Why Paolo Banchero wasn't the right pick at No. 1

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast. Brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group.

Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. By the way, have you seen that movie? The Jerk?

I actually don't think I've seen The Jerk. Oh man, you'd like it. Here's a movie I've seen, Dennis.

It's the Adam Gold Show. Steep Canyon and the Rangers, right? Just Steep Canyon Rangers.

Oh, just Steep Canyon Rangers. Yup, that's it. I haven't gotten that right all day. New York Rangers. All day I haven't gotten that right.

Alright, we should just do the round table then and people will stop making fun of me for five seconds. Camelot. Camelot.

It's only a moth. Shit. I am joined in studio by Joe Giglio of 99.9, the fan of Raleigh. My friend, also my friend Josh Graham, sports hub triad. He joins us as well. Sort of the band getting back together. I didn't realize that this is a recurring panel. It's the second time, I believe, that we have had this group together.

Thanks to both of you for doing this. I'm going to start right close to me with Joe Giglio, Josh Graham. I do want to start with the most recent failure by the North Carolina General Assembly to rubber stamp sports wagering. While we can still do it, we just have to drive to Cherokee to do it. Josh, you're closer to Cherokee than we are.

It's a four hour haul for us. Joe, what surprised you about North Carolina splitting two votes that shouldn't have been close but were both close? I knew that there were Democrats and Republicans split on this. Yes. Both ways. This was a bipartisan failure. Which is crazy. And I knew there was a morality play in there.

No. I did not realize that both the Dixie Classic and the Black Sox 1919 scandal would be used by representatives as reasons to not legalize gambling in the year 2022 of our Lord. What I read didn't say Black Sox, but I did read the Dixie Classic thing, which that's what sent me over the edge of anger.

That's what what was your favorite, meaning most hated part, Josh? Just the fact. See, I grew up in the state of North Carolina. I go to church on Sunday.

I can't find the passage where Jesus Christ himself is saying that it's against his morality or morality in general to lay the points with NC State against the Pirates later this year. It's frustrating. Like when you talk about democracy, like you, you tend to think that the elected representatives are supposed to do the things we want them to do. And WRAL recently had that poll out that said 52 percent support it. Only 28 percent are against it. And there are 20 percent of the people who could not care less. Right. But 52 percent support it. So you're right. It is frustrating when you have arguments that are brought up about like obscure, scandalous things in the 50s with NC State in North Carolina and the Black Sox and all these things being brought up in 2022.

But what's even more frustrating is it's such an easy win. There's no risk at all. People already gamble in this state. And the two states that touch us, Tennessee and Virginia, or two of the states that touch us, geography lesson here, they they have it as well. So really, I don't see the negative.

I don't really see the risk. And I certainly don't see the morality. See, here's the thing about when I when I read the comments from our elected officials in North Carolina, and really this was a bipartisan failure. And the guy, I forget his forget his last name, who voted against based on the Dixie classic point shaving scandal, John Autry. Right. John Autry is a Democrat. Right. And we had one guy who voted for one bill and against the other bill. Right. He's a Republican. This has nothing to do with party. This has everything to do with absolutely not understanding the issue. And this is the thing that bothered me.

If you don't understand the issue. Then have somebody in your office research the issue, because if you're hanging your hat on, well, there was a point shaving scandal in 1954. Then understand that the way we root these things out today are the legal bookmakers. Vegas is the biggest advocate for not having point shaving scandals.

This is the safety net. There was no geofencing during the Dixie classic, unfortunately. And that was illegal gambling. Like now people are gambling illegally on sports still, including get it. We got college sports out of the out of the bill. Why?

People are still going to bet on college sports. I'm sorry. It just made me so angry. What it almost makes you it almost makes you think they don't understand their constituents.

They don't. I don't care. College sports. When you got college sports in North Carolina.

No way. Yeah, because that's probably half your action. I don't know about half. Maybe maybe 30 percent of your action in the state of North Carolina would be wagering on college sports.

We're still talking about mostly NFL football, maybe NBA basketball, probably NFL football will be the most. We weren't going to get until January one anyway. But I'm sorry to whole thing.

And it's how it's it. I think it's hopeless. It doesn't look good right now.

Well, we're not going to get it for by January one now. So can we. And it's funny to head headed to the casino next week. That's my plan. See, that's where I'm starting the honeymoon off in Nashville. We're going to go gamble just by general principle. I'm so upset about this. Who you got to do that?

Who are you going with? You know, I'm going to look. Does that has the Little League World Series started yet? Oh, gosh. Something down. Well, you know what?

California's got some good. It was funny. And one of the bills, my favorite thing about one of the bills, I forget which one it was, 38 or 688, whatever the two numbers were, was that you were forbidden to bet on preschool sports. That was in the freaking bill. Well, I mean, what? Like I had primrose minus four and a half over Goddard in in a soccer match. Sorry, those are two.

Those are two preschools in the in the triangle. All right. I can't.

The whole thing was the whole thing was too much for me. Adam Gold in studio with my friend Coach Pete DeRuda with the Capital Financial Advisory Group. We are talking retirement. Coach, how does longevity risk figure into our retirement and income plan?

This is the best of times and the worst of times, Adam. The longevity risk means we're going to live too long. But to me, every day I live is not too long. Right.

Absolutely. So we want our money to outlive us. And unfortunately, many people have seen you out there listening, maybe one of them. Your money is not designed to outlive you. You might outlive your money. And that's not what we want to have happen, because when we get to that day after you run out of money, it's not going to be a fun time. So let's design a plan that guarantees you'll never run out of money. We call it the GPI plan, Growth Protection Lifetime Income, for the next 10 people. This is a golden ticket, Adam. $1,000 value, we're going to do it at no cost or obligation. And all you have to do is call. We make it so easy.

Would you like financial independence into your retirement? And beyond it, 800-661-7383. That golden ticket is a $1,000 value.

Or you could text Adam to 21000 for Coach Pete DeRuda. Joe Giglio, give me your impressions of NBA draft night. I think the Orlando Magic got it wrong.

Did they? I do. Wow. That's fair. Why? You have the number one overall pick. You want to make sure you're getting a person that you could build your franchise around. I think Paulo Bancaro can be a productive pro for the next 10 years. I don't think you're going to build a championship team around him. Because this gets to your central question of, well, how did Duke not win it? Well, Paulo Bancaro was never the dog of that team. He was never the bus driver of that team.

Except when they were running hot. Oh, you're up 30, you want to dunk on everybody now? Okay. The last 10 minutes of the Final Four, he took four shots, made one. That's not enough.

He had two assists in that stretch. Not enough. Not enough.

Got to be more involved. But Joe, do you think he's the best player in the draft, though? Did you think he was the best guy?

I don't. I think Jabari Smith, who can shoot the ball, has a skill of being able to shoot the ball. Not to suggest that Bancaro can't become a better shooter. These guys do get to the NBA. They do improve their games. I just think Smith has a better upside as a shooter and scorer, a la Anthony Edwards, who we're seeing now at Minnesota.

I think that's the right comp. Anthony Edwards, to me, was the right comp for Jabari Smith. To me, Smith was the better athlete. There's no doubt about that. Right. I mean, he's a super athlete, 6'10", and a better shooter. The rest of his game isn't close to what Bancaro's total game is. Bancaro's much more skilled. Right.

And polished. I thought, and Josh, I'll let you comment on this. I thought the difference, and I would have taken Jabari Smith first, too, to be honest. In a way, I'm agreeing with you. But my feeling about Bancaro is, as a leaner Paulo Bancaro, because he's going to get leaner.

Although that was a pretty fly purple suit. He's going to get leaner, he'll get stronger, and I think his quickness will improve a little. I think that's the only thing preventing him from being a really good player, an all-star level player, is maybe a little bit more quickness. But he has to improve that to the point where... He has to improve his mentality, though. His mindset. I'm not worried about that.

I would be, because you can't fix that. The reason why I asked you, do you think he's the best player? One of the frustrating things that happens about when it comes to the draft, you get so lost in upside and what a guy can be, you just lose. Who do you think the best guy is? So I respect your opinion that you think Jabari's the best guy.

I think it's Paulo, because maybe I'm just a little biased from having seen it so close all throughout the year, but I think it's a weird thing that happens. It almost reminds me of the Oscars, when you have the best picture shows up and it's the shape of water. And you're like, wait, isn't that the movie involving a love scene with a fish person? And you're like, oh, this is the best movie that we have this year?

And you're left scratching your head? That's how I feel about the draft most times than not. The number one pick never tends to be the person that you feel is the best basketball player, the most polished player right now. A lot of people forget that Paulo is a full six months younger than, say, Chet Holmgren is. And I hear all these things about upside, even though when Chet and Paulo shared a floor together, Paulo was the better basketball player when they met in Vegas last November. Jabari, when you look at some of the games he's had, the bigger ones. I remember watching the full game against Miami in the tournament when I think he went three of 15 or three of 16 in it.

And then in the tournament, the SEC tournament, they lost by picking their first game against Texas A&M. There are some big spots where Jabari didn't show up so much. And while I think what you're saying is true about Paulo's mentality, it's easy. I mean, the guy's 19 years old and showed up in a lot of the big games in a way I don't think Jabari did towards the end of the year. I think we're maybe focusing too much on shot attempts. I don't think you're necessarily wrong about Bancaro's mindset as a player. I think the IQ, you know, we criticize, and I'm not comparing these two players, but we criticize LeBron James for making the right basketball play as opposed to taking the shot. A couple of years ago, we criticized R.J. Barrett for taking the shot, which, by the way, got him to the free throw line with a chance to tie Michigan State. I don't know why he was criticized for that, but he was.

We criticized him for that. So I think that Bancaro has more of a total floor game mentality. You might be right, but I also think that the best player in this...

I'm not drafting a guy. That game at Cameron, the last game at Cameron, when the game is turning... Those guys were all bad in that game. I'm just saying, when the game's turning, you have to understand the moment. Not when it's two minutes left, not when it's three minutes left, but when the damn game's getting away from you. It got away from you early in the second half. And I'm sitting here, I'm Bonnie Tyler over here, I'm waiting for a hero, and allegedly you're talking about the number one player in the country. And I'm going, the number one player on the floor right now is either Caleb Love or Armando Bancott.

I thought you were going to throw the clips to the heart. And they understood the moment. And that's my biggest problem with Paulo Bancaro.

The time and time again, we've seen him not understand the moment. The Clemson and Miami close calls and the other losses that they had in the league. They literally had five pros. Why on the earth did they lose to anyone in the league? Because the one guy who was supposed to be the bus driver wasn't.

But isn't that selective though? He was 20-10 in the final four game. And he was awesome against the best defense in the country against Texas Tech and the Sweet Sixteen when Bonnie Tyler, they needed a hero. And he was that guy. 20-10 with three points in the last eight minutes of that game, Josh. The last ten minutes of that game. It's a good point.

He wasn't good towards the end. That's not good enough. You're right.

I'm sorry. We're talking about one-one. One-one. That's who we're picking here. It wasn't the final four though. A place that Zion didn't get to. And a place that many other number one draft picks for Duke or top five picks didn't get to. Like Brandon Ingram who turned out to be a pretty good pro. And I think Zion is a great pro. I think the spotlight of him being at Duke and being Coach K's last year might allow us to be a little bit too critical of a guy that, again, is six months younger than Chet.

And did a lot of great things when you look at the overall resume. And the best player in this draft is going to be Jaden Ivey anyway. Not Mark Williams? No.

No. I love Jaden Ivey. I think Jaden Ivey is going to be absolutely great.

This is what I said before. I think Bancaro's floor is higher than the other floors. I think his ceiling might not be as high as some of the other guys. I think his floor is higher than their floors. Seth Greenberg called it a safe pick.

The fair. I agree. I said that. I think he'll be productive for ten years. Chet Holmgren might break in half. He could. He could be Sean Bradley.

We don't know. I don't like that. That's a bad comp.

Well, physically, when you look at him. Right. But it's a bad comp. Because Holmgren might not ever have to play down low. Right. The game has changed.

Right? He's really a wing. I'm just glad he didn't say Porzingis.

Well, he's actually closer to me. He's closer to Porzingis than he is to anybody else. Porzingis really was a perimeter player.

He just kind of was. And to me, Holmgren is a better player than Chris Stapp's Porzingis. By the way, ACC Player of the Year, two years in a row, doesn't get drafted. People are surprised at that.

I want to caution them. The ACC Player of the Year doesn't really mean anything. We had the SEC Football Player of the Year, I don't know how many years ago now, six, seven years ago, get drafted in the seventh round.

The Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC, Michael Sam, was drafted in the seventh round. Those awards don't matter. Well, they don't matter for your pro potential. Right.

Yeah. When you turn 23 on Sunday, in Alondis Williams' case, it's going to be really hard for you. Just like with Darion Zibrand, who I think is 22. It's just you're going to have a tough, uphill battle unless you're Ojai Obaji or somebody like that who's done it at the highest level of getting drafted.

If you're not one of those guys, odds are you're probably going to be a two-way player. Off of the crossbar, and the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. June 19, 2006. But it all started May 6, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Cane's Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now.

Find Cane's 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts. We have Josh Graham and Joe Giglio. Maybe we can get in two things, probably just one.

All right. Thoughts on live golf, Josh? I'm interested in what's happening with the majors, because that's the safety net that the PGA Tour, Jay Monahan, hoped that he would have.

The ally they hoped that they would have in terms of maybe trying to deter some of these guys from defecting. But obviously, play in the U.S. Open, the USGA announced, and then the Open Championship this week. We learned that they're going to be able to participate in that too. I'd be interested to know what you guys think in terms of what Augusta does, because we've learned that the Masters views things a lot differently than anybody else. They could have more patrons. They could make more money. They could bump the prices up on, say, even the pimento cheese sandwiches that they sell inside the building. They could have their gift shop open year-round rather than just the week of.

But they value tradition more than any of the other tournaments that are out there, and exclusivity in a way too. I just don't know where. When do you think we might get a decision? Would it even be in 2022? You want to give your thoughts before I answer, Josh? I think the live guys are bad guys. This isn't destitute and poor people out at the RGA trying to make their way onto the PGA Tour because they don't have a pot to piss in. These guys are all millionaires. Kevin Na made $39 million playing golf.

I'm pretty sure he can handle living in Vegas and playing on the PGA Tour. By the way, that doesn't even count what they made off the course. Heck, the money I spend on golf balls and equipment and shoes and shirts and all that other stuff, I would take that for free. Dustin Johnson has made just over $100 million playing golf. He has made more than that off the course in endorsements.

So to me, they're greedy. That's number one. As for the question about the majors, if you qualify for the majors, I don't think you can go back and say you're no longer qualified.

The key point is going to be the World Golf Rankings there because if you have to be in the top 50, which we've seen with Augusta, that's going to be the real key. Big move this week by banning the live players from the Scottish Open. I'm surprised.

There was no choice. No, I know. I'm surprised. It's a co-sponsored event by the PGA Tour. What did they play this week? What, um, Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia did? They went and played in Germany to get their points. Well, if they play well enough, neither of them are playing well enough right now, and they're going to play at the Irish Open next week too. The DP World Tour is in a very bad spot because that is a tour that is really, really struggling. The PGA Tour has propped them up financially and with sponsor support. The PGA Tour gave them a sponsor for the Scottish Open. Genesis, the same car company that sponsors Tiger's Event in Los Angeles, is sponsoring the Scottish Open.

The purses for those are the biggest purses on the European Tour, the old European Tour, both $8 million purses. There was no way the DP World Tour was not going to support the PGA Tour's tournament ban by allowing those players to play in the Scottish because, again, it is a co-sponsored event. The majors don't like it. The majors will adjust their qualifications not to ban players, so they can't tell Dustin Johnson. You can't tell DJ he can't play.

He's a champion. Make it harder for them to participate. Right. So there's a handful of players who are qualified. DJ can play the Masters for the rest of his life, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, for the rest of time. But the players for the other majors, the players who are not exempt in, it's going to be harder to get in. And here's where the USGA and the RNA can make it difficult for those players away from the world rankings.

You can simply say that if you are a professional not affiliated with a recognized tour, then you don't have an exemption in, and then you must go through qualifying to get in. So DJ's exemption in the US Open has four more years. We're never going to get to that. I think we're going to see sort of a, I don't know how long Liv's going to last. I think Liv's going to last as long as the Saudis want to throw money in it.

Right. But it really depends on the players. And if the PGA Tour does what the PGA Tour said it's going to do, which is going to be to jack a lot of purses up for these silly season events, which by the way work contrary to the rank and file of the tour. The tour has been probably too kind to the rank and file. To the players outside of the top 50, all the way to the next 150, the tour has been too much of a cushy landing spot for them.

They know they've got jobs, right? What the tour is going to do now, it's going to make it so that the top 70, you guys are good. And everybody 71 through 200, you guys got to fight it out in the offseason. That's what the tour is doing. They are going to make it harder to stay on the tour, which is, I guess maybe that's sports, where we are top-heavy. Everywhere we are, every sport, it caters to the top.

The salary caps all cater to the top. And then there's no middle class in sports anymore. That's what the PGA Tour is going to do. But I guess I wonder now, the big question now is here locally in the Triad, if Patrick Reed, Graham McDowell, and many of these others can't compete in the PGA Tour right now, who the heck is going to be at Sedgefield in a month and a half? They'll have a fine field. They'll have a good enough field. By the way, Graham McDowell doesn't make any field better. He doesn't. Sergio Garcia doesn't make any field better.

We can close on this. Ian Poulter? He makes no field better. He's a good dresser. I like Ian Poulter's style.

I like Graham McDowell's style too, for the most part. Here's the thing about the players. How many players playing Liv right now, and you guys can each answer this and then we'll let you both go.

How many players playing Liv are missed by the PGA Tour? Phil. Not Phil. Brooks Koepka will be missed. Phil's missed. Not by the PGA Tour.

He doesn't contend. The idea of Phil. If Phil was coming to Greensboro, there would be a mess. The marketing of Phil is missed. When Phil doesn't play the weekend, it doesn't matter. He's not a factor in the tournament. The marketing is missed by Phil.

Those things are linked. Tiger Woods probably isn't competing in a major way either, but if Tiger Woods plays, Tiger Woods is missed. If Tiger Woods doesn't play, Tiger Woods is missed, but it's the marketability at this point, right?

Tiger and Phil are different animals. Koepka's 32. That's a tough one. I thought that was a tough one. The only player who moves the needle on the Liv Tour, only one, actually Phil would be the second one, is Bryson DeChambeau. Not touchy.

Also young. No, DeChambeau is a needle mover. People are fascinated with Bryson DeChambeau. None of the other players on that tour, again, other than Phil, are a fascination.

Every one of them. I think they miss Dustin too. I do. Dustin's boring. He's great. He's great, but he's a bore. He plays with no personality.

Zero. Bryson plays with personality. That's the thing. You know who else would be a big loss if he left? Jordan Spieth. Spieth is like maybe a top 25 player. Maybe. I don't even know if he really is that.

Forget about what the world rankings say. But Spieth is fun to watch. Because he's a show. He can't putt, so he's got to chip in like eight times around.

Just turn the boom mics on around Jordan Spieth and let him be his own commentator. This is the Adam Gold Show. Over the crossbar! And the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup! June 19th, 2006. But it all started May 6th, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Cane's Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Cane's 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts.