Impact of Rich Paul's Strategy on Bronny James' NBA Draft
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00But now, let's also extend a hand here to the coach.
00:03It's James Young.
00:03Look, Donnie, right side here, it's Joe Ranieri.
00:05We love to talk to the coach when we're talking NBA,
00:07particularly with Bronny James.
00:09But before we get there,
00:10ooh, you were working a lot over the past couple of days.
00:13Coach, how are we feeling today?
00:15I'm tired.
00:16I'm not gonna lie.
00:17Like, it was a lot going through this.
00:21Luckily, I made it through,
00:23but about three cups of coffee later, I'm good.
00:26But I think I'm gonna crash about one o'clock.
00:29Now, coach, one of the worst kept secrets of this draft
00:32was we knew for months at this point,
00:34LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers wanted Bronny James
00:37because you wanted to keep
00:38your superstar player LeBron James happy,
00:41but we didn't know where Bronny James was going to go.
00:43Thought process behind.
00:44Some might've thought, coach, he might go 17 overall.
00:47We thought that was nonsense.
00:48The Lakers actually picked a very good player
00:50at 17 to help that team.
00:51But the question was,
00:52where was Bronny going to go with the Lakers?
00:55Were they able to hold their pick?
00:56Was there gonna be a market for Bronny James
00:58and teams have to trade up?
00:59And as it turned out yesterday,
01:01while we started to watch round number two,
01:03word got around that Rich Paul was saying,
01:05don't you draft this guy,
01:06because if you do, outside of the Lakers,
01:08he's going to play in Australia.
01:10Let's start there with the news that was breaking
01:13as round number two was there,
01:14where we were getting word that,
01:16don't you dare take Bronny.
01:17He's destined for Los Angeles.
01:20I mean, what a move.
01:23I mean, hey, listen,
01:25part of me was hoping that, honestly, at 54,
01:29Boston just a mess with the whole,
01:31like, Lakers or something.
01:32We were like, you know what?
01:34We're going to send this kid to Pearl, Australia.
01:36We'll take Bronny James at 54 and watch what happens.
01:40But then I started to really think about it, guys.
01:43And it was a shrewd move by Rich Paul,
01:46clutch words, you know, JJ Redick,
01:50Rob Polenko, LeBron James, everyone involved.
01:53It was a setup.
01:54Basically, you don't work the guy out anywhere else,
01:57besides there in Phoenix,
01:59just to kind of set the market, right?
02:02And then you have the fact that the Lakers
02:04never felt threatened enough to move up in the draft,
02:07because right when the second round started,
02:09if anybody even had an inkling of trying to do it,
02:12Rich Paul shut the whole thing down again.
02:16And if you really think about it,
02:18this is deeper, guys, than Bronny.
02:22This is clutch sports overall.
02:26They control a lot of the big-name players in the NBA.
02:31So simply put, if you screwed over Rich Paul for Bronny,
02:35you are screwing yourself out
02:36of all the clients at clutch sports.
02:39Think about the sit-down that took place, I think,
02:42guys, I think in winter or spring,
02:45where Leon Rose, Worldwide West,
02:47had to have a sit-down with Rich Paul
02:49to squash the CAA clutch sports beef
02:53just in case the Knicks wanted to trade for someone.
02:56So there is definitely levels to this.
02:59Rich Paul played chess.
03:00We all played checkers.
03:01I thought someone was going to trade up,
03:03but at the end of the day,
03:04Rich Paul shut the whole thing down.
03:08Going to be real interesting to see how JJ Redick,
03:11first-time head coach, is going to have to maneuver
03:14and deal with this Bronny and King here
03:19as the season moves on,
03:20because, Coach, what is the upside
03:23for this kid here this year?
03:24I mean, even the future,
03:26what kind of NBA player are we looking at here at this point?
03:31Well, I do think, defensively, he's ready.
03:35I think he can guard,
03:37even though he's only about six foot two,
03:38he's secretly strong,
03:39he can guard at the point guard spot.
03:41I do think he's a sneaky playmaker.
03:45The problem with Bronny is right there,
03:47the 36.6 field goal shooting percentage.
03:51He is not a strong shooter.
03:53So to me, it's one of the things where,
03:56let's see if he's better in the pros in college.
04:00I know Chris Brinkley, the renowned trainer,
04:03obviously dropped the video,
04:05I think last night or this morning,
04:06showing Bronny knocking down shots in a workout.
04:10Guys, I train kids all the time.
04:12It's very easy for me to take a one-hour workout
04:16and clip 30 seconds
04:18and make any kid look like a WNBA all-star
04:21when I train girls or an NBA all-star
04:22when I train boys.
04:24Make three shots in a row, clip, clip, clip, there you go.
04:26Well, what about the other 59 minutes
04:29and 30 seconds in a workout?
04:31Now, he's got to improve the jump shot.
04:33That is the key.
04:34JJ Reddick's in a tough spot, but is he?
04:38Obviously, they're all talked about it.
04:41Bronny will be at the end of the bench,
04:43but I'm sure we'll have the Griffey senior,
04:46Griffey junior moment when Bronny throws a lob to LeBron
04:50or Bron throws it to Bronny,
04:52and that's going to be on the highlight reel
04:53for basically ever.
04:56Now, if we take a look at the situation overall, right,
04:59because Bronny goes to LA,
05:00we thought that was going to take place,
05:01but I always thought the interesting part of this
05:03is the dynamic of Bronny James getting better
05:06as a basketball player in the NBA.
05:08Coach, you know as well as I do,
05:09a guy that's drafted 55th overall
05:12usually may not even make that roster,
05:13but be sent to the G League,
05:14and that's the part I'm going to bring up.
05:16The evolution of an NBA player is
05:18you don't get better, coach, unless you play.
05:20You can have all the practice time you want.
05:21You can have your father, LeBron James,
05:23might be the best basketball player of all time,
05:25but at the same time,
05:26you need to be getting those runs in.
05:28So talk about the Lakers here,
05:29because I know it's like
05:30he's only going to play on a one-way contract,
05:31which means the NBA.
05:32How does Bronny James get better next year
05:34if he doesn't go to the G League?
05:36You better hope that they surround Bronny and LeBron
05:41with an all-star staff,
05:42and this is where the skill development coach
05:46really comes into play.
05:48There's going to be late-night sessions.
05:49Maybe there's going to have to be some concessions
05:51of Bronny going to El Segundo, California.
05:56The last time I heard the term El Segundo
05:58is when Tribe Called Quest said,
06:00I left my wallet in El Segundo.
06:03I didn't even know it was really a real place.
06:05I totally got last night when I looked it up.
06:06So listen, maybe you have to send Bronny out a little bit,
06:09but to me, it's about the skill development,
06:12and it's about really,
06:13can you really try to hit a home run?
06:15Second round, you either do two things.
06:17You take a project and you hope you hit a home run,
06:20or you take a guy that went to college three, four years,
06:24more of a ready-made product,
06:26may not be able to be a star,
06:28but could just give you minutes in the NBA.
06:31Yeah, the whole thing was an interesting situation
06:34that we're probably not going to see all that much again
06:35until another superstar who's playing in the league
06:37has his son play in the league,
06:39but I got to tell you,
06:40that price point at plus 100
06:41for him to be drafted to the Lakers,
06:44the minus 145s, I did take it,
06:46and I felt to myself, I really missed an opportunity.
06:48Didn't we always think he was going to the Lakers,
06:50and I just couldn't pull more of a trigger on that.
06:53Still won, not going to be upset about that at all.
06:55Round number two, handicap that next.
06:58What actually happened yesterday?
06:59We'll be right back.
07:00NBA day number two, that second round moved along,
07:03and yes, we were talking Bronny James,
07:04where was he going to go?
07:05But it seemed like an absolute foregone conclusion
07:08that he was going to be a Los Angeles Laker.
07:10So obviously we'll have some more conversation
07:12on this, Donnie, right side, Joe Winnery,
07:13and the coach, James Young, right here in the middle.
07:16But let me ask you this question,
07:17because again, we love to handicap things,
07:19and it just seems like, coach,
07:20it was so easy for him to go to the Lakers.
07:22Now the bets across the board at FanDuel
07:24were if he gets drafted to the Lakers,
07:26and sometimes us handicappers go,
07:28what's that worst case scenario that just might happen?
07:31Answer me this, coach,
07:32because during round number two,
07:34the Lakers had the 55th overall pick.
07:35We figured Bronny James was going there,
07:37but it was so strong that Bronny was to the Lakers,
07:39I thought, could the Lakers actually pick at 55
07:42and not take Bronny James,
07:44and then just get him as an unrestricted,
07:46undrafted free agent at that point?
07:48Did that ever cross your mind, coach,
07:49that Bronny might not get drafted,
07:51but still wind up with the Lakers?
07:54Like this much, but then there's the whole,
07:57if you looked at the James family,
08:00and the celebration, and the emotion of Bronny,
08:03like they had that camera ready.
08:05They probably turned that camera on
08:07like right about when Boston was about to make the pick.
08:09They weren't having that thing on all afternoon,
08:12all evening, like every other draft prospect.
08:15They waited for, Boston says,
08:17or about this like,
08:18hey, hey, turn the camera on, turn the camera on.
08:20We're about to record right now.
08:21That's basically what they did.
08:23So at the end of the day,
08:25it was something about him being drafted.
08:27Could the Lakers have waited as undrafted free agent
08:29and done it?
08:30Absolutely.
08:31But at the end of the day,
08:32they wanted to have the ceremony for Bronny
08:35that he gets drafted.
08:37I'm wondering now, like, how old is Bryce James?
08:39Like, could LeBron stay around for like four or five years
08:42or do this again in like 2029?
08:44I don't know.
08:46Yeah.
08:47Well, he might own the Lakers by that point.
08:48Oh, he's 17.
08:49Oh, 2026.
08:50Yeah, yeah.
08:51Oh, here we go.
08:53Yeah, exactly, exactly.
08:55Yes.
08:56Anything is possible with LeBron James and LA.
08:59The second round started,
09:00there was a lot of talk about Filipowski
09:02still being on the board.
09:04Toronto's on the clock,
09:05and they don't go Filipowski.
09:07They go Mogbo there out of San Fran to Toronto here.
09:11What stood out to you here about Filipowski
09:14falling to Utah, essentially?
09:18I'm not getting into the whole Mormon,
09:20older girlfriend, TMZ.
09:22That is above my pay grade.
09:26But when you look at Flip,
09:30there are things about Flip that are
09:33a little bit concerning, right?
09:34At six foot 11, he's not,
09:36I don't think he is tough enough to bang and be a five.
09:40Is he athletic enough to guard fours?
09:42How do you play him in coverage?
09:44But then you look at it and you're like,
09:46he went to Utah, and minus the Mormon thing aside,
09:49he's Kelly Olynyk.
09:51Like, he's literally Kelly Olynyk.
09:53And Kelly Olynyk just got traded last year
09:56from Utah to Toronto.
09:59So they got a guy that is a cerebral player.
10:03Pretty decent in the low post.
10:05Willing passer.
10:06You know, can shoot it a little bit.
10:08So to me, Flip at that point for Utah,
10:11I mean, I thought maybe a team that would
10:14be more of a contender and needs a backup big
10:16would go for Flip.
10:18But at the end of the day,
10:18he's sitting there at the top of round two,
10:20and you're Utah, you gotta take him.
10:23If we were looking at that second round as a whole,
10:25and I guess, Bronny James is always gonna get
10:27much of the gusto here when we're talking about it,
10:29but were there a couple picks that you looked at
10:31that said, you know what?
10:32I really like this pick for a certain franchise.
10:36I love Tyler Kolik to the next.
10:38And Tyler Kolik is just, he wins.
10:42He wins.
10:44And please don't make people think that he's gonna be him.
10:47Kind of reminds me of Brunson a little bit,
10:49like coming out of Nova.
10:51Like, oh, we don't know if he's good enough,
10:53we don't know if he's quick enough,
10:54but he wins, he plays hard,
10:56he battles for every possession.
10:58He is a perfect guy to fit into that locker room.
11:03And I think that is huge.
11:03I thought the Knicks, honestly,
11:05I thought the Knicks had a great draft
11:08if the guy wasn't French.
11:09Like, if the guy was French, I'm like, wait, what?
11:11But if you look at getting Kolik, right?
11:14And you look at a guy like McCuller,
11:15who the Knicks had led, who was that Tom Thibodeau
11:19kind of Josh Hart-like kind of player.
11:22Defends, rebounds for his sides, runs the floor, tough.
11:25And then Horty, the kid out of Germany,
11:28that 6'11", strong, rebounder, good passer.
11:32You close your eyes, you're like,
11:34that sounds a lot like Isaiah Hartenstein, right there,
11:37if you think about it.
11:38So the Knicks had a great job in the second round.
11:40I think Johnny Furphy, where he went, was fantastic.
11:43I like Paul Larson, and at the end of the day,
11:45I'm gonna say it.
11:46Whatever the Miami Heat do, always seems to work.
11:51So when they took Larson, I went, of course,
11:53why does this guy be an all-star in three years?
11:56You're right about that.
11:57And also, sometimes the NBA just working overtime here.
12:01And by the way, I think we're here to stay.
12:03Round number one used to be condensed to round number one
12:05and round number two on day number one, or day number one.
12:07Now we have a day number two.
12:09I think that's gonna be here to stay.
12:10If we can make it through this draft
12:11with this type of talent for two days,
12:13good luck in the future.
12:14It should be a good time all the way around.
12:16Let's talk about some of those rookies
12:17and where they wind up next year
12:18and how they perform right here on The Early Line.
12:21Oh yes, it's The Early Line right here
12:22on a Friday morning.
12:23And next week, as we stated, will be July in free agency.
12:26But before we get there,
12:27so many more hot topics to hit here.
12:29The coach, James Young, has joined myself
12:31and also Joe Ranieri to talk about some of these topics.
12:34Now we'll get on-court fits next year
12:37to take a look at where these guys fit in.
12:39But let me ask you this, coach.
12:41If we're just looking at the players
12:42at the top end of that draft,
12:43the Sars, the Resushis, Castle, and Shepherd,
12:46can you give me, even before they hit the court,
12:48who figures to be a perfect fit for that organization
12:51and maybe even a fit that you're like,
12:53you know what?
12:54I don't know how well this is going to work out.
12:57I absolutely love Stephon Castle going to San Antonio.
13:01Here's a guy at a point of attack
13:04that is strong offensively off the bounce.
13:06I think he's a sneaky good playmaker.
13:08Didn't have to be a playmaker much at UConn,
13:11but look at the way he was at the Final Four,
13:13how he elevated his game
13:14and wherever he needed to do, he did.
13:17But then on a defensive end of the floor,
13:19this is a San Antonio Spurs team
13:21that needs help in the backcourt.
13:23I know Devin Bissell could score,
13:24but Trey Jones is not the long-term solution.
13:27So you go get a guy with his length
13:29and his defensive tenacity on that young Spurs team
13:32with Wembley, both of them being about the same age,
13:35and you allow those two guys to grow,
13:37I think Stephon Castle's going to be absolutely fantastic.
13:40Surprisingly, the one that I think
13:42I don't know about the most,
13:44to me, honestly, is Reid Shepherd.
13:47I think he's going to be a really good pro,
13:49but now you got to figure it out in Houston, right?
13:52You're not trading Van Vliet. You just got there.
13:55Are you moving Jalen Green?
13:56You have Kim Whitmore.
13:58You got all these guards.
14:00You know, what are you going to do here?
14:02You have Torrey Easton as a small forward
14:03who I think is underrated, right?
14:05I thought, for me, the better play is
14:09I don't know how Shungun defends fives.
14:12I would have went Klingen at the five,
14:15moved Shungun to the four
14:16because he's such a skilled passer,
14:18especially at the high post, top of the key area.
14:20Hopefully, he can extend his range
14:21into the three-point line and try and play that way.
14:24And if you want to go big boy ball,
14:26put Jabari Smith at the three,
14:27who's a good three-point shooter and a sneaky good defender.
14:31That's where I would have went,
14:33but I guess Houston decided to go a completely different way.
14:39So, those are some interesting numbers on the odds, Coach,
14:42for the Rookie of the Year.
14:44There's a couple of guys down at the bottom of that board,
14:47at 20-1, that it seems like some value there
14:52with Dillingham and Klingen here to pull down this award,
14:55mostly because they're probably going to get
14:57a lot of action this year.
14:59Well, obviously, with Portland,
15:01they're going to try and move Robert Williams,
15:03who just can't stay healthy,
15:04and DeAndre Ayton, who has never been denominated,
15:07the nomination, even though he's talked about it at will.
15:10But to me, you know, Zack Eadie was the guy I looked at, right?
15:15And I think he was 20-1 after the draft.
15:17He got his price sliced in half in a day.
15:21Reason being, listen, he's shown he can play big minutes
15:26in the NCAA tournament, right, in the Final Four.
15:27He's the guy who basically never came off the floor.
15:30If you look at it, if Zack Eadie gets 24 minutes a night,
15:35he's going to get you eight, nine rebounds,
15:37and he's probably going to get you 13, 14 points
15:39because you have the shooter in Desmond Bain,
15:41you have John driving the basket,
15:43you have Jared Jackson Jr. stretching the floor.
15:46So to me, he's in that dunk spot,
15:48and I just think in the NBA, it's 7'4".
15:51Guys, are you going to double-team him
15:53or are you going to play him straight up?
15:54So to me, I look at Zack Eadie as being someone I look at.
15:58Now, you brought up someone very interesting at 20-1,
16:03and that's Rob Dillingham.
16:05Simply put, he could be the best pure scorer in the draft.
16:12Now I'm going to lump in Rob and with Minnesota.
16:16What they did getting Rob and Terrence Shannon Jr.
16:21was absolute gold.
16:24Those two are electric.
16:26They're great in transition.
16:28They're great defensively.
16:29And now a team that has a starting lineup of Conley
16:33and McDaniels, Towns, Gobert, and it plays slow,
16:37can flip it completely with the second group
16:41and go Dillingham, Shannon Jr.,
16:43slow Mo Anderson who can play a point forward,
16:46and then Nas Reed.
16:47I thought that's absolutely fantastic.
16:50And think about the end of the game
16:52that a team like Minnesota could go with Shannon Jr.
16:57and Dillingham in a three-goal lineup
17:00down the stretch of games if you want to score.
17:02That's a problem for teams.
17:05Rob Dillingham's going to score.
17:06He's got a little bit of that Lou Williams,
17:08Jamal Crawford, go get a bucket at will.
17:11And there's not a lot of guys in this draft, guys,
17:14that are going to score in double figures.
17:17Rob Dillingham can make a case for winning
17:19Rookie of the Year coming off the bench.
17:22Yeah, it's actually a great handicapping market
17:25because so many times you see that clear-cut number one
17:27pick that you expect to be the Rookie of the Year,
17:29a la a Victor Webinyama.
17:31We don't have that this year.
17:32It's actually 10 guys at the FanDuel Sportsbook right now
17:34at 20 to 1 or less to win Rookie of the Year.
17:36So if you are handicapping this market appropriately,
17:39you can make some pretty good money
17:40because the favorite is not minus 140.
17:43The favorite is a 5 to 1 price on SAR.
17:45We'll see how that plays out.
17:46But the WNBA last night, coach, was absolutely popping.
17:50Four games on the card,
17:51and the Aces look like they're turning their season around.
17:53Nine and six after a victory over the Sky.
17:5695 to 83 on the road.
17:58Asia Wilson, 31 and six,
17:59but also still a good night by Angel Reese
18:02in the double-doubles market.
18:03She continues to be successful there.
18:05But the Aces look like they're getting it together, coach.
18:08Yeah, listen, simply put,
18:11Chelsea Gray is back.
18:13The point guard is back.
18:15And you're gonna be,
18:15well, coach, she only gave you 8.6 rebounds, 5 assists.
18:19No, no, no, no, no.
18:21Everybody's in their spot now, right?
18:24Chelsea Gray is the point guard.
18:26Jackie Young moves to the two
18:28where she could be really effective in scoring.
18:30Got 22 last night.
18:31Kelsey Plum becomes that shooter at the three.
18:34And obviously you have Asia Wilson at the four.
18:36She gives you 31 and six.
18:39They are as close to whole again as possible.
18:44I was honestly shocked that Reese got the double-double
18:47because I thought that they were gonna keep her
18:48off the boards, but she got off to a great start.
18:50I think she got four or five rebounds in the first quarter.
18:52Kind of carried the weight,
18:53but still a good performance by Chicago Sky team
18:57being in that game.
18:58Guys, these teams, the Fever, the Sky,
19:02they're starting to play a little bit better
19:04as their young players are getting acclimated to the league.
19:10Suns almost blew it last night, coach.
19:15Hard to believe the Mystics didn't actually get it done,
19:17but it went to overtime.
19:19And then they ended up squeaking by.
19:21But once again, the Sun is proven,
19:24hey, they are going to be in the conversation
19:27when it's all said and done, coach.
19:28Are they not?
19:29That was impressive on the road,
19:30not to get caught by the Mystics.
19:33Well, they were getting blown out early,
19:35down by 11 points in the first quarter.
19:37I took the team under 71 and a half for the Mystics.
19:42That thing was dead and gone by the end of the first quarter.
19:44I don't even have to look at it anymore.
19:46But the Sun showed that they could win a game
19:48a different way, which is with their offense.
19:50I will say this.
19:51If you look closely at their record, Joe,
19:54it is very much inflated.
19:56Look at their record.
19:57I know, I know, I know, I know.
19:5914 to three.
20:01Their three losses, right?
20:02At Seattle, top-notch team.
20:04Home, New York, top-notch team.
20:07At Vegas, top-notch team.
20:09Go look at the rest of the schedule.
20:11Even I know they beat the Minnesota Lynx,
20:13but that was at home.
20:15So to me, look at that a little bit carefully
20:17with Connecticut Sun.
20:18I don't think they're on the level of New York.
20:20I don't think they're on the level of Las Vegas.
20:22And your question, the way they're playing,
20:24even though they lost last night,
20:25are they on the level of the Minnesota Lynx,
20:27who had a little bit of a hangover
20:29after winning the Commissioner's Cup at the Barclays?
20:32Fever storm last night.
20:33Take a look at that final.
20:3489 to 77.
20:36Kaitlin Clark had 15, six, and seven.
20:38But how about this?
20:39A double-digit lead at the half by the storm,
20:40fueled by Jewel Lloyd's 34 points in that game.
20:44Two things.
20:45I liked what I saw from the storm last night,
20:46but also, what are we thinking about the fever now,
20:48stumbling a little bit?
20:51Well, this is the hard part of the road trip, right?
20:53They won their first game right at the Mystics.
20:57They lost Chicago.
20:58And then, obviously, they lose last night.
21:00This is gonna be a little bit of a problem
21:02coming up the stretch here until they get back home,
21:04because now they gotta go to Phoenix tomorrow.
21:06That's probably a loss.
21:08Then they gotta go to Vegas.
21:09That's definitely a loss.
21:11Then they gotta come home from New York.
21:13That's a loss.
21:14So a team that played better,
21:16as now the schedule's gotten harder,
21:17this could be sort of a losing streak
21:19for the Indiana Fever.
21:21Here we go.
21:22Four games last night on that card,
21:24entertaining all the way throughout.
21:25But now we put the NBA,
21:27I guess you could say regular season,
21:28in the books,
21:29because now we turn it over to free agency next week,
21:32which you know,
21:32the coach, James Young,
21:33is gonna be on this network
21:35and breaking it all down for the people.
21:37Take a fade away for the public here into the break.