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00:00Night number one of the 2024 NBA draft as well. We will do that here, go fully through the first 30
00:06picks that we saw last night, and all of the biggest storylines from the 2024 NBA draft.
00:12We'll also spin it around Major League Baseball, an extra full Wednesday card to recap on this
00:18Thursday, a Subway Series sweep, the Grimace Mets stay hot here in the month of June, and so much
00:24more DRS around Major League Baseball as well. Yeah, we're close man. Next week we're going to
00:28be in the month of July, which again flips that calendar. We start looking forward to the NFL,
00:32but again, it is day number two in the NBA draft, which typically we'd say to ourselves,
00:36well, we're not used to because we've never seen it before, but there's one big name out there
00:39that, right or wrong, should be drafted, not drafted, and what team is going to is
00:43Bronny James. That's going to lead the day on a lot of telecast today, including this one right
00:47here. It's a fascinating point because all of our draft coverage leading up to the NBA draft,
00:52one of the main storylines was Bronny James. Would he be drafted in which round? By the time
00:58the odds came out, it became pretty apparent he would be a second round selection, and for the
01:03first time since 1989, when the NBA draft was condensed to only two rounds, it's the first time
01:09that we have a two-day event for the NBA draft, which means day number two, and the focus on
01:15Bronny James only ramps up. So we start by looking back on round number one of the 2024 NBA draft,
01:23and we start, of course, at the very top. DRS, when we were together yesterday, Zachary Rezache
01:29out of France was a minus 480 favorite to be the first overall selection made by the Atlanta Hawks.
01:35In the closing moments before Atlanta went on the clock last night inside the Barclays Center in
01:40Brooklyn, that odds and the number worked even more in his favor at minus 2,000 to be that first
01:46overall selection, so what was expected then became official. With the number one overall pick of the
01:522024 NBA draft, Zachary Rezache on his way to Atlanta. Yeah, another kid from France there,
01:57fresh off of last year, another one from France, and sure we'll get to that number two pick here,
02:00but the interesting part about this too is like sometimes because if you, we are handicappers,
02:05right? And again, it's not as if you're putting tons of money down on each one of these selections,
02:09and the reason I bring that up, Ben, is when you're taking a look overall, and you say to
02:12yourself, all right, that line goes from minus 490 back to 390 back to 550. It was moving around
02:17yesterday on the early line, no doubt about it, but looking at it, did anybody get in late? Like,
02:22do you know anybody that gets in late? Like, okay, it's minus 2,000. This is a sure thing,
02:25even if I'm going to pick up 10 or 15 dollars, because I feel like sometimes I need to do that
02:29myself, and I don't, so interesting case scenario where that line moves, and I don't know who got
02:33down on it late because it was a lock. It seemed like that he was going to be number one. Last year,
02:37I just wanted to be a part of history, so I bet a minus 20,000 number on Victor Wembenyama to go
02:43first overall, because we knew that was a virtual certainty, even here in the gambling space,
02:49where nothing is exactly a guarantee, but in the last two weeks, so much movement on Zachary
02:55Rezache and his fellow countryman, Alex Saar. Saar was the original odds-on favorite in minus
03:01money to be that first overall pick. Never worked out for the Hawks organization, so a minus 190
03:08number on Saar just about two weeks ago was a plus money price. Rezache was plus 185 then.
03:15That's what I bet it. Cashed a big plus money ticket to begin the 2024 NBA draft, so at number
03:21two overall, that's where Alex Saar goes. He closed as a minus 1100 favorite to be that second overall
03:28pick to the Washington Wizards. For the second consecutive year, DRS, we see two French players
03:33drafted first overall, Victor Wembenyama in 2023, Zachary Rezache here in 2024. The first time in
03:40NBA draft history in back-to-back seasons, a non-US college basketball player goes first overall,
03:47and then we saw another Frenchman off the board immediately after with Alex Saar. Yeah, you know
03:51what? You take a look at Alex Saar, and the pick, why it's interesting to me is he goes number two,
03:56but honestly, we probably should have thought that he was going number two from a long time,
03:59but having said that, why didn't he work out, by the way, for anybody else at this point? Like,
04:03why didn't he work out for a number one team, which they might have picked him number one?
04:06Did we ever get differentiation of why he did that? He was asked ahead of the NBA draft earlier
04:11this week in Brooklyn. He said he wasn't going to go into the specifics of his workouts, but
04:15welcomed any organization. I don't know if he was hell-bent on being a member of the Washington
04:20Wizards, who had the second-worst record last year in the association at 15 and 67. I'm not
04:26exactly sure the reason. Maybe he didn't want to go to the ATL, an off-season of uncertainty from
04:32this point on after selecting Rezache. What are they going to do with Trey Young and DeJounte
04:37Murray? But for whatever reason, he ends up in the nation's capital. The Wizards actually had two
04:42more picks last night in the opening round as well, 14th overall and 24th overall, as we will
04:48recap. Let's round out the top five. Reid Shepard out of Kentucky goes third overall to Houston.
04:53Fourth overall, Steph Castle makes his way to San Antonio. And DRS, the NBA draft handicapper,
05:00he knew it yesterday. Ron Holland, who he had as a top 10 pick at a minus 105 number, goes top five
05:06to Detroit. How about that? Case closed. I mean, that was maybe the best handicap of the night
05:09overall, but it is an interesting top five. The one guy that I think we supposed to was saying,
05:13you know what's going to go number four? It was Steph Castle. And to be honest with you,
05:16if you're looking for an NBA-ready player with the chance to mature over the next one to two
05:20years, I really like his game and I think it's going to work out. Those G-League guys, we don't
05:24get to see a lot of, but if they did go to college, you're taking a look at those four and five-star
05:28prospects and see how they turn out. But I did like that move for Steph Castle. I think he's
05:31going to be a quality player here in the NBA. And from the betting odds perspective, the first four
05:35picks were exactly as expected. Chuck, Rezache, a hefty favorite. Same with Alex Soret, second
05:41overall. Reed Shepard closed as close to a three-dollar favorite in minus money to be that
05:46third overall selection made by the Houston Rockets. Steph Castle, minus 180 to be the fourth
05:51overall pick. In fact, DRS, on FanDuel, they were giving you the exact, the correct order of the
05:56first four selections. In that order, Rezache, one to Atlanta. Sarr, two to Washington. Shepard,
06:02three to the Rockets. And Castle, fourth overall to San Antonio, minus 140. Exactly what expected.
06:10Ron Holland was the first upset. Yeah. And then Tijon Salon at sixth overall to the Charlotte
06:15Hornets. Also a slight upset. He was favored to be a top-ten selection, but that early in that spot
06:23with Donovan Klingin on the board right behind, that was really the first small surprise that we
06:28had in last night's NBA draft. Yeah, and you know what is interesting, too, because you're taking a
06:32look at Donovan Klingin, who was a sensational player in the NCAA action the past two seasons,
06:36those two runs for UConn. We thought he had a legitimate chance, and I told you yesterday,
06:39quite a long shot at a 20-to-1 price for him actually to be number two overall. That was your
06:43best bet, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I mean, come on now, Klingin. I mean, what happened, man? It
06:46should have been number two, but he didn't go there, but I think he did get value down the line.
06:50Is there a reason, like, did we hear from why Donovan Klingin dropped? And also to the second
06:53point here, the draft isn't that great overall for superstar power, but we thought we'd get some
06:58interesting choices after number one at this point, and we did with Klingin dropping. From
07:02the betting odds perspective, that's why it was so fascinating looking at the big man out of
07:07Connecticut, because he had the second best price yesterday to be the number one overall pick,
07:11second best price to be the third overall pick, second best price to be the fifth overall pick.
07:15He did close as a plus 340 favorite to go seventh overall, but he was never really the favorite guy
07:22in any of the spots along the way, despite closing with a minus 390 price to be a top five selection.
07:29Portland did not have to move and got the guy they wanted probably more than anybody else
07:34in this 2024 NBA draft. Rob Dillingham was drafted eighth overall by San Antonio,
07:40but his trade rights sent right away to the Minnesota Timberwolves, an interesting move
07:45as the T-Wolves give back a 2030 and 2031 first round selection to get Rob Dillingham. DRS, the
07:53team that reached the Western Conference Finals and was favored to win a Western Conference crown
07:57in that series against the Dallas Mavericks, gets a guy in the top 10 in a lottery and an absolute
08:03bucket getter at the guard position out of Kentucky. I really like that move too, because
08:06you're taking a look at a team and when you have multiple superstars and a lot of money spent,
08:10how do you sort of supplement that talent? You get it through the draft because the draft picks
08:13aren't going to cost you that much money. And then you could say to yourself like, well, we're going
08:16to give up the next two, three years. They got a pick coming through that when their superstars are,
08:20you know, certainly in their prime, they're going to be good. And you said, well, what are we going
08:22to do anyway with the 30th overall pick in the draft? Loved what I saw out of Minnesota last
08:26night. And then Zach Eady, ninth overall of the day. Ms. Grisley is cashing my best bet of the day
08:32under 14 and a half with some plus money. I said it was worth a sprinkle. Top 10 at the time
08:38yesterday on the early line, plus 320 at the end of the day, five to one. Zach Eady, a plus money
08:44machine. Plenty more on the early line up next. A 2024 NBA draft opening round recap, live right
08:51here on this Thursday on the early line on SportsCrit. Donny Rightside, Ben Stevens live
08:56in studio for the next three hours up until 11 a.m. Eastern time. Let's focus on the bigs for
09:02just a second. Donovan Clingan out of Connecticut goes seventh overall to the Portland Trailblazers,
09:07plus 340 to be that actual overall slot selection in the opening round of the NBA draft. Zach Eady
09:14had a five to one price, plus 500 to be a top 10 pick. His draft position over under 14 and a half
09:21in the under had plus money. In a national championship game between UConn and Purdue,
09:26we focused on the big. 7-2 Clingan, 7-4 Eady. If the year was 1984 and not 2024,
09:33they would have gone 1-2 to start this draft, but both still top 10 picks. Yeah, and you like to see
09:39that. And also let's keep in mind, what happens if we actually had been a truly stacked draft all
09:43the way through? Where does Zach Eady actually land at this point? So a lot of these players
09:47benefited and also going to benefit in their bank account for getting drafted much, much higher.
09:51But I talked about it yesterday. We're not worried about Donovan Clingan in the NBA,
09:54because if a big can run up and down the court in the super athletic, he's always going to have a
09:58job. The problem is, what is Zach Eady going to give you? But I also countered that point saying,
10:02you know exactly what you get day number one. Zach Eady's not like, okay, he's over seven foot.
10:06What a reclamation project. Let's see if he can actually get some minutes. You can plug and play
10:10him and get decent minutes. And that's worth a lot to a team like Memphis that if you're looking to
10:14make the playoffs or get back into the picture with John Moran, this is the perfect guy because
10:18it's not an extension of, well, in a couple years, Ben, let's see what we have. He should be good to
10:22go right away. And it was also wee wee last night at the very start. Two French players drafted one
10:27and two for the 12th consecutive season. Two international players taken in the top 10 picks
10:35of an NBA draft. Rounding out the top 10, Colorado's Cody Williams. He goes to the Utah Jazz.
10:41He had a very heavy minus money price to be a top 10 pick. And that's where he ends up. The first,
10:48first round selection for Colorado men's basketball since 2017. And Derek White,
10:54who just won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics. So let's continue to move through the
10:59opening round of the 2024 NBA draft because of some of the surprising picks, perhaps. Ron Holland
11:05at fifth overall. Tijon Salon early at number six to the Charlotte Hornets. Zach Eady, a slight
11:11upset as well. We did see one early slide and then a second bigger slide that will detail in this
11:18grouping from 11 to 20. First, it was Mattis Bruzelis, who was the favorite to be the fifth
11:24overall pick to Detroit. He stays in the Midwest, but goes to his native Chicago from Hinsdale,
11:31Illinois, a suburb of the Chicagoland area. The native drafted by the Bulls with the 11th
11:38overall number. Yeah. And again, this gets back to that point where you're looking at that top 10
11:42and you can have a lot of intrigue in a draft where you don't really know where these guys
11:46are slotted because different draft boards, Ben, are going to be so, so much different. But I think
11:49you found a pretty good home here. And also, if we're just looking at projections, maybe the
11:52Chicago Bulls had him as the third overall player and got him at 11. That's what you look forward to
11:56in that draft room. Who is going to fall to where you might have felt like I might have to go after
11:59a Devin Carter or somebody else like a Jared McCain. But when you get that player, like,
12:03I didn't think he would be around, which, again, in the press conference, boy, oh boy, never did
12:07we think he was going to be there. I think this is one of those where you're saying to yourself,
12:10like, yes, we got one of the steals of the draft, we believe. Plus 120, a short number to be that
12:15fifth overall pick to the Detroit Pistons did not go five, goes to Chicago at 11. So you get an idea
12:22of the context around Mattis Bruzelis. By the way, the Pistons drafting fifth for the third
12:28consecutive year, despite having the worst record in the NBA the past two seasons. Already the
12:33dismissal of Monte Williams, a lot to figure out in Detroit. The Rockets, who drafted Reed Shepard
12:38third overall, their fourth consecutive NBA draft with a top four pick. Nikola Topic goes 12th
12:45overall out of Serbia, playing professional basketball already at 18 years old in the
12:50competitive Adriatic League. He goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. We know what is the case
12:55for OKC with their general manager, Sam Presti. So many picks. But Donnie, it's not often that you
13:02had a team that finished first in the Western Conference as that one seed in the postseason
13:07have a lottery pick. It's what Oklahoma City was capable of doing. Look, and this is what you had
13:11to get ready for when you were taking a look at OKC over the past couple years. We knew they
13:15had a lot of good young talent on that roster, but the question was going to be, are you going to keep
13:19those picks moving forward? Are you going to add that veteran talent? They were so good last year
13:22with that young roster, they're continuing to stack the deck. And so many times we talk about
13:26guys eventually are going to get paid. If you can build through the draft, you save on that luxury
13:31tax and that salary cap. This is a healthy organization right now that got another good
13:34basketball. As the draft process began, DRS, Topic was thought of maybe being a top five, top ten pick.
13:41A very raw 18-year-old who was supposed to present length at the guard position. Wingspan wasn't as
13:48big as people expected. Also tore his ACL during the draft process as well, but OKC's in no rush
13:54to bring him to the NBA immediately and needing an impact out of him starting next season. Love
13:59the pick. Devin Carter, who was the favorite to go eighth, ninth, and tenth overall, ends up going
14:0513th overall to the Sacramento Kings. Out of Providence, the 2023-24 Big East Player of the
14:12Year in rounding out the lottery, Bub Carrington out of Pittsburgh. Just the second ever lottery
14:19pick, or first round selection rather, for the Panthers basketball program in the modern draft
14:24era. That's pretty interesting too because there's a lot of great basketball players running through
14:27there in the Big East throughout the 80s and 90s, but there are some changes. Also, getting back to
14:30that picture, that pick here with Topic, you know, you move on from Josh Giddey, you get that replacement
14:34right away. And also, sometimes it's tough though. Those stash players, which is a young guy, you
14:39never truly know how they're going to come off a knee injury, but with the way that you can repair
14:43those ACLs at this point, he's so young, you probably figure he might even see the court next
14:47year late in the season. And then you have your point guard of the future is what you're hoping
14:50there as well. So the big storyline from the outside of the lottery was Dalton Kinnick, who was
14:55the favorite yesterday to be the sixth overall pick. A draft position prop of seven and a half
15:01in the under had the heavy juice. He falls all the way outside of the lottery into 17th overall
15:08to the Los Angeles Lakers, who were more than thrilled to have him fall into their lap under
15:13a new head coach in JJ Redick. Dalton Kinnick makes his way out to the City of Angels. Just a pure
15:17bucket and it fits perfectly. There's a couple teams in front of him. Miami fans, Philadelphia 76ers fans
15:22like this is the perfect guy because he's a bucket the minute he gets into the league. But the fact
15:25of the matter is, I love this where it says, well, he's old as if he was Chris Wanky coming in at 28
15:29or 29 years old to the NFL. This guy's like, what, 23 years old and automatically knows how to score,
15:34which is so tough to do anyway in the NBA. I love what the Lakers did there. That's a great pick
15:38for the Los Angeles Lakers. The SEC's leading scorer last year for the Volunteers averaging
15:43nearly 22 points per game. How do you feel about Jared McCain making his way to Philly? I look,
15:47you know me, I love three-point shooters. The Sixers got themselves a three-point shooter,
15:51but people are so mad they passed on Dalton Kinnick. They can't understand the value of the
15:55pick for the Sixers. Another short guard in the backcourt. Tough scene. Dalton Kinnick,
15:59the Cooper DeGene of the 2024 NBA draft, some have been saying. The rest of the opening round,
16:05okay. Live right here on this Thursday on the early line on Sports Grid, our NBA draft opening
16:11round recap continues. So outside of the lottery, love the pick, by the way, at 15th overall for the
16:16Miami Heat. Khalil Ware out of Indiana now makes his way to South Beach. In many spots considered
16:24a top 20 selection, he goes 15th overall. A big night for Colorado basketball. Tristan DeSilva,
16:29the 18th overall pick to the Orlando Magic. Cody Williams, 10th overall to Utah. DeSilva,
16:3518th overall to Orlando. They hadn't had a first round pick since 2017 and Derek White,
16:40the first time in a modern draft era for CU Buffs basketball that two players go in the opening
16:47round in the same NBA draft. And then we saw two Baylor Bears, Jacoby Walter, 19th overall to
16:53Toronto. Eve Meese, 21st overall to the New Orleans Pelicans. Sandwiched in between Jalen
16:59Tyson to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So let's keep it rolling here, 21 through 30. Donnie, an
17:05intriguing betting perspective for Daron Holmes, the second, who was often linked throughout this
17:10draft process to the Denver Nuggets. But originally at 22 was the Phoenix Suns. They trade back to go
17:17to 28. They add a second round pick as well from Denver, and the Nuggets get their guy in Daron
17:23Holmes. In many different markets, Daron Holmes was favored to be the 28th overall pick where
17:29Denver originally resided. If you thought you had it right, Daron Holmes to Denver, you did,
17:35just not in the correct draft slot. Yeah, and again, a lot of moving parts in this draft,
17:39and this is where we're getting into that bottom of the first round, which yes, they are first
17:42round draft picks. That's what it's going to say on their player card. But some of these guys that
17:45we, including myself, haven't heard of all that much. You're starting to learn about them on the
17:49fly. I'm sure they'll be quality basketball players at this point, but as you pointed out,
17:52some teams have those draft boards much, much different. It's not just like that Mel Kuypers.
17:56It's like, I can't believe we didn't draft that guy. There were so many moving parts,
17:59particularly in the late part of this draft where some teams really valued certain positions more
18:03than others, and it showed up. There were two spots in this grouping of 21 to 30 that left me
18:07last night live on air saying, huh? AJ Johnson, 23rd overall, who played in the NBL, that's
18:15Australia's pro league, played in only 26 games, averaging less than eight minutes per game, with
18:22the Milwaukee guy and Tyler Kolick out of Marquette still on the board. An interesting move for the
18:27Bucs to get an undeveloped project, and then, listen, it's been a good 46 hours or so, 48 hours
18:35for the New York Knicks, everything that happened on draft eve, the re-signing of OG
18:39Ananobi a few hours prior to the NBA draft getting underway last night, but Pacome Dadier out of
18:46France, another spot where I was left saying, huh? The Knicks actually traded 24th back to the
18:53Washington Wizards, who came up to make their third pick of the opening round. They get Keyshawn
18:58George out of Miami. They also traded 26. They were supposed to select back-to-back in two
19:03different spots yesterday during the opening round of the NBA draft. They only make one pick.
19:08It's Pacome Dadier out of France. Now, is this guy going to come over? Is this the stash guy
19:12in a couple years we'll see him? Because we're loaded up on talent, number one, but also loaded
19:16up in payroll, so sometimes it does make sense where you say, okay, can't come over. Maybe if
19:20you improve, you'll be able to come back over and we'll slide you in. It was clear that after
19:24signing OG Ananobi to a five-year, $212.5 million deal, the Knicks don't have a lot to spend elsewhere
19:32this offseason. So, it was almost like they decided in the Knicks front office, we'll draft
19:37this French guy, Dadier. He's a huge project, maybe with some upside down the line when the
19:41bankroll opens up a little bit. He'll be in Westchester for the time being in the G League.
19:46We joked last night, they're going to make the trip across the East River from Brooklyn. They'll
19:50drive past Madison Square Garden, say hello, and then he'll make his way over to Westchester.
19:56Second pick of the opening round for OKC as they trade with the New York Knicks for that
20:02second spot, Dylan Jones out of Weber State, the Big Sky MVP, that's the player of the year,
20:08and a great moment toward the end of the opening round, Terrence Shannon Jr., goes 27th overall
20:13to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Of course, Terrence Shannon Jr., just two weeks ago,
20:17acquitted of a rape charge and sexual assault charge in Douglas County in Lawrence, Kansas.
20:24He had a year in which his reputation and his name were damaged significantly. He missed six games
20:30and that followed him around. He faced vile chants from opposing fan bases, both in person
20:35and online, to be acquitted of any wrongdoing, and to hear his name called on the opening night of
20:40the NBA draft, a big moment for TSJ last night in Chicago. Big deal, and he's a bucket too. Usually,
20:45it's the teams that we look at, Ben, and say, well, they have a couple first round draft picks,
20:48or you're a bad team, you stockpiled them, and you're supposed to have a good draft. A team that
20:51gets all the way into their season, like you saw last year, the Timberwolves with a legitimate
20:55chance to win it all. I thought they had a great first round because you got ready-made talent
20:59that should be able to step right in to get buckets right away. 23 points per game for
21:03Terrence Shannon Jr. alongside Anthony Edwards and Rob Dillingham. They might run up the score
21:08in Minneapolis in years to come. The third most points nationally for TSJ in college hoops a
21:15season ago. How the first round came to a close? In the rest of this NBA summer. That's up next,
21:21live right here on TPL. So let's round out the first 30. The first 30 picks of the first round
21:26of the 2024 NBA draft. At number 28 overall out of Virginia, a defender makes his way to Phoenix.
21:34That's Ryan Dunn. He can defend the crap out of the basketball. That's what you learn under the
21:39Pac-Line defense under Tony Bennett. Isaiah Collier on a slide not only throughout the NBA drafts
21:46opening round last night, but really the entirety of the draft process. DRS, an intriguing year for
21:51a trio of freshmen at USC. And of course, there will be a ton of attention paid to that tonight
21:56in round number two with Bronny James, but he was alongside Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis. All
22:02three guys expected to have bright NBA futures. There was a time entering last college basketball
22:07season. People looked at Collier as a top five, top 10, but surefire lottery pick. He goes all
22:13the way down to 29 with a Utah Jazz select him with the second to last pick of the first round.
22:17Yeah, it would have been interesting to see, right, if we didn't have a one and done rule
22:20basically in college basketball, if you could just go right out of high school into the NBA,
22:24where he would have wound up. Draft stock was sharp, but people are still going to take a look
22:28at that upside, Ben, and say, there's something in there that we saw from high school. Maybe the
22:31coaching staff at USC didn't get a lot out of him, but also you can lean on back and say,
22:35boy, SC had a lot of talent this last year and underwhelmed for basically the entire season.
22:40Maybe it was just the coaching staff at this point. So I don't mind it. When you're taking
22:43talent at the end of the first round, you're just looking for flyers. And if it turns out to be a
22:47good one there, that's a great pick. The Utah Jazz, one of a few teams last night that made
22:52multiple selections or at least acquired multiple first round draft picks, the Jazz, the Thunder
22:58made two, the Minnesota Timberwolves ended up with two draft picks, Rob Dillingham and Terrence
23:02Shannon Jr. And the Washington Wizards continue a unique draft trend. In my opinion, the Wizards
23:08becoming the only team this year to make three first round selections. But there has been a team
23:14in the last nine consecutive NBA drafts to make at least three first round picks. Part of that is
23:21because the Wizards traded Denny Aveda earlier in the day to Portland. In return, the Blazers
23:26traded their second lottery pick 14th overall to the Wiz. It was part of a day of NBA draft moves
23:34and NBA signings. Not going to skip him here. Baylor Shireman is the last pick of the first
23:39round 30th overall to the Boston Celtics. I hate how much I love that pick because I think Shireman
23:46is a great prospect with a ton of upside ready made to contribute for Boston and the Celtics
23:51don't need any more riches after winning an NBA championship. No, they certainly don't. And also
23:55doesn't this pick fit in perfectly for them when that second line comes in? You see the Pritchett's
23:59of the world dropping three-pointers, the Housers of the world, and now you just add this guy in
24:03there as well. I love to see that because again, luxury picks at the end of the first round. You're
24:07not looking so much for impact starters, but just a guy that could come in and help the team. He can
24:11actually do that for the Celtics who were champions last year. Peyton Pritchard, Sam Houser, what do
24:15they have in common with Baylor Shireman? They're both Boston Celtics. Oh, very good point. That's
24:20true. And the basketball, as you said. So a big day yesterday around the NBA draft. Of course,
24:26on draft eve, it was the blockbuster deal between the two teams in the Big Apple. Mikael Bridges
24:31traded by Brooklyn to the New York Knicks. And the question then became, how are the Knickerbockers
24:37going to approach the rest of this summer? Do they even have enough money to re-sign guys like Isaiah
24:42Hartenstein and O.G. Ananobi? What is Julius Randle's future in New York? At least one of
24:47those questions answered yesterday afternoon. O.G. Ananobi will remain with this Knicks franchise. A
24:55$212.5 million deal to return to New York. He was acquired last January by this Knicks team.
25:03Midway through the season, traded from the Toronto Raptors. He will remain in Manhattan,
25:08inside Madison Square Garden. And the Knicks, despite an interesting decision later in the draft,
25:13had a great day leading up to the 2024 NBA draft. A fantastic move. Because we were talking about
25:18this yesterday saying, well, you know what? All these players on this team, there's probably
25:21going to be an odd man out. We figured it probably would be O.G. Ananobi. He re-signs.
25:26And also, there's two ways to look at this, Ben, right? From the Knicks organization and fan base.
25:31They're loving it. Because that gets you so energized for next year. If you're a Knicks fan,
25:34you can't wait for tip-off. Because you saw the excitement this year. You added talent. And also,
25:38on top of that, you're keeping the talent around that got you there. Now, also keep in mind,
25:42if you're saying they overpaid, guys, just get ready for the contracts that are coming down the
25:46line. Because of the increase from the CBA and all that TV deal money coming in. But if you are
25:51like, what were you supposed to do? Hey, you know what? Let's be physically responsible here. We have
25:54a really good team anyway. We'll let O.G. go. No. Your time is right now. If you figure you can make
25:59a run to an NBA championship, sign these guys. Max out that cap. Trade those picks away and go
26:04for it. I like what the Knicks organization is doing here, Ben. 40 plus mil for O.G. Ananobi
26:08might seem steep in comparison to where the cap is in the NBA. It's really not as of this moment.
26:15And when you take into consideration the deals that Jalen Brunson and Mikael Bridges are playing
26:20under for that trio to remain in New York all alongside one another, not too shabby. And you
26:26have two of the best perimeter defensive wings in all of the NBA now in the same roof under Tom
26:33Thibodeau, O.G. Ananobi and Mikael Bridges. And don't just take our word for it on how optimistic
26:39and positive these moves have been for the New York Knicks in the past 48 hours. Look at the
26:44odds perspective. The Knicks opened with a plus 750 price. That was third best to win the Eastern
26:50Conference, but a large gap behind both Milwaukee and the Boston Celtics after the trade for Bridges.
26:56It was five to one tied for the second best number with Milwaukee as they re-signed O.G. Ananobi.
27:02The market tightens once again, a dollar and a half shaved off plus 350. BRS, the New York Knicks
27:09had the second best price to win the Eastern Conference crown next NBA season. And once there
27:14was a substantial gap between Boston and everybody else, now it's just over two bucks between the
27:19Seas and the Knicks. Yeah, Celtics are still the better team. We can understand that. But to be
27:22honest, when you're looking and granted free agency, Ben, we're still about a week away at this point.
27:26So changes will be made, but we are reactionary and we're seeing what those lines right now would
27:30be. As you see that graphic once again, if you're telling me right now, again, nobody's made changes
27:35outside of them. The Knicks deserve to be there at that plus 350 price. They absolutely do. They
27:39showed you last year if they could have been healthy throughout that playoff run with all
27:42other players, who knows where they actually would have wound up. Now you're looking at them going
27:46into this season. They'll continue to tweak that roster. I like what I see out of the Knicks, the
27:49deserving of being that number two team. But having said that again, Bucks are going to make moves.
27:53Sixers are going to make moves. Odds are going to change. But right now, yes, the Knicks deserve to
27:57be there. Absolutely. I think Philadelphia finding that third piece is going to drastically shift
28:02these odds before we get into next NBA season. But at the moment, I would agree. Of course,
28:07the Knicks were one win away in game seven inside Madison Square Garden from reaching the franchise's
28:13first Eastern Conference finals since the year 2000. And let's call a spade a spade in the Eastern
28:19Conference. As of this moment, everybody is playing for second to be that second team behind Boston
28:25to challenge the Celtics for an Eastern Conference crowd. Of course, a lot can be figured out
28:30throughout the entirety of the offseason and through the regular season next year in the
28:34association. It's just where the odds makers have it. The Celtics still a short favorite to win
28:38championship number 18 or 19, excuse me, next year, the Denver Nuggets, the second best price
28:44of plus 750, the New York Knicks. Now the third best number to win the NBA championship next season
28:49at plus 850. Some other moves yesterday around the NBA, the Miami Heat draft Khalil Ware 15th
28:57overall, he hopes to be in the front court for a while with Bam Adebayo, who was set to sign a
29:02three year $166 million extension when the league year begins next week. And next month on July 6,
29:11still two more years on his contract for Bam Adebayo, excuse me, but we'll get some big money
29:17when all is said and done. Yeah, absolutely. And rightfully so he deserved that. And again,
29:20the price of the brick is going up in the NBA, these guys are making much, much more money.
29:24But also if we're lining those plate, OG Ananobi, the reason why he overpaid from,
29:28let me tell you something, OG gets to the market, he's getting almost something identical. Now,
29:32granted, you can pay your players more than other teams can. That's the advantage of having them
29:36on your team. You just absorb it into your cap and also the luxury tax. But it wasn't as if it's
29:40like we always go back to like Daniel Jones, like nobody's going to offer this guy any money. No,
29:44OG was probably going to the Philadelphia 76ers, to be honest, if he hit that market. So if you're
29:48the Knicks, you're like, do we think we overpay and keep him here or do we let him walk and go
29:51to another team who can actually play against us? Good move there. That contract extension,
29:55a three-year deal, 166, that keeps him in Miami until 2029. That's Pam Adebayo. That's an average
30:01of about 55.3 million dollars per year. This upcoming season, as of this moment, only five
30:08guys in the NBA are set to make more than 50 mil. So again, it is that rising tide and the rising
30:14cap in the NBA. We also learned yesterday that Jimmy Butler will play for Miami this year,
30:19but is not intending to sign his player option for the following season. He'll test the free
30:24agency waters next summer. Nick Claxton, he remains in Brooklyn. Four-year deal,
30:30100 million dollars to return to the Nets. The Nets might be already looking
30:34at Cooper Flagg for the 2025 NBA draft.