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Speaker 1: What is up? Fellasiko's I Am Dan Valley coming at

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you with a trade reaction podcast. That will be the

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podcast if it will be your typical Tuesday episode unless

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another trade happens, if you go normally, if you're new

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around these parts Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, with full length episodes,

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sometimes with bonus one sprinklet in there. But dor Infinney

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Smith headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, a move that didn't.

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The Dorianfhinney Smith trade did not come out of nowhere.

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The Lakers being the destination is something of a surprise,

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if only because the Grizzlies were the team that was

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linked most heavily to DFS since the Dennis Shrewder trade.

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The Lakers trade, though, let's get to the trade details.

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We always got to start with the trade details. So

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the Brooklyn Nets are getting Diez L. Russell on an

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expiring contract. Maxwell Lewis has some time left on his deal,

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someone that they will actually probably put into their lineup.

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They're in full on experimental mode and they're getting three

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second round picks and we already have the details on

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those picks. They're the Lakers zone in twenty twenty seven,

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two thousand and thirty and two thousand and thirty one,

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and so that's shorting the Lakers future. The Lakers will

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receive Duran Finney Smith, he has a player option for

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fifteen point four million dollars next season, and Shake Milton

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the final two years of his deal are non guaranteed.

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The two other notes from this trade that I think

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are important and we'll get into them in additional detail. Momentarily,

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the Lakers are now three and a half million dollars

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below the second apron. They were something like it was

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sub fifty k beneath the second apron. That's just extra

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flexibility and so there's it makes trades somewhat easier, but

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they still can't take back more money than they receive,

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but it's more flexibility for if they want to fill

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out their roster, you know, come buy out market time

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where if they want to go after guys who contracts

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they're either waived maybe post a trade, or they at

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trade deadline passes and they get they negotiate a buyout

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and then they want to sign with a new team,

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the Lakers. As of now, we'll have more money with

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which to bandy about. They are again we always tend

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to over romanticize those types of additions, but the extra

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flexibility is big, and we know because they're run like

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a mom and pop shop that they'll appreciate the luxury

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tax savings as well. And then the nets now, so

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they don't necessarily increase their cap space for twenty twenty

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five with this trade, but they theoretically can because if

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you believe Dorian Phinney Smith is going to pick up

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his player option, you're now replacing him with a sub

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two million dollars salary in Maxwell Lewis because Danser Russell

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comes off the books, and so Brooklyn is now in

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line for I have them at given what their current

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draft positioning would be and the other draft picks that

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they have about seventy five plus million in cap space,

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and so in theory, like functionally speaking, it may have

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increased their cap space and that will be worth getting into.

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Of course, we have to wait and see how the

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rest of the deadline plays out. Let's start with let's

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start with the nets here, because there's probably more of

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an analysis to be done on the Lakers, So let's

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go through the NETS part of this really quick. They

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don't get a first round pick for Dennis Schuter or

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Dorian Phinney Smith. I really thought they'd get late first

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for Dorian Phinney Smith. However, they're plus five second round

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picks from these two trades without taking back any bad

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money or long like super long term money. That's over

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two million dollars a season. That is a win, I

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would say, or at least it's a net neutral move.

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We have to see how the deadline plays out, but

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it started to make me think, does Brooklyn have plans

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for its cap space given these deals? And if they do,

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does that make it more likely that we see a

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Nick Claxton or a Cam Johnson trade, because then they're

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just gonna monopolize all the cap space possible, especially if

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they're getting expiring salary in return. The other thing here, too,

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is so they could have it seemed like per the

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reporting from Mark Stein, it did seem like the hold

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up in a Grizzlies deal for Dorian Phinney Smith was

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they were going to send out lukenar John Conchar and

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I guess a twenty twenty six first round pick. I

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assume it would have been heavily protected. I think you

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could you could reasonably argue that two of these Lakers

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second round picks might amount to more value than whatever

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their protections were in that twenty twenty six pick from Memphis,

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because you're probably looking at if you project that to

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be number twenty two or worse, there's value in getting

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in the first round. But if you think the Lakers

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are going to be a team in the thirties at

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least twice during that stretch, again you're rolling the dice. There.

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The bigger thing though, aside from again, they're taking back

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expiring money in D'Angelo Russell rather than John conchar who

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has a few seasons left at you know, six seven

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million dollars a pop. Luke Canard technically has a He

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has the implicit no trade clause because of the contract

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that he signed, and he would forfeit his bird rights

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if moved. I'm actually surprised that he was able to

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retain though, like that veto power, I would have thought

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the Grizzlies would have gotten him to waive that as

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part of they declined his team option. Yes, and so

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he took less money to come back. But who was

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giving Luke Canard nine plus million dollars for even a

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single season of work given his injury history? Maybe there

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was a team out there. But if that's what kind

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of derailed the deal, maybe he didn't want to go

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to Brooklyn because he knew that they were a team

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that wouldn't value his bird rights, and so it's an

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easier sell for him to say, hey, I'll go to

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a team that might want to keep me around and

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then pay me off of this number. That would be

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short sighted on his part, I think in return, because

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if you're going to be bad, you kind of want

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to overpay shooters. And in Brooklyn, if he's healthy, I

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assume maybe they look to reroute him. But he would

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have played a bunch and maybe that would have inflated

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his numbers and put him in a good position entering

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free agency to be part of the someone who can

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get a mid level deal or a large chunk of

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a mid level or at least the full non taxpayers

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excuse me, at least like the full taxpayers mid level

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over the course of multiple years. Interesting if that was

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the hangup, I'm not saying if that's what it was,

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but it did. It felt like those talks were progressing

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until they weren't. And so those are maybe those are

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maybe two factors to kind of think about is, oh,

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did Brooklyn not really want John Conchar's money and did

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Lukenard want not want to go to Brooklyn? I one

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of those two things, I think, or if not both

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would be my guest that it came into play for

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the Nets. Their offense is dead last in points scored

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per possession since the Dennis Shruter trade. That is no

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surprise given that Cam Thomas has one been injured and

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that Dennis Shuter was driving a lot of what they do.

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Delo can help there. He did have some of he had.

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I mean, he probably had his best years in Brooklyn.

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And you're not looking to win games right now, but

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to help drive just some type of offense that's not

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dead last in the league even as you're looking to

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make up ground in the tanking race. And look, Delo

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can also I'm talking about the Nets is cap space,

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which looks seventy five plus million dollars at a time

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where next summer free agency class whatever, that cap space

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can be used to complete trades or to take on

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money that's attached to draft picks. You just don't there's

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no other team that's even gonna come close to having

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Brooklyn's projected cap space right now. I think the next closest,

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like if we're if we're practically speaking, maybe Washington can

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carve out I don't know, like some like thirty plus million.

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Detroit can do a bunch of weird things if they

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want to. But you're not looking in the realm of

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sixty seventy none of those there's no other team that

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projects to have that kind of cap space right now.

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That's just valuable because you're then unique. I tend to

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I'm not wondering just based off these returns if that's

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part of the calculus. That being said, Denzel Russell can

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still be traded, and so they can take that large

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expiring number and turn around and like move it for

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another long term salary, that is salaries that are coming

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attached to draft equity or prospects. I mean, eighteen point

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seven million dollars is a nice chunk of change. It's easier,

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you know, you can take back more money for him

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than you could have if you traded during Phinny Smith

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as a standalone, That's something I'll be monitoring. And it's

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more so the larger direction of the nets now beyond

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this season, where I'd kind of just assume that they

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wouldn't care about their cap space as much. Yeah, I

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can serve some of it, use some of it, but

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at this point I'm wondering if they're actively prioritizing it,

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which would make them very interesting to monitor heading out

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to the offseason and free agency and more. I would

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say critically the trade market again, whether it's to lease

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out that cap space or to like go out and

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use it via trades or free agency. I think the

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Nets have now succeeded in ensuring they will not be

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good enough to ruin their lottery. Odds you're never gonna

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catch the Wizards or the Pelicans or the Jazz at

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this point, but you'll probably have a good chance of

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being as bad, if not worse than the Hornets, the Raptors,

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the Blazers even and then certainly and like the Kings

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and the Spurs and the other teams there, the Pistons

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or are too good, the Bulls are too good as

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of right now, So that puts Brooklyn in now I

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would successfully say prime position. To have a say a

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bottom five records or like bottom four could be tough

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because that's the Pelicans, the Wizards, the Raptors, Hornets, Jazz,

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and Blazers are all below them. And of those teams,

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I could envision Toronto as it continues to get healthier,

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maybe winning too many games, and what is Charlotte actually

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trying to do? But the Jazz and Blazers aren't interested

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in winning? They should have. Look they are if they

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want to bottom, they want a bottom four record, They're

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about five losses off their four losses off of a

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bottom five record. They seem set up to they seem

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set up to achieve that goal. The bigger implications here, though,

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are for the Lakers, not just because they're the Lakers,

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but they're actually trying to win here, and so this

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team does not people Some people feel a type of

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way about Max CHRISTI I think that is fine. This

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team does not have a two way wing on its roster,

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and it really hasn't for quite some time. And the

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closest they've probably come to typifying it since the Contavious Caldwell, Pope,

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Alex Caruso, even Kyle Kuzma days is probably Torrian Prince

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or Cam Reddish or Max Christie. That's not you know,

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that's not great. That's no great shakes there, And look

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to Los Angeles' credit if you look at the standings

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right now, just by terms of winning percentage, they technically

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have a top eight record in the league. So like,

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that's a pretty big deal. They are fifth in the

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Western Conference and they're two losses off of second place

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in Memphis, you could say, or three losses off. Excuse me.

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I saw some reactions, like initial reactions on Twitter and

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Bluesky of this of just like, well, what does this

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do for them aside from kind of keep them in

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that same tier. That's a big deal. You didn't give

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up a first round pick and you actively got better.

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You have a two way wing, which is someone an

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archetype of player that you didn't previously have. And when

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you're looking at the goal, yeah, you want them to

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contend for a title. And we could talk about whether

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there's more moves to follow. This helps balance out your

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rotation a little bit. And like I said, you didn't

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give up a first round pick, and that's what going

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for it looks like in the Western Conference. Yeah, they

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might have solidified their place in the top six. Maybe.

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I mean you can't even say that because Denver and

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Minnesota they could all play. They could each play better.

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Maybeven the Warriors and the Suns get hot, the Kings too.

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Thing's ever safe. That's sort of kind of the point

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is that if you're a top six team in the West,

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like you're probably pretty damn good. I don't think the

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Lakers are pretty damn good. There's like just a lot

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of noise coming into how they got here. They are, however,

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quietly eleventh in points lab per possession for the month

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of December. The offense is suffered, and that does get

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into some interesting stuff here with them, so off rip.

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I just think having Dornan Phiney Smith on defense, and

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he's probably not the same player he was peak Dallas,

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but he is immediately their best perimeter defensive. But you

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can't talk me really into anyone else. Maybe Jared Vanderbilt

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if he was healthy. When he's healthy, maybe, uh, that's

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a big deal and it should make life in a

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lot of combinations easier on Anthony Davis, but also maybe

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not make some of Lebron's miscues as egregious. Perhaps this

241
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season and you're getting someone who I mean, look, the Lakers,

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they're not a good three point shooting team. They are

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twenty seventh in three point volume and eighteenth in three

244
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point percentage. Dorn Phinney Smith is shooting forty three and

245
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a half percent on five point four to three point

246
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attempts per game. That performance might not hold because it's

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an outlier relative to the other stuff that he has done,

248
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but he's always been someone who can hit a wide

249
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open three off the catch and the Lakers need that.

250
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Where it is worth noting, though, is that Jorian Finney

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Smith is not even with his volume, which I think

252
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per minute, you probably want that to come up and

253
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we'll see if the Lakers can do that. He's not

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someone that, like teams are overly concerned about because we've

255
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seen him go through either cold stretches before just be

256
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,279
a mediocre shooter. Even this year, he is still rates

257
00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,519
below average in his off ball gravity. It's about league

258
00:12:39,519 --> 00:12:41,720
average is the forty nine percent tile, so it's close,

259
00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,080
but it's not like he's in the eightieth And then

260
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,000
in spot up points per shot, he's still in the

261
00:12:46,039 --> 00:12:49,679
thirty fourth percentile this year, so it's not like they've

262
00:12:49,879 --> 00:12:52,840
now opened the floor a bunch, but they've gotten another

263
00:12:52,919 --> 00:12:56,360
complimentary player who maybe defense isn't as likely to close

264
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out on him. But it does simplify the malege you

265
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need to, and even with Deanelo Russell running units on

266
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his own or playing independent of a bunch of starters,

267
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,080
it does simplify things a little bit. However, it is

268
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worth noting that the Lakers ranked in the seventy fourth

269
00:13:12,279 --> 00:13:15,200
percentile of offense with Delo on the court this year,

270
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and they're in the thirty second percentile without him. When

271
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you add Lebron to those non Delo minutes, the Lakers

272
00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,759
are in the fortieth percentile of offense. You now add

273
00:13:23,799 --> 00:13:27,200
a d to those Lebron minutes without Delo, you're still

274
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,960
only in the fifty fifth. And you now look at

275
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,879
this team and say, I know Austin Reeves is having

276
00:13:32,919 --> 00:13:35,799
a good year, you still have Maybe this is to

277
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some degree not just a vote of confidence in Anthony Davis,

278
00:13:40,279 --> 00:13:43,440
but also Lebron of saying, well, he can still shoulder

279
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more on offense and maybe that's where he's kind of

280
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at his most comfortable, and so removing dl from the

281
00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,519
equation it again not even looking directly at lineups Lebron

282
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,720
was already involved in, but maybe it forces you to

283
00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,879
test out other lineups that will feature Lebron in more

284
00:13:58,879 --> 00:14:00,960
of a way that he's used to and perhaps that

285
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,320
would yeah, because look his offensive numbers this season on paper,

286
00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,039
they're absolutely fine. He does not have the same level

287
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,039
of burst. But is this just a vote of confidence

288
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,240
in him being able to do more? Then, as I guess,

289
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,200
I would say it's a scorer. Specifically what he's it

290
00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,399
is it nineus sis per game this year, So I

291
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,000
don't know how much more you want him to do

292
00:14:19,399 --> 00:14:22,399
as a playmaker, but you have lost shot creation and

293
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,879
playmaking as the result of this trade. Now, it wasn't

294
00:14:26,279 --> 00:14:30,159
particularly efficient shot creating or playmaking, and that's why maybe

295
00:14:30,159 --> 00:14:32,399
it's a roll worth a role of the dice of saying, hey,

296
00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,080
Dawn Phinney, Smith will help us improve on the defensive end,

297
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,840
and he at least won't submarine our offense and their

298
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,639
offense is what would submarine even look like. They're twenty

299
00:14:42,679 --> 00:14:45,840
third in points per possession for the month of December,

300
00:14:45,879 --> 00:14:48,320
so they rank better on the season, but on the

301
00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,799
season they're still only like league average in point score

302
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,320
per possession. I think they can't be much higher than

303
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,799
that they are. They're thirteenth in point score per possession,

304
00:14:57,919 --> 00:14:59,919
and when you look at the half court they're eleven,

305
00:15:00,159 --> 00:15:01,799
and so That's where one where you might look at

306
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,720
and say, okay, are they going to miss the ball

307
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,840
handling of the ends of the rustle, which kind of

308
00:15:06,879 --> 00:15:10,320
brings me though to my next interesting question, what does

309
00:15:10,399 --> 00:15:14,440
this say about the Lakers's trade deadline direction or what

310
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,440
they're willing to do for the rest of this season,

311
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,159
Because I think you could look at this and reasonably

312
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:24,240
argue based off their track record, this is probably one

313
00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:26,440
of the better players who will get moved before the

314
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,639
trade deadline anyway, And if they didn't have to give

315
00:15:28,679 --> 00:15:30,200
up a first round pick and they're still kind of

316
00:15:30,279 --> 00:15:33,720
uncertain about their standing in the Western Conference, is this it?

317
00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:35,759
Is this the big splash? And they made this move

318
00:15:35,799 --> 00:15:38,600
because it playcates Lebron and ad to some extent, but

319
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,120
it's not the all in move. That might be what

320
00:15:41,279 --> 00:15:44,080
happens here, and we'll have to see. Maybe the Lakers

321
00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,679
are better off as currently constructed. There's a give and

322
00:15:47,759 --> 00:15:50,600
take to this trade, and the part of the give, though,

323
00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:52,320
or part of the take, I don't know what part

324
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,399
of the one of the ends of that would be. Well,

325
00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,120
they're more flexible and so they could add on the

326
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,000
buyout market if a great opportunity pops up, or maybe

327
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,000
they're able to find just it's like another kind of

328
00:16:02,039 --> 00:16:03,679
I don't know, hit a single or a double that

329
00:16:03,799 --> 00:16:06,639
just sort of deepens their rotation rather and you're still

330
00:16:06,639 --> 00:16:09,039
relying on Lebron and Ad a bunch of Austin Reeves

331
00:16:09,039 --> 00:16:11,279
on the offensive end, and even Rui a little bit

332
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:13,600
like so maybe they just go out and get a

333
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,879
backup big now they're not even gonna prioritize shot creation.

334
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,399
They might go that route because this is the that

335
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,799
the Lakers front office has not been especially aggressive over

336
00:16:21,799 --> 00:16:23,720
the past few years. We could also look at it

337
00:16:23,759 --> 00:16:26,799
this way and say they acted early relative to the

338
00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:29,519
trade deadline, which is still more than one month away.

339
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,639
They got one of the better players who's going to

340
00:16:32,679 --> 00:16:34,919
get moved. That's just in a vacuum. You're not You're

341
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,679
not gonna convince me at this point that there are

342
00:16:37,879 --> 00:16:40,320
five players better than Dorian Phinney Smith who will be

343
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,720
moved by the trade dead I hope it happens because

344
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,480
I root for chaos, and he spends so much time

345
00:16:44,519 --> 00:16:46,639
covering the news and the rumors and what these team needs.

346
00:16:46,799 --> 00:16:49,200
I'm always going to root for that chaos. But you

347
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,559
now acquired this guy, you did it early. Does it

348
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:58,080
speak to your faith in this team having another gear,

349
00:16:58,679 --> 00:17:01,960
not as currently constructed, but with the crux of what's

350
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,759
constructed in place, And are you now more likely to

351
00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:06,680
go out and when we have these other needs, like

352
00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,480
we still want to get another big man type And

353
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,759
I would say, more critically, now do we want to

354
00:17:12,799 --> 00:17:16,759
go get another shot creator, floor general type because that's

355
00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:19,799
just not that is not an element that they have

356
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,519
on the roster at this moment. Like you have. You

357
00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:27,079
do have Gabe Vincent, but that's not Gabe Vincent's MO

358
00:17:27,519 --> 00:17:31,160
to run the offense. And so you've now said okay,

359
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,319
Lebron and even indeed, but to a lesser extent, we

360
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,400
were talking about actively table setting. Yeah, he's more of

361
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,680
a hub this year. So Lebron eighty and reeves more

362
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:41,839
than anything. Is what I look at this and say,

363
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,279
they either believe that these guys are just gonna be

364
00:17:44,279 --> 00:17:46,599
able to figure it out without d Lo, and again

365
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:48,920
it wasn't. I don't think d Lo the offense was

366
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,519
better with him on the court this season. I just

367
00:17:50,519 --> 00:17:53,720
don't view him as a major loss because I'm probably

368
00:17:53,799 --> 00:17:57,359
jaded from what we've seen of him during his playoff

369
00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,440
runs with LA that's coloring me a little bit, but

370
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,599
also just he wasn't having a spectacular season, certainly as

371
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,960
a shot maker, and so I don't view him as

372
00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:10,119
that huge of a loss. I might just prove to

373
00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,079
be wrong, but if the offense was kind of already

374
00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:16,440
struggling this month and it was barely hovering around league

375
00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,720
average for the year, you can't convince me that the

376
00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:21,880
Lakers offense is now in more dire straits by going

377
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,160
from D'Angelo Russell's minutes to dory In Phinney Smith's minutes.

378
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,519
I will be curious to see, and I mentioned this

379
00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:31,240
with Dorrian Phiney Smith specifically, whether he ends up starting

380
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:36,559
for this team, my guess is immediately I would say no.

381
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,000
It would probably surprise me. But I think there's a

382
00:18:39,039 --> 00:18:42,480
case to be made that, especially with Dilo gone, would

383
00:18:42,519 --> 00:18:45,880
you rather like the guy to move to the bench,

384
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,640
would be RUI I would unless you just want to

385
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,599
be gargantuan when you start, which is just absolutely so.

386
00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:55,920
You're gonna start Ruy dfs, Anthony Davis Lebron and then

387
00:18:56,559 --> 00:18:58,359
like Austin Reeves, if that's what you want to do,

388
00:18:58,839 --> 00:19:01,400
I guess that's fine, but I'm looking at it through

389
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,920
the vein of and I don't know that they'll go

390
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:05,640
this route. They might just say, hey, he's a mid

391
00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,279
season addition. We're going to stick with the current starting

392
00:19:08,319 --> 00:19:10,200
five that we have, which is, you know, we've already

393
00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,839
gone through four of them. It's that plus Max Christie's

394
00:19:12,839 --> 00:19:15,720
been the one who's been getting a starts at the moment.

395
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,319
Do we stick with that? And that's fine and just

396
00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,119
bring dorn Phinney Smith off the bench, but I think

397
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,440
you could. I'm not saying you should make the case

398
00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:27,799
of well, like, if we just lost all the shot

399
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,039
creation and theory off the bench, does it make sense

400
00:19:30,079 --> 00:19:32,440
to maybe move Ruy there and try and make him

401
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,279
more of a featured not hub but just option or

402
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,880
is it oh, okay? The current starting five, I think

403
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,799
on the seasons a plus fourteen point four per one

404
00:19:41,839 --> 00:19:44,680
hundred when they're on the court, the caveat there being

405
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,119
that has been basically all there like that is coming

406
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,799
all on the defensive end. They're in the ninety fifth

407
00:19:50,799 --> 00:19:54,359
percentile of defense and the eighteen percentile of offense with

408
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,799
Thatck grew. But it would be something to consider of

409
00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,000
let's just bring Ruey off the bench because we're so

410
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,759
hard up guys who can do anything on offense independent

411
00:20:02,839 --> 00:20:05,200
of our best players. I guess you could also make

412
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,279
the case of why not move Reeves then, and then

413
00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:11,720
you go really gargantuan. They have a lot of options there,

414
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,200
which is Look, they technically have those options with de Lo,

415
00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:16,039
but Jordan Finey Smith is going to be plug and

416
00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,559
play in more lineup makeups than D'Angelo Russell. That's just

417
00:20:19,599 --> 00:20:24,160
a fact. Looking more so to what this says about

418
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,279
the macro for the Lakers, the big man I mentioned

419
00:20:28,319 --> 00:20:29,880
that they need to go out and get like another

420
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,480
floor general type because I don't view gave Vincent or

421
00:20:32,519 --> 00:20:35,359
Austin Reeves, Pepper and Ruby Hochimoor. And then on top

422
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,960
of having Lebron and Ad I just don't see that

423
00:20:38,279 --> 00:20:40,519
being enough in the arrogant and they do. Look, they

424
00:20:40,559 --> 00:20:42,319
have Shake Milton now, so maybe the plan is to

425
00:20:42,319 --> 00:20:45,000
actively use Shake Milton, So I don't want to forget

426
00:20:45,319 --> 00:20:47,319
about him. But now you kind of look at them

427
00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:50,720
and say, all right, are you gonna go out and

428
00:20:50,759 --> 00:20:53,640
maybe get an upgrade in the shop creation department, and

429
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,079
preferably with someone who won't submarine your defense ironically, Dennis

430
00:20:57,079 --> 00:20:59,759
Shrewder reunion with him would have made just a crap

431
00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:03,119
time sense on this team. Now you're kind of gauging

432
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,400
the trade market. Though. Now this is where it gets

433
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,720
like incredibly difficult. You've now kind of played your last

434
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,680
non blockbuster hand. I would say, I guess you could

435
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,839
still give up one first round picks in hope of

436
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,960
getting another floor general type to ease the burden on

437
00:21:19,039 --> 00:21:22,519
Lebron and Ad specifically or run units when neither or

438
00:21:22,599 --> 00:21:25,599
with only one of them on the court. But like,

439
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,960
who are you getting because there's not a ton of

440
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,960
those there. They have not been viewed as a Jimmy

441
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,440
Butler team, and that's probably the right call. He would

442
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,440
still be interesting, I mean, to get there with the

443
00:21:35,559 --> 00:21:37,839
making the money work? Who it might? You know, it's

444
00:21:37,839 --> 00:21:40,279
gonna cost you a bunch of rotation players, including RUI

445
00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:43,960
at this stage. But like, do you now lean into

446
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,680
more like can we go out and just get another shooter?

447
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,720
We're continue We're gonna continue to just try and open

448
00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:52,519
up the floor or are you actively looking for that

449
00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:55,880
floor general type? And what on the who on the

450
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,720
trade market fits that bill? And they might be continued

451
00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:04,759
to be mentioned in the Trey Young category. He's not available.

452
00:22:05,039 --> 00:22:07,720
We know that, Like there's really when you're kind of

453
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,440
like considering you know, even if you were considering names

454
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,200
that aren't available, Tiaron Fox, LaMelo Ball, the Lakers, just

455
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,839
their best offer just isn't gonna be enough to get

456
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,680
either one of those guys. There will just be teams

457
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,640
with better offers lurking around every corner. And so I

458
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:26,799
would have unless that one of them, and Fox would

459
00:22:26,839 --> 00:22:28,960
have the most leverage. Is trying to agitate his way

460
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,240
to play with Lebron and Ad fellow clutch clients. I

461
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,920
don't know what the like the bigger time move is

462
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,519
that would feel realistic, And to be clear, I don't

463
00:22:38,559 --> 00:22:41,920
know either of those necessarily as realistic. But again you

464
00:22:42,039 --> 00:22:44,759
have you know, your best trade offer probably still would

465
00:22:44,759 --> 00:22:48,279
have included those seconds, just like to really maximize the sweeteners.

466
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,480
You're now least out of stage where well you still

467
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,119
technically hit those future first round picks in twenty nine

468
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,400
and thirty one that have the most value of any

469
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,799
of your assets. Now you're looking at it and you're saying, Okay,

470
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,400
those are still in play. Can you go out and

471
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,079
do something with that one or both of them, And

472
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:06,079
that would be an interesting discussion to have where it's

473
00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:09,200
what is there someone that you like where you can

474
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,680
go out and just give up one and get them?

475
00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:14,440
Is there any moves to be made here where it's

476
00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:16,759
a two for one, Like do they try and roll

477
00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:20,160
the dice by using a Gabe Vincent and a Jared

478
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,880
Vanderbilt to get a Terry Rozier? And is that even

479
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000
enough for the Miami Heat to bite on that and

480
00:23:25,039 --> 00:23:27,480
kind of just go after a distressed asset in that

481
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,119
regard there? Look, there are names that could spring to

482
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,279
mind here. Do they just decide, hey, why don't we

483
00:23:33,279 --> 00:23:35,599
step ladder our way to CJ. McCollum, if the Pelicans

484
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,640
don't want any picks for him? That gets that's like

485
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,160
super complex too, though, I guess I don't know if

486
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,079
this is increased or diminish their optionality on the trade market.

487
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,400
I would argue it may have diminished that optionality. And

488
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,640
that's not to say that they don't have options or

489
00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,240
they're somehow in a bad spot. I ultimately like this

490
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:56,680
trade for them. The second round picks are kind of scary,

491
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:58,400
but we do this all the time. We romantic size

492
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,119
second round picks. That are all the way out. But

493
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,480
the reason you almost have those second round picks as

494
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,480
a team in the Lakers position is to get deals

495
00:24:04,519 --> 00:24:07,440
like this done. So you're not giving up. You know

496
00:24:07,519 --> 00:24:10,240
you're getting a player who's going to be I would say, what,

497
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,720
he's instantly what one of the six or seven most

498
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,039
important players on this team, maybe even one of the

499
00:24:15,079 --> 00:24:19,079
five most important players, five or six most important players

500
00:24:19,079 --> 00:24:20,640
on this team. Like that's why you use the secon

501
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,640
round pick. So I like this deal for them, but

502
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,160
you've now played your non blockbuster hand, and so if

503
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,640
you're giving up, it's not just the idea of one

504
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,759
first isn't a lot and to other teams when it's

505
00:24:31,799 --> 00:24:34,559
not that far off, When it's so far off, excuse me,

506
00:24:34,559 --> 00:24:36,920
into the future, it's probably not going to be nearly

507
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,880
as valuable to them unless they have the utmost front

508
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,599
office job security or if they're a team and use

509
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,480
the Nets as an example that are kind of in

510
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,839
the earlier stages of a rebuild that want to stockpile

511
00:24:47,039 --> 00:24:50,599
those distant assets, giving up one of those who's the

512
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,200
best player, Like it was sort of the argument we

513
00:24:53,279 --> 00:24:55,960
had or the discussion we would have last year. You're

514
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,200
splitting the baby by just instead of would be better

515
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:00,839
to who's the best player we can get for two?

516
00:25:01,279 --> 00:25:02,440
Or do we just go out and get the best

517
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,839
player we can get for one regardless of who that

518
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,160
player is though, like, yeah, you give up both those picks,

519
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,279
all the swaps that you need don't connect as well

520
00:25:10,599 --> 00:25:13,200
if it gets you d Aaron Fox, but that offers

521
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,359
also not on that level, And so what is the

522
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,839
move now? I don't have I wish I had like

523
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,759
better players. I was thinking a little bit about this

524
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,039
before I was coming on. You're also in this weird

525
00:25:26,079 --> 00:25:29,559
spot of would other teams even be willing to trade

526
00:25:29,559 --> 00:25:31,279
with you that are in the playoff? I mean, just

527
00:25:31,319 --> 00:25:36,240
as an example, let's just say, okayse makes Aaron Wiggins available,

528
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,119
not really a point guard and not really a wing,

529
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,920
but it's kind of like all those things if you

530
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,920
include your twenty twenty sep maybe Okase feels confident enough

531
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,559
in themselves to say, hey, yeah, go yeah, we'll take

532
00:25:46,599 --> 00:25:48,640
your pick and we'll give you this player. But are

533
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,559
those teams in the playoff hunt gonna be willing to

534
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,440
give you that type of player? Now? You could also

535
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,480
do the not even to split the baby route, But

536
00:25:58,599 --> 00:26:01,000
is it another? And I just don't know how you

537
00:26:01,039 --> 00:26:05,400
get there now because you've exhausted your second round pickstash. Essentially,

538
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,680
could you go out and get placeholders where it's you know,

539
00:26:08,839 --> 00:26:11,559
Malcolm Brogden. The Lakers would be able to match salary

540
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,960
there fairly easily with two players, I believe. But that

541
00:26:16,079 --> 00:26:19,559
being said, you have the Clippers is twenty twenty five

542
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,200
first round pick, second round pick? Does that get it done?

543
00:26:23,799 --> 00:26:26,279
And if it does, I mean sure, go do it.

544
00:26:27,039 --> 00:26:29,240
Would you give up a first round pick to get

545
00:26:29,279 --> 00:26:32,000
Anthony Simons in here? Or do you want that's not

546
00:26:32,079 --> 00:26:35,279
enough of a floor general for you? The Malcolm Brogden

547
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,559
route could be fairly interesting. I just that would then

548
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,599
I would assume the cost if you're going after Brogden

549
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,519
for them, as the matching salary would have to be

550
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,559
I guess just Vincent and then you're not gonna give

551
00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:50,440
up Rui and that Diana would be really funny to

552
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,039
see him back on the Wizards anyway, Like, unless you're

553
00:26:53,079 --> 00:26:56,279
gonna trade Max Christy for that who has been playing

554
00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,680
a lot of late. It probably gave Vincent and then

555
00:26:59,759 --> 00:27:01,720
Jared Vanderbilt. And is that second round pick enough for

556
00:27:01,799 --> 00:27:04,240
Washington to say, well, these guys have multiple years left

557
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,799
on their contracts. That'll be part of the equation for

558
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,559
other teams. I don't think there might be some teams

559
00:27:09,559 --> 00:27:12,720
that have this belief in Jared Vanderbilt, but the injuries

560
00:27:12,759 --> 00:27:14,920
are piling up, and so that's It's not the it's

561
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:16,680
by far not the worst deal in the league, but

562
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,000
the idea of having to pay Gabe Vincent for another season,

563
00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:21,960
I don't think a lot of teams are gonna jump

564
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,599
at that when he's shooting sub thirty five percent from three.

565
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,640
He has been more available this year though, and can

566
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,680
still get after it on defense. It's just I don't know, like,

567
00:27:31,759 --> 00:27:33,480
is that are those two in a second even gonna

568
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,880
get you? On Malcolm Brockton, I don't know. Could you

569
00:27:36,519 --> 00:27:39,000
get like Kobe White? Would you give up two first

570
00:27:39,039 --> 00:27:41,480
round picks for Kobe White? I think in a vacuum

571
00:27:41,519 --> 00:27:44,559
you would, But that's not that's someone who really elevates

572
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:46,440
your now without being a face of the future. And

573
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:48,480
the Lakers, if they're gonna give up, they could argue

574
00:27:48,519 --> 00:27:50,920
that giving up two first round picks is also splitting

575
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,559
the baby, because if there are no swaps involved, there

576
00:27:54,279 --> 00:27:57,480
my point being I do think that's probably they're gonna

577
00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,119
want to back up big, but maybe you can fold

578
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,839
that into this larger deal. My main point here is

579
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,119
if they're serious about this season rather than just sort

580
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,640
of being performative about competing, Because if you don't, if

581
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,319
you're in the front office and you're still mostly concerned

582
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,839
about prioritizing the post Lebron era and not giving up

583
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,880
those first round picks and not exhausting your assets stores,

584
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,039
you're not going to care. You still make this trade

585
00:28:23,079 --> 00:28:27,000
even with giving up those distance seconds. And so when

586
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,119
the first round equities involved, that's when I will see

587
00:28:31,599 --> 00:28:33,519
when that type of target emerges. That's one we'll see

588
00:28:33,519 --> 00:28:35,799
how committed to this roster the front office ultimately is.

589
00:28:35,839 --> 00:28:38,400
I don't know that this says anything one way or

590
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:39,640
the other. It might be a matter of the right

591
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,480
player becoming available or gettable, or like the Lakers could

592
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,880
look at it this way and say, now the Bulls

593
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:47,359
have to take back two players, and some of them

594
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,240
have multiple years left on their contracts, So what does

595
00:28:50,279 --> 00:28:52,559
it do. Like, if you just want vouch, you can

596
00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:55,799
include Gabe Vincent and Jared Vanderbilt to get there. But

597
00:28:55,839 --> 00:28:57,680
are they going to want to take on money because

598
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,720
you're taking on money in that deal you've lost, Like

599
00:29:00,799 --> 00:29:03,400
expiring contract of Danzl Russell was kind of the appeal.

600
00:29:03,839 --> 00:29:05,680
You shouldn't need a lot of sweet nurse to get

601
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,720
vouch on this team. But if you're looking for a

602
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,119
backup big or big to play next to Anthony Davis,

603
00:29:10,559 --> 00:29:12,920
that's maybe a move you could still get to without

604
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,039
giving up a first round pick. I'm I'm honestly not

605
00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:18,200
sure you could. Certainly I would think get to Jonas

606
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,960
Valenciunis without giving up a first round pick. And so

607
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,400
in fury, this could just be a sign of, like

608
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,079
that's what the Lakers are gonna do. They're gonna try

609
00:29:26,079 --> 00:29:28,559
and hit singles and doubles because they kind of understand

610
00:29:28,559 --> 00:29:30,960
they're not a contender is currently constructed, and there's no

611
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:34,000
path for them to become one of the kapsot contenders

612
00:29:34,359 --> 00:29:37,480
as basically constructed. So why put these first round picks

613
00:29:37,519 --> 00:29:40,039
on the table. But there's still there's still just a

614
00:29:40,039 --> 00:29:42,079
lot of time left until the trade deadline for names

615
00:29:42,119 --> 00:29:44,880
to kind of prop up. I would just be curious

616
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,759
to see I'm looking at it through my lens and saying, Okay,

617
00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:52,319
I'm putting another floor general type as the priority here.

618
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:56,039
Do they still consider maybe another big or even just

619
00:29:56,559 --> 00:29:58,920
I'll say to Cam Johnson type, just another plug and

620
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,640
play guy who comes in, fills minutes on the wings,

621
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:04,680
doesn't necessarily generate his own shop, but is gonna open

622
00:30:04,759 --> 00:30:06,839
up the floor for the guys who do or the

623
00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:08,519
guys that you're gonna trust have the ball in their

624
00:30:08,519 --> 00:30:11,920
hands more. I don't know what to make of this

625
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,519
trade in that bigger picture perspective, other than I think

626
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:18,480
they officially need to lean towards Maybe it's not a

627
00:30:18,519 --> 00:30:21,039
floor general. You start because you're happy with how this

628
00:30:21,119 --> 00:30:23,880
starting lineup is performing, and then that allows you to

629
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,440
kind of lower your sights where if we just want

630
00:30:25,519 --> 00:30:29,039
kind of a passer or game manager, what does san

631
00:30:29,039 --> 00:30:32,759
Antonio want for a healthy Tray Jones? Just as an example,

632
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:36,920
If that that's what you're setting your your sights on, again,

633
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,079
that might just be the reality of the Laker situation.

634
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,079
But it's like, I don't know why you would dislike

635
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,160
this deal. I guess it's just I saw some people

636
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:45,839
that were having mixed feelings about it. And so if

637
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,920
your team all future okay, sure, Like if you don't

638
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:51,440
want them to give up at like those just having

639
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,200
second rounders gone in twenty thirty and twenty thirty one,

640
00:30:54,279 --> 00:30:59,519
that's not nothing and that matters. But like you're obligated

641
00:30:59,559 --> 00:31:01,200
to do some thing because you don't own your first

642
00:31:01,279 --> 00:31:03,920
round pick this year and you have Lebron and a

643
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,400
D on your team. And so if this was kind

644
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,480
of the idea of what we're trying to make the

645
00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:11,279
most of this team without making any major changes for

646
00:31:11,319 --> 00:31:13,960
the next this year and next season, you've probably set

647
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,359
yourself up to do that while keeping your first round picks.

648
00:31:16,599 --> 00:31:19,480
I am just curious though, because of the timing and

649
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,240
just I don't know, like the Dorriyan Phinney Smith has

650
00:31:23,279 --> 00:31:25,079
money on the books for next season, and just the

651
00:31:25,119 --> 00:31:28,680
way that they gave up DeAngelo Russell, who functionally as

652
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,759
like conceptually is important to this team because of what

653
00:31:32,839 --> 00:31:36,160
he's supposed to do or the player the peak of

654
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,880
Danzel Russell is supposed to do or can do. You

655
00:31:39,039 --> 00:31:41,960
now don't really have that, And so it makes me

656
00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:46,440
wonder are they actually aiming bigger ahead of the trade deadline.

657
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,079
And as someone who just is growing even more nostalgic

658
00:31:50,119 --> 00:31:54,920
for Lebron's career as we inch crawl, maybe speed towards

659
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:56,519
the end of it. I want to see them be

660
00:31:56,559 --> 00:31:59,400
more aggressive and Dorian Finny Smith, if I if I'm

661
00:32:00,519 --> 00:32:05,119
Anthony Davis specifically, that's not satisfying me. Yeah, we got

662
00:32:05,119 --> 00:32:07,799
better feel. This definitely feels a need that they had,

663
00:32:08,759 --> 00:32:11,519
But like I'm going, I'm not going to be happy

664
00:32:11,559 --> 00:32:13,440
unless they made kind of a bigger swing. And so

665
00:32:14,039 --> 00:32:16,680
if I had to guess, because we don't necessarily like

666
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,839
hedging all the time, I think I probably would still

667
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,799
lean that they're gonna take the more conservative approach overall.

668
00:32:24,279 --> 00:32:26,960
But I think you have a stronger argument to say

669
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,279
the Lakers are gonna be serious this trade deadline because one,

670
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:33,880
they made this move early, but two, more importantly, the

671
00:32:34,599 --> 00:32:39,400
positional balances of this trade are just they're a little off.

672
00:32:39,519 --> 00:32:41,119
I know they're getting back Shake Milton, but if you

673
00:32:41,119 --> 00:32:43,799
think like Shake Milton is going to play an important

674
00:32:43,839 --> 00:32:47,359
role on this team, or if that's the goal that

675
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,400
would that would concern me more than anything else about

676
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,960
the front office's vision. And so I think it's a

677
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,799
good move for the Lakers. I think it's a quality

678
00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:56,839
move for the Nets. I don't think there's any reason

679
00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,519
to dislike it for either side unless the The reasons

680
00:33:00,519 --> 00:33:04,359
to dislike this deal would be, if you're looking after

681
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,680
the Nets Lens, you should have just waited and taken

682
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:08,720
a late first round pick had it cropped up, even

683
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:10,599
if it was attached to salary on the books for

684
00:33:11,119 --> 00:33:14,079
next season and beyond. And then if from the Lakers end,

685
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,359
unless you're gonna go all in, there's no point in

686
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,160
doing anything, and you should have kept that's those second

687
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,400
round picks, just because they're distant and maybe they'd be

688
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,240
in the thirties if you're the Lakers, though, I would

689
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,240
say the argument against if you had to pick. I

690
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,200
don't think there were losers in this deal, to be clear.

691
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:33,680
I mean maybe, yeah, I don't. I don't know who

692
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:35,359
would be the love me like Maxwell Lewis is gonna

693
00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:37,000
get more playing time? I don't like. Is there a

694
00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:39,599
chance that because the Lakers is a team that doesn't

695
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,480
have cap flexibility shake Milton, there's probably a stronger likelihood

696
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,000
that his contract gets guaranteed beyond this year, so's he's

697
00:33:46,079 --> 00:33:49,000
a small time potential small time where as part of

698
00:33:49,039 --> 00:33:52,000
this deal, I would just argue the logic against this

699
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:54,200
for the Lakers is way flimsier then it would be

700
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,119
for the Nets, just because deload in factor into your

701
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,960
long term and for teams that are I'm not even

702
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:04,599
saying bold text italics text title contenders for teams that

703
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,320
don't suck. This is why you have those second round picks,

704
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,280
and to have an opportunity to get someone who, in

705
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:14,079
the Lakers case, I would argue, is a top six

706
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:19,400
player on their TA lebron Ad Austin Reeves, Ruey and

707
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,639
if you want to throw Max Christy, I guess above

708
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,039
him would be the move here to say they're all

709
00:34:24,079 --> 00:34:26,079
more important than Dorrine Freney Smith. Those are the ones

710
00:34:26,079 --> 00:34:30,039
I'm prepared to I guarantee you like four players. Profile

711
00:34:30,079 --> 00:34:31,639
is more important, and you could even look there might

712
00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:33,920
just be some people because of what DFS gives you

713
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,320
on the defensive end. They might argue he's more important

714
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:37,920
than Ruie. He's not gonna give you too much there,

715
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,599
even though his offensive efficiency since coming to LA overall

716
00:34:42,039 --> 00:34:44,440
has been up. It's I don't know why you wouldn't

717
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:46,320
like this deal for the Lakers though, Like I just

718
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,559
don't see the second round pick. Yeah, their's stuff and

719
00:34:48,599 --> 00:34:51,039
maybe we'll look back and that twenty thirty pick is

720
00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:54,039
number thirty three or something, and we'll have to relitigate,

721
00:34:54,119 --> 00:34:57,320
well what ended up being what ended up happening to

722
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,039
the Lakers after this deal? But if this poor because

723
00:35:01,079 --> 00:35:03,440
it's it's so interesting in terms of the unknown for

724
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,719
both these teams, because we kind of at least I did,

725
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:08,199
and I don't want to speak for Grant, but I

726
00:35:08,199 --> 00:35:09,760
think when we talked about it, we didn't expect the

727
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,199
Lakers to make kind of a big move. But now

728
00:35:12,199 --> 00:35:17,000
that there's more mystery there, ambiguity there of all, right,

729
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:19,599
like because the positional balance is just feel a little

730
00:35:19,639 --> 00:35:22,280
bit off here. They clearly didn't. I said, I don't

731
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,400
know that losing Tane Russe is actually going to harm

732
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,320
their offense all that much. We'll have to see. But

733
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,440
the idea of DeAngelo Russell losing him, there is a

734
00:35:29,519 --> 00:35:33,039
void there now. And so looking at that after this

735
00:35:33,079 --> 00:35:35,599
deal makes me wonder if the door's now opened for

736
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:38,320
the Lakers to do, whether you end up liking it

737
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,719
or not, to do something that's more aggressive that we

738
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,400
kind of all. I think the vast majority of people

739
00:35:44,559 --> 00:35:47,320
just view the Lakers as smoking mirrors. They'll be linked

740
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,679
to people, but they'll never either one have the assets

741
00:35:49,679 --> 00:35:52,559
to get him or the backbone to actually go after

742
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:54,960
them and then get them even if they can. I

743
00:35:55,039 --> 00:35:56,920
think it just makes it more likely they will at

744
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,119
least show the backbone to be aggressive ahead of the

745
00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:01,039
dead left trade. And I don't, by the way, I

746
00:36:01,079 --> 00:36:04,559
don't want to. I'm super intrigued by the nets. We

747
00:36:04,639 --> 00:36:06,360
have to wait and see where their books are at

748
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:08,760
after February sixth, and they were always going to have

749
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,880
cap space anyway. But the fact that we're now two

750
00:36:12,039 --> 00:36:15,679
moves deep and they're trading, would say two of the

751
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,280
five players who were to be most involved in trade rumors,

752
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:24,280
the remaining three being Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas and Nick Claxton.

753
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:27,239
The fact that they haven't taken back any serious long

754
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,119
term money yet, I'm just I'm putting a pin in that.

755
00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:31,679
I'm just putting a pin in that, and we can

756
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:33,920
revisit it later. Let me know what you think about

757
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:35,800
this trade in our discord. The link to it's in

758
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,519
the podcast and YouTube description or just in the YouTube comments.

759
00:36:38,559 --> 00:36:42,159
Please remember to rate, review, subscribe across all platforms at

760
00:36:42,159 --> 00:36:45,400
the sub button on YouTube. Definitely subscribe Apple Spotify even

761
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:47,679
if you don't use them. Leave ratings and reviews there

762
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,119
and comment on the video. What did you think of

763
00:36:50,159 --> 00:36:53,679
this trade? Any like contrarian thoughts? What did I miss?

764
00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:55,239
What do you think the Lakers are going to be

765
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:57,239
more aggressive moving forward? Do you think the Nets are

766
00:36:57,599 --> 00:37:02,039
actively prioritizing their cap space situation? But until next time,

767
00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:03,760
I think we the shout out to the one, the only,

768
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,960
the indelibles, the legendary will be in the NBA. By

769
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,480
the end of the season, Winna will into existence. Frank

770
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:10,679
HeLa keepa