13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts - June 30, 2024

[00:00:00] Alright, it's time to talk basketball. Who cares that it's the off-season? Man, there's no off-season for us We're fans of the NBA man. I'm Josey, so I've got the editor at thepiecebasket.net, he's Steve Purcello, longtime high school basketball coach educator, vice principal and athletic director

[00:00:19] And this is the 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts podcast the best 15 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere This is your first time listening. Thank you. Welcome. We're glad you found us This podcast was born out of the content of Steve's random NBA thoughts articles which he publishes weekly

[00:00:37] Steve and I have exactly 15 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA Today we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts article Which focused on the NBA draft There were some other NBA thoughts sprinkled and we'll talk about those as well

[00:00:52] But the focus is on the draft Steve, are you ready to talk basketball? Let's go. Do this. I'm starting the clock Yeah, all right So we'll start with the draft and we'll start it'd be great if we could talk about the number one pick

[00:01:08] It'd be great if we could talk about, you know, I don't know Great player who just excelled in college and we're excited to see in the NBA instead We're talking about a player who had a big scare at the start of his college career and

[00:01:24] Didn't you know really do what he was expected to do But was still drafted that player is Bonnie James Rich Paul said about his client that he would have been drafted if his name was John Smith You said a few things about

[00:01:42] Nepotism and about Barani, but let me ask you that Steve if his name was John Smith with Barney James have been picked Well, I'm gonna turn it back to you in a minute

[00:01:52] But I'm gonna say this how many first of all I only saw him probably once or twice on college But how many players who averaged four point eight? Yeah, a little over two rebounds and a little over two assists per game Get drafted and didn't start. I

[00:02:09] Don't know if there's many that category Now I'm gonna ask you who you saw him play a little bit probably because you probably Similar those games. What do you think?

[00:02:21] Yeah, what do you've been drafted if his name was John Smith is the question I think you know, I Think it's a greater likelihood that he wouldn't have been because I mean there is there's a there's a medical scare there I mean

[00:02:37] You've got to take that into account You know his health has got to come first and if I'm an NBA GM I take that into account then I look at the numbers now watching him play you absolutely see flashes Right of who this guy could be

[00:02:52] You know what? I see solid defense which at that age you don't right? You know, you tend to see the highlights, right? When when you watch because I didn't see a game beginning dad admittedly, you know And you know his he's got a good shot

[00:03:07] But in you know and listen I could put together a really decent five minute video maybe not Maybe put together a decent two minute video

[00:03:14] So, you know the question would he been drafted? You man if his name was John Smith, I don't see it. I don't see it You know could he surprise us all sure right?

[00:03:23] You see, you know the work ethic his dad has shown in over his career and you figure he's gonna do the same thing and work ethic matters but I Don't know me I hope that that answers your question

[00:03:36] You went into a lot of detail about nepotism in the NBA and really nepotism period do you think it's a problem? I wanted I wanted to go to there with Problem where I went on that is about agents It appears, you know free agency

[00:03:51] We're all we all believe it and that's part of it But then an agent gets involved and naturally his first worry is his quiet that takes away from a team

[00:04:02] And and then you know and let's use the third or fourth year player was playing for that big contract the next contract He's not worried about the wins and losses of the team. He's worried about

[00:04:13] Yeah, about the points and all the other things that guy can do and he's also worried about not getting playing time He could be a negative influence to a team that agent through his player

[00:04:25] I think something's missing when we're at the point where rich Paul or any other agent has more power Than the player then the team rather the coach and the general manager And and I think that's where we are and it's something we've got to think about again

[00:04:40] I support free agency. There's no other way around it that an agent's going to be powerful But when they begin to change the game because we watch the game we we roof of the laundry We roof of the wins we roof for all that

[00:04:54] We're not concerned of brawning jamescorer 20 or one of your favorite players When we had tomorrow square 20 it doesn't matter. We just want to see that team win You know the agents now are playing a game where it's interfering in

[00:05:12] Yeah, and you encapsulated it pretty well in your article when you said and and i'm quoting you now Do we even need to have a draft if agents can call the shots and daniel who uh

[00:05:24] Was one of the early riders with the peach basket tweeted the same exact thing What's the point of the draft if the agent can come up and say listen, my client's going to go to australia

[00:05:33] If you draft him that yeah, that's it is admittedly problematic. Listen. I think we're all hoping the best for brawning health wise and And in his career there's a lot of excitement about seeing him and his dad play basketball for the lakers

[00:05:50] On the same team in the same game. We're hoping that happens. I think it would be spectacularly special But you know unless the dynamic changes with the lakers that might be the highlight of their season

[00:06:03] In 2024-25 and we're not going to go down that rabbit hole while i'm not so near They have a fine team We're going to go on to topic number two. You said the nicks after trading for mcale bridges Have seven really good players and one great one

[00:06:21] Is that enough to beat a team that you identified without naming them with two great players And four other really good ones in other words, who's your favorite in the east after this trade? Is it changed? I think weston still is you don't know about injuries the nicks

[00:06:37] Depending on what harnstein does they need a center michael robs is there but they need somebody else robinston is now he gets hurt off and so on The old the old manage here two stars are better than one I think bridges is a real good player

[00:06:52] A good third or fourth guy on a team. I think yana know me Is a good fourth guy on a team when I look at it now. Well, where's your second player? Where's your second best guy on a team? So I think the nicks are good

[00:07:05] I think injuries can change everything but I look at it in a way that If everybody's healthy, I think boston's still the favorite and I think You know boston shouldn't win although it won't be easy because The nicks defend real well

[00:07:18] And they're gonna be better with the two two guys they picked up this week Defensively the only thing I can look at and think about is jaylon brunson is not a good defender He is going teams in the black

[00:07:31] And it's a long season and he's gonna take down Because he's going to have to defend quite often With people with the ball. So that's the only negative I can see on the next. They're good And and they'll be real good. So

[00:07:45] It's interesting. I think boston still has an edge but again, you don't know about injuries Do you have the nicks at number two go right now in the east? Right, it's generally No We have to see what philadelphia does because they have a lot of money to spend

[00:08:00] And we also See the bucks have been talking about trading brookalopas and things along that line and then there's a wild card You know what farland though goes out and maybe gets pulled george things could happen

[00:08:13] Things change because those guys can get near older and they just get better bank arrows a player And we'll just continue to improve and look out the biggest thing they do need is outside shooting Paul george isn't bad last I will

[00:08:27] No over 40 from three best season of his career and that would be a major upgrade for the magic undeniably Yeah, you know, incidentally we're about, you know, two three hours away from the start of the madness that

[00:08:42] Might very well be the free agent season here in just a couple of hours. Let's shift back to the draft Right, you and I have talked a lot about the the way the game has changed, right?

[00:08:53] We talked about, you know, you know in the past about how in the 80s You know, everybody played inside the three-point line if you watch a game It's just staggering to see now everybody's outside of the three-point line the game's fundamentally changed in the biggest

[00:09:08] I don't know a casualty maybe for like a better word is being a traditional big, right? You've got to shoot threes in today's game. You said right if I had a great player today

[00:09:17] And he's he's a center. I'm gonna teach him to shoot threes. You said that I think last week So Zach Eadie gets picked by Memphis at number nine This is a seven foot four guy traditional big

[00:09:30] He's shot two three-point shots at his four year career made one admittedly He's a traditional big center does this signal that the error of the traditional centers isn't dead? Or is this just kind of an outlier and listen, you got a seven foot four big

[00:09:46] I need a center. I'm dropping this guy I think that was what I thought originally a couple things came to life I was it hurt something that Zach Eadie It was told by his coach don't block shots because we need you on the court in other words

[00:10:01] You know unless we have to because we don't want you fouling out you go out That's interesting. So we don't know how good a shot blocker is that's an important piece The other thing too when I thought about this Go back to the the grind team in Memphis

[00:10:19] Who's your big it was marcus all Marcus all started shooting threes at the end of his career. It wasn't very good Are they trying to replicate that? Or duplicate whatever But the point being are they doing that and if they are

[00:10:36] Eating might be that person, you know if they put him in the post Jamarra and these moves to move them to operate Right away That's the only two things I thought about because I thought they might have wanted The the swinging and he went earlier. So then

[00:10:56] Because there were rovers during the week they were going to trade marcus more or looking to trade marcus more So You know the full being they wanted clinging and well they didn't get clinging but they needed center

[00:11:09] So what do you do then we go out and take the next center of the Yeah, so I'm torn and trying to figure that one out. Yeah And I'm torn because I definitely want to get to the last point But I got to ask you you're a gm

[00:11:24] Do you pick the best available player or do you pick for your need because those aren't often the same player? Well answer We go by let's go back about I don't know five you I don't know 40 years ago, whatever it is

[00:11:37] There was a guy by the name of Jordan in the draft and I think portland Quite do that. He had plato Drexler man. They didn't need him How did that work out? Well answer get No matter who it is get talent Yeah, I 100% agree. I won 100% agree last

[00:12:00] topic And I love this one and I'll go as quick as I can because we are running out of time the shot clock is clicking It's ticking. Is there anything more subjective than NBA salaries? You presented this scenario player 1 30 years old 10 points Forest for rebounds for assist player 2

[00:12:19] 27 years old couple years younger 14 points a couple more points four rebounds same rebounds to assist less assists Player 1 is earning 10 million a year while player 2 is earning 42 million dollars a year Now I gotta ask you and you can tell us who those players are

[00:12:38] Does player 2 have a better agent a more desperate team? Or something or is it just subjective man? What's going on here because that is crazy First of all player 1 has two wall defensive honors player as one Which is interesting

[00:12:55] I think a couple things happened here. Let's let's look at Alex Caruso's player 1 player 2 is at the Nobby Okay Now a couple things happened first of all Caruso was signed three years ago or three or four years ago And and and nobby was just signed Television man

[00:13:13] I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of television money But television money is going to be big they have an agreement almost Where it's going to make six seven billion is going to raise the salary cap

[00:13:23] Extensively so that 40 million in three years won't look like like it does now Don't forget. I think next year's rejection is 141 141 million and it's supposed to rise 10 percent every year So now if you start doing the math without

[00:13:40] You got a lot of money over 200 million or four years so 42 million doesn't look as bad because that's only a little more than a fifth of the overall

[00:13:53] So in that way. Yeah, but also the other piece we have to look at is the nicks were in a bind The nicks traded quickly who signed to read the human contract also but quickly embarrassed

[00:14:06] And if they only got this guy for the end of the year and it was her They got they have a problem. I mean they're losing they gave away two pretty good players for nothing The other thing and I did make a comparison

[00:14:18] I want to emphasize this I didn't know he he's averaged 52 games a year for the last four years Where prurosos averaging 59 I believe That that's a big thing if he's going to miss 30 games every year

[00:14:32] You've been a lot of money for for somebody who is basically using up his vacation is because he's never there And me it just all strikes me in a way

[00:14:43] You know, it's kind of crazy the other people and that's not the take one from the next they have a good team Right. Well help them but it's just crazy the money and it just doesn't add up

[00:14:53] I don't think it's agents as much as timing and and grades and Yeah, we talked about this earlier and I made the point that this is like oh g just kind of hit the lottery man

[00:15:03] AC Alice Caruso just just hasn't been that fortunate because when you look at their numbers you look at their impact You can make the argument Alex Caruso You know better player by the top. Certainly I was gonna play for players, right?

[00:15:19] But he just hasn't hasn't been as fortunate as og Caruso can guard probably from one. I saw him partate him during the season So we can war that ain't nobody can guard anybody. The one thing I'll say about anonomi He doesn't have a great offensive game at all

[00:15:34] He can shoot a three in a quarter You move him up the worser among the wings It's either money or not even money. It's not close to even money But it's a lot worse and then is he when he goes to the basket

[00:15:47] His footwork is just horrible and he almost caught you know tripped himself. He has a tough time shooting the layup on balance those You know, I hope to fix it work with him and he can fix that but

[00:16:01] You know, that's limited type stuff and and it's just amazing that he's getting there Caruso has displayed the ability to become a better shooter over the years

[00:16:10] Like that couple years ago with the Lakers. He wasn't good, but you know, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. I guess the the Answer Yeah, yeah End of the day it it's it's about luck of the draw. I think it's a little bit of everything, right?

[00:16:24] You got to have the right team. You got to have the right agent You got to be the right place at the right time Timing that's about timing. Yeah But that's rough, especially when you look at those numbers

[00:16:34] It's a hard pill to swallow if you are Alex Caruso or and Alex Caruso fail Which yeah, what would you think Adam? I don't know. We should have gotten on the open more Yeah, I mean that and that's what makes this subjective and difficult

[00:16:46] I mean I you can't if you if you started making objective rules, right and said boundaries, right? You need certain You know, this would be interesting, right? You need to have a certain amount of time before you can make a certain amount of salary, right?

[00:17:01] Two years four years six years you You get first team NBA You can get this much you get second team. Maybe you get defensive player here. You can get this much So if you made it objective, I think it would be absolutely

[00:17:14] Interesting, but it would change everything, right? You because it's it's there's no good way to answer your question Because those rules don't exist here, right based on just the numbers alone All you can do it's kind of like, you know an appraiser who's looking at a house, right?

[00:17:30] Check columps, right? Who wasn't getting those numbers? Who's you know and what's the salary? That's what OG should be getting But again right time for OG right team Who's better here? Mikhail Bridges Who would you rather take on you team? Yeah, but at apples oranges, man

[00:17:48] I would tell bridges is a is a better offensive player So who would you take? I would take the better offensive player And both really good defense So, you know and yeah, I think he's making about 24 million I'm not positive on that one

[00:18:06] But if he's making that this guy just hit for 42 million Bridges haven't had two more years on his contract. What will he be worth in two years? Moral of the story. It's good to be OG and an OB right now

[00:18:19] But if that's it our time is up you heard the buzzer go off Steve and I did what we tend to do We violated the rules and kept talking But we still are the best 50 minutes of random NBA talks The online viewer take

[00:18:31] Please make sure to read Steve's entire article We'll link it below Once this post you might be watching us live On Twitter or YouTube if so thank you Make sure to add us so that we can get that article to you right away

[00:18:45] We, Steve and I are during the off season excited to host a new show We're calling it the 13 rules overtime Where Steve dives into players that he actually got to see play That you may have heard of I would say you definitely heard of

[00:19:02] But you don't know a lot about And the player we're discussing on the next overtime show Is the guy who has the second most of the time NBA championships in NBA history to the Russell's 11 and that's his teammate Sam Jones Excited to learn more about Sam

[00:19:19] I don't know anything about this guy I'll be honest with you So make sure to add us We will likely be going live in the next 10-15 minutes To talk about Sam Jones in the 13 rules overtime show But that's all for our show now Thank you for joining

[00:19:34] Thank you for listening Please consider subscribing Liking commenting all that stuff just helps a ton And make sure to join us again next week For another 13 rules podcast Steve will talk then Thank you