Greetings my peeps and welcome to the All Things Basketball Podcast with your boy GD.
In this episode I'll be giving you all the postseason news, all that's happened in the
NBA as well as some WNBA news as well so just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Okay guys so it's your boy GD back with all things basketball podcast.
Yeah so I took a little hiatus there was short because of everything that's going on in the
NBA including the draft I'll give you that in a separate episode but there's a lot of news to
cover here more than I thought would take place but nonetheless I got all the news items here so
we'll talk about it so we'll call this NBA postseason news thus far something like that so
hey how so let us get into it so we know the finals ended then of course the decision to be made as far as the
Jarmaran suspension and as promised Adam Silver waited until the finals was over and he made his
announcement. I thought it would be after the draft but it didn't seem to matter because it didn't take too much from the draft so pretty much immediately after the
finals he announced that Jarmaran would get a 25 game suspension without pay of course
so this is what Adam Silver had to say in that regard.
Jarmaran's decision to once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting
given the similar conduct in March for which he was already suspended eight games.
The potential for other young people to emulate Jar's conduct is particularly concerning.
Under the circumstances we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clear that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated so that is Adam Silver's statement in this regard concerning the suspension.
Then there's an interview with Memphis Grizzlies GM Zach Climbins and this is what he said.
Basically Zach Climbins is saying it was an appropriate punishment and that he doesn't care about the words that come out in terms of Jarmaran and what he'll say.
He wants to see action.
He says there's no more room for steps back.
Jar has the opportunity to come back from this and everyone wants him to be successful so basically the GM he wants to see action behind the words that Jar says.
And speaking of those words his Jar statement.
I've had time to reflect and realize how much hurt I've caused.
I want to apologize to the NBA, the Grizzlies, my teammates in the city of Memphis.
To Adam Silver, Zach Climbins who I just spoke about and Robert Pira who gave me the opportunity to be a professional athlete and have supported me.
I'm sorry for the harm I've done.
To the kids who look up to me.
I'm sorry for failing you as a role model.
I promise I'm going to be better.
To all my sponsors.
I'm going to be a better representation of our brands.
And to all my fans I'm going to make it up to you.
I promise.
I'm spending the off season in my suspension continuing to work on my own mental health and decision making.
I'm also going to be training so that I'm ready to go when I can be back on the court.
I know my teammates are going to hold it down and I'm so sorry I won't be out there with you at the beginning of the season.
I hope you'll give me the chance to prove to you over time.
I'm a better man than what I've been showing you.
So that is Jaws statement and we know with the previous suspension he issued a similar type statement.
I'm with Zach Climbins on this.
Words don't mean a thing.
It's what you do.
It's your action behind the words.
Jaws you have an opportunity now.
Get yourself right.
I'm not even going to go to his circle and all that.
That's up to him to decide who to cut off or who to keep around so forth.
Basically he knows what he has to do.
He knows what's on the line right now.
This is his second blown opportunity so to speak.
So he has the opportunity now to rectify and correct previous behavior.
So will he do it?
I think he has to guys.
I think he has to because everything is on the line right now.
I think a three strikes would definitely be absolutely crushing if that were to happen.
Do I think it'll happen?
I think at this point it has to sink in that he is this close to losing it all.
So again I'm rooting for the kid.
I really am.
You don't want to see a kid like this with immense talent throw it all away just recklessly.
So I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I'm going to hope for the best and we'll see what he does guys.
But it's going to cost him money guys.
It's terms of salary.
They're saying somewhere in the neighborhood of 7.6 7.7 million that he'll lose in salary.
It then not to mention the bonuses that he would have got if he was named all NBA or named to the all star team.
This now puts him out of contention.
The most games he can do guys for this season is 57.
And now with the new criteria he would fall short of that.
So he would be unable to be named to postseason awards and all those other things.
So definitely this costs him big time money.
Did lose sponsorships.
I believe Nike is still hanging on by a thread in terms of being in partnership with him.
So we'll see what happens guys.
This is a lesson to all the young athletes out there across the sports platform that behavior like this comes with consequences.
So let us see what the young man does from here.
So again I hope for the best.
We'll see what happens.
So with that bit of news let's move on and let's talk about trades guys.
One of the trades involved his team.
Christophe Porzing is going to Boston in a multi team deal.
Washington gets former Memphis Grizzlies backup.
Tyus Jones.
They also get Boston's Danilo Galanari as well as Mike Muscala.
And they also get a second round pick that goes to the Washington Wizards.
And going to Memphis is Marcus Smart.
Marcus Smart who was not part of the original deal.
The original deal actually involved the Los Angeles Clippers.
They were to get Malcolm Brogdon.
He was going there and then I believe the Wizards were to get Marcus Morris, Amir Coffee and some draft picks.
But the Clippers got scared off because of Malcolm Brogdon and his injury history.
His latest one being his elbow.
So that scared them off.
And you know something?
It's probably best for the Clippers that they didn't get involved in that because
I tell you what guys.
It was a miracle for Malcolm Brogdon to make it through the season with his injury history.
It's usually a hamstring that keeps him out for a while and a whole bunch of ailments.
The fact that he played 67 games last season really says something.
Well they were able to load manage him so to speak but you know how that goes in the NBA.
So they pulled out of the deal.
Boston nervous about losing out on getting a chance at Porzinas.
They now include fan favorite and team leader Marcus Smart going to Memphis.
Which I think is a coup for Memphis because you have John Morant who I just spoke about being out 25 games.
You're going to need that point guard help and Marcus Smart gives you that.
And most importantly he's a guy who leads.
Which you definitely need over there with Memphis that's for sure.
So I thought it was a brilliant pick up.
They do lose a valuable backup point guard and Tyus Jones who I think Washington been searching for a point guard for a while now.
I think Tyus Jones will be their man going forward.
So I love the move for the Wizards in that regard.
So now in Boston you have a big three of Porzinas, Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the moment.
So right now your point guard will probably have to be Derek White which he's able to play.
He's done it in San Antonio and then once they got to John Tate Murray he moved off the ball to the off guard position.
But he can play on the ball as well.
So how will he do full time as the point guard?
We'll see.
But he's able to play it.
But you're going to lose that leadership in the locker room.
That's for sure.
And then it access the question who's the leader in the locker room.
Maybe it's Al Horford.
That's the caveat to making such a deal.
But hey listen you don't get a chance at a Porzinas every day.
He had a bounce back season last season he was able to pretty much get through the season unscathed.
You bring him in, you give him the extension so now you have a big three over there.
Will they stay with that big three?
I imagine so unless something happens where Jaylen Brown would be the guy on the move.
But right now I don't see that coming to fruition.
Boston got better.
There's no two ways about it so we'll see what happens for them for the season.
Do I think they're done?
Probably not.
Still decisions to be made on Grant Williams in that regard.
So you have a solid big man rotation of Porzinas now,
Horford and Robert Williams the third which that's a strong, strong set of bigs there.
So Boston did improve.
Make no mistake about it.
So Wizards again gets point guard they've been looking for.
We'll see if Galanari's healthy.
If he is he can help that team that's for sure.
And we know Washington wasn't done in that regard.
I'll talk about them more in a minute.
But again Memphis gets leadership to get toughness and Marcus Smart.
And I think that could bode well for a job of a rant when he comes back.
You know having a guy like Marcus Smart in there who you could actually play them both together if you wanted to.
Memphis, you know, I think they didn't hurt themselves with this.
That's for sure.
So we'll see how things look down the road.
So that's one deal.
Then you have Bradley Beale who had the no trade clause with Washington so he could pick wherever he wanted to go.
And he's on the move to Phoenix.
So Phoenix, Phoenix gets Bradley Beale.
They give up Chris Paul, future Hall of Fame point guard.
They also get shooting guard Landry Chimet, numerous second round picks and pick swaps.
You think about the price.
It was a very cheap price guys to get a Bradley Beale.
You didn't even have to give up a first rounder to get him.
So which you know, if we were to next day, we'll have to give out 21st rounders, but that's a story for another day.
But hey, listen, Kevin Durant now he's part of yet another big three with him, Bradley Beale and Devin Booker.
So this is experiment number, number four actually, well five even if you think about it for Kevin Durant.
He's had success with I say one and a half of those in Golden State.
He had the success there.
He had a modicum of success in OKC with him, Russell Westbrook and Harton.
But Harton wasn't the player that he was to become later.
But you know, that team got to a finals.
Hey, all eyes are on Kevin Durant right now.
It seems he can play without having a superstar next to him or at least one or two.
So I think a lot of eyes will be on Kevin Durant come this next season.
And then it begs the question now, you have Devin Booker and Bradley Beale both shooting guards,
but they're saying now that Devin Booker is going to move to the point guard position,
which he did in the playoffs for the four games that Chris Paul went down.
In those games, nine assists, 12 assists, four assists, eight assists.
But the only question with that is, can he be able to man the point guard position full time?
And I talked about this with my boy D, of course, and I heart back to Michael Jordan.
At one time with the Bulls, it was late in the season where their point guard went down.
I want to say BJ Armstrong went down and where Jordan had to man the point guard.
He did well. He averaged pretty close to a triple double, to be honest with you.
He had a few of them during that stretch.
But Phil Jackson realized having Michael Jordan play the point guard position is taxing.
So let me not have him do that.
So I say all that to say Devin Booker, for him to play the point guard position full time,
may take a lot. He's going to have to sacrifice shots.
I don't know. This is the role of the dice, guys.
And then once again, you have no debt right now.
You're going to have to pick up players on the cheap because you're going to be top heavy.
Right now they're saying they're not thinking of dealing Deontre Aitin.
So, you know, you got four guys making a huge chunk of the money over there.
So I understand I get it. Got a strong three to four guys.
But as we saw in these playoffs, you need depth.
You need depth to get in the brass ring, so to speak.
So we'll see what happens there.
On its face, Washington didn't get a lot in return until this happened, which is my next story.
Chris Paul going to Golden State.
Washington getting Jordan pool a 2027 second round pick and a 2031st round pick.
That's top 20 protected. All that going to Washington for Chris Paul,
who is a 38 year old point guard who had injury issues last season,
and including the postseason as well.
With this move here, you can clearly tell Jim Barmeyes is no longer in the building.
Right now you have new GM Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
And with him at the helm, this is his first significant deal.
Doesn't look all that good guys.
Now you have a Chris Paul, you have a Steph Curry, you have Clay Thompson in your back court.
It's obvious Chris Paul is going to have to be with the second unit.
I don't see them starting all three guys together. I don't see it.
I don't know. The thing with Chris Paul, you know, with those other guys, Steph and Clay,
you know, you haven't run on ball screens and so forth.
Chris Paul doesn't fit that mold.
So your second unit is going to have to look very different than your first unit.
So I'll be interested to see what Steve Kerr, the coach over there does in terms of fitting Paul into that culture over there.
And you know Chris Paul is a vocal leader there.
They're thinking of bringing back a Draymond Green and I'll talk about him in a minute.
You're still going to have Draymond leading the way if he's still there.
So and then you have Chris Paul, who's a bit of a vocal leader himself.
So I'll be interested to see how that works.
But on the Washington end, they now form what could be a back court of the future with Titus Jones,
who they got from Memphis and with Jordan pool.
Now, Jordan pool, you know, I heard Chris Broussard say you had to get rid of the stench of what happened between him and Draymond Green.
And I definitely do agree with that.
But in the same breath, the kid is 24 years old.
He gave him the big contract.
I understand a lot of people saying the money changed him.
So now he gets a bit of a fresh start in Washington.
I expect the kid if his head's on right to bounce back and you got a solid back court over there with him and Jones.
So I just think Golden State really they could have held out for a better deal.
This is the best you can do a 38 year old point guard.
That's tough.
That's not equal value.
That's for sure.
We'll see where it goes from there.
But again, it's obvious Bob Myers would have never done this deal.
He would have never done it.
No way. No way.
The man is too smart for that.
He knows the value of a Jordan pool and he would have been able to maximize and get the best return back for the Golden State Warriors.
So I'll leave it there.
So that's your trade news guys.
Let's talk about players declining their player option.
Drey Mon Green, who I just spoke about, he declined his.
So he is now a free agent.
They're saying for all intents purposes, Golden State wants to bring him back.
That's a priority.
And then I heard Rob Parker say, you know, that maybe they should cut ties.
They're romanticizing about the past and so forth.
But that man was a leader in the locker room.
It's hard to let a guy like that walk.
You let him walk and then what Chris Paul, who's the sixth man will become the leader now?
How does that work?
So I think it's incumbent upon Mike Dunleavy, Jr. to bring back a Drey Mon Green.
Work out a new deal.
You got a bit of money freed up now.
So bring him back.
Even if you got to go over the cap, bring back a Drey Mon Green and then run it back and see what happens.
But you need size. You definitely need size over there. That's for sure.
So we'll see what happens with Golden State.
Chris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, he opts out.
So he's a free agent now.
He's a guy who he had the injuries early, but as the season progressed, you saw him get back to being his old self.
So I imagine he's going to command a lot on the market where he goes.
I couldn't say off the top of my head guys, but he's going to command attention. That's for sure.
Bruce Brown. I mentioned him for the Denver Nuggets, the swing man there.
I mentioned that he was opt out of his $6 million deal. He did so.
He's going to definitely double maybe triple that on the open market.
Bruce Brown doing the prudent thing and opting out and he'll get his money. That's for sure.
The question is, does he go somewhere else and get the big payday?
Or does he stay in that culture in Denver where he was a vital part of that and continue to build upon that excellence over there?
So that's a big question. We'll see what happens there.
There's a lot of teams out there, bad teams that can throw money at him. Will he go that route?
Or does he stay with a winner? We'll see.
And then Kyle Kuzma. He opted out as well. He's an unrestricted free agent.
He's a guy who has the championship under his belt, so to speak, when he played with that bubble team, the LA Lakers.
So he's a guy who he looks like a different player than, you know, his Laker days.
That's for sure. He's gotten more opportunity over there with the Wizards and he's looked great.
So where he goes, that's a big question as well. So we'll see what happens with him.
Players that you're still waiting to see if they'll opt out or not, change heart.
Things have gone kind of quiet in his camp as far as the opt out is concerned.
So we'll see what happens there. I imagine he will. So we'll see.
And with the Knicks, Josh Hart. They just extended his deadline.
So now the drop dead date is June 29th. So he has up until there.
So I imagine that Leon Rose and his people are working behind the scenes, trying to keep Josh Hart in New York.
So we'll see what happens there. So that's your opt out news, guys.
Let us move on. Retirement.
Lou Williams, the Lemon Pepper King.
He decided to retire, guys. He announced it via YouTube.
He played 17 years in the league, 7 years with Philly, about 3.5 with the Clippers, 3.5 with Atlanta.
Twice, by the way, he played with Atlanta.
Couple of seasons in LA, one with Toronto, and then about 23 games he played with the Houston Rockets.
He was a second round pick, 45th overall for the Philadelphia 76ers.
He was a guy who came straight out of high school, guys.
Came out of high school in Georgia and was drafted.
He's a three time six man of the year award winner.
He played in over 1100 games, averaged nearly 14 points a game, 3.4 assists, low over two rebounds.
Shot it from the field, nearly 42%, over 35% from three, and over 84% from the free throw line.
So Lou Williams, a solid career, never made an all star appearance.
Had years where he was right on the cusp, especially those Clipper years, but not quite there.
But Lou Williams, definitely a guy who maximized his potential, that's for sure.
And he retires.
So all the best to you, Lou Williams, as you retire.
So moving on to more news.
Michael Jordan to sell his majority stake with the Charlotte Hornets.
And he's going to sell it to a group led by minority owner, Gabe Plotkin and former Atlanta minority owner, Rick Schnall.
So this is going to end a 13 year run, guys, as the majority owner.
This is his record in the 13 years, guys.
423 wins, 600 losses, guys.
No playoff series wins, and they haven't been to the playoff since the 2015-16 season.
So not a lot of success there, guys, that's for sure.
He's going to have a minority share in the team, but he's just selling his majority share.
So he'll still be with the team, but not as the major owner there.
It still needs the approval of the Board of Governors in order for the sale to go through.
But this deal, guys, could possibly net Jordan about $3 billion.
When he bought his majority share, he bought it at over 200 million.
So he's talking about getting a return on your investment.
He's doing that.
A lot of people speculate, oh, he's doing this because he's got a gambling debt, so forth.
I don't know, that's rumor and innuendo, so I'm not even going to go there.
But it does seem interesting that he would sell at this time.
And then remember, too, in the NBA draft, his team fell short of getting the number one pick.
And so they end up with the number two pick.
If they got the number one pick, would he have sold the team?
I doubt it, because your value would have went through the roof.
So we'll see what happens in this regard.
But Michael Jordan, he's selling his majority share.
And then the last bit of news, all of it is WNBA related.
WNBA starters, the All-Star starters were named.
In the front court, you have Aja Wilson, who will be a captain once again from the Las Vegas Aces.
Breonna Stewart, she too, once again a captain.
Of course, she's with the New York Liberty now.
Nekka Awumake, from the Los Angeles Sparks.
Then you have Sato Sabali from the Dallas Wings, who's having a fantastic year.
And I think she's the odds-on favorite to be the most improved player in the WNBA.
She's playing that good, guys.
Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever, who's looking like the rookie of the year. She's been fantastic this year, guys.
And then Brittany Griner, Brittany Griner of the Phoenix Mercury.
She has been voted in, so you're gonna have her at the festivities.
So of course, it'll be a love fest once again when it comes to Brittany Griner.
I'm sure, you know, in her mind, she's thinking, you know, I'm a long way from where I was about a year ago.
So it'll be a love fest, guys. So brace yourself for that.
And then the back court, you're gonna have Chelsea Gray of the Las Vegas Aces.
I was kind of on pins and needles as far as I hope she makes it in as a starter, and she does.
Jackie Young, who's having a fantastic year, guys. Also from the Aces.
Areka Angumbawale of the Dallas Wings, of course, she's in there.
And Jewel Lloyd of the Seattle Storm, who's having a great year as well.
So that's your 10 starters, guys.
Of course, the big questions are where's Alyssa Thomas and then Nefisha Kogir.
Of course, you imagine they will get in through the coaches as far as your bench players are concerned.
So no worries there.
So that's your All-Star starters for the All-Star game, which will be in a few weeks, in fact, in July.
Then we have injury news.
Breonna Jones of the Connecticut Sun out for the season, a rupture of the Killies, unfortunately.
She had that late in the game versus the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, June 20th.
So she's going to be out.
Unfortunate, guys.
She's a player who I thought was making the All-Star game as the coaches voted her in.
This is a tough blow for the Connecticut Sun.
That's for sure.
It's extremely hard to replace a Breonna Jones as well as she was playing.
So bad news there.
And Shakira Austin.
She suffers a hip injury versus the New York Liberty.
And this was on Sunday, June 25th.
So we'll see what happens with her, whether it's a long-term injury or not.
So we'll see what the diagnosis is.
Guys, if I'm either team, and let's say Austin's out for a prolonged period of time.
Here's a name I would consider, Emma Miesemann, who just recently was the MVP of the FIBA Euro Basketball Cup.
She won it for the Belgian team.
So she is someone who was, in fact, a free agent after her time with the Chicago Sky.
So she's a player that's out there.
Well familiar with the Washington Mystics.
So she would be a natural fit there.
Also, Connecticut Sun could use somebody like that.
Just for sure, she would play a little different than Breonna Jones, but she'll be a solid, solid choice there.
And then another name.
Charlie Collier.
This is the former first round pick a few years back.
Right now she was cut by the Dallas Wings, so she's a player without a team, guys.
She's a big, you know, things didn't work out for her in Dallas, but maybe she needs to change the scenery.
Who knows?
This is a big that's out there if you need somebody.
Hey, you can roll the dice and see maybe you'll catch lightning in the bottle.
So those are two names out there to consider.
Of course, you can throw out a Tina Charles.
She's out there as well.
So you need to fill in as far as Connecticut.
Will they revisit having a Tina Charles there?
I don't see why not.
Former Yukon Husky.
So it'll be a natural fit in that regard.
It's a new coaching staff.
So yeah, hey, why not?
So you're going to need someone there and the team was doing so well.
So she will be somebody who can pretty much fit in seamlessly.
So we'll see what Connecticut Sun does from here.
So those are your injury news for the WMEA.
And then lastly, Vanessa Nygaard out as the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury after going two and ten this season.
Now this year with BG back for the Mercury, you would figure the team would look a lot better.
But Vanessa Nygaard, somebody who had the public view with Skyler Digginsmith.
They don't look really good this year.
I thought they would be better.
I thought they would be at least sniffing playoff contention, but that's not even the case guys.
So Vanessa Nygaard out.
Assistant coach Nikki Blue filling in for her.
So we'll see if that kind of turns the Mercury around.
That's your news guys.
That is it.
So the next time you hear from me, NBA Draft will talk NBA Draft.
We'll talk about it from head to toe.
We'll see who went where, who did what and so forth.
All right guys, as always, you know how to find me all things basketball with GD.com.
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All right, so thanks for listening once again guys and we'll be talking soon.
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