Ryan Hollins, Former NBA Center

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Peloton app available through free tier or paid subscription starting at $12.99 per month. Ryan, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Doing good, man.

Anytime. How do you interpret what's going on right now with Portland and Damian Lillard? Because I keep on hearing the reports that Dame wants to win, and he wants to win a championship, and then he keeps on giving Portland that opportunity to show that they could improve that roster. And I'm not really seeing how this is going to lead to Dame being on a team in Portland this year that people are going to look at as a contender.

Well, I mean, here's the reality. He's going to, at a worst case scenario, he's going to need another star who can carry the load as he can, or at least a little bit under. He's going to need a good team to be able to compete for a championship. I think just what I know about Dame and playing against him and knowing his personality, I don't think he's overblowing anything. He just doesn't want to go into a rebuild, and I think that's fair to ask with his talent and his age and the work that he's put in in the NBA. So I think this is a far different situation, and some may think it's hypocritical of him, but I think it's fair to say he's almost in that Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen type of boat, where he's done everything to try to win a championship, and he hasn't been able to get there. And I think that even fans in Portland understand that. So I think we fully agree with what Dame is trying to do, and ultimately, obviously, you know, Miami's really stepped before as one of the better suitors, but I think we're just going to have a lot to look forward to and kind of see, but intrigued to see how this plays out.

But personally, if they can't build around him at all, he's asking it for, he's not asking for a super team, he just wants a fair shot. If he can't get that, I think we can all understand Damian Lillard moving forward. Yeah, my brain tells me that he should absolutely leave and request a trade, and like you said, maybe get traded to Miami as one of the destinations that out there, and it would make a ton of sense, but my gut keeps on telling me that ultimately he will be back in Portland, and I think that's a mistake. What do you think ends up playing out here between Damian Lillard and Portland? I wouldn't be surprised if he goes, and the reason I wouldn't be surprised is just, it's been time, and I think Damian has gone about things as a professional in the right way, and this is only me assuming, because you're going to ask for that hometown Bradleyville discount, where, you know, hey, Portland may not get them back the most attractive assets, but I think because of the reputation of Damian Lillard, you'd have to look forward and say, hey man, let's keep this guy happy.

You know, there was more in return for Poole than Bill, and you're going, how could that happen? I think there's just a respect that it was time for Bradleyville to be able to move on and go win and go compete, and you weren't asking at high, enormous price that you were earlier for him in his career, you know, when I was asking for Bradleyville, and it was like, well, Bradley's, you know, just off the market, you know, so, you know, I think that Damian Lillard, you'll see the same, hey, where do you want to go? We saw it in Houston with James Harden. James Harden, the best trade, the best assets weren't necessarily coming from the Nets, but that's where James wants to go, and that's also the Fertitta family for taking care of him. Talking to Ryan Hollins right now, when you look at the Miami Heat, if they were to acquire Damian Lillard, I know they were just in the NBA Finals, but would you view them as the favorite to get back to the Finals out of the Easter Conference?

Yeah, I think it'd be extremely hard to view them as a favorite, but it would be a team that you can't count out, and I think, man, it's fair to say the way that the league is going right now, there almost are no favorites as far as competing for a championship, and I think you're looking at Jimmy Butler. Jimmy gave you all that he could. Kyle Lowry gave you all that he could, and Bam Adebayo, which was saying they were just one guy away. They could get the stops. They played hard.

They did everything. They got there, but they just could not find another guy to put the ball in the basket, and I think at the end of the day, that's what Damian Lillard could provide, so obviously, Miami's extremely intrigued. I think the Tyler Herro situation, he's the name that's going to keep popping up in the trademark, and obviously because, you know, unfortunately for him, they ended up winning without him, so I think there's a lot that we're going to have to look forward to or be intrigued by with that, but Miami would definitely be right there in the mix of the teams that we look at, the Bostons, the Philadelphia. They would be absolutely there if they do get Damian Lillard. If Dame does become available, a lot of people have floated out Miami, like we're talking about Ryan Hollins, also the Brooklyn Nets as well.

Are there other teams? I know a lot of teams could use Damian Lillard, but you go, okay, that would make sense for both parties. Well, Brooklyn is very intriguing because it's a box office city. You get Dame a chance to see what he can do, similar to LeBron going over to Los Angeles. That was a really cool thing to see, but if you're going to see what Damian Lillard can do with those role players over there, you may not say there's a second star, but you can say that is the greatest assortment of 3&D guys and role players on one team that you have in the league. They're just pressed for a guy who can put the ball in the basket, and you can argue that Mikel Bridges has stepped up and showed some, you know, some kind of superstar-like qualities this season. Man, he dropped a couple 40 balls, and I think he's kind of just overly delivered since becoming a Brooklyn Nets, so I think that's definitely a situation you look forward to, and Brooklyn's clearly loaded with draft picks and, you know, it's stacked up for the future. Is there a path for Milwaukee or Boston to add, Dame? You may just have to give up too much, and then here's at the end of the day when you're talking about Damian Lillard, he's a guy where you're going to have to respect what he wants.

I don't think he's a guy where you just say, hey, you're going to go where we tell you to go. He's got enough of a reputation where where he adds, you know, you send him and you try to get the best in return there, so I don't think that those teams would be in play because he has not expressed interest there, and I think that he's just too respected from the Portland organization for anything to happen within that unless he gives the okay. Talking to Ryan Hollins, how do you think CP3 Chris Paul is going to fit in with the Golden State Warriors? I mean, I think Chris Paul will be just fine. I think what you're going to have to establish is, hey, what role does Chris Paul take with the Warriors? Is this the old CP or is this CP potentially coming off the bench and running a high IQ offense and then finishing games out? Hey, is this knowing that, you know, Steph or Klay, they miss a number of games and they kind of rotate in? Give me what you got, and, you know, instead of having the kind of high power scoring from pool and youth, you get the experience of the Chris Paul, and they end up playing the IQ game in Golden State.

So, listen, I'll say this. I'm extremely intrigued. I was shocked. I was blown away that that shot, by that trade actually happening, and I think it would be fun to watch.

I played with Chris. He knows how to get you to basketball, but, you know, from playing on those live city Clippers teams with Chris, I think it's very intriguing to see how they're going to fit, but at the end of the day, his basketball Chris has nothing but respect for what they've been able to do in Golden State, but it's going to be one to watch, fellas. I'm sure we know that. And the assumption is that Draymond Green will now be back with the Warriors. They had that decision. Do you rock and roll with pool and not re-sign Draymond Green, or do you trade Jordan Poole? They clearly did the latter part of that conversation.

Do you think that was the right decision to trade Jordan Poole to the Wizards and then move forward and bring back Draymond Green? You know what? I'll tell you this. I think there's a lot of things internally happening there. And for us to assume from the outside, the exterior, um, from the exterior, no, you, you go up to young guy, you figure it out, you won a championship with them and you, you know, you guys go win, but from the interior, you don't know how those guys got along. You don't know, uh, if frustration was setting in with God, you don't know where Jordan Poole stood. So, uh, I think at the end of the day, I think we just won't know, but externally from our eyes, we're going, you know, that trade didn't make sense. You guys just won, run it back, go, go figure it out. But, you know, uh, apparently there was enough damage done from that run that they were saying, no, we, we don't want to do this anymore with Jordan Poole.

Let's move forward. And I'm telling you, man, that was a strong trade. It's where did you guys go out and get paid and then come right back and get moved?

That is, that is rare and especially young guys. Ryan Holland's in the last few years, you've been an analyst for the Rockets. A few weeks ago, there's a lot of feel that James Harden was going to wind back up in Houston. Now, a lot of people kind of expect him to wind back up in Philadelphia. How much of a chance is there that James Harden has a little reunion and comes back to the Houston Rockets? I mean, I think there's definitely, definitely interest there. Um, you know, what James Harden has brought to the table, I tell you, I can't speak for the organization, but I know that the city loves James Harden here. There's no, no love lost. I think there's definitely interest. I don't think there's anything you can rule out and it doesn't happen until it happens. But, um, I think it is, it's going to be exciting to see, but I think for James Harden, man, I think you're excited to him for him moving forward.

But I mean, I honestly don't know, but it's always good to be welcomed in two different places and have a home. When you look back at the draft for the Rockets, I couldn't believe that they got Cam Whitmore. I know they also got Eamon Thompson with that fourth overall pick, but Cam in most mock drafts was projected to go in the top 10, not a bad job there, but the Rockets sit in the draft with four and 20. There were notions of Cam Whitmore going at four to the Rockets. There was real consideration because you got a guy who can step in and come in ready to play the fact that he dropped.

I mean, that is unbelievable. And I think, man, I think it is going to be fun and hats off to the front office in Houston for having another slam dunk. Listen, the year before I'll crunch and go still at a draft last year, Tari Easton still at a draft. Are you kidding me?

Cam Whitmore. These, these are moves that are being made by the Houston Rockets front office that may not be appreciated now, but you're going to look back and go, man, are these guys all on the same team? I think obviously, hopefully you can keep the band together. I'm speaking selfishly, not from the organization, but I think that to those, those, uh, not the Lopsided Clippers, not my Clippers, but the Knucklehead Clippers, where you had Darius Miles and Corey McGatty and quick Richardson and doing look at all those guys with Elton Brand, all those guys on one team dad. And it's like, you know, if you could keep them together, it would be fun to watch. But I just love, uh, what my rockets are doing that honestly. What are your expectations?

You're one for Victor when Benyama with the Spurs. Yeah, I think it's going to be a real adjustment. I think you're going to get some amazing highlights and flashes, but I think we're all looking at the, you know, the step back, the one letter threes.

I mean, how could we not? But I think what I know about Greg Popovich, I think what we're going to see from Greg is simplicity in Victor's game. You're going to see him getting rim runs. You're going to see him roaming defensively. I think you're going to see him spacing. And I think what the biggest thing from Victor, I'm selflessly saying what we want to see is him being a matchup nightmare. If he's going to, if he's going to have the ability to post up the little guys and take the big guys down, excuse me, take the big guys to the perimeter, man, that becomes extremely hard to guard. So I I'm intrigued to watch, but I think this is going to happen is his work cut out.

And I'll tell you one thing when you're watching Victor, when we one thing that we're looking for, the main thing is mentality. He's going to fall on his face a couple of times. He's going to have some struggles, but where is his mentality going to be? And that will really tell you how great this guy is going to be. But I think this guy's looking for his talent. If you were running the Dallas Mavericks, would you be bringing back Kyrie Irving?

Of course I would. All day and twice on a Sunday, I spoke with the Dallas front office several times. And the one thing that they said is, you know, the first notion is, oh man, Kyrie came here and messed things up. And he said, no, these guys love to play with Kyrie. He's been a breath of fresh air. And when you, when you commit and make that type of trade for a caliber of a guy by the name of Kyrie Irving, that's a long-term project project. And I think that Kyrie clearly respects that they've made the move and had to, you know, were willing to, you know, take a chance on him and move forward with them. So I think you got the hard parts off. You, you, you can't get the Kyrie's and the Lucas.

They don't grow on trees. You can get the Ryan Hollins and the role players and the defensive guys. You can get cold, but you can't get those guys that can go and fill it up. So I think Dallas is doing a great job over there. And it would be intriguing to watch if they can get it to click and work. Yeah. Might be uneasy giving Kyrie a long-term extension. If it was a one year or two year deal, I'm all for it. But when you talk about now four years or so, it's just been commitment issues with Kyrie ever since leaving Cleveland.

Yeah. But you know what, make it fit Kyrie. This is your team.

We're committed to you. You know, if you, if you're a Dallas, that just doesn't always pop up and maybe, you know, we can be the ones that make it work. And I just think it's, it's a play you have to make because Dallas hadn't just been hidden in a free agency. They hadn't signed any players by the caliber of Kyrie. So guess what?

They hadn't drafted because they're too good. So guess what? You got to make a trade.

Okay. So, so look at that perspective. You couldn't sign the guys and you drafted Lucas. So now you ain't going to be that low again. So guess what you got to do? You got to trade for them and they did. And that's just the way the NBA, if you're a team that's successful, you know, as in, guess what? You ain't going to trade a Luca and go start over and get into the draft lottery.

So, you know, you have to trade and make moves for guys like Kyrie. Last thing I'll ask you, Ryan Holland, just going back to Damian Lillard. Let's say that you were close with him. Let's just say you guys were teammates and now you're out of the league.

I know that you're an analyst right now, but you're no longer playing. And he called you up and he said, Ryan, what should I do? What would your response be to him? I think, take the road that he's taken. I think he's shown his patience in Portland.

I think everybody respects that. And I think just get, get that, like, look at the signings. Hey, who are we signing?

Who are we bringing in? And if you can't, I think the Miami heat would be the team to go to and play for it and win that. But I think, you know, stay patient with that front office, keep the communication.

Things don't need to get ugly, but if it's time to move forward, you know, make that move. And I'm sure that Miami, man, I mean, dude, they just got players just growing on trees, man. That looks like, you know, right outside of Houston, one of the better front offices that we've ever seen. These are undrafted guys getting busy in the NBA finals.

So it's fair to say they've got the assets to move to Portland to make something happen. Ryan Hollins, appreciate the time as always. Thanks so much, my friend.

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