The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Bucks Hire Doc Rivers and NBA Trade Rumors With Chris Mannix. Plus, Magic Guard Jalen Suggs!

Episode Date: January 24, 2024

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired head coach Adrian Griffin and replaced him with Doc Rivers. Why was Griffin replaced even though he had the second-best record in the NBA in his first season at head coach (00:49)? Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and DAZN joins Ryen to discuss some of the hottest names on the NBA trade market. Where could Dejounte Murray or Malcolm Brogdon end up (18:38)? Plus, Magic guard Jalen Suggs jumps on the pod and explains how he worked on defense and changed his role to help the on-the-rise franchise, which is filled with young talent (40:49). Plus, Life Advice! One guy has questions about purchasing a vehicle (1:03:34). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Chris Mannix and Jalen Suggs Producers: Cliff Augustin, Steve Ceruti, and Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

on today's podcast i've got a bunch of nba things but it starts with adrian griffin on his way out a couple quotes that annoy me the mbp race for mb we'll go further on the bucks and the dark rivers higher with chris mannix lakers rumors dejonte murray could he be on the Bucs and the Doc Rivers hire with Chris Mannix, Lakers rumors, DeJounte Murray, could he be on the move? All the names that you need to know before the trade deadline and the headliner of this show, Jalen Suggs, a defensive menace for the Orlando Magic in his third season. We're going to spend a bunch of time with him and life advice. Enjoy.

This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine, yeah. And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, total yes.

Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Well, that didn't take long. Adrian Griffin out as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, despite the 30-13 record. I don't know if he's going to get another head coaching job. Kind of cool to be like, yeah, I won 7% of the games of my career. Not many people can say that when they walk away. As an aside, anyone that's ever listened to this pod and heard me talk about Adrian Griffin,

the player, knows I was a huge fan. I know it doesn't make a ton of sense. I just love the way he saw the game in a very advanced way. There's no mixtape. There's not going to be a video where somebody tweets kids today, just don't understand Adrian Griffin. And he didn't really even play all that long. I just loved him at a time where I just thought, man, if everyone saw the game the way this guy sees it. He's interviewed a million times. He finally gets his chance. I was thrilled for him.

We had him on the pod. But I would say that it was not a secret. Uh, if you are plugged into the NBA at all, that it was just these, these rumblings, the hints, you're like, what is going on with that team? We can get to the numbers number two offense in the NBA, but 21st on defense, 26th on defense, the last 10, uh, they're tied for the third best excuse me they're tied for second best record in the nba they're only three and a half games behind the celtics they smashed him and you can get into the celtics schedule part of it but whatever um the terry stott's thing wasn't a great sign at the very beginning of the year where it gets into an argument with stott stott's off the team stott's with head coaching experience i always thought

stott's was actually a pretty good x and o guy in the times that I've watched his teams. And then there was the other stories we find out just this morning that Doc Rivers to the Bucs is official. He'll be leaving the ringer and he's going to be the head coach of the Bucs. We'll get to that here in a second. But that the Bucs had been reaching out to Doc to kind of consult behind the scenes, which I'm sure if you're Adrian Griffin, you'd be like, I don't really need this. So on January 6th, we knew it was bad because Giannis said this quote in the postgame, quote, defensively, we have to have a plan.

What is our strategy? Apparently the strategy was to kind of change around the assignments. And it's funny because people got sick of Coach Budd because he was stubborn, but it worked defensively. Lopez was basically dropping off everything, always staying fixed in the paint. The Lopez contested shot numbers. Some of us voters would be like, wait, do I have to take a second look at Brooke Lopez as defensive player of the year when there are other times where I would watch and be like, well, you have drew holiday at the point of attack. You have Yana

swarming all over the place and Brooke doesn't really have to leave all that much. So then you look at the system this year and Brooke clearly didn't love the idea of like, wait, I've got to chase all this guy, all these guys around. I have to stay out and blitz on a screen and roll. I have to trap 30 plus feet away from the hoop. I'm supposed to close out on corner threes. I liked last year. I liked the bud system way more than this. Then there's the Lillard part of this, where if you look at his field goal attempts, they're down. But what was going to happen? What did you think was going to happen when he went to the Bucs as opposed to the Portland show that he was able to run for such a long time? And Lillard's terrific, terrific offensive player, but shot attempts 21 last year per game to 17 and a half. That

makes sense. The field goal percentage is down a bit, 46 to 43, but he's a career 44% shooter. That's one of the things, despite how dynamic Lillard is as a score, sometimes there's some real high volume stuff where you look at the overall shooting numbers. He was 37% from three last year on 11 attempts, eight and a half attempts this year numbers. I think he was 37% from three last year in 11 attempts, eight and a half attempts this year, 35%, but he's 37% for his career. The free throw attempts, he was out of control last year with it,

nine and a half per game. He's at eight attempts per game, which is the second highest of his career this year. The usage went from 34 last year to 28. He's always been around the 30s. In the second half of his career, he became a dominant player. And offensively, the box score numbers have dipped down. And defensively, he's always been terrible on defense.

Not debatable. So I don't know if Lillard is upset about the system or if he's upset about some of the traditional stats dipping down there a bit. I don't know what he thought it was going to be. Maybe that's why he wanted to go to Miami, going, that Butler guy takes a lot of time off. I'll get more shots up. There's probably more nuanced looks at what's supposed to happen here. But if you look at Giannis, his usage rate dipped from 39 last year, which is an absurd number, to 33 this year. But

his true shooting percentage is the best of his career, which would make sense because you're less likely to be able to crash onto Giannis the way you have in the past because you're not really that scared of the shooters, despite some of the shooters that they've had that you respect. Grayson Allen was there, Middleton obviously is a shot maker, but Lillard's an entirely different animal because you are so worried about how high Lillard initiates his offense that it's just stretching you out defensively. So it's actually kind of worked there for a bit for Gianna. So I don't know if it's just, hey, I don't love running this or I don't like being off the ball this much or I don't like where I'm getting to initiate. much or I don't like where I'm getting to initiate. If Lillard just wants to dribble it up 80 to 90 times and get a high screen and then pull up from 30 or get to the hoop, because that's the other

great thing about Lillard is he's a smaller player, but he's still so quick and crafty enough to finish at the rim and the free throw parts of it. It's not a complete disaster. We're talking about the number two offense. So I'd love to get the truth serum on really what was upsetting to Lillard or did Lillard, Lopez, Middleton, guys that have been around, you know, maybe even Middleton and Lopez more so going like, look, whatever we were doing defensively, despite people's frustration with Bud's rules, remember like Giannis not getting to play on Jimmy Butler, Giannis being asked about it after that series last year. And he just was like, I don't know. They're like, okay, a little bit more freedom, a little bit more creativity you're like yeah but now we're terrible now we're terrible

on defense so can we just go back to what it was so i wonder if that was more of the motivation than me just wondering if lillard's complaints were solely about just getting more shots or having the offense more tailored to him which was just not a reality because he's playing with somebody like janice somebody he's never played with before. So maybe it's just still supposed to take a little bit more time. I don't know, man. Look, they had the Cleveland loss without Giannis where they got smoked. They had the January losses the first week there where they lost to Houston and Utah.

They lost four out of five against the Pacers. The in-season tournament game, being there live and watching how terrible they were on defense, it was alarming. I don't think this is even as bad as the David Blatt thing, where David Blatt made it to the NBA Finals, then went 30-11, and then he was fired. But it might just be as simple as the personality, because everything I'd heard about then with Blatt was just players didn't like him. And if the players don't like you and you've spent all this money and you have a chance for a championship, which is what the bucks certainly have. And you add in the Jimmy Haslam part of it.

If you look at his NFL history with coaches, if they were all in agreement, like, look, this just isn't going to work. It can seem entirely unfair that somebody at 30 and 13 loses their job. But I don't know that I think it's the wrong thing. And by the way, that Cavs team went on to come back against Golden State down 3-1 and win a title after they'd made the change. so we've covered some of the defensive stuff here but just to add to it when you switch out drew holiday for dame on defense you're not

going to be as good defensively i know most of you know that already right but the problem with dame is you know and it was even funny too when he got he got traded there it was there was i think there was a couple stories it may have been a quote from him. It was like, it's not that I'm bad on defense. It's just that it's like, no, no, you're disinterested. You can't be bothered with it sometime, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating. So I'd love to know the truth of his frustration and what that is.

I don't know if there'll be as much outrage about Doc getting the job over the in-house assistant prunty as there was with Finch getting the job in Minnesota. Um, I like the higher, I like the higher for doc here. I know people, the approval rating for doc is, is lower. Uh, I wouldn't say lower than I realized. Cause I, I realize it. I know he has the three, three, one leads that he's blown the AC with Orlando against

Detroit to me, who cares? The Houston one against the Clippers's blown. The AC with Orlando against Detroit, to me, who cares? The Houston one against the Clippers is terrible. The Denver one against the Clippers is also terrible. The one that really has always bothered me is the seven-game series against Atlanta, but I'll never understand that one. If you want to go back and read about that and the blown leads and how absurd some of the history was in that, I would say don't go back and watch it if you're a Sixers fan. But was it on Doc or did Ben Simmons, after he went 4-14 from the free throw line in game five, was he just done? Do you realize he took, I looked this up again this morning, Ben Simmons took one shot total in the fourth quarter the last six games of that series. So a guy who's supposed

to be your second dude, the thing you've been building around, just completely loses it you know the thing you've been building around just completely loses it in a series um you know there's there's certain things that happen in these headlines of doc blows another 3-1 lead here's what i know about doc he's great with stars he just is not saying it works every single time but i saw it firsthand in boston and even if there was a little pushback initially and you know a younger point guard in Rondo, where Rondo is always the smartest guy in the room. And I don't think Rondo's history is that he's in a hurry to get along with everybody. But as much as there's criticism of Doc, this might be exactly what they need.

A guy that's been through it all and a guy that understands stars as a head coach. A couple of quick things here. and a guy that understands stars as a head coach. A couple quick things here. Speaking of Ben Simmons, we had video last night, as the Knicks took out the Nets, of Ben getting some shots up. Nothing says March like some videos of Ben Simmons going through a workout. Now, I'm trying to be fair here because we're talking about another injury

that they just can't seem to figure out. But I am a little worried he's running out of outfits. Because it's two days later, I'm not leading the pod with Embiid's 70 points. If I don't have a pod, I can't do it that day. That was incredible. As you were watching it happen, you're like, dude, is he going to get 80 tonight? And it was completely within the realm of possibility. It could have happened. And San Antonio was in the game enough that Embiid had to stay out. It was justifiable to keep Embiid out. And I wanted to see it happen. I hate when they pull guys early. I'm like, oh, you don't need it. Respect the game. In this case, I don't

know that... I think Pop wanted him to get 70. They didn't double team him until late. And then the best part for Embiid is he had to defend Sohan, so he just didn't double team him until like late. And then the best part for him beat is he had to defend Sohan. So he just didn't defend him. So he would just go down and kind of hang by the paint and be like, whatever, if you're going to hit a couple of shots, go ahead and hit him. But now this becomes the MVP conversation where there's no other choice. But we know with the new rule with the NBA for the postseason awards, it's 65 games, and you're going to play 20 or more minutes in those 65 games. You can't just check in for a possession and then out and be like, all right, cool. Embiid, as of this morning, I believe,

depending on what you're looking at here, he's on pace for 62 and a half games. So I would never say the MVP race is over 42, 44 games into the season because things can change, but where he's at statistically, where he's at historically with some of this stuff. And then if you really want to add in the unfair part of it is like, Hey, centers haven't done this. Cause that part of it just feels like, I don't even know that you can just compare and bead historically to centers. I don't know how anybody could vote for anybody else for MVP, but because of the rule, this thing is still in play and that's going to suck if Embiid's at like 63 games and it just happened. I can't imagine they're going to let that happen. But if he were, if you were legitimately like at

a point where he has to get through some kind of injury and he keeps this pace up and this kind of scoring, it's going to suck. And by the way, as I say all of those things, I still think Jokic is the better player. Two things that I want to hit on. I guess it could be three things because they're my favorite things, Coltrane. When Jordan Poole said earlier this year, quote, my basketball legacy is taken care of with the championship ring. I couldn't help but be like, that's pretty much all I need to know. Jordan Poole, what are you, 38? And again, the Jordan Poole jokes, there were so many, we almost got sick of them. I don't even know if that's good content anymore, right? But it was hot

the first couple of months of the season. But when you hear something like that, you just go, why would you, one, why would you admit it? But why are you wired that way? Now, granted, there's 450 of these guys, even more when you think about all the different guys that get signed and waived throughout an NBA season. A lot of people out there playing, well, there's not a huge number of people

that are in the NBA, but for a given season, a lot of players, a lot of players, a lot of people, a lot of thoughts. It doesn't mean everybody's gonna be thinking the same way. But DeAndre Ayton the other night, and by the way, a week where he couldn't make it to the game because of ice. And it's like, what? And look, even people on social media weren't like, hey, do you realize how dangerous these

storms can get? Like, normally there's that lane of people people finding a way to still defend the player. Find a way. Get to the game. You want to know why you never hear that? Because it just doesn't happen. So Aiton doesn't make it to the game. And he said recently, quote, I've got nothing to prove in this league. I'm a max player, and I'll continue to be a max player. max player that's why he's not on the suns all right that's why when you watch him and how physically gifted he is and the touch that he has and the athleticism where you go this dude should be a beast but not everybody's a beast there There is no internal beast there. All right? He is totally cool with,

I'm a max player, and I don't know that he's going to be one the next time around. Because one of the most surprising things, if you just want to talk about player role, what my expectations were, I figured Aiton would put up big numbers with Portland, get a bunch of shots, and somebody would talk themselves into it again.

That's not happened. He's getting 12 points, 10 boards. His shooting percentage is the worst of his career. That guy's playing, what, almost 30 minutes a game, and he's averaging a free throw and a half attempt per game. DeAndre Eaton, he has only three games this season where he scored 20 or more. Now, granted, when you watch Trailblazers games, a lot of guards out there, a lot of guards taking a lot of shots, including my guy Scoot.

But I didn't know he could be more checked out than Phoenix, where he was frustrated that it was clear the vets just didn't trust him anymore, right? That he just wasn't a dude that was built for some of that stuff, even though physically he actually was built for it, but mentally just not that guy. And that in Portland, where I thought he'd put up some numbers and trick everybody, he's instead decided to be like, no, I'm totally cool being fairly checked out every night. I don't even need the touches. Just let me sit out a game every other week or so, put on the fit, and let everybody know that my goals are already accomplished.

And I know some of you are saying, who cares? He's making money, generational stuff. Yeah, but he's not in sales. There's still supposed to be something competitive about this sport. And I love these quotes. If you've been watching the NFL playoffs from the sidelines, there's still time to get in the game

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All right, let's take a look at it. Can I bet against Mahomes again? I don't want to, but I think this is a massive step up from an injury-ravaged defensive lineup with Miami and then certainly Buffalo. So I'm kind of thinking like, man, lay the three. Maybe I just stay away from that one. Detroit, a dome team.

Dome theories abound that you shouldn't be taking the seven points at San Francisco with this one, that they will be exposed and that a clean-handed, non-dirty ball Brock Purdy is to play as a touchdown favorite. I think you just go the over. Kansas City, Baltimore. No, it doesn't make a ton of sense. Those incredible defenses, but that might be the only play that I would at least enjoy getting through, or I'd be the least mad at myself if I got it wrong after the fact. So, that's the pick. Over 44 and a half Baltimore hosting Kansas City.

So if you want to follow my picks, go to FanDuel right now. Get started with $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Just visit FanDuel.com slash Ryan, R-Y-E-N to join today. That's FanDuel.com slash Ryan. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit TheRinger.com. $5 pregame money line wager required.

First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. See terms at Sportsbook.FanDuel.com. We have the Adrian Griffin news, and we also have trade rumors, and we're going to do it with a guy we've hung out with a bunch on the pod from Sports Illustrated and also does boxing for DAZN. It's Chris Mannix.

What's up, man? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm good. I can't tell you, like, watching the Bucs all season, you watch and then you check the standings again and you go, well, what am I supposed to do with this? And clearly, Bucs ownership in the front office is like,

no, this is what we're going to do with this. So he's out after the 30-11 season. I don't know that anybody that has anyone on speed dial with the NBA is shocked by this, but it still feels shocking. What did you think? Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, right? Because when you have that kind of record and you're in the position the Bucs were in and

you have the second best offense in the NBA, you would think the coaching staff is doing a serviceable job. But to your point, there have been a lot of red flags throughout the season. I mean, you go back to the preseason with the dismissal or the resignation, whatever you want to call it, of Terry Stotts, who had friction with Adrian Griffin, the defense that A.G. brought to Milwaukee, which was a defense that we saw Toronto play under Nick Nurse and Toronto had a very different roster they were a lot of long six eight-ish guys Siakam, Mananobi, Scottie Barnes that defense didn't work early on and it caused the players to push back on it early in the season and then even more recently like the Cleveland loss was a debacle like that wasn't like a Boston loss situation where they were

coming off a back-to-back. They walked into that game pretty good to go, and they got pasted by the Cavaliers. And then look at the last two games against Detroit. They were both wins, but they gave up a lot of points in those games. So my understanding is that Bucs management just believed that this team halfway through season, wasn't a championship contender and wasn't on a trajectory that they believed they were going to get there. That's why they pushed this button when they did. Do you like Doc here?

I mean, yes, is the short answer my the longer answer is i don't think anyone can make this work in a short period of time like i'm exhausted with the david blatt references i really am because it's totally oh well i i did a couple though just on the open i'm not all right i mean i just but it's a different situation because Ty Lue had been there for what, a team with a coaching staff that you're not really familiar with that is playing a system that isn't yours so with limited practice time and i guess you've got the all-star break but you know you've got some guys in milwaukee namely yannis they're going to be playing in the all-Star game, and probably Damian Lillard. With limited time to integrate your stuff, I just don't know how it's going to work. They're not going to fall apart. There's still a top three

team in the Eastern Conference, but you're not going to convince me they're beating Boston the second round. You're not going to convince me they're beating Philadelphia in the second round. And I think, again, in the right matchup, they could still have trouble getting out of the first round because there's just going to be a lot of mixed philosophies with this group. I just think it's too hard to incorporate a new coach and a new style on the fly and be successful at a championship level. Yeah, I like it just because I like him with established guys. I just think he's really good at understanding that part.

And it doesn't guarantee anything and doesn't all of a sudden make him the favorite over Boston. And Philadelphia certainly has what feels like more momentum here. But it'll be interesting if they just say, hey, look, it seems like Brooke Lopez is going to go,

I'm begging you, can I please go back to what we did before? Which is funny because people felt like the shortcoming from Milwaukee was Bud's stubbornness to adjust anything. And then I think I read like three things this morning that were like, you know, Budenholzer was a really good coach. Like where were you last spring? It's amazing how that were like, Budenholzer was a really good coach. Where were you last spring? It's amazing how that... Wherever Mike Budenholzer is, he's probably... I don't know if he laughs anymore,

but he's probably having a good smile. Yeah, I would imagine anger is his celebration. Let's talk a little trade deadline stuff here. Watch the Lakers last night, and LeBron and the loss against the Clippers. I think it's interesting that they've circled through the rotations. They're like, hey, maybe we'll just go back

to the one that we thought was good and see if that works. And they feel a bit like the write-off category of with the way the West is, could they really, with this group, make it at least to the Western Conference Finals like they did last year? I don't feel that way today. Um, but you never feel like you can rule them out, um, with LeBron still in place. And so are you open to the idea of them adding somebody significant for the deadline? The eighth?

Yeah, I think you have to, because you've got enough of a sample size that this is no longer something that can be fixed by Gabe Vincent coming back. rotation if and when he comes back and i don't know what you know he could be kendrick nunn 2.0 with his team just not able to overcome an injury at least not in in one season so we don't really know when he's going to come back what he's going to look like when he comes back so i'm of the opinion they've got to do something radical here and they've got to do something radical to improve their defense there's not a deal out there that's going to turn them into an elite offensive team. And I include a Zach Levine deal in that discussion because they're going to have to give up a ton to get Zach Levine. I mean, just meeting that salary is, you're talking two, three players at least to get a deal done.

You know, players that are part of the Laker rotation right now. And I don't know that adding a largely one-dimensional player like Zach Levine is going to instantly make them a high-level offensive team. I think they've got to do things that get them back to their defensive ways. And that's why I think DeJounte Murray is the best fit for that team, because Murray is a two-way player. It isn't working for him in Atlanta, but he can give you a little bit offensively. He can guard multiple positions defensively. And that's really what they've got to get back to being.

They've got to get back to being that top five defensive team they were in the postseason last year. Hope they can keep some of these games really close. And then hope the dominance of LeBron and AD in the final three or four minutes is enough to get it done. I think that's their only pathway to victory. I don't see them outscoring teams in the final three or four minutes is enough to get it done. I think that's their only pathway to victory. I don't see them outscoring teams in the postseason. Yeah, even last night. I mean, D'Angelo Russell has been just lighting the nets on fire here the last couple of weeks. Can you trust him, though?

I don't know how you go. Yeah. Oh, God. You know who you're talking to here? No, absolutely not. And I would ask anybody that, like, and I'm not going to do a D'Angelo Russell rant again here, but he may have had eight or nine passes last night where I'm like, what was that? Like, what are you doing?

Like, cool three-point shooting numbers, bro. But like, you've got to be locked in for a team that's really going to make any kind of noise in the playoffs. You need that person to be a far more locked in player. However, I will tell you this, and it doesn't make any sense, but if there was some Murray deal where Russell ends up on the Hawks, I would pay extra for league pass to watch D'Angelo Russell and Trey Young to be in the backcourt together.

I know Hawks fans are not going to be happy with that, but congrats to the Hawks for grinding from 15-23 to 18-25. So grinding back to that to just get to under 500. What's going on with the Hawks that are one of the first, I would say, I don't know if they're the most disappointing team in the NBA, but they're on the short list of the top teams in that conversation. You know, the backcourt has not worked. They've had some injuries.

They don't play together, Chris. When I watch them, I'm like, you're on the court together. But there's, and I know that they, they overlook, excuse me, Chris. When I watch them, I'm like, you're on the court together. And I know that they stagger their minutes, but eventually with Murray and Young, they're going to be playing in big spots together to close games. And whenever I keep watching, I watch them a lot, and I go, I don't feel like, I just feel like they're on the court at the same time,

and they're not actually playing. It also reminds me a little bit of Tatum and Brown at times, too. Probably the worst versions of it in the past when it was just those two guys but go ahead that's also sad for you that you're watching a lot of these hawks games i i feel i feel bad for you you're you're a big jalen johnson guy i'm a big jalen he's the bright spot of that team like if they trade him they're crazy and i i don't think they're going to because i can't trade him cheap salary and a really really talented player it just doesn't work you know and i don't know where if it was ever going to work i don't know if it's the system

um but you're right it does look like they're just on the floor together where one guy has the ball and he's making plays and the other guy has the ball and trying to make plays and then though you know the shots that dejante murray you know took and made to win games down the last couple of games we just the the body language of Trey Young I mean just everything all the tea leaf reading you do it just shows that it ultimately uh doesn't work I mean they they they need I don't know if there's a guy that they could get to make it work because their defense is so bad. Like, they're a top 10 offensive team, but they're a bottom five defensive team.

And that's kind of, that's a little strange to me, given like Clint Capella is there and they've got some guys, but they've just been one big disappointment. And a big reason for that is because that, their two star players just seem like an oil and water mix. That's why I'd be shocked, honestly, really shocked if DeJounte Murray is there after the trade deadline. They're talking to a lot of teams right now about a lot of players. And given the interest in Murray from some top-tier teams, I really believe he's going to be one of the biggest names moved before February 8th.

Yeah, one of my new sick pleasures, and I don't know why I do this, but when I'll watch a game on League Pass, I'll stay for the postgame presser. Like the other night, I was like, I don't even care what the next game is. I'm watching Chris Finch talk about this Timberwolves loss to the Hornets. That was great. Right. And I knew. I was like, this is going to be... I have it on my DVR. I may watch it again later this month. There was a game where... It have been the Hawks Pacers game where I was like, all right, I got to see what Quinn Snyder has to say about this. And Quinn was just very clear without being.

He was political about it, where he was going to send a message, just be like, we suck on defense at the perimeter at the point of the attack. And sometimes you're going to be overpowered. Sometimes you can just keep doing this and he was like i guess let's just say diplomatic about it he was diplomatic about it but he was very clearly pointing out to this thing where i knew i was like okay this quinn snyder one is going to be appointment viewing so um we don't the only reason we're really talking about them is because you're saying that murray is available and all this kind of stuff i just is there any other fit for murray and it's not like you had something else so go ahead take wherever you want no i mean i want to make sure we finish on murray look i

think the lakers are a good fit for murray i think the knicks would love to get their hands on murray you know golden state's still lurking out there because i think they're going to do something significant before the deadline because it's obviously not working with the warriors so those three teams are the ones that i hear a lot about with in connection with DeJounte Murray but when you say like what Quinn was talking about perimeter defense not to transition it to something else but I was working the broadcast for Celtics Mavericks on Monday night and watching Dallas play a game that for them was like, let's make a statement here. We've been off for like four days. Boston was on the second end of a back-to-back third game in four nights playing without Chris Dasporzingas and the Mavs for like three and a

half quarters lay an absolute egg in part because Luka Doncic can't and doesn't want to guard anybody. And I'm watching Dallas and as impressed as I am with what Luka does offensively, I'm just thinking to myself, if this is the star player on your team, you need a perfect recipe of players around him to win a championship because this guy too often and look it's not even that he's bad when he's bad i get that but the effort level the times he turned he like tries to reach around do one of those you know back taps on the ball the amount of complaining he does to the to the refs for obvious foul calls that he commits i just found myself watching dallas going look i love love Luca and he's an MVP

candidate because of what he does offensively, but I don't know that you can win with him at a championship level unless you have four guys out there that defend at a high level. It's almost like early 2000s Philadelphia when they had Allen Iverson. You need elite defensive players around him to be successful. And with Kyrie an average defender no real perimeter defense to speak of because Grant Williams has not worked out in a short time there uh Derek Lively's still a little bit too young to be at the championship level I look at Dallas man I'm like man that that's a first round exit team if they even get into the playoffs at all they could be in the play- tournament, which is a remarkable thing to say

about a team that has Luka and Kyrie on it. Wow, you're really down on them. It was a tough watch, man. It was a really tough... And I know it's just one game, and I've watched some Mavericks games because you want to see how Kyrie and Luka fit. But man, when you have two guys

that don't defend at all on the perimeter, like, how much different are you than the atlanta hawks to kind of bring it back to that yeah it was funny because like lively's been really good for them but he's just too slight i mean he's too young to think that against some of the bigs that you'd be facing the west like and then there's not really much behind him other than you know powell who i kind of like a little bit like as a late rotation guy you're not going to survive with him playing 30 minutes in a game um but it's it's funny how like your defense can be so bad at times that when you show some improvement then people

get excited about it and it's like this is still not acceptable over the course of like a season of a team that's that's actually trying to make noise again like they did a couple years ago uh in the playoffs. So I feel like Luka's had moments where he feels like he's more engaged this season, but then it's like, okay, but is our standard so low that we're complimenting something that's still not all that great? And I think people in Dallas would agree with that, that Luka has been more engaged this season. And look, it's one game out of 40 some odd they've played this

year but that was a game they should have been up for that was a game they should have been into you know for practical reasons that you want to test yourself against the team like boston for personal reasons with kairi and grant williams you know being motivated to go up against the celtics and the egg they laid for three and a half quarters was remarkable. I couldn't believe how poor Dallas played in that situation. It just got me thinking, I don't know how this team, unless they add three or four really good defensive players, can win at a high level.

You mentioned Golden State as a possible trade partner here. Is that the Chris Paul salary? Is there a market for wiggins is there something more dramatic happening potentially here you know i haven't heard too much about the chris paul salary being in play in part because like they they invested a lot in chris early they they work with him they he got he accepted that role with that team. And prior to the injury, it was successful on some levels. To get something valuable back in return, I think the Warriors have realized it's either a draft pick or Jonathan Kaminga. They're going to have to attach something

significant to Andrew Wiggins to get something back in return. But when I talk to people around the league about who's available in Golden State, it's really like you can talk to them about everyone but Steph. And that includes Klay, and that includes Kaminga and Moody, and some of the young guys they have on that team. They are, by all accounts, open for business over these next couple of weeks because I think they've realized as we all sort of have that this is, this is untenable where they are right now. We knew Terry Rozier should be available for whatever Charlotte's trying to do.

I know Mitch Kupchak was saying like, we're kind of like realigning and not rebuilding. I said, why, why are you not rebuilding? Like at this point? Um, I love the deal for Miami.

I think Terry's like an underrated dude. He's just kind of hiding out there in Charlotte, and he's throwing the games. This guy can get buckets against almost anybody, and knowing that he's not going to have to be the main focus, and Lowry's minutes are gone because that was over. I love it for Miami, and we'll see. We'll see if they gear up again for a late push

when it feels like there's five or six teams ahead of them in the East. Now, I absolutely unequivocally love this deal for Miami. I have been begging, publicly begging some team over the last year and a half to go get Terry Rozier because I thought his talents were just being wasted in Charlotte. In Charlotte, you knew last year, the year before, they were going in a youth movement direction. They were building around LaMelo. Now it's Brandon Miller. They were going for guys that are early 20s

and not late 20s, early 30s like Terry Rozier. And Terry Rozier, if you look at his numbers, is just a really consistent guy. He's going to give you 20-ish points per game. He's going to shoot mid-40-ish from the floor. He's career high, I think, this year from the floor. He's going to shoot mid-30s to high-30s from three-point range.

And he's going to be able to defend two or three positions. You can probably put him out there in today's NBA, one through three, and he'd be serviceable in any of those spots. And he's a playoff performer i know he hasn't done it in in the years he's been in charlotte because they stink but his years in boston most notably that 17 18 season that that postseason he was awesome he played 19 games in that play

those playoffs and he was a big reason that celtics team pushed the the calves to game seven of the eastern conference Finals. He has that moxie to him that makes him a great fit for postseason basketball. And I'll tell you one other thing. Miami likes guys that are competitors, right? They have that grimy culture down there, that heat culture. Terry Rozier is that type of guy. One of the reasons Boston drafted him all those years ago is because when they investigated Terry Rozier, everyone told them repeatedly, this guy works every single day. His main focus every single day is to get better. And we saw that in Boston. He kept getting better while he was with the Celtics. I think that

attitude and that mindset is going to be a seamless fit in Miami. I'm with you. I think the Heat got significantly better with this addition. Yeah, love it. Love it for them. Okay, so as we finish up here, I think Portland has names. Brogdon seems obtainable. Jeremy Grant, that's an investment. Just signed the five-year 160. There's about $132 million left on that. I've kind of recalibrated my Jeremy Grant thoughts, and I think with all those guards taking all the shots right now for Portland and whatever it it is they're trying to do certain nights i don't think it's awesome to be a big guy like i already talked about ayton and that's more about ayton but i i mean this guy isn't even scoring anymore because he's not even touching the basketball so give me kind of like a rapid fire names do you actually think are available and not just you know the curated

stuff that we see like i saw an update the other day saying, Derek Lively not available. Like, oh, thanks, because I was on the fence prior to today. Give me what you think is actually an obtainable list of names for other teams. I think Brogdon is certainly high on that list. He's been a good soldier with that team. He could have gone in after the trade from Boston and made a stink. He didn't do that. And I think he's not only obtainable, I think he's very likely to go. that team he could have gone in after the trade from boston made a stink he didn't do that and i

think he's not only obtainable i think he's very likely to go you know the usual suspects that are interested teams like new york and la uh looking for kind of that backup point guard i think they're going to be uh interested um if you go back to atlanta they're you know besides jalen johnson and and probably trey young i think everybody is in play down there. I think Sadiq Bae is someone that could be worth watching. You've got a team like the Celtics that are going to be on the lookout for some kind of addition to their bench, some kind of 6'6", 6'7", wingish player that can either supplement a Sam Houser off the bench or replace him altogether.

That's someone I've heard his name mentioned a lot. And again, really everybody in Atlanta is up. In Portland, though, it's really just Brogdon at this point. I don't think... Grant is viewed as a depreciating asset, and that salary makes taking on that kind of asset tough. And the Rob Williams injury, he was someone that there was going to be a robust market for, I thought, before the trade deadline. But now that he's out for the season, it's tough to find a fit there.

So those are kind of the guys that, you know, when I check in with people, they're talked about the most. All right. That's Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated. Also, boxing coverage for DAZN. Thanks, man. You got it. The Orlando Magic have been one of my favorite teams to watch this season. And a guy that's just decided everyone in the league is on

notice with his defense is Jalen Suggs. Thanks for doing this, man. How are you? Absolutely. I'm great. How are you? So I want to start with kind of just this season. We'll get into your story and some of the other stuff. But look, I know it's been a really good start, kind of a tougher stretch, not having Franz. Now he's back in the mix. What has this been like as a young group kind of starts having expectations for themselves, hoping to go out and win all these games? What's the season been like so far? It's been cool. You know, we've kind of gone through different stages of learning how to win,

being the team that now we have the target on our back, you know, during that winning streak, you know, when we're going through that stretch. And then now continuing to find ways to win, you to win within the ebbs and flow of a season with injuries, with fatigue mentally, physically, bumps, bruises, trying to find ways with different lineups, different guys, to continue to hold ourselves to that standard that we were playing at early. So I think all in all, through the wins, losses, we've learned a lot throughout the year.

And it'll benefit us for when we're trying to play in April and March and May. Your defense is like, man, and I know not everybody's watching Magic games all the time. But I remember a few games in, and Saruti, our producer here, is a huge Orlando fan. And we're like, have you watched this guy? What is going on with you right now? Where is your motivation? Where is this energy coming from? Where did the decision happen?

We were like, okay, this is a huge priority for me this year. I think kind of putting my ego to the side and looking at it from a perspective of what does this team need from me? You know, and we had a really good meeting during training camp, kind of in the preseason, just kind of breaking down, you know, what the coaches expect, you know, what they're looking for, you know, what all the boys are looking for, you know, from each individual. And, you know, for me, it was energy defense, you know, and being steady. You know, I really just tried to lock in and focus on those things.

And, you know, they love it. You know, they love when I'm climbing to lock in and focus on those things. And they love it. They love when I'm climbing up in the guys and diving on the floor and getting a crowd hype. They come back to the huddle during timeouts and they give me praise for that. You know what I'm saying? And they feed off of that. So once I kind of realized that, I told myself this is something I'm going to lock into. And I'm still trying to find ways to continue to do that. And some games it's aggressive. Some games, you know, it's more cerebral. And, you know, in defending things, preventing shots, you know, instead of, you know, super aggressive on-ball defense.

But, I mean, they loved it and they embraced me doing it. And, you know, it's been something that I've just tried to harp on and stick to. You said something about ego there, though. And, you know, look, any kid coming in with the profile that you had big time recruit run at gonzaga you go fifth overall and you're like all right well i expect to be an all-star i'm gonna get my 20 a game and everything and like look it doesn't really go that way for as many people was that a conversation you had to have with people close

to you as a conversation you had with yourself like how did, I'm not saying like you've transformed as a player because the shooting has obviously improved quite a bit here too, but maybe the acceptance of that. What is that conversation and realization like? Yeah, it was just, it was something more I did with myself, you know, and had some hard conversations with myself this summer. You know, I had to look myself in the mirror and, you know, kind of reassess what I was doing, the work that I was putting in, you know, who I wanted to be on the floor and off the

floor. And, you know, and in that, you know, we have great players in P and Franz and Kel who can handle the ball and is a great decision maker, great in pick and roll, you know, and it didn't call for me to have the ball all the time or to be in every pick and roll, you know, because we have these great players around, you know, and I think it's a blessing in disguise because it's allowed me to come out, simplify my game, you know, take the open shots, knock them down, play defense, use all my energy on that end, and I can continue to work on that other aspect. You know, my pick and roll reads, my one-on-one game, getting to my spots and shooting my shots, things like that,

without the pressure of having to do it and I didn't head out, you know, which is hard in the league and definitely was tough for me coming in. So, yeah, it was more of me and myself, tough conversations, kind of putting that all out there and then kind of accepting the role that I was put in and what they need for me to succeed as a team. Because at the end of the day, I just want to win, kind of won at every level I've been at. This is the only one I haven't achieved it yet.

So a bit of extra motivation came from that as well. I looked up the numbers from your rookie year because I was looking up some Scoot Henderson stuff, right? Because he's struggling. And they have a number where it's the lowest offensive rating of any regular player in the league. Did you know that you were last in the NBA rookie year? Oh, I knew i was down there

from my shooting from everything i was doing on that and i knew it was not very good um and i've seen scoot and he's gonna be just fine he's athletic he can make tons of plays man and once the game slows down for him he's gonna be really good um but yeah i definitely noticed that in my rookie year or something i was aware aware of. It made me feel better about Scoot because I liked him so much coming into the draft. And I was like, wait, I was like, he's last. I go, oh, wait, Jalen Suggs was last. So I was like, Scoot will be fine. What was so hard?

What was the hardest part about that first year for you? On top of trying to slow the game down and process that at a high level and being a point guard and someone who has the ball, the majority of the possessions while you're in the game and leading a group of grown men is a difficult task. On top of trying to figure out life and your new life and who you are as a person and now as the breadwinner in the family and taking care of our people, you know, it can just kind of pile up and then it gets pretty heavy. You know, and that's something that I try to share and be really open about is that it is hard. You know, it's not supposed to come in and be easy. You know, when you go from college or G League to the highest level of basketball in the world, and it's going to be all flowers and roses and going to be a walk through the park, you know, it's going to be an adjustment. So I think kind of embracing that is something I hadn't really done until

this summer is embracing the toughness of it, embracing the difficult. And I think kind of when we started to focus on that in the workouts and in training and getting ready for the season, it made all of the games a lot easier. I was, I mean, I'm dying in here ready to throwing up almost every workout, almost to the point of tears, you know, like just really pushing myself to that level. To now when I'm in those games, I can defend at the highest level, use all my energy there and come back down on the offensive end and be cerebral and be solid or continue to work on it. So, yeah, but it's tough. That adjustment in that leap is a difficult one to make for sure.

What was it like, you know, because I scotty barnes storyline also hurt you too because at one point you're wondering oh wait did they make the mistake and sucks falls to orlando and then scotty has this great year uh what was it like being so young and now all of a sudden like look you you've been making a name for yourself in basketball but now you're at the nba level and you're dealing with criticism from randoms and unknown people. What was that like, which was probably kind of tough to deal with in a tough rookie year? Yeah, it was a bit difficult. I think I found myself trying to compare my journey and my role to others, to other rookies, to other people in the league, you know, instead of just really living out the path and the life that God has planned for me. I'm trying to live out and reach

the expectations and the levels of this person, that person, this random, you know, this Twitter user, you know, to other people who've gone into drafts from Scotty to Franz, you know, just natural, just natural human nature things, you know, kind of comparing yourself to the next man in your peers. And I think that did hinder me, you know, it was tough dealing with that and seeing the rest of my peers kind of thrive and play well. And, you know, those other high draft picks, you know, kind of finding their way and, and I was struggling, you know,

but looking back on it, I wouldn't change it. You know, I kind of tell everybody, family, friends, kind of all who ask, you know, I would never change anything about that first year or second year. You know, rookie of the year, wouldn't trade it at all because I learned a lot as a person, helped me grow up, you know, and was huge for my transition from a young man, you know, into a man. So, you know, I learned a lot of life lessons on the court, off the court. But yeah, it was tough seeing all them thrive. And I was so happy for them, but I wanted to get to that court. But yeah, it was tough. Seeing all them thrive and I was so happy for them, but I wanted to get to that level. I wasn't ready for it yet mentally. Your defense is incredible. And defense, what always frustrates me about bad defensive players

is like, look, if you just cared, you can be average. And there's few players that seem to care about a possession of possession as much as you do right now have you noticed how frustrated guys get with you um a little bit um i think my favorite thing is like when you're guarding the guy and they just kind of get off of it you know run down the floor you know and then you kind of get them to stand in the corner a couple possessions you kind of know you have them because they're taking a breather they're trying to get a reset. You know, and it also gives me one so that now when they go get the ball again, I'm fresh.

I've had a couple possessions off. Well, not off, but, you know, just different from on the ball, you know, being in gaps and kind of showing my body. So now when I'm back, I can crawl into the ball and I can be up in you. And it's really just, I mean, for me, it's about making the offensive player uncomfortable, kind of putting you in positions. You know, I watch a lot of – I watch film, but I watch a lot of highlight tapes. I think it's different from others. You know, I watch like a whole full season highlight.

I got a good YouTube channel I'll be watching. It's a doobie breaking down stuff. So I watch like a player's whole December scoring highlights. And you just get to see all their go-to moves, all the spots they like to get shots in, and kind of deterring them and steering them away from those spots, those positions, you know, kind of putting them in uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory.

And then they're in your world a little bit, and you can start to dictate where they're going, the flow that they're getting in offensively. And so I think that's part of it. But also just, like you said, the pride of it, you know, just wanting to defend, having that, putting your ego to the side, and let me defend on this possession. I'll exert some energy. Maybe I'll go stand corner down here and be ready for a catch and shoot instead of, you know, being in an action, but knowing I got to stop for the team on the same

song, I take a lot of pride. I'm trying to remember the game. I should have gone back and looked at the highlights for it. Cause I felt like it was either November or the first half of December. Maybe, maybe it was that stretch at the end of November where you guys were home and you were losing your mind. You were so into it. It was almost like wrestling stuff. And it felt like after that game, do you remember which game we're talking about? It was getting really chippy.

And I think there was a technical and then you swiped at somebody's head and like a defensive rebound and they got pissed at you. And then you just like grab the ball. What was it? I don't know. We had a couple on that stretch. The Toronto game was really physical like that. The Denver one was really good.

I think it was the Denver game at home. I think it was the Denver game at home. And then you were feeling yourself a little bit. The thing is, is the fan base then in turn loves you. I always think every NBA team needs a guy that's a little on the edge. And it feels like that's who you've become for them. I don't think you would have done that. What is it like being like, I'm comfortable enough now,

and I feel like everybody, the teammates, we all like each other enough that I can start acting up a little bit more in the spirit of just being competitive. Because I don't think you're doing it necessarily just for attention. No, no, not at all. I think that's all it is. You know, it's just kind of getting back to me. You know, I think you ask anyone who's known me, grew up, grown up with me. That's how I always used to play. Always engaged with the fans.

I was always high energy. I was always talking to this person, that person, you know, and it may seem like kind of wild, maybe a little bit. But it kind of helps me lock in, honestly, and be fully present in that moment. And then once COVID hit in college, you know, we didn't have fans. It was kind of different. And then I think, you know, it took me getting back to finding myself and who I was as a person to kind of fully embrace that. And once I fully, you know, accepted that, that's who I am. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I'm competitive and I'm passionate and I want to win not only for the boys and the coaching staff, but for the city, because they've stuck when they stuck by me and showed me love. You know, from the moment I've gotten here, we were highs and lows. You know, they've been with me.

and showed me love, you know, from the moment I've gotten here. We were highs and lows. You know, they've been with me. So seeing that they embrace me when I do that and go pump up the crowd and do something crazy, dive on the floor and go shake hands or sit down with them, you know, and they really embrace that, you know, that brings me a sense of joy and almost a sense of responsibility, you know, that this is how they're looking at me now. And I don't want people to come in to, you know, to the Kia Center

watching the game, you know, looking for that, expecting, you know, me to bring that energy, you know, and it's not there. You know, and then I give kind of a kind of a false image. You know what I'm saying? You know, they're embracing me. You know, they're loving it. You know, they're telling me that they appreciate it. So I want to something I want to continue to do for them. And I didn't and I don't want to play here.

I've watched this game a long time. I don't know if you've been around long enough because this might be the only thing you know, but what is going on with the offensive players being allowed to initiate literally anything they want physically and then you guys can't even get your hips side to side with them and then they're being rewarded? There's free throw people that have studied it and saying it's not different. I think it's very different. I think that's why you saw Mike Brown lose his mind. I think Ker know curve pointing out yokich wasn't exactly the best example but i think that was built up i don't know what you're supposed to do if it's in transition i

think what you're now supposed to do is run into the tunnel and then maybe he'll miss it uh you're shaking your head right now it seems like i have a sympathizer on this one. What is going on? Absolutely, man. And I can go down the rabbit hole with this one. I'm not going to lie. It almost, it's making it, it's kind of taking defense out of the game, you know, and you see it in our game.

You see it in the NFL, just the way they're taking the physicality out. But like, I mean, you can't trail a guy because now he's jumping back on the screen and it's a foul. You can't be on his hip because he's coming to grab your arm, break it up, foul, you're going to the line. So you almost have to guard like some of these meetings, you know, and getting ready for games, going over and scout. And, you know, coaches are telling us you just like almost got to put your hands behind your back. Even when you put them out and hide,

you know, guys are finding ways. You're getting so good at it to go find your arm, to go get it. You know, when you're in legal guarding, all you're doing is kind of sliding your feet, you know, trying to beat them to the spot when they're coming up and finding contact in different ways. So, you know, part of it, I think is, you know, guys are getting really good at it. And I think that's why you're starting to see it look a bit crazy at times because they're so proficient and so like efficient in finding your arms and finding the body contact as you're going to shots but also it's like you know i ask the refs almost every game i just you tell me how to guard it then without making it impossible

what do they say what do they say when it's obviously like the offensive player tricked them to get the call what do the refs say to you hard, man, because there's nothing you can do about it. And then they get to the spot, and then you move, and now it's just a warm-up shot. You know, guys are getting to the free throw line, and you have to back up because you don't want to get the body contact. And guys like Luca, guys like Shea, they're not going to miss a wide open. And Bede, they're not missing wide open 15-footers.

So just trying to find ways to, you know, keep making them uncomfortable. It's part of the reason why I want to play and play off basketball, just because I've heard from so many vets, so many old guys, that it's different. It's more physical. It lets you get away with a bit of that when you get there. So, you know, kind of want to see what that's like. But you just got to keep finding ways.

It's tough. When the team, a year after you had been drafted, had the decision of Paolo and your high school teammate Chet with the number one pick, who did you want them to take? To be honest, it would have been dope to team up with Chet. We were talking about it in the pre-draft leading up to it. But I was in the dark. I told him, I'll tell you whatever you want to know about Chet,

but I don't want to hear about the situation. I just want to watch the draft like a fan and kind of see who we get and uh and it was dope i was upstairs in uh in one of the little rooms watching the draft and uh you know seeing p come i was super dope uh he's cool you know i've known p also since i've been in high school i mean i'm kind of seeing him who can grow so um you know that's great we have a good relationship but yeah me and chet talked about that a bit in pre-draft, about teaming up again and kind of being together. All right, but you're on the record here.

You weren't pushing him unfairly. No, no, no, no, no. I was in no meetings. I was by no means telling him, go get this guy. You know, I just wanted the best guy for the team still. Okay. Well, I think it's working out with Paolo. I was a fan before the draft and i would say

look i know you're not winning all of these games you know the sacramento game's probably one of my favorite paulo games ever because he had to find a way with the injuries and the lack of bodies you had at the end of that game the denver game is unbelievable um you know i wish you'd gotten the tip against my because it felt like there was this two week stretch. I don't want to hear about the efficiency. I don't want to hear like just from a basketball standpoint, I felt like those, those few weeks of him having to try to figure out a way to do so much of this on his own without Franz, that that's the birth of like, if he becomes a legit top 10 guy in the league, and that's still saying a lot, but like the,

the origin part of that is is that road trip out there it's the denver win it's him battling against sacramento what is it like for you to see somebody that it's not just told in the number stories it's it's just told in the way he's approaching the game and how unstoppable he can be certain types um as as you've watched him now for a couple years it's so dope it's so dope and getting to see him getting to see him, getting to see what he does kind of on these practice days, off days, the work that he puts in is dope. And then we get into games and there's times I'll just be watching as a fan and I'll go tell them my bad. You know, I kind of missed the cut here. You know, I missed you looking at me.

You know, it's easy to get caught. You know, he's just he's a great player. Gets to his spots. Some of the things he does, you just kind of got to look at other guys and shake your head. That's just Pete. So it kind of being in the presence of that is really dope um but he's really cerebral so cerebral and how he thinks the game and and our level of communication you know from this year to last uh from this year to last year has grown massively you know not only in um kind of just

all the different games different situations that we've been put in but him going to usa i think was was big time not only for for him and his growth, but he brought that knowledge and kind of that experience back here. And it's tough because we're a young team. We have Grandpa, who is Joe, who's older. We have G, who's been in playoff series and seen things. But other than that, we're a pretty young roster. So him going to get USA experience was dope.

I've asked about that. I wanted to learn about what he kind of gained from all that. You know, and he's bringing that to us. So his growth has been crazy. But seeing some of the things he does in person, oh, man. The sack game when he came off the screen and hit the three, oh, man, that's a P shot. That's something that only P's going to shoot. And he hits it, man.

And, you know, and it's just dope to be with and I didn't know. Paolo, I love with the ball. You know, Markel has been a resurgence. You know, Cole, I think, has gotten better on his decision making. Franz should have the ball a decent number of touches. Wendell can shoot it. You know, there's there's other guys we could talk about here. And then you got to get yours a little bit.

And for a younger team, that's usually a disaster. Usually means you can see the things that are overlapping too much and that it's just not – you seem to share it. You seem to get along. Like, look, you're probably not going to correct me here and say, actually, two dudes don't like each other and we have this. But it feels like a young group that's kind of bought in. I know Fultz has been around for a bit. But how does that work? How did you get this to happen this quickly with this group where it seems like everybody's OK finding how they're going to fit that night? I think just our relationship off the court is the main thing that has done it. We're so close. We can laugh, joke. We have good conversations about life, about who, about know, to, to let some guys go, you know, and they made the decision to bring us all back, you know,

kind of give us a chance to go at this thing healthy, you know, and when we've been healthy this season, I mean, we've been, we've been really good. You know, we have our first unit out there rolling and we come in second unit, you know, you have Joe, J.I., Cole, Mo Wagner, Golga, Del, whoever it is coming in that second unit, but we're all healthy and rolling. We have a really good flow.

I think a lot of that stems from the chemistry. We know where guys are going to be. We know what shots guys want. We're okay kind of delegating some of that, some of the touch, some of the who's handling in this action and that action because we really just want to win at the end of the day. You know, we enjoy being around each other. We want to win together, you know, and that kind of, I think, fuels a lot of that.

And when you get into the flow, if someone's hot, I mean, we want to get them to rock, whether it's P, Franz, Caleb, Cole's got it going. Dale has been playing well, you know, trying to find him to rock more. Seeing Kel get up on the rim and out in transition and get comfortable in the paint again in his movements is dope to see. So really just trying to get back healthy, continue to weather the storm of having guys in and out and fluctuating lineups and things like that.

But, I mean, we enjoy being around each other. And when you couple that with Young and Hungry, you know, and trying to get the – establish the belief of winning in this league, you know, I think it's like a perfect storm almost. Really enjoyed your season and, of course, your story and turning things around. And I can't wait to see where the Defensive Player of the Year voting works out here, man, because when I watch you,

I feel like every team could use a Jalen Suggs. So it's a credit to you and the work ethic and the three-point shooting, man. It's all happening. So thanks for the time today. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. You want details?

Fine. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid.

So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice, the email address. LifeAdviceRR at gmail.com Let's get get to it when's the last time anybody bought a new car or leased december 2019 uh mustang mustang just put a big old dent in it a couple months ago really sad about it one car collision just me stupid but uh what was the details it was pristine it was actually it's almost so embarrassing i wish we could take this out but i just i was coming i was listening to 50 cent come coming in one day um and there's a bunch of these pillars in my uh my underground

parking garage and um i don't know i've taken that turn a million times and i just was i think it was hustlers ambition i was listening to and i was just cranking the wheel to turn into my spot and i just i mean same turn i've done a million times just crunched and i was like um it's really really bad really bad so uh i'm afraid to afraid to even be seen in it really because it was so pristine before but uh i think it's probably it's worth probably talking about three four grand worth of damage two door panels uh i kind of i kind of got it right in between the the where the door you know the seal is so yeah so it's not just like we're gonna we're gonna get one door out of there so i will be honest with you well it doesn't sound like this is what you're talking about but you know you ever see like those cars where like somebody's so clearly backed into

a pole and it's 100 their fault right that's what the shape of the dent looks like yeah i judge those people like that's that's a tough look you know yeah i see him on the highway i'm getting the lane away from you i was like now i'm one of those cars i was like oh that guy's got a car covered in dents he's been he's been he's been through the battles i don't want to hear him yeah if you gotta yeah he's like cool i'll just hit you i don't care yeah it sucks i spent so long not being that guy now i'm that guy bummer all right well uh i asked your question right i have not uh 2019 2019 was also the last time i bought a car were you riding dirty kyle what what do you mean oh no no it was 50 it was just 50 cent it was good old 50 cent i would i took the i took the ramp a little strong and it was kind of right where it's like,

I don't care who you run with or where you're from. And so that's when I crunched, and I was like, oh, no. It took like a good five seconds for the high to wear off because 50 just really got me going. Just amped. I actually can understand why that happened. Lost a lot of weight. Looks great if you guys have seen him.

Really just continues to be an inspiration to me. me yeah he seems to have some weight fluctuation i remember a buddy of mine was working at a gym and he showed up and he threw in 315 on the smith machine though he's repping out 315 on the smith machine so that's like the one that's like it's it's like a bar that's on a machine though right is that a smith machine it's yeah it's like it's it's like a bar that's on a machine though right is that a smith's machine it's yeah it's like stabilizes it for you yeah yeah yeah look it still means you're strong as hell but i'll say the gym culture was like smith machine dude yeah i know he's a bully i just didn't like what i saw when people were talking about him at the super bowl i know he's a bully and what goes around comes around still didn't still didn't like it i would i wasn't like oh this is karma i was like stop calling 50 fat yeah i'm not i'm not down with that i'm not down with that i was

just sharing a workout part of it i don't want to start it i'm starting to shit with that guy yeah yeah retractor especially if i'm attached to this so yeah well i think he'd actually be super into you knowing you dented your car, being so into it. And then you sang a few bars from it. All right, so here's the deal. I don't know that we're equipped for this. I'll give you my experience on it, on the highs and lows of the car purchasing history.

32, six foot, even, 180 pounds, basketball comp, average white dude who never made the high school team but can be irrationally confident in certain nights at the local Y open gyms. Just an aside aside most people probably don't like playing with you but uh i love that you're out there at 32 still making it happen my wife and i are looking to purchase our first new vehicle we just had our second kid and time was coming in here i don't know why all right i was hoping somebody else would be more versed in this because i'm probably not going to be any help uh this time to get a family vehicle. We both currently drive the same vehicle we've had when we met six years ago. She

has a mid 2010 Chevy Impala and I have a mid 2000 two-door Chrysler Sebring. Our plan is to sell my vehicle since obviously a two-door anything is not feasible with two kids. We'll keep the Impala. vehicle since obviously a two-door anything is not feasible with two kids we'll keep the impala uh that will be my daily driver and the new family family vehicle will be hers uh that's not the issues i couldn't care less what i drive as long as i as it gets me from a to b and the heat and the ac work and frankly she works her butt off and truly deserves a new vehicle what a all right then what a guy i love guys like this all right uh what i need help with is what route to go in getting the new ride i've almost zero dealership experience and knowledge as i've only bought used cars that i could pay in cash and wonder whether leasing or buying new is the right move we have ten thousand dollars saved

up specifically for the new vehicle outside of 45 trips to see her family every year about 600 miles around trip it wouldn't get too many miles as her work is only a five minute drive from home and the normal family errands, grocery store, doctor visits, we got it, are all just as close. My only criteria would be keeping the monthly payment as low as possible since we've naturally had an increase in overall monthly expenses as our family has grown. What are the pros and cons of buying and leasing? And what questions should we be asking ourselves if we're making this decision i don't necessarily need to walk out of the dealership feeling like i've won the transaction i just don't want to get hosed or get set up uh regret it down the road okay um

look depends on where you're at right depends on your finances on all of this stuff so it sounds like you should be buying a car. You care about your monthly payment. Some people look at monthly payments for a car as just a way of life. I have one guy explain it to me. He bought his first kind of nice car. He owned a bar. We thought it was expensive because it was like 70 grand or something that blew our minds. And I was like, how much did that cost you? And he's like, well, I did this much down. He's like, and then I have a car payment. I was like, wouldn't you rather just paid it all off? He goes, I just look at car payments

the same way I look at renters mortgage, you know? He goes, that's how I justify it. Look, that is the opposite of how other people feel about it. You know, they don't want a car payment or they're looking forward to their, back in the day when you used to have the stubs of your 60 payments and you'd be just,

hey man, the stub, I only got 12 left to go and the car is mine free and clear. So it sounds like you are somebody that both should be buying a car, not even thinking about leasing because you want to keep that payment down and you feel like you're paying it towards something. I know I don't understand everything about the combination of the two. I think leasing should be for somebody that can afford whatever they want and wants a new one in three years. That's what I think leasing should be. So I went from wondering if my car was going to start to when the dealership calls me and asks me if I want to get out of my lease early to get back to another one. I'm like, sure. I don't care don't care fine where do i sign and does it have rims okay so that's me being honest about it but

not saying that that's the way that you should be doing it i think the other thing is that it sounds like this car is going to be a decade plus car for you all right so i don't even think at least i would think most people would agree with me again i'm not proclaiming to be an decade plus car for you. All right. So I don't even think lease, I would think most people would agree with me. Again, I'm not proclaiming to be an expert on all this kind of stuff. I don't even think you should be thinking about leasing once you kind of take a deeper look at the numbers. And it sounds like you get a pretty good head on your shoulders about looking at all the stuff, research the shit out of the car. Okay. Research the hell out of it. That's a really easy thing to do. Think of it as fun. Think of it as a game. All right. Going into it. Understand that their biggest fear is you leaving. That's one of my favorite things about going to buy something, whether it's a house or whether

it's a car or that one time it was a boat where every time I was like, convince yourself you can leave and you'll be fine because leaving is their biggest fear. They can't lose you because a person generally never comes back. Now, see, the crazy thing is sometimes I actually be the guy be like, all right, I looked at it all. I left. If those are your best numbers, let's get down to business and be like, I never thought you were going to come back.

Like, hey, man, sometimes I come back. Be ready to flex that kind of power make them fear you leaving all right maybe even leave a place just get it you know get your feet wet with it but they're so good some of these car dealers are so good at it where they're going to present you this opportunity you're thinking like if i don't say yes right now i'm just never gonna find this again right i'll never. And that's the talent, right? That's what they have developed to make sure you never leave. But you have to check that with a true belief that you can get up with your wife and a screaming kid or two and go back to your car and then drive to the next place. And if they believe you're

capable of actually doing that, all right, that's when you're going to get a better deal. So if you're willing to take the $10,000 and work on the payment, it depends on the interest rates. It depends on some of the specials that are out there. I wouldn't want to be out of pocket of a certain amount of cash, depending on what kind of cash I had accessible. But then when you start looking at the interest stuff, you're going, okay, what am I actually really paying down? You know, I mean, mortgage calculations and you start looking at 30 year stuff. It's horrifying. And when you first, first learn about it, you're like, wait, what? I just paid this. How come this still says this number? And you're like, welcome to 30 years of interest. So I, I think the most important thing for anybody going through

this is like I said, never fall in love with the first car you look at. Never fall. Like, there's always another deal. And there's likely always a better deal. Maybe you go and research which cars, which brand, and which model have a massive over, like, they have certain things where, like, hey, this car, like say Jeep Cherokee, this car has this many days production available. This is how over, like this is how overpopulated that supply is. So if you really want to get into the research of it, there's actually stuff out there. There's videos, you can look at all this stuff where there will be somebody who understands

this going, these are the cars that you're going to get the best deals on because they're so overproduced and the supply completely outweighs the demand. And they're going to try to have to get rid of these things. So that might be worth looking into as well. So that's all I have. I'm not presenting it as perfect, but I just think it's really important to go in there with go in there with expect to be making buckets, not rebounding and screening. Speaking of the Jeep Cherokee, have you guys seen the commercials for the new four by ease? Those look awesome.

They've got the Wranglers and the Cherokee Jeep Cherokee. Actually, Grand Cherokee is my dream car. Pretty stupid dream, but I can't get rid of it. And so you get the seven. This guy wants to keep his monthly payments down. Talking about saving money. You still get the you get like 250 miles to the gallon and then you get the uh you can switch it on to uh electricity as well and you still get the joe biden 7 500 bucks so now now you now you get the rebate at the end of the

year right so now you've already boom now you've now you've already done that you get a gas car if you're into that which i still am but you also get the electricity which i'm into as well so that's pretty cool and then the last which i'm into as well so that's pretty cool and then the last thing i would ask you i've never leased a car is i always thought leasing a car is like driving an apartment like you're like yeah you can put that you can put that rack on the wall but like that's gonna ding you later like like what happens like i you know i smoke so like i smoke in the car they wouldn't like that they wouldn't like it they wouldn't like it no it's like sort of like being in a hotel room. It's like, all right, you go outside.

And I'm just not going to do that in a car every day. So how much are they looking over the car? Because if you have a kid, that's basically my smoking. Your kid is my smoking. There's applesauce mashed into the seats. And there's stuff like, this is going to be a three-year thing. How much damage is your kid going to do in three years? Is that going to ding you or no? Are they going to be like, this is not a be a three-year thing. Like how much damage is your kid going to do in three years? Like, is that going to ding you or no?

Like, are they going to be like, this is not a new car anymore. Obviously they know that, but like, you're giving this back. It depends on you. Look,

it depends on you. I mean, I've handed in some cars. The guy was like, are you like, did anyone ever sit in the back? Like, no,

right. Cause it was no, right. Yeah. So this was a solo car. I'm turning in a car fairly soon here where i am 20 000 miles under the allotted mileage all right so you're not even this guy yeah you're not even the guy to talk about no i'm i'm i'm not the template for anyone

and i told them really on a lot of things but i was like hey when i turn this in and you guys pull that shit about oh you just missed the line or the window because the previous car i turned in was way under and they were telling me like oh you know if you turn it in and you're under this many miles like we might be writing you the check you know and then it came down to it yeah and i just missed it i just missed it i went how many people turn in a car that looks like this that is this mint with this low mileage on a car that's this desirable like how many people like i want to know i want to meet send me a forward like i was fucking with him a little bit because i knew i was like it feels like i just sort of missed this imaginary window and i'm just getting fucked because this car is demand and that's the problem is i like the land rover it's my favorite car i've

ever driven i'm on number three um i used to not be able to afford it now i can afford it i'm just being honest with the audience here this is not a flex it's not anything like that i'm just i'm not going to pretend that it's not in the realm of being able to grab it and yeah i don't what i think is he is right what's worse than saying hey i have a nice car is pretending you can't afford it when you have a nice car. That shit really drives me crazy. So I told them, I'm like, if I don't get now granted, I know that my other option is to sell it outright, do the buyout, then sell it on my own. And should I be able to make money? I mean, people during COVID were actually doing really well with this on a lot of different models.

But I don't know. I don't keep up with it enough. And I'm not that close to a decision. So I think we spent a lot of time on this. Yeah, we did. Should we move on to another one? Okay, cool. Yeah.

No, just really quickly. Oh, we have more. No, only because I just want to chime in quickly because I grew up in a house. My dad, plumbing, heating, air conditioning guy, he was always very anti-lease. He just thought it was dumb. But he's also the kind of guy, he'd have a Tahoe every eight to 10 years and he would run into the ground,

trade it in and get a new Tahoe. That's how it worked. So that's how my mind works. And I'm kind of in the process now of like, my wife and I are eventually going to have a second kid and we're going to need a bigger car. And we're kind of going through that same process. I just like buying because I like the equity.

I'm not one of those people that needs a new car every two to three years. And if that's because I like the equity. I'm not one of those people that needs a new car every two to three years. And if that's your lifestyle, then great. And you don't want to deal with any of the maintenance or the warranty or whatever. You can bring it in for the oil changes. You don't have to deal with anything. But that doesn't sound like what this guy is. It sounds like he's in a family situation. He's going to be beating that car up.

And maybe, who knows, you have it so long, maybe your kid eventually ends up taking that thing over and driving it to high school one day. So that's how I how i would that's what my life has been like um so that's that's all i could really that's how i could relate to that hey i think you're absolutely right and i think that's where this emailer's head is at um it's it's about owning the car outright and all that kind of stuff so all right that was a lot one and you can smoke in it and you can smoke yeah and if your kid smokes if your kid smokes right okay

this one's titled this one's a doozy what's up Ryan Kyle Cerruti mid-twenties hoop comparison of Kyle Anderson but not as fast

six months ago Kyle Anderson might be slow-mo one of the leaders but he gets referenced a lot he does

just yeah six months ago my buddy of 13 years did he change the names i imagine he did but let's just change him again yeah we go the old so thoughtful with these you're so thoughtful with these name changes that's really nice mid-20s always scares me a bit i just think about their friend inc. Incriminating everyone they know. If I don't change the name and then their friend text is like, I can't believe you sent that fucking email in.

Because it has happened numerous times. So I'm just going to change the names one more time. Let's call, Doug's been a real go-to for me lately. Yeah, and Abby. Let's call her Abby. All right, so six months ago my buddy doug was going through some stuff with his girlfriend of a year and a half abby i met abby seven times part of my perception of her was knowing she would occasionally call doug to pick her up late at the

bar and they appeared to be spending all of their time together but she made doug happy so i was happy for him six months ago while they were out with friends. Doug was sloppy drunk. Abby took his phone, caught him with multiple girls in his Instagram search bar and noticed he liked their pictures. Dude, search bar. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, dudes are going to look people up and, you know, has she never looked up a guy's picture?

But I guess liking a couple couple pictures isn't great either. Considering this was the second time at least this occurred, she called it quits. So he got dumped over the ass. She broke up with him. Okay. All right. She had told him it made her insecure in the past.

However, he clearly did not listen to her multiple requests. This did not seem like a typical behavior from Doug. The other day I took, the other day after this took place, I went to his place to be a good friend. I was exposed to a side of him I had not witnessed. Reiterating to me and his roommates now that he just wants one more night with her

and reading us the text they were exchanging with her clear lack of willingness to take him back. After I left, his roommates told me how he asked to sleep with them in their bed that night all straight guys friends for 14 years that's a heck of a request nope if if you say a sentence like that and then you're like can i just like sleep with you guys like nope definitely not it's not even the physical act it's it's the it's the request expressed yeah in an outside voice oh you said that out loud yeah yeah i'd be like hey

i'd be less bummed out cuddling with you than what you just asked like you were like hey pretty hurting right now these guys are my buds i'm gonna ask one of them if i can just sleep in that room that's like a tim robinson thing i think you should leave like that yes be like hey can we just cuddle right hey i'm going through something right now i've been there for you you i didn't ask to sleep with you though you owe me i thought we were buds all right so uh believe it or not she took him back yeah i can believe it because it was an absurd thing to get dumped over. He begged her for a week straight. Doug has always been a stand-up dude who has morals and always kept it real with me.

But after this experience, I view him differently. Since this, we've had minimal communication and only seen each other once. It took me a while to consider the thought that maybe I'd lost respect for him. I was genuinely shocked she took him back after her relentlessness, defending her decision in the text that Doug shared with us. I don't even feel like I'm deliberately avoiding Doug. I just feel like hanging out with him and inevitably her and don't feel inclined to do so. After witnessing the scenario unfold, it's possible to completely lose respect for a guy i consider my brother i'd like to address the reason behind

me barely reaching out but not sure about how to go about it any advice i gotta ask are you more thrown off about him just getting back together with her or him asking to sleep in the same bed as your buddies because that's the one I can't get past. All right. If one of our friends in college or early twenties had done this, we would still be talking about it fucking once a week, 30 years later. Absolutely.

Like, do you remember now you would have to be like an a one core legendary status guy to survive a request like that. My friend group. And that's not homophobia talking that's just the fucking reality of like what you would have to be the coolest motherfucker ever to survive that kind of thing and it sounds like you are more like judgmental of just the ups and downs of his relationship and the fact that he turned into a shell of himself. I don't think that's enough for you to go,

I've lost respect for him and I don't want to... Maybe you're just going through a little bit of a phase here. But I would say the longer you hang out with people, the more options or the more opportunity you will have to lose respect for them. There's going to be something almost everybody in your group does where you're like, I would ask, do you really want to be that rigid you may be dying to get a beer

dying to get a beer uh with doug in 10 years right and i think you're being a little harsh however if you're telling me the bed request was so weird that everybody's kind of going like i don't know what to do with this guy right now um then i would maybe understand it a little bit more but that doesn't sound like what's behind the motivation for you wondering about your friendship with a lifelong friend i think levity is the answer here i think definitely like if it and maybe you need to find out what it is right is it the bed request or is it like i can't believe that this is we have to like we thought we were out of the woods with this girl and and him like changing to be around her and stuff like that and if it's not that i think maybe you just you start pushing jokes you back up the joke truck to the

group chat and you just start doing bed jokes right it's just like i just i just lost my three teamer is there any way any of you guys would let me sleep in your bed tonight you know what i mean like there's gotta be uh the new kid cody album sucks is there any way that i me sleep in your bed tonight you know what i mean like there's got to be uh the new kid cuddy album sucks is there any way that i could sleep in your bed tonight i don't know but like anything i think i think if we get that we get those firing off everyone else in the group chat we'll get the idea and see if see that that should help if it's just like if you joke about it and it's not like one of those unsaid like how weird is this guy things? It could, I think maybe that might fix things. I love that.

The request is obviously insane. But I feel like that kind of thing doesn't just creep up out of nowhere. Like, that's part of, like, you had to, there had to be some signs that this was who this kind of guy was. Like, he's probably asked to do other stuff. So maybe that's why the emailer isn't as kind of, like, hung up on that as we are.

And he's more hung up on like the the girlfriend situation how much that is a bummer but i think man i i would just distance myself from him i think it's a perfect excuse it's just like no i think i think it's a perfect excuse of like all right he's back with this girl like maybe you're more busy it's your heart it's harder to hang out anymore and like if you because but but again it doesn't sound like you're that hung up on the bed thing so i agree with kyle i think you just kind of make fun of him a little bit but if you're really worked up about it you kind of have an easy excuse he's now dating this girl again you probably don't have to hang out with him as much

yeah but again we're giving advice for i think the thing he doesn't care about oh well then if he's he's probably going to break up with his girlfriend again right so like is that is that is that worth it to you like we've how many times have we gone yeah how many times have we gone through the friends are hard to come by it sucks making new friends i just moved or my friends moved i'm i'm sad like how many times have we gone through that like just think about that like just get over it a lot you know dudes would do some crazy crazy stuff and and really really like unbecoming things for uh for the fair sex so just just fucking know that i guess like i don't know what to tell you just know that

yeah i mean keep your dudes close but maybe not that close right i i can't imagine how much my friends would make fun of any of us that would ever have done this this is a guy on his laptop being like hey looking at duvet covers hey doug you want to you want to go 700 count should we go for the thousand you got any input on this one i want one of those ones that keeps you warm but it's also cool you know what i'm talking about because i know yeah i sleep hotter than you good luck dude all right thanks to kyle thanks steve thanks to cliff ryan rossillo podcast please subscribe on ringer spot Good luck, dude. All right. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks, Steve. Thanks to Cliff. Ryan Russillo Podcast. Please subscribe.

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