J-Speaks: The Latest Coaching Prodigy in the NFL

As National Football League (NFL) embarks on a new season as Training Camps are underway. Among the teams that bares a close eye for all of us resides in the “City of Angels” the Los Angeles Rams. It not just because they are both young and talented on both sides of the ball, offense and defensed but because their head coach, who they hired last season is being viewed as the latest genius of in business. It is a title that this gentleman who is as old as some veterans in the league, but no up and comer has earned that title than this Dayton, OH native who went from an assistant wide receivers’ coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly a decade ago to the top job with the Rams.

At around 4 a.m. back in June, Rams head coach Sean McVay begins his work day driving from his home in the suburbs in L.A. to his office at the Rams facility.

It is part of his daily routine, despite that it is only June and the start of the NFL season is not until September.

On that day, McVay was the first to arrive in the office, giving him the opportunity to study practice film without interruption and prepare for practice.

To put that early start into context, it will be seven hours before practice begins and the preparation for the upcoming season commences.

One distinct difference between McVay and the other head coaches in the NFL is his boundless energy. When that practice got underway, you could hear McVay’s voice literally and figuratively as he prepares his team.

In one sequence from an interview he did with HBO “Real Sports’” Bryant Gumbel McVay at the start of practice displayed that drive to be great by saying, “Here we go. Stretch, stretch, stretch! Get you helmets, here we go!”

He then said as practice was continuing and the players were getting into individual drills, “Let’s look sharp. Let’s look crisp. Let’s do things the right way.”

During that two-hour off-season practice, McVay was in constant motion, communicating with everyone, non-stop.

When asked by Gumbel nearly 10 hours into his day that if he was gassed, McVay’s response, “No. I feel good. You know, I think you get energy from being out here on the field with the guys.”

“Usually after we go through the practice film and stuff like that, then you usually start to wear down.”

If you are wondering how old McVay is, he is 31-years-old. When the Rams hired him to be their 28^th head coach in franchise history on Jan. 12, 2017, he was all of 30 years and 354 days old, younger than the average NFL lead man on the sidelines by 23 years. McVay became the youngest head coach in the history of the NFL upon his hire. He surpassed now Florida Atlantic University Football head coach Lane Kiffin, who was held the record of being the youngest head coach in modern NFL history when he was hired by the Oakland Raiders nearly 10 years prior at 31 years and 259 days old.

“Football was something that it kind of has always run in our family, and I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else,” McVay said to Gumbel.

When Gumbel said to McVay that admires of his that know some of his backstory that he was destined to coach football.

McVay said to that, “I don’t know about that. I think I was really fortunate where I’ve been exposed to some great coaches. You know, going back to my grandpa. Just people willing to invest in me.”

One of the people that invested in McVay was his grandfather John McVay, the former head coach of the New York Giants in the late 1970s, who later in the early part of his two-decade tenor in the front office with he San Francisco 49ers, led by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh helped build a championship dynasty in the Bay Area.

It was McVay’s idea to select a quarterback Joe Montana with the 82^nd overall pick in the 1979 draft.

This pick would begin the start of one of the greatest Super Bowl runs in NFL history where the 49ers would win five Vince Lombardi trophies and Montana would be game MVP in three of the four they won in the 1980s and the fifth Super Bowl was won with now ESPN NFL analyst and Hall of Famer Steve Young leading the way in the 1994 season.

Having a front row seat for all of that success of the 49ers was Sean and after completing his collegiate career at Miami University in Oxford, OH, where he played as a wideout, as his grandfather did, and graduated in 2008, he went right into coaching.

Thanks to a connection from a family friend, McVay got his first shot with the Buccaneers, led by the new head coach of the Raiders and former ESPN Monday Night Football color analyst John Gruden.

After serving as the quality control/wide receivers coach for the former Florida Tuskers, now the Virginia Destroyers of the American Football League (AFL), McVay made his way to the Washington Redskins where he went from the assistant tight ends coach all the way up to the Offensive Coordinator from 2014-16.  

One of the first players to fully see what the Rams see on a daily basis now is former All-Pro tight end of the Redskins Chris Cooley, who remembers the first meeting he had with the gentlemen that was his position coach for two seasons and this meeting came towards the end of a terrible season.

Cooley said of the then 26-year-old McVay that he had this meeting prepared like it was the first day of training camp. That presentation he said was a power point presentation that had him and many of the other players shaking their heads and in shock.

“We’re like, ‘Sean, what in the world man,’” Cooley said about that presentation.

It was that meticulousness and attention to detail that would serve McVay well as the Redskins offensive coordinator, at age 28. He would become one of the best player callers in the NFL and help turn starting signal caller Kirk Cousins, an average understudy into a one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

It was then that McVay became a hot commodity to become a head coach, even though many in NFL circles could never imagine someone entering their 30s to be at that high of a position on the pro football field, not even in his own family.

“He said I think I’m going to get an opportunity to interview for some of the open positions. And I said that’s would be fantastic,” Sean’s father Tim said to Gumbel.

Mr. McVay said that his son told that if he gets an interview he will land one of the vacancies.

He then said to Gumbel about the idea of that happening, “I’m all for you man.”

Mr. McVay said after that phone conversation, he wife Cindy asked him could he get one of those jobs this soon? Her husband’s answer was, “Nah.”

Well Sean did land one of those jobs with the Rams, who saw in McVay a person with boundless energy, but someone with a tremendous work ethic, and an understanding of the game that many years at his position never grasp.

While he is still early into his head coaching career, McVay has earned a reputation as a football savant, who can recall every single play of every single game he has ever coached.

Like a play in Week 16 of last season at the Tennessee Titans a 2^nd & 11 at the Rams own 20-yard-line with 4:24 remaining the opening half, McVay hoped his team could flip the field and pin the Titans on their side of the field. Instead it was a screen pass to running back Todd Gurley.

“After we had on the first play, we went a negative one-[yard]. Then the series before that, they recovered a fumble for a touchdown when our guard went the wrong way,” McVay said to Gumbel about what transpired before that play that went for a touchdown.

McVay also recalled a play at the Giants in Week 9, where at the 2:40 mark of the second quarter with the Giants in position on 3^rd & 10 at their 14-yard-line, Rams cornerback Turmaine Johnson picked off the pass from quarterback Eli Manning.

“He will remember every situation. He will remember every play,” Cooley said of the great memory of McVay. “His wealth of football knowledge is more than any person that I ever met.”

That single mindedness about football and nothing else has been a great help to the Rams, as last season they went 11-5, to win the National Football Conference (NFC) West Division and made the playoffs for the first time in since 2004.

Their offense when from dead last, No. 30 in the NFL in scoring to first. That is how they went 7-1 on the road a season ago.

While the times seem to be filled with nothing but joy, there is no one who better understands how the climate and feelings for coaches in the NFL can change than the Sean’s father Tim.

On Nov. 19, 1978 the most famous fumble took place and added a layer in the storied rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Giants.

In what would be named as, “The Miracle at the Meadowlands” and to Giants fans it would was the worst of nightmares.

With a 17-12 lead with just seconds remaining, Giants head coach John McVay, Tim’s father were on their way to a win versus the rival Eagles.

CBS was so sure that the outcome was inevitable, they began rolling the closing credits before the game and the history for one man completely changed.

As Giants’ QB Joe Pisarcik was taking the handoff under center, everyone expected him to take a knee to run out the clock and preserve the win.

Unfortunately, he took hand off, attempted to hand off the ball to Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka, but the exchanged was fumbled and now Arizona State head coach and former head coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards picked the errand exchange that resulted in a 26-yard run back for the game-winning touchdown.

That one play ended the coach career of John McVay and it still haunts him to this very day, as his son Tim said to Gumbel.

“I remember I said, ‘Hey pops, someday will look back on this and laugh and he said no [expletive] way,” he said of that moment, where the Giants fired him a month later.

In the NFL there are two kinds of coaches when it comes to them being on the chopping block. Those that get fired and those who are going to be fired.

When Mr. McVay was asked if he is worried about that for his son Sean, he said, “Yes”

“These guys are all measured by 16 days a year. A three-hour window, and you could design up a great play and somebody could fumble it, and a guy can pick it up and go the other way.”

At the moment McVay’s Rams enter the 2018 season as a team with a lot of promise as one of the team’s many believe can be playing in the Super Bowl in Feb. 2019 and are just two years away from moving into a brand new $4 billion state-of-the-art stadium.

At the head of their leadership on the field is a head coach who looks the part of a town where appearance is everything. Sean McVay is young, handsome, and strong.

Even with all those qualities in his favor, he is someone that likes being low key and is comfortable being at home with his girlfriend Veronika Khomyn and their dog Calli. Instead of doing up the L.A., he is in bed most nights by 10 p.m. local time.

When asked by Gumbel if he is a celebrity yet, McVay said, “No, I don’t think so.”

“I think my girlfriend gets more recognized than I do. So, I know I outkick my coverage, so will take that one.”

So far, Sean McVay has had a picture-perfect start to his head coaching career. He has a team on the rise led by last season’s Offensive Player of the Year in Gurley and the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year in defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Ownership that believes in his direction and a perhaps the best thing, no expectations of winning a title.

The two big questions going forward for McVay is how will he respond when the calls come for him to win a title? Second can he see being an NFL head coach for 20-plus years?

Today the average career for a player and a head coach are basically the same, of a little over four years.

“You know what, I love this game so much, but I got to continue to do a better of figuring out that work-life balance,” he said to Gumbel. “Being able to shut off, because there’s you’re always kind of thinking through things. Your mind is always racing and I know it can’t be healthy to continue to do this for a long time, but while your able to do it, and you feel like you got some energy, you sure love it.”

Information and quotations are courtesy of 7/24/18 10 p.m. edition of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel;” https:’’en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_McVay; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Rams_seasons; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_49ers; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Montana; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McVay; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_at_the_Meadowlands.

J-Speaks: All-Star Carmelo Anthony About to Join the Houston Rockets

Before the start of the wildest summer of NBA free agency in recent memory, perennial All-Star forward of the Oklahoma City Thunder Carmelo Anthony had a choice of joining that class outright by opting out of the final year of his five-year deal he signed with the New York Knicks in the summer of 2014 or opt-in to the final year of his contract worth $27.9 million. He decided to opt-in and while that was good for him as him netting that kind of value on the open market was extremely slim, it put the Thunder on a major hook of a major luxury tax bill thanks to the re-signings of fellow All-Star Paul George and reserve forward Jerami Grant and guard Raymond Felton. It was clear that Thunder general manager Sam Presti had to make a major move to trim that fat off the payroll for the upcoming 2018-19 season and pulled one serious rabbit out of the hat. 

On Friday, the Thunder as part of a three-team deal with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers sent Anthony to the Hawks. They also received from the Sixers guard Justin Anderson and a 2022 lottery-protected First-Round pick, which ranges from being No. 1 overall to No. 14. 

The Thunder, who were the No. 4 Seed in the West at 48-34 this past regular season acquired in the deal the starting lead guard Dennis Schroder and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, while the Sixers got backup big man Mike Muscala. 

Anthony will be bought out of his deal by the Hawks, making him an unrestricted free agent and after he clears waivers as it is expected the frontrunners to land his services are the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski also has reported that the Miami Heat are considering adding Anthony. 

Saying goodbye to Anthony, who the Thunder after being acquired the prior off-season from the Knicks cut some serious luxury tax dollars off the Thunder’s payroll for 2018-19. 

Reportedly, the Thunder according to Wojnarowski will go from a $150 million in luxury tax to $88.8 million, which equates to a $61.2 million in savings. The Thunder will also save an additional $11 million with the addition of Schroder’s $15.5 million contract and the $1.5 million cap hit of Luwawu-Cabarrot. 

To bring what this means for the Thunder into context, if “Melo” had stayed with the Thunder, their total salary for this upcoming season would have been with salary and the luxury tax combined on the hook for $310 million. 

With the trade, their payroll will stand with the Anthony and Muscala deals at $148.7 million. 

For much of his career first with the Denver Nuggets and Knicks, the 34-year-old Anthony had been the top offensive option, which is how he scored his way to 25,417 career points, ranked No. 19 all-time in NBA history. 

This past season, his only with the Thunder, he was more of a catch-and-shoot scorer instead of the isolation, one-on-one extraordinaire that made him a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection. 

While that catch-and-shoot role worked well for him as a member of Team USA, where he helped the Red, White, and Blue of our country capture Gold in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, he struggled as the third wheel to George and 2017 league MVP and All-Star Russell Westbrook where he averaged a career-lows 16.2 points on 40.4 percent from the floor but made a career-high 169 three-pointers, at a 35.7 percent clip. 

To put into perspective how tough of a season Anthony just had, in Game 6 of the Thunder’s First-Round setback versus the No. 5 Seeded Utah Jazz (48-34), which ended OKC’s season, Grant, who re-signed with the team for three years at $27 million played more minutes than him. 

Grant had nine points off the bench in 30 minutes while Anthony had just seven points in 26 minutes. 

Westbrook led the way with a game-high 46 points with 10 boards and five assists in 96-91 loss in Game 6 on 18 for 43 shooting, which included an abysmal 7 for 19 from three-point range. George managed just five points on 2 for 16 shooting, including 0 for 6 from three-point range. 

Just days after the Thunder’s season concluded in disappointing fashion in Game 6 on Apr. 27, Anthony said that he preferred to go somewhere in which he would be in the starting lineup and that coming off the bench is as he put it, “out of the question.” 

He added, “So it’s something I really have to think about, if I really want to be this type of player, finish out my career as this type of player, knowing that I have so much left in the tank and I bring so much to the game of basketball.” 

As far as joining the Rockets, or Heat or any other team he wants, Anthony will have to wait a little bit because according to former ESPN reporter and now of The New York Times Marc Stein and two other individuals with knowledge of his plans the three-way deal which also features the Sixers need to make another roster move. 

That move might be for sharp shooting guard Kyle Korver of the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, who the Sixers had been pursuing via trade before this recent transaction with the Thunder and Hawks. 

The Hawks pledged they would release Anthony upon completion of the deal. according to those two people mentioned before, allowing him to earn next season’s scheduled salary of $27.9 million-which was stipulated by the original five-year deal he signed as mentioned with the Knicks five summers back. 

He would then sign on with the Rockets on a one-year deal for the league’s veteran minimum of $2.4 million. 

Rockets’ perennial All-Star and 2018 league MVP James Harden and General Manager Daryl Morey in recent days expressed confidence that the organization would add Anthony to their roster sometime this summer, after being unable to acquire him the year before because there were no takers of the contract of sharp shooting forward Ryan Anderson. 

Both Harden and Morey said at separate functions that Anthony’s addition would be a good one for the Rockets, who were one win short of reaching The NBA Finals this past spring. 

“It would be a great acquisition for us,” Harden said at a Houston event about getting Anthony, who he ran into at Paris Fashion Week in June along with his teammate P.J. Tucker. “‘Melo’s’ a proven vet. He just wants to win at this point, so it would be great for him to be on our team. The current roster we have now, we’ve got good guys back and we keep making forward progress.”

After compiling 65 wins this past regular season, the most in franchise history and earning the No. 1 Seed in the Western Conference, the Rockets got past the No. 8 Seeded Minnesota Timberwolves and the No. 5 Seeded Jazz in five games respectably and took a 3-2 series lead over the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the No. 2 Seed in the West. 

That Game 5 win was costly as they lost nine-time All-Star guard Chris Paul to a hamstring injury and two rough second half performances without their floor general as well as cold shooting from three-point range cost the Rockets in Game 6 and in Game 7 on their home floor and it was the Warriors who would be holding the Larry O’Brien trophy as they swept the Cavs in The Finals 4-0. 

The addition of Anthony would not only plug a hole that was created with the loss of last season’s starting forward Trevor Ariza, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal at the start of free agency with the Phoenix Suns. 

While it would be a solid addition in terms of adding another offensive player, it will not make up for what Ariza brought defensively. 

Last season, the addition of Ariza, along with Luc Mbah a Moute, who moved on in free agency to the Los Angeles Clippers, Tucker and Paul brought a defensive tenacity that made the Rockets one of the elite teams on that end of the floor. 

They brought an ability to make things difficult for some of the best wing offensive players and top scoring guards in “The Association” this past season. 

They also provided an ability to make three-point shots on a consistent basis and did so without the ability to need a steady diet of those shots. Those attempts from distance came when Harden and Paul penetrated to the basket, drew the defense, and kicked out to them to take those wide-open triples and they made them all regular season long, and the first two rounds of the playoffs, but as mentioned earlier could not make them in Games 6 and 7 of the Conference Finals. 

If the Rockets do add Anthony, it would make up for an off-season where they lost Ariza and Mbah a Moute, but their replacements in free agency have been former Kia Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, who has been basically in limbo the past couple of seasons, and forward James Ennis, who does bring an ability to make threes, and defend but has yet to consistently prove it in his career. 

On top of that, they still have to do sign restricted free agent Clint Capela, who had a break out season in 2017-18 with averages of 13.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks during the regular season, on 65.2 percent shooting, which led the league. In the postseason, Capela averaged 12.7 points, 11.6 boards and 2.1 blocks, on 66.0 percent from the field. 

“That’s part of the business but like we do every single year, we’ve got to find a way,” Harden said of the Rockets off-season in free agency. “Whatever guys we sign, be ready to come in and play good minutes and we’ll take it from there. I have all the confidence in the front office and the coaching staff and the players that we’ll have on the roster.”

As much confidence as Harden may have in the Rockets no matter who is on the floor with him, Paul and the rest, the reality is the Warriors are still the top dogs of the NBA and the Western Conference and that entire side of the NBA has gotten better, especially with the addition of four-time league MVP LeBron James to the Lakers. 

Speaking of chemistry, when Anthony does sign with the Rockets can he come in and fit in unlike he did with the Thunder?

If he can understand that he will be the third option to Harden and Paul and he will understand that playing late in games may not be in the cards because of his inability to guard, then this can work. 

What also will be a great motivator for Anthony is the fact that in his career he has been to a Conference Finals once, which was in 2009 with the Nuggets where they lost to future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games. 

The only other time Anthony had led his team past the opening round was in 2013 with the Knicks where they lost in the Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers 4-2. That was also the last time the Knicks were in the postseason having missed out the last five straight seasons. 

“Houston is closer to a championship this season than the Lakers would be or the Heat would be,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said of Anthony’s projected destinations on the July 20 edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN. “Go there. See what happens. See if you can get a deep postseason run…Ride that out, then the summer of 2019, that when the Lakers are really going to go for it. If there’s a spot there and it doesn’t work out in Houston, join the Lakers then.”

One specific reason that it has a great chance of working is his close friendship with Paul and that he respects him not just as a player, but as a person and a leader. 

Paul’s ability to lead and have command of a team was evident last season, especially with the way he and Harden meshed together, when many said that might not happen. 

Also, Anthony has a chance to redeem himself in the fact that when Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni was his coach with the Knicks and things were very rocky to put it mildly. He has a chance to show that was then and this time around he will conform to whatever is asked of him and will be a guy who will fit it. 

When it comes to the question of being a First Ballot Hall of Famer, Carmelo Anthony has a great of a resume to be enshrined on his first opportunity as anyone who has ever graced the hardwood of the collegiate or NBA ranks. 

He has been as previously mentioned selected as an All-Star 10 times. Is the only player with three Olympic Gold medals and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the United States Olympics, and in 2003 led the University of Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title, while being named the Most Outstanding Player of that year’s Final Four. He led the NBA in scoring in the 2012-13 NBA campaign at 28.7 per contest. 

The other feather that Anthony can put into his cap is the fact that when then Knicks’ president Phil Jackson was putting all the pressure in the world through the media on getting Anthony out of “The Big Apple” all he did was just maintain his professionalism and he was able to be traded to where he wanted to go, thanks to that no-trade clause that ‘Melo’ got in that five-year deal in 2014.

If Anthony was the so-called selfish, does not make his teammates better, all he cares about is himself type of player, Chris Paul and James Harden would have come right out to the Rockets and said to not sign him and they have said they will welcome him with open arms when he does touchdown in “Clutch City.” 

If Carmelo Anthony signs with the Rockets and they overtake the Warriors, and he gets a ring along the way, it will validate his career hands down. If that does not happen, his NBA career and life on the professional hardwood will be no lesser than anyone who is enshrined in Springfield, MA that did not win a title. 

Regardless of what happens, Anthony will be able to do the one thing that many professional athletes do not get to do very often. Have their ending on their own terms in the fact that they will decide when it is their time to fade into the sunset. 

Whenever that takes place, it will conclude in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame or as ESPN’s Amin Elhassan said on the July 20^th edition of “NBA: The Jump,” “If the Hall of Fame is a club, ‘Melo’s’ not standing in the line to pay to get in. He’s getting walked to the velvet rope. Their taking him to a table. The bottles will come.” 

“You’re a Hall of Famer, you get when you’re supposed to get in and he’s [Carmelo Anthony] a Hall of Famer.” 

Information, statistics, and quotation are courtesy of 7/5/18 6 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPNEWS with Jorge Sedano, Ramona Shelburne and Dahntay Jones; 7/20/18, 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Amin Elhassan, Dave McMenamin, and Ohm Youngmisuk; www.espn.com/nba/story, “NBA trade tracker: Grades and Details for Every Deal;” 7/23/18 www.nba.com story, “Report: Carmelo Anthony Plans to Sign with Houston Rockets;” www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameid=401029452;  www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3102529/seasontype/3/clint-capela; www.espn.com/nba/statistics; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelo_Anthony; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_Knicks_seasons.

J-Speaks: Spurs and Raptors Make Blockbuster Deal

Coming into the 2018 NBA off-season besides where four-time league MVP LeBron James was going to sign, is not if but when would the five-time defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs trade two-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year and MVP candidate the prior two seasons Kawhi Leonard. After being rumored to be headed to the West Coast to join the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers of the Northeast, the 2014 Finals MVP is going to the team who’s mantra is “We the North.” 

Last Wednesday, the Spurs dealt the 27-year-old small forward along with sharp shooter Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the team’s all-time leading scorer and four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, backup center Jakob Poeltl and a 2019 protected First-Round pick, that would be in the range of No. 1 overall to No. 20. 

“It’s on to another chapter with the Raptors and were excited to welcome Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to our fold,” Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri said of the new additions on Friday. 

That same day the Raptors posted on their twitter page @Raptors a photo of their newest acquisition, displaying a semblance of a smile flanked by Ujiri on the right and general manager Bobby Webster. 

Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich, the new head coach for the United States National team spoke of the Spurs conclusion to the Leonard saga by saying, “Kawhi obviously worked very hard to become the player that he is. Our staff worked very hard to help him get there and we wish him all the best as he moves on to Toronto, I think he’s going to be great.” 

“With DeMar coming to San Antonio I couldn’t be happier I think this trade is going to be good for both teams. DeMar is obviously a four-time All-Star. All-NBA player. He’s been great in the community there. A team player. Somebody that I’ve respected and watched player for a while now, and we’re thrilled to have him here.

Popovich also added, “We wish [Leonard] well, but at this point it’s time to move on. It’s time to move on.” 

Popovich added as reported on the ESPN news crawl that night, “It’s time to move on and focus on his team. We got a lot of young kids and it’s exciting.” 

As to including Green in the deal, Popovich said, “It was hard, he’s become a good player. He’ll enjoy Toronto.” 

While his time with the Spurs has concluded, Popovich and Leonard’s being on the same court on the same side may not be as he said he expects Leonard to be in Las Vegas, NV later in the week for Team USA’s minicamp and that he is very much, “looking forward” to coaching him there, according to a report from ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. 

“The Worldwide Leader in Sports’” Wojnarowski also reported that that the Spurs and Raptors had been in discussion of pulling off this deal for a while, and a source said to Turner Sports’ David Aldridge that a long term stay by Leonard in Canada will be a “very tough sell,” as he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019. 

While Leonard, who played in just nine games this past season for the Spurs recovering from a lingering right quadriceps injury, DeRozan who spent his entire nine-year NBA career with the Raptors was shocked that he was traded after being told the week prior at the NBA Summer League by the top brass of the Raptors in Las Vegas, NV just a week prior that he would not be. 

The No. 9 overall pick out of USC by the Raptors in 2009 posted on his Instagram page demar_derozan that morning saying, “Be told one thing & the outcome another. Ain’t no loyalty in this game. Sell you out for a quick bit of nothing… Soon you’ll understand…Don’t disturb.” 

For both Leonard and DeRozan, the major question is how did we get to this point where both were dealt for each other?  

Leonard, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Indiana Pacers, who dealt him to the Spurs for backup guard George Hill, now with the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers along with the draft rights to center Davis Bertans announced that he would be out to start the season on Sept. 30, 2017. He missed the first 27 games. 

After returning for eight games, Leonard suffered a partially torn left shoulder and he played just one game after that. 

The Spurs on Jan 17 declared Leonard would be out indefinitely due to that same quad injury. 

On Feb. 21, Spurs doctors reportedly cleared Leonard to return to the lineup, but he did not play another game for the rest of the regular season and their previously mentioned playoff setback to the Warriors after seeking a second opinion from an outside doctor.

The fishy recovery time was compounded by his separation with the team to where he did not accompany the Spurs for road games, and his absence was very noticeable during the postseason, where the only appearance he made was at a Los Angeles Dodgers game 21 days later. 

The other glaring thing this trade did for the Spurs is that they said goodbye to a player that so much fit the mold of great Spurs’ pillars of their past like Hall of Famer David Robinson; future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan; Tony Parker, who moved on to the Charlotte Hornets recently and Manu Ginobili who has yet to decide if he will return for another season with the team. 

“I think we’ll move on from here,” is what Robinson said to Rachel Nichols on ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” on Monday afternoon. “I think we’re happy with the deal and we’ll continue to grow and get better.” 

Robinson also pointed out that Leonard’s quiet demeanor, which has been a great asset to him in his career was a real crutch in him and the Spurs being able to understand what each side wanted, which led to him being dealt to the Raptors. 

In the case of DeRozan, the Raptors said goodbye to their all-time leader in scoring (13,296); field goals made (4,716) and attempted (10,532); free throws made (3,359) and attempted (4,277) and games played (675). He also ranks third in franchise history in assists (2,078) and second all-time in steals (655). 

Since earning his first All-Star selection in 2013-14, DeRozan has averaged 23.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists during that time. He was recently named to the All-NBA Second Team after being named All-NBA Third team last year. 

While he averaged the same number of points this past season, DeRozan who had been a mid-range jump shooter the first seven seasons of his career, increased his range making a career-high 89 three-pointers in 2017-18. 

On Saturday, DeRozan posted on his Instagram a thank you note to the fans of Canada that said, “Words could never express what you’ve meant to me. I was just a 19-year-old kid from Compton when we first met, but you took me in and embraced me as one of your own. I am so grateful for the Love and Passion that you’ve given me over the past 9 years. All I ever wanted to do was duplicate it 10x over just to show my appreciation. Thank you Toronto, thank you Canada. #Comp10#ProveEm.”

What also makes his trade to the Spurs a solid choice is that he has three years and $83 million left on his contract, which includes an Early Termination Option for the 2020-21 season. 

In the case of the Raptors, this move was one of many for the No. 1 Seed in the East with a 59-23 mark this past regular season. 

Despite being the No. 1 Seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in their history, they fell very short of their own expectations as they were swept in the East Semifinals by the Cavs. 

That led to the firing of head coach Dwane Casey-the NBA’s Coach of the Year days after that 4-0 sweep and was eventually replaced by assistant coach Nick Nurse. 

Shortly after the Casey’s ouster, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri said of the team making changes, “It is something we’re looking at… not saying this roster is perfect.” 

“Things we need to do and I need to do to get better. Roster changes is not something I can change today. Sometimes [it takes] takes two months, sometimes a year, sometimes two years.” 

Well for the Raptors it took a little over two months moved the Raptors into the conversation with the Atlantic Division champion and East runner up Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers as contenders to take over the East in 2018-19 with James taking his talents to Hollywood joining the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this off-season. 

Even with that new beginning, Ujiri took the time to apologize to DeRozan for not being fourth coming about him being traded. 

“I not only want to apologize to DeMar DeRozan for maybe a gap of miscommunication, but also to acknowledge him and what he’s done here with the Raptors, for this city, for this country.” the Raptors’ president said to the media on July 20. 

“There’s no measure to what this kid has done and we appreciate him, and I promise you that we’re going to celebrate him in the best possible way.”

On Wednesday July 20, 2018, the Toronto Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs made a blockbuster trade that changed the focus for the both teams. 

In the case of the Raptors, they took a major gamble in bringing in a player in Kawhi Leonard who made no guarantees that he would remain with them after the conclusion of this upcoming season. 

They said goodbye to a player that worked himself into not only one of the best players in the league, but in franchise history and forged an incredible bond with backcourt mate and fellow All-Star lead guard Kyle Lowry. 

Also, DeRozan wanted to be a Raptor even before they began being in the conversation of one of the best team’s in the East. 

They made the move because despite winning 263 games in the regular season combined the last five seasons, the most in the East by far, their last three postseason runs ended at the hands of LeBron James and the Cavaliers, with the last two in four game sweeps in the Conference Finals in 2017 and as mentioned in the Semis in 2018. 

They made this move to give themselves the chance that the teams before them like the Milwaukee Bucks of the mid-1980s; the Cavaliers of Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Larry Nance, Sr. in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the Sacramento Kings of the early 2000s failed to capitalize on against the Celtics of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers respectably. 

“Hopefully on paper we feel we have a team that can compete in the East and maybe hopefully compete for a championship in this league and that’s why we play,” Ujiri said of adding a player in Leonard, whose .764 winning percentage is the best in NBA history for a player who played in a minimum of 400 regular season games. 

“That’s why we play sports, is to win and compete for a championship. So, we’re really excited about this. Bringing a Top 5 player in the NBA into our fold and hopefully this will kind of elevate us as much as we want.”

For the Spurs, their future is pretty simple, build their team around DeRozan, All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge and likely starting lead guard Dejounte Murray and the No. 18 pick of June’s draft in guard Lonnie Walker IV. 

In a perfect world, the Spurs would have loved to have found a way to keep a player in Leonard that was as close to a perfect reflection of the kind of player that represented them both on and off the hardwood. 

When that was not in the cards, the Spurs front office of R.C. Buford and Peter Holt and Popovich looked to get the best deal and while they would have loved to have made a deal with the Lakers, Sixers, or Celtics. When those stars did not align, the Spurs had to find the best option to not only move on from a player that clearly did not want to be part of their program anymore, but to acquire as close to the value of Leonard as they could, which as mentioned resulted in DeRozan and Poeltl. 

“Attempts were made to see what would be best and in the end this trade appeared, and we felt that this was the way to go,” Popovich said about the trade last week. 

It got to a point that the Spurs had to make a decision on what to do and they traded a great player, as well as a very important player in Green to their team the past few seasons and got in return an All-Star player who as Popovich mentioned earlier respect for his ability on the floor and the kind of person he is off of it and they will move forward to what they hope will be their 21^st season in succession of making the playoffs and seeing how far they can go. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 6/21/18 7 p.m. ESPN coverage of the 2018 NBA Draft from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, presented by State Farm with Rece Davis, Chauncey Billups, Jay Bilas, Adrian Wojnarowski, Maria Taylor, Pedro Gomez, Shelly Smith, and Jorge Sedano; 7/18/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Nick Friedell; 7/19/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, and Dave McMenamin; 7/20/18 www.nba.com article, “Masai Ujiri Sees Championship Potential in Toronto Raptors after Kawhi Leonard trade;” 7/21/18 www.nba.com article, “DeMar DeRozan Says Goodbye to Toronto and Raptors franchise;” 7/23/18 www.nba.com article, “Masai Ujiri Bold Gamble on Toronto Raptors’ Title Potential with Kawhi Leonard trade,” by David Aldridge; 7/20/18 11:30 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Ros Gold-Onwude and Dennis Scott; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawhi_Leonard; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeMar_DeRozan.  

J-Speaks: The Inevitable for Carmelo Anthony and the Thunder

After a disappointing finish to their season, losing in the opening round against the Utah Jazz in six games, the Oklahoma City Thunder had three very important objectives in the 2018 NBA off-season. Re-sign Paul George, which they did to a new four-year, $137 million deal. Keep some of the key role players, while adding depth to the roster. In the draft, the Thunder selected guard Devon Hall out of Virginia and forward Kevin Hervey in June with the No. 53 and No. 57 pick respectably. In free agency they re-signed forward Jerami Grant to a three-year, $27 million deal and backup guard Raymond Felton to a one-year, $2.4 million deal. The one move that really put the squeeze on the Thunder’s payroll was the other star they added last off-season decided to opt-in to the final year of his contract, which has put them at a major crossroads where his short time with the team will eventually come to a conclusion. 

One week ago, 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony, who the Thunder acquired in the summer of 2017 decided to opt in to the final year of the five-year contract he signed with the New York Knicks in the summer of 2014 when he was a free agent. By opting in, Anthony will be making $27.9 million for the 2018-19 NBA campaign. 

That move by Anthony along with the other moves the Thunder made this season put them at a historic payroll, that consists of a combined salary for the upcoming season along the luxury tax of $310 million. 

For a team that in the time of having General Manager Sam Presti at the helm, the Thunder have been a team that was never willing to pay into the luxury tax at that high of a number, which is why a few years ago, they decided to trade now All-Star and the most recently named league MVP James Harden to the Houston Rockets instead of keeping him and having to pay him a huge contract. 

This is likely going to be the same case for Anthony as his agent, Leon Rose of CAA Sports and Mr. Presti are working through three scenarios which will culminate in the inevitable ending of Anthony’s brief stay with the Thunder which could deliver according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks a $107 million in savings. 

The first scenario the Thunder could use to move the 34-year-old Anthony on is to waive him and use the stretch provision, which would slash $90 million in luxury tax, which would shrink the Thunder’s bill from $150 million to $60 million. It would spread Anthony’s salary annually onto OKC’s cap for $9.3 million dollars over three years, according to a espn.com article by Adrian Wojnarowski and Royce Young. 

The first plan of attack the Thunder said they would try to move on from Anthony would be to trade him to a team looking to acquire a massive aspiring contract to make free salary-cap space for free agency in 2019. 

If the Thunder decide to go this route, Anthony holds nearly all the cards in this scenario because of the no-trade clause in his contract, which is why the Knicks when Phil Jackson was team president could not get him off their books. That whatever possible trade they came up he would have to okay it. 

If the trade is just a way for the Thunder to dump Anthony’s salary with the understanding of whoever acquires him would waive him and allow Anthony to become an unrestricted free agent. 

Among the team’s that would express interest in the small forward are the Rockets, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. 

The last but unlikely scenario that would take place is the Thunder simply buy Anthony out of his contract. Meaning, paying him close to his salary of $27.9 million and allow him to be an unrestricted free agent. 

This is not the way Anthony, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist envisioned his time with the Thunder, who when he was acquired to join George and 2017 league MVP Russell Westbrook in hopes of contending for Western Conference supremacy against the now back-to-back NBA champion Golden State Warriors. 

When Anthony joined the Thunder, he had to accept a new role that featured going from his natural starting position of small forward to power forward, where he was asked to become more of a perimeter spot-up, catch-and-shoot stretch-four. 

It took time for Anthony to adapt to his role, and while there were times he played like the player that became known as one of the most special scorers in NBA history, he never fully got comfortable as a stretch-forward. 

While he made a career-high 169 three-pointers during the regular season for the Thunder, who went 48-34 on the season to finish No. 4 in the rugged West, Anthony averaged a career-low 16.2 points, on a career-low 40.4 percent from the field. He did though provide a third legitimate third scorer behind Westbrook and George. 

“The reality for Carmelo is he had plenty of chances last season to be the guy,” ESPN’s Nick Friedell said on the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump.” 

“He had plenty of open looks within the offense with Russell Westbrook and Paul George. It didn’t happen. The question to me is will his ego allow him after what will be likely a Hall of Fame career to come off a bench somewhere and have a reduced role from what he’s used to all these years later?” 

In the Quarterfinals against No. 5 Seeded Utah Jazz (48-34) despite having home court advantage, the “Big Three” of the No. 4 Seeded Thunder (48-34) were out of sink and were taken down 4-2 and bringing their season to a disappointing end. 

Anthony really struggled in the series scoring an average of just 11.8 points, shooting an abysmal 37.5 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from three-point range. 

The frustration for Anthony really showed in Game 5 when the Thunder overcame a 25-point deficit to for a 107-99 victory on Apr. 25 to close the series gap to 3-2. 

While Westbrook had 33 of his 45 points in the second half, with 15 rebounds and seven assists and George had 34 points and eight boards of his own, Anthony had just seven points and five rebounds on 2 for 6 shooting, playing just 26 minutes in total. 

When he was subbed out in the third period, the Thunder were behind 71-53, when he came back into the game in the fourth quarter, they were ahead 88-87. 

During the Thunder spectacular comeback, Anthony emphatically pleaded with Hall of Fame assistant coach Maurice Cheeks to get back into the game. 

In the 96-91 loss at the Jazz two nights later that ended their season as mentioned in six games, Anthony again played just 26 minutes and just seven points and three boards on 3 for 7 shooting. While Westbrook had 46 points, 10 boards, five assists and two steals, George scored just five points on 2 for 16 from the field with eight assists. 

Following a difficult end to their season, Anthony expressed his frustrations with his role, which led to the inevitable parting of the ways with the Thunder. 

“I don’t think I can be effective as that type of player,” he said. “I think I was willing to accept that challenge in that role, but I think I bring a little bit more to the game as far as being more knowledgeable and what I still can do as a basketball player.” 

The other thing that Anthony made very clear is he would never accept a role coming off the bench. 

Despite those though comments following the season, both GM Presti and head coach Billy Donovan praised Anthony for his professionalism throughout the season. 

“I think he’s being very candid and very honest. I respect that. I respect the fact he’s being open about that,” Presti said. “Now, we have the same responsibility. We have to be candid and honest with him. One of the things I really like about Carmelo is he’s a mature person. You can talk to him. He listens. He’s been professional with us within the building. I’m sure there are nights he was frustrated because it’s a big transition that he’s trying to make—was trying to make—this season… We don’t know exactly how our team is going to look.” 

Before opting in to the final year of his contract prior to the June 29^th deadline, the Thunder communicated with Anthony and his representatives about plans for next season, which had the possibility of him having an even lesser role with the team. 

When Anthony waived his no-trade clause to be dealt to the Thunder last summer, he understood he would be playing power forward, like he did in his time with Team USA and that his role would be as the team’s third offensive option. 

He said that he “accepted” his role in December 2017 after a meeting with the team in ironically enough in New York. 

While he had a solid start to the season, scoring an average of 22.9 points the first seven games of the season on 46.5 percent from the field, he averaged 17.8 and 15.1 points in November and December 2017, on 38.7 and 40.7 percent from the floor respectably.

Things got a little better scoring wise to start the New Year with a scoring average of 18.1, but Anthony followed that up with averages on 13.4, 13.3 and 14.2 the final 2 ½ months of the regular season, and he shot a dismal 38.0 percent from the field following the All-Star break. 

With the end of Anthony’s time with the Thunder looming, the question is whenever he is released, traded, or bought out of the final year of his deal what is next for him. 

While it looks good on paper for him to join the Lakers (35-47) and be teamed up with their newest addition and his closet friend LeBron James, four-time league MVP, he would be in crowded front court with roster that consists of the most recent signings of Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and JaVale McGee along with youngsters Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart. 

If he can find his way to the Rockets, who were the No. 1 Seed in West with a franchise record 65 wins in the regular season he would fit a need for them at the small forward spot as last season’s starter Trevor Ariza signed a one-year $15 million deal to join the Phoenix Suns and they were the team that had the defending champion Warriors, the No. 2 Seed at 58-24 on the ropes in the Western Conference Finals but lost the series in seven games. 

The one issue is that he would be playing again for head coach Mike D’Antoni, who he had with the Knicks and it was reported that the relationship did not go so well a few years back. 

Byron Scott, three-time champion with the Lakers in the 1980s and former head coach with the New Jersey Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans then Hornets and Lakers said that if Anthony wants to be a Rocket he has to understand that he will be the third and even the fourth or fifth offensive option with fewer offensive touches that he has been used to in his career. 

“If he’s willing to accept that role and just say, ‘Listen, I just want to focus in on winning,’ then Houston would be the best place for him,” Scott said. 

If the Heat come a calling and Anthony answers, he would be back in the Eastern Conference and be a part of a team where he would provide them a go-to scorer that they were serious lacking a season ago. 

The issue in playing for the Heat (44-38), who were the No. 6 Seed in East lost in the opening round against the No. 3 Seeded Philadelphia 76ers (52-30) in five games is that is he ready to be part of a team that takes being in tip-top condition very seriously. 

“I think there are places in this league, good teams that need a Carmelo Anthony more than just our desire for a reunion of buddies,” ESPN’s Amin Elhassan said on “NBA: The Jump” on Anthony reuniting with James in L.A. or joining Dwyane Wade likely with the Heat, if he decides to comeback for another year.

In the late stages of the summer of 2017, Carmelo Anthony waived his no-trade clause to be dealt from the New York Knicks to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He changed his game and his role on the team to for a chance at winning a title. He struggled for much of the season. He had a rough return to the postseason that ended at the hands of the Utah Jazz in five games. He made the decision to opt in to the final year of his five-year deal of $27.9 million and seems to be the odd man out with that high salary. 

No matter where Anthony ends up, he has to come to a major realization. He is not the player he once was where he can carry a team. His one-on-one isolation, dribble for five to 10 seconds of the 24 second clock until the best offensive option opens up does not work in today’s NBA that relies on ball movement, player movement and making spot-up or penetrate-and-kick three-pointers. Also, he has to come to the understanding that coming off the bench is not the worst thing in the world. 

When you have in your 15 seasons in "The Association" have seen your postseason run end in the First Round nine times; missed the postseason four times, all with the Knicks; two appearances in the Semifinals; one appearance in the Conference Finals and no appearances in The NBA Finals, Anthony's priority should be to do whatever it takes to get to a team that has a chance to compete for the only that has eluted him in his career, the Larry O’Brien trophy. 

“I think for me, my focus would be on kind of figuring out what I want out of the rest of my career, what I want in my future, what am I willing to accept, if I’m willing to accept that at all,” Anthony said back in April. “I think everybody know that I’ve sacrificed kind of damned near everything –family, moving here by myself, sacrificed my game—for the sake of the team, and was willing to sacrifice anything and everything in order for this situation to work out.”

“So, it’s something I really have to think about—if I really want to be this type of player, finish out my career as this type of player, knowing that I have so much left in the tank and I bring so much to the game of basketball.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 7/5/18 6 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” on ESPN with Jorge Sedano, Ramona Shelburne and Dahntay Jones; 7/6/18 6 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” on ESPNEWS with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, Nick Friedell and Mike Schmitz; 7/6/18 7 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Byron Scott, Amin Elhassan, and Chris Haynes; www.nba.com/draft/2018/teams/OKC#/; 7/6/18 www.espn.com article, “Sources: Thunder, Carmelo Anthony to Part Ways This Summer,” by Adrian Wojnarowski and Royce Young and www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/1975/carmelo-anthony.