Esper Haney
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And tech he's always been invested in tech.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Anyways, I just derailed us. Continue.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm scared of injuries. I was like, oh, the injury is scary.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
That's interesting. You guys think that the market is better for a Paul George than a big man that can shoot?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Excuse me, not shoot. He has some offensive value to him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm looking at Miami, and I'm like, okay, you got Kahlil Ware, who actually can play a lot of defense and can space the floor really well. Bam Adebayo has been flirting with that 3-4 position for a while.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It's weird, but maybe you move Bam. Finally, he gets to play the three in the way that he wants to, and you put Sabonis in there, and it's like, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
If Bam could shoot. He has glimpses.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm just saying, get in the gym with Asia, because Asia developed a three-point shot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Rick Carlisle deserves credit for creating a system. Any player can plug and play in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. They have players that also have gotten better within their system. I mean, Pascal Siakam is a very unique player in that he came in to be whatever it is that they needed him to be, which is exactly what he said last night as well. That's very rare to find, someone that's fine playing second fiddle, fine doing whatever it is that a team needs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But everyone else, Miles Turner, Tyrese Halliburton, everyone has gotten better within their system. And that, to me, I think is a very unique, quality of small markets because you can't afford to be this big time ego in a small market. You've got to play up to the brand of Indiana or whatever, or OKC. You're seeing this in all of these small markets. I don't know what's going on with Utah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Utah got to pick it up, but everyone else, it feels as if these brands of basketball, the players are feeding into the brand, into what's on the front of the jersey as opposed to let me get my individual game off. And it also happens because there hasn't been a ton of players on that roster that have skipped around to multiple teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They've been within that system, they've grown within that system, and it's allowed them to mesh in a way that we're not seeing with other teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, the conditioning of this team is like you feel as if they've got the second wind, but it's really because they have depth. They just have rotational players. But I thought the most endearing thing that is very indicative of how this team looks at Tyrese Halliburton when it comes to defense was, I can't remember, it was in the fourth quarter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Tyrese made a play, some sort of deflection happened, and he almost had it and ended up getting, you know, knocked out of bounds and he ends up in the bench and James Johnson and Thomas Bryant like hug him up. And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you did it. You you're doing it. You're doing it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And it's like, that is so endearing of like, we don't, we don't look to you to be our defensive stopper, but like, good job. Like you're trying, there you go. That, that sort of energy around him of just like, keep going, et cetera.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm not seeing the same level of like full enthusiasm from the Knicks bench as much as I'm seeing for any type of play that McHale is making, that Josh Hart is making, any type of rebounds that he's making. It's kind of like that's the expectation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And so with Tyrese, it's like any other thing that you can do outside of the offensive boost that you're providing us, we are very excited about and we will continue to encourage you. It's very endearing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I don't want to find out. It was clearly in the playoffs that he had to come off the bench for something. I can't remember when it was.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He came off the bench and had to, you know. Had to just stand up for a little bit, but I think quickly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They traded Paul George for SGA, Danilo Gallinari, the five first rounders, and two pick swaps. I'm wondering if he was a pick swap.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And then the picks from that deal were used or traded for Jalen Williams, Kaysen Wallace, and others. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It was actually very strange how much of a fall-off he had in OKC.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I thought he got hurt again in OKC. I don't know about that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I just remember him getting hurt in OKC and it kind of feeling like this is a good thing that he doesn't have to go and play basketball because he looked miserable in OKC. Yeah. Sorry. I was actually, while you guys were talking, I was looking up, you were talking about how no one expected Shea Gildas Alexander to be the player that he was.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But I vividly remember Draymond Green and Steph Curry being like, no, we knew that he was going to be this good. And I was like, Really?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But they have said that. But they've said this for a while, that they saw this when they played in that first round against the Clippers in 2019. And I was just looking up his stats. He played in those games. It was Warriors in six. And it was a battle. I don't know if you guys remember that playoff series, but it was a legitimate battle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But I didn't know that Shea started in all six of those games. Yeah. Shot 46% from the floor. I mean, they were a good team, but he wasn't the best player on this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They've set a standard. Guess who also started for that Clippers team that took the Warriors to six?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He definitely came off the bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'll give you a hint. It's someone that New York has been putting a lot of faith in as of last night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
your next case in wallace and lou dort and alex caruso and isaiah hartenstein because you have so many picks available to you like what and they also have an attractive landing spot like right to be able to do that right like these players want to come to okc because they know they can get better and the players that also have the opportunity to potentially leave don't really want to like they're perfectly fine taking the minimum or or taking what is available in their contract um outside of
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
instead of looking elsewhere because they know that in this system, they can get better. Like this is a spot in which you can guarantee growth in your game. And there are certain places where you can, you can almost guarantee that your career goes to die right now. And so that is, reputation absolutely extends. I think that was in the player poll as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Oklahoma city being one of those places, a great landing spot in which not only are the players taking care of their families are taken care of, et cetera, but like players know good and well, what systems are going to benefit them in the long run that will set them up for success when it is time to leave, when it is time to exercise those player options and,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
that you're going to up and you're going to up your value. I mean, I'm looking at Casey Wallace and yes, he has more years on his contract, so he's going to be chilling, but getting better and more valuable until it's time to go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Andrew, on the point of Mark Dagnall being a reflection of Sam Preston, like the culture and the type of play that they want to have. I'm thinking about the amount of coaches that have been now cycled through because of firings, David Alman, Why am I blanking on his name in San Antonio?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Mitch Johnson. Thank you. I was gonna say Michael. Mitch Johnson. But I'm particularly thinking about Brooklyn and Jordy Hernandez and like thinking that he is a good, I think he is a good youth development type of coach. Yeah, for sure. And they've got four first round picks this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Um, and I think they, they could probably be the best in position to not only have potentially the talent, but also particularly the right coaching to get them in a position where they're developing over the next year. It's going to take a while, but what have you seen in Mark Dagnall that maybe you've also seen in Jordy Hernandez? Fernandez.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And I'm thinking about the Canadian team too, like the work that he did. Yeah, anyway, sorry, keep going.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Like that's, I'm just thinking that this is going to be the new wave because of the success scene in OKC. Um, you could say the success scene in, um, Orlando, but like Charlotte, Brooklyn, Um, now, I mean, what will be very interesting is to see what happens in Denver. Like what, what shift happens with an older guard type of play in terms of players with a new guard in coaching style.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Oh, he did. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
When the NBA first started, how many players were players that had literally just played for their own team? and became coaches, right? Like that, that had always been the story of like, Oh, I just finished. Let me go coach. I feel like it's cyclical now. Like it's going, how many guys are on an NBA bench, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Wait, is that a thing? It was a thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
That's interesting. What year was this, Andrew?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
JD actually set the example for Steph and Draymond with their restaurants.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Michael Jordan Steakhouse. What are you talking about?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I got so excited about Don Chula's steak that I just closed my browser.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
How much do you think that there is thought by athletes about where I want to go for the next step? Like if you're thinking about your Giannis, right? And Giannis. A lot. Right? Giannis is in the Bay Area at Google's tech event, you know, being an entire personality. Are you hinting at something here? I'm just saying. I'm just saying things out loud. We're just thinking out loud here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And everyone knows that, yes, New York, LA, spotlight, celebrities, big time, Miami even. But when you think about the next step and setting yourself up for success, I'm looking at Andre Iguodala, president of MBPA. You come to the Bay for the next step. And I'm just thinking about... Oh, I mean, what can OKC offer?