Draft Night One: Winners, Losers & The Check Austin Reaves Just Cashed In

Cold Open And Mission Statement

Night one of the NBA draft is in the books. It was an event, but the offseason is already moving, and the lottery just ended. You can't grade what happened on Tuesday night. But you can you can start looking at how the roster is forming. Full picture of team by team, the winners, the losers, one story that nobody's talking about loud enough. So you know who's gonna do that, right? It's FRPC. Let's get into it. What's good everybody? Welcome to Frontrunner Podcast Collective. This is where we talk like friends, we argue like cousins, and still walk out smarter than we were when we came in. I am Vince, I am your host, your occasional hoop therapist, your absolute favorite bad influence when it comes to completely reckless NBA overreactions that low-key make sense, and we are setting the table today. We are getting into the film room observations today, and we're talking about the players, the coaches, the front office uh moves, and also those checks, those big checks that just come on in. So, we're gonna get you some jokes, we're gonna give you some advanced math and the exact ammo you need in your group chats, you know where to come from when you need to get all the things that you need to get when it comes to all the NBA nonsense that goes on. If you're NBA sicko who wants more, more than highlights. You want context, numbers in a point of view, you found your spot. Let's go. So today we're gonna talk a lot about the NBA draft. Um, we're gonna also talk about some of these trades that have gone down. There was a signing of Austin Reeves that we will get into. We have a lot to go and get into today. So without further ado, we're gonna do what a lot of podcasts do. We're gonna talk about the winners, day one, right? And then what we're gonna do, talk about some losers, and we're gonna talk about how some of these uh these these trades have affected the draft, and we're also gonna talk about how the signing of Austin Reeves and where does that leave leave us as Lakers fans are either rejoicing or being completely pissed off because of the fact that they think that Austin Reeves got overpaid. That is a big story here in Los Angeles. Did Austin Reeves get overpaid? And we will get into all of it.

Draft Context And Top Pick Debate

But we will start with the draft before we get into all of the winners and losers. The little speculation right before the draft about whether Darren Peterson was gonna go one or two. He said in his interview with uh ESPN that he was salty about not going number one. He felt like he was the number one player. That's kind of what you want uh an athlete to say. But the thing about it is, is that, and we'll get into it as we go along. I don't think there was any choice for Washington to make other than AJ Debanza. Uh DeBanza was clearly the guy that Washington had focused on. I'm not saying that they did not bring in Peterson for a workout or interview. They did do do so, but at the end of the day, they had to make a decision, and that decision seemed to be fairly fairly easy. Which leads me to my next situation that we need to get into. Let's talk about the winners.

Memphis Wins And Ja Questions

The first winner that we want to talk about is the Memphis Grizzlies. They take Cameron Goozer at three. Um, we'll talk about some some of the other stuff they did, which was kind of crazy, but it ended up working out for them. Um, Cameron Goozer to me is the safest pick in the draft. He was the guy that I personally thought that if you were going to say this is their floor, are you comfortable with this? He's a guy I would have said, yep, absolutely. This is the person that I want to uh kind of start the re-imagination of the Memphis Grizzlies in as quickly as they can try to jettison off John Morant, which we will get to. I think that getting Cameron Boozer, just a good overall citizen, um, a really good player, a fundamental guy, a guy who's really going to take his craft seriously. And, you know, we can say what we want about John Morant and some of the antics and some of the things that he brought to this team in the last two or three years. And the one thing I want to say about it is this is I'm not upset about the mistakes that John made. I'm upset that they continue to happen. I'm upset that they he never learned from them. And I think when you get a player like Cameron Boozer, who is really, first of all, he's second generation, his dad played in the league, which we all know. You're gonna have less that you need to worry about. You're gonna have uh somebody who's gonna come in who understood his role. He has won everywhere he's gone. Um, maybe he did not win the national championship last year, but he did everything possible for Duke to win because he carried them on his back. He was like the de facto point guard, and if you think about it at 6'8, 6'9, 250 pounds, that wasn't your go-to situation if you were thinking about Cameron Boozer. Second side initiator, maybe that type of thing, but not the actual on-ball creator, and he actually did a pretty commendable job at that. Uh, and then when they needed a bucket, he got them one. So you're getting a real solid player, and I think honestly, a guy who can, you know, they say that he is a 20-point a game, 11 rebound a game guy. I think there's more. I think there's more to him. Now let's talk about their second situ their second pick. Because they were at 16, they moved down to 21, and they grabbed Kareem Lopez, and they collected five, five, five additional, additional second round picks. I loved it personally. I saw his tape, I wasn't thrilled about Kareem Lopez. I'm always wondering how a slow plotting dude like this is going to make it when the shot isn't isn't great. There's no specific skill that you can sit there and go, that's what he's gonna do well. He does everything good. There's not a very good skill that you say, okay, we're gonna enhance this skill, and this is where he's going to going to thrive in the NBA. But for what I guess they were looking for, and it's hard for me to shoot down Zach Kleiman and the crew in Memphis as far as their actual like talent assessment, they might have saw something that I didn't see. I've been wrong before, but Cam uh Kareem Lopez was the second pick of the Memphis Grizzlies, and if I'm thinking about how this looks for Memphis going forward, the teardown mandate is clean. Uh, if Jaw is gone, you know, before the start of the year, there's nothing to worry about. If anything, landing boozer accelerates the conversation um about moving Ja this summer. If you can, I've heard around the league that it's gonna actually take picks to incentivize a team to pick him to uh go ahead and do the acquisition. But the moment you have this foundation, this piece, you can start changing the identity. You hit the reset button in Memphis, which you needed to intentionally. Boozer is that guy, and then now you have the chance to go out and start putting your team together. I mean, you got Cedric Coward, you got Jalen Wells, as far as that's concerned. You hope that you can get Ty Jerome back healthy. He only played in like what 15 games last year, which was terrible. I think Ty Jerome is a kind of a steadying influence on a young squad like that, and I hope to see them all put together, and if we can get a full participation of Zach Edy, along with Cameron Boozer, along with Jalen Wells, along with Cedric Howard, that lineup doesn't look so bad with all the pieces that they are jettisoning off John Morant to the world, if they can go ahead and get to that point, and then you talk about our guy, uh Jaron Jackson Jr., who's in Utah? For somebody who's in a rebuild, the start of their rebuild is very promising. So now, what happens if you have to keep John Morant? Do you start him? Do you send him away? Do you want him to even have any sort of influence on this team whatsoever? Because I will say right now, I think you start with Boozer, you allow him to become that guy, and you you have him become kind of like the de facto leader of that team, and you just kind of move on there from there. You know, uh let allow Lopez to find his game. You know, you're not looking to, you know, break the bank and win a bunch of games this year. It's a slow, steady climb to the top again. But I think personally, if you're gonna do this, you definitely don't want to have the distraction of John Morant. So whatever the Memphis Grizzlies have to do to uh get John Morant off the team, I think you have to do it. I mean, obviously, you don't want to give up three first-round draft picks. That's that seems to be an overkill. So hopefully, what we can get to is a point where they can find somebody who would want him. And maybe do you trade one of the young players instead of the draft picks? Is there a role player that somebody would want? Is there another studying influence that maybe you can send along with Ja to somewhere where they can kind of go, okay, we we see this and we can hopefully uh mold Ja into what we need him to be. Like if the Miami Heat, I'm not saying the Miami Heat has use for him now, but before the Giannis trade, that would have been somewhere I would have thought could do something with him.

Milwaukee After The Giannis Trade

Now we transition to Milwaukee. You know, our our people in Milwaukee, they gotta be sad right now, but here's the thing. Milwaukee had two first-round draft picks. Obviously, this is the Milwaukee to Miami Giannis Ante Tacumpo trade, where then they ended up with Tyler Hero, Khalil Ware, Jaime Haquez Jr., and Casparis Yakachunis in the 13th pick overall. And three future firsts, let's not forget that for Milwaukee, because they're gonna need it, need it. And then two Miami, obviously, you got Giannis and Titakumpo and Bobby Portis. Milwaukee's draft strategy was built entirely on what came back in this deal, which was the 13th overall pick, which they they found it necessary to have, and I think it was actually a pretty good way they kind of maneuvered around the draft board, and what I want to do for you is kind of take you in. Because we got the surprise pick of Mores Johnson Jr. at 9, and the reason why I bring that up is because we're gonna talk about it later. But then that left, okay, we're at 10. What do we do? So Milwaukee has been fascinated with Nate Amit, and actually, I think one of their owners has been a large donor to the Tennessee Balls basketball program, and I think he actually signed a check to get Nate Amit there last year. So what I need people to appreciate is that the front office did what they needed to do, but it was funny, I think they did it in a different order because they did not expect Brayton Burries to be there at 10. So let's go ahead and paint the picture for you. Night of the draft, you come in, you're kind of looking, your pick is coming up at 10. Okay, what's on the board? What's been taken off? Oh my god, Moreas Johnson Jr. has been taken at 9. That leaves Grandon Berry's at 10. I think the Memphis or the Milwaukee office pivoted. They say, Hey, we cannot pass up on this dude. And the reason why I'm telling you, and you're saying, Well, it's Grandon Berry's. Like, how good is he? He's solid. And you say, Well, solid, you don't want to go for solid at the number 10 overall pick, and I think that's where you're wrong. We see so many of these upside uh swings, and Natamint would be an upside swing, and we'll get to him momentarily. But at 10, you got a solid pick, and I'm gonna tell you right now, if Brandon Berries falls to 11, he goes to Golden State Warriors, no questions asked. So, what did Milwaukee do? They said we'll take Brandon Berries out of Arizona, and then the quality of guard tier drop off from there. He's a two-way threat who scores at all three levels and defends uh with a ferocity. I love this kid. I think you got a real like professional at 10, and then you did the up side, you did the upside swing pick at 13, and that was Nathan Mint, and that's who you got for the 13th overall pick, which used to belong to the Miami Heat. Now, with Nathan Mint, what you get is a ball handler who is 6'10. There is a theoretical 3nd um play on this kid, somewhat like Jaden McDaniels, but I'm gonna tell you right now. I he's very he's rail thin. He did not shoot it well last year, he was allergic to the paint, and so a lot of things are going to have to develop for him to reach the levels of Jaden McDaniels, and also you got to get bigger and stronger to be able to be any sort of like quality defensive player on the opposite side. So I think for what they got out of the draft, I like it personally. Taylor Jenkins is taking over this team. Uh, he doesn't walk into a crisis, he walks into a formula, he's already run. He has a defensive anchor in Miles Turner, who's 6'11, he's a shock blocker. You got Khalel Ware, if you decide not to trade him, which it doesn't seem like they will. Um, coming in the trade. You also got a 20-year-old, Caspar Jacquesunis. Um, and then you got the other, you got the other picks. You got Hany Hawkes Jr. who's a solid pro. I like that kid a lot. And then also you got Tyler Hero. Now, Tyler Hero might be on the move. Um, now that Austin Reeves has signed his or he has agreed to sign his contract. So the Lakers earlier this morning agreed to terms with Austin Reeves four years, 185 million, and I will talk about this a little bit later, because you know I'm a Lakers fan. But that also opens the door for Tyler Hero to be traded to Detroit because Detroit was the mystery team that was willing to go ahead and back up the Brinks truck for Austin Reeves. Now, Hero decision is a forking roll because I think personally they're gonna go ahead and try to trade him now with these developments starting to happen. I think Hero, as far as a shooter, a spacer, which they Detroit desperately needs that. Um It also opens up a developmental runway for berries and a man and where Yakunus is also gonna be able to play on ball, which is great. Uh, and I think personally this is they didn't get the the the great upside pick or the great upside player from Miami. They did not. But the trade is not done yet, and you can sit there and tell me, hey, you know, this was kind of a lousy um bag of goods that Milwaukee got back in return. Well, that all depends on what they get for Tyler Hero. Right? Let's keep an open mind. We can talk about the trade till you know the cows come home, but everybody's done that. What did Pat Riley do? Obviously, he got the the star player that he coveted. He got Giannis Ante Tacumpo, who was this just absolute freak of nature, uh, and they got Bobby Portis, which is also a good vet, which I like that situation for them. The problem is they have no spacing whatsoever. You sent a grocery list of people out of your organization, so you're looking at a team right now that consists of Bam Ottawa, Giannis Anti Tacumpo, uh Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, and Davion Mitchell. Now, you have no bench to speak of at this point. Yeah, you can tell me about Pele Larson, and you can tell me about Jovich and what have you. We really haven't seen the best version of Yovich as of yet. Pele Larson actually played pretty well last year. I like him a lot, but I need to see it for a couple more couple another year or so to make sure to go, okay, this is something that you can depend on, you can rely on this situation. But they need to go ahead and fill that roster and fill that roster quickly. Lot more work to be done, Pat Riley and the crew down there. I have I have hopes that you can do that, but right now that that's a a grade that's incomplete. So we're gonna move on to what else is next.

Atlanta Finds A Real Lead Guard

The Atlanta Hawks. And you say to me, Well, Vince, the Atlanta Hawks, they got Kingston Flemings at number eight. And I'm kind of going, y'all don't know, huh? Y'all don't know what they got. What's the one thing that Atlanta needed last year in the playoffs? Now, mind you, they were the only team to really give New York Knicks any kind of problems until they met the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. But they needed a league guard. And guess what they got? A league guard. And they got a league guard who he might not be the biggest dude on the face of the planet. He's at 6'2, and then he has a wingspan of 6'3, which is not great. But what can he do? He can do a lot. And here's what I want to talk about. You come off of Trey Young and you go, Well, that's a good thing. It is. But what does my guy give you? He gives you on ball, he can get off ball, which isn't something that we wanted Trey Young to do forever. He never did. He's not an absolute just black hole when it comes to defense. He will be in the right place at the right time. He's a pretty like uh uh strongly built young man, so you got that going for you. And then the other thing is this he can shoot it, he can he can create off the bounce. And again, like I said, if you want Jalen Johnson to run some of the offense, which that's what Jalen Johnson was doing last year, now you got multiple ball handlers that you can trust. You got multiple dudes out here that can handle the rock and get the rock to where they need to go. You know, I always use this phrase, so if you are in the drinking game situation, when I talk about share the sugar, this is what I'm talking about. Atlanta got a good one. I think his shooting will absolutely continue to develop. I think he is nice off the bounce, but the most important thing about our guy, Kingston Flemings, is this the willingness to play off ball. That is a absolute key. I love that for him. So kudos to Quinn Snyder and the crew down there. They are really building something that we have probably haven't seen in a while in Atlanta. I think they're building a team that can compete. So if they can get a big, you know, because their second pick, they got our guy, man, Zuki Odrafor, they picked him at 23. And let me tell you right now, that dude is gonna defend. I don't think he can shoot one bit. But if you want to talk about just effort and just pestiness and somebody just getting rebounds, he reminds me of um what was our guy in Denver? The Manimal. Yeah, that's who they that's who he reminds me of. And if you want to go back a little bit even further, he kind of reminds me of a Michael Cage type of dude, but like obviously he can move his feet. He's a really good defender. He's he look he's gonna be able to rebound for you. He's a tough-minded individual, but he cannot shoot. So you're gonna have to put shooting around him, which for the Atlanta Hawks, that's not really a problem. You can go to a small ball lineup, or you can keep our guy, umgu out there, who can now shoot the three a little bit, and you can still put Zuki Ojafor in the dunker spot and just keep it moving. I love this pick for Atlanta. You always want to get you some toughness, and toughness is what they got.

Chicago Builds Size And Defense

Now, the Chicago Bulls, you're a winner because guess what? You picked the only guy you could pick. You know what I'm saying? No, no shade off the new front office in Chicago. I'm not trying to I'm not trying to bang on you right now, but what I am saying is this is that the Caleb Wilson pick at four was the easiest thing in the draft to kind once Memphis took Carlos Boozer, which we knew that was gonna happen, like really first eight picks went chalk. Nobody, you know, had any surprises whatsoever. The surprise was at nine. And then they got uh Dalen Swain at the 15th overall pick. I think they knocked it out the park. I think when you look at the team for Chicago now, when you got Nick Claxton that you got from Brooklyn essentially uh for nothing. You got you just picked up Caleb Wilson, who's a everybody's calling him kind of a KG light type of dude, a Kevin Garnett light type of dude. I gotta see it to believe it. But people praise him at North Carolina. I have some questions about the defensive uh prowess of Caleb Williams personally, but we we'll have to see. But then again, the the Dalen Swain pick was also a really good pick. You got two guys. If if right, if we're if the people in North Carolina are right about Caleb Williams or Wilson, and then you got Dalen Swain. You got two defensive players that you absolutely need. I think you pair them with Modest Buzelis. You also got our guy Josh Giddy down there, and now all of a sudden you got a supersized lineup. All of a sudden, you're bigger. The rebounding is not a concern because everybody's gonna rebound. Every last person on that team is gonna rebound. Swain's gonna rebound. Caleb Wilson, Caleb Wilson definitely gonna rebound. Our guy Josh Giddy rebounds, and Midas Boo Zelis. He lives for the putback dunk. He lives for the the highlight where he can absolutely embarrass people. But they are bigger. You got a team with you got Giddy, Dillingham, you got Boozelis, you got a Singway that you have from last year, and then the two picks this year. I think so far they've been doing really well with what they've been doing. I love it. I think it's a good way to start, and then you can kind of uh you can start phasing out the Patrick Williams of the world. And if you haven't been with us long here at Front Runner Podcast Collective, I have been a I'm I'm so tired of the athletic big or wingman that doesn't have a necessary skill that you can just you know take home the mama with. And Patrick W Patrick Williams is the last guy that I will ever stick my neck out for and say, That's the dude. That's the dude I am gonna, you know, I see all the athleticism, I see the jumping ability, oh it's all gonna it's all gonna work in the NBA. I'm done with that. I won't do it ever again, and it is what it is, but I love what the Bulls have done with their roster with through the draft and also getting Claxton, who again, when you get him for almost pretty much nothing, you can't be mad at that. So why is this all important? You get a center for nothing, and then the fourth overall pick, if Caleb does pan out the way some draft pundits think he will. He's there's a split on him. There's a real split on him. Um who's my guy? My guy, um Gavoni. Love I think Gavoni loves him, but our guy Vicini doesn't. Sam Vicini says the hips are a little stiff. He stands up in his defensive stance a little too high. He doesn't get back when it gets to the pick and roll, doesn't get back to the roll man quick enough for our guy Vicini, and I'm gonna tell you right now that those type of things are the things that I was a little worried about. But is there true athleticism in him? Yes. He doesn't have the longest of arms, he's like six foot nine, almost six foot ten, and you have a seven foot wingspan. So you want a little bit better from that, but you didn't get it. But I will say all of this, everything in totality, you know what I'm saying? If he can just be a better version of Patrick Williams, I think you got something. If he can just shoot the ball, if he can rerun the ball, he can find a way to understand defensive principles and apply them. I think we got something in Chicago. Plus, my man put the statement out there like he wants to be the best Chicago bull to ever come out of North Carolina. I'm like, that is a really high ask that you are putting out there, my man. You might want to you might want to uh retract that statement a little bit because it's a guy by Michael name by the name of Michael Jordan that hit played there. There's a statue out in front of the stadium as far as that's concerned. You might want to go visit that bad boy and understand what you're trying to get yourself into.

Warriors Draft Drama And The Fit

Now, let's get to Golden State, shall we? Why are they a winner? Two reasons. Two reasons, and I want to talk about it. One, did anybody see the uh the back and forth between owner of the Golden State Warriors, Joseph Lacup, and the trigger man for the draft, which was Mike Dunleavy Jr. Oh, we got some drama in the bay. There was video of these two dudes going back and forth about probably who they were picking at 11, and we'll get to that in one second. But it looked like Joseph Laker was not cool with what was going down when it came to the pick, and I don't know if Mike Dunley at Mundy Dunleavy Jr. had a had a call or not, but my man got on the phone real quick. Like, I'm done with this conversation, Joseph. You go be an owner. You know what I'm saying? You go and deal with the money. I'm gonna go over here and build this team. And Joseph was the hell I will. Why are we picking this dude? What are we doing? Are we trading the pick to get better, you know, to get better for steph? Blah blah blah. I don't know what was all said. They did not discuss that in the um interview after they made the pick, but I will tell you, Joseph Laker did not look happy. So we we were winners for that. Now, as far as the pick is concerned, yeah, listen, Yasso Londonberg is one of those dudes that man, you talking about the the evolution of Draymond Green. Now, I'm never gonna say he's gonna have the actual connectivity on the offensive end like Draymond Green. But this dude can shoot it, he can defend, he can defend on the perimeter, he rebounds the ball well, he passes decent, but the main thing that he does better than Draymond is he can shoot it. So if you got basically Draymond Green, four inches taller, soup still super annoying, still kind of just a just a just an agitator on the defensive side of the ball, play with that edge type of mentality, and then you sit there and you go, okay, well, this is what we're gonna do. And also, I have a 7'4 wingspan with elite defensive tools and a motor that's out of this world when it's turned on properly. And I'm gonna tell you right now, he went to the right team for that because uh Steve Kerr and Draymond Green will not be having any laxadaisical play when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. And I don't care if Jimmy Butler is not playing at all, that dude will also get in Londa Borg's ass about playing on the defensive side of the ball. He's a Swiss Army 9th defender who can step into rotation day one. I'd love to pick for an aging Golden State Warriors team. Now, Gold State has had a roster identity questions for two years, but when you add a plug-and-play defender with winning instincts and positional versatility, doesn't require a lot to say, hey, this is what we want to do at 11. So, Mike Dunley, we thank you for sticking to on your on your laurels. Thank goodness you had 10 toes down when Joseph Laker was in your face. But he did what he needed to do. I like the pick for Golden State personally. I think this was a good pick. I think they did the right thing, and they probably thought that they were getting more resohnson jr. Because there was talks about Londenberg going earlier than uh Morez Johnson Jr. And to tell you the truth, I like the upside play with the shot. Which leads us to Dallas.

Dallas Draft Surprise And Retool Plan

So Dallas hired Dusty May, who is the ex-coach of the middle of the Michigan Wolverines, and they on draft night, they were the team that made the surprise move. And what I mean by that is they drafted Moraz Johnson Jr. And you go, well, damn, okay. I I thought he he was gonna make like at the end of the lottery, but nine. That's kind of crazy. But here's the things that I will say about Mores Johnson Jr. when doing the work, talking to people, talking to people who have been able to have insight into that mission program. The reports that came back is that Morez Johnson Jr. was basically the straw that stirred the drink in Ann Arbor. And what I mean by that is that he was the emotional leader of that team. So Dusty May comes to the Dallas Mavericks and kind of in reverse fashion, like when Luca got to the Lakers, they asked Luca what he wanted. And Luca said, I want a big that can run, a big that I can throw lobs to, I can just throw it up there and he can just go get it. Now they had a you know rescinded trade with Mark Williams, but they showed they showed that they wanted to do it for him. So enter Dusty May, he gets signed to a contract with the Dallas Mavericks, and lo and behold, the college coach drafted one of his guys. Not a big upside play, but this is what Morris Johnson Jr. brings to the Dallas Mavericks. The dude is 6'9, he is 250 pounds, he is a 7'3.5 wingspan, and this is the thing that I like about him. The lateral mobility that Sam Vinny talks about describes as rare for a prospect his size. He also shoots it at almost uh 78.2% from the line. Um he is his shot, has a real ceiling to it. He's a national champion, obviously, which is great. But the thing that I like about Moraz Johnson Jr. is that it's not only that he has an edge, he has a sense of professionalism to him that he's going to be bringing to this team the whole time. I love the kid. I think this is a really good pick, personally, and then this is what it allows Dallas to do. You kind of played half and half last year. You were talking about maybe Anthony Davis coming back, you're talking about all these like older dudes on the team coming back, and now you can actually start anew. Daniel Gaffert, who has missed significant time back-to-back seasons. Dallas needed a defensive insurance at a big position before the summer trade window opened. So that opens the door for Gaffert being traded, which then you can bring back more assets if you decide to move on from Gaffert and or PJ Washington if that's what you choose to do. You can now move Cooper Flag to the three, which he then becomes that playmaking wing. That now Kyrie is back. We don't know if Kyrie's back to stay, or Kyrie is back to basically say, hey, I'm here to audition for you can make trades for me at the trade deadline. I'm not saying he's asking for that, but what I'm saying is that you can start to retool this team around Cooper Flag. And I think getting a Morris Johnson Jr. from Michigan is a good way to start. Because you get a kid that, hey, I want to play defense, I want to rerun the basketball, I'll shoot it a little bit, but it's not my main thing, which is my main thing. But what I want to do is make sure we get better every single day. Morris Johnson Jr. is gonna bring the juice every day. Every day to practice. You know who's gonna love that? Cooper Flagg. You know who else is gonna love that? Dusty May. Because it is his guy, and this is what he did at Michigan. So that wasn't all. They took a kid. I like this kid, but they took this kid. Um the De La Reza, uh Sergio De La Reya, came from Spain. This dude is 6'6 and a half, ball handler. He is a Bogdan Bogdanovich type, and you know my love for Bogdan Bogdanovich. I wanted him to be a Laker so bad. There was a stretch of like three years when I wanted Bogdan Bogdanovich to be a Laker. And it just never came to fruition for me. But he can shoot it, he can pass, he can work off Cooper Flag without needing the ball, which is exactly what you want. This is the profile that you're looking for when you're talking about what are you building around your franchise centerpiece? And De La Rea is that dude that you can do that with. Now, as far as the rebuild is concerned, where do you go from here? You know, are you talking about making a trade again for Gafford or PJ Washington? Is there types of pieces that you want? How much developmental runway do you want for Morez Johnson Jr.? So you don't have to make anything, any drastic moves right now. But if you kind of want to get off some money, or if you're looking to go ahead and accrue more draft capital or whatever, you can start doing that for the Gaffers and the PJ Washingtons of the world if you tend to want to do so. So I hope that's the case. Personally, I think that would be a great move. We will see how that goes for the Dallas Mavericks. They get a coach, they get a Michigan player, and Cooper Flag is still a great white American, and we love that kid, and we'll see how it all goes down. I think it's again, kudos to Dallas doing this transition on the fly, and you're starting to have cleared out everybody. Masai Jerry is there now, he's running point as far as the uh front office operations and basketball operations. You got real smart people in the front office, you got a coach that you believe in. You got a young team if you kind of blow out some of these vets. So I love it. I love it a lot.

Lakers Move Up For Cam Carr

Now, as some might know, I am a Lakers fan, but I try to be very, very um when it comes to my analyst hat, I try to be very fair. You know, the Lakers are a team that is looking up at the OKC Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. We all know this. We all know that they need athleticism. They need a little dynamic dynastim to their lineup and what have you. Now I'm gonna say this, and I do this every single year. Um check the receipts. Go back. I was high on Desmond Bain back in the day. I am sure that is in my Twitter, which is at frontrunner PC. That is at frontrunner P is in Paul, C is in Charles. Alright. Go follow me there. Also go follow us on Instagram. Same deal. At frontrunner PC. And then also if you want to do yourself a favor, follow us on YouTube, which is at FRPC Vince. Alright. This podcast will be up there. Trust me. You'll get us on Spotify. You can get us on Apple. All the major situations. You can listen to us there. Now, there was a guy in this draft. I always try to find one guy in every single draft. Now, there were a couple I missed a couple times, but out of the last seven years, I've gotten five five out of seven. I think that's a good number to get. People on the ground. I'm sitting there going, thank you for the knowledge. I appreciate it. But here's the thing. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he was going to be a Los Angeles Lakers. I thought he was going 16th. I thought he was going 18th. I thought he might go 19th. 20th, maybe. You know, I thought San Antonio maybe trade that pick. I don't know. We'll see. But there was no way he was making it to the Lakers at 25. That was an absolute guarantee. That was the lock of the night. I was like, I love this kid. He won't be there for when we pick. Then it got to be around 21. And I'm sitting there going, there is a pathway for Cam Carr to be a Laker. And what did Kalinka do? Or what did Mark Walter do? And I'm going to put it to you like this. The New York Knicks are on the clock. They have a 24th overall pick. Then I see, no, no, there's a trade. The Lakers have moved up to 24. And with that one slot from 25 to 24, and you know what they did, right? Mark Walter said, hey, big bank tape, little bank, yo, here's some cash, bro. We moving up to 24. And Cam Carr is a Laker. And you man, let me tell you something. I was so excited about this. Now, are there some things that we have to like talk about? Yes. But if you go look at the tape, if you go look at the highlights, man, they impressive. They are so impressive. And you got a guy who is 21 years of age. So not too, not too old, right? For somebody who's been been in college for three years, which is great. But he's 6'5, damn near 6'6. He's like 6'5 and a half. He has a 7'2 wingspan. That's the first thing you need to know. The second thing you need to know is that his dad, Chris Carr, played in the NBA. And not only did he play in the NBA, he was in the 1997 dunk contest with the eventual winner, Kobe Bryant. R I P R guy. Kobe, we love you. So Carr, as my guy before the draft, said he was this year's pick. I listen. This is Cedric Coward. You know what I'm saying? This is I love Cedric Coward coming out last year. This is my guy. Um after the combine, the defensive telepathy and the motion off ball stood out to me immediately. The frame was the one real concern. He is a scrawny guy. He is 6'5, damn near 6'6, and he's 184 pounds. He needs to put on weight immediately. Somebody go get this dude an in-and-out burger stat. Okay. Somebody take him to Root Chris. Somebody take this dude to Flemings. I don't care what you do. But we need, hey, we got Ghost Gym out here, Venice Beach. Alright. We need to go ahead and get this young man bulked up. But other than that, that's the one thing that is a concern. The frame. So strengthen strength and conditioning is going to be a situation where we're going to have to build them up. Now, with that being said, Sam Vicini said this. He has the physical height and length that the NBA team's canvas, the Glow to find. And the Lakers found it domestically. Now, the other thing that I want to talk about is this. He was supposed to go anywhere between 18 to 22. Somewhere, well, actually, I saw him in some uh mock drafts. I seen him at like 16. So did he slide a little bit? Maybe. But going up to get him at 24 was so cool. I loved it. Um what do the Lakers get? The Lakers have been hunting for this profile of athlete for a long time. Long, athletic, projectable shooting wing with defensive upside, and has missed, they missed on it before. You know, the car has a chance to be the player the Lakers thought they were getting when they picked Dalton Connect. That's the organizational learning curve finally paying off. The profile floor is honest. He needs to fill out his frame. Playmaking for others is a little bit limited. But here's the thing. He plays right now, and I will caveat right now. He plays with Austin Reeves, who's going to sign a four-year contract with the Lakers. He plays with Luka Doncic, who's going to spoon feed him shots. You know what I'm saying? And if this dude is standing, and he just goes straight up and down, that ball does nine times. I wouldn't say nine times. He's gonna he's gonna he could be a sh a 40% three-point shooter for sure. Okay. Um the shot selection is he he played at Baylor last year, and I will tell you that he literally became it was him and um what is the dude's name? Toomede Yasafu. It was those two dudes, and it was nothing else. And if Tomday Yassifu got into foul trouble or whatever, it was it was crazy. So he had to take some crazy shots at Baylor because they were the team. I mean that he was the team and what have you. So I personally think that now that you have him in a more suitable role to what he is going to be asked to be doing, I think you got a good one there. And I think a couple years from now, I think he can play now and develop into that stalwart defender as we go along. But the shot is worth getting them on the court now. The playmaking ability, the self-creation from the second side initiation, where he will be asked to be, because he's gonna be asked to knock down corner threes like it's nobody's business. So when Luca gets him the ball, Pompey, boom, okay, exclude to the rim, and guess what? The dunks are saucy, player. The dunks are so saucy. So Rob Kalinka did a great job. I love what he did with this. Doesn't mean that it's all over for you, Rob. That's one piece of the puzzle. You got a lot to do this offseason. And oh, phase the other phase. You phase one, complete. Get a good draft pick, or trade that pick for a player that fits our rotation right now. Number two, sign Austin Reeves. You did that, love it. We still got a lot more to do. LeBron is on the horizon. We got to deal with that. Is he coming back? Is he not coming back? Are we trading them to Cleveland for Jared Allen? I don't know. We will see. It's there's a lot going on. Our guy John Hollinger gave this a B. Um He talked about him being just a vertical athlete, explosive finisher, um, compact and repeatable catch and shoot mechanics. That's what I told you about. When he has the ability to stand still and just catch the ball and just go up and down, straight up and down, it's a pretty shot. And he has range out to like 30 feet already. Like he wasn't shooting just okay, I'm gonna shoot a college three, which is shorter than the NBA three. He shot real threes. Real threes, which was great. Pick up some weight though, that's what I will tell you. Pick up some damn weight.

Losers Bracket Starts With Spurs

Now let's get to our losers bracket. Alright, the losers bracket sponsored by no one. But we are we are efforting to get sponsors. So if you are an NBA fan, are you are you upset? Are you giggling about what San Antonio did last uh last night? Because last night San Antonio said, Oh, we got bullied in the final, so we need to go get bulk dudes stat. Now I'm not upset about this. I think taking a swing on a guy like this is a good thing to do. But this could define this draft. Jaden Quaintens out of Kentucky, um, who has had some knee issues, it looks like he's going back under the knife, like right now. And I think next year is a wash. But if you can get that dude healthy, like back to one hundred percent, and here's the thing do we know that he will ever be one hundred percent? That's the question that I have about Quaitens. Other people, other teams had looked at the medicals and said, nah, player, we're not gonna do that. No, we're not gonna do it. But there if there was any team that could take a a swing on Quaytons, it would have been the San Antonio Spurs. And here's why. You know who you got, you got Victor. You got Victor win by Nama, and then you got Luke Cornette, who, yes, did not show himself what did not represent himself well in the NBA finals. I get you. I'm with you on that. But Jaden Quaintens is a swing because here's the thing. This dude is a physical specimen when healthy. He is a pogo stick, he's 250 pounds, and he's a complete athletic phenomenon. If right. I will continue to put that caveat in, if right. But then they backed it up with they said, no, we're not going with one. We're gonna go with two. So they took Terrace Reed Jr. from Yukon, and here's the thing. He's not the greatest shot blocker, he can't guard on the perimeter, it's basically he's a drop coverage center. You're not gonna run offense through him like he did in Yukon. He has an array of like back to the basket moves and things of that nature. People have have kind of said, like, if you could if you could get him away from the paint, like in the pick and roll situation, and he can throw floaters up there and what have you, it'd be kind of like the same thing as his back to the basket game. We will see. We will see on that one. But Terras Reed for what the San Antonio Spurs was looking for, I I didn't understand it a little bit personally. Now, is he a physical presence? 100%. Will he get rebounds? Yes, he will, if given the opportunity. My whole thing is is that you gotta play him with a bunch of shooting around him. He's hanging out in the dunker spot, which is going to be foreign to him because that is not how he played at UConn. He played as a back-to-the-basket dude, you threw it into him, and he gets you buckets. But we said this about Zach Edy when he came out. How much of his game from Purdue was going to translate to the NBA? Because how many dudes can throw a good entry pass? I'm being real serious right now. The entry pass in the NBA is in a horrific state of repair. And again, he's a backup, so how much how many plays are you running for him? But you got Victor Wingwanyama there, you got Lou Cornette there, getting Terrace Reid basically kind of to keep the seat warm for our guy, Jaden Quainton's, when and if he comes back. Because here's the thing with Quainton's talent is the problem. The problem is is he Robert Williams the third not even in just defensive projection, but also in the injury situation as well? Because if the knee health questions are unresolved, then they played paid a premium price for this dude that wasn't justified. You could have done something else. You could have got a shot blocked, you could have you could have gone and got uh Chris Sanak Jr., who went 27th, right after Terrace Reed. Now, if you wanted to double down and say, okay, Quaintness is not the guy because of the injury situation. We went and got Chris Sanach Jr., who is an athletic freak, who could move around the perimeter, who has the ability to block shots, I'm with you. We're there. We're people. But this is not what I would have expected for San Antonio to do. So I have them in the loser's bracket. Sorry to my San Antonio brethren out there, my Coravita family. Y'all, yeah, I didn't understand this situation whatsoever. Now, oh, we got to talk about the other loser in this

Suns Reach And Shooting Problems

deal. What was Phoenix thinking? The Phoenix Suns to me, what were you doing? The Suns straight up to get Kowak Pete. Okay, now Coach Pete played at Arizona High School, in the high school area in Arizona, also played for the University of Arizona, but then the Phoenix Suns move up. They move up to the 30th overall pick, which is the first the last pick of the first round, to select Coe Pete. Now, does he have a motor? Some people would say yes. The people who worked him out in the uh pre-draft situation would tell you that there were certain there were certain workouts he didn't even finish because due to lack of conditioning. That's a rare flag. That's a rare flag. Here's the other rare flag. He does rebound the ball well, he can move his feet on defensively, but here's the thing. He's six foot seven. He has a wingspan of seven foot one, which is great. He's physically like in shape. He's like six foot seven, two hundred and forty pounds. But he can't shoot. He can't shoot. And the defense isn't elite enough to carry him, to have him on the court. Somebody comp him to Tobias Harris. I was like, how could you comp him to Tobias Harris? Tobias Harris can shoot the ball. Koak P cannot. Now, is he a dog? Like there are clips and highlights that you look at during his tenure with the Arizona Wildcats that will tell you specifically he's a dog. And I know that's that the type of player, the type of mentality that the Phoenix Suns want around that team, around Devin Booker, and around the other guys they have on that team, like Jalen Green, if he stays. But I'm gonna tell you right now, I did not understand this pick right here. Like, you don't have enough shooting on this team to say, oh, we Coke Pete. Cole Keat is our guy. Not with Isaiah Evans on the board, not with Malik Thomas on the board of Arkansas. I did not understand this pick. So they paid up to get a player that the rest of the league let slide. The league had it right. The Suns had it wrong. Unless this dude develops an awesome jump shot, unless there's somebody in that Phoenix organization that can rework that jump shot, I am cool off this situation.

Nets Missteps And Asset Confusion

Oh, okay, so now we get to the Brooklyn Nets. The Brooklyn Nets are a loser for a many myriad of reasons. And it is not about the pick that they made. One, you're a loser because of the fact that you are in Brooklyn. Not because Brooklyn is terrible. No, Brooklyn is beautiful. We like Brooklyn. JJ Reddick lived in Brooklyn before he came to the Lakers, right? Love Brooklyn. Shouts out to Brooklyn. You know, we got love for you here in Los Angeles. But the Knicks are the squad. They've always been the squad. They were never going not to be the squad. And now you are irrelevant. Not even just a little bit. You are so far in the rear view mirror, we can't even see you anymore. So that's the one that's one place they lost. Here's the other place they lost. Daron Sharp is basically going to be the the center because Nick Claxton is gone. And they got nothing for him. Essentially nothing. Cash in a top 55 protected second round pick. In a separate move, they got Julius Randle. Right? And the 28th overall pick. So Mikhail Brown Jr. at 6. There's some upside there. He can feel he can shoot the ball. He goes a he's going to have to be the one that shoots the ball with Julius Randle. As far as that's concerned. And Michael Porter Jr. Because the rest of the point guards they they got. Last year, remember they drafted basically five point guards. Well, four point guards and Danny Wolf. Still didn't understand that pick, but we'll see. Um now M M. Mikhail Brown Jr. or Mikel Brown Jr. is is pronounced Mikel Brown Jr. Let's give this man his credit. Um you get somebody who can shoot the ball. Now, he had a back injury last year, and I'm not real big on young people having back injuries that debilitate him. You know he missed more games than Darren Peterson. This dude missed more games than Darren Peterson. And we was on Darren Peterson's ass, yo, about missing games and taking yourself out of games. Now, he did have a legit injury that we can talk about as far as stirring. But when you're talking about a young person having such a debilitating back injury that you missed 14 games, that's a super red flag to me. Case in point, Michael Porter Jr. now plays for the Brooklyn Nets. And giving away a 27-year-old center who, yes, okay, has slid back a little bit over the last couple years, but he's in his prime, and people are looking for bigs now, and to give him up for next to basically nothing, that is a crime. Don't like that. Do not like that. And then they gave so now they did they do some nice little piece of business when you got Julius Randle and you get the 28th overall pick? Yeah, you did. You got some you got some love there. No problem whatsoever. I just I don't I just I don't know. I don't like what they're doing here. I don't like any of what they're doing here.

Kings Pick And Real-Time Lakers Alert

Now the last team that is a loser is the Sacramento Kings. And no, it's not because they got Darius A. Cub Jr. No, no, no, no. And it really isn't the Sacramento Kings. I want to say the loser is Alex Caravan himself. Alex Caravan was drafted by the Kings uh 29th overall. I like the kid. 6'7, 6'11 wingspan, shoot the ball well. He's a movement shooter. He's been in a winning program, he's been in Final Force three years out of his college experience, the whole nine. Here's my problem. Now he has to go to Sacramento. Let's go to Sacramento. Who doesn't have like the history of just competency? But maybe things are changing. Maybe things are changing. Maybe I'm getting a little too strong on the Sacramento Kings about what's going on with them. Uh hold on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa was that? We just got a break in alert. Hold on, let me find out real quick. Okay, the Lakers just acquired the 56th overall pick in the second round. What this tells me is that even though they're the 56th overall pick, I wonder if they're gonna move up. I wonder if they're gonna go from 56 to somewhere else by the time this is all over. We'll see. Such a Lakers fan. But anyway, but Alex Caravan has just been in a winning uh organization since all through his collegian career. Uh he has gone through the pre-draft um situation before. They've asked him to get better at defense, they've asked him to get better as far as moving his feet, they've asked him to get better on ball, and he's did all those things, and now he goes to Sacramento. Not cool. But again, let's give credit where credit is due. There was a point in the time before the draft was started that Darius A. Cuff was so coveted by the Sacramento Kings that I wondered if they would move up to get him. They did not, they stayed firm at their draft position. They took Darius Acuff, they didn't move around, they didn't let Vivek do anything, which that was a that was a thought process, and then they drafted Darius A. Cup. So here's the thing the best part about this whole situation is that you just got better. And I appreciate that. So let's go from there. So what we done today is kind of give you a winners and losers. Now, Friday, what we'll do is we'll give you an overall situation. We might start off with one conference and then go to another conference. I will let you know on Twitter probably tomorrow what we're gonna do with that. But we will have that. We will start talking draft, the whole thing, how the teams look, and what does it mean for their uh free agency and the trades that are gonna happen starting June 30th, July 1st, that situation. So that's what we are looking forward to to, you know, on Friday. So we'll get more into the draft more in depth. We will talk about the teams, we'll talk about the players, we'll talk about the second round that hasn't even occurred yet. So we will be doing that in uh on Friday.

Friday Preview And Final Message

Now, with that being said, Front Runner Podcast Collective. We talked our talk, you know what I'm saying? We emptied our clip, that's what we do here. If FRPC is your spot, do us one favor. Share this episode with one person in your group chat or your friend group who needs to hear it because you know we spin facts out here. Pull up on us on X and Instagram. Remember, the call letters, the handle is the same. It is at frontrunner PC. That's at front runner Paul Charles, right? Subscribe wherever you can. Follow us wherever you can. If you want to hit us up on YouTube, that's FRPC Vince, and then you can find us on Spotify and also on Apple Podcasts as well. So with that being said, the best part of you is still you. Not your win and loss record, not your timeline, or not your algorithm, just you. Surround yourself with people who actually give you light, the ones who bring you the insight, the joy, and the real accountability. That is your max deal. Appreciate them out loud. Don't wait on a later situation because nobody is promised tomorrow. We're your hoop family, you know what I'm saying? FRPC, we love to be your hoop family, and we're going out loud, we're going to be wrong sometimes, we're going to come back and own it. But we always say this with respect to your brain. Because anybody can yell at very few can actually defend a thought. Until next episode, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight. Protect your peace like Cal Space and never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy. This is FRPC, and we're out. Deuces oosis.