1
00:00:13,599 --> 00:00:16,960
Hello everyone, and welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwin Knox. This is

2
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:22,160
out of Probable here coming to you
with my fantastic, thoroughly exhausted co host

3
00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:28,160
Dan the Valley Dans fresh off grading
every single trade that happened at end before

4
00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,560
the twenty twenty two NBAH trade deadline, and that's on Bleacher Report. You

5
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,799
should definitely check it out. And
we're gonna have some more trade analysis here

6
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,520
because all our predictions basically came exactly
correct. You know. And the last

7
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,880
episode I was on, I said
that Eric Gordon was going to be the

8
00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,960
biggest name moved to the deadline,
So you know, Kristaps porzingis Ben Simmons,

9
00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:51,000
James Harden, the list goes on
and on. So I was right

10
00:00:51,079 --> 00:00:54,799
on the money because Eric Gordon is
that good. But before we get into

11
00:00:54,799 --> 00:00:58,320
any of the trade breakdowns, Dan, how's it going. I am doing

12
00:00:58,439 --> 00:01:03,399
spectacular. I'm excited to get past
like the deadline stuff. While I do

13
00:01:03,479 --> 00:01:07,040
enjoy it. Now we get to
shift to like I could say, hashtag

14
00:01:07,079 --> 00:01:11,439
actual basketball, like the pious assholes
on Twitter, but it's analyzing the playoff

15
00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,000
race and all that stuff. So
it's the fallout. This I love this

16
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,760
stuff, but it's cool to kind
of break away from it. I'm excited

17
00:01:17,799 --> 00:01:22,439
about that. How are you doing, I'm hanging in there. I usually

18
00:01:22,439 --> 00:01:26,560
had the opposite perspective as you on
the trade stuff, where like I do

19
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:32,480
enjoy the fake trades less and the
trade analysis less in favor of like the

20
00:01:32,519 --> 00:01:34,359
actual basketball. But I totally respect
all types of fandom, and I think

21
00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:38,560
you should ultimately be able to consume
the NBA however you want to consume it.

22
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,640
So I'm personally glad to be past
the deadline just so we can move

23
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,040
on to the other stuff. But
it was a wild day. It was

24
00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:52,200
a wild day. It was wild
and there were a fewer moves this year

25
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:53,680
than they were last year. I
know that just because I did the trade

26
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,560
great last year as well, But
the scale of these moves were a lot

27
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,120
larger, and I did like it
made for a more hectic week for me.

28
00:02:01,599 --> 00:02:04,840
But the day of I felt like
I was able to keep up with

29
00:02:04,879 --> 00:02:07,560
more since they were sort of spread
out, like we already, We're not

30
00:02:07,599 --> 00:02:09,719
gonna true, We're not going to
talk about the Pelicans, Blazers, Pacers,

31
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,960
Kings because we had a whole podcast
on that already, Because there was

32
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,639
time to do it, and so
I appreciated and enjoyed that aspect of it.

33
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,879
I was going to say, you
don't like I could understand. I

34
00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,680
want to talk about hypothetical trades or
trade rumors, but now the trades are

35
00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,960
coming, I'm fine with the actuals
actual Okay, yeah, absolutely, that's

36
00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:30,840
the trying to figure out, like
what the nets look like now in the

37
00:02:30,879 --> 00:02:35,120
sixers. Oh, it's fascinating to
see how the pieces fit together. It's

38
00:02:35,159 --> 00:02:38,520
just like the forty eight hours leading
up to the deadline, and just like

39
00:02:39,039 --> 00:02:45,000
the baseless speculation and the rumors that
are clearly agenda driven in all of the

40
00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,919
fake trades that are everywhere. Like
that, that's what weighs on me.

41
00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:51,520
Again, I get it. If
you enjoy that stuff, more power to

42
00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,960
you. I don't hold that against
you in the slightest. It's just not

43
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,800
my favorite, which is totally fair. And I enjoy the fallout more than

44
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,879
I enjoy coming up with hypothetical deals. But I do enjoy both. Oh,

45
00:03:00,879 --> 00:03:04,879
I'm calling bullshit on that. You
love coming up, you love coming

46
00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,360
up with fake trades, and you're
I mean, we've had a whole episode

47
00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,400
about this. We can we could
absolutely plug that one because I think it

48
00:03:09,439 --> 00:03:12,960
was one of our better episodes.
But I know how much time you put

49
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,719
into crafting these original, unique ideas, and like they're always great. Yeah,

50
00:03:17,759 --> 00:03:22,000
I think that's just more so my
brain can't stop. And when you're

51
00:03:22,039 --> 00:03:25,280
dealing with so many different permutations of
either the same two teams or same team

52
00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,759
in player combos, or just all
these different teams that need the same thing,

53
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,080
I think it might just come off
like I enjoy it more. I

54
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:37,879
love analyzing actual trades. When it
comes to trades itself. Let's get into

55
00:03:37,879 --> 00:03:40,520
the trade deadline, though, I
think we need to start with the we'll

56
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,960
skip over sixers and nets. We
don't even really know something happened there.

57
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,400
It was I think we didn't predict
it on the last podcast, but like

58
00:03:50,479 --> 00:03:52,879
it became clear a few days ago
that this was getting done, Like it

59
00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,360
was there was enough smoke. The
final deal was Ben Simmons, Seth Curry,

60
00:03:57,479 --> 00:04:00,400
Andre Drummond twenty twenty two unprotected at
first round pick, with the right

61
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,280
to differ until twenty twenty three,
and then a twenty twenty seven first round

62
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:10,759
pick top eight protected through twenty twenty
eight, after which it becomes two seconds

63
00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,560
all of that is headed to Brooklyn. Philadelphia got James Harden and Paul millsapp

64
00:04:15,639 --> 00:04:17,319
For anyone who's just interested in this
before I throw it to Adam about his

65
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:23,600
thoughts here, Brooklyn has now effectively
turned Jared Allen, Karis LeVert, three

66
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,639
first round picks two, twenty four, and twenty six, and then four

67
00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,360
total first round swaps into Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and

68
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:36,120
two first I always struggle with that
part when it comes to analyzing a trade,

69
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:42,920
because at what point does a previous
deal become a sunk cost? Brooklyn

70
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,079
can't undo the move to give away
Jared Allen and bring in James Harden,

71
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,839
So how much do we still hold
that against the franchise when a subsequent,

72
00:04:53,879 --> 00:04:57,079
clearly connected move is made. I
don't have an answer to that. I

73
00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,720
hold it against Kyrie Irving, not
the nets. Just just so we're clear.

74
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,639
I totally fair, that's not a
joke. Totally fair. No,

75
00:05:02,759 --> 00:05:10,720
But I think how you answer that
question dramatically changes how you view this trade,

76
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,319
because if you do look at all
of the asset equity that was given

77
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,279
up to bring Harden in and then
the diminished return, it's it's it's a

78
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:25,120
disaster over a larger temporal scale,
But I just I don't really want to

79
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,879
operate that way because that moves in
the past. We're not going to change

80
00:05:27,879 --> 00:05:30,480
that. So to me, this
is one of those huge marquee, super

81
00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:36,399
blockbuster trades. I think both sides
won this one with Brooklyn. Like the

82
00:05:36,439 --> 00:05:42,439
fit with Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving
and Kevin Durant, which admittedly hinges so

83
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,439
much on availability, that fit is
phenomenal. This team makes a lot of

84
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,519
sense. The qualm is gonna be
who's going to play the five on defense?

85
00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:55,319
Is Ben Simmons going to be able
to play that role because he has

86
00:05:55,399 --> 00:06:00,279
typically struggled in it, which is
a fair critique. But the offense and

87
00:06:00,439 --> 00:06:03,439
the rest of the defensive pieces,
it all fits so well together. Seth

88
00:06:03,519 --> 00:06:09,560
Curry just a tremendous addition to the
rest of that lineup. They kept intact

89
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,600
so many of the key role players. You know, Patty Mills is still

90
00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,839
there, Nick Claxton is still there. Beyond that, they recoup some assets,

91
00:06:15,879 --> 00:06:19,519
they have some draft pick equity once
again, and then from Philadelphia's side,

92
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,759
the easy criticism is like, Okay, maybe James Harden and Joel Embiid

93
00:06:24,879 --> 00:06:29,680
aren't the perfect fit together because they
don't have totally cohesive playing styles. Who

94
00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,560
gives a shit, Like, they're
so talented at the game of basketball that

95
00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:38,519
at some point that has to supersede
some of the fit questions, like,

96
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,279
yeah, maybe it's a little more
ideal if Harden wants to roll more than

97
00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,120
he wants to pop, and if
they can share the ball a little better.

98
00:06:44,399 --> 00:06:47,560
Good luck stopping either of those players
on the offensive end. And beyond

99
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:54,800
that, Philadelphia still has a contingent
of really high quality role players and secondary

100
00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:59,240
figures. You know, Tobias Harris
is still there. This team is loaded.

101
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,399
I can easily see either of these
teams coming out of the Eastern Conference

102
00:07:02,439 --> 00:07:05,920
if things go right, and I
think both of them improved a little bit.

103
00:07:08,399 --> 00:07:11,199
The I would agree with everything you
said, except for the fact that

104
00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,480
I don't know that Brooklyn improved so
much as it might be more balanced,

105
00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,000
and the you mentioned it with how
is Ben Simmons going to be used on

106
00:07:18,199 --> 00:07:20,560
offense type thing? We know what
he can do defensively, and look,

107
00:07:20,639 --> 00:07:25,879
Nick Claxton. Nick Claxton is still
there, so if he's healthy, you'd

108
00:07:25,879 --> 00:07:29,879
only Ben Simmons to guard centers.
It's just go the other team's best perimeter

109
00:07:29,959 --> 00:07:33,279
player and shut him down, delete
him from the planet. Whatever. I

110
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,560
and I'm not as concerned. I'm
like you with the Hardening and Bead fit.

111
00:07:38,079 --> 00:07:40,879
I think what was big is they
were never gonna give up Pyries Maxie,

112
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,560
which is clear now. Having like
that second guy who can operate from

113
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,560
the point of attack and addition to
Harden and Bead is like he has a

114
00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:53,959
monopoly sometimes on the offense, but
he can fit alongside more variants of ball

115
00:07:53,959 --> 00:07:58,160
handlers than a Dwight Howard in his
prime ever could, just because he has

116
00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:01,879
that pop element still to his game, or just that more conventional perimeter floor

117
00:08:01,959 --> 00:08:05,759
game. I think it works in
the long run, in large part because,

118
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:07,160
say what, you haven't even read
the piece. I really want to.

119
00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:09,879
I just haven't had time dealing with
all the falloff in the trade deadline

120
00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:15,360
from your own Whitzman that had some
detail behind the scenes what was happening with

121
00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,399
Philly and some stuff with the nets. I'm sure there was an element of

122
00:08:18,439 --> 00:08:20,600
just like Harden not clicking with Kyrie
Irving, or maybe he wanted too much

123
00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,600
control. But I also like one
of the only reasons. It makes sense

124
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,040
for him not to want to be
in Brooklyn is because of the fragility of

125
00:08:28,079 --> 00:08:31,040
the entire dynamic. And I don't
know if you saw this number. It's

126
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,759
one of those things that once you
hear it, you get it, but

127
00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:39,159
it also still throws you. What. No, it's not the numbers,

128
00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,639
not seventeen. Oh no, it's
not seventeen. But since two nineteen twenty

129
00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,879
twenty, Joel Embiad has played in
one hundred and fifty nine regular season in

130
00:08:46,879 --> 00:08:50,799
playoff games. Kyrie and KD during
that same span have played in one hundred

131
00:08:50,799 --> 00:08:56,039
and seventy eight combined. So you
have Kevin Durant missing an entire season there,

132
00:08:56,039 --> 00:08:58,000
but that's sort of part of this
equation. And then there was also

133
00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:03,200
just you Kevin Durant spraining his left
MCL at a time when Kyrie Irving is

134
00:09:03,399 --> 00:09:07,600
not even really available every other game, and if they get into a play

135
00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,440
in tournament or game seven, depending
on what their seat is, he might

136
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,720
not be available to play unless he
gets vaccinated or New York City changes it's

137
00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,600
COVID nineteen vaccination mandates. I do
think there's a level of him. I

138
00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,720
don't think he wants to hang out
in the corner, but he was overworked

139
00:09:24,759 --> 00:09:28,200
from the moment he came to Brooklyn
because of the way this dynamic shook out.

140
00:09:28,799 --> 00:09:31,679
And I'm not saying he wants to
do less, and he has not

141
00:09:31,759 --> 00:09:35,000
played up this standard for much of
this season, and he was definitely just

142
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,080
sort of fucking around while he was
trying to force his way out of Brooklyn

143
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,799
and not actually request a trade.
Just late it lead to the media that

144
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,200
he didn't want to request a trade
because he was worried about the way people

145
00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,840
have view I just found that hysterical. It's amazing. So I think that

146
00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:54,159
what I'm getting at is I think
this works even if you're concerned about the

147
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,559
stylistic fit, because James Harden clearly
wants it to work. And I do

148
00:09:58,639 --> 00:10:01,159
think that both teams come out of
this the net specifically where you mentioned,

149
00:10:01,159 --> 00:10:05,440
hey, we can't rehash what they
got any other deal, I'm rehashing it

150
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,399
because I do think it's not the
organization that messed up. I also don't

151
00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:13,000
think it's a matter of their core
aging out or flopping. It's Kyrie irving

152
00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,120
submarine. The title chances of this
team, and maybe him and James Harden

153
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,840
never would have gotten along. But
this Kyrie like that and the lack of

154
00:10:20,879 --> 00:10:24,840
self awareness from his comments, That's
what I firmly believe is most at play

155
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,320
for how Brooklyn ended up here.
That being said, knowing that James Harden

156
00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,399
could have been a free agent,
and I don't give a shit about how

157
00:10:31,399 --> 00:10:33,960
many teams had cap space, It's
like four or five at this point,

158
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,279
and we're talking about Indiana and San
Antonio and Detroit, not an LA team,

159
00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,840
not Chicago, not at Philly itself. James Harden would have found a

160
00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,240
way to get where James Harden wanted
to go. And even if it was

161
00:10:46,279 --> 00:10:50,440
to Philly via an optic and trade
or sign and trade, the price would

162
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,480
have went down from where it is
right now. I'm not saying they wouldn't

163
00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,080
have been able to get Ben Simmons
if he was on the Sixers. What

164
00:10:56,159 --> 00:10:58,120
if he wasn't on the Sixers.
What if you're in a position where Tobias

165
00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,240
Harris is all of a sudden on
your team instead of Ben Simmons, or

166
00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:05,879
you just got fewer assets. Seth
Curry, you already mentioned the perfect superstar

167
00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:09,720
compliment, and now you have two
additional first round picks, at least one

168
00:11:09,759 --> 00:11:13,480
of which is super intriguing just knowing
top eight protected in twenty twenty seven and

169
00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:15,840
twenty twenty eight. You don't know
what's going to happen here. Then,

170
00:11:15,879 --> 00:11:20,679
from Philly's perspective, I understand people
are concerned about the risk long term James

171
00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:24,360
Harden's thirty two. Will his hamstring
miraculously he on now that he's traded,

172
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,360
we don't know. Joel Embiid is
a top three MVP candidate right now.

173
00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:33,519
You are obligated to make them two. Joel Embiad is a top tier NBA

174
00:11:33,639 --> 00:11:39,600
candidate right now. You are obligated
to make the most out of now the

175
00:11:39,639 --> 00:11:43,320
next two to three years of the
most important window. That's what this does.

176
00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,120
And you have not played your You've
played your best hand when it comes

177
00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:50,279
to upgrading the team, but you're
not You can still trade a first round

178
00:11:50,279 --> 00:11:52,519
pick. I think no, you
can't, but you could do swaps.

179
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,000
You have other players where if keeping
Matissetibal is also hugest part of this,

180
00:11:58,039 --> 00:12:01,519
because Joel Embiad's defensive workloads heavy enough
if you would have taken like their last

181
00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,080
really good perimeter defender. Depending on
how you feel about Danny Green out there

182
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,559
like that would have been awkward.
Tobias Harris instantly looks better, I won't

183
00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,840
say as an asset, but as
a member of this team when he gets

184
00:12:11,919 --> 00:12:16,000
nudged down the pecking order. Because
James Harden and Joel and Beat and Tyris

185
00:12:16,039 --> 00:12:20,639
Maxie are there as opposed to like
just James, just Joel and Beat and

186
00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:26,039
Tyris Maxie. This made sense for
both teams relative to their circumstances. It

187
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,159
doesn't mean they were perfect. If
I'm the Nets, like part of my

188
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:33,200
grade for this trade I gave them
a B is that you were unable to

189
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,879
make this like whether it's Kyrie,
whether it's the organization, Like you couldn't

190
00:12:37,879 --> 00:12:41,120
figure out a way to make this
work, which is that's a problem,

191
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,240
Like that's a big problem. And
you also, I think for the Nets

192
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:48,480
specifically, like you kind of pivoted
out of your whole just plucky up and

193
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,919
coming mantra a little too soon.
Kyrie and Katie joined you immediately, a

194
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,200
testament to your culture. You end
up making this trade for Harden. Kenny

195
00:12:54,200 --> 00:13:00,440
Atkinson's fired. There's just the Nets
are just like I don't know how they'll

196
00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,759
look back on this era but this
is not a perfect it's a it's an

197
00:13:03,799 --> 00:13:07,720
ideal outcome relative to the imperfect situation
they found themselves. And it's the same

198
00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,960
thing with the Sixers. They fucked
up with the Ben Simmons stuff too,

199
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,919
but they were able. To Daryl
Morey's credit, he waited. And let's

200
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,919
not even just this wasn't a matter
of Oh, the Blazers blew it up.

201
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,120
So maybe Dame would have been available
or would have been available this offseason.

202
00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,240
This wasn't What are the Wizards doing? What does this mean for Bradley

203
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,759
Beale's future over the offseason. James
Harden was never built as a star that

204
00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:31,639
could be traded this this year,
mid season, let alone anytime soon.

205
00:13:31,759 --> 00:13:35,159
Really, no one expected that at
all. There's always another guy, even

206
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,440
if you can't see him. And
Daryl Morey was right about this. So

207
00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,080
there's a lot to like and worry
about. But I'm with you. I

208
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,480
don't think that both teams got better. I think Philly's clearly better, in

209
00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,600
large part because Ben Simmons wasn't playing
and James Harden will be. That's a

210
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,440
huge Ben Simmons were an empty roster
spot plus Steth Curry for James Harden is

211
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,240
a pretty good trade, but in
fact pretty decent. So that's where I

212
00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,120
end up on the deal. That's
seventeen was actually incorrect. I'm at sixteen

213
00:14:03,159 --> 00:14:07,639
and that's the number of games in
total that Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and

214
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,679
James Harden played together in a Brooklyn
Nets uniform. And that's just that's an

215
00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:18,440
unmitigated disaster considering what the franchise had
to go through to put them together.

216
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,120
And that leads me into my other
big question from this trade, and it

217
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,120
has to do with player empowerment,
which I know both of us are fully

218
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:31,679
in favor for. We we have
really enjoyed seeing like how much more power

219
00:14:31,799 --> 00:14:37,240
players have been given in this modern
era of basketball where they can really control

220
00:14:37,279 --> 00:14:39,960
their own fates more. I know
that we both think that that trade requests

221
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:46,879
and sometimes trade demands are well within
a player's rights. This struck me as

222
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,960
a little bit of a bridge too
far. I don't think that I want

223
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,399
to, you know, relitigate the
Ben Simmons Philadelphia seventy six ers organizational nightmare

224
00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:01,159
and try to hand out blame and
assign blame. He could have been well

225
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,919
within his rights to demand that trade
and refuse to play. We don't know

226
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,679
all the details of that situation James
Harden, though, I mean, ultimately,

227
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,799
Simmons did sign a contract extension to
stay in Philadelphia. And you can

228
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,679
make the argument that, you know, the CBA is structured so that it's

229
00:15:16,759 --> 00:15:22,639
almost guaranteed that players are going to
sign those max rookie deals because it's so

230
00:15:22,679 --> 00:15:26,679
obviously in their best interests financially.
He still did sign it, and Harden

231
00:15:26,759 --> 00:15:33,200
did ultimately request his way out of
Houston, landed in a spot of his

232
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,480
choosing, and then that he chose
over Philly, and then this quickly after

233
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,679
makes another demand to be moved.
May have been sitting out, may have

234
00:15:43,679 --> 00:15:46,919
been injured, We don't really know. I just I wonder about the precedent

235
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:54,639
that this sets moves of this magnitude
that are coming so quickly into decisions that

236
00:15:54,639 --> 00:16:00,480
were agreed upon by player and team, because ultimately, like there are still

237
00:16:00,519 --> 00:16:04,559
contracts, we do still operate in
a contract oriented NBA, And I just

238
00:16:04,759 --> 00:16:12,399
don't know how teams are supposed to
operate when there's always this looming over any

239
00:16:12,399 --> 00:16:17,679
situation. You know, you name
a star and if things don't go right,

240
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,279
is this the outcome, because that's
like, that's a pretty stark departure

241
00:16:22,879 --> 00:16:26,519
from where we were before. And
again, like I don't want this to

242
00:16:26,519 --> 00:16:30,360
come across as not being in favor
of players having autonomy and control over their

243
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:36,159
situations, but there do have to
be checks and balances in place, or

244
00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:41,840
else we end up with an unrecognizable
leak. Yeah, that's a great point.

245
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:47,000
I think, just it's probably tough
for me to care about that in

246
00:16:47,039 --> 00:16:52,799
this instance because I really do think
that if not for Kyrie Irving being Kyrie

247
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,039
Irving, that this situation might have
been salvageable. I just I can't get

248
00:16:56,039 --> 00:17:00,200
to that point he was, We're
talking about James Harden's on the court and

249
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,840
not giving us all, Like Kyrie
Irving was in the media session saying like

250
00:17:03,879 --> 00:17:07,279
they want full buying or he can't
wait till they can all play together and

251
00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:10,839
you haven't given it, But James
Harden, me, James Harden and me

252
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,279
had an excuse or I know that
he was worried about public perception of him.

253
00:17:15,279 --> 00:17:18,119
He's a borderline sympathetic figure in all
this relative to how he was viewed

254
00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:22,480
when he forced his way out of
Houston. And look, he's never been

255
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,880
a real free agent before and when
your contracts coming up, Like if this

256
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,519
was James Harden doing this when he
had three or four full seasons left on

257
00:17:29,559 --> 00:17:32,039
his deal, what Ben Simmons is
doing, but he was doing it in

258
00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:34,960
the way that you know, James
Harden never would have been dragged under the

259
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,960
bus the way that Ben Simmons was
by the Sixers, or he never would

260
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:44,160
have been dangles so freely in trade
talks for another James Harden the way that

261
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,920
Ben Simmons was. And so that's
what I think the difference here would be

262
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,519
that being said, you are absolutely
right, because there are players who are

263
00:17:52,559 --> 00:17:56,160
going to be better than Ben Simmons
who could look at this situation and see,

264
00:17:56,599 --> 00:17:59,799
oh, he eventually got out of
there. He had alled out,

265
00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,000
but he got what he wanted.
I think what we really have to see

266
00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:07,359
is what's going to happen when this
is all eventually settled over the offseason with

267
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,480
is Ben Simmons going to get any
of the fine money back? What does

268
00:18:11,519 --> 00:18:15,519
the NBA do if he does,
or like what happens if he does just

269
00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:21,279
instantly return to the nets after saying
that he couldn't mentally play in Philadelphia,

270
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,920
that will probably be have a bigger
impact on the way people view this and

271
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,000
a bigger ripple effect in terms of
opposing stars viewing it this way. And

272
00:18:29,079 --> 00:18:33,559
the other thing that I just won't
worry about. I need to see this

273
00:18:33,599 --> 00:18:40,839
happen again, like in a situation
where the team isn't necessarily at as much

274
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,759
fault or is happening even earlier than
like this. And I'm using Zion Williamson

275
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,240
as an example. My whole thing
is, I don't I'll believe it that

276
00:18:48,319 --> 00:18:52,839
he'll sign, threaten to sign his
qualifying offer, or trying to agitate his

277
00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:56,559
way out for a second contract when
I see it. And I also it

278
00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,480
is tough for me to you know, check some balances. Yes, totally

279
00:18:59,519 --> 00:19:03,759
important, It's are just tough for
me to These players are essentially most of

280
00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:07,839
them when we talk about player empowerment, they're under team control for the first

281
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,039
between seven and nine years of their
clin I'm still in favor of abolishing the

282
00:19:11,079 --> 00:19:14,880
draft in favor of a better system. You know, I think we've talked

283
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,160
about him on this podcast before,
like you know, giving teams flexible amounts

284
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,920
of money based on finishes and letting
them make off first to incoming rookies,

285
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,279
and the rookies get to choose if
they want location or money or whatever the

286
00:19:26,279 --> 00:19:30,000
case may be. I will say, what's also we talk about player empowerment,

287
00:19:30,599 --> 00:19:36,559
it's like the top point one percent
of the NBA that has empowerment,

288
00:19:36,559 --> 00:19:40,440
they're they're only a handful of player. Ben Simmons he like he didn't have

289
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,279
the power to force this. The
Sixers would have if games Harden doesn't become

290
00:19:44,279 --> 00:19:48,440
available. I'd be willing to bet
a not insubstantial amount of money that he

291
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,759
doesn't get moved until the off season
at least, and he okay, probably

292
00:19:51,799 --> 00:19:53,920
still gets moved. He probably still
gets moved. But like, ultimately,

293
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,960
if you look at all the recent
trade demands or like sit out situations,

294
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,200
Yep, Jimmy Butler got out of
Minnesota, Anthony Davis got out of New

295
00:20:03,279 --> 00:20:06,359
Orleans and went exactly where he wanted
to. We have this one now,

296
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:11,640
Like, ultimately, there's an increasingly
lengthy track record of these demands being met

297
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:17,480
with very few concessions, and it
does only affect the top one percent of

298
00:20:17,559 --> 00:20:21,559
players. Like if if any you
know, throw out any name you want,

299
00:20:21,559 --> 00:20:22,880
If Michael Bridges, I don't know
why that came to mind. But

300
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,440
if he if he decides he's going
to hold out because he wants to go

301
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,519
play in Dallas, good luck,
mchel like, that's not going to happen,

302
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,599
right So, and that's but that's
where this whole things get gets iffy.

303
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:40,000
And the other thing is too,
is even though these players are confining

304
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,960
their team to in certain cases markets
of one, Anthony Davis and the Lakers,

305
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,480
James Harden in the sixers, he
has the Knicks on his list.

306
00:20:48,559 --> 00:20:51,480
Come on now, James, No, this time around, he didn't have

307
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,079
the Knicks on Anthony Davis. Oh, Anthony, yeah, right. So

308
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,880
even when they're confined to markets of
one or two, they are still getting

309
00:20:59,079 --> 00:21:02,319
looking with the Pelicans a d look
that's got for Drew Holiday. And that's

310
00:21:02,319 --> 00:21:04,640
another case where he didn't agitate his
way out that New Orleans made that decision.

311
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,519
It's a really complex topic. I
do think it'll be worth revisiting what

312
00:21:10,599 --> 00:21:12,440
happened. There's gonna be an arbitration
related to Ben Simmons at some point this

313
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:17,000
offseason. I imagine that, you
know, I'm sure that will be something

314
00:21:17,039 --> 00:21:21,279
teams are watching around the league super
closely. Let's talk about the Mavericks and

315
00:21:21,559 --> 00:21:26,359
Wizards trade. They both that move
was weird when it was reported. I

316
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,839
just it was just weird. The
Mavericks received Spencer Dinwoody and Deavis Berton's and

317
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,640
they sent Christos Porzingkis in a second
round picked to Washington. Amid the backdrop

318
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:40,880
of all this, Washington sent Aaron
Holiday into the Sun's disabled player exception.

319
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,880
They also sent Montres Harold to Charlotte
for Vernon Carey Jr. And Is Smith.

320
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:53,119
Let's start with Dallas. Do you
understand the impetus for this deal?

321
00:21:55,319 --> 00:22:00,359
Not in the slightest. It doesn't
make any sense to me. And this

322
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,319
is kind of where I go on
my like, I think Kris stops Porzingis

323
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:08,559
was massively underrated this season, where
Like, there were flaws in his game

324
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,839
because he's by no means a perfect
player, but he played some really good

325
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:18,839
basketball and ultimately did make that team
better. In the NBA Math Rolling Player

326
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:25,920
Rating MVP Predictor, he actually sits
thirty first overall heading into tonight's games,

327
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,680
I think it's slightly overselling him because
you know, some of the per game

328
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,519
stats that he's racking up are a
little less meaningful than they could be but

329
00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:40,319
like he was playing really good basketball
for the most part, and to just

330
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:48,119
essentially like move him for I don't
even know why they wanted to make this

331
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:53,200
move because Burton's is one of the
worst contracts in basketball. He's effectively a

332
00:22:53,279 --> 00:23:00,480
way worse similockrum of Kris stops Porzingis
on the offensive end without any defensive presence

333
00:23:00,079 --> 00:23:06,240
Dinwoody, you know, like,
ultimately, what is he adding to this

334
00:23:06,279 --> 00:23:10,039
team that it didn't already have in
Jalen Brunson, And you know, when

335
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:14,799
healthy Tim Hardaway junior and he was
clearly struggling in Washington. Maybe there were

336
00:23:14,839 --> 00:23:18,599
some motivation issues in play, but
I just I didn't understand it whatsoever.

337
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:26,160
This was like a big fat F
for me. I gave them a D.

338
00:23:26,519 --> 00:23:29,839
I understand if they were trading for
Spencer. One of the things that

339
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,519
we need to talk about is why
why signed Spencer Dinwoody using cap space this

340
00:23:33,559 --> 00:23:37,480
summer? Like you could have when
you could just overpay Tim Hardaway junior and

341
00:23:37,519 --> 00:23:40,519
then trade Chris stops Porzingis or Spencer
Dinwody later. That makes perfect sense.

342
00:23:40,799 --> 00:23:44,519
Alexy brand thinking right there, I
do think if Spencer Dinwoody is is Spencer

343
00:23:44,559 --> 00:23:49,000
Dinwoody. He adds an element of
rim pressure and more creativity than Jalen Brunson

344
00:23:49,039 --> 00:23:53,279
wood and just sort of a co
attacker that Luke Dancers hasn't really had.

345
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,079
That being said, he's having a
down year. He's not getting to the

346
00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:00,079
rim nearly as often, which is
what they need him. Four. I

347
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,519
will say maybe the floor should be
a little bit more open in Dallas.

348
00:24:03,559 --> 00:24:08,319
I also think there were struggles with
him coexisting alongside Bradley Beal. Jason Kidd

349
00:24:08,559 --> 00:24:12,440
has shown some willingness to nudge Dontech
off the ball. Maybe that helps.

350
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,640
I'll push back against the notion of
Berton's too. I think he'll open the

351
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,279
floor way more than Chris Stops for
them, because one, he's not as

352
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,559
vain when it comes to his touches
where Chris Stops wanted to take care rangers

353
00:24:22,599 --> 00:24:26,440
wanted for post ups. And also, his shooting is functional. It's not

354
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,000
just picking pop stuff and he's no, he's not taking off the dribble jumpers.

355
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,039
He can fly around screens. He's
taking tough, long contested three point

356
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:37,759
looks. All of that said,
he was barely playing in Washington, and

357
00:24:38,039 --> 00:24:41,720
he seems like he's been off ever
since he had COVID last year. I

358
00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:44,119
don't know if that's a contributing factor. I don't know if not enough playing

359
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:48,039
time as a contributing factor. He
was the single worst contract that was traded

360
00:24:48,039 --> 00:24:49,279
in this deal, though. I
want to make declearor three years and forty

361
00:24:49,319 --> 00:24:53,519
nine million for what was at the
time like Washington's tenth or eleventh guy.

362
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,359
That's not great. And yes,
Chris Stops was owed like what was Christops

363
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,559
would like the eight million whatever it
was over the next two years. Washington

364
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,839
kind of shortens its like commitment on
the Ledger, so they're a little bit

365
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:11,720
more flexible when you look ahead two
off seasons from now. I don't I

366
00:25:11,759 --> 00:25:15,359
still don't under now me saying that
there are good points to these players for

367
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,799
Dallas. I still don't understand the
motivation. Is it because you were so

368
00:25:19,839 --> 00:25:22,640
worried that John Brunson might leave in
free agencies, so you want to have

369
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,960
Dinwoody. Do you think that is
going to be easier to move either Dinwoody

370
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,920
or Baton's over the off season because
they're two smaller salaries as opposed to moving

371
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,759
Chris Stops. Are you that worried
about Christops's latest I think he's having to

372
00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:37,640
right the issue right now, and
he's still not adorable. His defense has

373
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,519
been better this year, it's also
not what it was when they traded for

374
00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:48,440
him. So you're overlooking the really
obvious explanation here. Well, that might

375
00:25:48,599 --> 00:25:52,759
be the case because as we're recording
this, done has forty three points and

376
00:25:52,839 --> 00:25:56,880
thirty one minutes against the Clippers.
No, the really obvious answer is that

377
00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,880
Mark Cuban and Spencer Dinuity wanted to
talk crypto with each other. Now they

378
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:07,599
get to do it. Did you
see the tweet about Yeah, I'll send

379
00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:08,480
it to you after this. I
can't even describe it. It was hysterical.

380
00:26:08,519 --> 00:26:11,839
But yeah, maybe maybe it's that
I don't I don't understand logic.

381
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,119
And if it's about getting flexibility sooner, because now it's like, oh,

382
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,680
it'll be easier to move did Witty
and Burton's, then it would be to

383
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,599
just move Christops alone because you can, they're smaller salaries, break them up

384
00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:26,400
to different teams. Maybe they'll move
him hardaway Junior. Now we gotta stop

385
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,759
with flexibility being useful for the Dallas
Mavericks, Like it's we've the ship has

386
00:26:30,799 --> 00:26:36,000
sailed. I personally can't wait to
see the next player they fail to sign,

387
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,440
though, it's always really exciting to
see who they're going to target and

388
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:44,039
then swing and miss on, and
then here the post talk justifications for how

389
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:49,559
Cuban like didn't really want them.
My old thing is just like, I

390
00:26:49,559 --> 00:26:55,119
don't even know what the path to
them being imminently flexible is. They just

391
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:56,640
extended doing Finny Smith four years,
fifty two million dollars. I think it

392
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:02,720
was a solid move. Joe Brunson
cap hold, solid move. Jalen Brunson's

393
00:27:02,759 --> 00:27:07,480
cap hold will be small, so
you could technically have spending power go over

394
00:27:07,519 --> 00:27:11,920
the cap to resign him. But
as of right now, they're like within

395
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,000
ten million dollars of the tax next
season. So and I'm not even sure

396
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:19,440
is is this including the extension for
Dorian Phinney Smith. No, So it's

397
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,759
just like their path the flexibility is
just I don't know where people even got

398
00:27:23,799 --> 00:27:27,319
that idea. Between Tim Hardaway,
Junior Spencer, Dan Witty, and Davis

399
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:33,640
Berton's next season, you're looking at
about fifty six million dollars, and then

400
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,960
there's Luca dont just thirty five point
seven million dollars masks, which you gladly

401
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,400
pay. That's just like you're already
passed the ninety million dollar marker. There,

402
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,720
there's no and that's Dwight Pale's making
eleven. Reggie. Is it possible

403
00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:49,920
that this move leads into a Hardaway
sell off in the off season. It

404
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,359
could, but that's not even My
point is that's not even gonna get them

405
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,160
meaningfuls. They could trade him into
someone else's. Maybe it kind of helps

406
00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:00,559
you in twenty twenty three, like
my Bretick doesn't have, Like the book,

407
00:28:00,599 --> 00:28:03,920
it's so hard to project that far
out when so much changes. So

408
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,200
yeah, they could. It looks
like have if they get rid of Hardaway

409
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,720
and add no more money between now
and then you get rid of Dinwoody,

410
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,599
you could have a lot of flexibility
in twenty and twenty three where you wouldn't

411
00:28:12,599 --> 00:28:17,960
have had that with Chris Stops.
That would not make it worth this deal

412
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,440
to me. And maybe Breton's has
a renaissance. Maybe. Also, I

413
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:26,160
thought it was an interesting flex for
Dallas to trade its best rim protector when

414
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,000
they're twenty eighth and opponent vee goal
percentage at the rim. They have done

415
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,799
a good job of a limiting of
limiting opponent shooting opportunities at the rim,

416
00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:36,680
and their defense is sixth in points
alot of per possession this year. They've

417
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,920
done a great job getting back in
transition. Does that sustain without Christaps Porzingis

418
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,119
I'm not saying he was the heart
and soul of the defense. I'm just

419
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,920
saying it does feel like they're more
vulnerable in the middle. Are they planning

420
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,880
on drafting a big Are they gonna
get another one in the like the buyout

421
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:59,039
market. I'm I don't understand this
move unless they think that Spencer, Dinwoody

422
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:03,519
and Davis Burton are like these distressed
assets and that Chris Stops is a huge

423
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:07,119
net negative on a salary, which
I will leave the door open that it's

424
00:29:07,119 --> 00:29:11,559
a possibility, but that is way
too many ifs on Dallas's part. Oh,

425
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,920
if Chris Stops continues to stay like
keep getting injured or reverts, if

426
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,200
Spencer didn't really gets a lot better
after coming off a Partiley toward ACL,

427
00:29:19,519 --> 00:29:23,880
if Davis Berton's is able to play
a lot more minutes and not submarine or

428
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,480
defense. There's just there's too many
ifs here, And when you're making this

429
00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:32,079
type of a trade, it feels
like there needs to be like fewer of

430
00:29:32,119 --> 00:29:37,839
those does. I do want to
pose one trivia question to our listeners,

431
00:29:37,839 --> 00:29:41,559
and I have no idea what the
answer to this is. But I'm very

432
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:48,640
curious now which country has had the
fewest number of players in NBA history and

433
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,240
had two players from that country traded
for one another? Because Latvia has had

434
00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:56,480
seven players in NBA history and now
two of them have been traded for each

435
00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,200
other? Is that the leading figure? Can we get better than that?

436
00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:03,720
Somehow? I don't think so,
that would be my guess. I'm guessing

437
00:30:03,759 --> 00:30:07,279
that this is the record, But
I also just don't want to do the

438
00:30:07,319 --> 00:30:11,240
legwork there. So if anyone's listening
it is really bored. Let us know.

439
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,240
What do you think about the Wizards
trade deadline? I rattled off everything

440
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:22,440
they just did. It's very wizard
zen Is that is that a good word?

441
00:30:22,759 --> 00:30:26,319
Is that a valid word? Like? I don't know, I have

442
00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:30,319
no idea what the direction of this
team is, and just ultimately like you're

443
00:30:30,319 --> 00:30:33,559
putting a lot of pressure on is
Smith right now? I think it does.

444
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:38,519
It does free up some minutes for
some of the younger players. How

445
00:30:38,559 --> 00:30:45,440
intriguing are they are? I feel
like this deadline is setting the stage more

446
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:52,200
for an inevitable Bradley Beal trade than
anything else, because I think the pieces

447
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:59,880
in Washington are a little bit too
competitive to thoroughly tank out, but all

448
00:31:00,039 --> 00:31:03,279
so just not good enough that you're
going to get anywhere unless you just see

449
00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:07,480
absolute explosions from Denny Avia and Ruby
Haschimura, which I don't know that I

450
00:31:07,519 --> 00:31:12,839
want to count on right now.
See, I think they got the highest

451
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:17,720
upside player in this deal in Kristaps
Porzingis, And so if he pans out,

452
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,640
and he's theoretically a good fit with
Bill right for sure, and if

453
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,400
he doesn't pan out, like I
said, you're out from yeah, Spencer

454
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:27,519
dimit. He would have come off
the books next season. But I think

455
00:31:27,519 --> 00:31:32,440
he even still has like half his
salary guaranteed, Like it's not it's it's

456
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,200
a non insubstantial amount. So you're
getting out from money one year sooner in

457
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,079
the event it doesn't work out,
And I think it's still I feel like

458
00:31:38,079 --> 00:31:42,799
they're even better straddling a line between
we don't know what we're gonna do,

459
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,960
but we've left a lot of different
avenues open, and yeah, I just

460
00:31:48,079 --> 00:31:53,400
I just worry about that strategy when
you have an asset and Beal, who

461
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:57,599
has already been rumored to maybe want
out, even though he's never said as

462
00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:01,559
much for what like eventeen straight years. Now, well, I look at

463
00:32:01,559 --> 00:32:05,160
it this way, though, if
he wants out, here's what's gonna happen.

464
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,200
It'll be via sign and trade this
offseason, in which case they're gonna

465
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:12,839
get compensated, or it'll come after
he signs his extension at something. The

466
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,200
latter is more likely, and which
case you're still gonna get compensated for his

467
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,720
departure, and you have another season
to sort of see if this turns into

468
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,359
and how many times can you set
yourself back you're not, I mean,

469
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,680
okay, well Bradley Beal's out for
the season, so they were set back

470
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,240
anyway. Now you've ensured I mean
maybe if we want to be like assholes

471
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:34,200
about this, we could say,
like, oh, was having not playing

472
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,359
Dallas Burton's and having special gimity helping
your tank Chris Stops was dealing with the

473
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:43,039
right issue at the time of his
trade. You lost Bradley Beal anyway,

474
00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:47,720
and I think you've removed some of
your like collective upside just because now you've

475
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,640
just obliterated your playmaking is what I'm
getting at, is no spencer Gimmy right,

476
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,079
Bradley Beal's injured. You got rid
of Aaron Holiday, who wasn't smith?

477
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,880
You have a smith. And I
also think what I also think is

478
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:01,440
the side benefit of this, And
so not only if you increase your what's

479
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,359
going to be a lottery pick,
I would be lave at this point,

480
00:33:05,079 --> 00:33:07,400
you're also allowing yourself to give more
on ball looks to a deni avdio,

481
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,920
which I think is important because I
see the outlier someone who can do a

482
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,160
lot of things on the ball.
There. Maybe you're also testing testing out

483
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,599
kuzmun KCP there. What is my
If you're going to give more touches to

484
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,839
Ruy Hachimura, they do seem to
like to let him, you know,

485
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,200
do things on the ball. I
don't really want to see more of that

486
00:33:24,559 --> 00:33:30,200
selfishly, but I actually I admire
their ability to pivot out of what initially

487
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:36,559
seemed like a quality middle of the
road when now situation to where are they

488
00:33:36,559 --> 00:33:38,519
still viewing themselves? Is that?
Maybe? But I also don't think they're

489
00:33:38,519 --> 00:33:43,400
guaranteed to view themselves as that.
And this trade, to me, not

490
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,880
only did they I mean, look, frankly, they got the best player

491
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,640
in this deal, even this season
they did, and they've also opened up

492
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:57,200
their options moving forward. I unless
you thought, unless you just weren't happy

493
00:33:57,279 --> 00:33:59,960
with their team. I just I
don't know why you would dislike this,

494
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,960
I guess is my point. I
don't really dislike it so much as not

495
00:34:04,039 --> 00:34:06,960
like it. I'm very neutral on
it. I think my only rebuttal to

496
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,920
your points here is just that we've
seen so many times throughout NBA history that

497
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,920
these rebuilds with young players who are
lining up in the front corridor on the

498
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:22,119
wings, their development can be hindered
without a point guard or a guard,

499
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:28,320
an attacking guard making their lives a
little easier. It develops bad habits,

500
00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:32,480
It prevents you from getting the opportunities
that you need. And this guard rotation

501
00:34:32,599 --> 00:34:37,920
is pitiful without denuity and with no
one coming back. So that's that's my

502
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:43,039
biggest concern, is how you lander
here is just off the charts, off

503
00:34:43,079 --> 00:34:47,599
the charts. Are you actively hindering
your own growth process by virtue of making

504
00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:52,960
this move? Especially like porzingis like
he's a little shot happy. He likes

505
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,760
to he likes to get some looks
up, So if you anybody aren't there,

506
00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:00,599
I'll feel they'll feel way better.
I'll feel way better about this move

507
00:35:00,679 --> 00:35:05,320
if porzingis knee is treated with a
lot of caution, or if he's shut

508
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:12,159
down. Let's just say if Porzingis's
lower body is treated within but maybe just

509
00:35:12,199 --> 00:35:16,639
Porzingis in general fair enough. I
guess I just view it as for all

510
00:35:16,679 --> 00:35:20,239
the reasons you're concerned, I view
it as a positive that they're going to

511
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,840
get to test out all these different
types of looks, and they've also looked

512
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:28,039
if Christops is healthy, and you
want to talk about seeing what he can

513
00:35:28,079 --> 00:35:30,400
give you in an expanded role.
You got rid of basically all your other

514
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:35,679
main bigs with you've tried to showcase
Thomas Bryant. You don't need to continue

515
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:37,400
to do that. Yes you have
Daniel Gafford, but like you got rid

516
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,880
of all your primary ball handlers,
including Beal because of his injuries, So

517
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,519
you yourself didn't get rid of Beal. But the pathways open to let's just

518
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,719
plumb the depth of what we have
here, and if it's shallow, if

519
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,920
it sucks, we're gonna know it
and we'll just accordingly over the offseason.

520
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,360
I don't see how this hurts their
plan, and unless Bial just looks at

521
00:35:57,360 --> 00:35:59,760
this team and says, oh,
no, I want out, Like I'm

522
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,280
gonna oppt in and demand a trader. I wanted to assign and trade.

523
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:05,599
But again I'd point out a lot
of people wanted the Wizards to do that

524
00:36:05,639 --> 00:36:08,320
two years ago, and they're still
gonna be able to capitalize on Bill's departure.

525
00:36:09,119 --> 00:36:14,960
To me, this trade only misses
the mark if you view Chris Stops

526
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:20,960
as the vessel through which you're going
to become a contender. Where Bell wanted

527
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,719
Sabonis and they got him another Caucasian
big who is just not as good as

528
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:30,119
Sibonis, while also while also getting
rid of Spencer didn't what he's pep talks

529
00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:31,960
or whatever. I don't know if
you saw that very uncomfortable sound bite where

530
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,039
he was like, I tried to
be a leader and talk, but they

531
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:38,599
didn't like it. I'm pretty sure
that Dan is currently advocating for Kris Stops

532
00:36:38,599 --> 00:36:42,000
point singis, and I just I
don't know where we go from there.

533
00:36:42,119 --> 00:36:45,960
No, look the whole Chris Stops
with post ups and mid Rangers. No,

534
00:36:45,079 --> 00:36:51,440
it's he doesn't need more, he
doesn't need any so I would play

535
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,679
with this back to the basket and
get more post up touches. What do

536
00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:58,719
you think, Chuck, we're actually
gonna move on because I'm pretty sure that

537
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,639
I am contractually Yeah, you're allowed
to respond to that. Let's talk about

538
00:37:02,639 --> 00:37:07,599
the I liked what the Wizards did, Adam hated it. So at FROMO

539
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:14,800
zero nine, well at him a
great characterization. The Celtics had a busy

540
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,960
deadline. They are and I couldn't. I'm glad Keith Smith, who's way

541
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,639
smarter than I am with this stuff. And I'm always gonna mispronounce this site's

542
00:37:22,679 --> 00:37:25,519
name. But spo Track Keith Smith
of spo Track or is it spot Rack?

543
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:29,159
I've always said spot rack in my
head, but I don't know that

544
00:37:29,199 --> 00:37:31,679
I've really said it out loud.
So, and I've listened to podcasts with

545
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:36,320
him on it, and he's been
on this podcast twice. So Keith Smith,

546
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,679
everyone knows who he is, says
the Celtics have five roster spots.

547
00:37:39,679 --> 00:37:43,400
And that's what I counted when I
was doing my grades. I have never

548
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:50,239
seen that type of tax ducking,
roster spot cutting at a mid season trade

549
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,000
deadline. Ever, they didn't need
to shed a lot of money to duck

550
00:37:52,039 --> 00:37:55,440
the tax let may be clear,
but they opened up five roster spots.

551
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,760
I'm assuming they're gonna be players on
the buy out market, but sort of

552
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,639
the Bucks did. Their deals were
their biggest one. They got Derek White

553
00:38:01,639 --> 00:38:07,119
from the Spurs for Josh Richerson Romeo
Langford, this year's first round pick at

554
00:38:07,159 --> 00:38:10,760
top four protection. They sent Spencer
Dinwoody or Spencer Dimity Bull Bull and PJ

555
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,760
Dojer to Orlando, and I think
they only used the second round pick to

556
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:20,880
grease the wheels of that. And
then they also sent Enis Freedom, Dennis

557
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:27,960
Shrewder and Bruno Fernando to Houston for
Daniel Tice, who they had originally traded

558
00:38:28,159 --> 00:38:34,119
to Chicago to also ductor. That's
got some mileage right now. The quick

559
00:38:34,199 --> 00:38:37,519
note on the Rockets here, because
I don't think we need to talk about

560
00:38:37,519 --> 00:38:39,159
they didn't well, maybe we'll talk
about them. We'll save it for the

561
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,599
Rockets. But I will say this
is kind of an admission by the Rockets,

562
00:38:42,639 --> 00:38:45,039
like, oh shit, maybe we
shouldn't have given Daniel Tye three guaranteed

563
00:38:45,119 --> 00:38:50,079
years when we had Christian Wood and
drafted Alperham Shangoon. I will say,

564
00:38:50,079 --> 00:38:53,760
the opportunity costs for them is nothing. You're waving enis freedom and now you're

565
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:58,960
getting out like they didn't have to
go up any draft equity to offload Daniel

566
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,280
Tye, and you're also getting up
Flier and Dennis Shrewder, who I wonder

567
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,440
if he would be a low key
buyout candidate since he doesn't have bird rights.

568
00:39:06,679 --> 00:39:09,000
I honestly don't know. But if
you don't like he provides, I

569
00:39:09,079 --> 00:39:14,960
understand that he's just like volatility incarnate. But he also might provide like some

570
00:39:15,039 --> 00:39:19,400
semblance of structure to the offense as
opposed to a KPJ at point guard or

571
00:39:19,679 --> 00:39:23,000
not playing John Wall or using DJ
Augustine. Josh Christians first shown some things

572
00:39:23,039 --> 00:39:25,320
this year, so I didn't have
a problem with this move. From their

573
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:30,920
perspective, What did you think about
what Boston did, especially get they bought

574
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:36,440
and soul is what happened Like they
were they were buyers and sellers. It's

575
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:43,039
like Boston made no sexy moves whatever. But Derek Wise is sexy. I

576
00:39:43,039 --> 00:39:45,480
don't think so when you're giving up
a first round pick. But let me

577
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,480
finish here, because I do think
that every move they made was a good

578
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,400
one, Like, none of these
are going to be headline grabbers. I

579
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:57,599
don't think that Derek White is a
star. I think he's a good supporting

580
00:39:57,639 --> 00:40:01,440
player who should fit in well and
was worth the cost of that first round

581
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:07,199
pick. But none of these moves
are like game changers to me so much

582
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:14,480
as just good mid level upgrades.
I don't really feel like giving Boston's ownership

583
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,599
credit for ducking the luxury tax.
If you want to do that, then

584
00:40:16,639 --> 00:40:22,440
you can up the grades for these
moves in totality, But just in terms

585
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:28,320
of the on court product, I
think the Celtics improved just a little bit.

586
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,559
I what you give them credit for
is the five roster spots. You

587
00:40:32,559 --> 00:40:35,960
want to talk about a selling point, I don't know if that's Is that

588
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,199
a selling point for the buyout market? I don't think so, because what

589
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,440
who's going to be on the buyout
market and is going to go to Boston?

590
00:40:43,639 --> 00:40:45,480
Because that's a two part thing,
like I have, I don't know.

591
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,760
I don't know which player is going
to get bought out and be like,

592
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,239
yeah, I want to join this
this low Eastern Conference playoff contender.

593
00:40:54,119 --> 00:40:58,880
I mean, Boston's played a lot
better in recent weeks, Boston's been super

594
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,119
hot on defense and ler, but
I still don't think that you're holding them

595
00:41:02,199 --> 00:41:07,800
up against Milwaukee, Philly in Brooklyn
right now, I don't know with the

596
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,840
way that their offense in Miami,
let me definitely not forget to put Miami

597
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:14,559
in that mix. JJ Reddick would
yell at me. Otherwise I would probably

598
00:41:14,599 --> 00:41:16,679
stash. I'm more. I'm still
higher on Toronto, who will get through

599
00:41:16,679 --> 00:41:20,039
than Boston. But I think Boston, with the way their offense has been,

600
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:22,880
their defense had slipped a little bit. But now you're adding Derek White,

601
00:41:23,639 --> 00:41:27,599
I mean Robert Williams, Derek White, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown,

602
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,760
and Marcus Smart. Holy hell.
I do think a large part of the

603
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:36,559
buyout market is guys if they want
a more expensive next contract or probably gonna

604
00:41:36,559 --> 00:41:40,280
want playing time. I think Boston
can offer some just sort of when you're

605
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:45,280
they only go ten players deep right
now, and you look at Nie Smith,

606
00:41:45,079 --> 00:41:49,079
Peyton Pritchard, those are guys that
aren't guaranteed playing time. I would

607
00:41:49,079 --> 00:41:52,440
say Daniel Pie doesn't have to be
guaranteed playing time. I would say they're

608
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,159
if you're a big should he should
be to Key Horford healthy though, for

609
00:41:55,199 --> 00:41:58,800
the playoffs, right, and so
my point is, if you're big,

610
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:01,360
I don't know why you go to
Austin. But if you're a point guard,

611
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,679
just because Derek White and Marcus Smart
aren't really even if you're like if

612
00:42:05,679 --> 00:42:07,599
you're a Gary Harris, maybe not
because you have Jason Tatum, Jown Brown,

613
00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:14,159
Derek White, Marcus Smart. So
I and I'm also a lot higher

614
00:42:14,159 --> 00:42:15,800
on Derek White than a lot of
other people. I think he's gonna give

615
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:22,239
them more stable ball handling than a
Marcus Smart or Dennis Shrewder in the sense

616
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:27,400
where those guys might throw the nifty
or more complicated passes. I just feel

617
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,440
like Derek White plays within his own
limits better on the ball. The question

618
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:32,960
how many injury replacements would you need
for him to be an All Star?

619
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,159
We're not. Well, let's turn
to our MVP predictor from MBA math.

620
00:42:39,599 --> 00:42:43,400
Maybe lose my train of thought here, Oh the thing I'm The thing I'm

621
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,800
concerned about is the shooting on this
team. Josh Richardson by percentage, was

622
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:52,239
the most efficient perimeter player from deep
for the selfis the season. Him and

623
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:54,480
Grant Williams just flat out with their
two most efficient three point shooters. Now,

624
00:42:54,559 --> 00:42:58,800
the level of difficulty on Jason Tatum
shots that has to factor in.

625
00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:01,280
He's been better lately, you still
gave up one of your more accurate shooters

626
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:05,960
for a guy who's shooting under thirty
two percent from this year, second consecutive

627
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,920
season he's been under thirty five percent. I would imagine his shot quality in

628
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:14,519
the half court could improve with Boston, but that's still this team needed lights

629
00:43:14,519 --> 00:43:17,599
out shooting and still needs lights out
shooting. To me, with all of

630
00:43:17,639 --> 00:43:21,840
that said, what I do like
about this deal for Boston is it sets

631
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,079
them up to sort of play within
the flaws of their roster even better than

632
00:43:25,079 --> 00:43:30,320
it did before, where you have
even more secondary playmakers. But I like

633
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:32,800
White a lot better than Shruder at
both ends. He's also not playing for

634
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:37,960
his next contract like Dennis Shruder was, and moving forward, Yes, this

635
00:43:38,039 --> 00:43:43,599
helps you next season if your roster
stays the same. But Derek White sixteen

636
00:43:43,599 --> 00:43:47,679
point four million next year, Marcus
Smart seventeen point two, Daniel Tie eight

637
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:52,039
point seven, Robert Williams ten point
seven. You have like a lot of

638
00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:58,320
these good middle rung salaries on high
quality players. I know some people view

639
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,639
the Smart extension as Albatross. I
don't know if you're in the same camp

640
00:44:02,679 --> 00:44:05,760
as that. I know he's not
shot the ball too well this season,

641
00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:10,880
but I think it's valuable enough in
enough other ways that I don't So my

642
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:15,480
point would be to be able to
do those different moves and still be picked

643
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:17,800
neutral after this season, Like you
convey this pick to San Antonio, where

644
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:21,239
a lot of people aren't high on
this draft. Outside the lottery, that

645
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:23,639
does always stand to change. YadA, YadA, YadA. You can do

646
00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:27,360
things. And I would think even
if you're looking at this is from a

647
00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:30,239
pure asset play, because I do
think there's some like there's some real overlap

648
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:34,800
between like Smart and White, and
then you really don't have an actual floor

649
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:39,559
general. From pure asset play,
I would say that you're more likely to

650
00:44:39,639 --> 00:44:45,199
get more moving forward as Derek Derek
White's contract shortens. I think you're more

651
00:44:45,199 --> 00:44:52,719
likely to get above a let's say
a pick in the twenties plus Josh Richardson.

652
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:55,760
Then like you'll get more for Derek
White than you would just for that

653
00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:00,559
package if you flipped it next season. I liked a Boston did overall.

654
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:04,760
I think they're they straddled there.
We want to save. We want to

655
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,840
duct the tax that we set the
repeater clock. I understand why they did

656
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:09,800
that. We don't need to applaud
them for it, but to do that,

657
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:15,400
I will applaud them for doing that. While still I think exiting the

658
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:21,760
trade deadline is both a better more
flexible team moving forward. I do I

659
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,760
agree with all that. I think
my biggest concern is just the coaching,

660
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:30,000
because it puts a lot of pressure
on a first year head coach in Emaudoka

661
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:37,559
to figure out how to maximize this
relatively unorthodox and deep roster. It's one

662
00:45:37,599 --> 00:45:43,119
of those where if it was an
established coach running the show here, where

663
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:47,960
I had full faith in the creativity
and the ability to drop up all these

664
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:52,679
different sets with the secondary playmaking,
it would be really intriguing. And I

665
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:58,039
don't want to rule him out from
doing that, but it puts a lot

666
00:45:58,079 --> 00:46:02,840
of pressure on him in year one. That is fair. But considering where

667
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:07,599
they were, like they're kind of
on the trap and now they like this

668
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,079
might make that easier on him.
But yeah, yeah, there is still

669
00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:14,360
a timeline and play here though.
With Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, you

670
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:20,400
know, we already heard some of
the cries from Celtics faithful early in the

671
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:24,440
season about like is it time to
break this up already? And how much

672
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:31,840
how long do you have with that
core tandem before that pressure built? So

673
00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:37,000
it's just it's it's it feels like
a volatile situation that could be a distinctly

674
00:46:37,039 --> 00:46:43,679
positive one. Fair enough, I
let's move on to a different team.

675
00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:47,079
Let's let's actually cover the spurs end
of this. But they also sent Thaddeus

676
00:46:47,199 --> 00:46:53,800
Young to Toronto for a protected first
round pick and gore On Dragic. They

677
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,400
also sent Drew you Bank. So
I was mad that Toronto waved. I

678
00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:00,559
thought he was someone that could actually
help them if anyone cares to, you

679
00:47:00,599 --> 00:47:05,599
know, to think of put the
thought in into that. But yeah,

680
00:47:05,639 --> 00:47:08,440
so they get go twenty twenty first
round pick lottery protection this year. Top

681
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:14,599
thirteen protection in twenty twenty three turns
into two seconds if it doesn't convey they

682
00:47:14,639 --> 00:47:21,480
that they also turned Brent Forbes into
two second round picks essentially. And the

683
00:47:21,519 --> 00:47:24,039
other thing is like, now that
from from that DeMar de Rosen sign and

684
00:47:24,039 --> 00:47:29,199
trade, they left that with two
first round picks because they used that he's

685
00:47:29,199 --> 00:47:30,480
going to get another and bring that
one up for sure, and imagine if

686
00:47:30,519 --> 00:47:34,599
they'd actually played Thaddeus Young, because
they've gotten even more for them, I

687
00:47:34,639 --> 00:47:38,880
would say I'm gonna say no,
just because I was shocked that like this

688
00:47:39,039 --> 00:47:43,360
was this was available for him.
So what did you think of sort of

689
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:49,239
the Spurs. They've committed now to
this rebuild, and this as close as

690
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,559
you're going to see them commit to
the rebuild. I just to since we're

691
00:47:52,599 --> 00:47:54,079
talking about them in some I do
want to say, I do want to

692
00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:58,960
point out quickly I'm sure you would
too. White and Murray have always been

693
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:00,920
an awkward fit to the point like
this is the first season that they've played

694
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:04,960
real, meaningful playing time together,
and I think it was I don't want

695
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:07,360
to say important to separate them,
but even if you're San Antonio, you

696
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:10,360
could probably not view this as a
rebuild, just because it kind of makes

697
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:15,719
some sense to separate them. Regardless, and dejan Day Murray, who would

698
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:20,480
have who is an injury replacement all
star just like you predicted. He played

699
00:48:20,519 --> 00:48:23,599
so well that he has. If
he's not their tent pole star or a

700
00:48:23,639 --> 00:48:29,119
conventional tent pole star, he's flirting
with that status and he certainly holds it

701
00:48:29,159 --> 00:48:31,519
within that organization now I think they
look at him as okay, like this

702
00:48:31,599 --> 00:48:36,719
is our direction at the moment,
I think he's there. Yeah, I

703
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:43,199
know. I like the moves.
In some as this is as anti san

704
00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:47,679
Antonio as a mid season set of
San Antonio moves could be, because typically

705
00:48:49,039 --> 00:48:52,679
this is an organization that just doesn't
wheel and deal at the deadline. So

706
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:55,280
to come out swinging with all of
these moves, all of which made sense,

707
00:48:55,840 --> 00:49:01,519
was so uncharacteristic. And I do
think that they all allow the Spurs

708
00:49:01,599 --> 00:49:06,679
to continue doing what they've done well, which is straddle eris. You know,

709
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:09,239
they do still have draft picks coming
in, they do still have some

710
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:14,039
veteran presences, and they do have
players to build around. You know,

711
00:49:14,119 --> 00:49:19,840
you mentioned Dejante Murray, who is
unquestionably the centerpiece here, but Jaka Purdle

712
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:22,159
has played really well. Zach Collins
is healthy and on the floor again.

713
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:27,400
Jacques Landale has looked good and limited
run. Keldon Johnson has some has some

714
00:49:27,559 --> 00:49:30,599
fun things that he does on the
court, even if he has yet to

715
00:49:30,639 --> 00:49:35,599
parlay them into a consistently effective package. I would follow him through a brick

716
00:49:35,639 --> 00:49:39,159
wall, mostly because he would have
paved a nice little doorway for me when

717
00:49:39,159 --> 00:49:42,440
he went through that brick wall.
But please carry on him. Sorry,

718
00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:45,000
I still I still can't get the
Gerald Wallace comparison out of my head with

719
00:49:45,079 --> 00:49:49,679
him. But then, like what
if Devin Vassell, you know, continues

720
00:49:49,719 --> 00:49:52,760
to improve, Like there are a
lot of pieces here, and the Spurs

721
00:49:53,320 --> 00:50:00,199
did a masterful job of using cap
space, of using veteran players to up

722
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:02,559
their coffers even more. It feels
as simple as that to me. Where

723
00:50:02,599 --> 00:50:06,679
this this team isn't going to make
any noise this season, probably won't make

724
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:12,760
much noise next season, but it's
it's on the right trajectory without needlessly setting

725
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:16,800
itself back, which is very Spursy. And even if this was the antithesis

726
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:22,920
of what they typically do with the
deadline, I thought by the way that

727
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:27,199
the Mavericks were winners of this deal
because there's no way Draggage days of San

728
00:50:27,239 --> 00:50:30,159
Antonio, right, that would be
I think I've already committed to buying them

729
00:50:30,199 --> 00:50:32,400
out right, Oh they did.
I didn't see that, so but I

730
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:36,760
don't know, Like, if you're
a Druggage you go to Dallas when there's

731
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:38,639
I know you're tight with Luca,
but Spencer, Dinwiddie and Jon runs in

732
00:50:38,679 --> 00:50:43,760
are there now and almost like why
not just going with the Clippers for Woach

733
00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:47,079
From early this morning, the Spurs, who are trading for Toronto's Gorn Dragic

734
00:50:47,199 --> 00:50:52,199
are expected to negotiate a contract buyout
with Dragic among the interested. Expected to

735
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,920
be among the interested, expected to
be interested once it becomes a free agent.

736
00:50:55,000 --> 00:51:00,480
Dallas Milwaukee, Chicago Clippers. I
like Milwaukee a lot for him.

737
00:51:00,519 --> 00:51:04,159
I'm not gonna lie. Absolutely,
Chicago makes a lot of sense too.

738
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,679
I think you could make a case
was Boston on that list? I didn't

739
00:51:07,679 --> 00:51:09,960
hear what you said. I that
I was saying Chicago makes a lot of

740
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:13,519
sense, but Boston was not included
there. But it wasn't on the WAAE

741
00:51:13,559 --> 00:51:17,239
tweet. I mean, does Chicago
make a lot of sense if lonzown Caruso

742
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:22,480
get healthy and they have Kobe White. And that's exactly why, because of

743
00:51:22,519 --> 00:51:24,800
the if the so the Raptors end
of this. What I wrote about this,

744
00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:28,199
I was like, there are going
to be people that's say the Raptors

745
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:34,639
gave up a first rounder for a
player san Antonio wasn't using and drew freaking

746
00:51:34,679 --> 00:51:37,320
you Banks who they then waived.
I think it's important of you this through

747
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:40,840
the lens of Toronto is gonna drop
down. They got what was it,

748
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:44,920
Detroit's second rounder. Yeah, they
got a Detroit second round pick from San

749
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:47,679
Antonio. That Detroit second round pick
is probably gonna be number thirty one.

750
00:51:49,199 --> 00:51:52,159
So Toronto right now projects to be
around like the eighteen to twenty two area

751
00:51:52,239 --> 00:51:57,039
in the draft. You're gonna drop
down a mac like twelve if you Tanish,

752
00:51:57,239 --> 00:52:00,280
if you finish, you know,
in fifteen, if you with the

753
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,320
fifteenth pick, then yeah, kind
of sucks. But you've just decided,

754
00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:07,239
Hey, we're gonna move down,
let's say twelve spots in the draft to

755
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,719
get Thaddy as Young who. No, it doesn't address our need or by

756
00:52:09,719 --> 00:52:12,280
the way, I don't know if
it's a need. Maybe it is when

757
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,440
you look at sometimes had the defensive
rebound, but a lust for a truer

758
00:52:15,519 --> 00:52:20,159
big man. He fits with how
this team wants to play. Maybe he's

759
00:52:20,199 --> 00:52:24,519
not like super high octane anymore.
But you talk about a decision maker in

760
00:52:24,559 --> 00:52:27,440
the half court. If you're gonna
have him roll, he can play some

761
00:52:27,519 --> 00:52:32,599
small ball five. I think because
by the way Pascal Siakam among his borderline,

762
00:52:32,639 --> 00:52:35,719
he should I think he should have
been an All Star over Middleton.

763
00:52:36,199 --> 00:52:39,159
I don't know if that's bicy or
not. I would he probably spicy.

764
00:52:39,519 --> 00:52:43,639
I would say, nice, set
you up for that one. You're welcome.

765
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:47,119
Yeah, you did. I talk
about there's a chance that when we

766
00:52:47,159 --> 00:52:50,760
do, I'm gonna have to look
this is off the cuff. I'm probably

767
00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,280
gonna give him some All NBA consideration
this year. But he's also amid all

768
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:58,639
that he's quietly shooting above thirty five
percent from three and Chris Bouche. While

769
00:52:58,639 --> 00:53:01,199
he's not shooting the ball well,
his volume, it can help. It

770
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:06,199
justifies him staying out there. He
can play with Daddie is Young, Siakam

771
00:53:06,239 --> 00:53:08,360
can play with Daddie is Young.
The floor might be crimped, but I

772
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:12,440
also like what Daddie is Young is
gonna do for their defense, Like this

773
00:53:12,519 --> 00:53:15,719
is just someone who can fit with
being aggressive. He is a he's a

774
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:19,639
very good helper. I'm assuming he's
just better than he showed in San Antonio

775
00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:24,039
when he gets actual playing time.
If I'm Toronto and we're talking about straddling

776
00:53:24,039 --> 00:53:28,880
to timelines, which I think is
just something that they've done ever since their

777
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:32,760
championship season and maybe even dating back
before that, they've said we need to

778
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:37,400
plan for the future while maximizing the
present. This does that you decided,

779
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:40,440
hey, we're gonna take a player
another instance of an empty roster spot.

780
00:53:40,679 --> 00:53:45,760
We're gonna take that empty roster spot
and move down twelve spots in the draft

781
00:53:46,039 --> 00:53:52,239
to get Daddie is young. That's
absolutely and you also the other element to

782
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:53,760
this, and this was actually point
out by Eric Creen of The Athletic,

783
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:58,000
which I thought was really smart.
You keep him off the buy out market

784
00:53:58,039 --> 00:54:00,679
because a lot of the times you
look at Gary Harris to be an example,

785
00:54:00,719 --> 00:54:02,400
probably because he makes so much money, teams are like, we're not

786
00:54:02,519 --> 00:54:07,079
going to go through the trouble of
trying to match salaries with actual players because

787
00:54:07,199 --> 00:54:09,960
he's just gonna get bought out.
That probably would have happened with that he

788
00:54:10,039 --> 00:54:15,079
is young. I I love the
Raptors. I think they're so fun.

789
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,960
I don't I do not want to
face the Raptors in the playoffs. I

790
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:22,360
don't care who I am, and
I would My prediction I think on a

791
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:24,119
plot with you was they'll win a
playoff series and I'll just stand by that

792
00:54:24,239 --> 00:54:30,079
because they agree with you. So
that being said was that he's gonna sign

793
00:54:30,159 --> 00:54:32,639
with Toronto if he at the buyo
market. The answer is no, like

794
00:54:32,719 --> 00:54:37,519
good, So you took him out
of that. That's like, that's not

795
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:42,000
an egregious price to pay by any
stretch, and not at all. This

796
00:54:42,039 --> 00:54:45,760
is another case where that pick is
conveying this season. Failing disaster, that

797
00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:50,440
pick is conveying this season, and
then your pick neutral again in terms of

798
00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:53,639
first rounders. So I liked this
deal for them. I think I would.

799
00:54:54,039 --> 00:54:58,000
I would have preferred to see them
make a more aggressive play, but

800
00:54:58,039 --> 00:55:00,360
if you wanted them to get a
Derek White, it probably would have cost

801
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:07,159
more. I do wonder they were
aside from Phoenix, they were my favorite

802
00:55:07,239 --> 00:55:09,920
Eric Gordon destination. I'm curious as
to I wouldn't have given up a first

803
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,360
round pick for Eric Gordon if I
was the Raptors, I would have done

804
00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:16,079
it. If I was Phoenix,
just because that first round pick, well,

805
00:55:16,079 --> 00:55:20,119
I guess it would have been in
twenty twenty four, so regardless,

806
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:23,480
I don't know, like I wouldn't
have done the Derek White trade as my

807
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:28,599
point, I wouldn't have done two
first round picks something else, maybe for

808
00:55:28,639 --> 00:55:30,400
Derek White. I don't know if
they're at that point. So I thought

809
00:55:30,440 --> 00:55:35,960
this was solid and juggles their spot
nicely. And look, they still just

810
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:38,320
have so much room under the tax
going forward, they're gonna be able to

811
00:55:38,360 --> 00:55:44,119
make trades or just get creative.
And if Scotty Barnes continues to just hit

812
00:55:44,559 --> 00:55:45,960
and they're gonna play like this when
you have some of their best players on

813
00:55:46,039 --> 00:55:51,039
the floor. And look, the
other thing this does is by not taking

814
00:55:51,079 --> 00:55:52,719
on salary for next season. If
you want to keep Fad, sure,

815
00:55:52,760 --> 00:55:55,400
I'm sure he's gonna come cheaper than
the number he's at now. You can

816
00:55:55,480 --> 00:56:00,199
resign Chris Bouche. Utah want an
abby without issue. And those are just

817
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,000
guys that are I think Chris Bouche
is super important. He's been there,

818
00:56:02,039 --> 00:56:05,679
one of their top six players this
year, one of your long time favorites.

819
00:56:06,239 --> 00:56:07,800
Yes, I was when I thought
he was going to Dallas. Did

820
00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:10,880
you see the report where I did? I thought he was going to Dallas

821
00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:15,159
and I was like, no,
I please don't give Jason kid Chris Bouche.

822
00:56:15,199 --> 00:56:17,440
I mean, Chris Bouche, He's
in Toronto's in my heart. You

823
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:22,159
haven't even mentioned Gary Trent Junior,
who's just like a full fledged superstar.

824
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:25,320
Now another forty two point night against
Houston as we're recording this, but I'm

825
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:30,719
I am just salivating over the thought
of a Gary Trent Junior O g Na

826
00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:37,440
Nobi, Scotty Barnes, Baddius,
Young Pascal Siakam lineup. Yeah, I

827
00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:42,599
don't know what, maybe even replace
Trent with Bouchet, just like all of

828
00:56:42,679 --> 00:56:46,920
the length and flexibility because you do
have those ball handling wings. The offense

829
00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:50,159
still isn't going to be good in
that scenario, but I would love he

830
00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:54,280
cares. It would be so fun. I don't know, Like I feel

831
00:56:54,280 --> 00:57:00,480
like you threw out two allegedly hot
takes, neither of which are anything more

832
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:02,639
than lukewarm, that Siakam should have
been an All Star over Middleton, and

833
00:57:02,639 --> 00:57:07,000
that Toronto is going to win a
playoff series? Would you be okay?

834
00:57:07,039 --> 00:57:12,400
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being like flabbergasted and one

835
00:57:12,519 --> 00:57:16,119
being not surprised in the slightest,
how where would you fall if I said

836
00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:22,960
that Toronto makes it out of the
East one to ten you said, right,

837
00:57:22,079 --> 00:57:29,039
yeah, because the bucks and the
heat exist. I'll say, like

838
00:57:29,079 --> 00:57:31,920
a like a like a sevent eight
around there. I think that's where I'm

839
00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:36,159
at. Now like the range where
like I don't know that I want to

840
00:57:36,159 --> 00:57:39,760
totally rule that out. The other
thing I'll say is like, yo,

841
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:43,440
we're talking about them and sort of
this fucking up start, Like there's a

842
00:57:43,559 --> 00:57:46,360
chance that they're fourth or third in
the East. They are. They're one

843
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:52,039
loss or two losses behind the third
place, the second place Milwaukee Bucks.

844
00:57:52,039 --> 00:57:54,039
There there are only four games out
of first in the East. Now,

845
00:57:54,039 --> 00:57:59,639
I think teams like Miami and Milwaukee
will certainly sustain. Cleveland I think will

846
00:57:59,679 --> 00:58:04,159
be better with Lavert, but Chicago
missing Crusoe Alonzo for a little bit.

847
00:58:04,199 --> 00:58:06,800
You didn't do anything at the trade
deadline. They said Patrick Williams is going

848
00:58:06,840 --> 00:58:09,039
to come back, but that's probably
at least the ways off. So let's

849
00:58:09,079 --> 00:58:13,880
let's do this. Well, let's
go down with Miami. Will they finish

850
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:16,599
in front of Toronto in the standings? I gotta pull up where they're at

851
00:58:16,679 --> 00:58:20,559
right now? They're in first and
they're you know, I know, just

852
00:58:20,599 --> 00:58:22,760
the gaps. I mean, oh, four games in front of Toronto.

853
00:58:23,199 --> 00:58:25,719
Yeah, Miami will finishing front.
I'm gonna say they are supposed to be

854
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:31,239
Milwaukee, Yeah, they'll finish in
front Chicago. I don't think so Wow,

855
00:58:31,280 --> 00:58:38,920
Cleveland, I don't think so Philly. Yes, Boston, I don't

856
00:58:38,920 --> 00:58:45,400
think so Eitheroklyn. I can't say
yet. Is there any Simmons? If

857
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:47,880
Simmons is back in like a week, then it will. And are there

858
00:58:47,880 --> 00:58:51,960
any teams below them? It'd be
Charlotte or do you see either of those

859
00:58:52,000 --> 00:58:54,079
things? I'm gonna I'm gonna call
it now. I'm gonna call my shot.

860
00:58:54,079 --> 00:58:57,079
I don't know if this is bold. I don't even think the Siakham

861
00:58:57,079 --> 00:58:59,760
stuff is bold because I saw that
floating around on Twitter. People, were

862
00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:02,840
you talk about flabbergasted when Chris Middleton
was named an All Star? Uh?

863
00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:07,079
Not not only Overdrew but over Saka. I don't I love Chris Middleton,

864
00:59:07,119 --> 00:59:09,840
So I'm like, I've it would
have been justifiable. Middleton was a little

865
00:59:09,840 --> 00:59:12,920
bit of a weird choice, is
here. I think I'm just so in

866
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:15,920
love with Chris Middleton that I don't
care. Maybe that's it. I view

867
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:20,119
him as I got it. He's
gonna He's basically just three. She was

868
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:25,239
an injury replacement. Here's a question. Someone yelled at me on Twitter because

869
00:59:25,239 --> 00:59:29,920
I said Chris Middleton's gonna be like
the most low key perennial All Star in

870
00:59:30,039 --> 00:59:32,360
NBA history. They told me he's
not. Perennial. Does three All Star

871
00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:37,320
selections in four years count or No, I feel like it does at this

872
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:42,719
point. So it's at least close
enough to where that's not ridiculous for me

873
00:59:42,840 --> 00:59:45,199
to say, Yeah, I don't
know what the technical definition of that is,

874
00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:52,360
fair enough, you heard it.
It feels subjectively allowable. I'm gonna

875
00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:55,960
call my shot right here now.
They right here and say Toronto plays their

876
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:00,719
way into a top three playoff seed
in the East. That's the standings are

877
01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:05,679
close enough to where that's not a
big deal. I'm saying Miami, Milwaukee,

878
01:00:05,760 --> 01:00:07,079
and Toronto that'll be my top three
picks the rest of the season.

879
01:00:07,559 --> 01:00:14,000
I understand the pull Chicago. I
think it's justified just because we've seen slippage

880
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:15,880
in their defense. They have injuries. Who knows when that will normalize.

881
01:00:16,199 --> 01:00:21,800
Cleveland is still younger with Philly specifically, I just I'm not worried about the

882
01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:24,800
hardening bead fit. But this isn't
like Harden coming to play with Kyrie and

883
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:30,440
KD, where it felt like that
was the one ball. Arguments were disingenuous.

884
01:00:30,440 --> 01:00:34,119
This feels like so massive that to
do it mid season there might be

885
01:00:34,119 --> 01:00:37,239
more growing pains. So I'm just
gonna I'm in love with the Raptors.

886
01:00:37,239 --> 01:00:39,360
Who know, the Celtics got better, I know the Netscot You say better,

887
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:44,599
I say more balanced. Whatever I'm
gonna say, Toronto finishes with the

888
01:00:44,679 --> 01:00:46,519
top three seed in me, You're
herder here first. And just to follow

889
01:00:46,639 --> 01:00:52,400
up on the definition of perennial per
Mariam Webster, the number one definition is

890
01:00:52,199 --> 01:00:55,320
living for several years or for many
years, having a life cycle that is

891
01:00:55,320 --> 01:01:00,079
more than two years long. But
that does assume that Chris Middleton is a

892
01:01:00,159 --> 01:01:04,599
plant, which I feel we can
we can confirm is not the case.

893
01:01:06,119 --> 01:01:14,320
Otherwise otherwise there are not numbers included
in the definitions. Okay, I think

894
01:01:14,320 --> 01:01:16,480
this is the last team we cover
that did something before we get to some

895
01:01:16,559 --> 01:01:20,639
of the ones that and look,
I just had no follow up on that.

896
01:01:20,920 --> 01:01:22,920
I am just laughing. How do
we know that Chris Middleton isn't a

897
01:01:22,960 --> 01:01:30,039
plant? I'm fairly confident in that. Okay, fair enough, Phoenix acquired

898
01:01:30,119 --> 01:01:35,320
Aaron Holiday they like covertly. I
was grading these trades and we never saw

899
01:01:35,320 --> 01:01:37,559
the details of what it took until, like I think it was hours later.

900
01:01:38,440 --> 01:01:44,079
They did apply and were granted a
disabled player exception for Dario Sarch's injury

901
01:01:44,519 --> 01:01:47,400
that was never reported when it happened, so we all assumed. But they

902
01:01:47,440 --> 01:01:51,840
got Aaron Holiday, they absorbed him
into that and then they traded for Tory

903
01:01:51,880 --> 01:01:55,719
Craig again like they did last season. They gave the most predictable move of

904
01:01:55,760 --> 01:02:00,199
the entire offseason. I wrote about
this move. I think it was in

905
01:02:00,239 --> 01:02:02,920
November, and I came up with
it myself, and I was the only

906
01:02:02,960 --> 01:02:08,320
person who ever could have thought of
it, just because it's that innovative,

907
01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:13,000
you know, So I finally got
one right. I will say someone did

908
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:16,800
congratulate me on getting that right.
Even the most inefficient volume shooters are gonna

909
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:20,400
get it hit every once in a
while. Like that is just not But

910
01:02:20,440 --> 01:02:23,320
they traded Jalen Smith in a second
round play for Tory Craig. I want,

911
01:02:23,360 --> 01:02:27,599
I think there moves. I'm not
high on Holiday. I think he's

912
01:02:27,639 --> 01:02:30,360
like nice depth to where if you're
worried about the Cameron Pain injury and you

913
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:34,920
don't want to play. Have they
even said who they're waving yet? I've

914
01:02:34,920 --> 01:02:38,280
been in and out of podcast ever
since, so like I think I think

915
01:02:38,320 --> 01:02:44,000
he's an upgrade over Alfred Peyton,
but like you also might trust Alfred Peyton

916
01:02:44,039 --> 01:02:46,119
to be more of a I think
what I wrote about Holiday is he's like

917
01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:52,360
a constant and constant and that's sort
of just been his career, and I

918
01:02:52,360 --> 01:02:55,960
don't think he provides enough reliable Rim
pressure to say there's a dynamic here.

919
01:02:57,000 --> 01:03:00,400
He's also not big enough to play
with Devin Booker and Chris all at the

920
01:03:00,400 --> 01:03:04,079
same time, so I think their
moves. I like Tory Craig sneaky,

921
01:03:04,079 --> 01:03:07,239
good rebounder. He gets hot from
three for like weeks or months at a

922
01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:10,639
time. I'm not saying like off
the dribble ten attempts per game. Like

923
01:03:10,679 --> 01:03:14,199
he goes through stretches where he hits
off the catch and he gives you some

924
01:03:14,599 --> 01:03:16,679
if there's space, he would put
the bomber before we attack the rim.

925
01:03:16,719 --> 01:03:21,239
He's going to work with their defense
if they go up against teams that are

926
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:25,320
long or just with a bevy of
these perimeter attackers. He helps. I

927
01:03:25,480 --> 01:03:29,320
want to know one if you have
any different thoughts on that. I don't

928
01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:31,159
think they paid. If people point
out the Jailn Smith, they could have

929
01:03:31,159 --> 01:03:35,519
had Tyris Haliburton I'm over. That's
the Sun cost theory. You said they

930
01:03:35,559 --> 01:03:38,119
declined Jain Smith's team option. It's
over. You stole my thunder. I

931
01:03:38,199 --> 01:03:43,639
was gonna ask you that just to
get under your skin. Look, Tyris

932
01:03:43,639 --> 01:03:45,559
Haliburton, I'm all in on him
in Indiana now. But we already had

933
01:03:45,559 --> 01:03:47,719
a podcast about that. So do
you have any different thoughts on that?

934
01:03:47,840 --> 01:03:52,480
But more so, where do you
land on this question of should Phoenix have

935
01:03:52,639 --> 01:03:58,199
done more? Something bigger? Think? So we're about to have some words.

936
01:03:58,719 --> 01:04:01,840
I think Phoenix is the favorite as
is. This team is just so

937
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:06,679
good in every area. It has
the pieces across the board, it has

938
01:04:06,760 --> 01:04:12,480
excelled in crunch time scenarios. I
think that the Suns are the favorites to

939
01:04:12,519 --> 01:04:15,599
win the title right now, and
just making these moves on the periphery work

940
01:04:15,719 --> 01:04:21,880
nicely, I'm not I don't think
that the Holiday move sways anything. I

941
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:27,440
do think that Craig gives them a
little bit more defensive optionality against some Western

942
01:04:27,480 --> 01:04:30,280
Conference playoff foes, and it's kind
of nice that he's under contract for one

943
01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:33,679
more year so they don't have to
worry about him going away before he comes

944
01:04:33,719 --> 01:04:39,440
back again. But I don't think
that anything was necessary, much less a

945
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:45,320
big move. I'm going to disagree, and this could be a situation where

946
01:04:45,360 --> 01:04:47,360
I was pretty hard on them over
the offseason for not using their full mid

947
01:04:47,440 --> 01:04:51,320
level, for not being more creative
than JaVale McGee, and it all panned

948
01:04:51,320 --> 01:04:57,480
out. I thought the camera is
a three point shooter. Now the getting

949
01:04:57,519 --> 01:04:59,519
cameraon Payne back. He has not
been as good this year, but I

950
01:04:59,519 --> 01:05:00,960
thought that a good moves, so
I didn't hate it. But they had

951
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:03,719
the ability to do more. Keeping
Tory Craig was something they probably had the

952
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:08,639
ability to do. Indie gave him, I think slightly more that Phoenix had

953
01:05:08,679 --> 01:05:12,679
to offer, But it feels like
there could was javal McGee really gonna Who

954
01:05:12,719 --> 01:05:15,119
was giving Javamige more than four million
a year? Did it have to be

955
01:05:15,159 --> 01:05:17,639
five? Well twenty nine other teams
if they knew he was gonna make threes?

956
01:05:19,440 --> 01:05:23,400
So and then I was saying I
thought they should have done more or

957
01:05:23,440 --> 01:05:25,920
been more aggressive, only for them
to turn around and have the best record

958
01:05:25,960 --> 01:05:29,800
in the NBA. Maybe this is
one of those instances where Monty Williams prioritizing

959
01:05:29,840 --> 01:05:33,679
continuity. The other thing that was
tough for them is they are so good

960
01:05:34,039 --> 01:05:40,440
and so deep that what caliber of
player, think about the caliber player they

961
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:44,599
need if you want him to be
a part of your closing line. Because

962
01:05:44,639 --> 01:05:48,880
it's Jay's Jay Crowder, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton, and

963
01:05:49,000 --> 01:05:53,960
Micaal Bridges. You're starting your preferred
starting five. There's you're upgrading from Jay

964
01:05:53,960 --> 01:05:57,280
Crowder there, which unless you're going
out and getting like Jeremy Grant, you're

965
01:05:57,280 --> 01:06:00,679
probably not doing. I also would
rather have Cam Johnson than Jeremy Grant.

966
01:06:00,719 --> 01:06:04,159
I think his ball skills are a
little bit better. But anyway, then

967
01:06:04,199 --> 01:06:09,440
you go to the bench, you're
set at center, so you didn't even

968
01:06:09,400 --> 01:06:11,920
know they had too many setters.
This helped to clear up that by getting

969
01:06:11,960 --> 01:06:15,719
rid of Jalen Smith for Tory Craig, you have Cam Johnson. It's pretty

970
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:19,840
hard to beat. Like whoever you
were trading for, the bar had to

971
01:06:19,880 --> 01:06:24,239
be high just for them to be
the sixth best player on your team who

972
01:06:24,239 --> 01:06:29,440
wouldn't be a part or guaranteed a
spot in your closing lineup. So I

973
01:06:29,519 --> 01:06:32,000
understand not wanting to give up.
Let's just assume they were in on Eric

974
01:06:32,039 --> 01:06:35,400
Gordon, because we know they were
in on Eric Gordon and they didn't want

975
01:06:35,400 --> 01:06:40,679
to give up the twenty twenty four
first, or they didn't want to do

976
01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:45,039
what Miami did amend the pick protections
and give Oklahoma City the twenty twenty four

977
01:06:45,119 --> 01:06:48,119
first to get the twenty twenty second
back to try and send it to Houston.

978
01:06:48,679 --> 01:06:51,239
The optics they are just different,
because maybe you could have gotten something

979
01:06:51,239 --> 01:06:55,920
from Oklahoma City, like Kenrick Williams
is part of that deal, whereas giving

980
01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:59,239
up a distant first for Eric Gordon
as opposed to the number thirty pick right

981
01:06:59,239 --> 01:07:02,199
now, Eric Gordon is a lot
different. The other thing is with Eric

982
01:07:02,199 --> 01:07:08,360
Gordon's specifically, I don't care about
Robert Sarver's pockets, but you better believe

983
01:07:08,480 --> 01:07:12,280
that because Phoenix is a threat to
win a title, he would definitely be

984
01:07:12,320 --> 01:07:16,000
concerned about Eric Gordon's twenty point nine
million dollars salary guaranteeing in that final year.

985
01:07:16,280 --> 01:07:19,199
There's all these different elements to it. What I am going to say,

986
01:07:19,559 --> 01:07:25,039
and I think Sam Cooper from the
Timeline Pod phrased it best, and

987
01:07:25,079 --> 01:07:29,800
I'm paraphrasing here. It's just like
your window isn't just now, like it's

988
01:07:29,880 --> 01:07:33,239
Chris Paul and that's thirty six year
old Chris Paul I would have done every

989
01:07:33,320 --> 01:07:38,920
twenty more years. I would have
done when he's been so durable these past

990
01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:42,400
two I guess three seasons when you
include his final year in Oklahoma City.

991
01:07:42,639 --> 01:07:46,199
You do everything you need to to. I'm not talking one two years.

992
01:07:46,480 --> 01:07:50,679
Maximize. This is even more dire
than the MBID situation Philly just right now,

993
01:07:50,920 --> 01:07:55,800
because you're guaranteed nothing when he gets
older, or if if he gets

994
01:07:55,800 --> 01:08:00,480
injured, or you know, even
just as this contract ages for whatever you're

995
01:08:00,519 --> 01:08:04,559
also talking about. Like, it's
pretty clear. I think there's real traction

996
01:08:04,599 --> 01:08:08,599
to the fact that they don't want
to pay DeAndre and Max money, probably

997
01:08:08,639 --> 01:08:12,719
because they're worried about what he becomes. Uh, you know a few years

998
01:08:12,760 --> 01:08:16,279
down the line when Chris paul is
and Chris paul so all that uncertainty the

999
01:08:16,279 --> 01:08:23,359
backdrop we've covered this, but you
need to I'm sorry, Like maybe,

1000
01:08:23,479 --> 01:08:26,439
but what if you don't. You
need to maximize now. And even if

1001
01:08:26,479 --> 01:08:30,359
it wasn't. Eric Gordon and I
know the mechanisms there were tough because they

1002
01:08:30,399 --> 01:08:31,640
have a lot of flexibility under the
tax but he just made so much and

1003
01:08:31,640 --> 01:08:34,720
they don't have a ton of salary
matching and I don't know who the player

1004
01:08:34,920 --> 01:08:38,760
was that would have been better than
a Tory Craig, Aaron Holiday Combo.

1005
01:08:39,359 --> 01:08:42,800
I would have liked to have at
least heard about them being more aggressive to

1006
01:08:42,840 --> 01:08:47,399
get a third ball handler who was
an upgrade over Cameron Payne and bigger than

1007
01:08:47,439 --> 01:08:51,600
Cameron Payne in the sense that I
think that's probably their biggest weakness now looking

1008
01:08:51,640 --> 01:08:56,199
at how they've shared up their big
rotation and even their secondary wing rotation with

1009
01:08:56,279 --> 01:09:01,399
Craig, is just having that third
high volume attacker where I think mcal Bridges

1010
01:09:01,479 --> 01:09:05,079
or Cam Johnson behind Cameron Payne,
like those guys are going to be your

1011
01:09:05,079 --> 01:09:11,960
best weapons, and they need me
a higher an option. But like you

1012
01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:14,760
said, they are the best team
in the league. They could still win

1013
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:16,560
the championship. They are in fact
my title picks. I was just a

1014
01:09:16,560 --> 01:09:21,279
little bit disappointed that they didn't do
something splash year. Yeah, I just

1015
01:09:21,600 --> 01:09:26,520
you know, you mentioned continuity early
on there, and I think that's part

1016
01:09:26,560 --> 01:09:30,399
of it, because this team knows
that it works together, It has a

1017
01:09:30,399 --> 01:09:34,479
lot of experience together, and what
do you run the risk of upsetting if

1018
01:09:34,479 --> 01:09:41,119
you do make that splash year move. Things can go wrong in that situation,

1019
01:09:41,199 --> 01:09:45,000
and I just I think that it's
ultimately like a luxury play if you

1020
01:09:45,039 --> 01:09:47,520
do go that route, and not
referring to the luxury attacks, but you

1021
01:09:47,560 --> 01:09:51,079
know, adding something that isn't fully
needed, so it would have been nice.

1022
01:09:51,079 --> 01:09:55,720
Sure, Like I won't in any
way deny that I agree with your

1023
01:09:55,760 --> 01:10:01,199
assessment that adding one more upper tier
ball handler is probably the biggest need for

1024
01:10:01,239 --> 01:10:05,319
this team insofar as it has a
need. And that's the part that I

1025
01:10:05,319 --> 01:10:10,960
don't know that I agree with.
Where everything works here, this is as

1026
01:10:11,039 --> 01:10:15,640
close to a fundamentally perfectly constructed team
as we've found in like the last few

1027
01:10:15,680 --> 01:10:20,920
seasons. I think there have been
better teams hinging on superstar power, but

1028
01:10:21,279 --> 01:10:27,680
this is a really really smart,
really really dangerous team in every facet of

1029
01:10:27,720 --> 01:10:31,720
the game. The final thing team
that did something we need to talk about.

1030
01:10:31,720 --> 01:10:34,600
I don't want to gloss over the
Rainy Champs, the four team trade,

1031
01:10:34,640 --> 01:10:39,399
which was the first trade of the
day, Marvin Bagley to Detroit Rodney

1032
01:10:39,399 --> 01:10:43,880
Hood and Shemmy old Delay to the
Clippers. Sergebaca twenty twenty two second round

1033
01:10:43,880 --> 01:10:46,279
pick least favorable of Cleveland Golden State, and then a twenty twenty four second

1034
01:10:46,359 --> 01:10:51,319
round pick via Sacramento from Detroit went
to Milwaukee. The Kings got dat de

1035
01:10:51,439 --> 01:10:56,600
Vincenzo, Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles. I think the team I like this

1036
01:10:56,680 --> 01:10:58,760
deal four least, and then I
would like to talk about the Bucks.

1037
01:10:58,760 --> 01:11:01,359
I'm curious to what you think,
and hopefully me rambling right now is giving

1038
01:11:01,359 --> 01:11:04,560
you time to maybe pull up the
parameters of this deal, because I've got

1039
01:11:04,560 --> 01:11:09,560
to see if he's in a fourteen
trade. I think the Pistons are like

1040
01:11:09,720 --> 01:11:14,119
the biggest loser. I don't think
anyone lost. I just don't understand why

1041
01:11:14,119 --> 01:11:18,640
they had to give up a Sacramento
second to get Marvin Bagley, the third

1042
01:11:18,680 --> 01:11:23,520
who was an afterthought in Sacramento now
more so than ever following the acquisition of

1043
01:11:23,520 --> 01:11:27,920
simonus See. I disagree with that
because I don't think I don't think there's

1044
01:11:27,920 --> 01:11:32,000
a loser in this trade and a
small winner how about that. But I

1045
01:11:32,039 --> 01:11:36,119
don't even think that's true because I
think it's the perfect kind of play for

1046
01:11:36,159 --> 01:11:40,640
this Pistons team. I mean,
Badley is still only twenty two years old.

1047
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:45,000
He has that top pick pre pedigree, even if he is viewed as

1048
01:11:45,199 --> 01:11:50,279
not Luca don Chich he's coming out
of the Sacramento Kings organization. Who knows

1049
01:11:50,319 --> 01:11:57,279
how good he actually is. So
I think this is the perfect play for

1050
01:11:57,399 --> 01:12:02,439
Detroit because you are not going to
find a better risk reward balance than Marvin

1051
01:12:02,479 --> 01:12:06,680
Bagley the third right now. They
did not give up much for him,

1052
01:12:06,720 --> 01:12:11,720
again, like twenty two years old, and the biggest asset that you're parting

1053
01:12:11,720 --> 01:12:15,920
with is a second round pick a
year down the road. So to me,

1054
01:12:15,039 --> 01:12:19,560
like this is this is a good
high upside play at a time when

1055
01:12:19,600 --> 01:12:25,760
Detroit is making no pretenses about playing
competitive basketball, trying to figure out what

1056
01:12:25,760 --> 01:12:30,079
it has and Kid Cunningham and Sadique
Bay and the other pieces. This makes

1057
01:12:30,159 --> 01:12:35,159
so much sense to me because if
it pans out, you have changed your

1058
01:12:35,199 --> 01:12:42,399
trajectory entirely because he is so young
and so clearly talented. Even if it

1059
01:12:42,439 --> 01:12:46,279
did not work out in Sacramento for
reasons that I think go well beyond pure

1060
01:12:46,359 --> 01:12:53,119
basketball skills, that it could be
a game changer, And if it doesn't

1061
01:12:53,119 --> 01:12:56,800
work out, you're down a second
round pick when you're already flooded with young

1062
01:12:56,840 --> 01:13:00,560
players and other picks. So I
think it was a no risk, really

1063
01:13:00,640 --> 01:13:04,720
high reward situation for them. And
as much as I like the move for

1064
01:13:04,800 --> 01:13:10,560
basically every team, I think the
Clippers address needs. The King's got some

1065
01:13:11,439 --> 01:13:15,600
relatively distressed asset in Dante DiVincenzo who
could fit better with what they're trying to

1066
01:13:15,640 --> 01:13:18,640
do. And I love the Abaka
fit from Milwaukee, especially if brook Lopez

1067
01:13:18,680 --> 01:13:23,399
isn't healthy. I actually viewed Detroit
as the biggest of the four winners.

1068
01:13:24,359 --> 01:13:28,279
They might have the highest upside outcome, but which is all they should be

1069
01:13:28,359 --> 01:13:32,880
chasing? Right I would already push
back against the idea he could change their

1070
01:13:32,920 --> 01:13:36,119
trajectory on his own. I think
he can still be an open floor threat,

1071
01:13:36,159 --> 01:13:40,119
and he's kind of flashed. We've
seen the floor game, especially in

1072
01:13:40,159 --> 01:13:44,239
open space. He's quietly shooting sixty
one point five percent on catching shoot twos

1073
01:13:44,319 --> 01:13:46,760
this year. So I don't want
to rule out Badley making an All Star

1074
01:13:46,800 --> 01:13:51,079
push in the future. I'm not
out on him, Are you why I'm

1075
01:13:51,119 --> 01:13:56,359
not. I'm ready to dissolve this
partnership right now. Marvin Badby is not

1076
01:13:56,479 --> 01:14:00,880
making an All Star appearance you want, Like I, where is this coming

1077
01:14:00,920 --> 01:14:08,199
from? I do not have any
confidence in thinking we know who he is

1078
01:14:08,520 --> 01:14:13,079
as an NBA player coming out of
a disastrous few years in Sacramento because he

1079
01:14:13,199 --> 01:14:17,239
was not given an opportunity to succeed, whether due to injuries or the rotations

1080
01:14:17,239 --> 01:14:23,760
and the constant coaching flux, to
succeed from the start, and based on

1081
01:14:23,920 --> 01:14:27,760
what we saw from him at Dupe, where he was a legitimate threat to

1082
01:14:27,800 --> 01:14:30,159
go number one overall because he had
such a modern, well rounded skill set,

1083
01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:33,119
and he's still only twenty two years
old and now gets to go to

1084
01:14:33,159 --> 01:14:35,840
a place where he's going to get
to play. I don't want to rule

1085
01:14:35,880 --> 01:14:41,159
that out. I'm not saying it's
likely, but I don't want to count

1086
01:14:41,159 --> 01:14:45,479
out that possibility. I think you're
highest shit right now. That's what I

1087
01:14:45,520 --> 01:14:48,119
think I'll take it. I do
like to play from them, though,

1088
01:14:48,119 --> 01:14:50,680
And it's just like Trey Lyles is
shot in the ball really well lately.

1089
01:14:51,159 --> 01:14:55,399
I think his role was way bigger
than the Pistons ever wanted it to be.

1090
01:14:55,840 --> 01:14:58,720
So you make the higher upside play. Josh Jackson didn't have a spot

1091
01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:00,720
in their future, and I think
both those guys like they might be able

1092
01:15:00,720 --> 01:15:03,239
to help Sacramental this season. Sacramento
just needed wins, so you yet,

1093
01:15:03,319 --> 01:15:05,920
Josh, I know people were talking
about, oh they got Justin Holliday,

1094
01:15:05,960 --> 01:15:10,279
and Jeremy Lamb is part of the
Sabonus trade. I'll give you Justin Holiday.

1095
01:15:10,359 --> 01:15:15,199
Jeremy Lamb is not a win.
He's like a guard like the He's

1096
01:15:15,199 --> 01:15:20,720
like a smaller, more slender Kyle
Landerson type deal. But he doesn't play

1097
01:15:20,720 --> 01:15:25,640
the events. So I like just
having Josh Jackson. Maybe that works.

1098
01:15:26,159 --> 01:15:29,359
Donte DiVincenzo, though we know the
Kings have loved him, he has not

1099
01:15:29,399 --> 01:15:31,119
looked great since his injury last year. That being said, if he ever

1100
01:15:31,159 --> 01:15:33,960
returns to form, knowing what he
did last year just sort of like a

1101
01:15:34,680 --> 01:15:38,840
connector, you do need to limit
his own ball volume. I think not

1102
01:15:38,880 --> 01:15:41,800
shooting the ball well. This year, he has shot it better, especially

1103
01:15:41,840 --> 01:15:45,279
off the catch in the past,
and the Kings just need more cutters around

1104
01:15:45,560 --> 01:15:47,600
Sabonus. I was impressed. I
went back and watched while the trade deadline

1105
01:15:47,640 --> 01:15:51,640
was still quiet, like Sabonis is
fit within the King's offense. When they

1106
01:15:51,640 --> 01:15:56,399
beat Minnesota, I might eat my
words about what I where I said there

1107
01:15:56,479 --> 01:15:59,279
was, you know, a questionable
fit between he and Fox. They looked

1108
01:15:59,279 --> 01:16:01,840
like there's some chemistry there. Devincenzo
could be a part of that again,

1109
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:04,079
if he stays healthy and is able
to move around like he did off the

1110
01:16:04,079 --> 01:16:09,560
ball, and I think he instantly
becomes their second best perimeter defender they have

1111
01:16:09,680 --> 01:16:13,920
Davion Mitchell. I don't know where
you want to rank Harrison Barnes, especially

1112
01:16:13,960 --> 01:16:16,479
as like a perimeter defender when he's
kind of a four, but he instantly

1113
01:16:16,479 --> 01:16:20,079
becomes one of their top three defenders. Oh, I'll say that there.

1114
01:16:20,239 --> 01:16:25,159
So I liked that from them to
the Clippers, this was all about tax

1115
01:16:25,159 --> 01:16:28,279
savings for them. I think that's
fine because we saw that they're willing.

1116
01:16:28,319 --> 01:16:31,119
They tacked on Norman Powell's long term
deal this year, and also with Abaka

1117
01:16:31,960 --> 01:16:36,399
One, moving him opens the opportunity
to sort of play just quirky smaller ball

1118
01:16:36,439 --> 01:16:42,640
lineups with Marcus Morris, Nick Latoum, Norman Powell, Reggie Jackson. If

1119
01:16:42,680 --> 01:16:45,840
Paul George comes back, you can
look at that. If Kawai should come

1120
01:16:45,880 --> 01:16:49,560
back this season, which we already
know he's not not having that other Robert

1121
01:16:49,600 --> 01:16:53,239
Cummington's there too. That's the name
I forgot, Like they can try out

1122
01:16:53,279 --> 01:16:56,680
all these different small ball combinations in
preparation of maybe playing that way this year.

1123
01:16:56,840 --> 01:17:00,760
I'm also not going to complain about
Zoobots and Heart and Stein being your

1124
01:17:00,800 --> 01:17:02,640
primary bigs. Now, I think
those guys are good. So if you're

1125
01:17:02,640 --> 01:17:06,159
gonna cut your tax bill in the
process. While also Sergerbacca was probably gonna

1126
01:17:06,199 --> 01:17:09,600
leaving free agency, and you did
him a solid by sending him to a

1127
01:17:09,600 --> 01:17:13,800
contender. He probably preferred La just
living in LA to Milwaukee, but he's

1128
01:17:13,840 --> 01:17:15,960
on a contender now. And like
you said that, I think that that

1129
01:17:16,000 --> 01:17:19,960
was a good piece of business for
Milwaukee. It also showed, you know,

1130
01:17:20,039 --> 01:17:23,920
contrary to their line of thinking when
they let PJ. Walker walk over

1131
01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:27,520
the PJ Tucker walk over the off
season, they added to their tax bill

1132
01:17:27,840 --> 01:17:32,079
here, so while and now they
have some flexibility to looking at roster spots

1133
01:17:32,079 --> 01:17:34,520
to play with in the buy out
market, We'll see if anybody goes there.

1134
01:17:34,960 --> 01:17:40,600
I think Abaca clearly not the defensive
player he once was. He's not

1135
01:17:40,680 --> 01:17:44,279
really gonna bolster your rebounding anymore.
But he's shooting better than thirty eight percent

1136
01:17:44,359 --> 01:17:47,000
from three, and I think he's
a big that can play with any one

1137
01:17:47,039 --> 01:17:50,039
of their other front court options.
You want to use him with Bobby Portis

1138
01:17:50,039 --> 01:17:53,079
in those minutes, fine, you
want to use him next to honest,

1139
01:17:53,479 --> 01:17:58,159
fine, it works, So I
thought this was they might be the biggest

1140
01:17:58,199 --> 01:18:01,239
immediate winner. To me, I
might have actually liked this deal. I

1141
01:18:01,359 --> 01:18:04,439
might have short term and long term. I think I like this deal the

1142
01:18:04,520 --> 01:18:09,039
most for the Kings. If if
you view Badley's a sun cost. Now,

1143
01:18:10,000 --> 01:18:14,119
if Badley goes to Detroit and thrives
becomes this like commodity ahead of restricted

1144
01:18:14,159 --> 01:18:16,760
free agency, all of a sudden, the Kings will look pretty bad there.

1145
01:18:16,960 --> 01:18:21,760
But this was for their purposes right
now with some cost and really quickly

1146
01:18:21,760 --> 01:18:26,319
on the Kings, they better free
Rashaun Holmes over the offseason. I don't

1147
01:18:26,920 --> 01:18:30,800
I just please, so bonus is
there. That's fine, But sa bonus

1148
01:18:30,840 --> 01:18:33,159
to me is a center. I
said that was with Miles Turner who shot

1149
01:18:33,199 --> 01:18:36,279
threes, and Reshaun Holmes has not
been allowed to shoot three since he was

1150
01:18:36,319 --> 01:18:41,760
in Phoenix. I think, so, please, someone trade I wanted to

1151
01:18:41,760 --> 01:18:44,600
be Toronto. By the way,
they want the Thaddius Young ro Oute.

1152
01:18:44,600 --> 01:18:46,880
That's fine, but someone free Rashaun
Holmes. Also, if Dallas was going

1153
01:18:46,920 --> 01:18:51,000
to trade Christoph's Porzingius, they probably
should have been making like an aggressive play

1154
01:18:51,239 --> 01:18:56,560
for Shaun Holmes. But neither here
or there before we go too long here?

1155
01:18:57,560 --> 01:19:01,199
Do this feel like the rare deadline
where almost every move was like a

1156
01:19:01,199 --> 01:19:08,640
win win? There were very few
deals I hated. If we're I think

1157
01:19:08,640 --> 01:19:14,039
the two deals that really I just
find him just defensible, the Kristaps one

1158
01:19:14,079 --> 01:19:17,520
for Dallas, Yeah, and the
Norman Powell one for Portland was just especially

1159
01:19:17,640 --> 01:19:23,880
really everything Portland has done. But
I also I also understand the overall trajectory

1160
01:19:23,920 --> 01:19:27,640
they're trying to do, but like
those individual moves look bad. I don't

1161
01:19:27,680 --> 01:19:29,880
have a problem with the CJ.
McCullum one they got was probably going to

1162
01:19:29,920 --> 01:19:32,039
be a lottery pick and Josh hark
for him. That's that's actually fine with

1163
01:19:32,079 --> 01:19:35,720
me. But knowing they made that
move, could have still ducked attack.

1164
01:19:35,800 --> 01:19:39,039
There was no reason to do the
Norman Palell trade. And I know people

1165
01:19:39,079 --> 01:19:43,560
say, look at his contract,
you could have moved that for better value

1166
01:19:43,720 --> 01:19:46,800
over the off season, when even
when there's not as much flexibility, there

1167
01:19:46,800 --> 01:19:54,199
would have been more flexibility. Are
you okay, I'll edit this part out.

1168
01:19:54,199 --> 01:19:57,479
Oh you look like you got the
fame. So let's run through these

1169
01:19:57,520 --> 01:20:01,039
teams that didn't do anything quickly in
Atlanta. Are you fine with them standing

1170
01:20:01,079 --> 01:20:05,239
that it's disappointing coming off the cam
Reddish deal, just because that seemed like

1171
01:20:05,279 --> 01:20:10,000
a move the Predicate and another one. But given how hot the team had

1172
01:20:10,039 --> 01:20:14,560
gotten and how well the roster was
working together, I'm not surprised and not

1173
01:20:14,600 --> 01:20:19,079
that disappointed. It doesn't feel like
this roster was ready to keep up with

1174
01:20:19,159 --> 01:20:24,920
the superpowers in the East who are
making moves. What did you think about

1175
01:20:25,039 --> 01:20:30,840
Charlotte traded for tres I was surprised
at how many people didn't love that deal.

1176
01:20:30,920 --> 01:20:35,000
I guess the me the sentiment was, why didn't they swing bigger?

1177
01:20:35,680 --> 01:20:40,159
I see, yeah, I can't
wait to see what he can do playing

1178
01:20:40,199 --> 01:20:43,439
with LaMelo ball Like talk about just
an energy and in fusion for a team

1179
01:20:43,439 --> 01:20:45,720
that already has a ton of energy. Defense is the obvious concern. It

1180
01:20:45,760 --> 01:20:49,600
was already a struggling defensive squad that
is going to get worse now. Didn't

1181
01:20:49,640 --> 01:20:53,159
hate it. I didn't like love
love it, but I liked it.

1182
01:20:54,239 --> 01:20:57,000
I thought they weren't ready. They're
not ready to make it all in play.

1183
01:20:57,159 --> 01:20:59,680
So no, he doesn't address your
interior defense. But unless they've got

1184
01:20:59,800 --> 01:21:02,119
rich on homes, in which case
do that. Yeah, but what was

1185
01:21:02,159 --> 01:21:05,760
the cost of that this deal opens
up playing time probably for James book Knight,

1186
01:21:05,760 --> 01:21:09,520
which I know Hornets fans wanted,
and he's been playing a little bit

1187
01:21:09,560 --> 01:21:13,600
more lately, at least off to
the Hornets games that I've caught. And

1188
01:21:13,680 --> 01:21:17,000
you gave up second round equity for
Tres and you mentioned his energy, he

1189
01:21:17,039 --> 01:21:20,279
has more ball skills like then people
credit for him when we're not talking about

1190
01:21:20,279 --> 01:21:23,560
I don't want to see him post
up really, but when we're talking about

1191
01:21:23,600 --> 01:21:28,079
him attacking going downhill, I said, I did write this. I'll brag

1192
01:21:29,920 --> 01:21:32,840
Harold attacks the rim with the relentless
motor of Godzilla, having just spotted tall

1193
01:21:32,840 --> 01:21:38,640
buildings off into the distance. So
I'm anxious to see his fit in Charlotte.

1194
01:21:38,680 --> 01:21:41,079
And I think not having to give
up a ton of value just for

1195
01:21:41,119 --> 01:21:45,079
this lyre and it does deepen your
big man rotation. Why not the Los

1196
01:21:45,079 --> 01:21:51,239
Angeles Lakers? What were they going
to make the whole give up a first

1197
01:21:51,279 --> 01:21:55,199
round pick with Rostra Wall deal made
no sense for them, right, don't

1198
01:21:55,199 --> 01:21:58,600
do that. Don't do that.
If you can't get anything for Taylor Horton

1199
01:21:58,640 --> 01:22:00,359
Tucker, then they were never going
to make a move. If it's a

1200
01:22:00,359 --> 01:22:03,600
buyout market or nothing for them.
And I also think by waiting, I

1201
01:22:03,600 --> 01:22:09,760
don't know, will there be a
player that's worth this Russ's expiring contract if

1202
01:22:09,760 --> 01:22:13,159
you want it, this is the
monster offer, Russ's expiring contract, a

1203
01:22:13,199 --> 01:22:15,439
twenty twenty six swap, a twenty
twenty seven first, a twenty twenty eight

1204
01:22:15,439 --> 01:22:18,840
swap, and then a twenty twenty
nine first which can be traded this offseason.

1205
01:22:19,960 --> 01:22:24,520
That's like, that's gonna get some
teams. I think, thinking it's

1206
01:22:24,520 --> 01:22:29,399
not gonna get you Jalen Brown or
something like that. But I think waiting

1207
01:22:29,880 --> 01:22:31,520
by not giving up a first round
pick now, whether it's with Russ or

1208
01:22:31,600 --> 01:22:35,479
Kaln Horntucker or none, will benefit
them. I don't expect them to make

1209
01:22:35,520 --> 01:22:41,439
any noise though. I guess the
only other team of Memphis not doing anything.

1210
01:22:41,479 --> 01:22:43,479
I know you're fine with it.
Yeah, we covered that one in

1211
01:22:43,479 --> 01:22:45,359
a previous episode where I just I
don't think you messed the vibes there.

1212
01:22:45,840 --> 01:22:49,000
And also Miles Turner, who I
really wanted for them, was clearly off

1213
01:22:49,000 --> 01:22:54,119
the board the final two very quickly. What did you think about Detroit holding

1214
01:22:54,119 --> 01:23:00,600
on to Jeremy Grant. I was
surprised. I went into the deadline not

1215
01:23:00,680 --> 01:23:02,479
expecting him to be moved just because
I didn't think that many moves were going

1216
01:23:02,560 --> 01:23:06,239
to happen, But once they started
flowing in, it seemed like it should

1217
01:23:06,239 --> 01:23:10,880
have happened. Because he doesn't like
totally fit with this timeline. I don't

1218
01:23:10,920 --> 01:23:14,840
know. I feel like his value
is going to decline a little bit as

1219
01:23:14,880 --> 01:23:17,840
kid Cunningham becomes more established. So
I was surprised that it didn't happen.

1220
01:23:18,119 --> 01:23:21,279
But if the offers aren't out there, they're not out there. Yeah.

1221
01:23:21,359 --> 01:23:25,199
I fell on two sides of the
fence where it's like, oh, Carras

1222
01:23:25,239 --> 01:23:28,600
Lavert got more than a first round
pick. When you look at how how

1223
01:23:28,640 --> 01:23:31,920
far Indy moved up in the second
round and cap relief, why couldn't Jeremy

1224
01:23:31,960 --> 01:23:35,600
Grant get you two first round picks
and something similar. I'm just wondering if

1225
01:23:35,640 --> 01:23:39,840
his desire for that four year,
one hundred twelve million dollar extension might have

1226
01:23:39,840 --> 01:23:44,119
scare teams off. And the Knicks
did. Absolutely, We're not gonna talk

1227
01:23:44,159 --> 01:23:45,760
about the Warriors. They were never
gonna do anything the Knicks did. The

1228
01:23:45,840 --> 01:23:49,119
Jazz maybe not. They didn't make
any big moves aside from m kil Alexander

1229
01:23:49,199 --> 01:23:55,359
Walker. Jazz Knicks run with it? Were you surprised? Do you think

1230
01:23:55,399 --> 01:23:58,960
either of them should have done something
significant? No Knicks needed to clear up

1231
01:23:58,960 --> 01:24:01,920
playing time for others than they did
not that's a failure. Yeah, the

1232
01:24:01,960 --> 01:24:05,199
Knicks are just in a weird spot
where they're supposed to be competitive and clearly

1233
01:24:05,199 --> 01:24:10,159
aren't, and they have bad contracts
and they need to clear up the playing

1234
01:24:10,199 --> 01:24:14,479
time. It just it almost feels
like too much of a mess. Who

1235
01:24:14,479 --> 01:24:16,279
are you're more surprised didn't get moved? Eric Gordon or Jeremy Grant? Eric

1236
01:24:16,359 --> 01:24:21,920
Gordon, I think I'm probably with
you, and I think the team the

1237
01:24:21,960 --> 01:24:26,319
team that did nothing that you think
needed to do something. Who just who

1238
01:24:26,359 --> 01:24:29,319
would you nominate for that? I
think it's the Knicks where they didn't need

1239
01:24:29,359 --> 01:24:32,079
to view it to get better,
they needed to open playing time. Just

1240
01:24:32,119 --> 01:24:36,800
looking at having Evan Fournier, Alec
Burke's even Nolan's Noel there knowing will be

1241
01:24:36,880 --> 01:24:40,439
topping is still sort of Barrett,
You're never going to trade Randall because you've

1242
01:24:40,479 --> 01:24:44,159
gotten them there, Cam Reddish.
Still you gave up a first round pick

1243
01:24:44,199 --> 01:24:49,520
for him? Maybe giving Emmanuel Quickly
a longer leash with Derek Rose out,

1244
01:24:49,560 --> 01:24:54,000
Like why you couldn't wind to take
it for Kema Walker, I thought they

1245
01:24:54,520 --> 01:24:58,239
were going to do something just along
the lines of not a fire sale,

1246
01:24:58,319 --> 01:25:02,399
but hey, we have an easier
path to camp Radish actually playing like something

1247
01:25:02,560 --> 01:25:06,439
along those lines. It's a tough
question because so many teams were involved with

1248
01:25:06,479 --> 01:25:11,239
this deadline that it feels like all
the options are kind of taken out of

1249
01:25:11,239 --> 01:25:14,680
play. So yeah, like,
I guess New Yorker Atlanta is probably the

1250
01:25:14,760 --> 01:25:17,399
right answer, even though I'm not
surprised by either one. I would nominate

1251
01:25:17,439 --> 01:25:20,600
Phoenix thinking that they didn't do enough, but they did actually something. And

1252
01:25:20,680 --> 01:25:24,640
I think I'm about to go on
a rant here, so one of my

1253
01:25:24,680 --> 01:25:27,039
favorite I don't actually know what my
favorite part about the NBA isn't else,

1254
01:25:27,079 --> 01:25:30,520
but like I enjoy some of the
pettiness of it, like that All Star

1255
01:25:30,640 --> 01:25:35,199
Draft with Lebron and kd Arden on
the board. That stuff is fun,

1256
01:25:35,199 --> 01:25:41,159
innocuous, it's hysterical, And that's
kind of why I started getting into NBA

1257
01:25:41,239 --> 01:25:44,840
Twitter, like even kind of when
we had just started writing, because I

1258
01:25:45,039 --> 01:25:50,039
enjoyed like the jokes and the non
seriousness of it all. And I've done

1259
01:25:50,039 --> 01:25:54,359
a better job over the past year
or so sort of grappling with why it

1260
01:25:54,399 --> 01:25:59,880
feels like I've fallen out of love
with the way that I feel we as

1261
01:26:00,359 --> 01:26:04,239
media bloggers fans of the game interact
with one another or view it. And

1262
01:26:04,279 --> 01:26:09,600
I got like fatigue for so long, and I've been sort of warring with

1263
01:26:09,640 --> 01:26:14,960
these two different schools of thought in
my head to where should we not be

1264
01:26:15,039 --> 01:26:16,359
talking about trades? Like there does
need to be more of a focus on

1265
01:26:16,399 --> 01:26:18,720
the game. But I'm here to
tell you as someone who's seen the numbers

1266
01:26:18,960 --> 01:26:24,039
and as someone who is pushed.
And I was very fortunate this year I

1267
01:26:24,039 --> 01:26:27,840
didn't have to do a lot of
pre trade work for Bleacher Report when it

1268
01:26:27,880 --> 01:26:30,199
got, you know, to crunch
time. Yes, I was writing about

1269
01:26:30,199 --> 01:26:34,479
the trades, but my editors allowed
me to either pass uncertain ideas they pitched

1270
01:26:34,520 --> 01:26:38,119
me, and I was writing about
actual basketball. And I'm here to tell

1271
01:26:38,119 --> 01:26:41,640
you, even when you're pushing the
actual basketball, some of the underrated stuff

1272
01:26:42,119 --> 01:26:46,479
people consume trades like that is just
a fact. And it's not just writers

1273
01:26:46,520 --> 01:26:50,119
who are pushing editors or pushing to
cover something else. The numbers are the

1274
01:26:50,199 --> 01:26:54,159
numbers, and those are still going
to dictate a lot. Now to what

1275
01:26:54,399 --> 01:27:00,000
end are is the media responsible for
that. It's not the people who are

1276
01:27:00,000 --> 01:27:03,239
probably actually doing the covering or even
responsible for managing those people. It's the

1277
01:27:03,279 --> 01:27:05,680
people who are above them, who
are above them, who are above them,

1278
01:27:05,880 --> 01:27:10,199
who are only looking at these bottom
lines. And we tend to oversimplify

1279
01:27:10,239 --> 01:27:15,279
it like it's the writer's fault or
the edit the company's fault, like the

1280
01:27:15,600 --> 01:27:19,039
NBA department's fault in this case,
and it's so much more complex than that.

1281
01:27:19,439 --> 01:27:24,800
And what I've also, I think
come to understand is, so I

1282
01:27:24,880 --> 01:27:27,800
mentioned this you before the podcast.
You and I came into the business at

1283
01:27:27,800 --> 01:27:30,520
a weird time where we're not part
of the original NBA blogg issphere intelligenza,

1284
01:27:30,640 --> 01:27:34,720
which I love so many of those
people, but they're all They are also

1285
01:27:34,760 --> 01:27:38,960
sort of closed off where it was
like you weren't if you weren't in it,

1286
01:27:39,039 --> 01:27:41,399
you weren't in that click. You're
still just not in that click.

1287
01:27:41,720 --> 01:27:45,199
And then there's sort of like this
new age school of thought where you can't

1288
01:27:45,239 --> 01:27:49,039
talk about trades. The NBA isn't
focus enough on the actual product. Everything

1289
01:27:49,079 --> 01:27:54,479
needs to be masturbatory about. You
know, players are so great and we

1290
01:27:54,520 --> 01:27:59,079
can't really criticize them there's also which
I actually think is valuable and I credit

1291
01:27:59,359 --> 01:28:00,880
I shout them out on this podcast
like too much, too much, but

1292
01:28:01,000 --> 01:28:03,560
Tara Bone bigs from that. We
have a tape podcast, and Katie Heindel

1293
01:28:03,600 --> 01:28:08,199
specifically, who just covers a lead
from everywhere and including her basketball feelings,

1294
01:28:08,960 --> 01:28:14,880
Substack Newsletter whatever they're called now right, they've helped me really like appreciate and

1295
01:28:14,960 --> 01:28:17,600
understand the human elements more to where
there was a point where I was writing

1296
01:28:17,600 --> 01:28:21,560
trade articles and putting these disclaimers and
that were being edited out and so I

1297
01:28:21,560 --> 01:28:26,039
had to get rid of them.
But like I that stuff is important,

1298
01:28:26,439 --> 01:28:30,319
but it's also okay to like enjoy
everything, and that's what it took me

1299
01:28:30,359 --> 01:28:32,000
so long to come to terms with, but was like sort of my rant

1300
01:28:32,000 --> 01:28:34,399
there. It's like, we don't
need to you know, what middle grounds

1301
01:28:34,399 --> 01:28:39,520
are important, but it's also important
to have actual opinions and not try to

1302
01:28:39,560 --> 01:28:43,760
find a middle ground all the time. It's okay to say, like the

1303
01:28:43,760 --> 01:28:45,680
Mavericks fucked up. That was I
don't even know what the hell that was.

1304
01:28:45,800 --> 01:28:49,479
And it's okay to say that,
It's okay to appreciate like the duality

1305
01:28:50,000 --> 01:28:55,520
of certain situations and it still feels
like there's a lack of nuance from certain

1306
01:28:55,640 --> 01:29:00,279
people who to me come off as
like performative or pious when looking at how

1307
01:29:00,279 --> 01:29:02,640
they cover the game or the lens
through which they view the game. They

1308
01:29:02,640 --> 01:29:08,039
can also be incredibly gate keep.
I also find I feel like myself is

1309
01:29:08,039 --> 01:29:12,960
probably been guilty of this many times, being condescending. And it's just like

1310
01:29:13,000 --> 01:29:15,720
when fans are asking it, you
might get tired of hearing the same question

1311
01:29:15,720 --> 01:29:18,520
over and over again. I'll use
the CBA as an example. It's really

1312
01:29:18,560 --> 01:29:23,960
not the fans' fault that some of
this stuff goes above their head. And

1313
01:29:24,000 --> 01:29:26,920
I don't mean that as an insulting
they can't understand it. It's just not

1314
01:29:27,039 --> 01:29:30,039
talked about in the clearest of terms. Like the CBA itself is convoluted.

1315
01:29:30,279 --> 01:29:33,840
The people who love it just say
these things without all the time explaining them.

1316
01:29:33,920 --> 01:29:36,199
It can be the same time maybe
with you and I when we're talking

1317
01:29:36,239 --> 01:29:42,439
about numbers or something else, and
all that stuff just really started the way

1318
01:29:42,560 --> 01:29:45,560
on me probably like eighteen months ago, and I think over the past six

1319
01:29:45,680 --> 01:29:48,880
or eight months it's made it easier
to consume the game of basketball for me

1320
01:29:48,920 --> 01:29:53,000
and more fun to participate in just
all the aspects. And I'm not trying

1321
01:29:53,000 --> 01:29:55,920
to come off as like this might
be a sermon at this point, but

1322
01:29:56,279 --> 01:30:00,560
especially around the trade season or if
we're, you know, if really into

1323
01:30:00,600 --> 01:30:03,319
like the deep x's and ohs,
when we're having the important conversations about Ben

1324
01:30:03,319 --> 01:30:06,640
Simmons and his mental health absence,
I don't. It's not my place to

1325
01:30:06,640 --> 01:30:10,079
deliver a verdict on it. Do
I think that the optics are great if

1326
01:30:10,079 --> 01:30:14,800
he immediately returns to Brooklyn nets after
citing that he couldn't play for Philadelphia because

1327
01:30:14,800 --> 01:30:17,239
of his mental health. No,
the optics aren't great. But we also

1328
01:30:17,880 --> 01:30:21,399
have put a players in these situations
where yeah, we welcome Kevin Love and

1329
01:30:21,439 --> 01:30:27,439
Demard Rozen when they're talking about actual
trauma because it's not related to basketball.

1330
01:30:27,680 --> 01:30:30,600
But what is like the first opinion
going to be on a talking head show

1331
01:30:30,600 --> 01:30:33,399
if it's first take or I don't
even know what? What? What?

1332
01:30:33,399 --> 01:30:36,319
What is skip Bayliss this show called
I don't, I have no idea,

1333
01:30:38,039 --> 01:30:42,880
I don't. I don't watch it, but like they're gonna talk about player

1334
01:30:43,159 --> 01:30:46,159
X wasn't mentally strong enough, they
didn't want it enough. There's too much

1335
01:30:46,199 --> 01:30:50,359
pressure on them. I don't know
that. I don't. I don't.

1336
01:30:50,520 --> 01:30:54,720
It's not about whether you believe Ben
Simmons or not, but like we've put

1337
01:30:54,760 --> 01:30:57,760
players in a position to where they
could absolutely feel that way, to where

1338
01:30:57,760 --> 01:31:00,760
if he was afraid of facing the
Sixers fan base, I wouldn't blame him

1339
01:31:00,800 --> 01:31:03,840
and or not wanting to deal with
the criticism from this. It's tough.

1340
01:31:03,880 --> 01:31:08,920
I get, you know, I
get like, still I think my skin

1341
01:31:09,000 --> 01:31:11,399
is thicker, but it's still pretty
thin. So like when stuff happens,

1342
01:31:11,399 --> 01:31:15,039
when there's people in DMS yelling at
me or mentions or something happens, like

1343
01:31:15,079 --> 01:31:17,399
you know, it impacts me.
Players are facing this on a larger scale.

1344
01:31:17,680 --> 01:31:21,359
It's also fair to criticize Ben Simmons
because he has not tried to expand

1345
01:31:21,640 --> 01:31:25,680
his offensive game in a meaningful fashion
since he came in the league. There

1346
01:31:25,720 --> 01:31:30,439
are so many different layers to everything, and I just feel like we lose

1347
01:31:30,520 --> 01:31:32,640
sight of that nuance and it always
has to be about one thing, and

1348
01:31:32,880 --> 01:31:38,199
too much is focused on what the
league is, not, what the coverage

1349
01:31:38,279 --> 01:31:42,720
is not, what people aren't doing. Oh we're not celebrating this player enough.

1350
01:31:42,760 --> 01:31:46,159
Oh we're criticizing this player too much. And I miss what felt like,

1351
01:31:46,439 --> 01:31:51,279
maybe not camaraderie across NBA Twitter,
but just like a lightness and a

1352
01:31:51,359 --> 01:31:56,920
levity, and I get that they're
really more profound and heavier emotionally affecting things

1353
01:31:56,920 --> 01:31:59,119
that we need to talk about and
discuss. And there are people that do

1354
01:31:59,159 --> 01:32:00,319
a great job of that. There
are people that have opened my eyes to

1355
01:32:00,359 --> 01:32:03,840
that stuff. I think it's important. I'm not far from perfect in this

1356
01:32:03,920 --> 01:32:09,520
situation, like as anyone, like, I'm not trying to be blameless here

1357
01:32:09,560 --> 01:32:13,199
or like I said, preach,
it's just around this time of year specifically,

1358
01:32:13,279 --> 01:32:15,079
because that's when it feels like the
most people come out where it's they

1359
01:32:15,119 --> 01:32:19,720
look down on people who appreciate trades
or the cap or free agency. I'm

1360
01:32:19,760 --> 01:32:23,960
still angry about what people said to
Kayla Cooper on Twitter a while ago because

1361
01:32:23,960 --> 01:32:28,279
the patients weren't relevant enough to deal
with xs and os like it's just the

1362
01:32:28,319 --> 01:32:30,560
absolution is how I'm going to close
this And the way that the NBA is

1363
01:32:30,560 --> 01:32:34,720
sometimes covered it really just pisses me
off and it disappoints me. And it's

1364
01:32:34,760 --> 01:32:39,560
not just Twitter eggs like, it's
people who, whether they know what they're

1365
01:32:39,600 --> 01:32:44,600
doing or not, like, have
created this weird environment to where you're not

1366
01:32:44,720 --> 01:32:49,720
allowed to appreciate the MBA at varying
scales without there being some sort of trade

1367
01:32:49,720 --> 01:32:55,239
off or moral hazard or just sort
of a wrongness in the way you consume

1368
01:32:55,279 --> 01:32:58,439
it. The only thing I really
want to add is I do think it's

1369
01:32:58,439 --> 01:33:01,479
important to mention one more layer of
the Simon situation, which is just like

1370
01:33:02,640 --> 01:33:06,880
there there is a legitimate possibility and
he'll receive so much criticism if he does

1371
01:33:08,279 --> 01:33:12,239
immediately end up playing for the Brooklyn
Nets, But it's a nuanced situation.

1372
01:33:12,279 --> 01:33:15,840
And how many times, you know, have people been subject to to toxic

1373
01:33:15,840 --> 01:33:18,560
work environments and as soon as they
make that change in environment, you can

1374
01:33:18,600 --> 01:33:21,279
breathe again, and you know,
for all we know, like that could

1375
01:33:21,279 --> 01:33:26,640
be exactly what happens here. And
I just don't want to come across as

1376
01:33:27,199 --> 01:33:32,159
immediately like dismissing what could have been
and what may very well have been legitimate

1377
01:33:32,199 --> 01:33:39,199
issues with his mental health that could
be alleviated almost immediately upon an exit from

1378
01:33:39,239 --> 01:33:44,079
what was a toxic situation where he's
received so much criticism from that fan base

1379
01:33:44,159 --> 01:33:46,119
for his performance, for his lack
of development, et cetera, et cetera,

1380
01:33:46,439 --> 01:33:51,560
that we don't have insight into that. Yeah, and the final final

1381
01:33:51,600 --> 01:33:55,399
thing let's say is maybe this stuff
for me personally is born from the fact

1382
01:33:55,479 --> 01:33:58,960
that there's got to be a chip
from my shoulder. I feel like I'm

1383
01:33:59,000 --> 01:34:04,000
pretty self deprecated when it comes to
this podcast single handedly easily the most underrated

1384
01:34:04,159 --> 01:34:08,079
NBA podcast out there, so you
should rate, review, and subscribe.

1385
01:34:08,079 --> 01:34:10,960
But I also feel that way about
my writing. And that'll be as close

1386
01:34:11,000 --> 01:34:15,000
as I come to Dan is the
most underrated NBA writer out there. I'll

1387
01:34:15,039 --> 01:34:16,479
go ahead and say it. You
know, if we're handing out superlatives,

1388
01:34:17,199 --> 01:34:19,640
it's that if you haven't read is
stuff, just don't read it. You

1389
01:34:19,760 --> 01:34:23,840
learn something every time, and not
just about basketball, but about like just

1390
01:34:23,880 --> 01:34:28,000
pure writing skills. The all I
ask is just to go a day without

1391
01:34:28,000 --> 01:34:32,159
having something I write, like maybe
being questioned like it wasn't perhaps like this

1392
01:34:32,199 --> 01:34:34,720
doesn't happen a lot. So I'll
actually leave that and won't drop that here.

1393
01:34:34,760 --> 01:34:39,119
But I appreciate you saying that that's
already alluded to it anyway. Yeah,

1394
01:34:39,199 --> 01:34:43,520
that's as closest I'll come to compliment
myself, like this podcast is underrated,

1395
01:34:43,560 --> 01:34:45,159
the work I do is underrated.
Maybe I don't consume the game and

1396
01:34:45,199 --> 01:34:49,560
the way that's like the most popular
or has been defined as like acceptable,

1397
01:34:49,760 --> 01:34:53,640
and it's not me specifically. It's
like, I think the way I consume

1398
01:34:53,640 --> 01:34:57,880
it is weirder, like the primary
way that I watch that full well,

1399
01:34:58,079 --> 01:35:00,479
yeah, when I do, when
I do happen to watch. Yeah,

1400
01:35:00,520 --> 01:35:03,319
Like I'm constantly thinking about things from
a historical lens. You know. I

1401
01:35:03,680 --> 01:35:09,479
pride myself, even as a relatively
younger writer slash editor at this point,

1402
01:35:09,800 --> 01:35:14,239
like on my historical knowledge of the
game, and I often watched through that

1403
01:35:14,319 --> 01:35:17,279
filter. And I love the historical
rankings, and I love thinking about how

1404
01:35:17,560 --> 01:35:21,199
players between eras and during the same
eras stacked up against each other, and

1405
01:35:21,279 --> 01:35:25,319
like that's constantly going on in the
back of my mind. So like that's

1406
01:35:25,359 --> 01:35:28,720
not a very popular way to watch
and consume the game, but that's how

1407
01:35:28,760 --> 01:35:33,560
I enjoy it most I And that's
also fine. There's I will say.

1408
01:35:33,680 --> 01:35:38,279
The other thing is like to downplay
like the role of people who cover more

1409
01:35:38,560 --> 01:35:41,319
than one team or the league at
large. Like, Okay, it's great

1410
01:35:41,760 --> 01:35:45,199
that person X knows more about picking
a team at random. Here, let's

1411
01:35:45,239 --> 01:35:48,319
just say the Wizards that might be
part of where my chip comes from as

1412
01:35:48,359 --> 01:35:51,520
well. I've mentioned that I think
localized coverage has become more important and I

1413
01:35:51,560 --> 01:35:55,640
love it. I love listening to
the team centric podcast. I genuinely love

1414
01:35:55,640 --> 01:36:00,439
seeing people succeed, especially when they've
built their podcasts or or blogs recently.

1415
01:36:00,920 --> 01:36:03,560
But there is a role on people
who cover the like you know when you

1416
01:36:03,640 --> 01:36:05,880
see trades would be a great example, when you see some of these fake

1417
01:36:05,920 --> 01:36:11,359
trades that are pitched out there and
it's clear that the person is making those

1418
01:36:11,399 --> 01:36:16,279
trades through the lens of the singular
team they follow slash cover it's important to

1419
01:36:16,319 --> 01:36:20,520
have all different types of coverages.
This is like super whiny of like,

1420
01:36:20,640 --> 01:36:25,760
oh national NBA podcast, people feel
under appreciated. I think this podcast,

1421
01:36:25,800 --> 01:36:30,159
aside from ours, spectacular, this
was a blast as usual. We hope

1422
01:36:30,199 --> 01:36:33,439
everybody appreciated it. Please, if
you've made it this far, remember to

1423
01:36:33,520 --> 01:36:38,479
rate, review, and subscribe to
this podcast wherever you consume it, consume

1424
01:36:38,560 --> 01:36:43,039
it. I really need to get
some sleep, Rate review and subscribe us

1425
01:36:43,039 --> 01:36:45,079
on iTunes as well, whether you
use it or not, that helps out

1426
01:36:45,079 --> 01:36:47,359
a ton. Join our discord channel. It was like it was like a

1427
01:36:47,359 --> 01:36:51,079
proud parent seeing all of our I
couldn't be in discord as much today because

1428
01:36:51,079 --> 01:36:54,960
I was so busy. But it's
really cool to see a bunch of our

1429
01:36:54,960 --> 01:36:57,760
listeners, a few dozen of them, just interact with each other and talk

1430
01:36:57,800 --> 01:37:00,760
hoops. So join our Discord links
in the podcast description. Follow us on

1431
01:37:00,800 --> 01:37:03,560
YouTube, YouTube dot com, Hardward
Knox. We're at hardwar Knox on Twitter

1432
01:37:03,760 --> 01:37:10,439
at Hardward underscoreingoxs on Instagram all our
personal and NBA slash Sports Math related accounts.

1433
01:37:10,720 --> 01:37:14,399
Those are listed in the podcast scription
as well. I do believe I'd

1434
01:37:14,399 --> 01:37:17,279
like to throw it to Adam very
quickly because we have something launching this weekend.

1435
01:37:17,319 --> 01:37:20,119
If I'm not mistaken, Yeah,
we are. We are planning on

1436
01:37:20,239 --> 01:37:27,319
launching the Sports Math Network website on
Sunday, just prior to the Super Bowl.

1437
01:37:27,920 --> 01:37:32,359
We already have stuff cooking up.
We have all of the metrics you've

1438
01:37:32,359 --> 01:37:34,720
come to know and love for NBA
Math, as well as a bunch of

1439
01:37:34,760 --> 01:37:39,760
stuff for MLB Math, QB Math, NHL Math, and PGA math,

1440
01:37:39,800 --> 01:37:44,319
as well as the unveiling of our
twack metric, which I'm not even going

1441
01:37:44,359 --> 01:37:46,319
to explain yet. You're just gonna
have to wonder and try to figure out

1442
01:37:46,439 --> 01:37:48,960
what the hell that could possibly be, and but it's it's pretty cool.

1443
01:37:49,600 --> 01:37:53,079
I don't mean to be this person, but I know what it is and

1444
01:37:53,119 --> 01:37:56,119
it's glorious. I had zero hand
in it, which is a little bit

1445
01:37:56,199 --> 01:37:59,479
upsetting, but I at least knew
about it before. Its fault for not

1446
01:37:59,560 --> 01:38:02,920
living in fair enough. I have
no refusion to that. But I'll leave

1447
01:38:02,960 --> 01:38:06,119
you to shout out as we get
out of here to the one the only

1448
01:38:06,319 --> 01:38:12,640
didn't get traded because he is indispensable
to what they're eventually going to do this

1449
01:38:12,680 --> 01:38:16,159
season, which is probably losing the
first round. Frank Mila Kina of the

1450
01:38:16,279 --> 01:38:19,840
Dallas Mavericks. Number one in my
heart and yours