Knicks Build with Bridges, Rockets Fuel Up, Wolves-Spurs Trade, Edey to Memphis, and Portland lands Clingan

June 27, 2024·1 hr 19 min·6 clips

The Knicks just traded five first-round picks for a player who's never made an All-Star team - here's why it might actually work.

The draft board would not sit still. Ron Holland rose, Matas Buzelis slid, Isaiah Collier waited, and Dalton Knecht to the Lakers became instant JJ Redick whiteboard material. Then the Wolves made their move. Trading for Rob Dillingham gives the host an easy turn from draft-night weirdness to what teams are really trying to build. The Spurs stayed patient. From what the host heard, they did not seriously bundle number four and number eight to chase number one with Atlanta. Trae Young did not appear. Dejounte Murray did not either. Instead, the Spurs used number four, then moved number eight for future assets aimed at the Victor Wembanyama window. The young team is where the episode slows down and gets chewy. The host keeps coming back to information. There are too many young players with unresolved futures to make franchise-sized decisions too soon. Sengun is the hard one. The concern is familiar: can a team build a championship defense around a gifted offensive center who is not especially quick and does not play way above the rim. The answer is still pending. The host wants more evidence on Jalen Green after a strong couple of months came after a rough first three months. Amen Thompson's jumper matters. Josh Giddey's playoff limitations hang over the discussion as a warning for teams with young non-shooters, though the host does not bury him. Giddey is only twenty-one, could put up numbers in Chicago, and should not be treated like a finished cautionary tale. The cap math is coming either way. Sengun is really good, Green's extension conversation starts now, and the team can negotiate hard before deciding every young piece is a max-contract problem. Day two sounds brutal. The closer lingers on players waiting three hours without hearing their names, maybe being told to sleep on it and come back for more.

As heard by us

A smart NBA draft reset built around patience, trade timing, and the roster questions hiding behind each pick.

Zach Lowe treats round one of the NBA draft less like a pick-by-pick recap than a pressure test for NBA team building. The episode moves through the Knicks' Bridges swing, Houston's young core, the Wolves-Spurs Rob Dillingham deal, Edey to Memphis, and Portland landing Clingan,…

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Why you'd press play

You want the draft board read like a team-building memo.

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