点击查看原文：Wemby the French superstar, and one Fox-y trade
Wemby the French superstar, and one Fox-y trade
Columnist Mike Finger and Spurs beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss the Spurs’ trip to Paris, Wembanyama being a French superstar and the possible trade for De’Aaron Fox.
Suggested reading:
As Spurs go to France, Wemby living up to his proclamation
Johnson mourns loss of Sonics great, family friend
Spurs focus on business over pleasure in Paris
Back-to-back losses to Grizzlies underscores Spurs’ pace problem
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Here is the transcript of the podcast:
From a highly secure network of top-secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider. I’m Mike Finger, joined as always by our panel of Express-News sportswriters, Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn, with sports editor Nick Talbot. Jeff, I believe is back in his secure location after quite a week in Gay Paree. Jeff, we’re going to start with a report from you on all that you experienced, the sights, the sounds, two blowout Spurs extravaganzas, one in favor of the local cagers, one against them. What is your takeaway from that week in France, Jeff McDonald?
First, I just wanted to say, “Bonjour” everybody. There you go.
What did I my takeaways from uh from from the trip, from the Paris trip? Um, I mean, number one, and it’s no surprise, is how popular Wemby is there. And if you’re sitting in the United States and you’ve never been there to witness it firsthand, and you think, well, of course, Victor Wembanyama is a very popular figure in in his home country. Of course, he’d have a lot of fans there. Um, the level of fandom you’re thinking in your head is not even close to what um I witnessed and and probably you witnessed in the Olympics when you covered the Olympics there um over the summer. Just um more than a basketball player, just a celebrity there. Um, but as far as the games themselves, um, you know, the way he was greeted there and just they cheered his every move. Like the first first game there, you know, cheering the layup line like it’s an actual game. It’s not because they it’s not because they’re confused and don’t know how the game works; they’re just so happy to see Wemby. Every time his face is on the screen, it’s a big roar. Every time, of course, when he’s announced, a big roar. Every time he does anything positive on the floor, big roar. And it was just a it was just a really uh enlightening and amazing scene to watch in there. And you also I also us covering it realize kind of the uh power that Victor Wembanyama uh wields over there because um after the first game I asked him because for one thing they do the French national anthem. It was the first time, obviously, Victor’s ever played an NBA game that had the French national anthem um played before it. And you know how this is not going to I’m not trying to be jingoistic here, but you know how the United States where they um play the national anthem, and mostly people just stand around and listen to it, possibly, or maybe they go get some popcorn or whatever. The French crowd sings the whole thing at the top of their lungs. And, you know, like in America, they had a a a very talented singer singing it on the floor. And I asked Victor afterwards what that moment was like, like hearing the French national anthem sung before an NBA game, and he said, I mean it was great, but um I wish they didn’t have a singer because if you just start the song, the whole crowd sings it and that’s better than um, you know, a one one singer’s voice overpowering the rest. And so the next the next game in Game 2, they didn’t quite go all the way to acquiesce to that, but like the singer would um made a point of taking like some lines off so that the whole uh the whole arena could sing a cappella. And it was just because Victor said that on the podium after one of the games. So just all all of that just realizing what a star this kid is in his home country, which I think we all knew, but the level of it was really um eye-opening to me.
It’s a heck of an anthem. And Tom Tom knows this. I think he he knows about the uh Rick’s Cafe Americain uh where there was a pretty rousing rendition of that. And that’s what I always thought of uh before every every event at the Olympics. It’s it’s it’s a heck of a thing to hear a whole arena sing that song. It’s just like being at Rick’s, Tom.
Yeah, that was quite a quite a scene. One of the great scenes in film history.
Um, the games themselves were the the the Paris thing, I think Jeff, you acknowledged a rousing success for the league, for the Spurs, Victor, everything that you wrote. Uh, everything I heard from uh Victor telling the assembled press uh seemed to suggest that he thought it was a worthwhile trip, a successful trip. Um uh wonderful experience, I think he called it. Uh, just being there. Uh I don’t know if you want to add anything to that, but for the Spurs themselves, who headed to Paris after uh three pretty rough losses in a row, um they had a pretty good start there and at least there they they found something. I don’t know if it was all just Victor being in his home country or what, but that was a much-needed victory against the Pacers in the first of two games there, Jeff.
But then they just turned around and got smoked the next game. Bounced and lost. Bounced and lost. I mean, yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, not amazing, it happens, I guess, but playing the same team on the same court two days apart, beat them by 31 one night and lose by 36 the next. It’s uh there’s not a lot of examples of that uh probably in NBA history. I mean, I’m sure it’s happened, but that’s a heck of a turnaround between the two games, and I don’t know. I don’t know where to go from there. It happens. The first one uh the win, we could start with the win. Um, yeah, it was a lot of Victor just uh I mean, he I don’t want to act like when he plays normal games against like the Sacramento Kings at the Frost Bank Center, he’s like taking plays off or dogging it or anything, but there was a different like fire in that guy’s eye and a different aggression, a difference like I’m going to get this done really at at the start of that first game. I think he was playing a lot of off a lot of adrenaline and a lot of focus and a lot of like this desire that we all know he has just to put on this amazing show. And I think the Spurs wrote that for for a long time. And um you know, had that just amazing third quarter that Victor took over. Um, that really put them over the top in that first game against Indiana. I mean, the sequence I’ll always remember is as the Spurs are starting to pull away, Victor blocks Pacers shots on three consecutive possessions and then has another one on the fourth but it gets a go it gets called for goaltending. But he was just he had just taken over that game, and I think by the end of the third, we kind of realized the Spurs had pulled this one away. And then, maybe coincidentally, I think Game 2 also changed at the end of the third quarter, the Pacers’ way. Like the Pacers were kind of in control of that most of the game, but the Spurs had battled back in the third quarter and I believe had taken a lead. Like they trailed by 15 and a half, had taken a lead. Seemed like, hey, maybe you get to the fourth quarter, maybe something can happen. And then Tyrese Haliburton went absolutely crazy over the last three and a half minutes of the third quarter, and it was all she wrote. It was one of the more um just examples of guys just taking over a game that that I’ve seen in a long time. And a lot of times when the Spurs give up these big three-point runs, it’s because their like rotations are bad or they’re doubling. This was just there just uh mostly just Tyrese Haliburton just torturing everybody. So just give him credit, I guess. But um this isn’t the Pacers Insider, but that was a nice little I guess turnaround for Tyrese, who the last time he was in that building, he won a gold medal but wasn’t playing much. Um but uh he did he I I people mentioned this after the game and I put in one of my stories about the uh tweet that Tyrese put out or the Instagram message he put out after the Olympics where it felt like uh uh doing none of the work of the of the group projects, but but getting an A. And you know, his quote after that Game 2 against the Spurs was uh, yeah, I participated this time. Which I thought was really really nice.
In the pages of the San Antonio Express-News, on expressnews.com, and the Spurs Nation newsletter, uh you had uh described Victor’s first game against the Pacers as his basketball Mona Lisa, and I’m wondering why why you felt the need to insult it that way because I know that you don’t have that high of an opinion of the uh of the Mona Lisa itself. And in fact, I heard from uh a guy that uh I saw in France named Emmanuel Macron who mentioned this week that they’re uh they’re changing the whole system for the Mona Lisa after Jeff McDonald was there and exposed its flaws. Did you hear that, Jeff, or did that happen while you were on the plane?
I guess that must have happened while I was on the plane. Either they’re setting they’re they’re creating a whole new system at the Louvre for the for the uh Mona Lisa because it’s such a cluster. Uh, and uh and they’re going to set they’re going to have a a separate entrance for people coming to see the Mona Lisa in the future. He just mentioned that there was a a reporter from San Antonio that that exposed this this flaw in the system. Oh, it’s but that that’s happening.
It’s well, it’s it’s probably a good change. I I think, I mean, I it’s a lot of work to get into that room to see the like a lot of people just go there for the one thing, and I don’t I wouldn’t recommend that at most art museums, but I kind of get it.
And like one thing is not just to witness great art or to view great art is to put it on Instagram, right?
Right. And also what I think about yeah. Okay, like are we going to turn this into an art criticism podcast because like the Mona Lisa is not a like an amazing painting; it’s just a famous painting. It’s underwhelming. It’s just a it’s just a famous painting. You’re going there to see history. You’re going to see a historical artifact. You’re coming here to see the Liberty Bell, not not this piece of art that moves you. And the rest of the art there is just maybe I should put it this way: not my cup of tea. I don’t like I don’t like
I’m agreeing with Jeff McDonald on art. I don’t like the Renaissance and the it’s it’s it’s famous, but it’s not
I I prefer the I we’re going to do art criticism here. I prefer the Impressionists. I I did take the uh went to the museum that uh friend of the podcast Mike Monroe um uh uh recommended as well, and that was much better. Lots of Gauguin and Van Gogh and um Monet and Manet. Much better. Much better. Are either of them nearsighted or either of them nearsighted?
I don’t know. What is it? Was that a Seinfeld?
That was a Seinfeld contention, art critic, one of my favorite art critics.
I’m going to weigh in here by saying you can’t beat Edward Hopper.
That’s true, Tom.
And and number two, Nighthawks.
The Nighthawk.
I saw that one in Chicago this year. I’ve I’ve been on a I’ve been on a like an art tour.
People are underestimating our art knowledge in this podcast, bro. They’re like, what the heck is going on?
They’re tuning out in droves.
Italy wants the Mona Lisa back.
Ah.
That was in the news this week, too. That is true, Tom.
Well, they can have it as far as I’m concerned.
I wonder if that was a a ruse just to uh add to the stakes of either the Olympics, the All-Star Game, or anything like that. Like to put the Mona Lisa as a prize for the country that wins a gold medal. That would be something.
Um something basketball-wise. Something that occurred in those games in Paris that I suppose we should get to before we get to the the big uh hot take topic on the trade market and whatnot. Um to to ease Jeremy Sochan back into the lineup. He came but he returned after missing a few games in a row. That first game I had thought that we were going to discuss in the podcast that is this the future way to make Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan play together? Is is Jeremy now a bench player? Does Keldon Johnson play better with the starters, which he absolutely does? I think we’ve we’ve got enough data over the course of the year to to realize that Keldon plays better as a starter. To me, that first game, it seemed like that was something that Mitch Johnson may have discovered by accident, on purpose, who knows, combination of both, that that could work, that like maybe Jeremy’s a better player coming off the bench and getting his minutes that way. Maybe keeps Keldon Johnson in the starting lineup playing with with Chris Paul and Wemby. Like it was a 30-point victory over the Pacers. You had the same mix in the second game, and it did not work as well. But I’m just wondering in the future, do you do we think, Jeff, did you talk to anyone there about any of this uh that that would shed any insight as to to whether or not this could be uh a setup that could that could last, or was that just a work Jeremy back into the rotation type of deal?
I’m I’m kind of wondering it’s if it’s going to be like uh you remember a few weeks ago, this is maybe a bad example, but a few weeks ago where you’re looking for, you know, everybody everybody’s back and you’re looking for a backup five for Wemby, and that had been Zach Collins’s job, and that didn’t really work, so we went to Charles Bassey, and that looked okay for a second, and then that didn’t work, so we went back to Zach for a while, and then it just I just wonder if there’s going to be a lot of trial and error with that configuration between Keldon and and Sochan. I I I yeah, I don’t because you you have the tale of two games. I mean, it’s a two-game sample, so it’s hard to really tell which game is is the better representative representation of what it will be. But yeah, the first game, Jeremy was really active and really involved, and Keldon had a had a big game, too. And the second game, Keldon wasn’t as good but was was was adequate, and I felt like the second game, Jeremy was kind of you didn’t you didn’t feel him in that game. And he’s a guy that you need you need to feel his presence in certain ways because he’s not going to score 30, so you need to feel his presence in other ways, and it just wasn’t clicking, and I don’t know if that has to do with, you know, the lineup configuration or he just had an off night or he’s just inconsistent or it’s a second game back from a layoff, and you should expect some some uh hills and valleys. So I just think the best thing you can say is that’s just something we’re looking at and watching and monitoring going forward is how those how the Spurs use those two and how it looks because I can’t see how you can get into this uh roller coaster if it looks good for a while, and then you want to change it because it doesn’t look good, and then that doesn’t look good, and back back and forth. I I just think that’s We’ll call that a challenge for Mitch Johnson and uh and company going forward. I guess I I guess
Well, one notable um uh tangent here is and and this may or may not have been um a direct result of moving those guys around, um but with Jeremy as the backup, you also had Sandro Mamukelashvili, the uh the sensation taking over France as the uh in that second unit in both of those games. And maybe they felt saw that as a way because with Jeremy uh in the lineup uh able to to shoulder some more of that big man burden, that they could get away with not having Bassey or or Collins as the backup five out there that they were kind of the combination front court, Sochan and uh and Mamu. Like uh did you like that? And uh and uh is is he overtaking can he overtake Charles Bassey and Zach Collins for those uh for those backup minutes?
I don’t know. It just sounds like you have a lot of um flawed options at that spot. And if he does it, then you’re giving up a little bit of defense and uh a little bit of size, stuff like that, rebounding probably, shot blocking. Um but you’re getting, you know, he’s he’s he’s a better ball mover, he’s a better connective piece. Um probably a better floor stretcher than either those guys, although having not played in a long time, Mamu uh his shot’s not there like I don’t know if you remember earlier in the season, the preseason, he seemed automatic from three, and you know, he’s just that’s just not there because he hadn’t had the reps lately. So to get to gain that to to gain in what Mamu gives you, you’re giving up what other guys give you, and it’s just it’s it’s kind of like a Rubik’s Cube puzzle of what you want to what you want to give up to gain something. I I I did make note that Mamu finally got in the rotation and then got kicked out of the second game in France. So that was nice.
That was nice of them.
Uh Tom and Nick, what what were your impressions watching the game from uh from your secure location?
Uh well, um you know, that that certainly was something that popped out to me was just what they’re going to do with Keldon and uh Sochan. We’ll we’ll ask uh Mitch about that tonight. Um but you know, it just was kind of a microcosm of the Spurs season to to the extreme. You know, the the blowout the blowout win, the blowout loss. You know, just the lack of consistency continues to be an issue, and like I said, it was to the extreme in this point uh in this case. But you know, that’s uh we’ve talked about that a lot on this on previous uh shows that you know, it it is what they are. You know, they are they are a 500 team or or hovering right below it, and uh it’s only going to get tougher um, you know, with them being away for the entirety of March. I mean uh February. And uh yeah, it’s just uh it’s a it’s an issue that’s plagued this team all season.
Well done, Tom, because that is a perfect segue as we talk about the state of the local cagers, who are 20 and 23 at the time of this recording. By the way, thank you to all the listeners for bearing with us; you’re going to get this a little later during the week than you usually do. Um maybe not before the Wednesday night game against the Los Angeles Clippers and maybe before. We’ll see. Depends on when it hits your player. But um uh the Spurs are uh as Tom mentioned under 500 at sort of a crossroads heading into the uh the month of the Rodeo Road Trip. Are they going to be a contender? Are they not going to be a contender? Two and a half games out of 10th place right now. Um something that developed Tuesday afternoon uh in a well-coordinated just if if not well-coordinated then awfully coincidental set of uh scoops around the league from the fine reporters who cover this league, all mentioning that the Sacramento Kings, who are in 10th place, who have won seven of their last 10, on a bit of a roll since firing Mike Brown, are suddenly open to the possibility of trading their all-star point guard, one of the one of the star young players in the NBA, De’Aaron Fox of Houston, Texas. They’re open to offers. And also all of these uh coincidental reports around the league mentioned that uh the young man De’Aaron Fox had a team in mind that he would like to go to, that he was zeroing in on a team that his representation had a preference as to where he would go. And there have been multiple reports that suggest that that team is not the Los Angeles Lakers, not the Golden State Warriors, not the New York Knicks, not the Miami Heat, but the glamour market, the center of the basketball universe, the team where everyone wants to to uh to join in: your San Antonio Spurs. Uh, I’m just going to open that topic up to the floor. Anybody who wants to jump in, first impressions of that news. Uh thoughts about whether or not this would be a player you’d like to the Spurs to acquire before the deadline, what that does to their season, what that does to their long-term prospects, uh whether or not this is a fit. Anybody want to jump in?
I think the fit is obvious.
Yeah, I give it if you’re just talking about the fit, it’s obvious. Like De’Aaron’s a guy that’s going to um take the team to he’s a he’s a guy that has a very good chance of taking providing the launching pad for the next jump that this team needs to make and makes them a playoff team, if not to finish this season, then in the future. The question would be can you resign him long-term after that, which I think that that would be worked out before a trade. The Spurs aren’t going to give up a bunch of stuff for a guy that uh isn’t going to resign, but I think that’s what part of what is going on with his uh representatives uh leaking this sort of information is to let people let let the Spurs know, let people know that that De’Aaron would be in this in the long haul if if a trade is made. Um, you could make the argument um that’d be an interesting one. Um if he wants to come here so bad, why not just wait and sign him and not have to give up assets because you could certainly create enough cap space to do that, even at a super max with what we have on the roster.
Just to review for the listeners, viewers, fans at home, uh he’s a free agent in 2026, so that’s that’s the situation there is that it’s another full season after this that you’d have to wait to sign him. Um, and maybe he doesn’t want to wait around Sacramento that long, maybe just to get this started. And for the Spurs, uh not not to cut you off completely, I’ll let you finish your thoughts, but the the the um incentive to get this done now is not necessarily that you’re going to compete for a title this year or maybe even next year. It’s that if you get him now, then you can sign him to an extension and get this all taken care of as soon as possible and set forth on your plan with these two all-star cohorts. Um, as opposed to letting the next what uh 17, 18 months go by and maybe things change and you miss your chance if you just sit and wait, like maybe something changes and he goes somewhere else, like this hometown Rockets decide they want to get involved. Um yeah, whoever but decide they want to get involved. That’s that’s that’s the that’s the reason to pull the trigger to do this now from both their De’Aaron Fox’s perspective where he can get to that uh extension sooner with his new club if if this trade is made now as opposed to this summer or he waits for the next for free agency. That’s also the incentive for the Spurs to do it. But there are other sides, and I will let you uh finish your thought.
Uh I forgot. Um uh what would it take to get De’Aaron Fox now? Probably a ton of draft capital, which is fine, like that’s what it’s for. Um maybe like a Zach Collins to kind of make the contracts work, but then you’re probably talking about they’re going to want a Devin Vassell or a Keldon Johnson or somebody good, like somebody they can um you know, as an upper-tier kind of player. They’re not I don’t think the Kings are just going to take draft compensation and a bunch of uh contract filler. You’re going to have to give up someone good, and I I I would be fine with that. Devin Devin or Keldon if they’re in the deal, that’s okay. Like like you’re taking you’re making an upgrade.
You’re uh to you’re you’re you bring up an interesting point there and a good point there because I’ve seen some you know, this this hits all the national outlets as Spurs news often does these days. Um and some proposals I’ve seen, and this is this is technically true, that a deal that works according to the league rules, the the CBA, the salary cap, all that stuff. Um uh Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson’s contracts match up with De’Aaron Fox’s contract, and it is technically true that a Keldon Johnson plus Zach Collins plus a a uh a a butt ton of uh draft capital works, but I tend to agree with Jeff and that the the Kings probably are are hoping for a uh a player, a current player with a little more upside, a little more to offer than either uh Keldon Johnson or Zach. I’m not sure that uh Keldon Johnson plus Zach Collins plus a bunch of draft cap capital gets it done, depending on what the Kings want.
Exactly. It’s also unclear what the Kings uh what what the Kings’ goals are here uh or for this season. Like they fired Mike Brown for underperformance, I guess, so that seems to point to me that they’re well, they’re trying to make the playoffs; they’re trying to have a great season. But so so I don’t know why they would trade De’Aaron Fox anyway except for they don’t think that uh they can resign him when he needs to be resigned.
Well, this this with the with the the the caveat with the uh disclaimer that this is not the Kings Insider and we’re not talking to people in the building in Sacramento. I I don’t think we maybe Tom has. Tom’s got sources everywhere. But there there’s there’s no insight here uh firsthand insight on what’s happening there. But it sounds like the Kings did not wake up yesterday and say, we’re ready to trade him. Like this clearly is coming from De’Aaron Fox. Like De’Aaron Fox wants out. And now then the Kings came to the realization that hey, De’Aaron Fox really wants out, and we need to start thinking about this or everything’s going to go to heck in a handbasket, and we’re not going to get any value for for a a a really attractive piece right now. And so that’s why the Kings are doing what I don’t want a Kawhi Leonard situation on their hands down the road.
Right.
But but Jeff is right in that the what what also has this is that the Kings have never won anything, and the Kings are just perennially terrible, and they’re not going to want to just reset. And they see this as a chance, like you mentioned, like they fired Mike Brown. They’re on a roll here. They’re they’re they got a chance to be in the play-in, to be in the playoffs. They’re not going to want to give up on that and start over again. So I I I feel like these talks could be really complicated.
Yeah.
And it’s it’s not so simple as like here’s the other thing. If they want to stay in this, and they won a few games without De’Aaron Fox, I believe. Um, like they were doing okay without him. Like would they want and and I would be against this for personal reasons because he’s such good copy and content, and he entertains me. Like would they is it point guard for point guard? Do you throw Chris Paul into this? And would they say, hey, we want Chris Paul around to lead us to a play-in this this this year? Like if if if you’re if you’re the Spurs and you’re adding De’Aaron Fox, like that’s the guy who plays Chris Paul’s position. Uh I would just I would just hate for the Spurs to trade Chris Paul in the middle of the season because he’s such he’s been such an instrumental part of what’s made this season fun and interesting.
But uh I I just don’t see
Been a long time though. You think he’s ever been traded to Sacramento before?
I got to believe that the Kings would start with Keldon.
Yeah.
You know, that’s that’s the that’s the the plum to get. And I don’t see the Spurs parting ways with him.
I don’t either.
Uh if if De’Aaron Fox is the is the is the payoff, I don’t think Keldon Johnson should be untouchable.
I don’t think he should either, but I don’t think there’s just I I there’s shades of gray here. It’s such it’s why it’s so difficult to uh to give the aggregators a headline from this podcast because I don’t have any aggregatable hot takes. But like I mean, this is the the reason why I’m skeptical this gets done in the middle of the season is okay, the Kings are going to hold out for Keldon Johnson as the as the big plum, as the big as the big prize.
Prize.
And I don’t see really any reason for the Spurs to to give into that right now when they can wait.
No.
And so he like that and and I also don’t see the Kings giving in and saying, okay, we’ll take Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins and a bunch of draft capital either. Like they they aren’t that desperate either.
So it gets them nowhere.
Right. Well, I mean, they’d just be relying on all the drafts. It wouldn’t be Keldon they aren’t interested in Keldon or Zach. And by the way, like all this the callousness of this sort of is is irksome, too, because I think I speak for Tom and Jeff, all of us here, like Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson are like people that uh we enjoy talking to. And then like everyone sees Keldon as this contract and this guy who oh, we could lose him, you know, like uh if if we’re building for the future, that’s no big deal to lose Keldon Johnson. Like time and time again, we have heard from people around the Spurs, there’s no one who’s bought into the Spurs’ way in this current group more than Keldon Johnson. There’s been no better uh uh teammate, no better just just uh uh compatriot on this team than Keldon. Like he is San Antonio San Antonio to the bone. Like he’s got his got his little farm and his ranch outside of town.
He wore a cowboy hat to Paris.
That’s that’s what I was going to say. As a further illustration, Spurs did their team picture at the Eiffel Tower that every team does when they go to Paris. You’ll never guess how Keldon Johnson dressed for that uh for that photo. And by you’ll never guess, I mean you’ll completely guess immediately.
Jeans, boots, cowboy hat. Texas to the bone, man. We talked to him about his chickens, about his cows, about his dove hunts, all that type of stuff. Like and and anytime the Spurs need a community guy, you know, to go um to go talk to kids, to go represent the Spurs at some function, to come to our Nick Talbot organized high school sports awards, like Keldon was the first Spur to ever do that with us, and he did it happily. Trey Jones did it the next year. But uh like I I I know that the that that this is a big business and that you’re trying to win championships and that the listeners don’t necessarily they aren’t interested in all that type of stuff, but it’s not so easy to just say, yeah, we’ll throw in Keldon Johnson in this deal to get this guy. Like and and I I think if it makes the team better and you get a De’Aaron Fox, of course you do that. But I mean, there there’s more value to some of these guys than than the stat sheet stuff. And
Right. On a personal level, they didn’t want to trade George Hill for Kawhi Leonard, but they had to.
For sure.
For sure.
For sure. I’m not trying to be like overly sentimental, but I don’t think it matters.
No, I I get it. I get it. I I just wanted to throw that out there. It’s a It’s a long podcast.
Um it’s not going to it is a business. If if if the Kings tomorrow said, yeah, we’ll take Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins and three four first-round draft picks, I think the Spurs probably do that deal. Um, it does work. I don’t think they’d think about that.
Without blinking, probably.
Yeah, well, the Spurs would do that without even blinking.
My point is they might blink.
I don’t know about that. Maybe maybe not. Maybe I don’t know about that.
No.
That’s what they do.
No blinking.
I’m being Pollyannish here.
No, you put a good human face on this uh and that’s that’s that’s that’s good.
You know what it is, Tom? It’s empathy.
That’s true. That’s true.
And more you know, Fox uh he’s going to lose millions. Uh you know, he could get that super max. Um that that you know, I’ve been thinking about that this morning, you know. It’s it’s in the neighborhood of 50 million. Uh you know, and you say 50 million, who cares? They they he’s going to make millions anyway, but I don’t know.
There’s a human element to it, too, though. Like his his wife and his family are from San Antonio.
And you can’t you cannot uh ignore that. That’s huge, too.
And you know, if if uh you know, anyone who’s ever been married, if there’s a chance to make your wife happy, you might you might consider that.
Right.
You might you might give it a little bit more weight.
But 50 million makes everybody happy, too.
That’s true.
I’m going to screw this reference up a little bit, and uh uh you know, the the the reputation and and uh social esteem of uh Dave Chappelle has uh changed over the years, uh but I think he’s uh he he he’s he’s he’s he’s had his really really brilliant moments. And one of my favorite Dave Chappelle moments was after he came back, he passed up he walked away from a show and and went overseas and came back and did an interview with David Letterman, and he was talking about how he had, you know, all the money in the world and that you know, yes, he gave up uh I think it was something like a hundred million dollars to walk away from the show, and he he said, you know, the you know they that that what I what I got to thinking about is the difference between having uh you know, $200 million and $100 million is a staggering hundred million dollars. Like it’s it’s it’s still a lot of money, and I and I screwed up that quote, but the point is like yes, a lot of money is a lot of money, but the di like passing up the 50 million that De’Aaron Fox is going to pass up, that’s a lot of money to not have. Um and yes, he can be happy either way; the wife can be happy either way; he can play with Victor Wembanyama. But Tom’s right, he’s passing up money by not resigning with his current team. And that’s why also I like I this is not the podcast to listen to for all the minutia about salary cap rules, but I believe that if the uh if De’Aaron Fox is traded before the deadline on February 6th