Lakers Losers, Knicks Winners As NBA Free Agency Opens

Transcript

00:00The Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks count as big winners in the early days of

00:06NBA free agency.

00:07I'm Mike Fisher covering the NBA.

00:09The Dallas Mavericks, let's start there, they get their man in Clay Thompson from the Warriors,

00:15an emotional divorce in Golden State, and in Dallas, this is one of the greatest 24-hour

00:21periods in Dallas Mavericks history, go back to the 1998 draft day when they found a way

00:27to land both Steve Nash and Dirk Davidzki, future superstars, although they didn't know

00:32what they were getting at all at the time.

00:36This in a sense compares to that.

00:39Here's the sense, never, because Dallas has not been a NBA free agency destination, much

00:45to the chagrin of Mark Cuban and Mark Cuban observers, that has suddenly changed.

00:52This is now a place of interest, and Clay Thompson proves it by saying to the Lakers,

00:58nah, I will pass on staying on the West Coast, I'll pass on more money, I'll pass on being

01:04with my dad's old team, of course, Clay Thompson's dad still works with the Lakers, and I'll

01:09pass on LeBron, and I'll make the move.

01:12Meanwhile, the Warriors lose their men in Clay and Chris Paul with dollars and cents

01:16involved.

01:17All moves are the spurs in what does seem like a sensible shift in terms of the mentoring

01:23of Wembley.

01:24That makes sense.

01:25The Knicks get another star.

01:28Who fits?

01:29If you follow our work here, you know that we hate the idea of the perfect fit, the ideal

01:33player.

01:34There's no such thing.

01:37Until some combination of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan is created, there will

01:44be no perfect player.

01:45Okay, throw Bill Russell in there or whatever.

01:49But Brooklyn Bridges jumping from the Nets to the Knicks, it's a very good fit and a

01:55superstar caliber player, all of which, to the delight of many NBA fans, leaves LeBron

02:00and the Lakers with an empty shopping bag as Dallas outmaneuvered them to Clay.

02:05An empty shopping bag, unless one considers brawny a top-shelf basketball move.

02:12Fish out.