Matt and Zack still in the House.

It is crunch time here on the jump.

Cleveland dot com, reporting the Calves will hold an in person workout with Kobe topping.

They hold the number five pick.

ESPN dot com currently has topping as the sixth ranked prospect in the draft, but he's played a date.

Matt, would he be a good fit for the Cavs with the number five pick home ties?

But that's a lot of pressure.

You know, last time they pick someone from out that way who he was and what he's still doing.

So you know, solid pick for them, obviously, But you can have big shoes to fill, but they need talent.

That's anything but a small guard.

They got the small guard thing done with college accident Darius Garland.

I just We're gonna We're in misdirection information season.

There's gonna be a lot of rumblings.

All we've got is time for rumors and rumblings.

The top of the draft is gonna be super interesting.

This is why again, maybe move the draft like 7 to 10 days earlier, just saying anyway, alright as let's move on to Gordon Hayward, we don't know if he will pick up his $34 million player option, hasn't stopped the trade rumors in Bagley has reported the Pacers are interested in acquiring Hayward from the Celtics.

No word on where Boston sits on that Hayward is from, of course, Indiana played his college ball at Butler in Indianapolis, but plot twists under his current coach in Boston.

So you know, Where did those ties go?

Zack does.

Hayward makes sense for the Pacers.

I think he makes a lot of sense.

He's a great shooter.

He can play make.

I think they need a little bit more perimeter playmaking, but mechanically, his path there.

If Indiana's interest, Israel is a little bit complicated and requires some cooperation from Boston, so we'll see what actually happens.

But I do think he would fit.

They're very well and their deals to make.

That makes some sense for both teams.

First and foremost, you better pick up that player option.

That 34 million might not come back around again, but I think it's a good fit as well.

Um, you know, people forget how quickly how talented he was.

He was the number one player on a very good, uh, jazz team before he got hurt.

Now it's, with all due respect, possibly the fourth option on the Utah team, I think will regain some of the old Gordon.

If he's able to come about six, let's get you ask.

Yeah, I think we'll see some of the old Gordon if he's able to step into maybe that second leading scorer in some nights.

The leading score.

Um, if he's able to go to Indiana, I will say this for Boston, though.

They missed him when he was hurt in the bubble and you could see in the Siri's where he came back, he was not anywhere.

I don't think he would have been playing if that wasn't a make or break playoff Siris for them, and without him being 100% they didn't win.

So I do think he is an essential ingredient for them.

We'll have to see Palace 10 Shal on what they might get for him if they decide to move him all right.

Today is a significant MBA anniversary on this date.

In 2012 the Thunder traded James Hearted to the Rockets and a package that netted the draft pick, which became Steven Adams.

Now Harden has, of course, gone on to win an M v P make eight straight All Star games.

And when each of the last three scoring titles with Houston.

So Zack, that begs the question.

What if Oklahoma City never traded hard into the Rockets on the last year of his rookie deal?

Why are we doing this to Thunder fans?

This is just mean.

It's mean.

I do think there would have come a time when all three of them, when one of those three Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook or Harden would have said, You know what?

I'm ready for a bigger role.

That kind of role James has had in Houston, I do think, though, if they kept it together a few more years, obviously it increases their chances of winning a ring.

They may get one.

That first season is instructive, right?

They want a great team.

I think they want 60 something games that year.

Rust gets hurt in the first round.

Their season is over.

If James is still there.

Just for that one more year you can withstand that injury to rust and maybe keep on going.

It's not crazy to say that they would have definitely been in the finals and even won a championship.

But, like Zack said, long term we would have seen the potential from all three of these guys under the same roof.

Eso eventually someone's gonna have to break free.

I think they cut the court a little sooner than they should have because you think they're coming right off of finals appearance.

Uh, verse Miami.

Ah, very young, talented core team, but not just three good superstars.

But they had a nice compliment of players around them as well.

So I definitely think that they could have won a championship or even to, um, But long term, they wouldn't have all been able to stay at this on the same team, right?

But even if it hadn't been for the next 10 years, you do think of those names Absolutely years there, Zach, Do you feel like that's one of those sort of alternate universe type things that if they had stayed together, it would have dominated into a lot of other things being different around the league?

Well, I think one of them leaves at some point, but you just you just wonder, like if they win a championship, you know, what does that do to the Durant decision a few years later?

But I do think they would have come apart at some point, but yeah, I mean, this is one of the seismic moves in sports in the last 2025 years.

I don't think there's any question about that.

It changes the entire fabric of the MBA.

First of all, hats off to management because, I mean, that was through drafting e.

I mean, they did a great job building that team.

Like I said, I think they cut a little too short.

And then knowing all these guys games now in personalities now, how long could they have really have lasted?

Was there something there that probably prompted them to change?

You know, trade James early on.

So there's too much unknown, but they definitely would have been playing into June back then.

Um, if they would've kept that team together, it really is amazing.

Drafting and some of those same key players are, of course still at the helm in Oklahoma City, where they will have the opportunity to do all kinds of new drafting because they own.

I think everybody in the league's picks for the next 10 years, So it's good.

They're just gonna be going after themselves over and over again.

E.

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