The Lakers are gonna take a step back, last year was a mirage! - Mad Dog Russo | First Take

Mad Dog do you think that the Lakers will take a step forward or take a step backward next season I think they did take a step back I think they got a big break again they barely beat Minnesota I understand they played pretty well second half of the Year 18-6 is as as uh Brian just said but remember they played Memphis in the first round Memphis

was discombobulated the whole thing with Moran they got a good draw with Memphis Golden State a little worn out after they beat Sacramento in a seventh game their draw was pretty good as you said no Phoenix no Durant early they got Memphis that was again a little out of it and Dylan Brooks spurred them on and then of course they they got the words I think

the Lakers last year was a little bit of a mirage I think the Lakers are going to have some trouble uh well they are getting older right it's an old team and an old team last year got Anna got beat by the nuggets in four straight games and the nuggets are in your Prime I think the Lakers are going to take a step back I mean

I I suspect that they'll probably take a step forward because they came on at the end of the last season and a lot of it was I think at least we thought it was predicated on the the trade that they made but in the playoffs they weren't really relying on those uh traded players but we saw them come together as they are an old team in

age they're a young team as far as the construction is concerned especially with a Darby ham taking over for his first time so I think that they probably will get better will they get better enough to be competitive in the west that feels like a stretch given what we saw from uh Denver in the playoffs Wendy your thoughts yeah I I mad dog I think your

point is reasonable I understand why you're saying it um I just don't think we have enough information yet I think we got to see I think one of the most important things Rob palinka can do in this next seven days is something that he's done well his whole career and that's negotiate he's got to negotiate these contracts properly on the other side of it from when

he was an agent you cannot sign rui hachimuru to a contract that is over what his market value is just because you've got him you've got his rights because they have to be able to you know potentially trade him whether it's this year or next year they got to sign if they're going to bring back D'Angelo Russell and boy the point guard position is Prickly because

at the end of that playoff series against Denver Russell was not a factor dude Dennis Schroeder was was their main guy at that spot and he's also a free agent and so you got to make a decision if you're going to bring back Russell what are you gonna bring him back yet well you're not bringing him back at 30 million a year which is what he

was just at and if you bring him back he can't bring him back for long because if you're gonna sign him you have to be able to train him Russell has been traded he's been on a number of teams already in his career he can't lock him in they just were stuck in a contract with Russell Westbrook where they weren't able to move it they've got

to if they're going to bring him back it's got to be on a deal that's that's maneuverable the other thing is Austin Reeves is anybody going to come give Austin Reeves what we call a toxic offer sheet this is a guy that a lot of teams have interest in we know the Lakers are going to keep them when all the dust settles he's going to be

a Laker but but teams can come in and do some strange stuff to try to put poison pills and offer sheets to make it harder on the Lakers can they negotiate with Austin Reeds and get the deal done on Friday because this is what happened a couple years ago with Alice Caruso they didn't handle the negotiations right up front they lost leverage against Chicago Bulls and

he ended up going to Chicago for not much more money than the Lakers were offering they've got to learn from that so the contracts that they emerge from in this next seven days have to be contracts that become assets they can't be contracts that are just the Lakers overpaying and if they emerge with that and they have that draft pick and they have some momentum from

last year and the bronze foot is healthy and there's one more thing I'm going to bring up I would argue the most important thing that they got to do this off season isn't even in July it's probably going to be in August and this is the bigger question to me Anthony Davis is eligible for a three-year and I want you to take a breath three-year 167

million dollar contract extension now he has one year left on that contract before he can become a free agent in today's day and age you do not let a star player like this get to free agency the Lakers are going to be under some measure of pressure to get a deal done there and again how is Rob plinker going to negotiate it is he going to

negotiate it the full 167 or is he going to try to get Anthony Davis for less than that because he's 30 years old you'd be signing him out till he's about 34. I don't know back into that contract's going to be 60 million dollars a year so could he negotiate that they need to get to the start of this season with a full menu in front

of them their players resigned and all of them in contracts that can be maneuvered if they do that they will be in position to move forward to answer that spot yeah they're not a championship team though this group you know we're talking about bringing back the same kind of crew they're not a championship team I mean I got swept by Denver who won the title so

how could they and that was in a conference final not in the fun not an NBA final I think we all said that about the Warriors a couple years ago I don't think anyone thought going into the playoffs that the warriors were a championship team at that time and things break the way that they break the time in LeBron James foot I think it's foolish for

us to to anticipate LeBron James being healthy in the playoffs but it's ridiculous for us to think that there's no chance because we saw him even with that bad foot there were times in the playoffs where we're like damn that looks like the LeBron of old doing chase down blocks on explosive things if we can get LeBron healthy enough for the finals if they can get

A.D locked up and playing defense the way that he was playing last year and Austin Reeves can improve to to Star level as last year he wasn't quite there but he showed glimpses of it and he told us so when he said he was him after uh that that big game if he can do that consistently I do think that you're obviously are banking on some

things happening and maybe Durant is not fully healthy maybe Booker doesn't black out in next year's playoffs the way that he did maybe something happens with Denver there's some injuries some concerns and you find yourself in a situation where you can be a champion it's certainly not a favorite going to season I wouldn't bet nothing on it casual Sixers fans they'll trade me for a crumble

cookie but at the end of the day you know they have to realize like you're not getting a six nine forward back who can you know damn near shoot 40 from three guard other teams best best player shoot post-up drive play 70 plus games a year all right time for a quick take uh Nick first of all do you know what a crumble cookie is and

then second of all your thoughts on what to buy here yeah I I I it's a it's a they're getting lots of free poke yeah I know what a crumble cook is you asked me if somebody earlier had a crumbly cookie and I was like no no I mean you asked Mad Dog because you know what a smartphone is that is rotary dial is my guy

um I don't even know what I'm reacting to at this point I mean Tobias Harris he's right about what he's saying and I think it's fair to argue that that offense or that team wasn't using him properly he is a big guy who can score it's hard to find and a guy who's not a liability against other other um Wings on defense but the way that

their system has been running he's disappeared like he hasn't been as valuable as I thought he was when they got him he hasn't been as valuable as Jimmy Butler has been since he left and that made it a lot harder to appreciate his value and it's possibly that there's sometimes there's bad fish Tobias Harris is not a bad basketball player and he is he can be

an asset to some team but as much as we talk about the playoff Run for the 76ers last year his name never comes up yeah like it never ever comes up and it wasn't like he was hurt or he was missing in action they just don't run the office through him and he doesn't have impactful plays which I guess is somewhat his fault but it also

seems like it's just a bad fit well number one they should they sign the wrong player they should have kept Butler on that horoscope that's the first thing second thing is if you're a Tobias Harris let's be honest he's not a big deal in the Philadelphia sports scene the last thing you need to do has been knocking the Philadelphia sports fan that is the last thing

you need to do in that City with that fan base that gets nasty and is going to give him a hard time you really want to go in that direction when right now they got hurts and they got Bryce Harper and they got everything and you got to sit there now and and bead and well you know what I'm not getting my due take it easy

he's a nice player that's as far as a kid I mean I think that's his point is that the Casual fans don't know how talented he is and that's a uh that's bothersome and I he's he's as he pointed out he's a six nine professional athlete I don't think he's scared or you know loud my feelings nobody needs to get nobody needs to get food in

this building oh my gosh don't me that's awful you know how that works okay staying in Philly let's go to Wendy to find out what's going on in Philly Wendy yeah so let me tell a couple things about that state all right number one I think Tobias Harris owns uh interest at a couple of crumble cookie franchises he didn't just pull the brand out of thin

air okay that's number one the number two he is very shrewd in what he's doing here he is he is everything he said there I think on its face was correct um and he's almost goading them and here's why I think he's goading uh the organization last year he had the lowest usage rate of any time in his career I'm talking back to when he was

a rookie with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2011. he got the ball in his hands to use lower than any other time and then when he got to the playoffs it went down even more they just didn't use them now look I'm not going to sit here and cry for him because he made 39 or like 37 million dollars last year he was higher paid than James

Harden or Joel embiid last year that won't be the case in the upcoming season and he is going into the last year of his contract so he is saying like I mean look if you're not going to use me you know and you're not going to appreciate me what are we doing here and he's doing that because he's still got one big contract I think left

in him and he doesn't want to have another season where he's got this low usage rate and people out there going man maybe he's not as good as we thought he was and by the way Mad Dog I agree absolutely it's a no-brainer of course I should have kept Butler that decision to keep Tobias Harris and give him that contract over Jimmy Butler remains a mystery

but Tobias Harris still I would be very careful with Philly trading him number one you're not going to get value back for him of his level and number two let's see what Nick nurse can do let's see what Nick nurse's new system is I'd say that's Obama and I'd say that to the Philadelphia fans and anybody out there who's looking to trade for him okay let's

talk about another guy on that Squad did you have somebody saying no I mean I think it's just the right it's the right move for both teams for both Tobias and the 76ers right because I think Wendy is pointing out the same thing that I was saying is that he's a talented player that they're not using so like why not get something back that you want

to use so he can go somewhere else where he can be properly utilized it just makes sense why don't we have somebody worry about winning instead of his next contract why doesn't Harris and everybody else who worries incredibly smart person he is capable of doing the best he kid for winning and also getting his money the way I come on here and cook you in these

debates I still haven't called my agent and say get my money right you can do two things at the same time it ain't that hard you don't have any shoes I also like love my family these are all things that I could do all at the same time very multifaceted obviously we heard about Tobias Harris Mad Dog let's talk about James Harden a little bit do

you think that he deserves a Max contract absolutely not hardness another guy first of all he spends half his time in Vegas which drives you crazy it's not team building number two it's not you got to talk to his teammates you better talk to him you can't stand it and rivers couldn't stand it either Rivers hated it I mean he couldn't stand it he's never there

and the next couldn't stand it but I and I'll tell you one thing about Horton he is so overrated on a day in day on basis there are games where he plays where you say wow what a performance against the Celtics 42 points whatever he had in game two well game one 42 points he played superb and then in the next four or five games he

does nothing he does absolutely nothing and again Moray for whatever the reason loves him moire is one of the most overrated Executives in professional sport he never wins he never does a thing and anybody who's going to put his stock in the hardened pound the ball at the top of the key for 22 seconds on the shot clock and then make something happen that that hasn't

worked for him he's never played an NBA final and doesn't play well in big games there is not a chance he's not a winning player I would not have him on my main team him and Irving the same way Irving's better because he Blends in better but I wouldn't have either one of those two guys on my ball Club yeah I mean all right so first

it's a lot of wild things oh look at that oh no nobody went so wild he shot 39 in the postseason yeah okay 39 he's been bad in the postseason it's actually it's not so yes it is you're the same I imagine you're the same one who argues that player that that load management is a problem now now the regular season matters but now and pay

the people who if it's about being an Entertainer James Harden is a mega star who does things that make people show up to Arenas so then he deserves the money he's been on a Max on Max salary for much of his career and part of that is the reason why they have Max salaries is to suppress the value of the players so arguing all of a

sudden now that he is not worth getting up to the max number when prior to this he was better than the max number but they were suppressing his salary to me feels unfair even a guy who he's also a guy who took a pay cut of 14 15 million dollar pay cut last year so I get it the point we just made about Tobias Harris he

was the highest paid player on the team but was not the most important player on the team James Harden I think deserves to go into that role at this point if they're going to be successful they need to promote more Maxi and less hard that's fine but the fact of the matter is negotiations is about leverage it's not necessarily about the value that you create James

Harden because they traded so much to get him that has the leverage to get the max deal maybe Daryl Mori in their relationship can work away work around this in some way but I don't know how they move forward unless they're going to replace him and somehow they can't just let him walk away giving up with the assets they have and as good as he is

he can take some of the load off of MB for the regular season they can win some games without relying on embiid so that potentially MB can be healthy in the postseason it's a big picture thing you can't be all focused in on the one game where he was really or the one Series where he was really bad in the postseason or I guess the multiple

Seasons where he was really bad in the postseason but the point is as this team needs a piece and the only option they have is James Harden Wendy yeah this is this is very complicated look first off they've made the decision they're trying to keep a Mad Dog they're gonna try to get a deal done with them and you can you can make your case that

they're that they shouldn't but they're they're gonna try and the problem is here is that he did take a pay cut last year and they can't replace him that is exactly right Dominique you are you're right on there and so the other issue is they got to sign Tyrese Maxi this summer okay Maxie is do a contract extension they got to lock him in forwarding all

three of those guys is going to be a challenge and we're not even talking about what's going to happen with Tobias Harris and what they might do there and so the real issue here is can you get him on a contract that allows you to hit all of those things and I don't know he can get four years I can't see the Sixers giving him four

years the Sixers would probably prefer to give him two years my guess is he probably is going to get three in the end so the real question is can they find a way to give him a contract that leaves the other doors open and it's going to be hard and it's something that they working on for weeks and I'm very interested to see what they come

up with by this weekend so James Harden can either opt into his current contract and become a free agent in 2024 or he can opt out and become a free agent this summer the deadline to decide is tomorrow thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming Sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus