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NBA Teams Most Likely To Make Trades With Shams Charania · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_02: I had one moment where I knew the door kind of cracked open, which was when I broke blue all dang being traded from the Bulls to the Cavs.
0:06
SPEAKER_02: I was a sophomore in college.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: I think I had like 700 followers.
0:10
SPEAKER_02: You know, I gained followers overnight.
0:12
SPEAKER_02: And that's when I knew like the door had like slightly like cracked open, right?
0:15
SPEAKER_02: But then it was like, what are you gonna make of it?
0:17
SPEAKER_02: Right.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: And uh the next day I was driving to Milwaukee to do a one-on-one with Klay Thompson.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: My mind, I was on to the next.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: That on to the next mentality, I don't think has ever changed.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beecher Podcast.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: As you can see, we are on location, man.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: We're not in the normal studio, and that is okay because we have a banger.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: Shamstarania of Stadium, of FanDuel TV, of the athletic, decided to pop in on your boy and talk a little bit of hoops.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: And there's no better person to talk to.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: One week away from the NBA trade that line, y'all know that's when he is at his busiest.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: So I hit him up.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: He said he'll come through, and he did.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: So uh before we get to it, I just want to let you know that we appreciate you.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to leave a like, subscribe.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, shout out to Shams for pulling up on what, eight o'clock on a random day to just talk hoops with your boy.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: So uh just wanted to give y'all a little preface that it will be a little bit differently, but it's all in the sake of content.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: My goal is to try to get y'all as many interviews, especially if we can get them in person.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: And Shams pulled up as another Illinois boy, just take a little drive down to the stew.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: So let's get into it.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Let's welcome Shams to the show.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: I want to welcome Shamsharania to the show.
1:36
SPEAKER_02: Welcome on, man.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: Kenny, appreciate you guys having me on.
1:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's it's a pleasure to be here.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: You come on running back all the time.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: We appreciate the Nas that you give us.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: So appreciate you having me, bro.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: This is my first in-person, I guess, interview for the show.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: We did like Nas Reed.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Nas Reed's interview was funny because he was in a car driving home from the arena.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we had Grant Grant Williams on the show.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: But now I appreciate you being so personal because you don't you don't have to pull up.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: Because I know you are a Chicago boy, Illinois boy, but so much easier to just hop on Zoom or something.
2:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: But listen, we did it the first time in studio.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: I just thought it would be right coming back in here, showing you guys love, and like this is a beautiful area.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: I know you guys are still in the process of getting everything together.
2:18
SPEAKER_02: So I just thought, listen, I came the first time, might as well show show up again.
2:22
SPEAKER_02: I know your friends aren't here, the rest of the crew isn't here.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: So shout out uh Mike, P, uh, you got Derek.
2:28
SPEAKER_02: So shout out to all of them.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for the people at home, this is a set that's new to some of y'all.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: We have another show, name numbers on the board.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is the set for that.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And this is the only real place I had to bring in an in-person um interview.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm already seeing you check the phone, man.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm already seeing, and don't feel like you're doing anything wrong.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: I know you got a job to do, um, but I want to start off there because there is a lot of reports about you and your screen time, man.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it's the it's it's crazy because I said it once.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: I think I was doing something for FanDuel TV, and this it the social media person asked me, like, what's your screen time?
3:02
SPEAKER_02: And I said it once and it became a thing.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, for me, it's always been that way, really, since I started in this industry, since I mean late high school, you know, middle high school, late high school, college, like always on my phone.
3:15
SPEAKER_02: I'm always tracking things.
3:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, if I'm not on my phone, I'm either sleeping, I'm either showering, or I'm God knows.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: That's it.
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'm locked in on a dinner, you know, with my family, but I'm on my phone a lot.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean, so for me, it wasn't a big deal.
3:31
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, for the for the general population, uh, I think it's it's scary.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: I think it's alarming.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's a problem.
3:38
SPEAKER_02: I think that people just want me to go get a life.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: Right.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: So uh this is life.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: Ball is life.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
3:47
SPEAKER_01: I didn't, I guess, recognize how much you are actually a fan of the game more than just a reporter.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: Like when you walked in, you were telling us that on the way here you were watching Pistons versus Cavs, a random game that doesn't matter, but you were locked in on that one.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: Gotta be locked in.
4:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I grew up playing basketball.
4:02
SPEAKER_02: Then once you get cut, you know how it goes, you get cut.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Like we got very similar stories in the case.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: We all have NBA dreams.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: We want to go to the NBA, but then we get cut.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: And once I got cut, it's like I needed to figure out how to stay around the game.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: Like I knew I couldn't play.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, at that point I wasn't thinking about being in the front office or doing anything on the NBA side.
4:21
SPEAKER_02: And I didn't really have any connections to players.
4:23
SPEAKER_02: So it's like the agent route can't really do.
4:25
SPEAKER_02: Right.
4:25
SPEAKER_02: So for me, it was like I can write really well.
4:28
SPEAKER_02: And my teachers in school told me to write and to pursue my passion.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: And so I just put writing and basketball together and tried to make the most of it.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: So I grew up loving the game, grew up loving basketball.
4:38
SPEAKER_02: And honestly, even beyond that, like I think about the fans that I'm catering to now, like obsessed with news, obsessed with, but not only like transactional stuff, but like what's really going on.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: Like what's going on behind the scenes with this team?
4:51
SPEAKER_02: Like when the Lakers are struggling, what's really going on here?
4:53
SPEAKER_02: What's going on with with the Warriors?
4:55
SPEAKER_02: Like taking you a lens further than just what we watch on TV.
5:00
SPEAKER_02: I was always gravitating toward that.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: I was always trying to read up on that.
5:03
SPEAKER_02: So to be able to be someone that can provide for that, I feel like I'm only just quenching my own thirst.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm only feeding my desire and my hunger.
5:12
SPEAKER_02: So I enjoy it.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: You have to love it.
5:14
SPEAKER_02: As you know, Kenny, this is a passion for you, right?
5:17
SPEAKER_02: So this has to be a passion.
5:18
SPEAKER_02: This has to be something you like live and breathe every day.
5:21
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, you're I know you're fortunate to do what you do.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I'm fortunate to do what I do.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: For sure.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna get more into like the career aspect.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I kind of want to talk about some stuff in the NBA, um, because that's what this is an NBA show.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, a couple days ago, or maybe last night, we got to see Jordan Bede play a game against the Golden State Warriors, Nashley televised game, um, questionable coming in.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: Played, didn't look great, I think, of his 13 shots, 11 of them were jump shots.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: He didn't look like the MVP candidate that we had seen up to this point.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: And then we had the freak accident of Jonathan Kaminga falling on his leg, and then he exited.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of the conversation on Twitter and on other podcasts is like the 65-game minimum for these awards.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, Tyree Talliburton said he didn't like it.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, he's missed a significant amount of time and he's got something in his contract that all NBA matters for him.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: You as the fan, not as the reporter, how do you feel about the 65 game minimum for awards?
6:11
SPEAKER_02: So I look at it twofold.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: I I think if you're playing under, let's say, 60 games or you're playing under 55 games, like you're probably not gonna win MVP anyway, right?
6:22
SPEAKER_02: So I feel like that has always been held on guys, like that's always held against players in the past.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, if you miss time.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: So in that way, it's like, I don't know how much, you know, it's setting a standard for sure.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: It's setting a benchmark that you you have to hit.
6:37
SPEAKER_02: So in that way, you know, it's it's specifying it.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: Right.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: So that's why there's this light that's being shed on it.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: And in Joel Mb's perspective, he's four games already away from being disqualified, and we're not even at the all-star break.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: So I think it is somewhat like a shell shock.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: It will be a shell shock for fans, for for everyone, that a player is eliminated, like flat out eliminated from MVP contention, and we're not even at the all-star break yet.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: Like mentally, if if if it gets to that point in March or in April, okay, we understand it.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: Right, you might be able to.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: So then you look at the totality of everything.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: Right.
7:13
SPEAKER_02: But now it's happening before the all-star break.
7:15
SPEAKER_02: And I think that for sure, this is the first year this has been enacted.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: I think it's definitely alarming for some people, but I think it evens out anyway.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: I I think if Joel Embiid, like, for example, let's say this absence that he has, he's getting a bunch of tests.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: By the time this comes out, we might know how long he's gonna be out.
7:30
SPEAKER_02: But there's got to be a level of concern.
7:31
SPEAKER_02: I I'll say this.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: I don't think anyone in Philadelphia is thinking Joel Embiid's gonna be back, you know, by the weekend.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: Like right, right.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: You you just it would be it would be tough.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: We know how how how how mentally focused Joel Embiid's been this season.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, he's been dominant, flat out dominant.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that Philly team has been playing well with Nick Nurse.
7:54
SPEAKER_02: There's head coach Tyrese Maxley looks like an all-star this year, uh, caliber player.
7:59
SPEAKER_02: Their season's been amazing.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: And I Joel Embiid, when he's on the floor, has been amazing.
8:04
SPEAKER_02: But it's it's it's hard for me to see him getting out there like that quick, especially because he didn't look like himself.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: He looked against the war.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: You can just tell whether it was two games off that he missed, whether it was you know the conditioning that comes from missing two games.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, but you even saw there was like a video that went, I think, somewhat viral.
8:22
SPEAKER_02: He just like slipped.
8:23
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, tried to go up for a block and just couldn't get off his feet.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: So I I think no, I the people that I've spoken to in Philadelphia, I don't think they're thinking he's gonna be back, you know, in in the next few days.
8:35
SPEAKER_02: You know, this is something where they need to really figure out what's wrong with that knee.
8:40
SPEAKER_02: He's Joel Embiid is meeting with a a good amount of doctors tonight, tomorrow, before they really truly figure out exactly how long it'll be out.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: But when you think about the 65 game rule, I think it is tough for it to be so specific.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: I don't think the I don't think it's going anywhere.
8:57
SPEAKER_02: And the other thing, I'm gonna put my reporter cap back on.
9:00
SPEAKER_02: The players negotiated this too with the collectively bargained.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: This isn't something like the owners are like, oh, we're like grandstanding and putting this on you guys.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: Like this is something the players and and that in the union collectively bargained as well.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: Two questions off that.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: First one, do you have a vote for like all-star MVP and all those type of things?
9:19
SPEAKER_01: I have for the last couple years.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: So coming up for this MVP, do you know if like if he does not hit the 65 game?
9:27
SPEAKER_01: Again, we're assuming that he won't, you can't even cast a vote at all?
9:31
SPEAKER_01: Or can you say, like, well, for me personally, as the voter, that doesn't matter too much.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Even if those go in the garbage can, I still want to prove a point that Joel Embiid has been the most dominant player.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: Man, I I don't know if you can or can't.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
9:44
SPEAKER_02: I need to they dig up the answer.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: And the second question off that, knowing that we are unsure about Joel Embiid and his injury and the severity of it, does that that's gonna impact potentially what they do this week with the deadline coming up, right?
9:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh I I think it it could, but everything Philadelphia's really been looking at has been around the edges anyway.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: I I think they have interest in a couple guys.
10:07
SPEAKER_02: I think Malcolm Brogden.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, Monte Morris.
10:11
SPEAKER_02: Oof.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, you think about guards that are available around the league that could be attainable.
10:16
SPEAKER_02: I think that's definitely come up, trying to get another guard coming off your bench.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, I think I think of a guy like Jordan Clarkson, you know, being able to score.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: I I don't that that's just more me like theorizing them.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: The other two I can report that they have interest in.
10:31
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I think for the Sixers, they're gonna look more around the edges.
10:35
SPEAKER_02: They have a few contracts, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, they could use in trades.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: They have draft picks at their disposal, they can wait till the summer or they can use some of their picks, whether that's a first, whether that's seconds.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: Uh, they have stuff that they can trade.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, I I I don't think this impacts them because I thought they were looking around the edges anyway.
10:53
SPEAKER_02: But still, you know, could it impact their aggressiveness?
10:57
SPEAKER_02: Potentially.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, you you hope that this isn't anything like super, super long term for Joel Embiid.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: I want to get this exact quote as we transition to the next one because obviously everybody knows that if you want people to view your video, you got to talk about the LA Lakers.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: So yesterday after their loss against the Atlanta Hawks, uh LeBron James was in his press in the locker room, and he was going off a little bit, and a reporter stopped him and he said, Thanks for stopping me.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: I was about to go off.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: What's going on with LA?
11:26
SPEAKER_01: Because we we had some reports about Darvin Ham and Anthony Davis and LeBron James, uh, maybe not seeing eye to eye.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: The organization said they backed Darvin Ham.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna be active on the trade.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: So so what do you think this week is gonna look like for them?
11:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, with the deadline being, of course, about eight or so days away.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I I don't quite know exactly what LeBron James was referring to.
11:50
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm sure when they play next against Boston, he's gonna be asked about it.
11:54
SPEAKER_01: Right.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, but like putting tea leaves together, it could mean, you know, he he's definitely at the back end of his career, right?
12:02
SPEAKER_02: He's 39 years old.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: He I he's got how many ever years left to play in the game in this game, and he's playing at such a high level.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: And that to me, that hourglass represents my time in this game.
12:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, clearly, there's an hourglass to it.
12:16
SPEAKER_02: And I don't need to be breaking that news.
12:18
SPEAKER_02: LeBron James said after their finale last year in the playoffs that I have to think about my career.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna play next season.
12:26
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, everyone around him, everyone at the time, I spoke to people around him then.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: Everyone expected him to keep playing.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: Mike Malone didn't like it either.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: But the fact that he was even thinking about it after that game and said it, I think that threw that up in the air, right?
12:40
SPEAKER_02: That like that threw that idea out there for the first time ever.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: LeBron James even mulling retirement or thinking about the concept of retirement.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: That's like not a novel concept for us.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: But now you throw this hourglass in there, you see the Lakers season, how it's going.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: They're one game under 500.
12:54
SPEAKER_02: Even when this comes out, again, they play Boston, and that's a tough game.
12:59
SPEAKER_02: And let's say you lose that, you're three, you're 0-3.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: Let's say you win that.
13:02
SPEAKER_02: Like these things can change, it's always fluid.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: A week ago, people thought D'Angelo Russell was a Lakers for life.
13:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, I expect the Lakers to be active going into the deadline.
13:13
SPEAKER_02: I I think I think they have their priorities.
13:16
SPEAKER_02: I think it's clear they want to get a guard in there that can push the pace, that that can provide them two-way play.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: DeJounte Murray is the player that I'm looking at as at the top of their list.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: Because he can come in, help right now, but also he's under contract for four more years after this.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: So if you want someone that can help you moving forward for years to come, DeJounte Murray can be that guy.
13:39
SPEAKER_02: And I've reported on their conversations, they've had they they had extensive conversations about three weeks ago.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood Chofino, a first-round pick 20 in 2029 and a draft swap.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: And Atlanta did not want to take on D'Angelo Russell's contract, from what I was told.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: They wanted to find a third team.
13:56
SPEAKER_02: Besides, couldn't really find one at that point, and talks have really had really cooled down.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: It had really like everyone kind of went back into their bunker.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: But now the deadline's back.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Right.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: I think that will I expect those talks to resume.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: But another scenario I think to keep an eye on is, you know, what they did last year at the deadline was they got a bunch of role players and they got players to fill different needs.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: And then we saw them go on this run.
14:19
SPEAKER_02: You look at the Brooklyn Nets, they have Spencer Dinwiddie, storing Finney Smith and Royce O'Neal.
14:25
SPEAKER_02: So you think about if you can inject your team with those three players, filled three different spots, a starting point guard, you got you got a starting three potentially enduring Finney Smith, you got Royce O'Neill coming off the bench as a six-seventh man.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: If you can trade, you know, a D'Angelo Russell and a couple other contracts, and you can throw in a pick, like that's a scenario I'm told, you know, that they're at least looking at.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: And so I think that could be a conversation going into the week.
14:56
SPEAKER_02: Tyus Jones is a player to keep an eye on with the Wizards.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: Um so they're gonna be, they're definitely gonna be in the fray, in the mix on all this.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: Right.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: The question is can they get a deal done?
15:07
SPEAKER_01: Right.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: I I like the Brooklyn package that you just mentioned.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: I think it provides some of the things that they're lacking.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Uh everybody at home knows that the the Lakers are one of the poorest three-point shooting teams.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: They don't get a lot of attempts up and they don't hit them.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Uh, a few of those players, I know Spencer Devity, maybe not so much, a few of those players definitely can provide some of that stuff.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: And it would be, it would be interesting to see them do it again where they're more going role player route versus going to get a potential star and like DeJounte Murray.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: So I like that.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the things we do on this show is a segment we call Ask KB, where I ask the people at home to give me questions they want to see answered on the show.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: I let the world know that Shams is on the show, so give us Shams specific ones or ones that we can answer together.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: And this one comes from You know, we love the people now.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: I love the people in the view.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: I will say of the 600 replies I got, 90% of them was like, ask him if my OKC Thunder are gonna make a trade right now.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: It's stuff like that.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to put you on the spot to maybe do something like that.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: So I took those away.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: But if you do want to talk about some stuff like that.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: We can talk about it.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: We can talk about it.
16:10
SPEAKER_02: I I don't, I think everyone thinks, you know, are the Thunder in the market to use all their draft packs to go get a high name, high-end player.
16:18
SPEAKER_02: I I don't think the Thunder's trade deadline priority is getting a, you know, if we're talking about a top-tier player, I don't think that's their priority.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: I think they want to see this core, this group that we have right now, that they have right now.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: Josh Giddy, Shea Gills, Alexander, Lou Dort, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, aka J Dub, you got Jalen Williams, the other Jalen Williams coming off the bench, you got Kenrich Williams coming off the bench, Casey Wallace, who made Rising Stars coming off the bench.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: That's eight players right there.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: You got Isaiah Joe, make that nine.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh Aaron Wiggins, make that 10.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:47
SPEAKER_02: Now, the one thing they could use is size.
16:49
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I I do I have heard that they're a team that will at least look into veteran big man play.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, now who that is, we'll see.
16:59
SPEAKER_02: Right.
16:59
SPEAKER_02: But I I do think if there is a position of need, if there is anything that other teams view them looking into, it's that.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: The first question we have that's unrelated to my individual team is how does Shams know he has a reliable source?
17:15
SPEAKER_01: How often does he turn down a report because he doesn't fully trust the source?
17:19
SPEAKER_02: So this this I mean, this these are all questions that you know I grapple, you you will you have to grapple with on a daily basis.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh we I think weeding out the BS is probably 98% of what I do now, right?
17:33
SPEAKER_02: Because you hear so much, there's so many scenarios out there.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: If I put out every scenario out there, I mean I would have 30 reports a day, right?
17:43
SPEAKER_02: Right.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: So um weeding it out, understanding, recognizing time, when it when it makes sense to re you know, to to go with something, when it makes sense to to continue to track something, I think um that's that's pretty much my entire you know day, which is you know, weeding out everything.
18:04
SPEAKER_02: But I think at this point, I mean I've been doing this since you know 16, 17, not with all the people I speak with now, but I think over the years you build relationships, you build credibility, you know when you might be able to go with something off of one person, you know you when you might need another person.
18:21
SPEAKER_02: So, but again, these are all learning things.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: I feel like every day I learn something new.
18:25
SPEAKER_02: I feel every week I'm like learning something that I didn't know last week, which is a good place to be.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: You you you never want to be, you you never want to be like feeling like you know everything, right?
18:36
SPEAKER_02: Like I always want to feel like I I'm learning, and I think when I came into this, I came into it with a level of naivety.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: Like I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know the protocols, I didn't know what was right, what was wrong, I didn't know unwritten rules.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: And so that level of naivety, I think, helped me and kind of go into it with no conscience.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: Next question we have is from Lewis.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: He says, Because you two are so young, how does it feel to rise in the field dominated by older, more mature people?
19:01
SPEAKER_01: How does this compare to seeing more opportunities for younger people to make it big nowadays?
19:06
SPEAKER_01: And what was your whoa I made it moment?
19:12
SPEAKER_02: You gotta answer this too, bro.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: I honestly I I've said this before.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: I still haven't had the woe I made it moment.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: Um I've done some really cool stuff.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: I did go on first take, which was like that was pretty, pretty big.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: That was almost a year ago now, and they ain't called me back, so maybe I did something wrong.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, no, I'm joking.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: But that's probably the closest I've had to it.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: I also did a shoot where I interviewed the inside the NBA guys.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: That was a pretty dope experience.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: But um for me personally, I think kind of staying away from the oh I made it moment makes me continue to grind a little bit more because I feel like there's more to be obtained.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: Um and per and and a lot of the stuff that I've done has been relatively independent.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: So I haven't had to have the going into meetings with more mature people that maybe don't understand what I've built.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: Um but I'm sure you have another story, you know, with you all your connections and stuff that you might have had to experience some people not taking you serious because you started off so young and everything.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the good thing for me though is that like, you know, when I started off, you know, texting, calling, emailing, um, like cold calling, cold texting, and all that, like it was all done blindly, right?
20:20
SPEAKER_02: It was all done like in cold fashion.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: And like the one good thing about that is when you call someone, when you talk to someone, when you text with someone, they don't know how old you are.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: You know, like it's not like the first question someone's gonna ask you is, yo, wait, uh, how old are you?
20:33
SPEAKER_02: Like, no, they're gonna treat you based on your professionalism, your your maturity, your respect level, like how much they can trust you.
20:41
SPEAKER_02: Those are all things that that in life in general, you know, what makes relationships.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: And so early on, when I was kind of building those relationships, no one asked me how old I was.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: So I was just kind of going with the flow.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: I think when I went to my first summer league in 2013, and then I would go, I went to the NBA Finals in 2013, then you know, would keep going to events.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: That's when obviously everyone understood, like, oh, this is like a kid who's like 18, 19, 20 years old.
21:06
SPEAKER_02: And then it got to the point where, you know, you you definitely deal with the age bias, you deal with um obviously the notion that you don't quite know right what you're doing.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're still learning what you're doing.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: And for sure that's true.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: I was I was learning what I'm doing.
21:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I don't think that takes away from the hunger, the drive, the, the, the, the, the personability, how you treat people, the humanity level, like those are all things that I I it doesn't matter how old you are.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: You feel you either have it or you don't.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: Right, yeah.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: And um so I I definitely think for me that that those are all big things.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I've ever had a like, yo, you made it moment.
21:44
SPEAKER_02: I think I I've definitely had a moment where I had one moment where I knew the door kind of cracked open, which was I when I broke Lu All Dang being traded to the Cavs from the Bulls.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: From the Bulls to the to the calves, like in Jan 2014, remember I was 19.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: I was I was a sophomore in college.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
22:04
SPEAKER_02: And at Little Chicago, shout out Ramblers.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: Shout out the Ramblers.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: Sister Jean.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: Sister Jean.
22:11
SPEAKER_02: Much love to Sister Gene.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: I remember that was that was something.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: I think I had like 700 followers.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: You know, I gained followers overnight.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: And that's when I knew like the door had like slightly like cracked open, right?
22:23
SPEAKER_02: But then it was like, what are you going to make of it?
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: And uh I I, you know, the next day I was driving to Milwaukee to do a one-on-one with Klay Thompson.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: So like I my mind, I was on to the next.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: And like that on to the next mentality, I don't think has ever changed.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: See, I yeah, I can relate to that.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: Because I've we did uh, oh man, I'm trying to figure out exactly what shoot this was.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Um we well we did a shoot in Studio J a few months ago, and this was all of the guys we're in suits, you know, we shoot our show, and I was like, what's next?
22:52
SPEAKER_01: You know, we we had just got off the set.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: I was like, what what do we have next?
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Not saying I didn't appreciate the stuff that we had done in that time, but it was like, okay, this was a dope moment, but how do we capitalize?
23:02
SPEAKER_01: How do we make more?
23:04
SPEAKER_01: The next one um comes from Growbags.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: You recently dropped a summer, a little mini hoop mixtape.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: You're at the gym, hit a couple buckets.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: This is summer.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: This is a summer summer drop.
23:15
SPEAKER_02: It might have been the summer.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: Have you been back in the gym since then?
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Or now that you're in season, it's a little bit tougher.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: It's it's definitely tougher in season, especially right now, trade deadline time.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: I'm definitely not in the gym right now.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: But um at your peak, though.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: Player comp.
23:28
SPEAKER_02: Player comp.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: Who's the player comp?
23:30
SPEAKER_02: I was playing five on five.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: Last time I think I played five on five was um November.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: November.
23:37
SPEAKER_02: I played five on fives.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: Um player comp.
23:40
SPEAKER_02: Listen, like at my peak, at my peak, I I would be arrogant.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: I would be cocky if I said Steph Curry.
23:46
SPEAKER_02: So I'm not going to say Steph Curry.
23:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna give you two.
23:48
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna give you two, and this is getting in the weeds.
23:52
SPEAKER_02: Patty Mills.
23:53
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and then the other one's a Chicago guy, someone that I grew up watching kind of.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say Derek Rose.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, I just think about some two guys, they're not known for their ball handling, right?
24:05
SPEAKER_02: Like I wouldn't say I'm a good ball, good ball handler, but they can both spot up and shoot.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: They can both dribble when needed, right?
24:10
SPEAKER_02: Get to your spots when needed, set up the offense, and I think I'm good for that.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: I think I'm good for setting up the offense, I think I'm good for shooting.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: Definitely wide open shots.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: I can do my thing when I'm at my peak.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, neither were overly athletic, but super, super effective and got the job done.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever did runs with like other players or people in the industry?
24:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, great question.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: Or is it just more local?
24:38
SPEAKER_02: A lot is local.
24:39
SPEAKER_02: Um I'm trying to think of anyone like famous I've played with.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: I remember I played with like Ennis Cantor once.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: But you haven't been to like Berkeley's gym or or anything like that.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: One of those runs.
24:51
SPEAKER_02: No, I haven't.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: See, I've been waiting to get um invited to one of those.
24:55
SPEAKER_02: Not to play, because my player comp is scanning way worse than that.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: I I know you can get invited now.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: I've been waiting.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: You just gotta all right.
25:02
SPEAKER_02: Someone, Chris Brickley.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: You know what?
25:04
SPEAKER_02: My guy Alex, uh, Alex Bazell invite you your to his runs next summer.
25:09
SPEAKER_02: Hit me up.
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27:03
SPEAKER_01: So transition away from the questions, because this is one thing that I'm trying to get better at as a guy in media.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: One thing I think I got, I'm good on camera, right?
27:12
SPEAKER_01: I've I've figured that part out.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm getting better, but I like comparing me in 2024 versus 2019, it's light years ahead.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: The one part I'm still struggling with is the connection to other people in the industry, right?
27:24
SPEAKER_01: The networking.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: And when we were at Summer League, we ran into US Summer League and we were chopping it up a little bit, and someone walked past, and you were like, give me a second.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: And you went to talk to this person.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: And then you came back.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: And it was something that very minor to you to just bounce around conversations like this.
27:41
SPEAKER_01: But for me, that was something I haven't been able to figure out just yet.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: So from you to me, do you have any like tips to try to figure out that networking part?
27:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean, man, that's that's or is it just something you just I guess you're kind of born with the conversational aspect of things?
27:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it's tough because I I I like enjoy that.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: Like that though, those are all like summer league is fun.
28:03
SPEAKER_02: G League Showcase, I was just I was just at the G League Showcase in December.
28:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, those are those are great events to kind of network and see people.
28:11
SPEAKER_02: So maybe I've been in so many settings that I've gotten it down, but like I remember my first my first summer league 2013 definitely was an eye-opening experience during the headlights.
28:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: No one knew me.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: I knew some people by name, but no one by face.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: Right.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: Like really by face.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: You see you see people's Google images, but that's you know, you then you see them by face.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: Like that's really putting a face to a name, a name to a face, not seeing someone on Google and being like, oh, let me see if I can find this person.
28:36
SPEAKER_02: So I had a lot of those moments, 2013, 2014, where it was during the headlights, and I didn't know how to um, you know, I didn't I didn't know anyone, so I didn't really know how to act at different points as far as like, you know, do I go up to this person?
28:49
SPEAKER_02: Do I not go up to this person?
28:50
SPEAKER_02: What do I do?
28:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, I think just having a fearlessness, you know, and the fear of rejection, I think is something that consumes a lot of people.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: When it comes to this, I mean, there is is is just a part of the game.
29:02
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna get rejected.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: Right.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: And uh, and and you just hope that you put in the work and over time people see it and understand it.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah, maybe that is it.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: Fear of rejection for me.
29:15
SPEAKER_01: Are you psychoanalyzing me right now?
29:16
SPEAKER_02: Because that might be it, honestly.
29:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking of myself at different points.
29:20
SPEAKER_02: Just not with work.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, I want to ask you your most memorable moment um in in your career so far.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: Memorable moment.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I always think about that Lu all dang one.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, I think I think the most memorable man, I hope it's the I hope it's the deadline, the 2024 NBA trade deadline.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: We always we're always trying to get the next one.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: That's that's the most memorable one for me.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, how often do you get have to like sit on news?
29:49
SPEAKER_01: Like you get an email text of something big that all the time.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm sitting on news right now.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: I'm sitting on like multiple things right now, can he be?
29:57
SPEAKER_02: Come on, man.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: Last time we had you on the show, you broke news live on the show.
30:00
SPEAKER_02: I remember that.
30:01
SPEAKER_02: Joel and B, and we're we're back talking about Joel and B being hurt again.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: And it was game one of the first round of the playoffs.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I'm not expecting you to break any news now.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: But so, so what's the process though?
30:12
SPEAKER_01: So you're sitting on this news, what is the moment you're like, okay, this is worth, or it's time for me to announce this to the world.
30:18
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's a green light, sometimes it's waiting.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: You know, you might have it 95%, you're waiting for that extra 5%.
30:25
SPEAKER_02: One thing about me is, you know, we we all have those moments where we feel like we can have it back.
30:30
SPEAKER_02: We all have those moments where we feel like, oh, I wish I'd handled this differently.
30:33
SPEAKER_02: But more times than not, I want to make sure I'm a hundred, like, there's even an ounce of me that feels like I won't be able to go to sleep at night.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: See, I haven't had that.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: Where it's like, all right, I'll go to go go at home sleeping at night, knowing that I I might have messed up the process or I I I cheated the process.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: If that happens, I can't go to sleep.
30:56
SPEAKER_02: I can't sleep.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: I'm beside myself.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: And but if I know I trust, I handle the process the right way.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: I trust the process uh for lack of a better term, then I know I can go to sleep at night and I know I did the job right.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is one from my wife.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: She said, What is the best and the worst part of your job?
31:15
SPEAKER_01: Because because of me, she's obviously tapped into basketball as much as the the average um sports fan.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: And she knows who you are.
31:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, and she knows that when things are going down, you're in the weeds and you're the in the know of it.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: Um and she also read the article that was mentioned in the 18 hours of screen time.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: So she was just very curious.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: She's concerned.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: She's she's she's a she's a mom now, and yeah, so many.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: She's got a concern.
31:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, she she she's an instinctive person.
31:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and any anytime you're a mom, by the way, we love moms.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: I love my mom.
31:47
SPEAKER_02: So shout out to the new mom.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: What's her name?
31:49
SPEAKER_01: Suzanne.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: Suzanne.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: Shout out Suzanne Beacham.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: Official in August, Suzanne Beecham.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: Suzanne Beecham in August.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: Congrats, bro.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you.
31:58
SPEAKER_02: Making it happen.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Um the best part is probably just living out my fandom.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: Like living out exactly what I set out to like if I wasn't doing this right now, and you know, if I was a doctor right now, if I was whatever I was doing right now, um, I mean, I could I could managing a store, like anything, whatever I was doing, I would still be obsessed with this.
32:21
SPEAKER_02: I would still be obsessed with the NBA.
32:22
SPEAKER_02: I would still be obsessed with tracking what's going on.
32:25
SPEAKER_02: I'd be watching you talk about, you know, why the Lakers are struggling, why this is happening there.
32:30
SPEAKER_02: So for me, it's like I'm living that out.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's probably the best part.
32:34
SPEAKER_02: The worst part, I don't think there's the worst part, to be honest.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: See, I I we're in the same boat.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: I can relate to that too, because um people see like all of the channels that I run, all of the shows that I'm a part of, all the appearances I may make, and they're like, man, it's gotta be something.
32:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, nah, like this is what I do, this is what I love the most.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I can't, I can't completely relate to that, man.
32:55
SPEAKER_01: It's similar to what you said.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: When you when you have an opportunity to live out your dream, it's something that the way I look at it is that you can't take it for granted because there's so many people out there that don't have that opportunity.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: So I try not to also um uh cut edges on the things that I do because I want to make sure that what I'm producing is up to the quality of my liking and to be happy about it and um make other people happy through the content.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
33:18
SPEAKER_01: People watch, people listen.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: I think that's a great point you make right there, is like shortcuts.
33:22
SPEAKER_02: Is is you you don't you don't ever want to take shortcuts.
33:25
SPEAKER_02: And I think you being so young, me being so young, I think there's a tendency, and I even I feel like I have to catch myself sometimes of wanting to take those shortcuts.
33:34
SPEAKER_02: I mean, because it's human nature, like you want everything so fast.
33:37
SPEAKER_02: I remember when I was 24, 25, 26, like I wanted everything.
33:40
SPEAKER_02: I I wanted you want to be the best, you want to do everything, you want to do this, this is like you want to do everything.
33:46
SPEAKER_02: And I think sometimes taking a deep breath, taking a step back, I I still have to catch myself to this day.
33:52
SPEAKER_02: Like every, you know, every couple every couple weeks, every couple months, there's always that moment where I'm like, yo, relax.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: Take a deep breath.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: Like, just relax.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: Right.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: And so I think I think those are things that are just those are just natural though, especially when you start in this young and and kind of hungry as you are.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: I want to play a little game, and this is for my boy Greg out there, so we can get the, you know, we gotta get the short form content.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: Let's do it, let's do it.
34:17
SPEAKER_02: Always.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: The likelihood that this team makes a trade coming up this deadline.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: First team on the list is my Chicago Bulls.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: Formerly your Chicago Bulls, but you've you've got rid of your fandom completely, right?
34:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
34:29
SPEAKER_02: Once I started doing this, I'm a fan of the stories.
34:32
SPEAKER_02: Like the stories that I'm working on.
34:33
SPEAKER_02: I'm basically basically what I'm saying is I'm I'm very focused, self-centered.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: Right.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: You know, in terms of self-centered in the way of like whatever I'm working at, the athletic, whatever I've got going on at stadium, whatever I've got going on at FanDuel TV, like I'm locked in on all that.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: Everything else, obviously you're watching.
34:50
SPEAKER_02: You're a fan of the league, you're a fan of what's going on here and there, but you know, I'm locked in.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: Right.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, you you got out at the right time.
34:59
SPEAKER_02: Got away from Bulls Phantom at the right time.
35:01
SPEAKER_02: So you know, I have a lot of friends.
35:03
SPEAKER_02: So the likelihood that the Bulls make a trade, I I say I mean, I'll go 50-50.
35:09
SPEAKER_02: Like I will say I think it's a 50-50 chance.
35:12
SPEAKER_02: I think the Bulls' phone lines are open, they're open for business.
35:15
SPEAKER_02: Zach Levine, obviously the player that they are taking the most calls on, that they're making the most calls on.
35:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, I I think they're they're they're being proactive when it comes to finding Zach Levine a trade home.
35:28
SPEAKER_02: Now, will it happen?
35:29
SPEAKER_02: That's the question.
35:30
SPEAKER_02: Right.
35:31
SPEAKER_02: Three years,$140 million left on a contract this season uh with a player option.
35:37
SPEAKER_02: So Zach Levine, he's got an amazing contract.
35:43
SPEAKER_02: And they're gonna they're gonna be open, you know.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: And I I do think they're open.
35:48
SPEAKER_02: Like if a team calls them and gives them a substantial offer for DeMar DeRozan, they're going to have to listen on that as well.
35:55
SPEAKER_02: And I I do think they want DeMar to be in Chicago.
35:58
SPEAKER_02: They've discussed an extension with DeMar DeRozan.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, they made offers to DeMar DeRozan for an extension.
36:04
SPEAKER_02: They have not reached an agreement on a deal.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: Besides, as of my reporting last time I spoke on this, we're we're not really close on a deal.
36:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that but their phone lines are open, they're open for business.
36:17
SPEAKER_02: We'll see if anything gets done.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: I hope so.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: 50-50 does make me feel great, honestly.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: It's a fan.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I have read something that the Bulls have made the least amount of trades since 2021.
36:27
SPEAKER_01: And the one trade that we did was to trade some second-round picks to get a second-round pick in the 2023 draft class.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: So, and Julian Phillips has looked pretty nice this last couple weeks since we've been so injured.
36:36
SPEAKER_01: So, 50-50, I'll take it, and I'll just hope that once the day comes, that coin lands on the side of yes, we make trades.
36:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the next team, a team that we've mentioned um a little bit earlier, the LA Lakers.
36:49
SPEAKER_02: LA Lakers.
36:50
SPEAKER_02: What percentage chance?
36:54
SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll I mean I'll go I'll go 70%.
36:57
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
36:57
SPEAKER_02: Uh nothing's ever guaranteed.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: I do think they have enough irons in the fire.
37:03
SPEAKER_02: I think I think they have more pathways to getting a deal done right now.
37:07
SPEAKER_02: Like when you're you know in Chicago, you're you're thinking from a more selling perspective, right?
37:12
SPEAKER_02: Like moving a guy like Zach Levine, that's a he's gonna be the best player in any trade easy for the most part, right?
37:18
SPEAKER_02: So you're in that position, you're kind of looking at yourself like we're selling him off.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get a couple other contracts back, maybe some picks, whatever.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: If you're the Lakers, you're buying, right?
37:28
SPEAKER_02: You're trying to go get guys and potentially getting whether it's the Brooklyn players, whether it's Tyus Jones, whether it's DeJounte Murray, you're going out there being proactive.
37:37
SPEAKER_02: And that's why I'm going 70 instead of 50.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I do think the the like the uh DeJounte Murray trade, like there's a there's a framework there that you can get to.
37:48
SPEAKER_02: Now, will they get there?
37:49
SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
37:50
SPEAKER_01: The last one we have is the Golden State Warriors.
37:52
SPEAKER_01: It's been an underwhelming season so far.
37:53
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, they've dealt with a lot this year, more than any other team in the association could have even imagined.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, but they have been underwhelming so far.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh Wiggins has not lived up to the wickedness that we saw in the finals, and obviously Clay's up for an extension.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: So it's just a lot of moving pieces.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: What is the likelihood that they get something uh done at the deadline?
38:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna go 50-50 for them as well.
38:13
SPEAKER_02: But if I had to trend one way versus the other, if I had to go 48-52 on this one, I'd probably go like no.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: But again, these things are all fluid.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: They're taking calls on Andrew Wiggins still.
38:25
SPEAKER_02: There's deals there, they have offers right now where they could trade Andrew Wiggins just for players.
38:30
SPEAKER_02: No draft picks involved, player-for-player trades.
38:33
SPEAKER_02: The the downside there is are the players you're getting back actually better than Andrew Wiggins?
38:39
SPEAKER_02: Are you and especially Andrew Wiggins the last four, five, six, seven, eight games?
38:44
SPEAKER_02: Kenny, I know you got all the numbers down.
38:46
SPEAKER_02: What what are what are Andrew Wiggins' numbers?
38:49
SPEAKER_01: I don't got Wiggins numbers.
38:50
SPEAKER_01: The number I do have is Kaminga putting up 20 plus points in the last seven.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: I think over his last 10 games, he's Kaminga's averaging 21 points, definitely shooting it amazing.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: He's like 63% from the field, 50% from three.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: It's like three times every game, right?
39:05
SPEAKER_02: 24 games in a row, he scored double digits or more.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: He's he's looking really, really good.
39:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's the reason I asked, just because he's playing so well that it's like, okay, we have to open up more opportunity for him because Andrew Wiggins, the last, let's see, the last.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: See, this man is an NBA fanatic too.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: He pulled up pulling up the stats live on the show.
39:23
SPEAKER_02: Like that's we're you know, we're that's the way it is.
39:26
SPEAKER_02: We're making it happen.
39:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, let's see.
39:29
SPEAKER_02: Let's see his numbers.
39:30
SPEAKER_02: I mean, shooting the ball better, 49% in January, 34 from 3.
39:36
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, minutes down.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: That's better than what it was a month ago, two months ago.
39:40
SPEAKER_02: We saw him the other night, though, when he was playing next.
39:43
SPEAKER_02: I think Draymond Green has unlocked a lot.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
39:45
SPEAKER_02: Because he's allowing Jonathan coming and Andrew Wiggins to play next to each other, and I think that's a positive sign.
39:50
SPEAKER_02: But we saw Wiggins against Philly, 23 points, five rebounds, four assists.
39:56
SPEAKER_02: Against the Lakers in that one-point loss, 22 points, five rebounds, three assists.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: That was a great game, too.
40:02
SPEAKER_02: And he's shooting the ball efficiently in both games.
40:05
SPEAKER_02: And then against the Kings, like they've had a tough run here.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:09
SPEAKER_02: They've lost two of their last three, but those two losses were about one point.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:15
SPEAKER_02: 17 points, four rebounds, four assists against the Kings.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: Again, very efficient from the field.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: So the good thing about them, though, is that their their schedule is about to get so much easier.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: I think they've had the like one of the top three hardest schedules.
40:28
SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna get easier, Warriors fans, but it's just a matter of what, if you do anything.
40:31
SPEAKER_02: So that's the thing with me is like, are you gonna get a deal for Andrew Wiggins that makes you a better player?
40:36
SPEAKER_02: And to my knowledge, I haven't gotten the sense that Joe Lacob has given instruction to that organization or the front office to like start shedding money.
40:44
SPEAKER_02: Like trade guys is to trade guys.
40:46
SPEAKER_02: We want to save money.
40:46
SPEAKER_02: I haven't gotten that sense yet.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, deadline's still a week away.
40:50
SPEAKER_02: There's they're gonna get cut.
40:52
SPEAKER_02: There's still, I think I said it two weeks ago.
40:55
SPEAKER_02: Everyone but Steph Curry, they will take calls on.
40:58
SPEAKER_02: Right.
40:58
SPEAKER_02: If a team blows them out the water for anyone else, they'll listen and they'll have to decide whether to act on it or not.
41:06
SPEAKER_02: In the past, obviously, we've never even discussed the concept of trading Draymond Green and Clay Thompson.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: So now this is for the first time in this dynasty run that we've seen that you have the concept of Klay Thompson being available in trade.
41:20
SPEAKER_02: And that is interesting because they did offer him an extension before the season.
41:23
SPEAKER_02: Both sides decide let's play it out.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: Klay Thompson wanted more, and now the sides are kind of just playing it out.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: But the Warriors want Klay Thompson to be there, they want him to retire a warrior.
41:36
SPEAKER_02: We'll see if it happens.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: Before we get you out of, because I know you're a busy guy and it's late.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: We got a late film session.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you, what do you see the future of sports media in general gravitate into?
41:48
SPEAKER_01: Like, like what is the next thing?
41:50
SPEAKER_02: Because Kenny, I think you're the future, bro.
41:52
SPEAKER_02: I think you got, I think what you do, you know, in terms of the on-air stuff, and I didn't start doing video until I mean I was I started, I was writing, I think 2010, 11.
42:03
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even do video until I was at Yahoo in 2015.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: And when we were doing video, it was very sporadic.
42:08
SPEAKER_02: Now, you know, the big thing for me was going to stadium in 2018.
42:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh Jason Coyle, the CEO, when I met with him, like the hunger that he had, like the drive, the passion, the desire, like he wanted to cover the league at a high level.
42:19
SPEAKER_02: He wanted me to get as many reps as possible.
42:22
SPEAKER_02: And I think I have to give them a lot of credit for allowing me and giving me the platform and giving me the space because I needed, I needed work.
42:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm I I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses.
42:30
SPEAKER_02: I think I was A plus writer, a writer.
42:33
SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, doing the job, I was learning, getting better every day.
42:37
SPEAKER_02: But video-wise, I needed, I needed work.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: And I think reps are the only thing that can that can get you to that point.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh spending time.
42:44
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I I think being able to do video is a game changer for sure.
42:49
SPEAKER_02: So I do think on air might be a big part of the future as far as being able to get your thoughts across, being able to get your points across.
42:57
SPEAKER_02: That's just another medium for you to, you know, for me report, yeah.
43:01
SPEAKER_02: Speak on different narratives and different points, um, speak on different themes that I see around the league.
43:07
SPEAKER_02: And for you, I mean, you you you got the numbers, you got the opinions, you got the takes, you got the lens around the league.
43:14
SPEAKER_02: Trying to watch every game.
43:16
SPEAKER_02: So um, I do think video has to be a big part of the future.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, we want to thank you again for stopping in the studio.
43:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm honored.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: Whenever you want to come back, hopefully we'll have the rest of the studio furnace because for people at home, it's really just this room that's furnished.
43:31
SPEAKER_01: But we have other sets built eventually.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: So whenever you want to come back, just let us know.
43:35
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I'm honored to be here.
43:36
SPEAKER_02: I appreciate you guys having me.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: We definitely gotta do this again.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: Let's do it again.
43:39
SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Kenny.