Houston’s Bold Offseason, Nuggets’ Big Changes & Knicks Scoring Boost

Peter Klein

Houston reshapes its core, Denver retools with Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown, and the Knicks finally get real scoring help. We break down the strategies, future fits, and what each move really means for title hopes.  👉 Subscribe for smart NBA insights, no empty noise.  #NBA #NBAOffseason #HoustonRockets #DenverNuggets #NBATrades #NBANews  🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q  💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk  | Kick.com/primetimepk  🔗 Support the Show:   - Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)   - Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!

Transcript

00:00The NBA's free agent period kicked off with quite a few interesting moves and smart teams doing

00:13smart moves on the first day of free agency. So let's kick it off with the Houston Rockets as

00:19they add Finney Smith. I like this move for them a lot on both sides of the ball. I think it meshes

00:25with KD really well on offense. I don't think it is a straight line can fix the defense that they

00:30lose with Dylan Brooks, but it is still, it's a three and D guy. And one that I just, I think it

00:36fits what they're looking to do. I think it fits any kind of need that they have. And I think that

00:41you can get some really interesting lineups out of this. Like if you wanted to go like, um, Fred

00:49Van Vliet, Thompson, Finney Smith, KD and Shengun, that's great. And then you look at the second

00:56unit that you can throw out there with Eason, Jabari, um, that they have Steven Adams and, uh,

01:02I know I'm missing a couple of other pieces. Like there are, there are pieces that you can,

01:06Whitmore, sorry, that you can put out there as well. Like you have an entire second unit to feel

01:10good with, but you can also like Shengun and Adams. It was a rebounding, just massacre for teams. And so

01:16you can put, um, Adams in there and just slide everyone out, kind of Fred Van Vliet out. And now

01:22you have just this insane length lineup. You worry a little bit about Finney Smith being quick enough

01:26to guard guards, but Thompson can take the toughest matchups, um, and all of the matchups. KD isn't

01:32defensively what he was, but it just, it feels like there are just so many different options to

01:36mix and match with now. And we saw that out with the Thunder, um, how they kind of built a team that

01:42could work in all different situations to the point where they were just like, yeah, we're just going to

01:45adjust, even though we're the best team, we're just going to adjust to what you were doing and

01:48see what happens. Um, Houston feels like they're putting together a team that can fit all of those

01:54different things. So I'm really interested to see what this unit looks like. Cause I think they put

02:00together a fascinating basketball team with Imei Udoka being an excellent coach, being able to put

02:05it all together. It's a tough loss for the Lakers, um, that they already need a center now. Like

02:09this is not a minor piece that they are going to have to replace. The one advantage it does give them

02:15is that it now the NBA salary cap has so many different things, but they now have access to

02:21a $14 million non-tax mid-level exception and a $5.1 million biannual exception. So they can actually

02:29fill in some guys like that 14.1 that kind of screams Aiton to me, right? Um, so they can fit Aiton

02:35into that and now try to get Timu Finney-Smith out somewhere for the 5.1, um, biannual exception

02:44and hope that you piece something together with that. But, um, it's, it is not an insignificant

02:51loss for the Lakers and it's a really smart pickup for the Houston Rockets. Nikhil Alexander-Walker

02:57goes to the Atlanta Hawks four years, $62 million, a strong off season continues. I think this is

03:03maybe it's, it feels like a touch of an overpay. I think if you, if I like actually took a beat to

03:09look at some of the other contracts that are out there, it probably is in line with a few guys who

03:14around his talent level anyway. But, um, if you don't look at the contract part of it and just

03:20look at the roster, like they are building something here with, um, again, starting unit,

03:25depending on health and what you want to do, what would trade Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, KP

03:30and Okongwu, you have Risa Shea in there as well. Now Nikhil Alexander-Walker with, uh, just over $15

03:37million coming off the bench, being productive in that sort of a way as well. I think that maybe you

03:42would want a little bit more productive depth that you can throw out there, but as far as starting

03:47sevens go, that is one of the better ones you can put out in the Eastern Conference right now.

03:53The Denver Nuggets make a couple of big splashes as they trade Michael Porter Jr. to Brooklyn for

03:59Cam Johnson. Then they sign Bruce Brown to a one-year deal. This is a team that desperately needed

04:04NBA level talent to play on their basketball team. And so I am, we know Bruce Brown can fit

04:12on this team. Like that is obvious. And to be able to turn MPJ into Cam Johnson, who like, you know,

04:19good stats, bad team sort of a thing, but to now see how he will fit in either playing with Jokic

04:24or just running the second unit on his own. I, I think that this is a very fascinating move

04:30for Denver and one that I do think checks a few boxes and it just kind of, you're basically doing

04:38a one for two. And some, we talked about it in hockey earlier. You don't, it is tough to make

04:45four quarters equal a dollar with that. But I think in this case for a team that like, yes,

04:49like I don't think either of the guys here at their peak are as good as MPJ is at his peak.

04:55Although again, injuries and all of that aside, but I, I do think that for what they needed,

05:02where they just needed more actual basketball players that you trust in any moments to check

05:11that box is a very, very good job. I think for the Nuggets on the Brooklyn side, like MPJ is a

05:17tantalizing player. I, I fear with his health issues. I feel with him being wildly inconsistent

05:23that having him be kind of the guy now in Brooklyn, I'm not overly optimistic. I, I will, I will put it

05:33that way. Uh, Jordan Clarkson goes to the Knicks. Uh, this is a fantastic depth scoring option for New

05:38York. Again, this was another team that just needed NBA talent to be able to come off of the

05:43bench. And he helps that immensely right away. This is like just basically the exact type of a

05:50player I think that they needed coming off of their bench. And we will see what the coaching

05:55situation is, but this, this, this is the type of move that the Knicks needed to be doing. And this

06:02is a great pivot in not getting Kevin Durant or maybe Giannis not even being available or anything

06:07like that to be able to go out and make this type of a move, I think is very, very smart work by the

06:12New York Knicks. Um, just a reminder, um, wherever you are consuming this, whether it is podcast form

06:19or watching and video, um, there is a tip jar in the description. It is not required. It is not even

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06:38tip jar that is available on any of the pages to check out the description. Let's get back to the

06:44basketball as D'Angelo Russell is going to the Dallas Mavericks. It's a two year, $13 million deal.

06:49It is a very inexpensive move for the Mavericks. And I think like if you get his best case scenario,

06:54this is an excellent pivot with Kyrie Irving, uh, Irving dealing with an injury. And then we talk

07:00about what Dallas looks like, where again, you go kind of seven, eight deep and you really like what

07:05they are starting to put together. If the bad D'Angelo shows up, this can be a little bit tricky

07:10when you are kind of handing the keys of the car to that guy. And by the way, uh, Cooper Flagg is the

07:16most important prospect we've had in a little bit. Uh, and the last important prospect that we had

07:20took us to the NBA finals, then we traded him for no good goddamn reason. But, uh, this

07:24gets kind of important to making people forget about that other one. So, um, if you could not

07:29screw this up entirely, that would be great. And that is a lot to put on, um, D'Angelo Russell and

07:33to just hope that there is some consistency that finds its way through there. A couple other moves

07:39that caught my eye, Ty Jerome to Memphis, three years, $28 million deal, maybe a little bit more

07:44offensive responsibility with this team than he had in Cleveland, but there were some real sparks in

07:48Cleveland that looked very interesting. And so I'm, I'm interested to see what he does with more

07:53responsibility and, uh, a little bit more weight on the shoulders, given Memphis, the moves that

07:58they have made here this off season. Luke Cornett adding some really good forward depth for the

08:03Spurs. Four years might be a little bit long, but four years, $41 million. I think it's fine.

08:07It is, um, a good depth move for them, um, behind Victor Weminyama, who we are all expecting to be

08:15back, uh, living like a monk now, apparently. But, I mean, you look at him and you are very, it would

08:21not take a whole lot to say, oh yeah, no, there could be health problems here. So, some very, very

08:26strong usable depth going behind him. Brooke Lopez to the Clippers, a really good depth center signing

08:32behind Zub, and something that can kind of help a second unit out there for the Clippers. If nothing

08:37else, it is five more fouls you can throw at Jokic in a playoff game. And Karis Levert goes to the

08:43Pistons. They're dealing with a unique situation, as Malik Beasley was a pretty strong secondary option

08:48for them. Now, he's involved in a gambling scandal, and so that's not a contract that's going to be

08:53happening for them. I was higher on Beasley than some, um, but I, and I'm also very high on Levert, and I

09:00think much higher on him than others as well. But I think this is a very good pivot, pretty good counter

09:05to what was happening with a couple of their bench players. So, that is the story from NBA Free Agency.

09:12Keep it locked here on Couch Potato Diary. Make sure you hit that subscribe button, as we're going to be

09:16breaking down, um, a lot more from basketball's offseason, as some of the big moves keep happening.

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