The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Paul George to the Sixers! Plus, More NBA Free Agency, Klay’s Next Team, and the Warriors' Future With Anthony Slater.

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

Russillo starts the pod by discussing the 76ers' signing of Paul George (0:36). Then, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater comes on to preview where Klay Thompson will end up, share how Klay’s relationship with the Warriors deteriorated, and break down other noteworthy moves (12:00). Finally, Life Advice with Ceruti (46:28)! How do I stop my boss from constantly telling me they’re using the bathroom? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Anthony Slater Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul George of the Sixers and some other free agent stuff we want to get to and what could be behind a decision that I usually would not have predicted in past off seasons. We'll get more on Paul George and why he didn't end up on the Warriors, the other Warriors moves, a future for Steph Curry and taking a look at the West through the first days of the off season with Anthony Slayer. And we've got Life Advice, dog edition. Make your nights unforgettable with American Express. Unmissable show coming up?

Good news, we've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show? So, Paul George is a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Visit amex.ca slash ymx. Benefits vary by card, other conditions apply. So Paul George is a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. It's official, there's a lot that I want to get to with this, but I want to start with maybe the first wave of second apron fear that I think is playing into a lot of the different transactions only a couple days in a free agency.

So I remember when Bill and I did a podcast when we saw what the new details were of the second apron. If you don't remember everything, I'll just run through them a little bit. Second apron, if the salary cap's 140 and the luxury tax 170, and then the first apron is in the 170s, and then the second apron is in the 180s, it can start to add up pretty quickly. If you have players that you've been extending of your own and you have a good team, it can start getting really scary. In that second apron, some of those own and you have a good team, uh, it can start getting really scary in that second apron. Some of those restrictions are, you can't use the mid level, right?

You have to, you can't like pick up any player that's a wave within the season. You can't throw cash into trades. You have to do a dollar for dollar. And I asked somebody about this today. I was like, is there a little leniency on the dollar for dollar thing? And he was like, nope, you can't trade two players that add up to 25 million for the one player that adds up to 25 million, even if it's a dollar for dollar thing. And he was like, nope, you can't trade two players that add up to 25 million for the one player that adds up to 25 million, even if it's a dollar for dollar. You could also have, if you have two second apron, let's say violations

within a four year period, that means you could have your first round draft pick move to the end of the first round. So this is big time stuff. And sometimes with new, new changes to the CBA, I have to like see it happen or read it two or three times before like I feel like I really have it. That can happen with some of the trades with all these draft picks where even the Bridges deal with Brooklyn and New York that also had the Brooklyn and Houston trade pick deal. I think I had a look at that right down almost like a family tree of picks before I felt

like, okay, I have it. Now I can talk about this comfortably. So when Bill and I did that first deal on the new punitive things happening with the second apron, it changes the CBA. It was like, man, that seems like a lot of stuff. And I'll even tell you a story. I was at home in Manhattan beach and there was a team that was in town. And I knew one of the guys in the front office and he was like, Hey,

we're grabbing something to eat. Do you want to come down and meet us? I was like, absolutely. Yeah. I'd love to come down, hang out for a little bit. And we were talking about some different things. Second apron came up and one guy at the table who hadn't said anything for minutes and didn't really, I don't think said all that much dinner after the fact. When I said, yeah, the second apron almost feels like a hard cap.

And he looked right at me because it is a hard cap. And I was like, man, like I just saw a ghost, right? I think it might even been their cap guy. He just was like, this is real and this is happening and it's going to be a big deal and we're seeing that right now. But let's get back to Paul George on the Sixers because I like it. I like it for Paul George. I like it for Philly. I have, um, I think honest expectations of who Paul George has been as a player and paying him four years up until 38.

Maybe it isn't great. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think honest expectations of who Paul George has been as a player and paying him four years up until 38, maybe it isn't great. I don't know. I don't really care because Darrell Morey needed to do something. He needed to do something. And if you look at who was available in free agency and him stockpiling this cap space, having a plan, hoping that there'd be somebody that he could land, because it's not like a foolproof plan, this doesn't really work out a lot for teams.

I've told you for years, all of these teams and their fans applauding this future cap space and getting really excited about it. And you know, you already know all the summers you were like, Oh, all that cap space we had. And now I'm a Pistons fan and we have Tobias Harris for two years and 52 million. That's not entirely fair to the Pistons or even Harris because whatever. I mean, it was just a big number and they had a huge cap space. They got to pay somebody, but they were going to get anybody real when you have

as bad of a record as they had this past season. So it usually leads to disappointment. But if you think about Morrie and what he's done reinventing the Sixers team, like three different times in a very short period of time, you start with a Ben Simmons and bead part of it. And then he trades a guy in Ben Simmons who does not play basketball for somebody who actually does play basketball and James Harden up until he decides he doesn't want to play basketball for you anymore, but that in itself is a win.

Then he's dealt with all the hardened drama, hardened ops in, but wants to be traded to the Clippers so that he could get paid. And by the way, two years, 70 million for him player option on the second one. the Harden drama, Harden opts in, but wants to be traded to the Clippers so that he could get paid. And by the way, two years, 70 million for him player option on the second one. So he may have a chance to go back at it one more time. Cause I think Harden is going to put up some numbers, especially if Kawhi isn't right, Paul George being gone. You might say Houston Harden again. I don't even know if I'll make an all-star team, but you get the point.

Like if he's healthy and wants to put up serious numbers, especially if Kawhi isn't all the way back, the heart is probably going to put in some real numbers for you this year, so he'll be happy. But to do that and then go, all right, I have the second best player on this team who doesn't want to be here. And I can't add to this in theory, title contending team with an MVP level in bead in the beginning of the year with a growing maxi who's incredible. But I don't have like my, my guy that was supposed to be in this slot is now

playing for the Clippers and I've got Patum and some draft stuff here, but I do have cap space that I can potentially use to do this all over again. And by the way, the maxi pick at 21 may be the most brilliant thing that he's done the entire time there because at 21 you're grabbing somebody who's getting starting All-Star Game Votes and somebody that's gonna be flirting with all NBA and he's that good and they extended him and they were smart enough and have everybody on the same page to wait to extend Maxi so that they would in theory have this cap space use it and then be able to assign Maxi to the extension once they use the cap space so

that's a really hard needle to thread and pull off. And now with Embiid, PG and Maxey, they have a chance. And that's the whole point, to have a fucking chance at maybe finding your way out of the East and playing for a title. And the same doubts that you have about these players, I have the exact same ones. I wouldn't say that they're the favorites, not with Boston running through everybody in the East and then dumping on Dallas in the finals and actually doing it without Przingis. If Przingis is healthy, the same way you could ask, is Embiid going to be healthy, but if they're all healthy at the end of the season and we're into a playoff

series, it's the Eastern Conference finals and it's Philly and Boston. I don't love the idea of Embiid chasing around Przingis as a stretch five, that both those guys are healthy. But I also just think Boston, now that we've seen it and it played out and they were this good, I don't know that I would have thought that they would be idea of him be chasing around perzingus as a stretch five, that both those guys are healthy. But I also just think Boston, now that we've seen it and it played out and they were this good, I don't know that I would have picked them against Denver, but it doesn't matter anymore because now the doubts, a lot of those doubts, they just have to kind of go away. So, um, when I look at Paul George, if we tell the full story, he's 34 in May, this past May. We know that he's not perfect because if he was perfect, he wouldn't be a free agent in the first place. He's played over

60 games once in the last five seasons. This past one, he played 74. Statistically, he was really good in the regular season, followed by a playoff series where they needed him to step up big time against Dallas and he didn't. I'd say he had like three bad games out of the six. Um, so we know both sides of the Paul George story. And I think in this spot, it's actually kind of perfect for him. Cause he's not a one. He doesn't have the personality of a one. I'm not even sure if his game entirely matches how incredible his talent is.

Like there's always this group of players where other players just are so enamored with them. And I'll wonder, is it just based on their talent or the respect that they have for them in those toughest spots? And I think sometimes it's kind of like that arm talent thing with quarterbacks. And Paul George is definitely one of those guys. But Embiid is going to have all the attention, the pressures on him. Maxie can fill in for the nights where George just isn't feeling it offensively because those nights are going to happen, but having him as your third option, even at 34 and the track record, it's a huge win based on the other options. If you want to start knocking Paul George, what do you think about the other potential options? But cool, we got Clay and DeRozan on the Sixers.

Probably not what you were looking for. So I think Philly's perfect for him. And now I have to ask myself though, why was he even available? So I'll say this, I'm still a little surprised the Clippers didn't just give him the fourth year. Because that's what would have always happened in the past. I imagine George's agent, Aaron Mintz, all this back and forth that we'd heard

about where they're not giving them the fourth year, they're not giving them the fourth year, they did the three year deal with Kawhi, they're not going to give Paul George the fourth year. So it's not happening. It's not happening. Then all the trade stuff with Golden State. And it was like, well, is George really, really not want to leave California that badly?

And I just kept thinking going like, I imagine they'll probably, maybe they figure out some language in the fourth year where it's partially guaranteed, but it can be guaranteed or it's, it's a player option. Or maybe there's some kind of trade, is there something in there that they can do to just keep them in LA? Because historically that's what I would have always thought would have happened. Now the Clippers weren't bluffing apparently. So Darrell Morey wins the off season, all the praise. It really comes down to Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank going, no, we're just not giving you the fourth year.

And now Darrell's the genius because the cap space thing worked out. But look, that's the way this stuff works, right? History is written by the winners. So I don't know that it was just about the second April with the Clippers either, because they were still going to give them the three years, but now they run hard and back for the two. And I guess I'm, I've had these moments where I thought, I guess they really were drawing this line in the sand that said, we will not give you the

fourth year because we gave Kawhi the three and it happened and it's happening around the league, like Denver, if you looked at the KCP stuff and how they could have worked that out, where it was like, can you opt in and then we'll extend you at a number that doesn't make a ton of sense because we can't lose you for nothing. And in fact, they lost them for nothing and they moved on from it. The warriors, right? Who couldn't wait to spend money.

I didn't think the Chris Paul thing was going to lead to much because that would have meant the other team was going to have to pay Chris Paul 30 million. I love them on the spurs for 11 million. I love everybody knows how I feel about Chris Paul, 30 million for one year of it when he turns 40. There's not a ton of owners going, yeah, I want to do that. So the Paul money is gone and now the clay money looks like it's going to be gone. And in the past, I would have thought not the Chris Paul deal, but on the clay deal, like, well, they'll just figure something out and bring him back. But they didn't want to do it either.

So this does feel like the first wave. Bobby Marks pointed out to me this morning that Golden State and the Clippers have paid 950 million in taxes the last four years. At least the Warriors have a title in there, but I don't care who the owners are, unless they're new, we're like, we're going to do everything. We're not afraid of the tax. We're going to pay all that stuff. Don't we're never going to.

Then you start hanging around and be like, what are we doing in the playing, I got to run this back for that kind of tax number. Laker, Balmer and Cronkite all said no to deals that I would have assumed was just a yes in the past because I would have thought there's no way you just want to lose these guys for nothing. But I guess they're okay with it now knowing that the options are going to be a lot more restrictive than ever before. To get things started here, we're gonna talk with Anthony Slater,

the athletic on the Warriors stuff, and we'll just talk a bunch about a bunch of different free agent things that are going on. But we start with the Warriors and their pursuit of Paul George, where I'll be honest with you, once I realized the Chris Paul contract become guaranteed for 30 million for one year, I just felt like

the market for that transaction wasn't going to be all that appealing, even if you loved Kaminga. So take us through how close this actually was between the Clippers and Warriors, knowing the Warriors would give the fourth year to Paul George. Yeah. I mean, it was, they were willing to give the, the max, I think picks and picks swaps and you know, I don't it was they were willing to give the max, I think, picks and picks swaps. And, you know, I don't know that the full boat was on the board, but, you know, draft

capital along with, you know, probably one young guy and bad salary, I guess you can call it. I mean, if you're saying Chris Paul at 30 million and one, you know, it's expiring at least that's probably the appeal of it. But, you know, if the Wiggins contract was in there, and I know that was discussed, that's three years at about 84 total. And I think at the end of the day, like again, like Steph Curry, Draymond Green were involved, you know, ownership was involved. Like there was definitely an appeal from the Paul George

side about a potential future with the Warriors. But it seems to me, the Clippers at the end of the day said, we'd literally rather have Paul George take his money off the books than add a trade package because they had to kind of know by free agency that Paul George was kind of walking. So they basically chose that for second apron reasons. I think this is the first time we're really seeing the second apron really impact two teams here and then just decide hey I'd rather just you know be free of the money that than add bad salary and like, you know, young guys in drafts.

How much of the Paul George pursuit was just raising the floor? And ultimately raising the ceiling too, but just looking at the situation going, we don't have a lot of flexibility. There's not really a lot that we can do to change who the third guy is if you're considering it Curry and Draymond. I guess I look at it, the pursuit of it, because I have my doubts about George, but totally understand from Philadelphia. I think it makes all the sense in the world. But the reason he was even available is because of some of those doubts. I just wonder if Golden State looked at it as like, look, it's not perfect, but it definitely makes us better.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's a little bit of a older version of what the Thunder did back in the day. When the member, they lose Durant, and Durant was always, you know, the great, you know, it's the greatest fit ever as a small forward. And then it was like, all right, they pivoted to Paul George, and you would watch those Westbrook, Paul George teams,

like, oh, it's kind of like a 80% Kevin Durant. You can kind of see it if you squint. I think that's kind of what the Warriors were trying to do, recreate what it used to be with Curry in this six foot eight small forward who could score it, shoot it, guard on both ends. Obviously, the contract probably wouldn't have aged that well. But there's an appetite from the front office to try as hard as they can to compete in these,

like, probably, I'd say the last two Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, Draymond Green years here. And Paul George would have done that. You mentioned raising the floor and the ceiling. You're right. What they've lacked most over the last couple years is a number two next to Steph. Clay cannot be that anymore. Draymond isn't a two, particularly on the offense event. And then last year, Kuminga took the leap. And when Draymond came back from suspension, he almost was making the argument, like, we've found our number two. But I think we all know if you're trying to compete at the highest level, like, Jonathan

Kuminga is not ready. Maybe in three, four years, he could be a number two on a winning team. But I mean, next season, no. You'd rather just have him as a young, slashing piece. So it was, I don't wanna say a hail Mary attempt at Paul George, but you know, it was probably unlikely, improbable, but I get why they did it.

Yeah, I'm with you. I think it makes sense. So did it ever feel like it was close? Like was there ever a moment over the course of the day it's just like, hey, this is actually going to happen. Depends on who you talk to. Some people in the aftermath are like, oh, you know, if the Clippers would have just played ball,

but then it's like, you do talk to other people like the Clippers were not gonna, like they weren't gonna do it uh there was some skepticism I think from the more realistic folks on the warrior side that that you know that it was actually ever gonna get done um but the more ambitious side particularly higher up you might say you know was really kind of trying to put their thumb on the scale of it but not really I would say by what my days are being mixed up. But the day Saturday was Paul George's opt in or opt out,

in the lead up to that, the messaging from there, I think they knew by like Friday night, maybe Saturday morning, like, look, it ain't happening. Okay, Clay. Yeah. And much like the Paul George decision, which I talked about in the open today, because I agree with you,

I think this is the first wave of second apron fear or lack of flexibility into the aprons that we're seeing because I look at a lot of the decisions and go, well, a couple of years ago, they would have probably just set out or whatever, give them the fourth year. Or in this case, like we want Clay to extend his career here and we don't want to let the guy walk from mid-level,

but this seems done. What can you tell us? It's been done. I've been cautious in my reporting of it in the last few weeks. I've put it out that they're not talking and then it's trending this way, but you talk to people on Clay's side a few weeks ago and it's like, oh, it's over. It's been over.

He was saying it was over at the end of the season. There was always a thought and you wanted to tap the brakes at all times. I was like, look, he's going to have the conversations he's going to... At the end was Steph and Draymond and Steve and they'll eventually put the offer on the table because the plan always was to circle back when they've kind of figured out their bigger piece moves and give him a competitive offer, especially considering his market. They figured his market was going to be kind of cool and it has been, but it became clear the relationship was just irreparable.

You may ask some of the reasons about that. I think it goes back a long way, but the simplest is within the negotiations, he felt very slighted going back to last summer. And then he was unhappy, to be honest. I mean, that's probably the simplest way to put it. And probably the most understandable human aspect of this is Clay Thompson just decided he'd been unhappy and he was searching for a fresh start because he just wants the late stages of his career to feel better.

He wants to feel more valued, but also, you know, also just be happier on a day-to-day basis. So the number that was reported probably back during the season, and Yolo is better than we will, but was he looking for two years 48? Were they offering two years 48? Because I still feel like whatever ultimate number he lands on, like if he lands on the mid level, you're going like the Warriors couldn't figure that out.

Yeah, I mean, it sounds like they're trying to get him up towards 20 right now, but yeah, the Warriors might have landed on there this off season, but they weren't necessarily guaranteeing, Clay, that and it was more like, you know, we'll figure out later. It was like, you know, if you're going to your boss for like, hey, you know about that raise, can we talk about that raise? It's

like, no, like, we will talk about it later. I do think they plan to circle back on it. If you go back to last offseason, you know, the extension talks, and you know, I'll probably write a bigger story that really kind of details how this all went poorly, how they divorced. And to me, this goes back to the rehabs and all that from the injuries. But there's like, I sense almost a dispute on both sides about the extension talks last summer, how genuine the Warriors really were in their offer. You know, if it was firm by the end, the two for 48 that's been floated, like, it's just, that is almost part of the contention here is how it's being framed that last summer Oh, you know you gave up some some, you know easy extension that now looks like, you know, we were doing you a favor

I think that's part of just You know his his Anger at upper management who's right. Do you do you take a side in this because clearly he's not the same player Yeah aside in this because clearly he's not the same player. If you look at the numbers from when he was benched, when it got really ugly. And then at that point too, I almost felt like it, like, guys, you really think he's just done. He's never going to be able to play again. And if you frame it a certain way, because I was talking about the words, I think like last week, but you go draw this line in the sand of this is what the record

is. They get Draymond back. Like maybe they feel like we know we're not favorites. We know there's a handful of teams in front of us, but we still were a good team. Record wise, the offense was better. Maybe if Kaminga gets a little bit better, run back Clay for two more years. There's numbers that tell you he's still a contributing basketball player, which I think are more in line with just how negative it can be and how done some people seem to think he is, but like, do you have a side? Do you pick a side in this? I think they're both right and wrong. I think that the management and the Warriors more cold

hearted approach from a business perspective is correct and a basketball perspective is correct. I think they've always thought his money is going to a place where they were going to get him back on a bargain. They were still going to give him a reasonable offer. I do think there's still a lot of love and appreciation for Klay Thompson internally. I think he still would have a very nice role on the team next season, probably a role that does fit where he is at this stage of his career. And you know, he, like he, remember Steve Kerr had that quote several years ago where like Klay is not low maintenance,

he's no maintenance. Like, that really changed over the last four years with last year being the highlight version of that and just like kind of the grumpy, thorny nature of him just like grasping the stage of his career and a fading hall of famer. So that part of it, like I understand the warrior side where I think the warriors miscalculated and I'm on Clay's side is like they were warned. Clay Thompson is not negotiating with you like an Andre Guadala or even a Draymond Green.

Like this isn't some power play for every little amount of money. Play hardball, expect him to come back to the table, get to free agency, tell him we'll get to you when, get to free agency, tell him we'll get to you when you get to you and like you will have a chance to sit down and say, this number is that number. They played it so cold and uncommunicative that Klay Thompson just said, I'm gone. There's no leverage plays here. I'm not putting something out in the media. Like obviously I put out

the story that like, hey, he's leaving. That wasn't some, hey, he's leaving unless you give your final best offer. That was like, oh no, he's gone. You guys told him you didn't value him enough and he's leaving. They were told that that's how he's going to be because that's his personality. That's where I think as long as they're okay with him walking away, they kind of let him out the door in that sense. Okay. That's good.

It would seem like the Lakers do make the most sense if LeBron's willing to renegotiate a deal that allows them the full mid level. It's probably not the number he was even thinking of in the second half of the season. But if he's this pissed off about it, maybe it's a one-on-one. It keeps him in California. It gets him into LA. Something people thought would happen for years. If he's looking for revenge, it feels like there's more revenge with the Lakers than it would be Dallas. Yeah, there's pros and cons. I think both fit from like a just pure basketball perspective, right? Because you want him next to a star that controls the offense and can spray it out to him for three. You don't want him pick and roll, you know, handling.

You just want him catching, shooting, and moving off ball ball and play with Luca, play with LeBron. You're doing that. As far as like, you know, kind of the factors you were mentioning, I think there's pros and cons to LA. If you do just want revenge on the Warriors, just want to stay in like kind of that big market vibe. His dad's going to be, you know, up there doing the games on the radio. And you know, obviously there's just so much history there.

But in some ways, I'm curious. Part of what I think got to him the last couple of years was remaining in that Warriors fishbowl trying to still chase down the old version of himself, like the constant criticism for what he was or wasn't, or will never be again, and trying to get back to the 2019 version where he tours ACL at the peak moment of his career,

that I almost think, and I do believe that this is part of his calculation and part of why there's been times where it seems like Dallas might be the favorite, almost to get away from it a little bit. Separate yourself from California. New environment, new situation, a little less of a microscope,

even though you're still gonna expect to play on the big stage. He wants to win. I sense he wants to be in the Western Conference. But then I do think it's going to come down to money a little bit because I mean, you mentioned it, A, maybe it's a one-and-one at the mid-level. I'm starting to get the sense that both teams want them enough that they're trying to find ways to up their own offers maybe a little bit more years, maybe try to find ways to get a little bit more money. The Warriors are sitting there as a willing sign-in trade partner, particularly for a trade exception. I'm not sure they want to bring in bad contracts, but if they can get a big trade exception, that's

valuable to them. So I think the money is going to be a little bit better than people think. Adam Backer Okay. And yeah, you're right. You're right to bring that up in the trade exception, even though I think they're historically pretty worthless. Kevin Deese The Kelly-Ubre one from back in the day that the Warriors used, that might be the... It's not even just worthless. That cost them like 80 million for one season of Kelly Ubre on a playing team. Well, yeah, especially when you start factoring the tax stuff that I'm even doing. I just feel like everybody... I saw one team that still had five different exceptions.

Well, the ones that are useless are the ones where you trade away a minimum guy and they're like, they got a $2.4 million trade exception. It's like, you don't need that. That's like a minimum. You just sign a guy on a minimum. The whole concept of it is, wow, we have this massive trade exception, say for $25 million. Okay, so that means for you to use that, another team will not want the player that costs $25 million.

So what player is someone that gets you excited? And I had something with Bobby Marks, we went through it where it was like, I think 75% of them expire without even being used. And on top of that, the significant ones, if you want to put a percentage on like what the significant trade exception transactions were that the team went, wow, that's actually kind of what it was. It's single digits, single digit percentage. It's such a small number.

He sent me every single trade exception for like a 20 year stretch and it was just hilarious. Bobby Mark's getting a lot of love on the podcast today, which well deserves. So all right, anyone else to think about though, besides LA or Dallas? For Clay? It seems like it's trending that way. I thought Philly was like a potential cap space team if they whiffed on Paul George, but they didn't. So, um, I think it's going LA Dallas.

Yeah. I think that's where you're at. If you're Philly today going, it would have gotten a little weird. Uh, Paul George has just gotten that fourth year with the Clippers. Anything else for the warriors? Because now we start thinking about them as a team where you go, okay, like still the best version of it. What is it?

It means that Vajemsky, Jackson Davis, Kaminga. I don't even know if we can put Moody in that group of like, what do you expect the next level of development? Um, I still think with Steph and Dr on a dream on has a less chaotic season. It's still a team that's in the mix with the playoffs in the West, but nobody's going to be picking them to come out unless there's some other thing. Is there anything else that's worth talking about? I mean, they're trying, you know, like Chris Haynes, I know reported the

Zach Levine, uh, for Chris Paul and Wiggins offer that Chicago put on the table, um, before they cut Chris Paul and Wiggins offer that Chicago put on the table before they cut Chris Paul. I mean, they basically decided, hey, Andrew Wiggins at three for 84 is still better value than Zach Levine at three for 138, which I would tend to agree with. I don't know where you would be on that argument. I completely agree.

Yeah. Yeah. Which I think a lot of people are like, what, you just let Chris Paul walk and didn't take Zach Levine? It's risky move. Zach Levine played 25 games last year. And then I do think that Laurie Markkinen has been a guy that's interested in them for a while. I have not thought they've had the capital or the trade package to get him, partly because

I've thought, man, Oklahoma City, if they just really went full boat, Laurie Markkinen, they could blow the jazz away. Well, I mean, that's not where OKC is going at this point. I mean, we saw what they've done in free agency. So I, you know, I think they're legitimately in the mix for marketing. And if that happens, then I think we, we can recalculate, you know, where they are. But if they're not able to pull something like that off, then you're just talking about, as you mentioned, like banking on internal development and Pajemski starting and, you

know, Kamiga is your second best scorer and you're a playante. I mean, and again, you can make a swing at the deadline. Maybe there is better growth than you think. But I mean, your ceiling is probably like five, six seed, you know, first round threat. Five or six would probably be good. Yeah. Ceiling. Ceiling.

Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I know. What do you think about marketing in there? Well, I think it has a lot to do with what's available, what's available to you. And knowing that you're not going to be able to reinvent yourself all over again with Steph still playing this well. And I would expect Steph to age well.

So you are not in a position to go, Hey, Steph, do you mind if, if we take a step back, like you just, you can't really do that. And it's, I'm not even talking about tanking. There's, there's no real chance for them to reset with Steph. So even if marketing. Isn't perfect. I don't perfect, I might even rather have marketing at this stage than Paul George just because of the playing history of the two, which is more of an age thing and availability thing and betting on Paul George's health the

next four years. So yeah, I'm all for it because I think they're extremely limited in what their options are. And I think they have to try to figure out anything that improves their floor ceiling. Here we see using the same terms again, while Steph is still there. Yeah, you know, and marketing is easier to trade for because he's only making 18 million next year. Now, obviously you got to extend them big,

but you're comfortable with that, 27 years old. And the other thing that I think will help the Warriors in this is, in my opinion, their trades package and they've been protective of their picks. They now own the 01 future, top 20 protected in 2030. They're becoming a pretty appealing pick package if you say unprotected and pick swaps into like, you know, 2029, 2030,, 30, 20, 31, because I mean, it doesn't seem like they're heading in a great direction, you know, over the next several seasons. So, you know, if you were,

if you're deciding between X pick package and the Warriors, like they're among, I think one of the most appealing at this point. Yeah, I totally agree. I think it's why those Sun's picks are really valuable and why Houston was willing to give up the stuff. But Bill and I had already talked about that and like all of that stuff was connected because it wasn't like you were getting the full tanking picks unless

you were doing that so they could do the Bridges deal. But those Phoenix picks are exciting. That's why I think the Lakers, maybe they wait until February because you start projecting the same way you are with the Warriors like 27 and 29, post-LeBron AD three, four, five years from now. Although the Lakers usually have a history of figuring some stuff out a little bit better than some other teams do just because of the destination. But you're right.

I think those picks, especially somebody like Ainge and Zanuck, who you would feel like are totally comfortable where there's other GMs, I'm not sure they would do that move going. I don't even know if I'm going to be around for some of those picks, but it still feels like the GMs do those deals more often than not for the benefit of the team long term, whether or not they think they'll be there. They also get the reputation boost, right? It was like, Oh,

well, you know, what a haul, you know, even like Sean Marks who's had quite a rocky 10 years or whatever, like when he gets five, you know, first rounders from McHale Bridges, like, I would say that was like kind of a reputation boost moment for him, right? I mean, the next two days were like, what a move, Sean Marks, like a haul. And even if you are not there to make the picks,

like people view it as a good GM. Yeah, I need to go back because we're, we're pretty deep into some of these bigger multi first rounder trades. I just need to go back and be like, okay, did you realize that there being this, this and this? So it's an awesome headline. And it's always something that other GMs get

kind of frustrated with the perception of other GMs of how we like all this guy does is like, just trade for all these picks and then nobody pays attention to like, whether or not he nails on all the picks, but there's still a lot of picks due for some of these guys. Okay, this is back to the step thing that we didn't really talk about.

Will he ever have a moment where you think he'd go, hey, I think he's the best teammate in modern basketball because you don't deal with all the bullshit that you deal with with so many other superstars or other guys that are at his level. So it may just not even be in his personality. And I know that they would love to have this be kind of a Kobe like run for him. But when he's still this good, if it's a disastrous year and it doesn't seem

like they have a plan for anything going into say 25, 26, this thing that I'm hinting at, do you think that could ever take place? Would he request a trade basically? You know, or would it, would it be like a Kevin Garnett deal where Garnett wanted out for a little while, but didn't want to be the guy, and then they basically did it in the nicest way possible.

Yeah, they quietly do it. Which was a long time ago. I don't think so. I think you mentioned the Warriors wanting it to be a Kobe like run. Steph does. I think Steph really values what he is to the Bay area and what his career will mean.

If you know, it's like, I go to Mavericks games and Dirk Nowitzki sitting over there court side and you know, the Warriors actually played the Mavericks on like Dirk Nowitzki retirement night where they like the entire arena stayed afterwards and like, you know, did a whole ceremony concert for Dirk Nowitzki basically. To be fair, the Warriors probably would still do that. They would. They would. But I remember Steph sitting there watching it. They were, the Warriors were the, when they retired, 8-24 for Kobe. The Warriors were there that night also. And I think, I don't want to say the words are calling his bluff essentially, but it isn't just that like Steph is a very settled in the Bay area.

He lives very well in the Bay area. He just had his fourth kid. His wife loves the area. And uh, I just, I think he has zero desire to like uproot everything and move it now. Like does he get frustrated with moves and non moves? Does he make, you know, the other thing, and you do talk to him, you know, even off to the side, like he's he's privy to these conversations like he they they keep them in the loop. Mike Dunleavy and him are very communicative.

Like I remember at the deadline last year leading up to it, you could tell he kind of wanted something to get done. But then talking to him afterwards, he's like, look, I know what was on the table. Like, I'm not going to sit here and, you know, make a big stink about it because I know what we could and couldn't have done. And I think at that point, he didn't say this directly, but I felt like he was like, there was nothing that was suddenly going to pivot us into championship contention. So I think as long as he feels there's a good faith effort, and he knows way more than we know about like the inner workings of every deal, why a deal did or didn't get done, why the Paul George deal did or didn't get done, Steph knows Paul George deal did or didn't get done.

Steph knows more than we do right now. As long as he feels like they're at least making a good faith effort to try to compete, and they are somewhat. I mean, I'm not sure they should have used all the picks back in the day, but I think he'll stick around because I think he just values everything else that comes with sticking around. And he's settled, like four titles is four titles, right? Like he's not having to chase something that like everyone will say,

your resume lacks this. Like his resume doesn't really lack anything. You've just brought up the picks. It's really easy after the fact, especially with Wiseman flaming out, Moody kind of at this point, who knows? And Kaminga luckily, you know, showing something and then hitting on some of the later ones, but in theory, it was awesome. I remember thinking, Hey, this is a really good front office.

They have a great track record. They're going to add these cheaper contracts. The job is going to be a lot easier for these players. And, you know, Kaminga, you knew was going to take a little time if it was ever really going to happen. Wiseman, you thought could just run around for 15, 20 minutes and developed into somebody and it would just be, it would be so easy for him because all the attention would be on the way this team had been constructed

and with Steph pulling everybody away and it just, he couldn't figure it out. And it's so easy to say after the fact, well, they in fact, totally screwed up by just not packaging all of those picks, especially when they already have the salary that they had, what they're going to have to add to it. But do you look back at any particular thing that you think could have happened and said, okay, that actually ended up being a huge mistake? I mean, you have James Wiseman who was Anthony Edwards instead, things might look a little

different right now. Yeah, I mean, the Wiseman pick is like just devastating for so many reasons, including like they thought it was going to be a stretch five who rim protected, which is exactly what they need next to Draymond. It wasn't like, oh, they thought James Weisman was going to... You mentioned it and I definitely wrote it at the time. I thought it was probably a good pick because I was like, at minimum, he's JaVale McGee in the championship years where you just say, hey, he's going to crush 150 lobs and make some defensive mistakes, but you can pull them.

He can still play 20 minutes. They thought he was going to be a superstar, particularly, I mean, this is well known, Joe Lick has been very much on the record. He thought this was the next face of the next era. That flamed out spectacularly, obviously. And they probably held on too long to, you know, try to resuscitate the value. I think the injuries, it's really stunning him. There were so many moments early in his career where like the setbacks, the meniscus tear, he was actually playing.

Like if you go back to his rookie years, it's not horrible. There was like a lot of promise there. And then he gets the meniscus tear. He has complications, has to get a second surgery misses the whole next season And again, I don't want to get too deep into it But I actually think Moody's gonna be a fine rotation player Kaminga's looks like you know in that draft coming at sevens a very fair draft pick I think But the wise no one's just a disaster and again Edwards had gone at one

So you can't really say, oh, what if they had Edwards? But, you know, and I'm not sure LaMelo would have, he probably would have just been Jordan pool 2.0 for this team, to be honest. Halliburton, they liked, could they have moved? There was a thought of like move two for like, you know, five and Wendell Carter, I think was the thought at the time,

and then maybe take Halliburton there. Like, sure, if that was the alternative reality, this would look a whole lot different, but it isn't. Yeah, it isn't. And it happens, uh, the rest of the West, we taped this right after the hardstein news, which makes a lot of sense. We knew that the Knicks are going to be really challenged and they end up losing him to OKC. And it just feels perfect because I'm, I'm big on this, that you don't have

to play traditional center all the time, but you need to have that card. You need to be able to play it, especially when you're going up against some of the other bigs that you're going to get mashed up again in the playoffs. And if you just don't have it, I don't, I find it almost impossible for you to, to find that path and look, Dallas isn't even coming close. I don't think to the NBA finals, uh, even though it seemed like they turned on Gafford as the finals continued, they were like, I actually, maybe there's a reason, even though I like Gafford just was, there was a bad matchup for a lot

of guys against Celtics this year. Um, do you have a sense, even though we still are only a day or two into this, of like handicapping the West? Yeah, you know, Denver losing KCP and like the way they're trying to rearrange with like the young guys and they have their own little two timeline thing that's not, doesn't seem to be working beautifully. But they're obviously still gonna be a danger.

You put them up top. Well, the coach has to be on board with it. And it's really tough for a coach that's coaching a team that's a championship contender or already has a title. It's like, hey, can you find minutes for all these first round picks that we had that we thought were like more NBA ready because they were a little bit older.

And it's just, oh, hey, we get these three guys. Okay. Like these coaches don't like to play these guys, especially when the teams are good. No, they don't. Yeah. Go ahead. I jumped you, but... No, no, you're right.

I mean, that was like the 2022 title part of why I think there's like some internal like fist pumping for the Warriors about how it went down. It was like, yeah, look out, you know, our three lottery picks that were on the roster, look how many minutes they played and, you know, when it mattered. But back to top of the West. I think it's going to look similar to last year. I mean, Minnesota is the same team. So there'll obviously be a threat.

I mentioned Denver, Oklahoma City. I mean, basically, you are just adding Alex Caruso and Isaiah Harden signed to basically the same team. I like the business they did with the Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, opt out and extend. I assume those are on declining numbers. I haven't seen the deals. I do wonder about them at the highest level.

You mentioned they definitely have more lineup versatility. But do you think Hartenstein and Chet can play together, number one and two? I think Chet needs to make an offensive leap. I covered that Thunder Maverick series. I think his inability in the really speedy powerful playoff environment to score a little bit more was a problem. And if he's playing more power forward,

I'm just like, I feel like he needs to go another level. Yeah, cause when I saw the Westbrook rumors to Denver, post KCP, like my first thing as a non-Westbrook guy was just, why would you, why would you do that? Because he can't really play, even though so much of it ends up in the two-man game with Murray and Jokic, you still need the spacing in theory of what Michael Porter Jr. is.

Aaron Gordon's a non-spacer, so it's really important that that fifth spot there is somebody that you have to honor from three, and that's just not Westbrook. Even if you wanna talk yourself into like, oh, he hits some more corner threes or whatever. But, but believe it or not, a pro Westbrook angle on this is that I do think there's kind of value in that second unit, do it on your own, like find a way to score.

I think that's what they thought Reggie Jackson could be for them. And it just, I think at times he'd shown some of that stuff in his career, but that's not the case. And Westbrook, especially at that cheaper number, instead of going deeper with KCP, you know, like maybe, maybe that actually makes a little sense. And that's why I bring it back to OKC is that if we're getting really greedy, because you've already added Caruso, you've added this big, I completely agree with you on Chet, because Chet, in theory for where his pick is and what

we think of his talent, it's like, you actually need to find a way to kind of get some of these buckets on your own and not just be the spacing center because when they fell apart against Dallas, it was because SGA had nothing else that he could really trust. And maybe it's Jaylen Williams, another run through the playoffs. You've seen it plenty of times. Lots of really good players that first taste of it, they're just not super comfortable and Jaylen Williams moving forward will be comfortable and it won't even be that big of an issue.

But if I'm getting really greedy about the Thunder, as much as I like Caruso, Hearnstein's like, okay, the one little thing, the one little extra thing is maybe that second unit lead scorer. And maybe that ends up being Wallace. Maybe it ends up being one of these different draft picks. I do think that's why Minnesota with all the restrictions, where their money's going, being like, hey, let's just trade this pick now for Dillingham because we value him. We like him a lot. And if he can do the stuff that he did in college in the NBA,

where he can just have the ball in his hands and he's a bit of a problem and it's even with the second unit or it's somebody that's taking some attention away from Anthony Edwards, I do think that's a really valuable piece there. And maybe Volkoma City already has it on the roster, but I thought it was glaring in that series when they didn't have it. Yeah, I mean it was like, he's not that type of player, but that's kind of what Josh Giddy was like. They were kind of hoping he would transition into at least the leader playmaker of the second unit,

the guy they create. When SGA was out, he was so good offensively that it maybe gave you some hope that he was initiating more of his own offense. So keep going. But yeah, I mean, he could never really like scale down to that smaller size role. I don't think it ever fit him. I don't think he like, I think it kind of took away from how hard he played at times.

And then you suddenly you add the playoff environment there and he's kind of, I don't want to say loafing around, but I just think the speed he was just playing at and the smaller role he just, it didn't fit him. So and then the other team, we should mention up top in the West Dallas, you know Well, they're not done doing business, but they've now flipped Derek Jones jr. Now becomes Najee Marshall they're very in on clay if they get clay and You have a Najee Marshall in there instead of Derek Jones. Like that's a slightly upgraded core Yeah, defensively you got to give the the nod to Derek Jones, but I love nausea Marshall.

I, I think I had him on all sorts of teams like, Oh, you could just add a little nausea Marshall because I do think he can run your second unit. And he's a really versatile player with a lot of size. So if they end up with clay and him post Derek Jones, you're going to the Clippers, uh, that's a, that's an upgrade, not just cause it's the two guys. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, I, I am very curious to watch this next stage of Clay's career. And if he's going to his new home, like I'm about to show everybody, you know, like, Clay Thompson's not dead, or is it like, Hey, I'm going to go like really find my next home and my next Ray Allen in Miami type role. It's Noah Clay, he's gonna have days where he thinks

one thing and days where he thinks the other. And I'm particularly interested in days that the Golden State Warriors are on the other sideline what his mindset entering the game is. But that's for another day. That first Clay and Draymond thing. Yeah, yeah. Is Draymond gonna mess with him?

I don't know, I mean there's gosh that seems disrespectful Yeah, I mean just not that many months ago Draymond was jumping into choke Rudy go bear to get him off of clay, you know in his Estimation so yeah, no, there's just there's too high level of a respect between yeah for what it was I Don't know maybe I'll be. But I don't know, maybe. I'll be watching, but I don't know that I'd want to see that. The last thing I'd say on Clay though, I don't know if he's gonna like the lake boat deal

as much as the ocean thing. He'll deal with it. Although you could argue in LA, boating isn't nearly as exciting as the Bay Area. Well, yeah, I will say where I think you're right is like the lake boating is more like, hey, we're partying, we're wakeboarding. Whereas like clay like legitimately like likes to fish likes to go in like cold water like bodega Bay You know go across and and do like cold water boating

So I I agree with you that he won't necessarily love it as much but that's why it's good be an NBA player You can take you have two off days like fly home get some boating in and fly back you can do that Yeah, look he's good rest of his life to boat if he if he really really cares about it You can take, you have two off days, like fly home, get some boating in and fly back. You can do that. Yeah, look, he's got the rest of his life to boat if he really, really cares about it. Anthony, always good stuff. Thanks, man. You can read his work on the athletic.

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

So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We've got Saruti. Kyle is gonna be around Saruti, but we haven't quite figured that out yet, right? Vacation started today for Kyle. He's Poughkeepsie bound, I believe, so he's gonna be a happy man for a few weeks. But I think we've got, you know, we've got full life advice to episodes planned.

We're gonna do a Friday feedback at some point as well, so we won't miss him too much. I mean, we will miss him, but he'll be in the feed at some point. All right, we got a weird one here. It's pretty simple. It's not like crazy. It's just weird. Six foot, two 45 wash up D three footballer center on the O line. So two 45 is skinny to me. 27 had a chest bounce, no ass off the bench for 55 mentioned college six Oh five squat now we're closer to three 15 on the bench for two to three reps.

Not doing anything over two plates on the back squat. Now we're closer to three 15 on the bench for two to three reps, not doing anything over two plates on the back squat. Amen. Get it. All right. 27 though. He's just done. He's done with the squat game. Anyway, I haven't squatted. I haven't squatted in probably 15 years. So you were done early. You were done earlier than this guy. I'm trying to think. Yeah. The last time I remember the, remember the van Pelt question that was always great. It was like, when's the last time you ran full speed?

Just to think about that. Um, the last, the question of when's the last time you squatted, I, man, it was probably, I did do some squatting in the ESPN days. So that would probably be 2012, but people love squatting at ESPN was big. Well, then it got taken over by the CrossFit people. All those squat racks and people started doing those stupid pull-ups things and apologies to all the CrossFitters, but it just kind of looks dumb. But keep doing it, man.

Yeah, I respect. Mad respect, but it looks stupid. Okay. So anyway, asking a question on my wife's behalf. She's in marketing for the state that we live in, for the environment. So nothing super, super high level, but she's super talented at marketing. Uh, it's nice to have for companies in this economy. Either way, her boss isn't what you would say sharp.

She's older and a bit odd. She's constantly telling my wife, she'll be quote, uh, be right back going to the bathroom. My wife would tell me, and I would do the nose, exhale, laugh thing. What is that? Yeah, that's it. Nailed it. Now she's telling me nearly daily and she's kind of annoyed.

My wife is super respectful sometimes to a fall and doesn't know what to do. My question to you guys is how do you approach this with a boss who was kind of odd from place of not wanting to make it a big deal? Me personally, she strikes me as the type of boss to be fine with, but also maybe cry in the back room about it. My wife is more so worried about retaliation

from a socially awkward boss. Thanks. Used to watch SVP and Rosillo on ESPN. When I got off the bus in elementary school? Jesus. Okay. Um. Well, didn't want to hear that. Yeah. I guess checks

out though. He's 27 started at 09. Yeah. 27. Yeah. 15. Yep. He's 12. This is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight texts in the span of just a few months. Let me use the bathroom and throw a load of laundry and I'll call you. Bathroom, then I'll see you. Going to the bathroom, read bathroom snack shop, bathroom break, then I will look, got to send a blast email, then use the bathroom, read bathroom, snack, shop, bathroom break. Then I would look, got to send a blast email. Then use the bathroom. Let me use the bathroom.

Then I can think, sorry, let me use the bathroom to get back to you. That's insane. I don't even know if you can confront a person like that. Is there a problem? You know, maybe they've got like, what is it? Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yeah, it could be. It could be, but why would you want to tell everybody?

I would think that'd be the case to be like, well, you know, people are more about, they, everybody wants to be open. You know, now it's not, you know, and the state, let's open up on that. Yeah, I would agree. But I'm just saying that's sort of is the prevailing sentiment of the day is normalized this normal. Maybe we're just, you know, he's just like, whatever,

I gotta go to the bathroom. I don't care who knows. Well, it's a woman. So that changes the dynamic a little bit. Cause I would think it's even worse if it was a male superior to female boss. You'd be like, yeah. Cause there's just some guys.

Here's some of you guys. Right, right. Some of you guys out there just love talking about it. You just love, I didn't even really want to get into it all that much mentioned the pod, but just the super open guy about his bathroom process. It'd be like, yeah, I like to get to work, have a cup of coffee, 9 30, just absolutely unload, you know, 9 30 to 10. It's kind of my quiet time in there.

You're like, Hey man. And then if you like get on the guy's case, it's like, whatever, dude, it's just, just nature. We're all animals. It's like, yeah, well, fuck it. Keep it like, I don't, it doesn't mean I don't like, I don't want to Nat Geo on you. So I don't.

I'm not anti-bathroom or anti-shitting. I'm just, we don't need to, you know, we only say, I don't need to play by play every time we do it. Yeah. Some people are really into it. Some of you listening to this right now are thinking like, yeah, what's the problem? It's not that big of a deal.

I'm fine. Do you, I'll, I'll continue to not want to know about it. Um, but this seems like a personality disorder. What do you do with that? So notoriously, I'm not great with dealing with awkward bosses. You know, you have, I think some experience of telling me, Hey, like, do chill out, maybe, maybe cool it a little bit on talking back. Um,

well, it was, it was, you were following my lead a little bit. I think there was one in particular case where I was like, Hey, I can get away with doing that. You can't don't, don't. I needed that. So thank you. And it was stupid. I was like, yeah, why am I doing this?

Why am I being mouthy to my, to my boss's boss? Really? Like it just dumb. And luckily he didn't take it like, it could have been like a real big asshole about it and he wasn't. Uh, but well, he was socially awkward too though. So he didn't really pick up on it the way I was picking up on it in the room.

And he just, he made everything so awkward to begin with that you just didn't really know where every, it was just like this confusion of like, it was like a, a rubber ball in a small concrete room just being bounced around. But in this case, it wasn't a ball. It was just awkwardness and no one understanding what was going on. So anyway, um, keep going wherever you're going. No, I think, you know, D did she like your job? Is it pay well? Like, you know, I wouldn't really, I wouldn't really ruffle any feathers unless you just don't like your job or don't like this person. You know, it's, it seems like a pretty minor inconvenience. Like, yeah, it's annoying, but I don't know if you're getting promoted and you know, your,

your job is like relatively harmless and not too difficult and you can still enjoy your life. I don't really think you should say anything now if you just don't really care. And you know, you've got better things on the horizon. I don't know, maybe just let it fly, but I don't really, I don't know if you just don't really care and you know you've got better things on the horizon I don't know maybe just let it fly but I don't really I don't know if you what are you gonna say to this person you used to be like hey like I'm just tired of hearing about your bathroom trips that's not gonna go over well for most people yeah you can't just do a cold stop with this one but you can't just go I don't want to hear about your bathroom trips anymore because it's

gonna you rock this person's world. I'd want to know if they do it to anybody else too. Maybe ask around, is it just you? Because that maybe that's, I don't know, maybe, but then again, maybe this person, maybe your boss is doing this because she's comfortable with you and she likes you. And that's a good thing. Again, you don't want to, like if that's like the only minor inconvenience to you having a pretty decent job and your boss liking you, then you, I think you can suck it up. But yeah, I just kind of think it doesn't seem like there's much you could really do here or should do.

Is there anything you can do where you could just like say I'm going to the water cooler, I got to refill. Okay. I'll be right up there. I'm going to send off an email and refill my water bottle and just try to like find a way. I always think of that thing, which I've used in other examples before. Can you count her bathroom? Yeah. Can you just cork her to death with a water bottle thing? And then if she goes like, Hey, you filling up their camel and like gives you shit about it, you'd be like, what were you in the bathroom when you read my text?

And then it can be like, Hey, this is all sort of playful. And you expose her for constantly bringing up the bathroom when in fact, you just planted this water bottle seed to try to get her to call you out on something so that it feels like you're defending yourself as opposed to criticizing her? Is there some weird chest maneuver you can pull with that? I don't know. It seems like a ton of work. I'm with you. I would just, if you like the job and everything, just suck it up. She sends a lot of texts about going to the bathroom. Doesn't matter. I mean, I had a different middle manager boss who used to invite me out to

dinners all the time just so he could expense it. He didn't want to have dinner with me. He didn't want to talk to me about anything. He used to invite me out to dinners all the time, just so he could expense it. He didn't want to have dinner with me. He didn't want to talk to me about anything. He used to take notes at the dinners and talk about the future and plans and all this different stuff. Then I realized after like the seventh or eighth one, I don't know what he did with the snow book. I think he tore the page out and ripped it up and threw it in the garbage as soon as the dinner was over,

but he just needed to be able to justify taking somebody out to dinner so that he could expense it. So there was like a rotation of a bunch of us that would just be like, Oh, I feel like, Hey, we're going to have another dinner. And then I just started saying no to the dinners. It was like, is this the guy who is the guy I'm thinking of? I'm not going to name names, but yeah, cause I've, I've been on a few of those. Yeah.

Now it's good. I was, I was fine with it. I was fine being used in that way to be honest with you. I had games to watch. It's a free penny. All of vodka. I'll take that. You know, no, no, we're thinking about somebody different than, cause I know what you're alavocca, I'll take that.

No, no, we're thinking about somebody different then. Cause I know what you're thinking. Those dinners, I like those dinners. Yeah. Yeah, that guy, those were important dinners. I had to say yes to all those dinners. This thing, the other dinners, the other dinner guy, I could just eventually go like,

yeah, I'm not gonna go to dinner with you anymore. And I'm gonna survive. And it's gonna be fun. It's not really, not really much you're going to be able to do to me. Um, unleashed dogs, bad dog owners. Uh, Ooh. All right.

I've got two dogs. Yeah. Breaking news to everybody. I moved to Boston for a month and I'm no longer living in Boston. So I'm back in LA and I lived in a building, an apartment building that was very, very pro dog, loves their dogs. So I was living in the Seaport for a month, sort of a strange experience for me at the

stage of my life. But the building itself had its own dog like portal, I would say. Next to the parking, there was a full room. It was just there for grooming your dogs. And it stunk awful whenever you would go down to that third floor. And I just realized it was like so pro dog that it kind of like donned on me after the first week I

was there, I was like, this place is really, really into the dogs, which I realized it's not so much the dogs. I don't mind the dogs. I don't, I don't like the owners. Like the whole, this is my child thing. Yeah. Or just the selfishness of the owner.

Yeah. Being like, well, my dog could do this. Back to kind of my general point of the Chipotle, you know, the Chipotle hot sauce. If everybody stole the bottle, then, then guess what happens? It'll never be an option. Like if everybody let their dog eat in an elevator on the elevator floor, guess what would get gross? Probably the elevator.

So I'm genuinely pro dog. Obviously I have two dogs, but I do think we've kind of reached a ridiculous point in society where, you know, I think, like, it's not a child. Like, now that I have a child, I even understand that to an even larger extent. It's great that you love the dog. And if you want to take the dog on vacation, you want to do all this stuff. But like, you have to always be respectful of what other people care about.

The other people in the world didn't sign up necessarily to like have their dog be a part of their life. And it took me a little bit to understand that more. And again, love my two dogs, want to bring them anywhere I can. But you've got to like the off leash thing at parks. Like if that's a rule, like it might not be because your dogs are well-behaved, because somebody else's dog is not well-behaved and they're trying to train them. Like you're, as you said, you got to follow the rules are there kind of for a reason. I am a rule follower by nature,

but I think when dog like with dog stuff, like not everybody signs up for that. So you gotta kind of play along. Yeah, a couple bootlickers over here when it comes to that kind of stuff. All right, let's see what else do we have here? All right, so six foot 205, 275 bench, 355 squat, 400 pound deadlift NBA comp Sam Merrill,

who can't shoot exactly how that sounds. That doesn't sound very good. Shout out to Sam Merrill, who also used to watch SVP and Rossello. A little background. I have three kids, wife, and I've been training for an Ironman. This has led to a decent amount of running and for the most part, early in the morning before the kids are up and going, before I head into the office.

And here's where the problem is showing up. This is pretty incredible by the way. So props to you getting up early and getting all that stuff going and the wife into the office. And here's where the problem is showing up. This is pretty incredible, by the way. So props to you getting up early and getting all that stuff going and the wife being into it. I live in suburbia, a lot of paved running and biking paths through and around the neighborhoods. Now where this is going. Lots of the locals are very active.

My issues that early morning running, I encounter a decent amount of people on walks with unleashed dogs. They get that everyone thinks their dog is good and wouldn't bite or attack anyone. Multiple times, if I'm running behind, I startle the dog. This turns some aggressive, but sometimes just growls. And others lunge at me a little.

Every time the owner says something along the lines of, she's usually not like this. Other times I've been on the path and an owner and their dog will be coming towards me, good 40 yards away. I've gone out of my way to completely stop and wait for them to get to me and pass as some dogs have thought I was running towards their owners and get aggressive. Today broke the camel's back when the scenario happened. The dog half lunged at me twice and the owner with her Beats headphones on just rolled her eyes as I told her she needs to leash her dog.

I've done every method, told owners to leash their dogs up when they're 20, 30 yards out, waited calmly for them to pass, tried to be friendly with the dogs, you just completely avoided them. I myself own a dog and understand wanted to give your dog some freedom, but always immediately leash her when other people are around.

What's my move here? My brother got bit by a lab years ago when I was a kid on a family hike. So maybe I'm on edge too much. Do I bring some pepper spray and simply raise it up when I get close? Do I join Facebook neighborhood group and shame them? Ooh, yeah, he was kidding. He goes jokes, just chalk it up to being part of the run. Any advice would be super appreciated.

Yeah, look, man. I mean, we basically almost predicted that email before we read it. Uh, I went to my friend's house the other day and I think it's two bulldogs, two small bulldogs and I come in, they lose their shit. They nip at me. They absolutely are psychopaths the entire time I'm sitting there. I'm petting them. I'm talking to them.

I'm trying to break the breakdown, but I think in sense I'm not super into it. And then my friend's wife, who I love was like, Oh, I know you don't really like the dogs. And I was like, who likes this? Who, who, who shows up and enjoys this part? It's like, do you think this is about me? I go, who the fuck would like this? This isn't fun. This is this sucks. They're out of control. They're losing their minds. There's a stranger in the house. And I am petting them. I am rubbing their necks. I'm giving them a plan.

You're trying, you're putting the effort in. I wasn't like, oh, get them away from me and stood in the corner. I knew as soon as I walked in, they're gonna lose their minds, they're sitting there nipping at me, so I'm dealing with that part of it, and I'm trying to break them down to be like,

hey dogs, we're having fun, you know, certain tone in the voice, and it was just so funny, because she's like, oh, I know you don't really like them. I'm like, did you watch the're having fun. You know, certain tone in the voice. And it, it, it was just so funny. Cause she's just like, Oh, I know you don't really like them. I'm like, did you watch the last five minutes? Who liked that? Who would like that? Nobody's having fun. Yeah.

So, uh, I think the pepper spray is pretty aggressive, but I'm completely on your side and you're training for an iron man. Like there's something on the line here. This isn't just you about trying to lose some, some love handles, which apparently are in right now. But, uh, I would, I would just barrel into them. Just body the dog. Yeah. Body the dog, high knees. I mean, they run into stuff all the time. They're built for it. You're not really going to hurt any of them. I would just go full into the dog. Although I would not do that. If there's a decent sized dog and you're not really going to hurt any of them. I would just go full into the dog. Although I would not do that. If there's a decent sized dog and you're not veering off

at any point, I mean, you're, you can yell, you can yell leash at every one of these people and they're going to think you're the asshole. That's the other part of it is there's like, like I'm, this is almost like talking politics here. I'm going to make somebody upset, but anyone that's listening to this, that's a dog owner that you know, you break every one of these rules, you think it's okay for you to do it. And the thing is, is the 90, 90% of your, your walk outside with the dog off the leash is like, there's no incidents whatsoever. So you're thinking like, okay, so one guy, maybe you got a little, cause he's probably hauling ass

if he's training for Ironman, but nobody, this is unfixable. The dog owner is not going, hey, you know what, for the rare chance this could actually screw somebody else up, I think most of you don't care. Most dog owners, I feel like unless the dog bites someone, they're just, they're never gonna, they're never gonna think anything about it. They're going to say, yeah, my dog's never done that before. The first thing that came to my mind was I had a friend who

got bit by a dog when she was a kid and it paid for her college. So could be just saying, it might not be the worst thing in the world. If you, if this happened, you know, lawsuits, whatever, and it's not your fault, but, and you know, I'm just saying it's not it's not a terrible trade-off I would also say like if you're running an Iron Man, I don't know if I can endorse that one I'm surprised you hear that. I'm not saying try to actively get bit by the dog I'm just saying like, you know, like if it's a bit by any ankle, it's not the end of the world Yeah, but there's also some huge like horrible horrible dog biting stories out there, too I would agree but you know, maybe stay stay away from the Rottweiler type, maybe,

I don't know, but if it's like a little, like I have a Dachshund, right? He's got an attitude, he doesn't listen super well, he's a really nice dog, but that's the kind of dog you wanna get bit by, because it's like nothing's gonna really happen, right? But I just, I'm with you, you can't just like police every single one of these people.

Cause you're going to be known as this person. No one's going to like you. Like people always take the sides of dogs. This is why, when we have like those things like, Hey, I don't know how to meet women, blah, blah, I'm always like, get a dog. Cause you're just going to be able to talk to more women. That's how it works. Or people in general, dog content does numbers.

It does. And you are just always going to be your anti dog guy. That's a pretty hard thing to come back from. So I think you're just kind of screwed here. You just got to, I don't know, take a different route, maybe, uh, go at different times, I don't know, try to avoid them. But if it really bothers you that much, like you're not going to solve this problem by either complaining or yelling at other dog owners.

What about movie tie shin pads? And you just barrel through them. So that way, if they bite you, just like a bulldozer, you're just right. Just dogs flying left and right. How many times on like a run of his, is this like once a day that he encounters this? Like it can't be that, because I feel like I take these amount of walks,

especially with the dog and my dogs are on a leash. And it's not, I don't know, I've just never really thought it was that bad. Cause there's certainly owner, it happens a couple of times a month where you see an owner that's Oh, no, no. And that's not, I think, I think he's talking about multiple times each training session. Yeah. I didn't go my apartment building. I never went up or down. So if I had to go up and down, which is usually how elevator would work, um, almost never, like would it be up and then both

down without a dog in the elevator yeah well that's so that's nothing you could yeah there's nothing you're gonna do about that I don't know man like I you know I feel like barking and on a leash those are the two things you could at least try to control because that's the two main things that could piss people off or make people afraid Uh, when you make a t-shirt, but you're going to make it clever. Stay away. Leash and dog 2024. Is there a, is there, could you do like an M a D L a make no MD.

Could you go make dogs leashed again? Make dogs. Yeah. I'm surprised that in none of those, like, you know, there's so many like ridiculous things that happen in those political ads now that be like, and he's anti dog. And they just make something up. I'm feeling like, Oh my God, not voting for him for mayor. Oh my God. It happened to me.

I remember the makeup room, the makeup room and ESPN, the girls were like, he doesn't like dogs. That's like an absolute like, you can't recover from that. And I had to like go in and address it. I was like, all right, look, I hear there's been some chatter about me. And like, I can understand. Like to see how much a dog loves you unconditionally, to see that a dog would like, there's nothing it wants more in its life than to be next to you, the owner.

Like that's an incredible emotional transaction. I love that it exists, I don't need it. You'd rather be alone than annoyed, just dog edition. You know? Yeah, I think it's the way your kids respond to dogs and just, it's an unbelievable thing to have. Like I have this one thing, this creature that exists that loves me and I'm like, cause even

your kids are going to get sick at some point. Nevermind your wife. Um, yeah, I have to say the dog, the dog never comes home and says to you, I've had a long day. I don't really want to hear it. Or did you, did you do this? Or, you know, there's no standard. The dog is holding you to the lowest standard ever. It's, really good uh i i don't want it and i wish people were better

with theirs in getting in the way of our stuff i'm not trying to convince you one way or the other um but i will say my daughter she's 20 months old now and her like she loves our two dogs and it's so freaking cool, man. Like it's, she like, she just screams their names. Like she doesn't love the licking face situation. One of my, he's like, she's laying right next to me. Shouts out to Mumf. She doesn't really love that, but like she'll like grab them.

I think one of them she thinks it's just like a stuffed animal and it is actually one of the coolest things as a dad to just be like, wow, my daughter's like obsessed with these two dogs. It's really cool a stuffed animal and it is actually one of the coolest things as a dad to just be like wow My daughter's like obsessed with these two dogs. It's really cool But sounds like I understand a lot to do this summer. So yeah Much you can do some homework or some some things to think about but so yeah, I'm very pro dog But like I don't I I am very so whenever I go out in public or people come over I am very aware of how people feel about our dogs because I feel like that's

You know some people don't like them or afraid of them or whatever like that's just part of me again this is it always goes back to our main thing do you have self-awareness or not the people on these walks they don't have any self-awareness or they just they're just entitled and that's I don't know it's kind of tells you everything you need to know about that person you're not fixing that yeah to to to unfixable ones feels like there I do think the rotation pads aren't a terrible idea but other people can same people would disagree with that one. All right. That'll do it for us. Thanks to Wargon and Saruti. We'll have, uh,

Kyle joining us here again. Kyle, by the way, his whole thing on thicker t-shirts. I heard that within, within a day I saw this whole style thing about how like these thicker t-shirts are back in again, because the soft ones actually a bit like the Utah cashmere number disaster of 23 where you're like they're not forgiving they're not forgiving and these these rougher rugged cotton flax seed I don't know what's going on wait what did he say? What brand was it?

Echo that he was talking about or Fat Farm? What was he talking? He mentioned a brand, I forget what it was, and it brought me way back. Rock-A-Ware? No, I don't think. Was it Rock-A-Ware? No, I think we're actually missing on it

because it wasn't Fubu, but it was specifically, it was an Echo? Was it G-Unit? It was G-Unit, it was G-Unit. But there was a lot, yeah, did you guys have Eblblens eblens was like the shit back in the day? That's where you'd get all those t-shirts and he's right They were just like better made and they like looked better on you Although those are kind of coming back like you can get the old school like j crew 90s catalog t-shirts that are like They're thick i'm kind of wearing one of them right now

Uh, it's definitely coming back. So it doesn't have to just be exclusively, you know, that farm food or whatever. Well, look, if there's one thing this podcast has taught anyone is that we're about a year ahead of it when it comes to fashion. True, only about stock, but damn. Okay, we are on YouTube and we have, we are planning on doing something extra that's YouTube specific before the summer starts to take over the erratic schedules.

So check out our page there. And as always, Ryan Roussille podcast, ring our Spotify. and Must be 21 and older 18 plus in DC and present select states F fan dual is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC Gambling problem call 1-800 gambler or visit fan dual comm forward slash RG in Colorado DC Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont call 1-800 next step or text next step to 5 3 3 4 2 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut. 1-800-9 with it in Indiana, 1-800-522-4700

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