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00:00usually we're talking about NBA action. I don't know, college basketball, whatever it might be.
00:04But now we sort of head into those summer months. But I always like to say this, Joe,
00:07when we're talking about the NBA, like the regular season is fun, the handicapping,
00:12the gambling, heading into the finals and the playoffs, a lot of excitement.
00:15But the NBA brings that heat like no other sport in the offseason where it's almost drama daily
00:20until we get the next season underway. And the Lakers have been a part of that drama.
00:24They've been searching for a coach, Joe, it seems like for months on end, found their guy,
00:29didn't find their guy, new group of guys, surprising guys trying to hire like Dan Hurley
00:34coming from UConn, which didn't work out. They fall back on J.J. Redick and a tweet yesterday
00:39coming out from Adrian Wojnarowski. ESPN sources, J.J. Redick has agreed on a four-year contract to
00:44become the next head coach of the Lakers. Rob Polenko offered him that morning, which was
00:48yesterday, and Redick started to work on his staff right away. So let's get the first thoughts out
00:52here. J.J. Redick to the Lakers, yes or no, it works out. When I mean works out, is it at least
00:59not a train wreck and we can have some success in Los Angeles, Joe? Oh, no, this is train wreck
01:05written all over, Donny. This is going to be, I can't, sign me up for it. I can't wait. And you
01:10know what's really interesting to me here with both the Hurley attempt at hiring and now the
01:17Redick is how quiet LeBron James has been. It's almost as if, Donny, he is distancing himself as
01:25far away from this next coaching search. So you know what, when it does blow up, he can go,
01:32I had nothing to do with this. I didn't know it. I didn't, you know, I had no idea this is the
01:36direction they were going. Plausible deniability for LeBron. He has not said two words either way,
01:43either the Hurley situation or now Redick, I think, because we all know how this is going to
01:50end. Kudos to Redick for getting the job. I mean, you went from podcaster to NBA head coach of the
01:56greatest franchise in the history of the NBA. But, you know, along with that comes mountains and
02:02mountains of pressure and guys more qualified than you, Redick, have sat in that seat and
02:08couldn't make it through it. I don't see how this works in any way, shape or form.
02:13Look, the Lakers are about superstars. We understand that the Lakers are going to bend
02:18over backwards here, taking a look at what they need to do to keep LeBron James. Is it going to be
02:22to draft Bronny? Is it going to be to obviously offer a really big lucrative deal once LeBron
02:27James opts out this summer of that Lakers contract to come back? But also let's keep in mind like
02:31this isn't done like, hey, you know what, if LeBron doesn't like it, so what? Like LeBron
02:35chose him to do a podcast with. They're obviously familiar with each other and they think it's
02:40intriguing if they could work together. And LeBron James basically calling the shots. LeBron James
02:44has to give his blessing to a head coach for the Lakers. Otherwise, he does have the ability to opt
02:48out. It's not as if the bus family is like, you know what, LeBron, you're locked in for five years.
02:52You'll take whatever coach we get. We have the right to trade you if we want to or keep you.
02:56So you're going to have to deal with it. That's not the case in this instance. But let me ask you
02:59this question. We saw Hurley and the initial indications when they were going to offer
03:03Hurley the job for the Lakers was going to be somewhere around 100 plus million dollars,
03:08which like, you know what, that's going to take a lot of money to get him out of stores,
03:11Connecticut to head out to Los Angeles. He doesn't take the deal. And it turns out
03:15I say only fictitiously here, 65 to 60 million dollars. It's a four year deal. What do you think
03:21those dollar figures are right now for J.J. Reddick with the Lakers? Is it a heavy deal
03:26or are we going to be like, oh, they got him pretty cheap here? I'm sure they got him pretty.
03:33Well, they probably had a number in mind that they knew it was. You can't say no to. But it was,
03:39you know, a lot of people were very miffed by the whole idea of what they offered Hurley.
03:44They thought that was going to be a hundred million dollar deal,
03:47that that was going to be the kind of money that he could not say no to.
03:51And they did the same thing with Ty Lou. If you remember back in 2019, they went cheap with that.
03:58And Tyler's like, yeah, no, I'm good. I don't want nothing to do with this. So
04:03I don't know why they keep going cheap with trying to get the guys they want.
04:08You did it with Hurley. You did it with Ty Lou. This is now the seventh head coach of the Lakers
04:15since Phil Jackson left. What, in 2011? This is a dumpster fire of an organization.
04:21And this hire just goes to tell you with everything that's wrong with the Lakers right now.
04:26You're right, because, I mean, we understand like the Lakers logo and emblem means a lot. I mean,
04:31it's one of the most prestigious spots you could be at. But also sometimes those teams
04:35treat it as you're lucky that we even consider you to be a head coach. Whatever deal we give you
04:39to be the Lakers head coach, you know, goes in part. And also from a J.J. Reddick perspective,
04:44he made a lot of money in the NBA. He's still young. And if he says, you know what, in a year
04:48and a half or two years, this didn't work out. Where does he go, Joe? Right back into the booth.
04:52So it's almost like a risk-free option. Not like, well, I'm going to take this leap of faith. If
04:56this doesn't work out here, I'll never get a job again in this business. He will be fine at this.
04:59But the questions are going to be also, if it was a LeBron James blessing, is there a chance, Joe,
05:04that we find ourselves here in a couple of weeks going, OK, LeBron James opted out of the Lakers
05:09deal, which we expect because he was going to opt back in for more money. Could he opt out and
05:13leave and be like, wow, I thought J.J. Reddick coming to the Lakers was because LeBron James
05:17gave it OK. Is there a chance that LeBron James doesn't actually play for the Lakers in 2024?
05:23No, because publicly he has acted as if he knows nothing about what's going on. But behind the
05:29scenes, we all know better than that, right? This hire doesn't happen unless it was already
05:35talked about. But what he's doing is he's putting himself in the same kind of spot that he put with
05:41Darvin Ham. Like, I had nothing to do with this. We all know they went to you and said, are you
05:45OK if we hire this guy? And every guy that has gotten booted since, basically, LeBron has been
05:53able to wash his hands of it and go, I really had nothing to do with it. It wasn't my call.
05:57Of course, it's your call. This is your call. But Hurley, at least, was a hire, Donnie. They were
06:03looking towards the future for post-LeBron era to have a coach in place that could rebuild. You're
06:09not going to have that here with this hire. This is a strict one-and-done type of situation.
06:15It feels like it, too, because from my money, you look at Hurley coming over,
06:19and we thought it was probably going to be, maybe even, Joe, like a 10-year, like 10 years,
06:22$120 million. Like, blow him away, give him a lot of money and also a lot of, hey, I'm not going to
06:26go anywhere in two years. So LeBron James, after three games, goes, I can't play for this guy.
06:31Well, then the Lakers were like, well, the coach is staying, and we might get rid of you at this
06:35point. It'll be interesting the way this plays out. Also, was this agreed upon? Because Hurley
06:38coming over to be that next linchpin there out there for the Lakers to carry over from LeBron
06:43era, and maybe Bronny James doesn't go to the Lakers. Does he go to the Lakers? Boy,
06:47there is a lot of turmoil right now. But I think it's going to be interesting to find ourselves
06:51halfway through the season, those behind the scenes, back talking, oh, is this guy a good
06:55coach, and is he right for the job? We'll find out. More NBA talk next here on a Hockey Friday
07:01on the Sports Friday Network. You got it. We'll be right back. NBA offseason action is always
07:06fantastic, and we've already heated up. What is it, the hot stove in Major League Baseball? Yeah,
07:11it should be the hot stove in the NBA, because trades are happening, free agency is about to be
07:15upon us, coaches are being hired, and we're just a few days out of the Boston Celtics' crowned
07:20world champions of the NBA. But as we saw yesterday, Joe, Adrian Wojnarowski again with
07:26a Woj bomb. Chicago Bulls trading two-time All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma
07:31City Thunder for guard Josh Giddey, sources tell ESPN. Now, is this going to be a major move that's
07:37going to dictate the power from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference? No,
07:40it's not. But I actually really like the move here for Oklahoma City. It's almost like, okay,
07:45we have a young team here, now we're going to get that blend in here, bringing those veteran guys
07:49that know how to win, that will play defense and help guide us here is a great piece to the puzzle.
07:53So I like this move here. As you pointed out, I think the move is pretty good for OKC.
07:58Questionable for the Chicago Bulls here and what their future actually is going to be.
08:02Yeah, I mean, listen, Caruso has been in, I mean, we can make the argument, right? He has been one
08:08of the most sought-after role players in the NBA, because this is not the first time we're talking
08:13about Caruso. There are teams that have been doing everything to try to get him. I mean, just look,
08:19what the bench guys and those role players of Boston did. They can all shoot the three.
08:24They can all play defense. And guess what? He's a 41% three-point shooter. He is exactly
08:30what teams would love to have. And he's a luxury for OKC. But more importantly, OKC is like,
08:36you know what? Dallas ain't getting him. Denver ain't getting him. Nobody else in the West that
08:41matters is getting him because now he's on our team. And by the way, he only makes a million
08:46more, a million and a half more than what Josh Giddey does. So there's no long-term commitment
08:51here for OKC either. I think they absolutely won this trade. Yeah, good move overall. And certainly
08:58you get that playoff guy that's been there, done that before. It'll be fun to see how it plays out.
09:01And again, very high on OKC next year to win a championship. Speaking of championship odds,
09:07we just saw the Boston Celtics roll through the regular season, roll through the Eastern
09:11Conference and roll through the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA Finals. So it's no surprise next
09:15year when we take a look at the finals prices on the FanDuel Sportsbook. The Boston Celtics,
09:19a 3-1 price. The Denver Nuggets, plus $7.50. The T-Wolves, plus $8.50. The Bucs at 9-1. And also
09:25the Thunder, after making that move under 10-1, sit at a 9-1 price. So let me ask you this,
09:31because it's very simple. Like, oh, let's break down OKC next year. Let's not do that. Of course,
09:34the price point here. The Celtics right now are the best team in the NBA. But that price point
09:39at 3-1 to start the season, for me, even if I think they're the best team in the NBA,
09:43that's not a price I'm willing to tie up for, what, nine months to get my money back?
09:48I think the stat was, Donnie, this was just the 15th time in NBA history in which a preseason
09:55favorite actually won the championship. So it's not something that happens every year. It's been
10:04few and far between here. So the Celtics obviously got it done as the favorites last year. It is not
10:10easy to do. There's a reason why there haven't been a ton of them throughout the history of
10:14the NBA, because a lot can happen in an 82-game season between now and this time next year. So
10:22I do think that also opens up the opportunities at some really nice numbers for some other teams
10:28that we think can certainly make that next step here, Donnie, next year.
10:33Yeah. Here's the fun thing, Joe, about this, too, because we take a look at reading this,
10:36and it's a lot easier sometimes when it's, let's just say, the night before the NBA season starts.
10:41Why? You know what these teams are going to produce, who made moves in the summer,
10:45whose players are injured to start the season. Like, OK, I'll take the Celtics at 3-1. Here's
10:49what's intriguing, because you take a look at the other teams that are going to be vying and say,
10:52you know what? We've got to improve our team to take down the Celtics. So you take a look at teams
10:56like the Bucs if they make any moves, the Thunder if they continue because they have a lot of money
11:00under the salary cap and a lot of ammunition in trades with so many picks that they have
11:04in the future. The Philadelphia 76ers out there sitting at a 12-1 price. They're not a finished
11:09product. They're hunting for another superstar. And who might that be? We'll talk about that in
11:13the next segment here. But talk about, Joe, betting over the summer when we know these
11:17teams aren't final. Can you find yourself getting that added bonus or maybe like, you know what?
11:21I'm going to do my work, do a little intel. I think I'm getting a great price because I expect,
11:25let's just say, the Knicks to make a move, and I'll be getting 16-1 at a much better price
11:30down the summer than it would to start the season. Yeah, and I hate to say it, but look at OKC. I
11:35mean, nobody is in a better spot financially, draft capital, to go out and get, are you ready
11:42for this? How about an Isaiah Hartenstein? Because they're going to make him an offer
11:47they probably can't refuse. And all of a sudden, this team looking a lot like the Boston Celtics
11:53this year of the West. Everyone shoots a three. Everyone can play defense. They can space the
11:59floor. OKC at that price is very attractive to me in the futures market. We'll go over a couple
12:06moves here in that next segment, but also keep in mind, players are looking to get paid this
12:10summer. One of those players, Paul George, mysterious comments on maybe not making himself
12:16so endearing to his next team and what he's willing to do to win a championship. NBA Talk
12:20on a Friday. Who says no? Certainly not Joe and Donnie. We'll be right back. Let's hit it hard
12:25on the hardwood. Teacher, kid, the dribble, basketball, fire, three pointers. And if you can
12:30average yourself 15 points and five assists in the NBA, you'd be eligible for an $80 million
12:36contract, just like we're saying for Malik Monk to stay in Sacramento for your 78 million, which
12:41does include a player option. The price of the brick goes up day to day in the NBA. And if you
12:47are a serviceable player like Monk is, you are going to get paid. Nice to keep him in town. Malik
12:51Monk, 80 million. Joe Ranieri, how about that? Yeah, must be. It must be nice. I mean, let's
12:58be realistic here. The best job in the world, Donnie, might be the sixth man on an NBA bench,
13:04just raking in that money each and every year and only having to play six minutes a game.
13:10It can't go wrong. I don't know how we sign up for that job, but Monk, I think, is very worth it.
13:15And every team who's serious about winning a championship needs a Malik Monk on that roster
13:21in that spot. And they just made sure he's not going to play for anybody else. So I like the
13:26signing for Sacramento for sure. Yeah, Sacramento good basketball team. We'll see what they do in
13:302024. But again, you are eligible now. Most players on their teams, you can sign those extensions and
13:35not wait for the true start of free agency, which brings us up here to Paul George and where he
13:40might go. Now, in the NBA, there's very few players that garner, hey, he's got to be a max
13:45contract guy. And we're thinking Paul George is that. But there's a couple of different scenarios
13:49that we're going to get to here. First, let's start with the tweet yesterday from Shams.
13:52The Philadelphia 76ers interest in pursuing Paul George has significantly waned in recent days,
13:58and the franchise is expected to be aggressive elsewhere with a salary cap flexibility,
14:02which is interesting because Paul George has been linked to Philadelphia. Philadelphia has a max spot
14:07open. We're looking for another superstar to sort of propel and say, you know what,
14:10Max is a rising superstar and beads already an MVP talent. We just need that third wheel to help
14:15the guys out and maybe make a deep run past the second round in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
14:21But let me ask you this question about Paul George before we get to some of the stuff that came out
14:25yesterday. In your opinion, is Paul George worthy of a max contract in this day and age in the NBA?
14:32No, absolutely not. Not if you're serious about winning. But it's a case by case scenario. If you
14:38have the money and you truly believe that you are just one superstar, unfortunately, on his way down,
14:47but it's that kind of experience and that kind of professionalism with a bunch of young guys
14:51you need, then you have to cross that bridge. You can't say no. But even the stuff out of his
14:58mouth, Donnie, I mean, when you listen to Paul George, the idea of I'm not I'm not chasing a
15:02title anymore at this point in my career, like I'm not. Well, don't worry, because I'm not chasing
15:08giving you a max deal here for you not to be interested in chasing a championship. So it's
15:15very interesting with Paul George here. He's never quite lived up to the previous deals that he has
15:21gotten. The injuries continue to pile up. He's not getting any younger. It's I don't blame the
15:2876ers from taking a step back and going, you know, they got sixty five million in cap space. I think
15:34this year they can do a lot of things with that and not tying it up with Paul George, I think,
15:38would maybe be the best move for Murray. Like eligible to sign these deals. Now, when we talk
15:43about what it means to the organization of the player to an organization, let's equate this show
15:48to the NFL. We'll go to the Minnesota Vikings when this season over the past season, even though
15:52Justin Jefferson got injured, their general manager took that microphone and goes, we think he's the
15:57best wide receiver in football. We're going to probably pay him more than anybody's ever gotten
16:01to wide receiver position. We want him here long term. That's the stage for there's going to be a
16:05negotiation. But Justin Jefferson is not leaving town. We love this guy. The reason I bring that up
16:10is we're not getting that from the Clippers on Paul George. Like you remember was like, hey,
16:14let's wrap all these guys up and make sure they hear long term. James Harden, Kawhi Leonard,
16:18Paul George. We're moving into our new state. We got Tyron Lowe. We're not getting those vibes
16:22that we're hearing from their ownership group like it doesn't matter. We're going to give him
16:26more money than anybody can. He's going to be happy to play in Los Angeles, which means he's
16:30going to be a free agent, whether or not he signs back with the Clippers. But do you view that the
16:34same way I do? Like we're not hearing those vibes at L.A. like, hey, if we lose them, we lose them.
16:39Otherwise, like we can't lose this guy. We got to handle our business. I'm not getting that picture
16:43right now. Well, you're not getting it also if you're the Clippers, because you just you already
16:48made your choice, Donnie, didn't they in January when they extended Kawhi? They made the decision
16:54on where they were going to invest. They'd rather have Kawhi than Paul George. And I think that
16:58tells you exactly where the Clippers feel Paul George is in the pecking order, because they gave
17:05the money to Kawhi and Kawhi to his credit is saying, hey, listen, I signed that extension
17:11because I thought, you know, Harden and Paul George are going to be sticking around. But that's
17:15just not realistic. And Kawhi knows that. So, you know, Harden took a much less deal in order to
17:22kind of prove it in order to get maybe that one final contract, that one final max deal.
17:29Paul George might be in that spot where it may not be perfect, but he may have to take a little
17:34less in the short term if he's planning on getting one of those monster contracts again to finish
17:40his career. Yeah, he's made a lot of money already. But let's also factor in, like, do you
17:44remember the days gone by of, you know, when your agent would get ahold of you and say, you are about
17:48to be a free agent. Here's what I want you to do. You just can't get injured for the next 10 or so
17:53days. I don't even want you working out, playing ball or anything. I want to secure this contract.
17:58And number two, I don't want you going around saying how much you love to play in a certain
18:01city or what you think it's worth. And certainly in this day and age, there weren't podcasts,
18:05let's just say, 20 to 15 years ago that were mass produced and getting out there,
18:09which they are now. So the thing you have to love if you're his agent, you say, OK,
18:13I'm trying to drum up interest. Paul, what are you going to make yourself and put yourself in a
18:17good light here on some of these podcasts? So what does he do? Goes on a podcast and says
18:21basically this. I don't really know if I want to do the dirty work out here for some of these
18:25basketball teams. Quite frankly, I would like it if there was another like alpha dog on the team,
18:30but not too much of an alpha dog on the team because I still want to get mine. I don't really
18:34want to dribble the ball and be a point guard, but it would be nice if I could handle the ball
18:37a little bit more. You want to talk about your sabotage like, well, what does this guy actually
18:41want? He wants the most money he can get. Doesn't want to be the alpha dog. Doesn't want to play a
18:45ton of defense. Still wants to win. It goes to an organization. But I'm not really chasing
18:49championships. I'm just chasing the right chance to play ball in the right situation.
18:53What is he doing out here right now that you and I are on the same page? Because when I heard the
18:59quotes, I was like, what are you doing? Seriously, what are you doing? Apparently you hung around
19:06James Harden too much because that sounds an awful lot like Harden, like gimme, gimme, gimme,
19:11but I can't really promise you that I'm going to be motivated enough. There's a world of difference
19:18between Paul George and Jimmy Butler, right? All things being equal, if you told me that I could
19:27give Matt Steele to Jimmy Butler or Paul George and Butler is a little older, I would say Jimmy
19:32Butler because, you know, he's a dog. Like, you know, he is going to be a guy that's going to do
19:37everything, whether it works out or not, but he is a guy that's going to lay it all out there.
19:40Do we really feel that way about Paul George after that? I don't. No. Yeah. He's telling us
19:46he doesn't. He's almost telling us like, look, I know I'm going to get this one last payday.
19:50I'm going to make this fit perfectly here. Even if you don't like it, as long as the numbers are
19:54right for me, I'll then be able to do what I want. So we'll see how that turns out. But if he
19:57does go somewhere, let's just say, in your opinion, free agency opens up, give it a couple days.
20:03Is he back with the Clippers and or where do you think he winds up here, Joe, if he's not with the
20:09Clippers? Yeah. Well, the whole thing is, and you got to be very careful here, Donnie, we know this,
20:14right? So are the Sixers backing off because they don't think he's leaving the Clippers?
20:20Is this all just a smoke show where they're like, listen, I'm not getting into a bidding war
20:25because the only person who wins there would be Paul George. Are the Sixers thinking that this
20:31is all really just a smoke show? We're being leveraged here. So he's not leaving Kawhi Leonard,
20:38right? He's not. I mean, the whole reason he's there is because of Kawhi Leonard, right? That's
20:42the only reason those two are there. So maybe this is all just a leverage ploy for Paul George
20:50and the Sixers are like, sorry, you're not leaving. This is all smoke. You're not leaving,
20:54which could very well be. He might land exactly where he is right now.
20:59Yeah. It's almost gets those vibes of like, let's just say Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. It was like,
21:03he's a free agent. Technically, somebody negotiated with him knowing that they go like,
21:06I'm not negotiating with this guy because all he's going to do is pick that contract up,
21:10show it to the Ravens and the Ravens will get out their pen and sign it. Like, okay,
21:13that's what you work on the open market. Come back to itself. It's a very good point in that
21:17aspect. But also we did see during the NBA finals, Joel Embiid on set, Paul George on set
21:22being chummy here. But also things happen for a reason at some times. I don't think the Sixers
21:26soured because of what Paul George actually said, which means they're probably hot on the tails of
21:31some other deal that's about to go down. Maybe Paul George is like, man, I can't use the Philadelphia
21:3676ers for leverage anymore at this time. But we're only beginning here on this show on Friday. We got
21:41a lot more hot topics, Ted. No, people, your Friday morning just got even better. It's Donnie
21:46writes out. It's Joe Ranieri. And now the coach James Young joins us today because why? The NBA
21:52offseason, baby, it never stops. And yesterday we had one of those big cogs completed. It's J.J.
21:59Redick. Now to the Lakers. Before we get there, coach, are you ready for this offseason? Are you
22:04invigorated? Do you know what's going to be coming up here over the next week to week and a half?
22:08I just need to know, J. Why are you? This is what will get me through. It is ice coffee.
22:16I know you got to drink a lot of it because you never know when news is going to drop. Obviously,
22:21yesterday, you know, a big trade in the NBA, a coach getting hired. You know, the draft is coming
22:27up. We should say he's starting to make his move as the number one pick. It's basketball never
22:33stops. And I think with the draft and so many teams think that they're close. Donnie, I think
22:39it's going to be a chaotic offseason. It's fantastic. It always is in the NBA. We look
22:45forward to it every single year. It's almost like it gets that NFL level where there is 365
22:50every single day. Something new to talk about in the NBA, which again, let's get to this,
22:54that Woj bomb yesterday, which wasn't really a Woj bomb. And did we anticipate this? Maybe
22:59a month ago, J.J. Redick, four year contract to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. When this news
23:05finally coach came down yesterday, what was your thought process with the Lakers and J.J. Redick?
23:11First thing was the size of the years of the contract. I mean, last week they offered Dan
23:16Hurley six years. They offered, you know, J.J. four years, which let's be honest, folks, it's
23:22really a three-year deal because at the end of the day, you're never going to be a lame duck coach.
23:26You either get extended or you get fired. So it's really a three-year deal. And to me, it's,
23:32when you look at it, it's kind of ironic that what happened in Detroit with Monty
23:37and Monty being let go. And there's rumors that maybe Detroit was going to think about
23:41coming in and swooping in on Redick and that people like Udonis Haslam went on,
23:45get up and said they should be calling Monty to maybe coach the Lakers. And then all of a sudden,
23:50as soon as it happened, there was a deal done, like literally like that minute. So maybe it
23:55pushed the Lakers to finally make this decision. Is it the right decision? To me, it's going to
24:00be about Donnie, the staff that you surrounded on J.J. Redick, folks. You got to simply put,
24:05J.J. Redick has never sat on the bench as even an assistant coach in the NBA. Now listen, I get it.
24:13When he talks on ESPN, he's by far the most articulate guy on the network talking basketball.
24:19He understands the modern game, right? He's got great relationships with the players, which will
24:26help him not only with LeBron but maybe in getting in free agents, so on and so forth. But to me,
24:32you're going to have to surround him, Donnie, with an all-star staff. You got to get guys that
24:38have head coaching experience, right, to sit on the bench with him. And then you got to get guys
24:42that also are high-level assistants. So you've already saw names. Jared Dudley, you know, you
24:49looked at Sam Cassell is someone that's already been mentioned. So you're going to try and get
24:55the best staff possible for J.J. to help him with all the X's and O's and all the extra stuff
25:02that he may not be ready for because I'll tell you this much, it doesn't matter how long you've
25:07been on a bench. It is a huge jump to go to the head coaching job. Now imagine doing it, Donnie,
25:14and never even being an assistant first. Yeah. It's just, it's a dumpster fire. Sign me up for
25:23it, Coach. This will now be the seventh head coach since 2011 when Phil Jackson stepped down. Seventh
25:30for one of the all-time storied franchises in the NBA. What do you think Anthony Davis
25:37thinks of this hire, Coach? I mean, I think Anthony Davis, you know, he's going to have
25:41to kind of approve of this hire. But, you know, we'll see what his thought process here is here.
25:47But it's important, you know, that you have to get him on board. He is the future of the
25:52franchise, right? It's more than just LeBron. It's Anthony Davis. So I think that's why you
25:58saw there was talk about Borrego before because of the fact that it may have made sense to Anthony
26:04Davis. So whatever you do, you have to make sure it lines up for both sides. And that's the thing
26:09that you kind of have a rough side of it is as a Lakers, you have to think two ways. You have to
26:13think about the now and you have to think about the future. And they kind of tie in hand in hand.
26:16That's why it makes it a complicated hire. But I also think that's why it's only a four-year deal
26:21because they can kind of get themselves out of it two or years or so if it doesn't work out.
26:27Now, 30 seconds left. What can we actually anticipate from J.J. Redick as the coach?
26:32Is it championship robust or is it a learning curve? Maybe he can be their long-term coach.
26:36Well, listen, they're basically a playing tournament team. Let's be honest. They got
26:41to be able to make the playoffs. So we'll see what happens here. But in a low-inclusion conference
26:46with all these teams, it's going to be an uphill climb. At the end of the day,
26:49he's going to need better players. Yeah, let's keep it around the NBA. A lot of hot topics to
26:53go with, but certainly none hotter than J.J. Redick, now the head coach of the Los Angeles
26:58Lakers and what that means for LeBron James. We'll be right back to discuss that and much,
27:02much more. It's a great Friday here on The Early Line, Sirius XM Channel 159 on the Sports Grid
27:07Network. Joe Ranieri, Donnie Wright's out. Hopefully we get the coach back here. A little
27:10technical difficulties behind the scenes. We'll get it worked out here, but the hot topics continue
27:14to roll nonetheless. Where we left off was J.J. Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers, now their head
27:21coach. So when we're trying to take a look at what this means for the future, let's answer this.
27:26It's a four-year contract. If I told you right now in over under of a year and a half on J.J.
27:33Redick being the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, what would you decide today, over or under?
27:39I can only think, well, here's the thing. It is still the greatest job to have in the NBA,
27:48being a Lakers head coach, right? But it is also the most difficult job to have for a guy with no
27:54experience, Donnie. Let's all, we can all agree on that, whether he's successful or he's not
27:59successful. And I don't tend to think that when your best player is 40 years old and you've got
28:06and you've got Anthony Davis, your second best player there, who's probably scratching his head
28:12going, how exactly does it help me bringing this guy in who I really have no relationship with?
28:18This is LeBron's guy. It's not my guy here. You tend to worry here, but I think a lot of it has
28:25to do with what do they give up at the draft? Do they go out and get a Donovan Mitchell?
28:31We currently agree, Donnie, that this team is currently constructed,
28:35is barely going to make the play in game, if that. So what can they do? Can they go get Donovan
28:40Mitchell? Can they utilize DeAngelo Russell to go and put in a package to go get somebody else?
28:46Jimmy Butler has also been rumored. I think a lot of his success is going to be determined about who
28:54they can go out and what deals they can make to put this team together. Because as it is,
29:00a 40-year-old LeBron James is not scaring anybody in the West.
29:04Let me ask you this question on JJ Redick, right? What are the expectations for him as a coach?
29:08Forget about him, let's just say even, OK, he stays more than two years or he turns out to be
29:12good. What are we getting out of him that we weren't getting out of Darvin Ham or Vogel in
29:16the past? Which again, one of those coaches did lead LeBron James' team to an NBA championship.
29:21That's the question I'm getting. Is it because we think he's going to be so fantastic at dialing up
29:26plays during a timeout? Or Joe, is it just so simple? Hey, look, this is a business. We're
29:32trying to keep our stars in town. LeBron James is big box office. If LeBron James says he wants
29:37JJ Redick, that's where we're going to go now. Is it just that simple or are the expectations of
29:41no, no, no, no, no. JJ Redick is a fantastic coach. I can't wait to see him with his X and Os.
29:47So when you look at, again, the seventh hire in this franchise since 2011, tells you everything
29:56you need to know about what's going on. What in the world is Redick going to bring to the table
30:02from a coaching perspective that these other guys couldn't, right? Now, Darvin Ham apparently lost
30:08the locker room throughout the year. That's why they let him go. Well, of course he lost the
30:13locker room because what he realized is careful what you wish for, right, Donnie? Like here,
30:18I get my shot. I'm the Lakers head coach. I've been an assistant for a million years.
30:22Here's my chance. And then you get into this organization with this team and you're like,
30:27I have absolutely no ability to coach anything here. And he rubs all the guys the wrong way
30:32because LeBron turns on him and then the whole locker room turns on him. I don't know that
30:37LeBron James, the reason he left Spolstra here in Miami, the way he did is because he didn't want
30:44to be told what to do. Pat Riley told him, listen, LeBron, thanks, but go play basketball.
30:50We've got this. We'll run the organization. And he didn't want any part of that. So Redick is
30:55going to learn by fire, but ultimately he's going to be a scapegoat if it goes hard left here,
31:01Donnie. That's ultimately any head coach with the Lakers. That's what they have been over these,
31:07what now, since 2011, they've been scapegoats and he will be no different if this thing falls
31:12on its face. Talk to me about this too, because we like to look at it from every single angle.
31:18If you go back, let's just say a month ago, it was only JJ Redick that we felt like was going
31:23to be the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. Out of nowhere, we get the Woj bombs, the Shams
31:28tweets. How about this? Dan Hurley now in the mix, flying out to meet with Lakers ownership.
31:33We expect this to be wrapped up. It just comes down to dollar figures, which the dollar figures
31:37didn't match up because I think we could both agree. Dan Hurley gets a six year, $120 million
31:41contract. He's the Lakers head coach. He's happy saying he always wanted to be there and it was
31:45his dream come true. The reason why he's still at UConn here is because the money wasn't right.
31:49Now, the reason I bring that up is JJ Redick probably thought he was going to be the coach
31:52a month ago. And then they go like, oh, JJ, stay over there on the side real quick. We got a real
31:56coach on the line right here that we're trying to reel in. Ah, lost him. Hey, JJ, why don't you
32:01come in now? You still want to be the head coach? How does that actually work around the room? And
32:05will it make a difference over the next couple of years? They go, well, he wasn't even supposed
32:08to be the coach. There were reports, uh, Donnie, that the whole, uh, Hurley thing was a shock to
32:17LeBron and Anthony Davis. Like they, they did not know like what in what world would LeBron James,
32:25okay, Danny Hurley, like be like, okay, yeah, bring in a guy who's going to be full of, you
32:30know, uh, you're going to be full of fire is going to come in here. He's going to want it like LeBron
32:34wants. That's the antithesis of everything LeBron wants to be around. LeBron needs to be the guy
32:39who's calling the shots. I find it very hard to believe that he would have okayed that. So I do
32:45think we might've seen Jeannie bus and company on one side going, we need to bring in a coach for
32:51the future that can actually cultivate talent. Uh, and then LeBron, when that didn't work out,
32:57I think LeBron James was like, are you guys out of your mind? And here's Reddit, uh, because it's
33:02the only other guy that LeBron James, uh, would be able to relate to. I don't know anybody else
33:07that would have taken the job, uh, quite honestly, that LeBron would have approved. I think this was
33:12the only guy left. Who else was there rumors for what outside of Reddit once Hurley was gone, who,
33:19who was it? It was always just Reddick and Hurley. We heard.
33:23Yeah, no, you're right about that. Also keep in mind this, like we're in a social media
33:27day and age now, Joe, let's date ourselves again. Go back to like the nineties and early two
33:31thousands. What did you used to see on TV? Let's just go back to the NFL, the coaches show sponsored
33:36by your local Ford dealership that would run for a half hour on Sunday morning, like 10 AM before
33:41the game actually played. They didn't answer anything. Nothing was controversial. It was just
33:45like, okay, coach is going to get paid for the show. It's programming that we can run. And you
33:49said, well, how would you even bring that up? Well, JJ Reddick runs a podcast with LeBron James.
33:54Is this going to continue here? It's like, Hey, by the way, every Tuesday night, JJ and LeBron
33:58are going to talk about the Lakers and what's going on here. Does that end now at this point
34:02here? Because that was a big reason where LeBron James, I guess, was seeking out JJ Reddick to host
34:07that podcast. They got along well, and they probably started to talk like, Hey, you know what?
34:10You might be able to be a coach. I'll put in a good word for you down at the job meeting the
34:14Lakers. Is this going to continue? And how can it continue here when you're actually running the
34:18basketball team and you're just talking openly with your star player about things going on in
34:23the locker room or around the league? Yeah, I have no idea how that continues here. It might
34:30continue with a different host. I would imagine that's probably a possibility there, one that
34:36would be handpicked by LeBron. But let's be realistic here. If there's money to be made,
34:43they will do it. And I'm sure LeBron will keep it going, no problem. But I don't see how a head
34:49coach in the NBA is going to have time to. It's one thing doing a local hit at a radio station,
34:55right? Or something, a local TV or something about the coach's corner, right? But what's
35:01involved in doing the podcast the way they have it, I just don't know how. And if he has time for
35:07it, well, then he's really not coaching this team, is he, here in any way, shape or form.
35:13Now, Danny Hurley looks like reading back through about six years. I think $70 million was the top
35:17end of it here. J.J. Redick, I always get a kick out of this, too, because usually we get the
35:21numbers right away. Or the first tweet will come out, hey, they just signed the Lakers four-year
35:26deal for Redick. Thirty seconds later, Woj comes out with the financial details. So let me ask you
35:30this question. We know what was on the table out there. Let's just say six years, $70 million for
35:35Dan Hurley. What are we, the expectations on the contract, are we approaching? Because I think it's
35:40actually going to be a little cheaper. I don't think he's getting four years, $40 million. What
35:44do you think these numbers are financially for J.J. Redick to be the coach? I think they're
35:49going to be a lot less than they were for Hurley. But let's not also just assume the reason Hurley
35:54didn't take the job, Donnie, was because the money wasn't there. Let's not assume that.
36:01Suppose the reason he didn't take the job was because he wanted absolutely nothing to do with
36:07trying to navigate through this year and the money didn't matter. Changes the perspective of what
36:12this job is all about. How about that, J.J. Redick to the Lakers. How long will it last? The bigger
36:18questions are, what are the next hot topics coming down the road? I don't even know. Let's find out
36:23and get a good surprise. Make sure you stay tuned.