Sam Amick: All Signs Point To Deandre Ayton Joining The Lakers

27:36Yeah, I mean, to me, the genesis, Rich, is not to go too macro, but John Horst is a guy that Bucs GM, who came up through the pistons organization that initially moves over to the bucks and rises through the ranks and becomes their gm eventually but along the way when janice is 18 and coming to town you know from greece and we all know that incredible story john is one of the main people kind of bringing him into america literally helping him to learn how to drive and i highlight all of that because it's like you have this deep personal connection where john is very committed to not losing janice out of the cupo and And now for three consecutive times in very different ways, he has doubled down and tripled down on bold, daring, risky moves to convince Giannis not to leave.

28:26The first one was going out and getting Drew Holiday. That paid off. That was the 2021 championship. When that seemed a little bit stale, when Giannis was getting antsy and sending signals that maybe he would think about going elsewhere, then blockbuster move with Damian Lillard. that didn't work out like they'd hoped but it did show Giannis that you know we are not messing around here we're going to try to do big things this one though we all thought they were completely stuck you know Dame's Achilles tear combined with his contract just was brutal because even going into the summer before his injury we've reported this you know they were going to talk to Dame about whether or not he still wanted to be in Milwaukee and one of their avenues out of their latest kind of harass was going to be trading Damian Lillard for the next guy.

29:15And Dame was likely going to be fine with that as long as he went somewhere that he was happy with, because he at times was struggling in Milwaukee off the court. He was far from his kids, all these things. So they do it again. They go after Miles Turner. Um, they owe Dame$113 million. I think it is, um, that gets stretched over five years for the bucks. That's dead money around, almost 25 a year on their books but Miles Turner comes their way they get to replace Brook Lopez with a guy who's 8 years younger and who does a lot of the same stuff at a higher level so it's about as daring and drastic as it gets and we'll see how Giannis feels about it in the end

29:56Rich Eisen:Well I mean the fact that Giannis was you know it's crazy man God bless you and what you do for a living in the NBA and all your colleagues who follow it I mean, we go to social media, right? Like for a window into somebody's soul and their thought process and his post of Brooke Lopez in the championship locker room and him wondering what's going on with his post. And then we find out that he's upset about Lillard no longer being there. And the question I have is, is it a roster concern or just he didn't like the way, as Chris Haynes, your colleague, reported that maybe Lillard found out how we all did when it became public, and that's what Giannis was upset with.

30:46Rich Eisen:What's your two cents on the Giannis thoughts, Sam? So, I mean, your social media point is on point. It is hilarious. That Brooke Lopez picture that Giannis put out, that came right after they lost Brooke. And it's, you know, the subtitle you can see is, I don't know what's going on right now, man. And it's funny, but telling and insightful. But then, obviously, like we said, they replaced Brooke. We have not gotten another social media post to indicate how Giannis feels about Miles Turner. I have not confirmed that Giannis is unhappy. If I'm being honest with you, knowing Giannis fairly well, I feel like that might be just political messaging because he loves Dame and wants to make sure that Dame feels supported.

31:31I did report in depth yesterday that Dame is not upset. He is elated. And the funniest thing is, to go back to your social media point, Rich, even our jobs are strange. So I write that Dame is elated, very, very good source on that in terms of knowing where his head is at, and highlighted the fact that he's going to get paid the same amount of money the next two years. He can literally pick his spot. If he wants to, he can sign a minimum deal with any contender. That is a hell of a place to be in when you're in your mid-30s and you've never won a championship. But then I look at Instagram this morning, and Dame shared a video that had all of that reporting.

32:13So you do kind of go, all right, clearly we're good. He's endorsing these ideas. But as it relates to Giannis, I think, okay, the Dame thing is now settled, that he's happy he's going to be on his way. I don't know exactly where Giannis is at I do think Basketball wise I see what the Bucs are thinking here And I see if you're them Why you feel like listen Even before they got Miles Turner Because of the Tyrese Halliburton Injury and the way that it Devastated the Pacers Because of the Jason Tatum injury And what it did to the Celtics And all the trades since then The Cavs coming up short The Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau all these east contenders that were seemingly in the bucks way had taken a major step down if you were the bucks even before you get miles turner you're looking at yannis going all right where exactly are you going at least in the east where you think you're in a better place to at least be in the mix because you alluded to it earlier the bucks and pacers rivalry was such that you already kind of knew that if yannis is watching those finals he's sitting there thinking man you got to be kidding me like we're better than this team you know what i mean like there's just no way that he was scared of of that pacers team and now that pacers team doesn't exist so not only could you sell them on the deteriorated east now you can sell them on hey guess what we did we went and we actually stole from the pacers and we got one of their main guys and we think that you should rock with him but but again we're gonna have to see how yannis moves in the next couple weeks

33:50Rich Eisen:And it's kind of amazing how things kind of connect, Sam. I was talking about this on the show yesterday. You know, Josh Kroenke of the Nuggets, right, makes reference to how we're all one Achilles injury away from trading our best player. He mentions number 15, everyone's hair goes on fire. Why would he just even put out into the ether the concept of trading Jokic, right? But then we see Damian Lillard blow out his Achilles, and Jason Tatum blew out his Achilles and his comment about Jokic was right before Halliburton blew out his Achilles and all three teams make big moves because of these Achilles injuries and how it affects their immediate future.

34:35Rich Eisen:Now, obviously, you know, the Celtics wanted to get out of the second apron and they're realizing we don't, you know, really without Tatum have a shot to win it all next year, we might as well do it. and the Pacers, I guess, didn't want to pay any apron. They didn't want any apron at all, so they move on. But the Bucs are like, yeah, let's pay this guy off and make a move. I think these Achilles injuries all affected everything, you know, minus, I guess, Durant, who I guess might be the George Washington of playoff Achilles injuries, you know what I mean, on this day and age. It's kind of wild when you think about it, Sam.

35:12No, it's crazy. I think there's a CBA component to this, Rich. And the fact that the pressure that this particular CBA is applying to teams and shortening runways where those Achilles injuries are forcing you to immediately look at your other core players and ask yourself, how much time and patience do we have from those guys? And if the answer is not much, then you've got a kind of fight or flight type decision to make. Are we going to hit the eject button? and do what Boston is doing to a degree, or are we going to do what the Bucs are doing, which is just double down again and find another way, but in the kind of way that you might be paying for five, six, seven, eight years from now.

35:59I mean, they gave up their number one asset there. So you mentioned the Nuggets. They are an interesting team in this discussion because they have gone all in for a lot of the Jokic era, but then they emptied their cupboard in terms of draft assets are already paying the price, or at least were in the past couple of years because the lack of depth was directly tied to some of the swings and misses they had previously. And they have been teetering to make sure that a guy like Joker has enough around him. And that's without the type of devastating injuries that we're talking about here. Jamal Murray's had some, but nothing of the caliber that these other teams have dealt with lately.

36:42So it's just, there's like a knife's edge component to team building in the NBA right now. It's extremely precarious. Even the Thunder, who look like they are on track to do this thing for the next decade, potentially, I would say they need to live in the moment and realize that you never know what might happen.

36:59Rich Eisen:Sam, a few minutes left with the senior NBA writer for The Athletic. Let's cycle back. Tongue-in-cheek reference to the DeAndre Ayton sweepstakes. And again, social media, people going nuts, trying to read into things that either make sense to read into, But, you know, Aiton showing up from what appears to be a nice vacation to Jamaica, fresh off of the PJ at the FBO. They're maybe in Kingston. I don't know. But wearing a Dodger hat and everyone's like, oh, there we go. Lakers need him. You know what? I mean, honestly, listen, we know of his troubles and now, if you will, a journey. He's close to journeyman.

37:42Rich Eisen:I don't know, but he's teetering on that edge. All kidding aside, don't you think Luka and LeBron would be like, let's go, let's get him here in purple and gold, don't you think, Sam? Yeah, I think Luka for sure. LeBron, I mean, I don't know if we have time to get into that one. Please, Sam, go for it because it's all tied together. It's all tied together right now. LeBron's on his own, not quite an island. It's like a peninsula right now. You know, he's kind of, he's gazing across the coast at Laker Nation, deciding what he thinks. The Luka thing, for sure. We talk about some of the background connections that sometimes come into play.

38:20Luka has the same agent as DeAndre Aydin, Bill Duffy of WME Sports. That matters, I think. I do, all signs right now point to very likely DeAndre being with the Lakers, not official by any means. I literally just glanced at my phone to make sure nobody gave me an update. Nice. I had not seen the social media post with the Dodger hat. And at this point, when it comes to that aspect of what we do, it's not conspiracy theory stuff. Most of the time, these players know exactly what they're doing. So that probably is a sign. Last I checked, DeAndre is not from Los Angeles. I'm not sure why he's a big-time Dodger fan.

38:59If he does come, it'll be an interesting one. Because the Lakers, man, they are, you talk about the knife's edge and calculated risks. They're the opposite of the Bucs right now. They have refused to go all in because they continue to have kind of dream scenarios for down the road. They are keeping their eyes on the Giannis's and the Jokic's, and they don't want to give up stuff right now that could help them down the road to make a run at those guys. And that's all well and good, but you have to make sure that Luka signs his extension in August. You've got to make sure he's feeling good about things.

39:33and again you gotta not take anything for granted in terms of what's in front of you right now the next season and a half so um i mean deandre could fit fine uh he's just right now he has had one of the more troubled careers that we've ever seen from a number one pick you know it's not completely bust territory but man it's not great you know i mean our jason quick at the athletic just uh had a story the other day pulling the curtain back a little bit on why portland decided to do what they did and it wasn't the most flattering stuff so I think with that in mind if he goes to the Lakers a little bit like Luca I know it's weird to put them in the same sentence they could both have that chip on their shoulder time to rehab my my image and my reputation type energy and maybe it turns out to be a good fit and the Lakers are desperate I mean they got you know Jake LaRavia but uh they're they're mostly vacant at that center spot right now they need something desperately and if he can turn things around with them that would be great for them so uh before i let you go

40:32Rich Eisen:uh explain your lebron's on a peninsula comment and i guess that you know if you can also weave in your interpretation of rich paul's statement um that read if you didn't you know when i saw rich paul's statement placed in front of me i was saying um if you didn't give me the context about whether lebron's staying or going just reading that statement i'd say this was him saying goodbye um you know so what what what's your your two cents on all of that i don't we're not there yet uh i mean i i mentioned the other day that the tone of it you know only time will tell if it was a goodbye letter it might it might end up aging like it was one when we look back on it um i i don't know what to make of it i think he's you know he's surveying options but he doesn't have many and he goes back to the cba it's not as simple even for a guy like lebron excuse me to wave his magic wand and go where he wants.

41:25I'm going to steal something from some of my buddies at ESPN, the Hoop Collective guys on their podcast, where they talk about actions over words, and it's something that's stuck in my head recently. The Lakers, as I reported the other day, they did not discuss any contract situation with LeBron that went beyond this season. That is the action that speaks volumes about how they see him right now, which is their ideal scenario was going to be that he announced his retirement and allowed them to celebrate him for the entire year. And that would have been the cleanest, easiest way for this relationship to come to an end.

41:59His desire to continue playing, which is obviously his right, will potentially be problematic where they just have to reach a point where, you know, they can't continue doling out 50 plus million dollars in the kind of way to him. So that's where I think he's looking at everything, monitoring, and we'll see where it goes. But it does feel a little crunchy and dicey at the moment.

42:20Rich Eisen:Screw it. Let's just start something. Player coach for the Knicks. What do you think, Sam? They could use LeBron. They need a coach. Mike Brown's not happy with you right now, Rich. He's getting near the finish line. Is this it? Is this it? Have we found one? Is it Mike Brown? Have we found one? I think we're getting there. I mean, we'll see. He's supposed to meet with James Dolan potentially today, trying to get clarity on that. He is the clear front runner, and it does seem like all the energy from the front office in the organization is headed in Mike's direction. There's still been some other names attached.

42:53James Borrego, obviously, Taylor Jenkins was in the mix, but Mike seems pretty far out ahead. But the James Dolan factor looms, and we'll see what Jim is feeling.

43:03Rich Eisen:The looming Dolan factor. That might be a good fantasy team name right there. You can write that one down. Sam, thanks for the time. Always appreciate our chats and your time. Thanks, bud. Of course. Thank you, Rich. Thanks, Chad. You got to everyone check out Sam Amick and all of his writings, a senior NBA rider for the athletic here on the Rich Eisen show. Replace your worn out wiper blades during O Rewards member appreciation month at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Receive two times O Rewards points and save$10 when you purchase a pair of Rain-X Latitude wiper blades. They will even install them for free at O 'Reilly Auto Parts.

43:38Rich Eisen:This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen. Snacks. A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms.

44:10Rich Eisen:We've done this before with you. I've got three social situations. You are the judge and jury as to what is done. Okay. Okay, the first one is destination weddings. Okay. It's already funny. Destination weddings. I say to my wife, we're going to a destination wedding. We should not give a present because my presence is my present. What do you say, Larry? First of all, where is the wedding? How far is it? Another country. Okay, you don't even go. You don't go. You don't go. But it's a close family friend. I don't care. I am not flying 14 hours on a plane to somebody's wedding. I'm not going to do that.

44:51Rich Eisen:Even if it's a nice destination where it's a nice hotel and you're set up? No. 14 hours on a plane, you can't even breathe. Come on. So what would be the distance from your house that you would consider? An hour and a half by car. That's it. No plane. You don't get on planes for weddings. Right. Okay. Out of the question. Here's social situation number two for you, Larry David. Sure. You're going over to somebody's house. Okay. All right. for, let's say, the fight, the Mayweather-McGregor fight. This happened to one of our producers, Ken Tullo. Okay. They brought desserts. Fight ends. Nobody's touched the desserts.

45:25Rich Eisen:They like these desserts. Is it okay to take the desserts home? Well, we did this on Seinfeld. You did? Yeah, the marble rye. Well, the marble, okay. Here's the thing. Yes. You bring it over. Do they know you brought it over? Yes, they do. Well, if they know you brought it over, then you can't take it. But what if nobody's tried it? You know, it's not like a bottle of wine. A bottle of wine could be savored later on. It's still, you're bringing it to the host, right? That's true. The host saw it. It's different if the host didn't see it, then you could sneak out with it. So if the host never saw it, if you placed it on the table and there's no note, that's when you could take it.

46:04If you think you're not going to get caught, yeah, then you could take it.

46:08Rich Eisen:The problem is though, Larry, is you never know what was looking. The eye in the sky may catch it. Well, that's the gamble. Yeah. But if the host sees it, you can't take it. All right. The last one for you, Larry LD. Shoes off on a plane. Do you have a problem with somebody on a plane taking shoes? I have a big problem with it. Yeah. Boy. Yeah. Keep them on. Okay. You know, don't make yourself. It's not your house. All right. You're outside. You're in public. I don't want to see your socks. And God forbid you have a little odor down there. Who needs that? Right. And I don't even want to know if you do have it.

46:42Rich Eisen:Exactly. It's close quarters. Come on. Take a couple of minutes. Keep your shoes on. So those who take their shoes off with shorts on and then put their socked feet up on the bulkhead. Oh, God almighty. No. Oh, God. That is out. Yes. Happy birthday to Larry David. Oh, nice. Here on July 2nd. LD. This is a dream. God bless it. I got to tell you, the number of times that people are like, I don't care, love watching your show, whatever, and they mention the guests, and Larry's like, one, if not one A. So, happy birthday to LD. Ashley, David, his wife, who was on this program, because she produced, directed this documentary on Pickleball, She's the guest on Women's Sports Now that you can check out right here on Roku tomorrow, recording it later today.

47:44So that'll be a great chat on Women's Sports Now,

47:48Rich Eisen:along with also the Commissioner's Cup champion, Indiana Fever. So that'll be on Women's Sports Now later on today. Anything stand out to you from the Sam Amick chat? Christopher Brockman, anything stand out to you? The Lakers never really had a conversation about LeBron after this season. I saw Wendy say that this morning too. The Lakers are viewing him as an expiring contract. So why would they not trade him? Very interesting.

48:20Rich Eisen:And Dave McMenamin reporting that four teams have already reached out to inquire about LeBron's availability. What would he be worth? I don't think as much as you think. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. I don't think as much as you would expect. Out of here. Why? Wasn't he? I don't know the numbers. All I know is I had him on my fantasy team last year, and he was dynamite. He was good. I think he was second team All-NBA last year. I imagine without looking, I imagine he was probably 26-7-7. Where was Desmond Bain? About as average. Was he a second team All-NBA, Desmond Bain? I don't believe so.

48:59Rich Eisen:Okay. And I understand he's much way younger than LeBron. I get it. Desmond Bain was 19, 6, and 5. Okay. And he went for how many draft picks? Four. And I don't care if LeBron is 40 gajillion years old. It doesn't matter. LeBron is old. That's true. He immediately, immediately puts your team on a map that they may not be on. Immediately. In terms of basketball or just eyeballs? All of it. It doesn't matter. doesn't matter how you interpret what i'm saying value he brings value lebron was 24 8 and 8 get out of here i mean honestly one of the top players in the nba understand he doesn't have a lot of road in front of him who would be the teams to go get him like who would who would be the heat with the heat want him back what do you want to go to the heat probably not i don't think the heat are in a position to contend for an NBA title.

49:58Rich Eisen:Name me a team that would reach out for him. Cavs. Yeah. Cavs, yes. Just to kind of put a bow on everything. Oh, my goodness gracious. That's a good one. Who else? Knicks would be hilarious. I just don't think the... I don't know. That would be amazing, too. LeBron, Cat, and Brunson? So what, it would have to be Bridges and anybody else not nailed down? Probably OG and a bunch of picks and others. Well, I mean, it would definitely have to be Mitchell Robinson. Yes. Yeah, for sure. Well, didn't they just sign Yavaselli, right? They didn't just sign him? They did. So, I mean. And Jordan Clarkson.

50:34Rich Eisen:Jordan Clarkson, we didn't even talk about. That's a nice little pop-off bench. Certified bucket getter. Yeah, don't push me in the don't trade for LeBron take. Because that's not a bad combo. Well, different than saying don't trade for 40-year-old LeBron and 27-year-old Giannis. Listen, those are two bench players the Knicks traded for that 100 % are going to get minutes. right? Because if they don't make any moves, those guys don't crack the starting lineup, right? Jordan Clarkson's not starting. No, no, he's definitely a six-man. He's a six-man, like first guy off the bench, getting you buckets there.

51:08Rich Eisen:Right, so two guys that Thibodeau absolutely would have been forced to play. But it's going to be Mike Brown's team. Well, according to Ian Begley, the Knicks have checked in on Ben Simmons. Okay. I mean, these are... Laugh all you want, man. Yeah, I'm going to. Go ahead. Okay. Remember, I'm a Sixers fan. LeBron in play, huh? That's what you took from Sam Amick's comments? LeBron in play? The Lakers are viewing him as an expiring contract. As a one-year guy, not anything after the next season. Right, which is why you win now. You got LeBron and Luka. Sign DeAndre Ayton. Win now. LeBron and Luka, you lost in the first round.

51:52Rich Eisen:Yeah, I mean, they didn't have anybody rim-protecting, brother. I don't know if Aiton's the answer, but he's better than what they currently have. Brian Baumgartner in studio, hour number two. My top, I guess, power rankings of best non-quarterbacks in the NFL coming up. Still here on the Roku Sports Channel. If everybody's on hold, stay on hold. We're going to take your calls, I promise. I know I said phone calls next, and I didn't take a phone call. That's like Radio 101 of what not to do. you know hey stay tuned thank you if you believe thank you on larry david's birthday you play that i wonder if you wrote that larry it's not a lie if you believe it seems possible um breath the hitman heart birthday today tj also i believe it is the anniversary of men in black hitting oh i did see that love men in black that's a great one right movie another example of i don't know of a bad movie will smith's ever made or a bad movie that's not because of him because he's great in it you don't really ever have a bad time at a will smith movie ever right for anything right and tommy lee jones made me reminds me i was thinking i've got to show the fugitive to my kids.

53:14Rich Eisen:I think they're now of the age where they would like it. Man, they might think it's kind of slow. Why? Come on, it moves, dude. I know R.D.U. 90. We're older people who really like that movie. I mean, a 14-year-old, I don't know if is sticking around through Provasic. I'd have to explain to them what's... The ending could be confusing with Dr. Nichols switching the samples. You know what I mean? Yeah, I understand. I don't know, bro. So that's... They've seen Men in Black, yes? Oh, yes. That they have seen. They have seen Men in Black. They would know Tommy Lee Jones as the guy from Men in Black in the same way they would know De Niro as the guy from War on Grandpa, War with Grandpa, which is truly one of Susie...

53:57The first De Niro movie. You'll never forget your first De Niro movie.

54:00Rich Eisen:Susie and I have parented well, I like to say, but that is one of our biggest failings. Well, you couldn't show him Taxi Driver first, for sake's sake. I know. I don't know. Maybe Meet the Parents could have been a good one. It could have been a good one. Way in with De Niro. How do you introduce Robert De Niro to your children? I think that was my first, was Meet the Parents. Meet the Parents? Was it? Yeah. You didn't see Goodfellas first or anything? No. I didn't see it until later on. I think Goodfellas is probably my first. Yeah, De Niro doesn't have too many kids. Like, Analyze This might have been a good one?

54:37Rich Eisen:To introduce De Niro to the kids? That's a good one. He does shoot a pillow in therapy. I mean, listen, I know there's no way around it. You know, listen, if you would have told me their intro was Sam Rothstein, I would have thought completely different. No, I know. We couldn't have shown him casino. This is the way they learned about De Niro. So I had to stop the movie and explain to them, which is, as you know, an egregious offense.

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