NOTHING WAS THE SAME: The Return of Derek Baldwin (2023-2027)

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NOTABLE RETIREMENTS

NAME	TEAM	AGE	YRS PRO
Lou Williams	LAC	39	21
Monta Ellis	GSW	40	21
JaVale McGee	GSW	38	18
LaMarcus Aldridge	SA	40	20
Al Horford	BOS	40	19
Jerryd Bayless	PHI	37	18
Patrick Patterson	TOR	37	16
Evan Turner	POR	37	16
Mario Chalmers	FA	40	18

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I couldn't get the table in the center. And I'm sleepy.

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PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	POS	OVR	AGE
1	L.A. Clippers	L. James Jr.	SG	80	23
2	Toronto	K. McInnis	C	73	21
3	Boston (acquired from MIA)	J. Edwards	PG	72	23
4	San Antonio	A. Iguodala II	SG	77	20
5	Milwaukee	M. Petersen	SG	75	21
6	Washington	T. Landry	PG	71	23
7	New York	L. Bryant	SG	73	24
8	Boston	W. Day	SG	72	23
9	Memphis	C. Sheridan	PF	71	21
10	Sacramento	A. Strawberry	PF	72	22
11	Washington (acquired from ATL)	A. Vugrinec	SF	72	22
12	Denver	M. Steele	SG	69	23
13	Philadelphia (via LAL)	J. Tiner	SF	72	21
14	Golden State	A. Reyes	C	70	22
15	L.A. Lakers	N. Penbe	C	68	23
16	Charlotte	G. Burks	PG	71	21
17	Atlanta (acquired from IND)	J. Del Rosario	SF	72	19
18	Orlando	J. Kirk	PG	67	23
19	L.A. Clippers (via DET)	D. Kursov	SF	72	23
20	Minnesota (via OKC)	Q. Gaines	SF	72	23
21	Washington(acquired from PHI)	C. Sanchez	SG	65	22
22	Atlanta (via MIN)	D. Bush	PG	66	24
23	Indiana (acquired from ATL)	R. Jefferson	SG	70	20
24	Portland	D. O’Gallagher, Jr.	SG	65	24
25	Chicago	H. Constantin	C	71	20
26	Chicago (via NO)	V. Gurovic	SF	70	21
27	Utah	B. Tiggs	PG	66	23
28	Phoenix	A. Mack	C	71	22
29	Cleveland	A. Lowe	SF	66	22
30	Dallas (acquired from Brooklyn)	M. Diaz	PG	64	22

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Hit Me Baby One More Time

I rolled Noah’s suitcase into the guest room at our condo. Much to his father’s disappointment, he decided to come to New York for school anyway. My nephew had decided to attend St. John’s University this fall to play basketball. Nobody really saw that coming, especially not head coach Greg St. Jean, but they were more than happy to have him. He had been offered a full scholarship, so I decided to donate the money to the school, so that another student that needed the money could attend.

He decided that he wanted to get an early start and start taking classes for the second summer session, so he was going to spend the Fourth of July holiday with our family before getting ready to start school. I made my way to the kitchen to try and figure out lunch for me and the boys.

“Daddy! Phone!” Jordan yelled as he ran into the room waving my cell phone in the air.

It’s been a whirlwind since we won the championship and things are just getting back to normal. As normal as normal can be with a set of two month old twins and a six year old. My wife was at a meeting with RocNation in preparation for her tour next month, so I’m on Daddy Duty for the day.

“Hello?”

“Dub, it’s Melo. You busy?”

“Just trying to figure out a lunch menu, what’s up?”

“Me and Kobe wanted to come by and talk to you.”

“Must be serious.”

“It is. We’ll be there in ten.”

I decided that lunch would have to be takeout today. I sent Noah and Jordan down to Brooklyn Bridge Park to pick up a couple of pizzas at Fornino’s. The twins were down for their nap, but when they woke up, they’d be having milk. This Daddy Duty was shaping up quite nicely.

Kobe and Melo arrived not long after the boys left. We were sitting in my office listening to a voice mail that Mike Bibby’s agent had left on Carmelo’s phone. Long story short, Mike didn’t want his player option and he was going to test the market. He felt like he was worth more and he wanted to see what he could get. He expected no less than $20M a season. He felt that he deserved that much.

The three of us looked at each other.

“Is he sure about this?” I asked.

“You heard the message.” Carmelo said.

“Twenty million though?”

“He knows we’re not going to pay him that,” said Kobe.

Carmelo nodded in agreement. “Just looking at our numbers for the next couple seasons, we’ll need to re-sign Keith, Shareef and Nate. That is going to tie up a lot of our money.”

“He doesn’t want us to sign him,” I said. “He set that price for a reason. Most guys on a championship team would be willing to take less. And he’s coming off of an injury.”

“Exactly,” said Kobe.

I shook my head. “No disrespect, but he wasn’t technically part of the championship team. If you get my drift. He didn’t play one minute. Maybe that’s why the price tag is so high.”

“I hear what you sayin, man.”

“I wonder where he’s trying to land?”

“We’ll know in a couple of days.”

I heard the front door opening then the sound of my wife’s voice as well as Noah and Jordan’s floated through the house. I excused myself and went into the kitchen. Jordan was sitting at the counter waiting for Noah to serve him up some smashed potatoes and a slice of pizza.

“Hey, baby.” I said after giving my wife a kiss on the lips. “How was the meeting?”

“Good. Everything is all set to go. Five nights, five shows. They’re all starting around midnight. Get it?” She started laughing at her own joke. She released her album ‘Round Midnight last year, but wasn’t able to tour because of the pregnancy. So, she’s doing a small summer tour.

I gave her a smile. “I got it. Kobe and Melo are in my office. I’ll be done in a few minutes though. The twins should still be asleep.”

She nodded. “Are they staying for lunch? I’m sure I can put something together really quickly.”

“I’ll see if they want to, but call the kid that does the pineapples with the rice and chicken and see if he can come put something together for us. You’ve been running around all day. You don’t have to cook for me and these bums.”

“You’re too good to me.” She said as she pulled out her cell phone and started dialing.

As I walked back to my office, Noah gave me a high five. “I see you putting your game down, Unc. Personal chef and shit.”

“You know how I do. Happy wife, happy life.”

I went back into the office and shut the door behind me.

“Hope you guys don’t have lunch plans, Naya is calling Chef Moe over to hook us up.”

“Works for me,” said Kobe.

“You know I love a good pineapple bowl,” said Carmelo. “Okay, so with Mike basically refusing to sign with us, we have to put a contingency plan in place.”

“Right. I’m all ears. What you got?”

Carmelo and Kobe share look. Clearly, they know something I don't. Carmelo decides to speak up.

“You feel like you can give us a full season?”

I leaned back in my chair. I wasn’t really expecting that. I thought it was a possibility, but I didn’t think there was more than a 10% chance that they would ask me to re-sign. But with Bibby bowing out, I guess this does open up a hole that needs to be filled. This season definitely reignited something in me. Not gonna lie.

“Well?”

“Let me talk it over with the wife and my doctor. But if it’s all good, I’ll even give you the championship discount.”

[The JZA]

"us"? Shiid, why not?

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"us"? Shiid, why not?

Y'all act like Dub ain't pushing 40 years old.....

[The JZA]

Y'all act like Dub ain't pushing 40 years old.....

But has it been pushed?

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Y'all act like Dub ain't pushing 40 years old.....

But has it been pushed?

No, it hasn't

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Let's keep it rollin, shall we?