The Big Suey: The Free Agent Frenzy
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Welcome to the Big Sui, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching band to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar.

Today's episode is sponsored by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Panther fans, some breaking news on the old social media front. It appears as though the Panthers, who had already been reported, they're working on an extension with Carter Verhage. They have just officially announced the Sam Reinhart Sweetheart Hometown Discount deal.

And now it appears as though they're moving to lock in Sam Bennett, who, a lot like Carter Verhage, had another year on his deal. But you act now as there's championship glow, and it locks in your cap going forward. There's some cap money to play with in the coming years. Eckblad comes off the books next year.

We'll see what happens there. There were rumors that he was being shopped around, but Elliott Friedman came out and said he hadn't heard that, Roy. I'm also interested in what they're going to do with Aaron Eckblad. His contract is expiring as well, and they are also still paying one more year to Keith Yandel. That's their cap space for him. That's the one last year of his buyout. Well, I was actually asking you specifically about the Eckblad thing. There were reports out there he was being shopped. There's

been some pushback on that by some really reputable reporters aaron eckblad's at seven and a half i think he had a no move clause that turns into a no trade i'm not really sure i know what the difference is i don't think they're gonna be waving well it's the teams that he wants to go to so he would waive that you know uh and bob also comes off your books in two years uh but locking in a guy like sam bennett a nice little identity that the the florida panthers have kind of

figured out here. It's not unlike the Dallas Mavericks back in their heyday. Take a highly touted guy that maybe didn't fulfill his promise. See if you can get him to fulfill that promise under your banner. Or maybe turn that guy who was touted to be a superstar and turn him more into a role guy. I think that would be selling Sam Bennett short because I think Sam Bennett is

had stretches during this postseason where he was among the best skaters on the ice. He was a highly touted prospect coming in. This was a guy that found his way on the fourth line in Calgary, came here, has that edge to him. And I will say, I don't want to

I don't want to break down any preconceived notions about Sam Bennett because I think Paul Maurice already did that by saying, I saw him smile for the first time in two years after winning Game 7. I got a hug from Sam Bennett at 11, and it was one of the more shocking experiences of my life because that dude does not give that off. But he was standing on top of speakers saying, you know why he gave me a hug? Why? Because Aaron Eckblad...

like turned his ankle stepping down from the section that we were at with is he has so many foot problems he didn't he didn't see a step it's a tricky step and i grabbed him by the armpit and i pulled him back i might have saved his nhl career he gave me a hug after i did that and i think sam bennett recognizing what had happened there in a moment of clarity turned to me

and either is a huge fan of the show, which I doubt, or wanted to just genuinely thank me for making sure that Aaron Eckblad didn't get hurt, gave me a hug, and is one of the more... You're in that class.

Right. Like dudes that will give me like an embrace that'll stun me a little bit because I did not know that they were capable. This must be a special moment. Sam Bennett is in that Roy class. Yes. Yes. Are we bringing back Kevin Stenland? I think so. I think they need him for the pony kill. I think we are, yeah. You think so? Because I kind of... Of course we are. It would be a crime to have him not come back. Number one, I don't know if you saw that photo of Kevin Stenland floating in the pool with Lord Stanley. He looks like Thor.

ha he is a handsome devil and he proved himself to be a huge part of this team's penalty kill he's one of the best penalty killers at that position at the top of that blue line killing a penalty in the entire league it just so happens he's on penalty kill unit two because he's got Borkov ahead of him there but I would really love to bring Kevin Stinlin back he had the moment without the stick giving it his all trying to punch at the

puck. Monster number two needs to be back down here. The biggest penalty kill in franchise history. There were a couple. There were a couple against the Edmonton Oilers where the puck was in their zone for two minutes and they had key guys on their penalty kill in the box and they had to find a way to get a stop. The overwhelming thing, and I promise you this is the end of our Panther coverage unless there's news. Maybe.

I promise you. The overwhelming thing that washed over me watching the parade from home, outside of me understanding that the local news at some point just had to give up on the dump button altogether. And PLG just decided they were just going to put up a graphic warning folks that there was going to be some saucy language over there. I was watching that and I was like...

Seeing all these guys having the time of their life, Aaron Ekblad with the cone on his head, getting to have that moment over Brooks Koepka, they almost blew this. They almost threw all of this away with the most historic collapse in a final in team sports history, in modern era, because I was telling Dan, like...

The gulf between the spectrum Ren headed into that game seven, your crowning achievement as a professional, your first Stanley Cup in franchise history, what you might be associated for better or worse, what you might be associated with for the rest of your career. When they introduce Aaron Ekblad at functions, do...

from now. He's going to be Stanley Cup winner Aaron Ekblad. That was what was on one side of the spectrum. What was on the other side was biggest choker in the history of team sports. You're not going to be able to avoid this. They're going to throw your graphic up there when they're talking about Major League Baseball playoffs and teams blowing leads. Your brand is going to be synonymous with chokers.

Speaking of throwing graphics up, not to intrude on this wonderful, but you guys was about to do a billboard in Edmonton and couldn't get it done. Jason Tatum put a billboard out here on Miami Beach and said, don't stop disbelieving.

Neither here nor there, but he got his billboard up. Right. So I think that was Jordan that did that. It was Jason Tatum on the picture. It was Jason Tatum doing it, so I don't think Jason Tatum was calling Clear Channel. I'm pretty sure. You can make jokes, but a Jason Tatum billboard was in Miami, and he got that done. That's all I'm saying. It just doesn't make sense to make fun of people's celebrations. You know what I mean? Yeah.

I want to bring it full circle because we had a lot to say about the celebration and people around the world have a lot to say about Miami's celebration. And I think that it's all goofy. Like, I don't give a damn if it's one. I wish one person would have came to the Panthers Parade yesterday so we can be just as happy because it doesn't matter. You're a loser if you're at the house and you care

about our parade. Getting back to our celebration, you mentioned FCC fines and all the F-bombs. Well, we have Paul Maurice. We had the video of that and that was spectacular. I need his t-shirt here in this clip. For every f***ing year, 30 years, for that woman over there, 30 years of being married to an a**hole. In my wildest dreams, I never would have thought I could see this.

Seriously, understand this. Everybody that we love in this world is happy right now.

My head coach was lit. That line was awesome. That's the most Canadian he's ever looked, wearing those shorts with that hat, walking around Fort Lauderdale Beach with a drink in his hand. He looked extra Canadian there. But I do think that Juju opened up the path to actually getting these billboards there. Have CCM or Raising Cane's or somebody sponsor the board for Matthew Kachuk and have them say Greg Cody was right because...

They absolutely got in through the back door with that Tatum billboard by just saying, yeah, Jordan wants some ad space over here. Talk to me, Juju. I know some billboard people. Hey, man. We can make some stuff happen. Exactly. I just want to stop shaming it. No, ain't no shame. We're going to make it happen. We're going to make it happen because I got the plug.

wait hold on are we doing tatum or are we doing greg cody billboards which one we've been doing well juju mentioned that tatum got a billboard down here i pointed out that he got a billboard down here not because jason tatum was doing what dan was doing which was calling around mom and pop shops but because jordan has a marketing budget yeah and the plugs already so we need to find a similar way i'm telling you right now i have the plug i have the billboard plug we'll make it happen yeah all you guys do is ask

All you got to do is ask. Can we ask for Dan? I personally never want to see those billboards go up. I think it's a bad look. The Greg Cody billboards? I think it's a bad look for us. So if the show wants to do it now that the job is done, go for it. Florida Panthers, as we've covered throughout this entire local hour so far, they've got a lot working against them. Don't need other people having that ammunition. But if you want to go nuts with the billboards now that you've won, do it. Wait, what are you saying? What are you saying?

I just think it doesn't give off class. Why is it a bad look? Hold on. It's too cool for us, guys. Oh, we're the classy outfit now? That's what we do here? I think that, look, we weren't on a float. The goalpost moves every week with this company. It's like, can I be emotional? Can I be mean? Can I be happy? Can I stand here? What are we doing? I'm always me. Lithium. That's what we're doing. We're all doing lithium. All right. So how does the show get a billboard? How does the show...

You talking to me? I'm talking to you. Okay. I'm asking you. I don't have to reveal how the sausage gets made. It's just all you got to know is the sausage is on the plate. And that's it. Nice.

Okay. Thank you. Did you get delayed in your travels? Yeah. What happened? Flew out from SFO and there were mechanical issues, so we were on the tarmac for a while. It's going around. Did they use a YouTube video to fix it? Because Tony and I's flight to Austin for South by Southwest, we were in the Turkish lounge watching some guy watch a YouTube video while he was underneath the plane. Yeah, he went from vertical to the sides so he could really see what it was so that way he didn't get it in. No way. Yeah, I promise you. I swear to God. He was right underneath the engine.

He had it kind of like up like this. He had it like this, and he was trying to turn it for a while, and then he finally turned it. He was like, oh, and then he started screwing the arm around it. That's when you got to do the Grandpa Abe Simpson and just walk back out. Tony just started wolfing down free brownies. We were like, this is going to end poorly. Excellent brownies. What kind of brownies? Sam Bennett, Roy. Sam Bennett, bro. Back to what you were saying. Yeah, him on the second line with a kachuk on his wing.

Man, top six forwards for the Panthers is best in the league, man. I'm very happy that they're going to try to re-sign him here. Wait, Roy wasn't on the float? Nobody was on the float. Nobody was on the float. Because of the shenanigans that the show pulled over the last few months, the checks came back. It did not clear because of our general approach to hockey.

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Big NBA transaction, Jeremy. What can you tell us about it? Isaiah Hardenstein has signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder on a three-year, $87 million contract. There it is, Knicks fans. Man, he likes it here. He's frustrated.

The guy's here. Some things are more important than money. That shirt just went away, Sam Morrow. That shirt does not matter no more. Salute. My bad, Jess. How much did the second apron play into this, Amin? Oh, enough. The second apron? Tell us about the aprons. There's only one apron that matters. The one that he's wiping his money-hungry hands on. Like, oh, yeah, I got all this dirt from all these millions I've been counting. Look, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, and a barbecue?

Yeah, it's saucy. Saucy millions. It's Oklahoma. The most the Knicks could offer, apron or not, four years, $72 million. The most. Nick Claxton got 100 mil.

At that point, I said, kiss it goodbye. There's no way he looks across the river and sees a guy that he says, I'm better than him, I play on a better team, and he's going to get 25 a year, and I'm going to take 16. No chance in hell. And I had to hear all this stuff about, man, you're stupid.

the guys and he enjoys playing with them and you can't put a price on friendship. Oh yes you can. Yes you can. Who was that right there? Who just imitated? Taylor. That's Taylor. Oh nice.

Taylor, sorry, you are the Nick fan of our lives, so that's how we're going to do it. No, man, that's like this. Every year we go through this. Every year in the NBA, there's a free agent on a team, and it's like, hey, the most he can offer them is this. But his market value is going to be somewhere around here. And there are these people who delude themselves into thinking, no. He likes us. They like us.

put a price on? Yes, you can. His whole life is about maximizing how much money he can make in a very small window of time. Well, occasionally someone like maybe Sam Reinhardt in another sport will take the friendly team deal. Gustav Forsling did do that. And I think you take the team friendly deals when you're close to winning a championship and maybe, maybe, just maybe inside of league circles, they don't think the Knicks are as close to a title as Knicks fans feel. I just want to point out, I like how we're on this plane and the plane is deep.

Dude, there's all sorts of alarms and we're about to crash. And I grabbed the steering wheel and said, come on, I'll take you to salvation. And we fly towards NBA free agency. And Jess was like, no, hockey again. Oh, come on, man. It's not fair. I do want to address. It's our last day. It's not fair, Roy. It's been eight years of hockey in the last two weeks. Jesus Christ. I mean, it's free agency time, man. I know for the NBA. But me and Joe. New York isn't exactly a...

tax-free state. There's been this huge notion from a lot of NHL fans. Tampa got hit with this a lot when they were winning. You've got to do something about these state tax teams. They have an unfair advantage. That's what Maple Leaf fans are saying. They have an unfair advantage. And I will say it's a different story altogether for the Canadian teams than it is for those in the United States. But someone should do something about this. To which I say, they do.

All right? Sam Reinhardt's home that he's going to fetch for $8 million down here in South Florida would look a hell of a lot different than if it were in Columbus, Ohio. There's a whole cost of living aspect here. Including it being underwater. Yeah, there's...

Give me the cost of living in Columbus, Ohio, if you want to complain about the state tax here. Let me buy a house for the value that I would get it at Columbus, Ohio, if you have an issue with the state tax thing. Cost of living does factor into these things. And also...

It's not like he's not going to be getting state taxes when they play in the New York area. That's the other part. It's just for like 50% of their games. It's an inherent incompetence about how any of the shit works. It's just like, oh, but they got no state income taxes. Okay, first of all, they still got federal taxes, which is the majority of your tax you're paying. But plus, any road game you play, most of these states now have enacted the jock tax, which is...

Anytime these performers, singers, comedians, and athletes come to your state,

They're getting taxed there. And so 41 road games, guess what happens on the salary earned in those games? That being said, if there's an NHL lifer that just gets moved to one of the two Florida teams and they have a home stretch for about 10 days, they look at their check and they're like, did someone make a mistake? Because so much money usually gets taken out of those things. It's probably, you know what's interesting? I wonder what happens if I never play a road game.

Right? Like some old, long in the teeth guy. Or Kyrie, where he never had to play a home game in Brooklyn, but he could play on the road trips. I'd love to talk to an accountant. If you're an accountant, call us on the show. I do want to talk about the Oklahoma City aspect to this move. I want to talk about the aprons. Will someone please just tell me about the aprons? What is the tax apron?

I don't feel comfortable about Jess asking about aprons. I think she wants to put people in that position. The only apron that she should be talking about is the one she wears when she makes me a sandwich. She wears

She wears a nape print to make a sandwich? I like what the Thunder are doing. Good sandwiches. Adding Caruso especially. This is a team that needed some of those veterans to help do some of those dirtier things that can help you win a title. Those are good glue guys. Those are good role players. I really like Oklahoma City after these moves. You know what they did?

They're baking the cake at 400 degrees. I love it. I use this analogy every year, particularly with the young teams. The instructions say bake the cake 400 degrees for 20 minutes. A lot of times organizations, after a little bit of success, are like, crank it to 800 and it'll be done in 10. And that's how they mess everything up. And Thunder are like, no, no, let it bake. Are the Knicks cranking it up to 800? Man, 600.

first round picks for Mikkel Bridges is cranking it up. I kind of feel that way too. It was a combination of two different analogies. One is they cranked it up to 800 degrees. Two is they're doing the dice thing too much. They're going into the... Villanova! Villanova! It works with these role player guys. What if we have a team of all of role players from Villanova? Villanova! Amari Spellman! Villanova! Villanova! What about... Sadiq Bey! Arkadyachino! Yeah! So

Sadiq Bae. Sadiq Bae is someone like, he's like, I don't know. Boys, what up? Where we at? Do I have bars? I don't know, man. What's the Wi-Fi again? They haven't hit me up yet. 5G? Well, with the Knicks now, I mean, so it's three years, $87 million for Hardenstein to go to Oklahoma City. With the Knicks, you now look at their trade, and by having to lose Hardenstein, it's sort of like they included him in that deal. So you look at Isaiah Hardenstein, Boyan Bogdanovich, five first-round picks and a second-round pick.

for Mikael Bridges. I think that the Knicks got better in terms of acquiring Bridges. I praised the trade last week, but did they get significantly better with this move? It's a little intellectually... You also had to bring back OG. It's a little intellectually disingenuine because it doesn't matter whether they do the deal or not. Early bird rights for Hartenstein, they can only offer him a deal. So was it going to happen regardless? The only...

The only way it was going to happen was to have the kindness of his dumb old heart. Perfect. Like, I would, but I love it here. And that's what they were banking their whole thing. Or this would be a more radical approach if they had renounced a bunch of stuff and gone under the cap and then used cap space to sign him. I guess the question still applies. He could have also done a really short-term year, right? Sure. But that's no way.

NBA agent would say that's a good idea. But even if he did a one-year deal to get to full bird rights, it would be a one-year deal for $60 million versus three years, 87, with a team that looks like they're going to be running the sport for the next five years. So maybe intellectually dishonest to make it all sort of like one move. But the question, I guess, still remains of how much better did the Knicks get

considering what the transactions are. They lost Hartenstein, and now Mitchell Robinson, who was their original starter, but has had an injury history throughout his career, now you're hanging all your hopes on that. So you've got to figure out what you're going to do to get a five. Now, the part where the deal does come into play is how much they can offer pressure to Chua.

because of the hard cap enacted by the apron if they're taking in more money than they give out. So they've got to rework that deal, which means they might lose Deuce McBride. These are all the kind of things that in the margins people don't want to hear about. They're kind of boring, but these are the counting things that end up there. Well, why do we have to let him go? Because this, this, and this.

Let's bring in Jake Fisher from Yahoo Sports, who does a great job covering the NBA, who you know a little bit to talk about some of these recent moves. And our show can finally chew on this Paul George thing that happened overnight. Paul George to the Sixers. I already saw the who can stop these guys graphic. And I was looking at the knees in particular. I was maybe fixating, maybe circle the knees. Circle the Olympics 2024 as your LNB. What are you doing? I don't know.

So Paul George now joins Maxi, who I think got a Max deal. Is that a part of the... He got a Maxi deal. He got a Maxi deal. Four for 204. Look, I mean, Philadelphia added to a team that, again, health is always going to be the question there. But I think it's a good fit for Paul George. I'm curious to know Jake's thoughts here. So let's start right there, Jake, and welcome aboard the show. Let's start with the headliner move so far of this offseason. Paul George to Philadelphia. Your immediate thoughts.

This was kind of the Sixers plan for 2024 free agency starting as early as 2023 free agency when James Harden opted in and requested a trade.

The Sixers made this plan. This is Daryl Morey's master pipe dream of trying to trade him and only taking back one-year contracts to then get into the open market this summer and be the only winning team with max cap space. And they did it. Daryl Morey did it again. As much as people want to

talk crap on him and make fun of his calculators and his spreadsheets. This was the vision and this was their guy all along and they got him. It's kind of been like a 300 day approach for this guy. Was this vengeance? A little bit. I mean, look, the other aspect of this

James Harden gets traded to the Clippers. The Sixers get back Clippers picks, and then they made the Clippers monumentally worse by bringing back Paul George. It's crazy. So you touched on some of the reasons why this may be, but the Clippers put out like a weird...

Yes, they did.

aboard. So what do you make of how this played out and the Clippers' reaction to it? The Clippers' statement and what Lawrence Frank had already said publicly about this, about the CBA, it can sound like an excuse, but I do think it's a reason. And what it is is that it's not just that this new second apron brings tax penalties because Steve Ballmer could pay

out the wazoo to front any team. The issues are the cap. Now the rules with hamstring a team and limit you from getting better.

And what happens is if you pay into the second apron for three out of five years, which is exactly what would have happened if the Clippers brought back all of Kawhi, James Harden and Paul George on the three year contracts, they would have had a pick frozen in the future and stuck in the back of the first round. They wouldn't have been able to aggregate salaries to get better. They wouldn't have had contracts.

trade exceptions and they couldn't have signed and traded and what have you. And the Clippers were afraid of paying for this team to compete in the West for three years and then be stuck for the next four years.

from 2027 to 2032 in this brand new stadium with no means to get better than an absolute shit team. So that was kind of their fear here. They were saving themselves now from a potential doomsday future. And the cost is definitely Paul George. If they gave him a four-year deal remotely close to this, I think he would have stayed in L.A.

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Don Levitard. Again, started on the breakfast flan. Oh, man. I've been singing a song to myself all morning long. Breakfast flan. Stugatz. Have you never heard the breakfast flan song? No. Hit me with it. Okay. I wish I had some breakfast flan. Breakfast flan. Where can I find a breakfast like that?

This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugats.

Sticking with the Clippers, Jake, you were one of the first people to report that Russell Westbrook would be, will be worked into a trade somewhere. Typically when you see a guy opt into a deal and then immediately trade it, it was probably a conversation that was made between the agent, the player, and the team, kind of an agreement. Why would Russell Westbrook do that? Why wouldn't he just test free agency?

To your point, there's definitely, I think, a collaborative process there with the agency XL Sports and the Clippers trying to find him a new home.

read I have on it right now is that he wasn't necessarily certain that Russell Westbrook was going to get more than the minimum and the minimum this year for him is 3.6 so that's a cool 400k that he made sure he got and it's a thing all around the league right now you know Chris Paul signing with San Antonio he avoids a situation like he would have had to in Phoenix or LA where he would have been on

on the minimum. And that's a cold hard reality for a lot of veterans once they do decline. Once you get on a minimum contract, it's really, really hard to get above it. And that $400,000 gap, that's nothing for these guys, even though they've made $100 million throughout their career, $200 million throughout their career. So I think there was some appropriate fear, I guess, or skepticism on their side that he was going to actually have opportunities above that minimum number.

One of the big names that's going to be on the move, we just don't know where, is Klay Thompson. The Warriors haven't put out a weird statement, but we've gotten the flags that his time is done. There's some traction out there for Dallas. And that is such a Dallas Mavericks pickup.

is so their identity. Let's turn a superstar into a role player type of guy. And he could really help. He could help. And they have that Tim Hardaway traded player exception that if they can work something out, they can get him in. Jake, what are the odds that he's wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform at the start of next season?

I really do think right now it's between Dallas and the Lakers, where they both can kind of basically give him the same type of salary structure somewhere around the mid-level exception. So it's just a matter of figuring out which scenario. I mean, the Lakers, I think, is more direct. They wouldn't need any type of sign-and-trade, I don't believe, and Dallas has options to do that, but...

I've been told by the cap nerds I know that Dallas can clear away to just get their full mid-level as well and bring him in without that complication. But Philly's been looming on the periphery here, too. They've got Paul Reed's contract that is $8 million and non-guaranteed. They could waive him. They could use him in a sign-and-trade, too. So I'm not totally discounting the Sixers either, but...

And so far earlier this morning, the word has definitely been that he's deciding between Dallas and the Lakers. And I think objectively, Dallas is clearly more positioned to help Klay Thompson compete for his fifth championship. So I think if winning ultimately rules the day, it's going to be Dallas. It's going to be... You go. How did Orlando fall out of this? Is it just because they went and got KCP? Because I'm looking at their roster. It's a nice move for them. That is a nice move. But I'm thinking like, yo...

A Jonathan Isaac sign-in trade doesn't get Klay Thompson done to Orlando. And Orlando was also sniffing around this Paul George thing as well. They were in play there. What do we make of Orlando? So Orlando, I honestly don't believe is ever really a Klay Thompson team. I think they definitely wanted a guard. They gave that money to KCP. They were absolutely looking at Malik Monk.

But Klay, you know, approaching 35 doesn't exactly fit the timeline as well as KC, even though KCP, I think, is 32. So he's not, you know, a spring chicken like Franz and Paolo. But he, I think, fits more so from like a long term and not a wheels falling off trajectory that Klay has kind of shown of late. So I just I mean, honestly, yeah.

It was probably sometime last week, I checked in with someone from Golden State and I said, hey, I think this KCP Orlando thing is real. I don't think Clay has a home. And they said, yeah, we've been trying to tell people all along this magic thing isn't legit. It's just kind of leverage that his side was trying to create. And honestly, I haven't said this publicly yet, I don't really think Paul George was really so real for Orlando too. That might have been some type of...

Quid pro quo, you know, Orlando gets a meeting, quote unquote, and it helps Orlando look good and it helps Paul have some type of leverage as well. It's not just Philly. Like I haven't gotten it confirmed at this juncture that Orlando even met with Paul George and that there even was a meeting scheduled, but there was just some kind of loose interest that could have happened and benefited both sides there.

Jake buddy, we started this off wrong. Your energy is all low. How you doing, man? I know this is the worst time of the year because it's like you don't get to sleep. You're by your phone all the time. Tell me about your personal life during free agency.

So last night I actually got my first night's sleep of more than five hours in probably two weeks because the draft, you know. That's another thing, too. Everyone was kind of saying yesterday on Twitter, oh, the new CBA cooled the early rush out the gates. No, the fact that...

The draft ended Thursday and free agency ended Sunday as opposed to like usually there's a week for all these deals to, you know, illegally get figured out. So we didn't have that run up here. And yeah, it's been good. We got a new foster rescue that we foster failed. Arugula. She's in the house. So that's been nice. Arugula? Arugula?

Arugula. We call her Rugi. So, everything's been good over here. I love it. Hold on, can you give a foster a nickname? Because now it's all confused when it goes to its actual home. No, we failed. We adopted her. She's ours now. She's my daughter. I'm a dad. Oh, okay. Arugula. Congratulations. I'm not a mixed-green type of person, but that's a cute name. Spinach. Rugi. Honestly, in a class with kale. Overrated. More aesthetically pleasing than tasty. It's peppery, though. The rooster.

Jake, I do want to ask you, we know that Philadelphia is remaining aggressive, and I really wish that the Miami Heat would take a lesson from that recent aggression that Philadelphia's had. They are very quiet right now. They are bringing back Kevin Love. Again, same scenario playing out here for the Miami Heat. The rest of the East is getting better. Tobias Harris, by the way, goes to Detroit. That just broke.

Ew! Yeah, I think like, what is he pulling? Two for 52. What is Detroit doing, man? Two for 52. Dude is printing money. Printing money to buy shoes. That is Detroit signing a piece that they will trade next year because in the NBA, like bad contracts have this bizarro value. Wow.

So they're just a way station right now. But Houston, along with the Miami Heat, are these teams that we heard could be players this summer, have the capital to get something done. Right now we're just seeing the names that we know about. Is there any chance that some superstars that we don't necessarily know are available on the market can find themselves to the Houstons, to the Miamis of the world? So quick note on Tobias.

This is also a sneaky way for the Pistons to spend a lot of the cap that they have to spend to reach 90% of the salary floor. I don't think it's sneaky. That has to be what's going on here. Oh, yeah. I mean, Washington did it, too. Like, Jonas Valanciunas, starting center for the worst place Washington was. I thought I was getting pranked when I saw the Jonas Valanciunas thing. Before we move on to answer Mike's question, I got to say, you brought up Valanciunas. He was the best center on the market. Between him and Hartenstein. No, Isaiah was. Hartenstein was, man. How dare you?

If I'm Jonas Valanciunas, I'm looking at my resume and I'm looking at his resume and say, I have more to show that I can do this. But Jonas' arrow is not pointing up the way that Isaiah's arrow is. Sure, but also, I am what I am right now. If there's a part where we're saying, hey, who are you sure can replicate what he did this last season? It's the guy who's done it three or four or five years, not the guy who did it for half a season.

Why did he take less than mid-level? I don't know. Has there been someone who's gotten the full mid-level yet? I don't think that's going to happen. I think we're past. I mean, if that happens, if it did happen, I apologize. But every team I spoke to before for agency repeatedly said, oh yeah, if we can get this guy at 9-10 and still leave like 3-4 million left to use as a traded player exception or sign somebody else...

We're in this new era now where the mid-level is so high that I don't think any team I spoke to had any plans of using that full amount. But 10 seems criminally low when you look at the other centers on the market, what they've gotten.

If he didn't get that, honestly, I mean, I think he was looking at the minimum in certain scenarios. Given where he is in his career. But back to the original question, Miami-Houston. The original question, Miami-Houston. Miami-Houston. Are these franchises actually going to do something with the trade capital that they've been reserving?

The problem that Houston saw at number three and that Portland saw the year before at number three and that Cleveland has seen in past years and Golden State when they had seven and 14, there just aren't a lot of players right now that are available that are on a bad team. Like, Larry Markkinen is probably the one guy that I think has actual possibility to get traded. But if you want him...

The Jazz are going to look at what Mikael Bridges just got. They're going to look at what they got for Donovan Mitchell and what they got for Rudy Gobert, and they're going to say, give us five, six unprotected picks. And I don't know if that's necessarily going to be something a team wants to do unless they really figure out and believe that Larry Markin is the missing piece. I've heard Golden State and San Antonio and Sacramento as the teams that have most checked on him.

But at this point, I think it's still like a little touch too early to have. I mean, the Jazz can still renegotiate and extend Larry Markkinen. That begins as early as August 6th. And every indication I've had is that they're trying to do that and add to him right now. But that's the guy. That is the only guy, I think. Donovan Mitchell's going back to Cleveland. Like Jeremy Grant. He is.

Derby Grant's not worth that type of stuff. Why hasn't the Mitchell thing happened yet? Because a lot of Heat fans are holding out hope. I know your point is a good one. There aren't really superstar malcontents on bad teams right now. I would say there are a couple of bad teams that don't necessarily realize they're bad, but they're in unique situations. Like tell Ishbia that they're not going to be competitive. It's hard to reason with them right now. So conventional wisdom would say sit back,

and wait for some of these teams to do bad. However, if Miami goes another offseason with letting the rest of the Eastern Conference lap them, and even in their own division getting worse inside of that, I don't know if this fan base, which has been pretty patient with Pat, I'll take that back, hasn't been very patient, but now that the Celtics finally won their title, you're in chase mode. How logical is it that the Miami Heat are going to practice patience here because that would go over like a lead balloon?

Yeah, and they might lose both Haywood Highsmith and Caleb Martin, depending on how things go. The biggest thing about the Tobias Harris news that broke while we've been on here, my first thought was, okay, well, that was a big Caleb Martin possibility. Excuse me. So...

Like, does he go back? I mean, the word has been he's been looking for that type of money. You know, a two-year, $20 million a year AAV type of thing. Heywood Highsmith's looking for the full mid-level, which we talked about earlier, not necessarily so available out there. So, like, the opportunity cost for them to, you know, find a richer thing somewhere else, I'm not sure that's going to be worth those guys not going back to Miami. But if they do...

Like, is that enough to like, are you to your point, Mike? Are you like,

you know parading down to the Casillas Center because you brought back Haywood Highsmith and Caleb Martin I don't think those moves compare to what the top of the East has done I think you're right like it's going to be a matter of swallowing a patient's pill and hoping that Phoenix blows up hoping that you know other situations become awry that's really what I think that's it right now the good news is Miami is no stranger to swallowing pills yes Jake uh we thank you for your time real quick five seconds or less what happens with LeBron

He takes a pay cut depending on the caliber of guy. If they get Clay, he'll take less. But I don't think anyone, like if they get Brooke, you know, maybe. But he's going back to the Lakers. You're thinking of a pay cut for Haywood Highsmith? Yeah. I mean, we're getting to the point where I'm going to start overreacting to Haywood Highsmith leaving. Oh, my God. If Miami keeps getting their lunch taken. Thank you so much, Jake. Check this stuff out for Yahoo Sports Senior NBA Reporter.

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