NBA draft is tonight!

Always fun.

The coverage is always good. PJ Carlessimo has been, gosh, on so many sides of this as a college coach watching his guys get drafted, as a pro coach watching his teams draft players, and now as an analyst commenting on all of it and he joins us on the Adam Gold show. Mr. Carlessimo, how you doing? Adam, excellent man. Good to be with you. Thank you.

I'm doing very well. You know Greg Popovich very well. Do you have any idea which way he's leaning with the first pick in the draft? You know, he wouldn't tell me. He said, figure it out, Donnie.

And so, you know, I don't want to put words in his mouth. I know he's been partial to French guys in the past, so he may go that way again. Yeah, I think the fact that they had Tony Parker probably tips the scales in the favor of Victor Wenbanyama.

I mentioned this at the beginning of the show. It is an incredible run of luck for the San Antonio Spurs three times in their history. They have had the number one pick and all three times it has been a transcendent player. Robinson, David Robinson, top 50 player of all time. Tim Duncan, maybe a top 15 player of all time. And now this unbelievable prospect. What did Popovich do right?

Clean living. You know, I don't know. He's a good guy. He took me off the street. He hires people that aren't qualified. He just kind of keeps you there and makes you look good. So I think he's being rewarded for the five years of torture that we work together. And he's interesting. I'll tell you, this is the 50th year for the franchise.

So they brought a lot of us old heads back. I did three of their games, a three game road trip, spending five days with him and the staff and the team. And I think he liked this. He liked his young guys, obviously, before Victor. He can put a lineup out there next year with Jeremy Sohan, Devin Vissell, Tobin Johnson, Victor and Zach Collins.

Now, very young team, no question, but a really talented team. And he liked the team, even though they didn't win. They had a ton of injuries this year. I mean, I, I, I, for the starters, didn't play the three games I was there. I was there on a Monday through a Friday and I didn't see four of them, but got a chance to spend time with them. They were all there on the trip. He popped still enjoying it.

And that's the biggest thing. And everybody said, well, now of course he's going to, he, he would have retired already. To be honest with you with a couple of these teams, he's asked if he wasn't still enjoying it and you would think Victor might enhance that enjoyment going forward.

Yeah, it's funny. We just had, we had a few years ago, we had a situation here where the, the hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes couldn't find a general manager. And the guy who ultimately has a job really wasn't interested. And then they got the second pick in the draft and he goes, Oh no, no, I'm interested now. So Don, Don Waddell is still here. You mentioned Devin Vissell.

We watched him in Florida state and I love the potential for that player. Does, and I, and they got off to a very good start this year before the injuries really kind of, uh, sucked the life out of them. Did, does webin Yama automatically make them a playoff threat?

No, I don't, I don't think so. It's possible. And, uh, you know, um, I think tempering expectations is going to be something they want to do any of the West is still a bear. People just don't understand, um, how tough the West is. And some of these teams that, that are, are deep down there are really, really talented. Um, I there'll be significantly better than they were last year. I'm not going to be shocked if, if they make a runner, if they are a playoff team, but it's so hard to win with young guys. And particularly you got a couple of young guys coming back from injuries and not that they're damaged, but you know, they've taken time off. It's, it's not easy to miss time in this league.

Um, and more so for younger guys that, that, you know, really didn't have their feet wet in the first place and weren't really established as players. So it's not going to be just Victor. There's going to be other guys.

Like I think Kelvin is the head of everybody else. In fact, Collins, if he's healthy, we'll be fine. Devin's still learning curve for sure.

Um, so Han still learning curve for sure. And you put Victor in there on top of that. I mean, that's a lot of young guys now there's McDermott, there's other guys. I know there's free agents.

I don't know who the roster is actually going to be, but, but I, I do think it's going to be a small steps for this team as talented as they are. Uh, they, they young guys don't like the word. They don't understand the word consistency. Um, that's the hardest thing I think to learn in the league to where you can expect, this is what I can expect night in night out. And that's what separates the really good players. The really good players are there every single bite. The guys that people pay money to watch. Um, that's what separates them from the other players in the league.

Nobody in the league can't play. They're all talented, but they're like up and down, particularly the young guys. So I think that's going to be pop's biggest challenge, either getting some veterans or, you know, getting some of those veterans in the mix and getting to the point where he knows what he's going to get night in and night out from some of these young guys. PJ Carlessimo is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. Two things, two more things about Victor when Benyama, the first is what would you, what would your first step for him be?

And what would you think pop? And this might be the same. Uh, what is the first thing that you do with Victor when Benyama after tonight at about eight or whatever, when they draft him number one, who else loves summer, but gets a little overwhelmed by all the plans daily harvest helps me conquer the morning and kick off my day with intention through nourishing and delicious food all delivered to your door. Daily harvest is the easiest way to get your daily serving of sustainably sourced fruits and vegetables without the shopping, shopping and post cooking cleanup. Go to daily harvest.com right now, enter promo code harvest and get up to $65 off your first order. Their strawberry and peach smoothie or apple and cinnamon oat bowl are the perfect addition to my morning routine. They also have tons of options for any time of day like flatbreads, harvest bowls and bites. We all deserve easy mornings. Let daily harvest give you one less thing to worry about. So don't wait. Order your meals now at daily harvest.com enter promo code harvest for up to $65 off your first order.

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Just how strong or weak is he? Do we want him to be a focal point of the offense or do we want him to focus on the shot blocking and the other skills he has when he gets a rebound? We're going to let him bust the ball off the floor the way he does for the Mets team the last couple years. You know, we're going to just, you know, have him outlet the ball.

I think there's going to be a big learning curve and I think the victory you see in I'll even say, you know, March, February or March next year will be significantly different than the one you see in October and November because it's going to take Pop time to learn and it's certainly going to take Victor time to learn the NBA, learn his teammates and just see what he's capable of doing. My first role with I got that he was already there. If I stopped at Chick-fil-A in the morning, I had to get a half a gallon of sweet tea for him. He liked the sweet tea, so did I. So, you know, I'm sure if I were still there, Pop would assign me something where for victory too. I don't know what it's going to be.

But, you know, I had these weighty responsibilities when I was there and somebody had to make sure that the moms were good based on that commercially did with David Robinson. You mentioned that when Benyama played for the Mets, the only Mets team that actually wins, which hurts me because of a Mets fan and the other thing so it doesn't bother me. I know it doesn't.

It's I still like you in spite of that. How would you use him? How would you use him offensively? I think you started to allude to it.

Do you run offense? I think, again, it's going to be finding what he's up to. The thing the two things that the Spurs personnel that I've talked to Brent Barry, some of the people in the front office and what keeps coming back to me is one, what a good stroke he has. He really is a very, very good shooter. Now his shot selection is, you know, as with most young guys and particularly with when he's trying to carry a team.

I mean, he leads that team in points and rebounds and block shots and pretty much not just a team led the league in all those categories, but he had to do some things that he won't have to do in San Antonio. So I think, you know, when they clean up his shot selection and get him taken, you know, unbalanced shots, his stroke, they talk about it like it's a really, really pretty shot and he's got range so he can shoot. Now, how many trees pops going to want him to shoot?

I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised either way. If he can really stroke it, then he's going to be taking a lot more trees than people anticipate. Maybe not. Maybe, you know, he's going to want him to, you know, getting a shot over people is not going to be a problem for Victor. He can get the shot off. So it's going to be a question of how many shots, how many threes and, you know, where are his sweet spots?

But, you know, we'll find that out. The other thing that they talk about, he's got skills across the board, Adam, obviously, but they said the shot blocking is, again, just rare. You know, I don't think you teach shot blocking. You know, obviously, first of all, he has to have the skills. He's got the skills, the length he has, the athleticism.

Forget about it. But he's a gifted shot blocker. He sees it well. He closes angles down. He comes from the weak side. He's one of those guys that sometimes it's funny. There's been some shot blockers in the league, particularly the guys with the long arms that players think they're open.

Like the guy's too far away. Oh, I can shoot the ball. Boom.

All of a sudden it gets erased. Well, there's going to be a learning curve with Victor. There's these people are going to think I'm open. I have a shot. And all of a sudden he's going to swat it or at least get it, you know, get some fingers on it. So those are the two things I'm dying to see. You know, you watch tapes of them, but it's not the same thing. Even in Vegas this summer, I'm hoping to get a chance to see him in summer league. And I want to see the stroke that they talk about. And I want to see the shot blocking because shot blocking, if he does nothing else, the shot blocking alone will make him a major contributor. And obviously he's going to do a lot more.

But those are the two skills that I'm really anxious to see on display. Final thing before we let PJ Carlissimo go, this has nothing to do with the draft and I appreciate your time. The trade that dropped late last night with Kristaps Porzingis going from Washington to Boston, Marcus Smart going from Boston to Memphis and Tyus Jones.

And there's some draft picks and some other things that change hands. Tyus Jones going to Washington. What are your thoughts specifically on Porzingis to Boston and Marcus Smart to Memphis? Those are, to me, significant moves.

Kristaps is a stacked machine. You know, the one way you can look at it, he's averaged almost 20 points, just under 20 a game for his career, just under eight boards, couple of blocks every night, shoots 80% from the free throw line. You look at the stats and you go, wow, this is sick. They add him to the, to the Boston lineup. He's got a chance to be an incredible contributor there.

Particularly when you realize that he's not the first, he's not the second option. People aren't going to be setting their defenses up, worrying about him. You got other things on your plate when you're playing the Celtics. So he's got a chance to really thrive there, but he's got to establish which he had a, that he can play a bunch of games like everybody. I was listening to the legs this morning saying, Hey, played 65 games last year.

I'm saying, wait a minute, we're bragging on that. Like that's how much he's been hurt. So he's got to be healthy.

He's got to play games. B's got to show he can play on a winning team. Uh, and he's got to be the shot blocker. He's capable of, he's got to be a defensive force.

I think for Boston, cause they're losing one, uh, and Marcus smart and talking about Marcus, you're talking, I don't know how many times us and radio or TV use the same cliche that this guy was the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics. Uh, and he was also the toughest guy on that team. He's the toughest guy in every team he's on, but he's going to fit so well in that culture, that ethic they have, uh, that Taylor Jenkins has put in, in Memphis and it's perfect timing jobs out for a while. He's going to be, I think, a really good influence for job going forward because it marks a tough guy.

It's not a choir boy, but it's somebody that's got credibility in the league that, you know, I think can talk to John directly and say, Hey, you know, I know what you've been about, and this is what you have to do to be a better professional. So I really love what Marcus will bring to Memphis. I think he has a chance with that playoff and finals experience to help them get to that next step.

I mean, they're great. They played really well, but to get to that, you know, let's say we're healthy at the end of the year, if Brandon Clark and Steven Adams had played, I, you know, it'd be interesting to see how good they would have been. But I think Marcus really helps them take the next step.

I think his leadership and the intangibles he has are going to be missed in Boston. P.J. Carlessimo, I appreciate your time, sir. Best to pop, best to you. And hopefully we'll talk to you again.

For sure. Adam, thank you very much. Have a good day. You too.