It is the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on The Infiniti A sports network. It's been about 24 hours since the legal tampering period has opened in the NBA. We've seen some moves today, like Damian Lillard being waived by the Milwaukee Bucks. DeAndre Ayton is still floating around. We saw a trade last night with Michael Porter Jr.
and Cam Johnson. LeBron is opting in and condesorded warning the Los Angeles Lakers. There's a lot going on in the league. The Rockets are getting better. Denver is trying to You know, maybe recapture some of its past glory with Bruce Brown.
Anyway, joining us right now is someone who's covered the NBA. For years. He's currently a senior writer at the Action Network, podcast host, and does it all. Joining us now is Matt Moore. Matt, how are you?
Doing well, man. How are you? Absolutely well. When you take a look at everything that's taken place over the past 24 hours, what captures your attention the most? You know, I think there's a couple of teams that you can kind of identify as having made the biggest jumps.
And obviously, I think the Houston Rockets start there with adding. Kevin Durant, but they also pick up Clint Capella as a backup center option. They've really, I think, improved themselves. Picking up Dorian Finney Smith, like the Rockets are going for it. They think they can compete in the Western Conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they obviously, I think.
I've taken some big steps forward. I think in the east, you look at Orlando and you look at Atlanta. Atlanta getting Christoph Gorzingus in the trade and then adding Nikhil Alexander Walker, an elite defender. We go with Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson. Trey Young's obviously still there.
They're pretty loaded. The magic trade for Desmond Bain, and think of Tyus Jones.
Some really good additions for Orlando look to be better in that Eastern Conference with a lot of the teams at the top. Kind of in You know, turmoil. Obviously, the big news today is the wave of Damian Lillard after they signed. Miles Turner in Milwaukee, huge news. Nobody saw it coming.
Real, a real shocker. That opens up a a host of questions about Yathan and Kempo. And then finally, the Denver Doggas. Who had Bruce Brown trade for Cam Johnson, break up their core four, add a backup center, add another wing in Tim Hardaway Jr. You know, this is a league of parody, and we have seen teams definitely load up, make a run at it.
outside of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Well, Matt, when you talk about I want to get back to the nuggets momentarily. When you talk about what took place earlier today with with Damian Lillard and Miles Turner on his way in, what do you think this means for Giannis? Is it not a little too late in the game for him to say, I want out? It'd have to be throughout the course of the season or next year, no? No, 'cause he's made it very clear that He wants to keep all options on the table.
Um, I don't think it's likely that Giannis leaves. I think it's probably 70-30 at this point. But one of the things that was interesting is when the meetings were held between him and the front office. No result came out of it. And we were all like, what?
usually this gets reported. Either he's in or he's out. And with nothing being reported, kind of the follow-up has been. Yeah, he's here for now. And I think he wants to see the entire board.
I think he wants to see exactly what the Bucks do with the rest of the free agency. He wants to see what the Russia looks like come August, September. and then be able to make a decision based off of that on what he wants to do. with his future. The team obviously moving on from Dame Getting Miles Turner.
He reportedly was in contact with Turner throughout this process. I think that's promising. Um, but I also think that you won't really know with Giannis that he's there until we're in training camp. And it's all good to go. He can pretty much change, he's earned the right to change his mind at pretty much any point.
With where this team is at.
So, a lot of question marks. I think the Bucks still probably are looking to do a few things on the edges to shore up the support of Giannis. Matt Morris joining us from the Action Network. You mentioned the Denver Nuggets and some of their changes around Nikola Jokic. I know you're based in Colorado.
What do you think? Have they done enough to kind of keep things status quo? We know Westbrook is likely gone, but what do you think about the additions that they've made? I think it's huge upgrades. They took Michael Porter Jr.
and effectively broke him down into smaller contracts. They take one of their core four, making 30 million, and they break it into. Cam Johnson making 23 million. And then Ionis Valenciana's making about five. And in doing so, they get more versatility, a better defender, still a great shooter, a guy with way more floor gain.
And they had a backup center to hopefully mean that when Yan Nikola Jokic steps off the floor, the team won't absolutely melt down into a radioactive mess. And that's a big addition for them. Adding Tim Hardaway Jr., big. Adding Bruce Brown, massive for the locker room. The guys love Bruce, and they're all going to be thrilled that he is back.
He provides a lot of what Russell Westbrook did last year.
So Russ was honestly kind of the Bruce replacement, Bruce Brown replacement a year later. And now a year later, Bruce Brown is replacing Russell Westbrook. Uh, Tim Hardaway Jr. comes in and can replay be a veteran component. They got given into that Justin Holiday two years ago, didn't have that last year.
These players all fit with their young guys. They fit with their starters. They can all play with Jokic, except for Valentine's. Uh it it's All of it is extremely good refitting around Jokic, the Nuggets. or lock to make another run at the title.
Well, Matt, you talk about being refitted or retrofitted. We just talked about this prior to you joining us. The Los Angeles Lakers, outside of adding LeBron James opting in and picking up Laravia, it's kind of like, well, what's next? And apparently, there doesn't appear to be anything next unless they bring in somebody like DeAndre Ayton. What do you think we're going to see from the Los Angeles Lakers?
And is LeBron James going to be sticking around with the Lakers at this point next year? Yeah, a lot of questions. That LeBron quote that he put out after he opted in was sent a lot of ripples throughout the league, but there's just not a lot of opportunities for him in terms of teams that can actually physically make the trade or in a position to trade for him and compete immediately.
So no one really knows how this is going to go. The eight thing is especially interesting. Because of what happened today, Miles Turner signs with the Bucks. The team that had put in a massive Restricted offer sheet for DeAndre Aiden when he was with Phoenix. Was the Indiana Pacers, who all of a sudden have a big need at center.
So a lot of there's a lot of questions in the league about Are they going to be the team that maybe swoops in and and grabs up Aiton now? There's still an expectation that Aiton's going to go ahead and sign with the Lakers. Everyone's expecting that. But until it's done, I think it's a big question mark here. And the Lakers are looking at Not a good roster.
Like they traded, they lucked into a Luca Donchas trade, and the idea was: well, we're not going to do anything of the deadline because we're going to build around him this summer.
Now they're talking 2027. Uh no one knows what's going on with the Lakers, but it can't be good. To be putting this position where Luca Donch is just not going to have enough help around him next season, regardless of what happens with LeBron. LeBron James isn't the only guy we're trying to figure out a future with. Iannis, and we talk about Dame Lillard.
We know that he's going to be out, if not the entirety of the season. We might be lucky if he comes back at the end. Is he finally now going to set up shop in Miami? He's going to have options. Yeah, he'll have a lot of options.
If he wants to stay closer to where his kids are in Portland. Then he can look at something like maybe Los Angeles signing on with one of those teams for a year and then joining them next season when he's rehab. He's going to have a lot of options because teams will look to sign him. For him to for them to be ready, like to already have him locked into a multi-year deal, even with the Achilles, basically. killing off a year of the deal just to have his rights on.
Miami, I think, has to be the most likely. There's got to be a better than 60 to 70% chance. the game winds up in Miami. I think those lot those West Coast teams Not just Los Angeles, though. I'd also keep an eye out on the Golden State Warriors, even though their cap sheet is very tight, depending on what kind of offer he can get.
Makes a lot of sense with Dan being from Oakland. Matt Moore joining us covers all things NBA for the Action Network. As we move on, you mentioned Russell Westbrook and him being out. Last night we saw that Jordan Clarkson likely to be joining the New York Knicks together and some scoring off of the bench. Where the heck does Russell Westbrook fit in in this NBA landscape?
Is he going to be a free agent until, I don't know, September, October? Could be late. He might be a guy that teams realize they don't have a better option, they go in for him. You know, there's still a lot of, I think, time left, though, in the calendar. We're just a day into free agency.
So I think we'll probably see him grab on with the team maybe later in the process. He'll still have opportunities, I think, with several of the teams that are looking in contention standpoints. But he is a lot to deal with, and both in the locker room and on the floor.
So finding the right fit might be one. It'll be interesting to see maybe if he's an option for the Detroit Pistons who lost in a shooter today as he signed a deal with the Kings. Oh, man, you Matt, you talk about the Kings. I mean, and it's not just over the course of today or this week, over the past bunch of years, it's just So many questionable decisions. Is there a team that you look at here over the past several days that you just go, What the heck are they doing?
Yeah, I mean, I think the Lakers are one. Uh the Kings are a big question mark. Why would they add Dennis Schroeder when they've got Marta Rosen? Zach Levine. Keon Ellis, all these guys.
It doesn't make a lot of sense, which is one of the reasons why. I think there's a lot of questions about whether DeMar DeRosan will be the one that winds up in Miami. Uh but the Damian Voler situation might complicate that. Otherwise, you know, I think as you kind of look around, the Pelicans have made some weird decisions. I like the Kevin Looney edition.
I liked the guys that got in the draft, but drading that 2026 first rounder was super questionable. That didn't look good at all. There's a lot of stress around Detroit right now, but I've. Been told by pretty reliable sources they're likely to get a wing upgrade. here in the next day or so, they're close to a deal for Duncan Robinson.
That could be a good addition for the Pistons and that'll make them feel a little bit better after losing probably losing a lot of the guys that helped him make the playoff last season. You're mad, all things considered, We get to July, we get to August. Have we seen the biggest of the moves? SGA gets a deal today. Great finding gets paid for the next four or five years.
Are we done with the big moves for now? I don't think so. I think that we've still got kind of some different. mechanisms to to figure out. Is it possible Yannis is?
Is it gonna be around? Yes. Is it possible? That he could get moved, yeah. What's gonna happen to LeBron?
That's a big question here. Um, I still think the Warriors are shopping for a major move, I still think the Bulls have a lot of pieces that they're looking to trade.
So I think that there's still a number of moves left on the table. that we have to see figure out. I don't think we're done with the NBA drama yet. Wow What could the Warriors possibly do? They're saddled with all their old guards trying to hit a grand slam.
Like what could they possibly do? Move Kaminga for something? Yeah, so I think the idea is moving Jonathan Camingo, although it does sound like Miami's maybe not going to be an option for them. And if that's not the case, then it's going to be hard finding somebody to take on. His money, but that would probably be the move that gets them some new kind of life in there.
But I do think that they're going to continue to look at all options. I think they want to assemble something close to a super team to try and build around Steph. I don't know what the contracts for those are going to have to look like, especially under this new CBA. But all I know is the Warriors have not seemed like they are happy to just go ahead and go along. Seems like they want to continue adding because they really want to make one more push to get Stephan Curry that fifth ring.
Yeah, they're they're they're trying. It's gonna take a whole hell of a lot more. Hey, Matt, thank you so much for the time and for your insights. Please tell everybody where they can follow you and all your work with the Action Network. Yeah, you can download the Action Network app.
It's got great information in there. You can also catch me on Locked on NBA daily on YouTube. Just go to youtube.com/slash locked on NBA. Hey, Matt, thank you for the time. We'll catch you down the line, okay?
Anytime, man, take care.
