Latest news with #TheKevinO'ConnorShow
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Can Ja Morant still be the man for Memphis?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Chris Vernon to discuss the Grizzlies' outlook for next season and if the point guard can still be the team leader on the court. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why the title talk is too soon for Cooper Flagg, Mavs
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Sam Esfandiari and Kirk Henderson to discuss the number one overall pick's impact on Dallas in his rookie season and the likelihood that the Mavericks can contend for an NBA title in his first campaign. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript How much of an early impact do you see Cooper Flag making for Matt Dallas this year? Their roster is very talented, but it's kind of weird. Like, I think he's a four or five in the modern NBA. He's the four. he wants to be the four. Is he gonna play the three? are they gonna play him as like an I-O wing? Cause I don't think that's his game. i don't think he's like Kevin Durant 2.0. The Mavericks need to reset their own external expectations because ever since the Trae D Luka Doncic, they keep talking about championships. well, when you fail to make the playoffs, or fail to make the playoffs and then you land the number one overall draft pick, your timeline shifts. i don't care what you say externally, internally, that just has to be the way it goes. So if they put an emphasis on building up Cooper's, let's just say, his skill set, if they want him to be a playmaker. I think that's great for Cooper Flagg and great for the long-term Mavericks. What it won't be is good for win-now goals. That's just sort of a fact of life. Rookies don't impact winning. Well, very, very rarely, and we've had some good ones the last 10 years. Um, and so that's the roster part that Sam talks about, is pretty important. they got a lot of stuff to suss out there. With Cooper Flagg, when he's on the floor with 80 and hopefully with Kyrie at some point, he can impact the game in a winning way. Across the board, we've seen this already in some league, and it might not necessarily be the sort of thing that fills the box score. It's going to be rolling to the basket. it's going to be sealing Draymond Green if he's gonna get a rebound and letting Anthony Davis wreak havoc. The way Flagg plays, he wants to win at any cost, is what I've been told. Like he's this, and I mean this in a positive way. He's a basketball psychopath, is what people have told me. I completely understand the KG comp for him. Well, I don't think it's completely accurate because KG is like three to four inches taller. It's the way he plays the game. Yeah, the mental aspect, just like the way he processes the game, the priorities he has on the floor. Like he seems like the type of guy who's gonna be just as happy if it's like. 15 points, 15 rebounds, and we win, as opposed to like 40 to 50 points in a way. Close
New York Post
04-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Suns weighing potential Bradley Beal buyout to end disappointing tenure
The winds are continuing to blow in the direction of a buyout for Bradley Beal. The Suns have discussed the idea of a buyout for the guard and allowing him to hit the open market, The Arizona Republic reported on Thursday. It follows an earlier suggestion from Phoenix sports radio host John Gambadoro, who speculated during an appearance on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' last month that the Suns would 'either trade him or they will buy him out.' The Suns are reportedly considering buying out Bradley Beal's contract. NBAE via Getty Images There are two years left on Beal's contract, with a value of nearly $111 million. It stems from the five-year, $251 million contract he signed with the Wizards, which included a no-trade clause. Beal is reportedly open to a possible trade, according to The Athletic, but his ideal outcome would be to remain with the Suns. Beal's arrival in Phoenix has not gone as planned since he arrived and averaged 17.6 points per game during his two seasons in the desert. Before his stint with the Suns, he had averaged 22.1 points per game in 11 seasons with the Wizards. Bradley Beal has struggled since joining the Suns. NBAE via Getty Images Beal, a three-time NBA All-Star, hasn't played 60 or more games in a season since the 2020-21 campaign, which had been shortened to 72 games due to COVID, and he averaged a career-best 31.3 points while making the All-Star Game. Beal came to the Suns in the 2023 offseason in a trade that sent Chris Paul to the Wizards. He was expected to be a part of a Big 3 of sorts for the Suns, along with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Durant was traded by the Suns last month in a potentially historic seven-team transaction that will see the Rockets acquire the NBA star. Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round selections will go to the Suns in the trade.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Could the Lakers trade LeBron James?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Lakers reporter Jovan Buha to discuss the likelihood of Los Angeles dealing away the superstar - after he opted into his player option for the upcoming season - and which team would be potential candidates to land the four-time Most Valuable Player. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript The the only trades that make complete sense on paper are Denver, Michael Porter Jr. Zeke Naji, Dario Sari, and Julian Strather. Advertisement That would assume LeBron wants to team up with Jokic, cause for Denver, they give up a bunch of replaceable pieces, the pieces they don't need. LeBron's an upgrade from Michael Porter Jr. and then Golden State, because Jimmy Butler for LeBron James works straight up, one for one. It's an easy deal to make. That is very easy to make. So I think Golden State. And Denver are the two teams I look at where it's like, OK, trades make sense, but other than that, Jovan, I, I, I understand why things are pointing towards, it's hard to make a LeBron James trade because teams wouldn't want to gut their own rosters in order to get a 40 year old guy entering year 23, possibly in his retirement tour season at this point. Advertisement But what are you hearing about the situation and what are your general thoughts on the, the potential trade marker for LeBron? I'm with you. I think that, you know, looking at it, I came up with 4 teams, uh, which were similar to, you know, it was Cleveland, Golden State, Dallas, and New York. Uh, I have a hard time seeing him going to Denver. To me, LeBron is a big market guy, uh, you know, no offense to mid and small size markets, I just don't see him, like outside of Cleveland, of course, which is home for him. I think if he's leaving, it's going to be, you know, Golden State or, or New York or or Dallas and you know, that type of like top 7 or 8 market probably. Advertisement Uh, so, but to your point, like playing with the trade machine, it was hard to come up with something that made sense. I think the Jimmy trade is interesting because it allows the Lakers to remain competitive and still have a top 30, top 25 guy replacing LeBron. So you are taking a step back, uh, just from sheer talent. LeBron was just the all NBA second team guy, finished 6th in MVP voting, but like, Jimmy Butler is still at that all-star, uh, level where you're not necessarily missing that much or taking that big of a step back, uh, and still putting a star around Luca. I think that the question for the Lakers, if they potentially trade LeBron is, how does that affect their cap sheet moving forward and do they want to maintain that flexibility in 2026? Advertisement Because realistically, if you are trading LeBron, you're probably not contending next season, I guess again, Jimmy Butler might be the lone exception, but if it is a Gafford, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson type package from Dallas, like, Those guys fit well next to Luca. We've already seen that movie before and uh we know like those two way guys and then, uh, Washington and Gafford were starters on the finals team. They basically swapping rosters. You'll find over the course of 6 months. I mean, think about like LeBron AD Kyrie, Cooper flag, Derek Lively like that, that's an incredible 5 man, uh, you know, top of the rotation, but it's just tough to make, it's tough to make the math work.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why did the Raptors part ways with Masai Ujiri?
Why did the Raptors part ways with Masai Ujiri? Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor and contributor Tom Haberstroh dissect Toronto's 'strange' decision to fire its president the day after the 2025 Draft. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript The day after the draft, the Toronto Raptors fire Masiauiri, who of course has been there over a decade at this point, won a championship in 2019. Advertisement He had one year left on his contract, so for this to happen today is crazy timing, Tom. My understanding is that Raptors ownership, MLSE, they felt like Massai was stretched too thin, with Basketball Without Borders, his nonprofit giants of Africa. I just think it shows a lot of dysfunction for him to actually be fired the morning after the draft. I think it's weird, Tom, what are your initial thoughts on the raptors firing Massa. He just acquired Brandon Ingram at the trade deadline, a guy who did not play because of an ankle injury since December 7th, and then resigned him to a contract extension with a lot of that trade package was from the Pascal C. deal. Advertisement By the way, the Pascal Siakam trade I wrote about last year and saying this was a horrible trade. They got a what I deemed a very poor return for Pascal Siakam. None of those picks were valuable and even though you can put on the billboard 3 1st round picks, they were, they were late first, almost guaranteed to be late first. And so I, to me, um, what this says is that as a leader. Masayuiri lost his way, because what I saw in Pascal Siakam's finals uh press conference when he said I lost the joy. I, I wrote this down cause I wanted to make sure I had it right. He said, I'm so glad that the Indiana Pacers traded for me, and quote, it was dark for me, not fun at all playing basketball. Advertisement He found his joy for the game and I lost that for a while. He's talking about Toronto Raptors. After winning a championship in 2019 under Massia Uiri's leadership, you're hearing Pascal Siakam, you're seeing that Kawhi Leonard left after winning a championship. You're seeing that, uh, Serge Ibaka, Fred Van Vleet, Danny Green, Marc Gasol, all left, walked in free agency. You can see how the post championship regime or the post championship chapter of the Toronto Raptors. Was really poor and worse yet, a really poor workplace, as you can hear from from Pascal Sciacca. A lot of mistakes by Massiah Giri in recent years, and so that's why I think, you know, ownership is probably right about certain things with his performance in recent years, ever since the championship, but ownership firing him the day after draft, it's just strange.
