NBA Business News: NBA Free Agency, Inside Steve Kerr's Philosophy, KD breaks down the finals, Draymond X JJ Redick Live In NYC
Stretch Four NBA: Volume1
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Hi All,
I am testing out a new format and dropping a newsletter on the business of the NBA. With this weekly edition, I will focus solely on the business of the NBA. I want to give my take on trades, ownership, and the team-building dynamics. I will plan to do long-form pieces, weekly recaps, and maybe occasionally a podcast or video.
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year: NBA Free Agency
While the NBA Finals came to an end the business of the NBA lives on. With last week’s NBA draft we saw some bottom-feeder teams like the OKC Thunder and Detroit Pistons make good decisions while we saw others like the Sacramento Kings continue to be themselves by making the wrong pick with Keegan Murray at number four.
In other news, it looks as though the official NBA free agency which kicks off on July 1st will be another one that gives us something to look forward to while we are left with only baseball. With the Golden State Warriors returning to the basketball utopia organizations now shuffle to evolve and beat them or compete with them. Free agency is my second favorite time in the NBA outside of the playoffs. It is the game within the game, and this year looks like it won’t disappoint.
One of the most interesting new factors of this free agency season is the engagement NBA players have on social media and their own media platforms. Dame Lilliard kicked things off with a photoshop of KD and himself in a Portant Trailblazers uniform and early last week Kyrie Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers gained some steam. To think Ben Simmons maybe have the Brooklyn Nets franchise on his shoulders all alone by the time training season starts is the massive turnaround that no one expects, but it could very well be in play.
I love free agency so much I am dedicating a new edition of the Stretch Four Newsletter to NBA talk exclusively. I consume a fair amount of NBA podcasts, premium newsletters, and content so I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and the best content I find online.
Youtube & Podcasts
Curry vs. Everybody, Boston’s Next Move, NBA Dynasty Tiers, and Draft Buzz With Ryen Russillo Bill Simmons coming off the finals have some candid conversations clearing up how he defines a dynasty. He now notoriously does not refer to the Golden State Warriors as a modern NBA dynasty. I think this take misses the mark. The Warriors have now acquired four NBA finals in eight years. In modern-day basketball, this is a dynasty. He further elaborates on the tiers of NBA dynasties which is a good way to think about it in terms of framework.
Steve Kerr and Jonathan Givony Steve Kerr gave Zack Lowe one of his three post-finals interviews. Kerr is a gracious podcast guest, maybe because he’s had his own podcast in the past. Kerr is moving into an elite class of sports coaches in professional sports with each championship. He was candid and clear that this fourth title with the Warriors is the sweetest considering they were the worst team in the league two years ago and even they did not expect for such a quick return to NBA prominence.
Rings, Rings, Rings, Rings (feat. Steve Kerr) The guys on the Point Foward were back this week with Steve Kerr as their guest as well. I enjoyed the podcast because clearly there is lots of synergy between Andre Iguodala and Kerr having now won four championships together and both being part of the Arizona basketball mafia. They talked about the Warriors, but also got Kerr to share his inside thoughts on how he thinks about recruiting his staff. He said he prefers hiring assistant coaches who have head coaching experience or those that have the ambition to become a head coach within a few years. The NBA is now filled with Warriors assistants who have taken head roles.
New Media Report
KD returned to his ETC podcast
In #newmedia fashion KD had a zen conversation from his lavish undisclosed location in California with his host Eddie Gonzales who did his best to ask how KD felt about the NBA finals and all the narratives that somehow related to him. The playoffs did not go well for KD his team was swept in round one and he watched his former team return to the NBA finals and win their fourth title and second title without his services.
Media specifications begin this weekend that KD would potentially be traded from Brooklyn this summer. While he gave no direct information in the podcast about what he thinks will happen, Bill Simmons and his Ringer NBA posse had some interesting scenarios they discussed on a four-part NBA draft breakdown they did during the NBA Draft.
My take is that KD coming up on year sixteen is going to be looking to compete for championships. The Brooklyn Nets do not look like a team that could compete in the finals by simply running it back with the team they have. The Nets have the leverage with KD considering he signed a five-year extension last summer, but he is one of the top five players in the league which means he can force his way out of the current situation.
This will be a major storyline to follow in the next month and two darkhorse players that could make moves for KD are the Phoenix Suns who could maneuver a sign and trade around DeAndre Ayton and add one or two of their wings and some picks.
Draymond Green & JJ Redick team up for Live Podcast in NYC
While KD is the best player to launch his own media platform, Draymond Green and JJ Redick have the best ratings and are the best at putting out good content. To culminate this they are teaming up for a live podcast in NYC on Monday night and it is already sold out. Redick was one of the original new media creators and Draymond is the current leader and leveraging a surprise finals appearance and an ongoing troll of the trolls on Twitter. This should be a fun conversation.