09-03-2026, 08:35 AM
I’m part way through the live reaction Pablo podcast from yesterday and the killer - that FG missed in his read of the CBA - can be summed up in two words: Facilitate and beyond that Solicitation. Four separate companies with the agreements all hammered out within weeks of one another and all rhyming in the way that can’t be dismissed. I don’t think this is over. The SEC investigation of Daktronic won’t care about the niceties of whether Silver works for Balmer or vice versa. People may go to jail as a result of that one.
What I mainly wanted to touch on is the Podcast has twice brought up in the part I’ve listened to that LAC is a repeat offender. They go back to the 2015 signing of DeAndre Jordan and say Leonard is the third time they’ve done some form of circumvention. There is also the possibility that Brunson to NY will be investigated by Pablo. The common denominator between Jordan and Brunson is Cuban. He certainly got screwed in the Jordan deal and may have experienced the same thing with Brunson. So, why in the world did Cuban defend Balmer like he did.
My worry is that Cuban knows this is how things are done. Players get perks under the table (private jet flights that aren’t reimbursed as a for instance). Players get side deals - which FG points out is OK. But, when the team solicits the side deals and funnels the money to the business to pay for it, that goes beyond the line. Having been the victim of these kinds of arrangements and having failed to lure free agents here on so many occasions, I wonder if Cuban made this approach something he was willing to do at some point. I’m less worried about something coming out about Dirk and more worried we will hear Kyrie is getting some benefits arranged by the team. I hope not, but he’s the one guy who has been willing to work with the team while players like Harden continue to get full price contracts that seem inexplicable.
What I mainly wanted to touch on is the Podcast has twice brought up in the part I’ve listened to that LAC is a repeat offender. They go back to the 2015 signing of DeAndre Jordan and say Leonard is the third time they’ve done some form of circumvention. There is also the possibility that Brunson to NY will be investigated by Pablo. The common denominator between Jordan and Brunson is Cuban. He certainly got screwed in the Jordan deal and may have experienced the same thing with Brunson. So, why in the world did Cuban defend Balmer like he did.
My worry is that Cuban knows this is how things are done. Players get perks under the table (private jet flights that aren’t reimbursed as a for instance). Players get side deals - which FG points out is OK. But, when the team solicits the side deals and funnels the money to the business to pay for it, that goes beyond the line. Having been the victim of these kinds of arrangements and having failed to lure free agents here on so many occasions, I wonder if Cuban made this approach something he was willing to do at some point. I’m less worried about something coming out about Dirk and more worried we will hear Kyrie is getting some benefits arranged by the team. I hope not, but he’s the one guy who has been willing to work with the team while players like Harden continue to get full price contracts that seem inexplicable.