00:00Joe Vardin, I know it's a busy time for him, of the athletic, kind enough to join us on short
00:04notice.
00:04Joe, thanks so much for the time.
00:06How shocked were you that Philadelphia won the LeBron sweepstakes?
00:12I'm not. I'm really not.
00:14You know, and I had said since the Lakers, or since LeBron informed the Lakers he wasn't going back there,
00:21that I thought he would come to Cleveland.
00:25But, you know, and as I've been saying the whole time, that was just what I thought would make sense
00:36and what I thought things were shaping up to be just based on, like, what you see and what you
00:43think you know.
00:45The other thing I had been saying the whole time is that at no point should anybody be assigning a
00:53certain set of beliefs
00:54or values to LeBron, because once he didn't go back to the Lakers, all bets were off the table.
01:02So now he picks the Sixers, and they're saying it's about, you know, the best chance to win a championship.
01:09And that's a team with Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Brown and Joel Embiid.
01:15And now you add LeBron to it.
01:17Nick Nurse has won before.
01:19They're an organization that's strong at the top with Bob Myers and, yes, our own Mike Gansey.
01:27And, you know, this is, he thinks this is the best chance to win.
01:31Like, the East is weaker than the West.
01:33This is how you get to the finals.
01:36And then you have to hope you're healthier than the other side.
01:39And that's the play here.
01:41So, no, I'm really not that surprised.
01:43Joe, what do you think of the on-floor basketball fit of LeBron with the 76ers?
01:47It's fine.
01:48I mean, it's great.
01:49You know, like, the thing that I've been saying a few times on this radio station is we all need
01:57to keep in mind that this is not 34-year-old LeBron.
02:02He's 41, so he's still really good, but he's not, he is not as great as he used to be.
02:12That's just true.
02:13He shot 30% from three-point range last year.
02:18So, he makes them better because of who he is and how big he still is and how knowledgeable of
02:28the game he is, what kind of passer he can be.
02:31But, like, he's not, he is not the player that drags a team to the finals anymore.
02:40So, Joel is going to have to stay healthy.
02:43You know, Jalen is probably the dominant player on that team now.
02:48And Tyrese needs to continue to evolve.
02:51But, you know, LeBron can fit in any system.
02:54He can play any type of basketball.
02:56And, you know, Nick will certainly find the way, a way to make the most out of him.
03:02Joe Vardin of The Athletic joining us on the Wise Hard Right.
03:04We make a right call, call right.
03:06Hotline Joe.
03:07LeBron obviously making it clear in his statement that he posted on social media.
03:11He is trying to win another championship.
03:14It would be his fifth overall.
03:15He's looking to go 4-4-4 with his franchises, though.
03:191-1, 1-2, I should say, with the Heat.
03:211-1 with the Cavaliers.
03:221-1 with the Lakers.
03:23Now he's going to try and win one with Philadelphia.
03:26Your thoughts on those prospects with the 76ers.
03:30How close are they to climbing the mountain and ending that drought, which goes back to 1983?
03:37Well, you know, again, I think it is still dependent on some of those things.
03:46Like, they need Joel to be the real Joel.
03:51So, I start there.
03:53And then, like, I'll never discount Oklahoma City as long as Shea Gildress is there.
04:00And if Jalen Williams gets healthier, they're a problem.
04:04And the San Antonio Spurs are going to be a problem for a very long time.
04:09We're all discounting the Knicks because we feel like they got hot at the right time.
04:15But Jalen Brunson is, like, a LeBron-level closer.
04:21Like, look at the clutch statistics.
04:26So, this is by no means a guarantee.
04:29And he's taking a bit of a risk here because you're right, guys.
04:34Every team that he's played for ever has won a title.
04:38And this is not a guarantee that he'll get one now.
04:42Joe Varden hopping on with us on the Wise Heart Right.
04:45We Make It Right.
04:46Call Kyle Right Hotline.
04:47You can read him at The Athletic.
04:48You can hear him a little bit on SiriusXM as well.
04:50And he's a hero for hopping on with us and shut short notice.
04:53So, thank you, dude.
04:54Oh, no problem.
04:56If you put yourself in Kobe Altman's shoes, what's your next move for the Cleveland Cavaliers
05:01now that LeBron's made his announcement?
05:03Well, look, they lost Dean Wade.
05:06And, you know, Keion Ellis wasn't really in the rotation, but he could have been if they
05:12had, you know, once Dean left.
05:15And so there's been all this talk about, well, are they going to move on from Max Struis or
05:21are they going to move on from Dennis Schroeder?
05:26I could see moving on from one of them, but not both.
05:30You want to create a little bit of room under the first apron, just enough to allow you to
05:36make a trade at the deadline.
05:38But they still have this group with Harden and Donovan Mitchell's going to be here forever.
05:44And Evan Mobley's around, you know, and Jared Allen is coming off a great playoff run.
05:49And so I don't think they want to get worse.
05:53This is a team that's still trying to win for sure.
05:57And so you look at Jonathan Kaminga, you know, you look at some of the other like lower level
06:04options out there just to add a little bit more shooting, add a little bit more depth.
06:09But this was a team that, at least from a player's perspective, left the locker room after being
06:16swept by the Knicks, saying, we're better than what we showed.
06:20Give us some time to play together and you'll see.
06:24So, you know, that's the mindset here.
06:28I think you're looking to see what else is out there to add and get the rest of the summer
06:34business done and get ready for the fall.
06:37Yeah, Joe, part of the summer business was James Harden opting out.
06:40He had been in a holding pattern, waiting to see how this LeBron situation played out.
06:46What's next for him now?
06:48Does he go ahead and sign his new contract with the Cavaliers?
06:52Does he sit back and wait to give Kobe Altman some more time to maybe do something else?
06:59What's next for James Harden?
07:03Okay, let me say this, Daryl.
07:06I can't say that I know what's going to happen today.
07:09So we're talking now, I've got six stories up in front of me here.
07:14You can imagine what my phone log looks like.
07:17While all this is going on, it could just come out that James has signed his new contract.
07:25And it's for two years and whatever, you know, like north of $60 million, like closer to $70 million probably.
07:34That could happen.
07:37There's not necessarily a reason for that yet.
07:40Like, if you waited this long to give LeBron, the Cavs, the flexibility to do what they needed for LeBron,
07:47you might as well hang back and let them retain that flexibility to get a Kaminga if they need to.
07:54If they have to make a move to bring in somebody else who's good, you know, like they have the
08:00flexibility right now under the apron because of what their roster looks like.
08:05Like, so you could, so, so if there are moves out there, and I just keep saying Jonathan Kaminga, there
08:10could be more.
08:11There could be more, you know, I'm not sure.
08:15But if there are other moves like that out there, why close yourself off from them by agreeing to terms
08:22with James?
08:23Because the thing all along is they have a dollar amount.
08:25They have a total dollar amount that they want to pay him.
08:29The question is going to be, is it over two years or three years?
08:32That third year gives them the flexibility to pay him a little bit less now and possibly make that move
08:40that they otherwise couldn't make if they were over the aprons.
08:43So I know it's confusing, but the bottom line is if they have something else in mind that requires flexibility,
08:53then they should continue to have this healthy relationship with James and just have him wait.
09:00We know that basketball happiness was one of the things that LeBron James was looking at.
09:05Well, when I think of a place of happiness, Philly has never exactly been known for that, especially when things
09:10are not going well.
09:12Do you think there's any worry in LeBron of him getting booed or anything like that if there is a
09:17chance he does not able to get over the hump for Philadelphia and end that title drought?
09:21And how would that affect him?
09:24No, there's no worry.
09:27But that doesn't mean it won't happen.
09:29Of course it'll happen.
09:30If they stink, he's going to get booed.
09:33And he will be called a rain chaser.
09:37And the end of his NBA career will be him failing while joining a team that had already loaded up
09:47by adding Jalen Brown.
09:49But that's different than LeBron worrying about it.
09:52Like, LeBron still thinks he can play.
09:54And by the way, he's earned the benefit of the doubt.
09:57You know, I talked earlier about how he's not the player he once was, but he's still good.
10:02But we saw that against the Rockets in the playoffs.
10:05He can still play.
10:06And he thinks that adding himself into this mix is enough to get them over the top, or at least
10:11more so than what Cleveland had to offer, what Miami had to offer, what the Warriors had to offer.
10:17So he's not worried about the failure.
10:20But we also have to acknowledge that if this doesn't work out and they don't win, that's the end of
10:26his legacy.
10:27Like, that's the wrong way to say it.
10:29Like, it doesn't mean his legacy is over.
10:31It means that the end of his career has this smudge on it of he finished his career by ring
10:38chasing and he failed to do it.
10:40That is how the story ends if they don't win.
10:46Not to put you in a tough spot, Joe, but why don't you think he picked the Cavs?
10:54You know, look, okay, this isn't really a tough spot, first of all.
11:01I mean, Rich Paul, you know, he publicly said he thought it was a mistake that they traded Darius Garland
11:10to the Clippers.
11:15So, you know, obviously that camp, even if Rich is speaking for himself, you know, didn't love the idea of
11:24James Harden being in Cleveland.
11:26And really what's more to the point, you know, this is not to say that LeBron felt this way.
11:32I don't know what LeBron felt.
11:34But the bigger inference is that if the Cavs were going to trade somebody, that there was belief, you know,
11:43that it should have been Donovan coming from, let's just say, Team Clutch.
11:49So, that's part of it.
11:51And then also, like, LeBron doesn't really know Kenny.
11:56I have no idea what LeBron thinks of Kenny.
11:59I know what he thinks of Steve Kerr, and I know what he thinks of Eric Spolstra, but guess what?
12:03He didn't pick those two teams either.
12:05So, I can't say that LeBron did this because Kenny is still the coach, but he just has no familiarity
12:16with him.
12:18And I have to be honest, I thought this talk of Miami being the best basketball fit was nonsense.
12:27And I thought the Cavs were a pretty good basketball fit because they had the ball handlers in James and
12:33Donovan,
12:34and they had the excellent defensive players behind him in Evan and Jarrett,
12:39which meant that LeBron wouldn't have the burden to carry the offense, which he would have had in Miami.
12:44Like, he would have had that burden to generate the offense.
12:48And then he wouldn't have the burden to be, you know, a top defender because of who was standing behind
12:56him.
12:56He would just have to be okay.
12:59So, how this compares to Philly, again, I'm just not quite sure.
13:06You know, they love Jalen Brown, okay.
13:09They love Tyrese Maxey, who I guess is a much bigger, healthier version than Darius.
13:14If you want to say they're similar players, okay.
13:18Joel Embiid, when healthy, is as dynamic.
13:22Like, we don't have anybody like him in the league.
13:24But you have to be on the court for that to count.
13:29So, you know, like, look, they're going to have their reasons.
13:33Maybe they'll come out.
13:34But I'm just here to say I actually did think Cleveland made a somewhat compelling case as a basketball fit,
13:42and they just didn't do it.
13:43I mean, if they don't talk about it, you know, you can't commute from L.A. to Philly.
13:48Like, he could have if he had picked the Warriors.
13:53You can't, like, he doesn't have a family compound in Philadelphia like he has here.
13:59You know, his mother lives here.
14:01Savannah's parents live here.
14:04So, you know, there's a family consideration there as well that didn't weigh into the decision.
14:10He chose to go play basketball in Philadelphia.
14:14And they're saying it's because of the opportunity to win a championship.
14:19Joe, thanks so much for joining us on short notice and what is, I'm sure, a frantic afternoon for you.
14:26What do you have on The Athletic for people to read right now?
14:29Well, right now we have the main news story, which I'm updating.
14:33I've got to jump right now to do a Philly TV hit, but we will be looking at how this
14:38came to be
14:39and also what this means for Cleveland at The Athletic.
14:42All right.
14:42Thanks so much, Joe.
14:43We'll be looking for that.
14:45Joe Varden of The Athletic joining us on The Wise Heart Right.
14:47We make it right.
14:48Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
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