PTI: June 14th, 2019
W: Pardon the Interruption, but I’m Mike Wilbon — Tony, temperatures in DC are the hottest they’ve been in a decade! How are you coping with the heat?
K: I’m Tony Kornheiser, and I’m coping with it the only way I know how: I’m commando.
W: Please don’t. Our viewers don’t need that image in their brains and neither do I!
K: It works! It’s the opposite of layer dressing in the winter!
W: *laughter*
K: Welcome to PTI, boys and girls! In today’s episode, we talk NBA rumors, we revisit the NBA Draft order and we dish out some draft talk but we begin today with the news that’s caught a lot of people by surprise: the NBA is expanding. That, in of itself, was expected, but what wasn’t expected was the when: this year! The owners unanimously voted to move up the timetable of the new expansion teams — Seattle and Mexico City — from 2020 to the 2019 season. Wilbon, as our resident NBA insider and the last one of us who does any actual reporting, why the change of heart and how will this affect the offseason?
W: There’s a lot to unpack, but it boils down to a few things. One, the NBA Finals — the Warriors were swept and performed about as poorly as any team could against an underdog. The ratings for that? Through the roof. The numbers are staggering at how well the fall of the Warriors sold to the fans and the new, fresh blood pumping into the NBA — led by the youngest Finals MVP in NBA history, Mister Jack Tate — combined with the value of everyone’s franchises going up made the owners reconsider the timetable. If they waited a year, would things be even better? Maybe. But the overwhelming feeling was ‘strike while the iron is hot’ and the NBA is the hottest league right now. All that was holding it back was the monotony of yet another Cavs Warriors finals, but that was avoided. Enthusiasm for all teams is really high.
K: And the owners in the lottery were fine giving up the fourth and fifth picks to the expansion teams? I can’t believe that, I’d hate it!
W: Of course you would, because you’re a grouch — but the owners were okay with it and the reason why is singular — most front offices around the league believe there are only three players in this class who could really change your team’s fortune for the better. Three guys — the rest of the draft is, to quote one GM, ‘a bunch of role players and an occasional set of starters.’ The owners know this and they figured get the expansion teams in now, let them take their high picks, and get it over with. The 2020 class is where the superstar talent is in bulk — having a lottery pick in that class will be HUGE, but not this year.
K: Let’s just take a look at the revised pick order now.
K: Look! Look at where the Sonics and Aztecs are! Sitting above historic franchises like the Hawks and Celtics, even the Heat!
W: It’s only you and some fans who have a problem with it — the NBA is a league that’s looking ahead to the next big thing, Tony, and the next big thing is the 7’2” monster — and presumed first overall pick — Monty Fuller. The center from K-State is the big of the future, a shooter, a passer, a posterizer, a defender and the Suns aren’t even entertaining offers for him — with a frontline of their 2016 8th overall pick in Chriss and Kanter, whom they signed last summer, the Suns need what Fuller brings. But with a roster with so many young players already, should the Suns consider trading the pick — much like Danny Ainge did in 2017?
K: The Suns are STUPID for not trading this pick. He’s the best player — by a long way — in this class, right?
W: Very likely — lots of rawer players behind him that could make a difference in year one, but no one else is as polished as Fuller.
K: And the Suns have been terrible for years! It’s time for them to make a move towards winning some games, not staying in the lottery for the next decade! The team behind them, the Magic, is the team that Phoenix should look at and fear becoming. The Magic have been in the lottery for the last seven years and have been through so many coaches and scouts, you might as well call them the Browns of the NBA. The Suns have a history, a dedicated fanbase, and it’s time for them to cash in — how long will Booker stay there like this?
W: Not long if rumors are to be believed, Tony. Booker has made it very clear he’s not signing any long-term extension with Phoenix unless a big move is made to get him some legitimate help. He wants to play in the postseason, he wants to get a title, and the way the Pacers went out and built a title team in two years is very much on Booker’s mind; he saw what they did in Indiana and he wants the Suns to do the same. Young players across the league have taken notice of what the Pacers ownership and front office did and, sure, it’s a unique circumstance with Jack Tate’s grandfather owning the team, but it still shows the players on other teams what making moves to win looks like.
K: Absolutely! Which is why the Suns needs to go to Booker and say, ‘We’re trading this pick for a big star to help get you into the playoffs and to get this team competing!’ and if they don’t do that, then Booker will sign his QA this summer and go into next summer as a free man — he can go wherever he wants! Speaking of someone who wants to go somewhere else, the loser of the Finals, the Warriors, are a team that’s angry — and it’s not directed outwards. Reports out of the bay say that the exit meetings between players and the front office have revealed a divide in the locker room between certain players, though whom the players are remain a mystery. Wilbon, two part question: one, who do you think the divide is between and, two, is this the end of the Warriors as we know them?
W: This happens to every championship team — every single one. There comes a point where the pressure and the stress wear on guys and instead of going after the other team, they go after each other. If I had to take a guess as to who one of the parties is, I’d guess Draymond Green — he’s a passionate, high-energy guy who will light into someone he doesn’t think is doing their job; coaches, players, crew, whomever. I think Green is on one side of this, but I’m having a tough time thinking who’s on the other side. Whatever the case, this team will look different next fall — a lot different, I think.
K: I agree with your guess of Green and I think I got the other player in this: Durant. He’s the newest ‘big star’ Warrior and was brought in to get that ring. He got one, they lost to the Rockets in the 2018 conference finals and then they lost to the Pacers — the Pacers! — in this year’s Finals. I think Green’s turned on the guy he recruited because, like you said, he doesn’t think Durant’s done his job. Durant was good in Game 1 and Game 4 and was an absolute ghost in the other two games. You can’t be that passive in the Finals, Mike, you just can’t!
W: It might be Durant, but I could see it being Curry — frankly, he’s overshadowed on his own team by Durant and sometimes Green. I could see him chafing with that and, if that’s the case, I could see the Warriors and him parting ways now while they can get good value for them and he can choose his spot. Kemba is a free agent in Charlotte and you don’t think Michael Jordan wouldn’t love to get Curry leading that franchise? It’s be a huge win for him.
K: I still think it’s Durant. Let’s take a break … when we come back, we sit down with our dear friend Brian Windhorst to talk more NBA and the one person we haven’t mentioned yet: LeBron!
W: Are you gonna ask if LeBron will force his way to the Knicks?
K: We got the third overall pick and young talent! New York’s calling, LeBron, come to the big city!