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The Athletic NBA Daily

NBA Expansion Draft Protections | Morning Shoot Around

18 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main focus of the NBA expansion draft discussion?

9.177 - 37.493 Andrew Schlecht

Welcome to the Morning Shootaround here on the Athletic NBA Daily's YouTube stream. We're live every Wednesday. We'd love for you to join us here on YouTube with me today, Dave DeFore, Zena Keita, Eskbar Henney. Today, we're going to do an expansion draft. More importantly, we're going to go through the protections. for these teams, which will be top eight protected for every NBA team.

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37.513 - 48.27 Andrew Schlecht

And we'll try to do consensus. I don't know if you guys ever went to leadership camp and they were like, we have to talk about consensus, everybody. I did go to leadership camp. Everybody come to consensus.

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48.33 - 49.933 Es Baraheni

I taught a leadership camp.

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49.953 - 53.258 Andrew Schlecht

I also taught a leadership camp. Did you guys do a lot of consensus?

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53.66 - 78.885 Dave DuFour

uh no no not really i never oh man most annoying time of my life okay can i ask a question what is leadership camp i just played sports empowering the leaders of tomorrow day you guys ever read anything or how'd that how'd that work out hey we're i'm really curious i i didn't know that's mean wait is this no i'm i'm in at the camp were they like, were you leading? Oh yeah.

78.926 - 99.216 Es Baraheni

Was it just, yeah, you, you, uh, well you come in first as someone who is a leader of tomorrow, right? Okay. And then, and then afterwards next year or whatever, you come in and you're the leader that's leading the leaders of tomorrow. And that's at least that's how it works here in the camp that I went, but was it like outdoor? Like, I mean, yes, it was outdoors.

99.316 - 111.693 Unknown

And it was a, it was like a fragment of the sports camp where we were helping, uh, I'm going to start this. Yeah, crazy. I am very curious about it.

111.713 - 113.535 Dave DuFour

It was in Vincennes, Indiana.

114.235 - 134.378 Unknown

It was called X Factor Camp. And it was kids in high school that were getting college credits so that they could advance, so they could graduate with an associate's degree and either go work or go to college. And they were also working on being healthy. And we taught them leadership with a bunch of other NCAA athletes. It was fun. Wow.

Chapter 2: How are NBA teams determining player protections for the expansion draft?

457.898 - 458.178 Dave DuFour

Yeah.

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458.438 - 463.846 Andrew Schlecht

Claxton, protected. Oh, wait. What was that noise? What was that noise?

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463.866 - 471.658 Es Baraheni

Like, okay. But you don't get anything for him. You don't get anything for him. That's the issue with unprotecting Michael Porter Jr. So you have to wonder, like.

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471.698 - 474.762 Andrew Schlecht

Oh, they would not leave him unprotected.

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474.742 - 475.944 Es Baraheni

Yeah, I agree.

475.965 - 478.209 Andrew Schlecht

He's been good. There's no way. I agree.

478.289 - 479.572 Unknown

Yegor is protected.

479.692 - 500.465 Andrew Schlecht

Yeah, Yegor. Clowney, for sure. Clowney's been good. Traore. Traore. Drake Powell, probably. I mean, do you just protect all your guys you picked in the first round and that's it? Pretty much. And then like you leave it. Like Dayron was already being shopped a little bit here and there. Yeah.

500.645 - 504.451 Unknown

I think it was Dyer Williams. Oh, wait. Did you get eight already? Oh, you're good.

Chapter 3: What strategies are teams using for player protection decisions?

751.345 - 757.105 Es Baraheni

Right. Because they can't do Keon Ellis because he's an unrestricted free agent.

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757.205 - 766.035 Unknown

They like Craig Porter Jr. as a secondary ball handler. So I do think Craig Porter Jr. is probably in this mix.

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766.735 - 782.005 Es Baraheni

And for the Cavs, it's really interesting because they can get under the second apron here by unprotecting the right players. Yeah, Schroeder. You know, Schroeder, yeah. Max Schroes. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know.

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782.025 - 787.314 Unknown

I think it's between Proctor and Merrill. And personally, I think they take Merrill.

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788.937 - 798.954 Andrew Schlecht

Yeah, Merrill for sure. Merrill's on there. So it's like they got two more. So it's I mean, do we have I mean, I think Craig Porter we can protect.

798.975 - 802.12 Dave DuFour

I'd say Craig Porter. So it's between Tomlin and Proctor.

802.707 - 804.389 Andrew Schlecht

Tomlin and Proctor is who it is, yeah.

804.629 - 814.879 Dave DuFour

I lean Proctor. I think Tomlin is, you know, it's a good story, obviously, but it's kind of a project. You know what I mean? It's a little bit more of a wild card. Proctor's younger.

814.919 - 848.55 Andrew Schlecht

If you hear us talking about your team, and we get down to, you know, spots like this, let us know what you think, because we'd love to know a perspective on somebody who is... you know, a little bit more inside than we are on the Tyrese Proctor versus Naquan Tomlin debate, okay? Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham? Yep. Obviously protected. Beef Stew? Protected. I think so, yep. Asar? Protected.

Chapter 4: Which players are considered top candidates for protection?

1218.383 - 1234.947 Andrew Schlecht

Okay, so for the listeners, I've got the Miami Heat pulled up. I've protected Bam Adebayo, Tyler Hero, Jovich, Davion Mitchell, Jaime Jaquez, Khalil Ware. Kaspers has been pretty good lately. Yeah, Yaki Jonas for sure. Pele Larson.

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1235.838 - 1239.1 Es Baraheni

Yes. Love that guy. Norm Powell is ineligible, by the way.

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1239.201 - 1245.081 Andrew Schlecht

So is Terry Rozier. Okay. Are you trying to take him from the expansion draft, Dave?

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1245.121 - 1249.727 Dave DuFour

Well, hey, look, man. Somebody's got to bankroll the operation. He just had to call it out.

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1249.747 - 1256.897 Andrew Schlecht

Okay, so that's leaving Wiggins unprotected. Drew Smith for all the Drew Smith people out there.

1257.618 - 1259.581 Es Baraheni

Keyshaw Johnson unprotected.

1259.601 - 1269.034 Andrew Schlecht

I love Keyshaw. Keyshaw Johnson, yeah. I mean, you know what? If you want a fun dunker on your team. He's on the list. He will dance. I know.

1269.014 - 1292.136 Dave DuFour

um how do we feel about leaving andrew wiggins unprotected is there somebody else that you're like i would i mean i don't think they want to lose that salary spot right like it's a 30 million dollar cap hit and so and it's expiring so if you're the heat it's one of the paths to getting better yeah that andrew wiggins contract so i think they got to protect it

1292.116 - 1311.127 Andrew Schlecht

And keep in mind that for expansion teams, there are salary floor rules. There used to not be. You used to be able to stay under the salary floor and then just cut a check to all your guys to get to the salary floor. But now you can't do that. So just something to keep in mind.

Chapter 5: How does the expansion draft impact team dynamics and future strategies?

2392.606 - 2403.743 Es Baraheni

And we've seen how important it is for teams to be able to use those to trade. It's sort of the Wiggins conversation you guys were having with Miami, where it's like, that's a $30 million salary slot that they can use to trade, uh,

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2403.723 - 2432.402 Andrew Schlecht

next year so that's part of the reasoning of keeping rj yeah rj's been good too he has been good yeah it's helpful okay our final eastern conference team oh anthony davis protected the washington wizards okay let's they are protected alex are alex are globali globali trey johnson george Bub?

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2432.943 - 2452.953 Es Baraheni

Bub Carrington. I would say I would wait on Bub Carrington real quick. Not protecting Bub. Keishon and Will Riley are getting protected. Justin Champagny. How many is that right now? Five? That's five. And then you have Trey and Anthony Davis, which is seven.

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2454.315 - 2466.549 Dave DuFour

Do we have to? I mean, I think that they would. They want to trade those guys. They want to flip them, you know. What's it going to take to put you in this well-used Anthony Davis, guys?

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2466.889 - 2469.734 Andrew Schlecht

If that's a strategy, that's a dumb strategy.

2470.395 - 2476.224 Es Baraheni

So just by process of elimination, they're going to protect Bub. Yeah.

2476.464 - 2481.292 Andrew Schlecht

Yeah. Because it's not – I don't think they're that interested in the Hardy Party.

2482.133 - 2483.195 Dave DuFour

No, I don't know.

2483.215 - 2484.136 Andrew Schlecht

I don't think D-Lo's the guy.

Chapter 6: What are the implications of unprotected players in the expansion draft?

3332.007 - 3334.39 Es Baraheni

They would protect him. I feel like they would protect him.

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3334.41 - 3335.07 Andrew Schlecht

Yeah, they probably would.

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3336.712 - 3345.341 Dave DuFour

They probably would. Oh, we need one here. Christie. Sure. Cam Christie. Man, the Clippers are sad.

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3345.941 - 3364.789 Andrew Schlecht

Protected. That's tough. Yeah, they're weird. They're going to be weird this last 25 games or whatever. LeBron is ineligible for the LA Lakers. Yeah, it's because he'll be on another team. Okay, the Los Angeles Lakers. Okay, Luka, Austin Reeves, LaRavia.

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3365.19 - 3365.851 Unknown

LaRavia.

3365.911 - 3376.367 Andrew Schlecht

LaRavia's been good. It gets sad quick for these guys, too. They can't protect Bronny. I guess you could because they need to control where Bronny goes.

3376.887 - 3388.667 Unknown

It's also worth noting, not only LeBron is ineligible, but Rui. Rui, Luke Kennard. Max Kleber. Yeah, so... And Jackson Hayes, but who cares?

3389.608 - 3400.026 Andrew Schlecht

Sure. So we've protected four guys. One of them is Bronny James. And, you know, Vando...

3400.597 - 3407.94 Es Baraheni

This is one of those teams that like if they could just protect two guys they would yeah for sure Lakers good for them.

Chapter 7: How do player contracts influence protection decisions?

4303.991 - 4304.311 Dave DuFour

Yeah, I agree.

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4304.672 - 4311.638 Andrew Schlecht

That makes sense. So leaving Jeremy Grant, Chris Murray, Veet Krechi unprotected.

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4311.658 - 4315.721 Es Baraheni

Ooh, Veet Krechi.

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4315.901 - 4317.823 Unknown

And Ryan Ruppert.

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4318.073 - 4320.538 Andrew Schlecht

Raul Roper. Big shout out, France.

4321.059 - 4324.046 Dave DuFour

I don't think he's going to be in the league hall that much longer.

4324.066 - 4329.698 Andrew Schlecht

No, he's going to have a sweet per diem over there in Europe here pretty quick.

4329.878 - 4335.531 Dave DuFour

He's going to do well if he goes. Monaco or Paris. Yeah, he will.

4336.553 - 4337.054 Andrew Schlecht

Okay.

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