wants, and that'll be 66 or 67.
33:58Draymond Green will get a two-year deal.
34:00He opted out for that purpose.
34:02I don't know how much it'll be for, but next year's number might be $22 million.
34:07And you've got, as I mentioned, Chris Tapps who can opt in for $20 million, and you start
34:11to look at the old pieces you're going to have.
34:14And Al Hawford, he signed a two-year deal.
34:17He said, he'll be back for seven.
34:18And your old team likely will be together again next year and only be older.
34:22Hey, did you hear the news from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?
34:28I think I saw it on the crawl, but give it to me.
34:30Beginning on Friday, Steph Curry will become the first active player to have an exhibit
34:37at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
34:40It's called Stephen Curry Beyond the Arc, and it's a limited-time exhibit at the Hall of Fame.
34:47And again, he becomes the first active player, Dibs, to have any sort of exhibit at the Hall
34:53of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
34:55That's pretty awesome.
34:56That's pretty cool.
34:57Yeah, I mean, he deserves it.
34:58The guy who is absolutely shattered the all-time three-pointers made.
35:02Mark, I think he's more than 800 threes made ahead of James Hodden, who's in second on the
35:09all-time list.
35:10So when he does retire, he and Harden will probably go out at the same time.
35:14I think they drafted, they were drafted in the same year, so he'll probably wind up about
35:181,000 threes ahead.
35:20Not that that lead is safe in today's NBA, but Steph Curry, he might wind up, if he plays,
35:27I don't know, Grandy, three more years, I think he can get to 5,000 threes made.
35:31He's at 4,248 on his career.
35:35So that's 752.
35:36That'd be 250 a year for Steph to get to 5,000.
35:42Let me just look up his numbers the last few years, and I'll tell you if it's possible.
35:45Well, last year he got hurt, so last year was kind of a diminutive total.
35:49Probably only hit 144 threes.
35:51No, I need totals, not per game.
35:52Let me get the totals.
35:53Scroll down.
35:55190 last year.
35:56Wow, in half a year, basically.
35:58Yeah, the year prior, in 70 games played, made 311.
36:02The year prior, 2023-2024, played 74 games, made 357.
36:09Yep, so he's basically 5 a game.
36:12Essentially.
36:13Yeah, right around there.
36:14And he averaged 4.4 per game last year, 4.4 the year prior, 4.8 the year prior, 4
36:22.9.
36:22So around 4, 4.5 to 5.
36:24So he's looking at just shy of 300 games to get to, I mean, 250 games would be 753s if
36:33you hit 5 a game.
36:35How many games played does he need?
36:36250, so that's basically three-plus seasons.
36:39Yeah, you probably would need to play four seasons to get to that number.
36:43It's possible.
36:44That's something to watch, yeah.
36:44It's possible, but it's a little unlikely.
36:46If you include postseason, though, he'd get there for sure.
36:50Oh, yeah.
36:50James Harden is second, 3,390.
36:54Almost a full 1,000 behind Steph.
36:57Yeah, James Harden has passed Ray Allen.
36:58He did that a while ago.
37:00But no hoopla there because Steph had already passed Ray Allen.
37:03It's crazy.
37:04Of the top six all-time three-pointers made, five of them are active players.
37:10Steph and James Harden, 1 and 2.
37:12Then Clay at No. 4.
37:14Dame at No. 5.
37:15And LeBron at No. 6.
37:17Crazy LeBron has made the sixth most threes in NBA history because he's never been a three-point shooter.
37:23He's just played so many dang games that he has the sixth most all-time made threes.
37:27Yep, and he's kind of changed his game into that much more than he used to be just a get
37:33-to-the-basket dominating force.
37:35Yeah.
37:35The 2-6-2 is saying, is your math off 150 times 5?
37:41Well, it's more like 4 per game, 4.5 to 5 per game.
37:44If he makes, on average, 5 per game.
37:46Oh, yeah, you're right.
37:465 times 150 would be 750.
37:49If he makes 5 per game.
37:50And he could get there in two and a half years.
37:53Yeah.
37:54I'm factoring in games missed.
37:56So that is more doable.
37:57Yeah.
37:58If he averages 5 a game, which he hasn't done in a bit, but it's possible.
38:01Math is hard.
38:02It is possible.
38:03Math is hard, just like trades.
38:04Live math on the radio?
38:06Thank you for-
38:06You did a good job.
38:07I trusted.
38:08I was going to bring up my calculator.
38:09You're sloppy.
38:09I'm better than that.
38:10But I trusted you.
38:11I apologize.
38:12Thank you to the texter for helping me come correct.
38:15Yeah.
38:15Shout out to the 2-6-2.
38:17We appreciate you for having our back.
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38:42That's Dibs.
38:43I'm Grandy.
38:44We're back to wrap things up next with Adam Schefter on the new Niner receiver, Stribbling.
38:50You're going to want to hear this.
38:51That's coming up next on 95.7 The Game.
38:53Yeah.
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