Mike Vorkunov: Sad To See Klay Thompson Leave Golden State

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I'm living my best life. Yeah. Yeah. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host Brian Weber.

Yeah, big shoes to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television. I have my own show. And now sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Final hour of the program. Still plenty of time for you to get involved.

844-204-7424 is the phone number. The interaction on social media has been positive. Let's keep it going on X. That is B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. I appreciate the additional followers. We have accumulated along the way. Thanks for the vote of confidence. So just a morbid curiosity to learn more about someone with my kind of grimace fixation as we covered in detail with our baseball conversation with Joe Sheehan of the baseball newsletter wrapping up the last hour of the program. Coming up in 40 minutes, in addition to all of the NBA thoughts, I'm going to lay out in detail. We'll bring in someone who covers the league for the athletic.

That's Mike Vorkanov. And I'm back with you all week long. And I realize that for many of you, you've already embarked on the holiday week.

That is smart planning. So I appreciate you carving out some time to give us a spin in for Rich. And I'll do my best all week long as a veteran of working holiday shifts. I thought about it, as I mentioned in passing with Joe Sheehan, I was here for Rich on Memorial Day. I'll be back on Labor Day, presumably, because in the past, not only have I started and ended the summer, I've been here on Thanksgiving Day. I've been here on Christmas Day because I enjoy every opportunity to be in the audio world. I was going to say on the radio.

But we know there are so many different ways to access the program. And it means a lot to me not to get too deep during an early stage of a holiday week that Rich picks up the phone or his people reach out and say, hey, are you interested in being a part of the program? That's how much respect I have for one of the best in the business who also bet on himself and expanded his media empire. All right.

Enough sucking up to the boss. We have been doing our best to multitask, making sure we haven't missed any breaking news, breaking news across the NBA. So far from a league wide standpoint, after the bombshell that dropped in the middle of the night, depending on which time zone you live in, Paul George wasting little time to take the four year and better than the $200 million offer from the Sixers. Now we're in a holding pattern waiting for Klay Thompson. That's the next big move that the NBA is bracing for. There have been more marginal transactions, although I don't want to diminish the importance of Derek White staying with the Celtics.

There was no speculation he was leaving. But to see somebody who rose from the ranks of Division two basketball, they made it to Colorado in the now defunct Pac-12 and then played key minutes, especially in the finals, for a Celtics team that is far more than Brown and Tatum. Think about the acquisition of Drew Holliday and his lockdown defensive skills.

That's why I don't want to throw cold water on what the Sixers did, because they achieved their goal. Daryl Morey is brilliant and he is legitimately Mensa kind of smart. Now, sometimes you can be too smart for the rest of the league or too smart for your own good. But if we're just talking about intellectual firepower, we've seen it throughout his career. And another phenomenal example of Morey being ahead of his peers and mapping out precisely what he wants to do and achieving that goal. And in this free agent cycle, the biggest name out there was Paul George. Now, that could be an indictment of the depth of this class.

And I'm not just bashing George to come up with a straw man argument on the radio. I appreciate his career going back to Fresno State. Maybe because I have watched the Clippers play so much being based here in Southern California. I'm Brian Webber in for Rich.

You can hop aboard the 442047424 or X me. B.W. Webber, Webber with two B's. Paul George is a very solid player, but he's also 34 and has had more health concerns. The injuries overshadowed because he played alongside Kawhi Leonard, who unfortunately just is physically broken. Now, I'm not putting him in the Greg Oden category where the career is in jeopardy, but obviously the greatest obstacle the Clippers have beyond playing in the West, although the East just got a lot more interesting with George coming over to Philadelphia, is the own the unknown variable of Kawhi Leonard. And if you're Steve Ballmer and the brains trust of the Clippers, I can understand why they balked at a fourth year that Paul George was looking for and someone was going to give it to him and that somebody could have been Orlando, for example, because the teams out there that we kept hearing have boatloads of cap space, included Philadelphia, but certainly Orlando and the magic may not be done much as I really like the pick up of KCP.

Two time champion, two way player actually cares about what he does defensively. That's going to be something that the Nuggets have to overcome. Although as I think about Denver's inertia and some moves in recent years after winning the championship, and certainly they lacked depth this year, as we saw with the collapse up 20 in the fourth quarter, game seven against Minnesota. Now, let's back up and give Minnesota unbelievable amounts of credit for having that kind of resolve and tenacity.

And remember, it was not solely Anthony Edwards. In fact, look around that roster, Rudy Gobert coming up with key seven. But Denver, in my mind, I think, has reached a point where they're comfortable winning that first championship. They don't have a demanding superstar in Jokic.

What you see is what you get. Now, I'm not saying that Jokic isn't all in on winning. But here's a guy who, when he's not playing basketball, seems very content to hang out with his horses and have a good time in Serbia.

And I don't think he's banging the table metaphorically for the Nugget Brass saying, get me more help, because that's just not his personality. And maybe the Kroenke family is taking advantage of that. Certainly no need for a bake sale for the Kroenkes. Every time you go to Wal-Mart and you hear that cash register ring, you're putting another buck or two in their pocket because Stan married into the Walton family.

But they've shown financial restraint and all of this is by design. I never, if I can, I never get into the details and boring minutia of the collective bargaining agreement. One, even as a kind of smart guy, I fully don't understand it.

Two, it's going to put you to sleep. And I'm just trying to get invited back on Labor Day after I maneuver my way through this week. But even casual observers like myself knew when this new CBA was ratified, it could have implications like we saw with the Clippers. The whole point, and you'll hear the term second apron, forget about all of the tiny details. The whole point of the CBA was to put a team like the Clippers who have more money than anybody with Steve Ballmer's insane astronomical net worth in a situation where they'd have to make a decision. And if they wanted to appease Paul George by going to a fourth year, they would wind up paying a ton of money in a very punitive situation as the luxury tax has gotten steeper and steeper if you go that far over the cap. And because Kawhi Leonard was quote unquote willing to take less and only wanted or accepted, however, that played out the contract extension of three years, Paul George had to know he was never getting the fourth year. So good for George, because if the goal was get just about every dollar you can with that fourth year, he was able to reach that aim if the goal is to win for a player who has never even competed in the NBA Finals. Conference Finals appearances in the East with the Pacers, 2021 with the Clippers. But remember, as we now can close the books on a five year run for Paul George, what the Clippers gave up to get him? A bunch of number ones and SGA and Jay Gilgus Alexander now is one of the top 15 players in the league, probably higher if you go by the all NBA achievements because they still have the position designation. So in retrospect, how did that work out for the Clippers? Well, I can tell you, they only won three playoff series in five years with a tandem of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and I think that's part of the motivation internally for the Clippers to say we are holding the line at three years. So George gets the financial payday he's looking for.

He also winds up in the best possible spot. I guess you could argue Dallas, but he was never going there for what they could spend. Jay Thompson, a much more likely candidate, and I think a great fit solely from a basketball perspective because watching the NBA Finals, what did you see? Again, if you're just a casual fan who parachutes in for the Finals, and I don't blame you, more choices than ever are available. It can be overwhelming, so if you only tune in for the Finals, what did you see beyond the brilliance and depth of Boston? You saw Dallas desperately needing a third option, in part because Kyrie, especially on the road in Boston, just did not show up. He was MIA, but all these teams need a reliable third option, and as much as I'm a P.J. Washington fan and look back at the impact of that deal pulled off by Nico Harrison prior to the deadline and picking up Daniel Gafford and the emergence of Derrick Lively, who was the third go-to player on Dallas this year?

They really didn't have one. Enter Klay Thompson, and also I think at the age of 34, having played with a ball-dominant superstar in Steph, he'll have no issues with Luka if you have the demands mentally that I need my touches, don't play with Luka. Because everything runs through him, and that's why I had a high degree of doubt that Luka and Kyrie would work out, plus in the past, let's just tell it like it is, Kyrie has done and said some bizarre things. To his credit, we didn't talk about Kyrie once off the court this year, and he and Luka prior to the NBA Finals had inserted themselves into discussion as to the handful of most transcended back courts in NBA playoff history. And then they hit the wall in the Finals, but that's where a player like Klay Thompson makes all the sense in the world. So we'll continue to track where Klay is linked to, according to Woge and Shams, and those are the foremost NBA insiders that we should be spending the majority of our time connected to. Seems like a two-team race now, unless there's the mystery team. I love when we get to the summer, there's always that mystery team out there.

Cue up the X-Files music. Will it be Dallas or will it be LA? Now, if it's going to be the Lakers, it can't just be the unselfish quote-unquote move of LeBron saying, no, I'll take less, I'll leave up to $20 million on the table. The first step would have to be a trade similar to what Dallas already did when they jettisoned Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Pistons to create more cap room. Lakers have a move to make prior to having the ability to get Klay to put his name on the line which is dotted. And that probably means trading D'Angelo Russell. And I know a lot of Laker fans would say, get him on the first greyhound out of town.

He is a polarizing figure. I get it. But at least you know what you have there. And I don't think it's a sensational commodity, but given all the other holes that the Lakers have to fill, are you going to part ways with Russell? Now find, I guess, just a guy, and there's plenty of them out there, who played the traditional point guard role. And remember, on that team, everything is running through LeBron anyway, so you're just giving it to LeBron and getting out of the way. But after Paul George commanded our attention and the ripple effects still being felt, feels like the Knicks are done after they went all in.

They gave up. Speaking of, and I gave you the particulars of the Paul George trade to OKC in 2019, thinking about how much the Knicks gave up to get Bridges, I don't have a problem with that. Because I'll take body of work and, especially in this circumstance with the Villanova connection, the personal connectivity and the cohesion over rolling the dice on draft picks. Think about this draft. How many players did you even know?

And let's just put the international component aside, were you that familiar with Reed Shepherd's game? Now maybe because of Kentucky, but they were one and done in the NCAA tournament, losing to Oakland, which effectively cost coach John Calipari his job, unless you think, no, no, no, he always wanted to get that chicken money that was waiting in Arkansas. So I'm a big fan of what the Knicks did. And Boston content to run it back as they should be. Because even with the addition of Paul George to the Sixers, and now they have a real big three, which you need, not a two and a half, because I want to be fair with Paul George.

As I'm listening to myself put out this content, it sounds like I am burying Paul George. I'm just more of the mindset that he is a middle of the road to high end player than a superstar. But that's all the Sixers need. Because unless you think what Maxie did was an aberration, and I don't, having watched him play at Kentucky, he's clearly the number two. And then the question becomes, how healthy can Joel Embiid remain when unfortunately his body keeps betraying him, as we saw again this year, even though he came back from the knee injury in time for the postseason.

So you got the Celtics, Sixers too, I got the Knicks just slightly behind them, and I'm not going to give up on the Bucks just yet. And I got nothing connected to Giannis, I just appreciate his transcendent skill, and I still believe Giannis and Dame have a future together. You know who they really missed? Drew Holiday.

And understand why he was expendable. But we don't talk enough about the glue players in the NBA, like Holiday, like White, that made Boston the team that ran through the Eastern Conference and the NBA Finals with a 16-3 overall record. You get George out of the West, suddenly the Clippers look a lot more mortal.

What are the Warriors going to do? Now they have cap space because they're able to get rid of Chris Paul, who of course landed on his feet. Chris Paul does not make the shortlist of my favorite players at the NBA.

Actually I liked him a lot in the studio, I thought he was a terrific broadcaster during the postseason for ABC. I just get tired of players who continually hit the opposition in the junk. After the 30th time I saw Chris Paul do that, I said here's probably a guy with some anger management issues. But when the Warriors parted ways with Paul, that gave them respectable amounts of cap room, here's the problem, who are they getting? They're not going to make up with Clay, clearly they don't want to pay him what he thinks he's worth. You want DeMar DeRozan?

Alright. Well he's also 34 years old and he's going to want to get paid because he quote unquote has been the man on a floundering Bulls team for years. So if you're a Warrior fan, yeah you still have Steph pushing now closer and closer slowly to 40. You got Draymond Green who controls that franchise.

And I realize that Draymond is one incident away perhaps from being banned for life. That's how close we are after being a repeat offender from a basketball standpoint. And then you throw in Wiggins, Kaminga on the way up, but suddenly that's a roster that looks even more better than the one that failed to beat the Kings in the play-in. So all these moves have implications, but the headline's got to be Sixers win free agency early on and they locked up Maxey today giving him over $200 million. And now the East becomes a lot more intriguing and there's one less team, one fewer option in the West unless the Clippers have designs on something I'm overlooking.

And I never fully bought into the Clippers other than they also had incredible depth, but clearly Steve Ballmer and his people want to move in a different direction. And they'll roll with James Harden who when he wants to can roll down the street when he puts on the weight and hopes that, I'm not just obsessed with Harden, but you know he can put on that meets it when he wants to and hope that for once Kawhi Leonard can stay healthy when it matters the most. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. July 1st means it is officially grilling season. So ready, set, griddle this grilling season that's well underway. Get the Weber Slate rust resistant griddle with a carbon steel cooked up that is safe for metal tools.

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Alright, enough groveling. Coming up, we'll get back to the NBA in 20 minutes when we wrap up the program with Gus Stowe checking in with Mike Borkinoff of the athletic straight ahead. I can't get too far away from the NFL after all. Rich Eisen is the face of the NFL network. This is the football show of record. So if I told you a pair of NFL teammates were beefing over a podcast, just let me throw that out there. Which team would you guess it might be? Here's a hint.

They have a star on their helmet. We'll talk about the dysfunction of the Cowboys coming up as we roll on on a jam packed Monday. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. This is Rich. This Rich eyes and show podcast is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Whether you're driving, cooking or doing laundry, Progressive knows the podcast you listen to go best when they're bundled with another activity, much like how their progressive home and auto policies go best when they're bundled. Having these two policies together makes taking care of your insurance easier and could help you save too. Customers who save by switching their home and car insurance to progressive save over $775 on average. That's a whole lot of savings and protection for your favorite podcast listening activities like going on a road trip, cooking dinner, and even hitting the home gym. Yep, your home and your car are even easier to protect when you bundle your insurance together.

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Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. Hey everybody, this just in. It's summertime. It's time to go and do all those summer things like going to a baseball game during the summer. I'm about to do exactly that and I know exactly what to do.

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Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm Brian Weber and I am sitting at the luxurious Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call, click Grainger.com or just stop by. Getting closer to the business end of the program. Hang on to the X handle. That's BW Weber.

Weber with two B's. Back with you tomorrow and the rest of the week. And I get the sense when the audience is full, satiated on a big word Monday.

After all, that's something I can relate to. Had an enjoyable weekend. I figured, well, you're working all week.

Why not supersize everything? So if you've hit the wall on the NBA conversation, I understand we're going to pivot here, but I would not be doing my job considering everything happening across the NBA with the headline Paul George going to the Sixers if I did not make today NBA focus. So we'll wrap it up coming up in 15 minutes with more NBA analysis. Thanks to our scheduled conversation with Mike Vorkanov of The Athletic. Back with you tomorrow, as mentioned, and among our scheduled guests, we're going to speak to a player in the NFL because football is king.

And Jesse Luketa has a very interesting story. He's a linebacker for the Cardinals. Beyond that, though, talking about versatility being your best ability, play special teams, has lined up at fullback. He's from Canada, had to carve his own path to D1 football, wrote hundreds of emails a day before Penn State's responded, wound up playing for the entity Lions is now in the NFL.

That's coming up tomorrow. And because I try actively to look for football topics, understanding this is the fallow period. If we're talking about NFL folks right now, typically it's because they have a summer camp they want to promote or unfortunately they're on the police blotter. And that's the last words of instruction most veteran head coaches offer when OTAs wrap up.

Please take care of yourself. I want you to be available and 100 percent physically when everybody comes back together in three weeks for training camp. But if we're talking about the Cowboys, I don't care about what major holiday is on the horizon, what month on the calendar we're immersed in. We're typically talking about something dysfunctional because it all starts at the top. And remember, heading into this offseason when Jerry Jones, who never met a microphone he didn't like. And I understand that affliction.

I don't have nearly the net worth of Mr. Jones. But remember when Jerry said to the reporters assembled covering the practices of the Senior Bowl, Cowboys were going all in in this offseason. Remember that?

The only reason I remember it is because they've done nothing since then. And if Jerry hadn't run his mouth, we could just say, OK, maybe the Cowboys are playing possum. Maybe they have a different approach strategically. But when you create false expectations, which nobody demanded, but again, Jerrah loves the sound of his own voice. When you tell not only myself and the assembled football media, but your fan base, more importantly, that you're going all in and you do nothing.

Don't be surprised if folks are miffed in cowboy nation. Because running it back with Ezekiel Elliott isn't really going to do much, especially, for example, when you surveyed the vision. And oh, by the way, Saquon Barkley went from the wretched Giants to the Eagles, who were just a year removed from playing in the Super Bowl.

And you still have to see him twice a year into the vision. So the Cowboys find a way to remain dysfunctional. Mike McCarthy and I'm not wishing for anyone to lose their job. Believe me, I work in sports media. Few industries have less job security than what's happening in our business. Thanks, A.I.

Good thing I like to work and I save my money because soon these opportunities are going to be even harder to come by. But a well-run organization would have fired Mike McCarthy within hours after that wretched home loss to the Packers, taking nothing away from the ascendancy of Jordan Love, who's about to get paid after Tua gets paid. And the Cowboys are going to have to pay Dak at some point. But because of the Cowboys, they'll continue to muck things up as much as possible. Remember, they have to pay C.D. Lamb as well. And next year they're going to have to pay Micah Parsons, who's not going anywhere, nor should he because he's a transcendent player. But he also enjoys dabbling in podcasting, which I have no problem with.

And at this point, isn't it a birthright of all American citizens? I believe every man, woman and child now has some sort of podcast out there. Micah's is good. He's got a lot of personality. And to use the Koselian term I always go back to when I try to say I'm being candid, he tells it like it is, keeping it more than 100. Well, apparently some people don't appreciate that transparency, among them his defensive teammate, Malik Hooker, who you probably have heard because he plays safety on the same side of the ball as Parsons, as mentioned, because everyone has a podcast now. Hooker went on another podcast, this one run by Keyshawn Johnson, and was asked about Parsons being that honest on his podcast, because Micah will be totally upfront when the Cowboys don't play well. And I think a lot of that is motivational and he's self-aware enough to say it starts with me.

We have to get better. But Micah has now Malik running to another microphone to say, and I'll read you the quote from a friend of the program, Mike Florio's outstanding website, profootballtalk.com. This is Hooker speaking, quote, my advice for Micah would be just make sure we're all right. And he goes on to say, if Parsons goes on his podcast and says the run game is terrible, OK, why can't we have that conversation behind closed doors?

Why are you effectively calling us out? Which is amazingly contradictory because isn't Hooker doing the same thing that he's finding objectionable from Parsons? Didn't he just call out his teammate? And I'm not just trying to be Mr. Logic here because Parsons had the exact same response. Quote, he came after Hooker on social media. This is Parsons reply on the X platform. Just wish you said this to me instead of some podcast.

You've got my number family. So this is not earth shattering. I'm not saying this is going to prevent the Cowboys from getting back to the postseason. I think the Eagles will do that.

And I think the commanders are going to be a lot better. And I can't wait to see what Jayden Daniels does whenever he gets on the field. There's a sense there's no rush to put him out there. And however you view Marcus Mariota, he's a team guy.

He'll help beat a mentor if they decide that Daniel should wait. Although nobody waits now in the modern NFL, other than Jordan Love, who had to wait for Aaron Rodgers to decide he wanted to be a lunatic now in New York City. But isn't this the most ultimate cowboy thing of them all?

You talk about meta. So the whole point of the kerfuffle was about a podcast and Hooker, instead of texting his teammate or picking up the phone, which I know young people have anxiety about. I get it.

I have nieces and like Bill Belichick, enjoy people in their 20s as well. If he had just reached out directly man to man and said, hey man, back off a little bit. I want to talk about this in private.

We don't have an issue. But instead he went on a podcast and here we are talking about it. Why?

Because the Cowboys are doing cowboy-like things as they always do. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. I do want you to consider picking up the phone tomorrow. Hopefully it is coming through that I come with four and a half hours of content that I try to push into a three hour bag, not to be too self congratulatory. But I don't want to have it too much of a, I have a microphone. You will listen to me.

844-204-7424, the number to call. I am open to talking with you tomorrow, but the next person I talk to will not be you. It'll be Mike Vorkanov of the Athletic.

How much has Paul George shifted the balance of power in the Eastern Conference by joining the Sixers? We'll address that straight ahead. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts people. You love their jingle. You're going to love their friendly, helpful service even better because they're in the business of keeping your car on the road and the parts knowledge they have. It's all you need for your maintenance and repairs.

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That's OReillyAuto.com slash E-I-S-E-N, O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you sell everywhere from their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person POS system. Shopify's got you covered. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms, and sell more with less effort thanks to Shopify magic, your AI-powered all-star. What I love about Shopify is how no matter how big you want to grow, Shopify gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. and Shopify is the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries. Plus, Shopify's award-winning help is there to support your success every step of the way because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash WestwoodOne, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash WestwoodOne now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in.

Shopify.com slash WestwoodOne. We'll see you next time. We had been speculating about the landing spot for Klay Thompson, and for once we were spot on.

This was not that hard to discern. It's official Thompson joining the Mavs. Three-year, $50 million deal with a player option, part of a multi-team sign and trade involving the Warriors and Josh Green going to Charlotte. And it is timely now to say hello to Mike Vorkanov of The Athletic. Mike, your reaction to Klay Thompson moving on to Big D. It's a little sad to see him leave Golden State officially, right?

Obviously, that's kind of who you always think of him as, as a Warrior. The fit makes sense. You know, the Mavericks traded away Tim Hardaway Jr., so they had some minutes open up on the wing. He's obviously a great three-point shooter still, even now. So he'll probably be a seamless fit there in Dallas, you know, as a three-point shooter, as a guy who can still defend a little bit alongside Wukadoncic and Kyrie Irving and give them that kind of three-point shooting and spacing that they need. Mike, you've been around the league for a long time, and you have a sense of what basketball executives are all about. I'm just watching from afar, and I continue to be impressed with what Nico Harrison has done since coming over from Nike to be the GM in Dallas. And we think about the mid-season deals last year, picking up Gafford and Washington that were a big part of the run to the NBA Finals. Where would you slot him amongst the shrewdest GMs in the NBA? Hey, he got a team to the Finals.

You got to put him up high, right? And he just picked up Klay Thompson. Now, from a basketball-fit standpoint, I think this works because Klay has already demonstrated that he can defer to a ball-dominant superstar.

It was Steph. Now it's going to be Luka. And just watching the NBA Finals, it was clear Dallas needed a third-scoring option.

What do you think? Yeah, and I don't think they even need him to be a third-scoring option necessarily. At this stage of his career, he needs more help getting his shots created for him. He was never kind of a shot creator for himself anyway. And with Luka Doncic and with Kyrie, you have two really good playmakers, Luka especially as the offense runs through him, that pull guys to them that create that kind of gravity. And that's going to either create a lot of shots for Kyrie or defenders have to stick on him so closely that it's going to create open shots and pathways to the rim for everyone else in Dallas. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich. I was talking NBA with Michael Vorkinoff.

Check out his great work in the athletic. Mike, where do you think the Warriors go from here? I don't know. That's really hard to figure out. It's kind of been weird to see how it all came apart. They lost Klay now. It's just Steph and Draymond there from the original core of the team. I don't know what their next move is. Even Chris Paul has a possible trade chip with his $30 million non-guarantined contract.

That's gone. They don't have all their picks going forward, if I remember correctly. So it's going to be fascinating where they turn. Obviously, they still have Jonathan Kumenga and that's an up and coming young player. Brandon Pachemski.

But it seems like their days as a title contender might just be done. And since we're also looking at the ripple effect of Klay Thompson signing with the Mavs, how about the Lakers? And I like the draft pick of Dalton Knecht. He was a big time scorer in Tennessee. And if in fact that's going to be the major upgrade, we'll find out how his skill set translates early on in the NBA. But they were in the hunt for Thompson.

How about the Lakers now? What's their backup to come up with more complementary skill alongside LeBron and AD? Yeah, I don't know how much Dalton Knecht will help. He's a rookie. He's older. So older players in the draft are always shaky, the history of them. But Mike, he can score. You saw him at Tennessee.

The guy is a bucket, at least. I mean, we've seen older players do well in college and then struggle when they get to the NBA. In New York, I cover the Knicks. O.B.

Toppin, one player of the year at Dayton. I know what you're saying. So you're saying the Lakers are screwed.

I'll let you finish your thought, then. So we'll see where they go next. You know, there's been reports that LeBron is willing to take some money off his salary for next year if it helps clear the path for someone else to come in alongside with him. They still need scoring. They need shooting. They need more playmaking. So we'll see where they turn to next and free agency. Those are the hardest kind of players to get. And it's not as if the Lakers have unlimited flexibility here.

Yeah. And I'm just trying to come up with names that would take their money, because as you know, when you get into how things work financially, LeBron's willingness to take less and leave, say, 15 or 20 million dollars on the table probably contingent on moving someone like D'Angelo Russell. So there'd have to be other steps in between. And this one, the NBA gets really interesting from a financial standpoint. OK, well, I thought we would not be talking about Klay Thompson.

So let me get back to what the mindset of the conversation was going to be. When you woke up this morning and heard Paul George was heading to Philadelphia, what kind of thoughts did you have? I mean, I thought it was a coup for Philadelphia. They get, you know, Joel Embiid gets the best teammate he's ever had. He's never had anyone as good as Paul George playing alongside him. And he's a perfect fit because now you have a lead guard with Tyrese Maxey and obviously you have Joel Embiid and then you have Paul George on the wing, who's also very good defensively still. And, you know, they just kind of need to plug in players around them.

That makes sense. But now the East is going to be very top heavy, which it wasn't this year for the Celtics on the way to their title. You have Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

That should all be pretty good. And Milwaukee obviously has Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo still. So that's going to be an interesting top half of the East with Indiana and Miami still trying to snipe at them. So I wonder what the East looks like.

That was my first thought. And my second thought was obviously where did the Clippers go? And you asked the rhetorical question that I was going to follow up with. And I guess your answer probably be similar to the Lakers. But, Mike, I'm just trying to think of bodies.

Who else is out there? I guess we haven't talked much about DeMar DeRozan, for example, right? Yeah, DeMar DeRozan would be really interesting. Obviously you can't just sign him in free agency, right? I don't think that they have the cap space to offer him what he might want. That goes for the Lakers, too, right?

So you have to get creative. DeMar DeRozan is probably the best of the bunch of the guards and the score is still out there. Had one more thought from a macro perspective, because you follow the league so closely. I thought the J.B. Bickerstaff got a raw deal. I don't know the inner workings of Cleveland.

In fact, I've read some pieces from your colleague Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It seems like from afar, not surprisingly, Dan Gilbert's team has some dysfunction, but I don't think the J.B. was the issue there. So while the Pistons are a dumpster fire, did J.B. landing on his feet and getting that job in Detroit feel a little bit like basketball karmic justice? I thought he did a decent enough job in Cleveland. He wasn't a problem, like you said, and it seems like he's a floor raiser, which is what Detroit needs right now. They just need to get some substance and some ability to play normally and win 20 games in a season, which has been a while for them, I think.

J.B. Bickerstaff should be able to help them and really just start to build around Cade Cunningham, which is something that's odd to say since he was a first-round pick three years ago. And for him, you know, for J.B. Bickerstaff, I'm sure it's sweet because now you get to be in the same conference as the Cavaliers and you get to start over again and prove that you're a good coach and it was the wrong move for Cleveland to make. Final thought because you mentioned the Knicks and you used to cover that beat, so you know that team intimately. If I may just slot after Boston, you want to go with Bridges. Joining the Knicks solidifies their standing as the two see the second best team in the East last year. Or does Paul George's addition vault Philadelphia in front of New York?

It's so hard. I mean, my natural inclination is that maybe the Knicks win more games in the regular season. Joel Embiid, even when it was just Joel Embiid and Tyrese Mackey last year, they went 31-8 when he started, right? But the questions for him are always, Paul George has had some trouble staying healthy too and so maybe the Sixers kind of reorient their season to thinking long-term and getting through it to the playoffs. But I think when you get to the playoffs and the rotations are shortened and everyone's just playing a lot of minutes, it's just so hard to say that the Knicks would be favored over Philadelphia. And that's about when you have Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Mackey. And we just saw what Tyrese Mackey did too, like he had an amazing first round.

And some shots that were Reggie Miller, Allen Iverson-esque. Mike, I always appreciate the information and so glad we connected as this news broke. Appreciate the time and I hope you enjoy your holiday week. No holidays. Free agency is a problem. Hey, no days off. Pal, I'll be here on July 4th. You want to call in? We can talk about the remnants of free agency then, alright?

Alright. Mike Vorkunov. Check out his great work at The Athletic and I like the mindset. Yeah, I feel like I'm channeling Bill Belichick more and more.

No days off, no days off. And if that guy can canoodle with somebody in their 20s, I'm only in my mid-50s. I guess it's socially appropriate, allegedly, reportedly. I'm Brian Weber. I don't know why I'm doing the disclaimer in for Rich because I know Rich is somebody who probably has a personal friendship with Bill Belichick. In fact, they were terrific together and I'm not getting endorsed to plug this, but since I used to work at NFL Media and consume way too much sports media, go back and watch the 100th anniversary celebration programming on NFL Network. Bill Belichick was remarkable. He was comfortable.

He was loose. He was engaging and I guess he only decides when that personality is going to come out. And we saw more of that at, for example, the Brady roast.

He's going to be on TV because he's looking for a gig. So get ready for the reinvention of the hoodie. So we got Klay Thompson news before we wrapped up the program. We'll do it again tomorrow.

I'll have plenty of time to process my thoughts on the impact of this. Now, remember, Dallas was a four seed and they made it all the way to the NBA finals. If you want to parse things, they did get the benefit of matching up with the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard, because unfortunately, Kawhi suffered another significant injury. But here's a Dallas team that reshaped the roster prior to the trade deadline with the deals picking up PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford in a league that is all about the three pointer.

They emphasize size and versatility of the paint. Remember, they missed the playoffs last year. Thank you very much to keep their draft pick. Turn that into rookie center Derek Lively, who played very well year one. And here's a team now that just got a reliable veteran. And as Mike said, is not in the position to ask Klay Thompson to do too much. If he could just go out and hit those threes like he's done for the majority of his career, I realize a 34. On the end of his basketball ascendancy, and this is a three year deal plus a player option, so let's just call it three years and having dealt with knee and Achilles injuries. Klay is not the same as the Warriors pointed out when they made him come off the bench for the first time in his career about midway through the season. And the fact that the Warriors are willing to part company with him reflects how they view an all time legend, someone with a major responsibility for the four championships they won together. Remember the heroics against the Thunder that game for the ages in the postseason against OKC.

I agree with Mike just from a standpoint of continuity and personal relationships. Tough to see Klay not be with the Warriors, but this is how it works in professional sports. And we know Steph is going to have a statue in front of Chase Center in San Francisco.

Klay will have major recognition as well without the other splash brother. The Warriors resemble the teams I covered when I was a local sportscaster in San Francisco, led by immortals like Victor Alexander and Chris Gatling. Whereas Keith, Mr. Jennings, when you need him, want to thank our guest. Good basketball analysis just provided by Mike Vorkanov of the Athletic. In our number two, we talk baseball with my pal Joe Sheehan at JoeSheehan.com and the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter. Also want to thank Mr. Eisen, Bruce Gilbert, all the great people at Westwood One, my friend and skilled technical producer Art Martinez, keeping everything aligned properly. I'm Brian Weber. Enjoy your day. I'm back with you tomorrow and the rest of the week talking much more NBA and having a good time with you. All part of this holiday week edition of the Rich Eisen Show.