00:00You were talking about Yaxl as a lottery pick, and how rare is it?
00:04So I went to AI to see how many lottery players have been drafted at the age of 24 or
00:11later.
00:11By the way, was Yaxl 24 or 23?
00:14He was 23 turning 24 shortly into the draft.
00:1924 now.
00:19And yeah, he's now, I think his birthday was September or October, but Yaxl was one.
00:26Rafael Arujo, back in 2004, a Raptor.
00:30He was 24, played about three seasons.
00:32Chris Duarte, shout out the Ducks.
00:34He was 24.
00:36My name's Buddy.
00:38Buttered was 24 when he got drafted number six.
00:42Tyler Hansborough, Al Thornton, Melvin Eli in 2002.
00:46That is the complete list that I can discover of players this age in the lottery.
00:52Well, I would be interested to see 23 also because he was 23.
00:56But I get your point, and none of those were wildly successful.
01:01I guess my rebuttal to that would be in a year where the draft was very high level, Yaxl did
01:09not come into this draft as like, oh, you know, maybe he'll be okay.
01:15Like, the league was high on this guy.
01:18He does bring about a very unique size and skill set that the NBA dies for.
01:25But whether you thought he was going to be good or not, because there's always hit or miss in the
01:29draft, I guess my response is, okay, it can be rare that someone is 23 or 24 in the lottery.
01:38But why would you hold it against them?
01:41Because that is what it feels like.
01:44It feels like teams were like, I don't want that guy versus this guy.
01:48He's good, but so is this guy over here, and this guy's 20.
01:52So give me 20.
01:53It was almost as if the thought process is, give him to me at 20 because then I get four
01:57extra years.
01:58Well, that's not true.
02:00I don't know where the guy's going to go.
02:02And by the way, whatever you get out of him, it's almost inherent that you will get less in his
02:11first contract because he's a baby flower that hasn't grown yet.
02:17So the Warriors are going to get four years of what looks like NBA ready-made, while at least some
02:26of the other lottery picks are out there, you know, kind of growing people.
02:32And maybe hoping that they're going to be good.
02:36And even if they are, they might not be good for two years.
02:38They might not be good for three years.
02:40Then you get to that fourth year, and we're like, do we extend him?
02:43And if we do, what's the cost?
02:45We're not quite sure.
02:46The Warriors just went through this.
02:48They just went through this.
02:49Even pods, there's at least a little bit of mystery about, like, who is he and what's the cost?
02:56There was the Kaminga situation.
02:58Lots of restricted free agents around the league coming out of rookie deals where people were like, I don't know
03:04what to give him.
03:05And so they weren't getting their money.
03:07So instead, what it looks like to me is the Warriors are going to get eight to nine years of
03:15Yaxo Lundeborg's absolute prime.
03:18From 24 to 32, the Warriors are going to get this guy.
03:22For half that time, they'll get him for pennies on the dollar.
03:24And then once you get to 32, let's see where we're at.
03:28Now you're starting to be, now you're a big veteran.
03:31But someone has to explain to me the downside of taking a player that's older if he's there and on
03:39the same talent level as the others.
03:41To me, it's an advantage, not a disadvantage.
03:44It could be and it should be depending on the organization and just the nature of the player.
03:49And I've been going back in time, looking at some drafts and looking at what's the break point of where
03:55somebody is actually already useful.
03:57And I'm looking at the Thompson twins.
03:59Hold me now.
04:01Shout out the 80s.
04:01But they both were 20 when they got drafted.
04:04I think the difference between 19 and 20 is profound.
04:0820 and 21.
04:09And even going beyond that, like Yaxo was 23, six years of college.
04:14Yes, he was much more of a developed human being.
04:17And I always think about this with my daughter who is four years and two months old.
04:21And her best friend is three years and 10 months old.
04:25So they're four months apart.
04:27But four months at this point is like 10% of their life.
04:30So at this point in their lives, a four-month gap is actually pretty profound from a developmental standpoint.
04:38And in the NBA, if you're 19 versus 22, that also to me is a big, profound jump.
04:44It's a huge jump.
04:45It's a huge jump.
04:47And I get it.
04:48Like someone just texted in.
04:49Youth and a high ceiling are always more seductive than anything concrete.
04:55Huh.
04:56Well, I guess that's what I would like to challenge.
04:59Why would you take something speculative if you could already have the thing?
05:04Isn't that what fans always suggest their favorite team should do on the trade market?
05:09Let's go to baseball.
05:11Trade those dudes in AAA for something concrete if you can.
05:16I get the excitement, the seductive nature of the future.
05:21But what a gamble.
05:23What a roll of the dice.
05:25And even if I understand that, I'm still having a hard time with, oh, okay, let's say you know for
05:30sure Yaxel's good and will be right away.
05:32It's as if there's a downside to him being 24 already.
05:37What is it?
05:39What is that downside?
05:40You're like, well, he's already older.
05:41Oh, so you only get nine good years?
05:45What's the downside?
05:47Right.
05:47So this whole, like, it's kind of ageism, a draftism version of ageism thing that went on with him to
05:57the Warriors' advantage.
05:58What a wonderful thing.
06:00I don't know what these other teams were doing when it's like, no, we'd rather have Nate Ament from Tennessee.
06:06He's 12 pounds, but we think he's going to be awesome.
06:10All right.
06:11Let me know when he has an imprint on this league.
06:14Like, I don't, I don't, I just don't understand why you wouldn't want somebody who can come in and be
06:21a good player right now.
06:22Because you probably looked at the other guys and thought upside.
06:26And it is very seductive.
06:28It's very seducing to think about A.J. DeBonsa over the course of the next four years.
06:33Like, sure.
06:34He's got everything.
06:35And he's like, I get the number one pick, but you, you know what I mean?
06:38Like, I was just looking at it because it's interesting when you look back at number one picks.
06:42And Victor, when Benyama was 19 and you looked at what he was doing in Europe and you thought, yeah,
06:48this guy is going to be the real deal.
06:49That's a no brainer.
06:50Even though he's 19, he may not be amazing right away.
06:54P.S.
06:54He was amazing right away.
06:55The next year, Atlanta has the number one pick.
06:57They took a 19 year old Frenchman, Zachary Richachet, and he's not amazeballs.
07:03And so sometimes you try and do something that is the right thing and you get it wrong.
07:09And I'm looking at that same draft and Stefan Kassel goes number four to the aforementioned Spurs.
07:15And he was also 19, about to be 20.
07:18And he hit the ground running and he was instantly amazing.
07:21So sometimes it's about scouting and not just the age.
07:25For sure.
07:25For sure.
07:25But your point about Yaxel is well made.
07:27Like, he's 24.
07:28He's proven.
07:29Who cares if he's 24?
07:31Lucky in the city here on Willie and Debbie.
07:33What's up, Lucky?
07:33Thanks for calling.
07:36What's up, Willie?
07:37What's up, Debbie?
07:38How are you fellas doing this afternoon?
07:39Hey, everything is great.
07:43Everything is great, especially since the Warriors have, I guess, should say,
07:48turned the tables on what people's opinion was about us.
07:51You know, everybody thought we were going to be, you know, in the dumps.
07:55But you have to give everything time.
07:58Like, say, for instance, you're doing PT and, you know, you got hurt at work.
08:02You know, you have to do, you know, rehab.
08:05You know, it's not going to be just quick.
08:06You know, sometimes it takes a little time.
08:08So give yourself a chance to see and evaluate.
08:13But I have to say, watching Yaxel at Michigan, I already seen that he was going to be a good
08:19NBA player.
08:20So now he's proving it, and he's just starting.
08:23So we're just, like you said, well, imagine what he's going to be by 32.
08:27And he's 24 right now.
08:29Wow.
08:30I think that's going to be like another Steph Curry-like player for us.
08:35Not to say he's going to be on Steph's level, but the gravitation and the joy and the passion for
08:42the sport.
08:43I love that, man.
08:44And we have to talk about the other guys, like, you know, Melton and Williams.
08:51And, you know, I still love my boy Guy, even though he's hurt.
08:54Yep.
08:55I don't want anybody to trash him.
08:56He's coming back.
08:58So it's a team that's built like how warrior teams are built.
09:04And it's just being done in a different way than what we've been used to, you know, as far as,
09:08you know, the way they play.
09:10So I'm happy, man.
09:11I have to say this, too, before I go, guys.
09:13You guys have to give a little love to my man Grandy, you know, Pasta, and C-Money over there,
09:20man.
09:20Because those are like the other guys, man.
09:21I know you guys are the starters, but those are like the other guys, you know, like Mark Wahlberg and
09:26Will Ferrell.
09:27Beautiful guys.
09:28Solid.
09:29Got your back.
09:30Let's go.
09:3195-7 the game.
09:32I love you guys.
09:34Hey, Matt, give me a job, man.
09:36I'm ready to come work with you.
09:37Oh, look at you.
09:38Lucky, thank you.
09:39Thank you very much.
09:40What makes Lucky think that we don't give Mark Grandy and Pasta and the rest of their props?
09:46You guys aren't in there telling Lucky that we're mean to you, are you?
09:50I don't answer the phones.
09:51Okay.
09:52I told him I haven't eaten in three days.
09:54Oh, okay.
09:55All right.
09:56Maybe you should do better on the pick ten, then.
09:58I don't know.
