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NBA Trade Deadline Deals: From Harden to AD — And Why Giannis & Ja Stayed Put · Fanatically Speaking with Kent

0:10
Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to another
0:12
episode of Fanatically Speaking. I am Kent, your
0:15
co -host and promoter. I am Log Off, the Log
0:19
Off legend hater of social media, the co -host
0:22
and producer of the show. In today's episode,
0:25
we are gonna roll into the NBA trade deadline.
0:30
Deals that happened. It's come and gone. We're
0:34
a few days removed. So we want to do this episode
0:37
to hit on the winners the losers how it affects
0:40
the players the teams and and what does it mean
0:43
going forward for the rest of this season and
0:44
maybe even in the offseason What's hilarious
0:49
is you said it it you know, it's come and gone
0:51
it came and went my ass I feel like it took forever.
0:55
I feel like we've been talking about it for like
0:58
two months where it was just this guy upset about
1:01
this, this guy wants to be traded from here,
1:03
which team's gonna make a move? Obviously we'll
1:06
go over all the names and stuff, but I feel like
1:08
this last week took like three weeks. And maybe
1:13
that's just me, but I've just felt like everything,
1:15
it took so long to just get things done. Well,
1:18
it felt like it. And I believe we did an episode
1:21
maybe three, four months ago just to kind of
1:24
get ahead of it to say, okay, who could get traded,
1:26
who might get traded this season? And I don't
1:30
know that any of those names got traded. Yeah.
1:34
Yeah, exactly. So we ended up with some other
1:37
names, some surprises and then some that it was
1:41
like about Tom. And and then you get then you
1:44
get into all the whole, you know, the waivers
1:48
and releases and what they call it. Signing guys,
1:53
10 days, two day, two way contracts and all of
1:56
that. That's a lot. Learned a new phrase. pre
2:00
-agency, you know, you trade for a guy so you
2:04
can own his rights, bird rights and things like
2:07
that. That way, you know, you have a better chance
2:10
of signing them than you would in actual free
2:12
agency. So you trade for them, own that expiring
2:15
contract. So they started calling that instead
2:18
of free agency, pre -agency. Well, yeah, and
2:22
this and it's a good term if you think about
2:24
it in terms of basketball history and we're not
2:26
historians by any stretch but if you think about
2:29
it like long like let's just say 10 15 years
2:33
ago, it's really prevalent like it happens quite
2:36
a bit and It's a strategic move now, especially
2:40
with salary caps and some teams being so much
2:43
better at managing their rosters, their payrolls,
2:47
expiring contracts, upcoming contracts. Obviously,
2:49
we know teams like the Spurs have always done
2:52
it well. OKC, masterful at it. Boston's done
2:55
a great job of keeping their core intact, just
2:57
managing it within their front office. So yeah,
3:00
man, fun stuff. Yes. I think we've already, as
3:05
we get into the trades here, so. The one that
3:08
happened earlier and and we're gonna briefly
3:10
touch on this because I think we talked about
3:12
it before but Trey young to the Wizards that
3:15
did not happen this week that did not happen
3:17
on Deadline Day It happened actually like a few
3:20
weeks ago. They got ahead of the game Atlanta
3:23
to get Trey young out out of there so they could
3:25
You know go their new their new way, you know,
3:30
he just didn't fit in their new offense their
3:32
new system their new future Yeah, and I don't
3:40
think I ever said this publicly, but I said it
3:42
to you. I don't think that Trey Young fits on
3:45
any NBA roster. I don't think, and my point was,
3:51
and I don't even think we argued about it. Like
3:54
I think I just kind of said it and it was like,
3:56
but to me, Trey Young does not represent winning
4:00
basketball. You put him on your team, you are
4:03
worse. He's a good player. And I mean, if you're
4:08
trying to sell tickets, great. Trying to put
4:10
butts into seats, you want a guy that could get
4:12
assists and get guys points, fine. He is a crippling
4:16
liability on defense. So I think a team like
4:20
the Wizards, who we all know for the last 30
4:22
years haven't done much winning, even when they
4:24
had great players, they didn't do a lot of winning.
4:27
And I think a team like that is great for him
4:30
because he's exciting for that fan base and that
4:33
city. But at the same time, like that dude, He
4:36
just doesn't play. He's not going to be impactful
4:39
enough as a player with his talents. Even once
4:42
he reaches his maximum, it's still not going
4:44
to be enough to overcome all of his shortcomings.
4:47
And that's not a shot at his height. I just mean
4:49
his actual basketball limitation in terms of
4:51
skill. Yeah, I got you. I mean, obviously he
4:54
is a talented player who deserves to be in the
4:56
NBA, but I get what you're saying. Like, yeah,
4:59
not everybody equals wins. For a team, even though
5:02
they've had, you know, the one long run to the
5:04
Eastern Conference Finals in Atlanta, and he
5:07
can light up a scoreboard, you know, 50 at any
5:11
point he wants to get hot. But speaking of the
5:15
Wizards and they went out and got Trey Young
5:16
and then. During the week right before the deadline,
5:20
they pulled off maybe a shocker. I would say
5:24
like I don't know that we had them or anyone
5:26
had them on their, as they say, bingo card to
5:29
make a trade for. Anthony Davis Which yeah, so
5:35
so so they get Trey young they bring in Anthony
5:37
Davis They shed some expiring contracts. They
5:41
still have their young Core that they've drafted
5:45
in the in the most recent years They're not a
5:48
good basketball team there. You know, they're
5:50
at the bottom. They're gonna be in the lottery
5:53
so the one thing I'm gonna say about it is you
5:57
know, my first initial thought for Anthony Davis
5:59
was I always envisioned him being on a team that
6:03
can compete. And because I think he could be
6:07
a piece on a team if he's on the on the court,
6:10
you know, it obviously didn't work out in Dallas.
6:12
And we'll get into that because this is a this
6:15
is basically the trade for Anthony Davis to the
6:17
Wizards is still connected to the Luca trade.
6:21
You know, last year, it all connects because
6:24
this is the guy that you traded for Luca. and
6:28
now a year later, you're trading him away for
6:31
draft picks, expiring contracts, et cetera. So
6:36
the one thing I'll give the Wizards is credit
6:38
for trying. The thing that you always bark about,
6:43
teams. No, no, I give you that. Try. And I give,
6:47
hey, like you said, put butts in seats, give
6:50
those fans a reason to watch this basketball
6:53
team, because otherwise, there's really no reason
6:55
to watch the Washington Wizards. So now at least
6:59
you do have two all -star players, one all -time
7:05
great, and Anthony Davis. So he'll cover the
7:10
defense, and then Trey Young will do the offense,
7:13
and then in between is all these youngsters.
7:17
But I give the, they said the Wizards are trying,
7:19
and that's all you can ask for your franchise
7:20
to say, hey, look. Yeah, you may not want Trey
7:24
Young and Anthony Davis may be a liability because,
7:27
you know, he's Mr. Glass, but, you know, at least
7:31
we're trying to give you something to watch.
7:36
Okay. So a couple of things. One bird's eye overview,
7:41
just big picture. So essentially the Dallas Mavericks
7:47
traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers. for um What
7:55
exactly this is what this is the rundown of what
7:58
they ended up the Mavericks ended up getting
8:01
Okay Obviously they got anything Davis, but then
8:05
they swapped him out to the Wizards Yeah, well,
8:09
no, no, no, no, no, that's what I mean. So here's
8:10
what the Mavericks ended up Yeah, so yeah, so
8:13
at the end of it for in terms of the Luca the
8:16
currency that Luca was worth What do they get
8:18
in return? So trading away their franchise player
8:23
They ended up getting Max Christie Chris Middleton
8:31
AJ Johnson Ultimately Tyus Jones because they
8:37
flipped Malachi Branham to the Hornets for Tyus
8:42
Jones. So so Tyus Jones Marvin Bagley A Lakers
8:49
20 -29 first round pick. A Thunder 20 -26 first
8:54
round pick. Warriors 20 -30 protected first round
8:59
pick. Suns 26 second round pick. Bulls 27 second
9:04
round pick. And a Rockets 29 second round pick.
9:09
Now most of this came from this wizard's deal.
9:12
Of course. No, I know. and I that sounds like
9:17
um that sounds like mediocrity at its finest
9:25
yeah because like it like it's not it's not it
9:28
doesn't it doesn't equate the value of an international
9:31
superstar that you got rid of who's been balling
9:36
you know you know and and even though he's been
9:39
out of shape you know Luca has has stayed reasonably
9:42
healthy throughout his career And and that's
9:45
what you're getting out of him even, you know
9:47
with bad conditioning and all that in terms of
9:49
you know, historically how he's played Sorry,
9:53
it's the first round picks. I mean you look at
9:55
it in 2029 a Lakers first round pick will still
9:58
be probably Not a great alone. Yeah. Yeah, it
10:02
won't be a lottery. It'll still be good I mean,
10:04
they got Luca. They correct. Okay, see won't
10:06
be a lottery Okay, see definitely won't be a
10:08
lottery pick this year and the warrior and correct
10:11
Golden State may be protected though So in 2030,
10:16
they probably won't be good. And but it is protected.
10:20
I'd have to I don't have the I don't have that
10:22
like how protected it is. But I'd have to say
10:25
that it's not going to be a top topic. Agreed.
10:37
I wanted to clarify that portion before I got
10:41
to this. Because you do make a good point and
10:43
it is something that I say consistently for bad.
10:47
I'm not a I Understand that the NBA and all sports
10:52
franchising is business It's a lot of things
10:54
that go into Instead of just you know the things
10:57
that we enjoy which is the games the players
10:59
the team the atmosphere All that stuff. That's
11:02
what fans look at the front office is looking
11:04
at numbers They're looking at you know, all the
11:07
things that don't really matter to us The thing
11:11
that you said about Anthony Davis and the the
11:13
Wizards trying and making an attempt I'm gonna
11:16
spring this on you cuz I don't think you know
11:18
this. I don't think you caught wind of this Are
11:22
you aware that literally overnight? That the
11:24
Wizards have ruled Anthony Davis out for the
11:26
rest of the year. I know I did not he ain't gonna
11:28
even play this season Trey Young He's out Trey
11:30
Young song gonna play this season, which I pretty
11:33
much I mean, that's what the word was there.
11:35
They're basically let him Because they don't
11:38
want to win right now. They want to get a good
11:39
pick and they're tanking it. So you make these
11:43
trades. You mean teams don't try so they can
11:47
get it? No. Well, no. And this is what I mean.
11:51
It's so blatant, man. Don't lie to me. Because
11:58
they do these introductory press conferences.
12:00
You sit over there with the coach and the player
12:02
and front office people. but you traded for two
12:05
players that have great names in the NBA. Trey
12:08
Young, I don't like him as a player. I'm a point
12:11
guard snob. I don't like him as a player, but
12:14
I understand what he is. Anthony Davis, same
12:16
thing. You know, number one overall pick, Kentucky,
12:20
all of that. Mr. Glass, he stays hurt. And he
12:24
was overweight two months ago. You know, he was
12:28
big. And now here he is, he's out. He's out for
12:31
the rest of the year with a hand slash groin
12:34
injury. And then I guess they're going to try
12:36
to get them healthy and then just start next
12:37
year. So, so I mean, just think about if you're
12:39
that fan base, you see the news come in about
12:41
the trades and then it's like, doesn't even matter.
12:44
We're not going into the all -star break. We're
12:45
going to shut everything down for the rest of
12:47
the year. And your undersized point guard that
12:49
can't play defense and your big man that's constantly
12:52
hurt. Neither one of them are even going to play.
12:53
You're not going to be able to see them this
12:55
season. No, I mean, and again, I wouldn't expect
12:58
a lot this season anyways. They're not going
12:59
to make a run, you know, so, and they're basically
13:03
got one year with Trey Young to see if it works
13:06
and then either they move on or he moves on.
13:09
Now, Davis would have been nice to test those
13:11
waters though. It would have been nice to be
13:13
able to see how he fits with the offense and
13:15
fits well and the locker room. You know what
13:18
I mean? Like all these things matter, man. Like
13:21
the teams that win, dude, you're a Spurs fan.
13:25
They had they had a you you never heard about
13:28
drama amongst that team. You never heard about
13:31
Lack of cohesion only with Kawhi and his uncle
13:35
And he was an outlier everybody else was on the
13:39
same page and they got his ass up out of there.
13:41
Yeah, so You know, so I mean, it's just I don't
13:44
know it leaves a bad taste on my mouth. I hate
13:46
it I know we got more teams to get to but I hate
13:48
that kind of shit. We can keep it rolling What
13:50
else we got for sure? Let's see the next trade.
13:55
I want to bring this one up Just because we just
13:57
talked about what Luca got and we talked about
13:59
what these guys get traded for and first round
14:01
picks matter But like we just went over it matters.
14:05
What team is giving you first round picks Correct.
14:08
So the Memphis Grizzlies We can go ahead put
14:11
it out there. Obviously we everybody knows now
14:13
they didn't trade John Moran But they did trade
14:17
Jaren Jackson jr. And to the jazz And again a
14:23
team that at least at least they're trying right
14:26
you like to see a team that is at the bottom
14:28
Make a deal to say okay. Let's look at our future
14:31
I said the Wizards their futures only about you
14:34
know, maybe one to three years with that what
14:36
they just got but the jazz So they send Jackson
14:40
to the the Grizzlies send Jackson to the jazz
14:44
There's a lot of role players involved in this
14:47
trade. So I'm not gonna go over all that but
14:51
again The Jazz give the Grizzlies three first
14:54
round picks. I don't have the years. All I know
14:58
is, though, if you're getting three first round
15:00
picks from the Jazz, that's pretty good. So.
15:05
You know, the Grizzlies are obviously they're
15:07
not going anywhere. We'll get into jaw here in
15:11
just a minute. But, you know, I was kind of surprised
15:14
at this trade. This is one of the shockers that,
15:16
you know, they got rid of Jackson and. you know,
15:21
moved on to go ahead and just say, let's rebuild,
15:24
let's retool. We're just going to get a bunch
15:26
of picks and role players and we'll build from
15:29
there. You know, I guess around, you know, like
15:32
I said, Zach Eady and other guys. Yeah, that
15:39
one came out of nowhere. They, so they didn't
15:44
trade John Morant. The the role players that
15:49
were exchanged again not impactful. I don't know
15:53
if this makes Utah any better and I think at
15:57
this time Memphis is looking at it like we have
16:01
to wipe the slate clean Four or five years ago
16:05
if I would have told you that this is the place
16:07
that the Memphis Grizzlies would be and you'd
16:09
look at me like I was insane Yeah, where they're
16:11
literally burning it all down They have no, their
16:15
future is so uncertain. And they had such a massive
16:19
upstart with a potential face of the league type
16:23
player in John Morant. And the Scottie Pippen
16:28
to his Jordan was supposed to be Jared Jackson
16:30
Jr. So they go in ahead and moved him because
16:33
they knew he had value and I guess they knew
16:35
that they could get something for it. To me,
16:37
that seemed like more of a salary dump. and he
16:40
is a, what is he, like 28? A 26, Jaren Jackson
16:46
Jr. He was gonna end up coming up, I'm sorry.
16:49
He'd been in the league a lot longer than I thought.
16:53
A lot longer, yeah. I mean, so he's, you know,
16:55
so he, I mean, I guess we can say an old 26,
16:59
but he, at some point, you're gonna have to pay
17:04
him. You're gonna have to lock him in and it's
17:07
and they're like, okay Well, what value can we
17:09
get for him now? And I honestly think he should
17:12
be better statistically. He's average in 19 and
17:15
6 for the year. I Think I think of him as a better
17:19
higher tier player than that and they haven't
17:22
been able to get that from him So I don't I understand
17:26
them making this move I'm sure you want to touch
17:29
on the job a rant thing. It's it's so bizarre
17:33
that a player like that that you and I look at
17:35
and see a value in him as a player and a draw
17:39
on the court and off the court but teams just
17:43
wouldn't even make a move to bring him in so
17:48
maybe there are some whispers and there's things
17:50
going on with him that just we don't know but
17:53
it is it's beyond strange i'm trying to think
17:56
of a comp of like an instance in which something
17:59
like this happened before. And I'm drawing a
18:01
blank. I can't come up with anything. Yeah. Yeah.
18:03
We talked about this before an episode, uh, you
18:05
know, his fall from grace and that's been, you
18:09
know, like that's been talked about. And I think,
18:11
I think the Grizzlies, you know, changing coaches,
18:13
uh, like underwear is an issue. No matter how
18:17
well they do. I mean, was it last year was like
18:20
a week before the playoffs, they decided, Hey,
18:22
we're going to, we're going to change coaches.
18:24
Okay. Oh, that makes sense. Yes. Yeah. So they,
18:27
that franchise, that management, again, great
18:31
for them getting picks, but now you got to go
18:33
find the next John Morant, Jared Jackson Jr.,
18:37
Desmond Bain, Dillon Brooks. Cause those, those
18:40
are the four guys that they had on that team
18:42
that were up and coming and battling for the
18:45
top seeds in the West. So they have blown it
18:48
up. Uh, word is John will get traded in the off
18:51
season. I'm sure they're hoping he gets to play
18:54
a little this year or more to maybe boost his
18:57
value because the word was that he had no value.
19:01
He actually had negative value. The only way
19:04
teams were going to trade for him was with draft
19:07
picks attached to him. So teams were like, yeah,
19:10
we'll take them, but you got to give us some
19:12
picks too. So what are we missing? What am I
19:16
missing? Because I did hear that too, the negative
19:20
value. The negative value quote was shocking.
19:25
I know what it means to have a negative value,
19:29
but the negative value comes so, I'll put it
19:31
like this. I'm selling my house. My house is
19:34
going to lose value if all the pipes are burst,
19:37
homeless people came in and stole all the copper
19:39
wiring out of it. You know what I mean? They
19:41
ripped up all the floors and there's a hole in
19:43
the roof. Negative value. I get it. I know what
19:45
the hell that means. You telling me that applies
19:49
to John Morant? Where? For what? I think we're
19:52
missing, I think, like you said, the the most
19:55
recent years of his trouble, his baggage. And
19:59
then if you watch him this year, there's been
20:02
many clips of him in street clothes still, you
20:08
know, yapping at other players like a Klay Thompson
20:11
or, you know, he's doing extra. Obviously him
20:15
and the coaching staff, all that with the team
20:17
is not going well. So apparently that's, you
20:21
know, it's spread around the league and teams
20:23
are like, you know, unbelievable player. But
20:26
what else are we getting with them? Are we getting
20:28
the jaw from a few years ago before all this
20:32
stuff? Or are we going to get the new jaw who,
20:35
you know, doesn't really produce as much and
20:38
he comes with a, you know, extra stuff. That's
20:41
the only thing I can say. That's I mean, that's
20:43
what we have to go by what we see. And I'm sure
20:45
there's other stuff, you know. It has to be.
20:50
I'm sure there is. Because this is a league that
20:55
had the bad boy pistons in it. This is a league
20:58
that had Dennis Rodman in it. You know what I
21:01
mean? It's a different league. It's a different
21:04
world, too. Like you said. I understand it's
21:07
a different world, but even with the things that
21:10
he's, let's just assume for the sake of this,
21:12
because a lot of this stuff with John Morant
21:14
was more allegation based. I'll give you that.
21:16
All of it's gospel. Let's say it's fact. It's
21:19
absolutely true. If he is as good as we, you
21:23
and I, think that he is, he's still worth all
21:26
of that. Look at what Draymond got. Draymond
21:30
sucker punched a teammate. on camera. Draymond
21:33
does something. And the team got mad at the dude
21:36
that released the video. They didn't even get
21:39
mad at Draymond. I was about to bring up Draymond.
21:41
I was like, the Warriors put up with so much
21:44
from a guy who is not even the best player. Was
21:48
their fourth best player. Yeah. I mean, it's
21:50
every week something with him. He said. And he
21:53
lost him a championship. Like, come on man, like.
21:56
I've never, yeah. If there's ever been someone.
21:59
that's given yeah Draymond is on a different
22:01
level that's one that you just say man the Warriors
22:03
just love them for whatever reason they kick
22:06
Clay out soon as he had a limp but Draymond can
22:10
do whatever and they just will not trade him
22:12
or get rid of them they just keep them but yeah
22:16
you know you thought maybe the Miami Heat maybe
22:18
I mean they could have give the Grizzlies Terry
22:21
Rozier and been like hey look let's just swap
22:23
let's just swap bad for bad we'll give you a
22:26
gambler And, uh, you know, we'll take job off
22:30
your hands. Uh, yeah. Yeah. I don't. Yeah. It's
22:35
something I'm not getting. I'm pretty sure it'll
22:38
surface like all things do, but he's still, like
22:40
I said, he's still young, talented, and, um,
22:43
you know, hopefully, like we always say, hopefully
22:45
he can turn around, man, cause he was exciting.
22:47
So we'll see any else. I think he'll be okay
22:49
off season. And we're just let's move on to another
22:58
trade. Another shocker, one of our favorite teams
23:03
in the league, the Clippers. The who are on a
23:09
roll of late, like we did the Clippers and Hornets,
23:12
two best teams in the two twenty twenty six right
23:14
now in the NBA. And they traded. Mr. Yeah, it
23:20
feels like every trade deadline. There's certain
23:22
names that come up or request or however, but
23:24
James Harden Traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers
23:28
for Darius Garland Yeah, that one came out of
23:33
nowhere and so that one hit the text chain and
23:37
my my first reaction was did he request a trade
23:43
and Because we've seen James Harden consistently
23:48
make a mess when he's ready to leave somewhere
23:51
he makes it ugly he comes in fat and out of shape
23:53
you know he claims the injuries you can you can
23:57
see it reflected in his basketball um like when
24:00
he's on the court but it seemed like this was
24:03
something that was more and just you correct
24:06
me if i'm wrong to me it seemed more of like
24:08
a mutual parting of ways than him saying, trade
24:12
me somewhere else. Is that fair to say? Yeah,
24:15
even though they were on the up and, you know,
24:17
like I said, rising in the rankings right now,
24:20
they'd be in the play in, but they're really
24:22
close to getting to 500 over 500. So it was kind
24:27
of a weird timing. But at the same time, it felt
24:30
mutual. It sounds mutual. He keeps saying that
24:32
he didn't request a trade. I think the Clippers,
24:35
you know, They obviously need to get younger.
24:38
I mean, we talked about how the moves they made
24:41
in the off season, but I'm like, yeah, but they're
24:43
all old. Like, you know, CP3 and Bradley Bill
24:46
and Brook Lopez and Harden, they're all old.
24:50
You know what I mean? So they needed to get younger.
24:54
I do like the trade for the Clippers. I don't
24:57
know about the Cavs yet. We know Harden's a great
25:01
player, but he's never really equaled. You know,
25:07
yeah, this team's going to the finals every team
25:09
he's ever been on outside of the Thunder which
25:11
he was the third man You know and and that was
25:14
so far and so long ago in his career and so young
25:17
in his career Obviously as a Rockets he was the
25:21
best of his career but You know in Brooklyn and
25:25
Philly and Clippers were supposed to be oh they
25:27
got James Harden and he's with so -and -so You
25:29
know, he's paired with KD and then he's paired
25:32
with Embiid. He's paired with Kawhi Even in Houston,
25:35
he's got, you know, CP3 and he's got, you know,
25:38
it never worked. So to think that Cleveland,
25:42
who have only won because of LeBron James and
25:46
Draymond Green, you know, I can't sit there and
25:51
think that this is gonna be different. And I
25:54
really not sure, and I don't know how you think
25:56
about this, how, and I said this, like, I'm not
26:00
sold yet on how Mitchell Harden combination's
26:03
gonna. workout. Um, maybe well, you know what
26:07
I mean? I said, uh, with, uh, Atkinson as a coach,
26:10
I think they'll have a really good offense. I
26:12
got, I mean, they got the pieces. It's just,
26:14
do they put it together? Well, I think the, I
26:20
mean, I've, I feel like there's in the NBA is
26:28
different than the NFL. Where you have to I feel
26:31
like you need a little more cohesion because
26:33
it's just so many players There's so many factors
26:36
that come into it To me like basketball is different
26:40
because these guys have been playing basketball
26:42
since they were five years old Like to put Donovan
26:46
Mitchell and James Harden on the same team. They'll
26:49
figure it out It might take a while. It might
26:51
take them, you know a month or two, but Ultimately,
26:55
they'll be able if they're both willing They'll
26:57
be able to play to each other's strengths and
26:59
then try to minimize their weaknesses. Neither
27:02
one of them are great defenders. Harden's got
27:06
that uncle body. Donovan Mitchell is sneakily
27:13
undersized as a guard, but he's super effective.
27:18
And they've got a really good, so you got a good
27:22
front court, you got a good back court. I think
27:24
everything that surrounds around them winning
27:26
and losing is all their role players and whether
27:28
or not they're able to do it. And that's what
27:30
matters, especially in the East. We saw it last
27:32
year with Indiana. That's how the Pacers got
27:35
to the finals. Their role players were amazing.
27:38
The entire playoffs. It's like, hey, we can just
27:40
bring this guy off the bench. He can just go
27:42
get a 16. Some dude you never heard of. And so
27:46
I think that's where it's going to come in. I
27:47
mean, we know Harden can shoot. We know he can
27:50
distribute. He has a very high usage rate. He
27:52
dominates the ball, which I think opens some
27:55
opportunities for Donovan Mitchell to get some
27:56
easy buckets. That dude works hard to get buckets.
28:00
Yeah. And that was something that, that with
28:03
Garland, I mean, Garland's a frustrating guard
28:06
to me. Again, another undersized player, but
28:09
he was just dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble,
28:11
dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble.
28:12
Seven seconds left on the clock. And it's like,
28:14
okay, now let's try to figure out how we're going
28:15
to get a shot off. You won't have that with Harden.
28:18
Decisions are gonna be made quick, passing lanes,
28:22
open, you know, run a set, I saw a guy, put him
28:26
on skates, kick it to the corner, open three.
28:28
That's what I see. I think they're gonna be okay.
28:30
I like the trade for Cleveland. So when it comes
28:34
to Garland, I don't see a benefit or an upside
28:39
on the Clippers roster, except for the fact that
28:45
they... So they moved Hardin, which is a high
28:49
value, high dollar asset. And we all know all
28:55
the things that are going on with the Clippers.
28:57
Aspiration, Kawhi Leonard, Balmer, you know,
29:01
Adam Silver, all that stuff. I think it was Chris
29:05
Paul. You know, I think I think that decision
29:08
was made just to kind of get one more guy out
29:13
of the room. because if things kind of go, if
29:17
things sour with the Clippers, if there's kind
29:19
of a bombshell that's on the way down for them,
29:23
James Harden ain't gonna wanna be a part of that.
29:26
Like he don't want any parts of that. So, you
29:29
know, I'm gonna backtrack a tiny, I'm gonna take
29:32
a half step back on what I said about how I think
29:36
this was more of a mutual parting of the ways.
29:38
And I think when they brought it to Harden, he
29:41
sat and thought about it and was like, you know
29:43
what? I'm not going to be mad at you guys. If
29:45
you guys, they sent it in to Cleveland who is
29:48
a competitor, a competitive team in the Eastern
29:51
conference. You know, I mean, he, this will,
29:54
he has a better shot of winning the championship
29:56
with Cleveland than he does with the Clippers.
29:58
Okay. So, so, and so I guess that's just kind
30:01
of where I think it balanced out. I think the,
30:03
the shocking thing was that nobody really saw
30:06
it coming. It wasn't something that had whispers.
30:08
you know, clearly somebody just presented an
30:10
offer and they were like, you know what? Yeah,
30:12
I think this works. I think this is good for
30:13
both sides. It was, it was really quick. Like
30:19
it came, like it kind of started, there was rumblings
30:23
and then it happened and it moved fast. It's
30:26
one of those trades that really move fast. Not
30:28
as fast as Luca and AD in the middle of the night,
30:30
but you know, but definitely move fast. And like
30:35
you said, the Clippers, Apparently, if something
30:39
does go down, they're gonna make Kawhi go down
30:42
with the ship, so. Yeah, and they should, as
30:48
they should. Because everybody is in on it, and
30:52
that's the thing where it's like, you know, it's
30:55
a mob deal. If everybody is in on it, I want
30:58
everybody to go down. We're not just gonna let
30:59
one guy skate on it, you know, just because he's,
31:01
you know, the athlete in there. Yeah, forget
31:03
that. Hell out of here. Speaking of the Clippers,
31:10
they also moved Zubots to the Indiana Pacers
31:14
for Matheran, so they get younger there. So the
31:19
Clippers still, they get a little younger. Again,
31:21
what does it help at the end of the day? It gets
31:23
a little younger and that's about it, right?
31:29
And we'll see where they go with these new players.
31:34
But again, they're not winning anything, but
31:36
they're making a good showing at the moment Other
31:40
speaking of tall However, you want to classifies
31:44
about as a international white international
31:47
We also had the the Bulls, you know trade Vucevich
31:54
to the Celtics for Anthony Simon's The Bulls
31:59
collected guards Like I don't know what I don't
32:03
know what they're gonna do with all these guards,
32:05
but they did get Simons. They end up getting
32:07
Sexton from the Hornets, Dillingham from the
32:11
Wolves, Ivy from the Pistons. So the Bulls were
32:14
collecting guards. Didn't matter what kind of
32:17
guards, they just got a bunch of guards. To go
32:19
with the guard they already had in Josh Giddy.
32:24
So just wanted to touch on that. I'll get to
32:28
the Hornets. So again, Vucevich moved to the
32:31
Celtics. It helps them, and by the way, they're
32:35
still just playing with Jalen Brown, Derrick
32:38
White, and a bunch of guys. I mean, just go look
32:41
at the stat line from last night, and you'll
32:43
see there was really only two people scoring,
32:46
and Vucevic added a little bit off the bench.
32:49
So, good move for the Celtics, though. I'm not
32:53
gonna sit here and stay on them, but if there
32:56
is a outside chance that Tatum would come back
32:58
for the playoffs. then I would say watch out
33:01
for the Celtics. Otherwise, good showing, good
33:04
season, don't see them winning a championship.
33:07
No, and I don't think they have to. All they
33:10
have to do is compete and and I think they will
33:13
do that. That's all I have. I'm not saying they've
33:16
been playing well all year. Jalen Brown's been
33:18
balling and I I don't some of the trades that
33:24
they made, you know, it confused me a little
33:27
bit but They've shown that they have the ability
33:30
to just win enough games to get enough, to get
33:33
a good enough seating. And then the Eastern Conference,
33:36
it's a total crap shoot, man. Like everybody's
33:39
got a shot in the East. So I like the chances.
33:42
If they made a run and made it to the finals,
33:44
you wouldn't be shocked whatsoever. I'd be shocked
33:48
if they did it with this roster. Again, if Tatum
33:51
comes back for the playoffs, then you... I'm
33:57
saying only even with what you've seen from them
33:59
so far this year You still would be shocked if
34:02
they made if they made it to the finals Look,
34:06
I forgot to make this point I think on the last
34:09
one of the last nba episodes when we talk about
34:11
teams regular season playoffs, right? for different
34:14
teams Regular season success is measured differently
34:19
correct Okay, so like the charlotte hornets,
34:22
they're having a great regular season That's
34:26
a big deal for the Charlotte Hornets because
34:28
we're not used to that for the Celtics with this
34:32
roster They're having a good regular season But
34:37
it doesn't measure the same. It just it's going
34:39
to be measured as oh They overachieved in the
34:43
regular season given the injuries and the guys
34:45
they got rid of Yeah, you know what I mean? It
34:49
doesn't make sense and and then yeah, so it's
34:52
it's different measure It's it's like you said
34:54
it doesn't matter some teams. It's like I don't
34:56
care what you do in the regular season What do
34:58
you do in the playoffs other teams? It's like
35:01
hey, you're having a good regular season That's
35:04
pretty good. Like we'll take it. You know, we
35:07
talked about the Phoenix Suns other teams I'm
35:08
not gonna get into the whole thing about teams,
35:10
but that's how I look at the Celtics here, but
35:13
I'm gonna just move on to This will all tie in
35:17
here in a minute. Another one, Kristoff Porzingis
35:22
gets traded again, and he is another version
35:26
of Anthony Davis. He stays injured, but so Golden
35:30
State, they missed out on Giannis, so they get
35:34
Porzingis, but in the meantime, they get rid
35:36
of finally Jonathan Kaminga. So they send Kaminga
35:40
Hill to the Hawks for Porzingis. How are we feeling
35:44
about the Warriors? I mean they're I mean this
35:48
season. They're not gonna do anything They're
35:50
not deep enough like it doesn't it doesn't I
35:53
mean it I I understand the acquisition and Porzingis
35:57
has value he's an impact player in pockets, but
36:03
He never he never reached a level that we thought
36:06
he would Like he never he never had he didn't
36:10
have that he's not gonna have the career that
36:12
we expected him to have Based on all the things
36:15
that we saw and he he charted high early which
36:19
I think actually is to his detriment in terms
36:22
of what our expectations of him were and You
36:26
know, so I mean and I mean even in the You know,
36:29
even when he was playing for the Celtics even
36:32
at times when they really needed him He ended
36:35
up getting hurt you know, and he came back, he
36:38
was able to play, but it was like, damn, like,
36:40
dude, like we really need him out there. But
36:43
for the Warriors, I mean, they have a system
36:47
and it's not exactly, you know, the, you know,
36:53
the Will Smith Bel Air offense where you just
36:55
give the ball to Curry and just let him go nuts.
36:58
It's still systemic where you can plug guys in
37:02
and have them be an impact. whether offensively
37:06
or defensively. But at the same time, I don't
37:09
see him doing enough defensively or offensively
37:12
to make a measurable difference for them to have
37:15
any chance of sniffing any success in the Western
37:17
Conference. It's just not gonna happen. And I
37:22
don't, we talked about this before, in the NBA,
37:28
famous quote from Jalen Rose, I love it. You
37:30
don't trade players, you trade contracts. So
37:34
at a minimum, 50 -50 of this, half of it was,
37:37
okay, what does this contract look like? How
37:39
long can we keep him? What are we gonna have
37:41
to pay him now and in the future? And then the
37:43
other half is, well, how does he fit with our
37:44
team? And I think that Steve Kerr is looking
37:46
at it like, okay, yeah, I can do something with
37:48
him. But from a basketball standpoint, doesn't
37:50
move the needle for me, not an ounce. Yeah, I
37:55
mean, it's really a rental for the rest of the
37:56
season and they get off the cominga relationship,
38:00
which has been - Yeah, so, I mean, for them missing
38:04
out on Giannis, they just said, hey, let's get
38:07
Kaminga out of here. And if it takes to get rid
38:09
of Buddy Hield, which again, role player, and
38:12
we get expiring contract in Porzingis. And again,
38:16
if he plays any, I think he's played 17 games
38:18
this year, so the Hawks barely knew him. And
38:22
so we'll see, yeah. I'm gonna connect the dots.
38:29
We'll connect the Yanis. We'll get back to Yanis
38:31
here in a minute. But first, let's hit on the
38:35
hometown Hornets, the, as you call them, buzzing
38:38
Hornets. As of this podcast, they are eight in
38:43
a row, which they had not done since 1999, the
38:46
good old days of the Charlotte Hornets. And so
38:50
they're rolling and they made a, you know, they
38:51
made a move. Mean they made some small moves,
38:55
you know wave some veterans traded some veterans
38:58
that weren't even playing really so they bring
39:01
in Tar Hill Carolina Tar Hill Kobe white They
39:07
get rid of Sexton who I like Sexton. He was a
39:10
good six man for this team But obviously an upgrade
39:15
to get Kobe white to add to an already Really
39:20
they're starting to be a juggernaut of an offense
39:23
and Charles Lee has actually got them playing
39:25
defense. And we talk about the Hornets again,
39:29
you know, winning, not just winning games, but
39:31
beating good teams. And now they're, like I said,
39:34
the biggest thing for me is they're beating them
39:36
on the road. And there's a whole list of them
39:40
and we've been over it, but I think Kobe White
39:43
adds a little bit more explosiveness off the
39:45
bench, even if they want to start them some,
39:48
when they do the whole mellow off the bench.
39:51
some games to, you know, help his minutes and
39:54
try to keep him healthy. So I think I really
39:58
do at the end of the day like the deal. And obviously,
40:01
the old saying is to get something, you got to
40:03
give up something. And they give up a Colin Sexton,
40:06
who, again, his deal was up at the end of the
40:08
year. Same with Kobe White. But I think they
40:12
can they have a better chance of resigning white,
40:14
probably for. Even though we're saying he's a
40:19
better player his contract is less So I don't
40:22
know maybe in some in some way they I think they
40:25
think that they can keep white even after the
40:28
season Yeah, I I Don't want to be I Don't want
40:34
to be the the the guy that talks down on the
40:38
Hornets So I am NOT okay. I I just I have to
40:43
see it. I have to see how things play out That's
40:48
all that really matters to me, is what's the
40:52
end result? And how is this going to work out
40:56
long term? I think this was risky. So I can't
41:04
criticize them for seeing some chances that for
41:07
when they believe that they can make their team
41:09
better. But things like this really screw with
41:12
the team chemistry. and for a franchise and an
41:15
organization like this that is getting national
41:18
attention in the NBA for playing well over a
41:21
stretch. Everyone's shouting them out like, y
41:23
'all see what the Hornets are doing down in Charlotte?
41:26
You know, a good couple of months, and then you
41:29
do this, if everything falls apart, this is gonna
41:34
look negative on them. So, you know, sometimes
41:36
when you got a good thing going, you just kinda
41:38
wanna just, you know, see how your cards play
41:41
out. So I'm going to give them credit for for
41:44
taking a chance. But now it's on them to find
41:46
a way to make it work. Yeah, we'll see how it
41:51
works. Obviously, after the trade, they they
41:54
did beat the Houston Rockets in Houston. OK.
41:58
So that that was a good win. You know, White
42:02
did not play. He's not active yet. I hate they
42:07
got rid of Pat Conaton, waved him. I mean, he
42:09
wasn't playing. But when you watch Hornet games
42:12
man, he was like an extra coach out there So
42:15
I do hate that. I Definitely agree with you.
42:19
I would do worry about the chemistry like why
42:21
even mess with something that's working so well
42:24
But as you said at the end of the day a lot of
42:28
these trades sometimes is about contracts and
42:31
Like said white is a better player than Colin
42:33
Sexton, but it just seemed to be working You
42:37
bring in Sexton, he gets hot and I don't know.
42:41
Like I said, it's a risky move to mess with that
42:44
chemistry. Like I said, some of the other deals
42:47
they made, not a big deal. This was the big one.
42:50
I really just look at, obviously this was the
42:52
big deal. I just look at this and then waving
42:55
Pat Conant and to bring in some younger talent.
42:59
Again, are those guys going to play? that's my
43:02
thing is like are they these guys they picked
43:03
up these other are they really going to play
43:05
so that's all but you know that was one of the
43:10
deals um let's see before we get to yon and something
43:16
we're gonna do that in a minute i just want to
43:19
get into a few teams that didn't do anything
43:22
and what does that mean and i'm talking about
43:26
a team I just mentioned, the Houston Rockets.
43:29
You think about all the guards the Bulls collected,
43:32
all the guards that were traded really in the
43:34
whole league. And here the Rockets are, you know,
43:38
van Vliet's out this season. And they didn't
43:41
go pick up anybody. You know, no expiring deal
43:47
like a Colin Sexton or any, you know, like just
43:51
like what would it take to bring in a Sexton
43:53
or or just a, you know, a veteran guard? So the
43:57
Rockets did nothing. The Heat, obviously they
43:59
were in the Giannis sweepstakes. And again, spoiler,
44:03
Giannis didn't get traded either. So the Heat,
44:07
you know, a team that's kind of middle of the
44:09
pack somewhere in the East, they normally make
44:12
deals. They didn't do anything. The Lakers really
44:16
didn't do anything. They're borrowing Luke Kennard,
44:18
but he's just getting passed around now. So.
44:23
You know those was three teams kind of that I
44:25
saw you know I like I like that like the Thunder
44:28
brought in Jared McCain and That doesn't mess
44:30
up too much because you added a player and you
44:32
didn't really move any of your pieces that really
44:36
matter I'm glad the Spurs didn't do anything
44:39
because again you talk about chemistry and it's
44:42
like man. They're they're already over They're
44:46
already ahead of their schedule with this young
44:48
team and this you know this new What do you want
44:52
to call it? New breed of players in San Antonio.
44:55
So I like they didn't mess with anything. But
44:59
teams like the Rockets, I think the Heath, the
45:01
Lakers, I think they could have made a move to
45:03
say, let's just add a guy. Let's just add a piece
45:06
and maybe we can compete and be a little better.
45:09
I'm not. I'm not shocked. I like the fact that
45:14
they were like, you know what? We're going to
45:16
go with what we have. Do they have the Rockets?
45:20
I mean, just think about the structure of their
45:24
team, think about their coach, think about their
45:28
franchise, and how, what's the best way to put
45:32
this? How relevant they've been lately, or irrelevant
45:35
they've been lately, however you want to put
45:37
it. I mean, dude, they're 31 and 19. You know
45:46
what you're gonna get with what you have. I don't
45:51
know if this is a front office, you know, decision
45:55
or if it's, you know, lack of coaching or whatever,
45:57
but when you look at their team, they're good
46:02
enough. And I don't think there's any swing that
46:05
they could have taken, you know, minus getting,
46:08
you know, a top 10 player in a trade, which at
46:12
that point it wouldn't even be able to fit. I
46:13
mean, they're playing KD 55 million alone. Shane
46:18
goons getting 34 million a year like so salary
46:21
wise you would have had you would have had to
46:23
disrupt so much of what you had going on to make
46:26
a To make such a swing To try it mainly just
46:31
for this year. And here's the other thing How
46:36
long you and this is just a question for you
46:37
and just your opinion how long you think KD gonna
46:39
be in Houston? Well Recently, he averages about
46:46
a year and a half to two. There you go. So you
46:50
can't make major moves and then any major moves
46:54
that, I mean, you have to think about it. These
46:56
types of trades and these types of trades, draft
47:02
pick swaps, like they stick with you for. at
47:06
a minimum four to five years. Like the impact
47:09
of what takes place sticks with you, sticks with
47:12
the Northern organization. I don't have a problem
47:14
with them just saying, you know what, man, we
47:15
just gonna go with this. We're just gonna run
47:17
with it. So I mean, maybe that's where I see
47:20
it a little differently. And like you have names,
47:23
you've got roster, you've got coaching and they're
47:25
winning. They have a winning record. I think
47:29
they just like, they're just gonna roll the dice
47:31
and just, hey, let's just see what we've got.
47:33
I don't think it was necessary. It's probably
47:35
a better way to put it. Okay, and that's just
47:37
my opinion. I just you know Yeah, no, that's
47:40
cool. I get it. I said I wasn't asking I wasn't
47:43
saying like they need to like swing big I just
47:45
think they said an expiring veteran guard Right
47:49
where it's only on the rest of the season they've
47:52
got guys they could move like, you know, Finney
47:54
Smith and You know, you don't have to give up.
47:57
I don't think you had to give up a lot to you
48:00
know to get some of these guys, but Yes, I will
48:03
see you know I hear rumblings. I heard you know
48:05
maybe Chris Paul He you know Chris Paul did get
48:09
traded from the Clippers to the Raptors, but
48:11
obviously he'll never play for the Raptors and
48:13
he could You know if a team wanted to bring him
48:17
in but again What what does he really add and
48:19
what does he can he do at this point in his career,
48:22
too? So I just like said you always look at the
48:28
teams that didn't make the deals or make a big
48:31
deal to swing you know momentum but again I know
48:35
we talked about the heat but you could also talk
48:37
about the Warriors you know again they had to
48:39
settle the heat just settled for nothing and
48:43
then you know the team like the Wolves you know
48:46
they didn't make small moves but they they had
48:48
to you know miss out on Giannis so to Giannis
48:51
he does not get treated the Bucs they were even
48:56
in the Jamarant sweepstakes To try to again they're
49:00
trying anything to keep Yanis in Milwaukee Yanis
49:03
Says he is kind of ready to move on but he's
49:06
uh, he's not really saying he wants to move on
49:09
and The Bucks are not getting better. They claim
49:13
they're gonna keep them and then they think they
49:15
can you know, maybe You know What is it come
49:20
try to still compete? But again, they they don't
49:23
own their own draft pick until like 2031 So again,
49:30
the question is what are the Bucks doing? Are
49:32
they just gonna do in the offseason? Do they
49:34
get more more offers better offers? For Yanis
49:37
because I just don't I just don't I don't see
49:41
where this works They are now out of the play
49:45
-in Yanis has hurt You know doesn't even play
49:49
how do they hold him out again? You talk about
49:51
tanking like the Wizards Again, it's gonna be
49:54
so blatant if Yanis doesn't play the rest of
49:56
this season But then again the bucks, you know,
49:59
there's still those the draft pick is still like
50:01
Not really in their control. So I'm like, what
50:04
are we doing? You know, so what do you think?
50:07
What do you got? It's All right. There's a lot
50:11
of things. I'm gonna try to blaze through them.
50:15
There was the Yeah Do all of the rumors that
50:19
Yanis had requested a trade, but it was never
50:21
fully made public one thing When the team was
50:25
asked about it front office, their head coach.
50:30
Everyone went on the record saying, no, no, no,
50:31
no, no. That's not what happened. He didn't request
50:33
a trade. Then he got, right when all that happened,
50:37
he got injured with a ghost injury where he literally
50:42
just went down to the floor. No contact, no sudden
50:45
movement, no jerking, no nothing. Just, oh, I'm
50:47
hurt. So that's one side of things. So I'm a
50:55
person where it's like if you tell me something
50:57
I would like to take you at your word It's a
50:59
lot of people out here lying. We know that but
51:02
if the dude say he didn't want to get traded,
51:04
okay fine The other thing is is what's best for
51:08
Milwaukee they're looking at this like yeah,
51:10
man Look things didn't work out the way we wanted
51:12
it to our team isn't playing that great, you
51:14
know, obviously all the stuff with Dane I I think
51:20
that there is, by him not being traded, I think
51:24
there's an opportunity that he actually stays
51:26
in Milwaukee. And here is what I, it's just a
51:34
thought and just a vision. What if they just
51:37
go get John Marant? No, I like that idea. You
51:43
got nothing. to lose. And not only that, you
51:46
can also go ahead and kind of clean up your roster,
51:49
bring in some new young talent. But you bring
51:53
him in, he needs a star. Who was the second best
51:56
player on that team when they won that championship?
52:02
Drew Holliday? Chris Middleton? You see how you
52:05
said both of those names with question marks
52:07
at the end? He had no de facto number two. The
52:10
dude had to drop. The dude almost snapped his
52:13
leg in half, had to put up 50 for them to win
52:17
that championship. He's tired of doing it alone.
52:20
I don't blame him. I don't blame him. Oh no.
52:23
You know, so, so for him, it's like, Hey, like
52:26
I'm trying to win. And I like that. And today's
52:30
NBA, give me the dude that wants to win. You
52:33
have a Milwaukee on your roster. I don't know
52:36
if, I mean, they capitulated to a lot of things.
52:39
I mean, you know, his brothers, you know, all
52:41
the contracts and stuff with his brother and
52:43
you know all that stuff yeah and you know they
52:46
and they tried with dame didn't work out so now
52:49
it's like okay now what do we do and keep in
52:52
mind there's money that's going to have to be
52:53
eaten for that dame contract too so that plays
52:57
a role in this as well while still playing yannis
53:00
top yannis is going to make top dollar money
53:02
for the next six seven seasons like he's just
53:04
that much of a talent yeah so i don't think this
53:08
is the worst thing ever And ultimately, I think
53:12
it came down to, I think that they think that
53:15
they may be able to keep him in Milwaukee long
53:18
-term, not long, well, let's say long -term three,
53:20
four years. And also for a player of that magnitude,
53:24
top five player in the league, you know, who
53:28
wants it, who's a go -getter, who stays healthy,
53:31
except for this season, he... I don't think they
53:34
got packages that were good enough where they
53:36
were like, yeah, we can make that move. They're
53:39
not going to do a, we're going to move Luca to
53:42
LA for Anthony Davis. They're, they're a smarter
53:44
organization than that. They know what they have
53:46
in Yonis. So I think that, I think it's a little
53:49
of, of both of those things. Yeah, I have no,
53:54
I mean, I have no problem with them, you know,
53:56
not getting traded. Obviously I like the trade
54:00
deadline. I like when guys are trading. It's
54:02
exciting, right? It's that new, like, oh, now
54:05
this guy's on this team. But it's also a good
54:08
thing to not see Giannis hopefully, you know,
54:12
turn into, you know, a Kevin Durant, a James
54:15
Harden, where they play five or six teams. You
54:19
know, it would be it would be great for Giannis
54:21
to only play in Milwaukee. And I kind of compare
54:23
it to like a Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. Right.
54:27
Go through the highs and lows. Stay with that
54:30
team your whole career. But the bugs have got
54:33
to do some work like, you know last year giving
54:35
miles Turner that contract was not like the smartest
54:38
thing Yeah Right, you know what I mean? So it's
54:41
like where are you spending your money? How are
54:43
you spending your money? And then you got to
54:45
get draft picks somewhere you got to so They're
54:49
gonna have to get creative to keep you honest
54:52
Again, he's not that guy. He's not KD. He's not
54:55
James Harden So he's trying to be really, really
54:58
nice about it. You know what I mean? It's like
55:00
I'm pressuring you, but I'm also hugging you.
55:04
You know what I mean? So, you know, and that's
55:07
just the way he is. And you got to love that
55:09
about Yanis. So. But the bigger question is as
55:13
an organization, though, how are you going to
55:15
do it? And I'm really interested to see how they
55:19
do it. if they are going to keep them. So. Yeah.
55:22
I mean, we'll see how it all plays out. And,
55:24
you know, there, there'll probably be some more
55:26
moves, you know, there'll probably be some more
55:28
disgruntled NBA players, you know, who want to
55:31
be, and who knows? I mean, it Milwaukee's not
55:34
a sexy location. So, you know, but I mean, I
55:40
would, I, I would rather be in Milwaukee than
55:42
Memphis personally. So I think John would. Yeah,
55:45
speaking of speaking of Jai. So I think I think
55:47
that's a really good. And for somebody that has,
55:50
you know, as you put it, and I want to say, I
55:52
think Windhorse coined that negative trade value.
55:56
He did, you know, so I mean, it seems like it's
56:00
a perfect opportunity for them to say, what the
56:02
hell? If you lose Janice, you were going to lose
56:05
them anyway. You might as well go out swinging.
56:09
Yeah, I mean like said yeah, John. I mean yeah,
56:11
you go to Milwaukee. It's better than Memphis
56:13
and You know a personality, you know a guy like
56:17
John with whatever rumored You know issues baggage
56:22
that he's got You know, maybe not Miami, you
56:25
know Maybe not certain say, you know It was also
56:31
funny, John, you know, there was a report saying
56:33
that, you know, he didn't want to go to Sacramento.
56:35
And it's like, dude, if they're saying you got
56:37
negative value, you don't have a say in where
56:39
you go. Well, yeah. Well, and here's the other
56:40
thing. And you can say, I understand what you're
56:42
saying about. I don't want to kill too much time
56:48
on this. I understand what you're saying about
56:50
Miami. I understand it as a man. I understand
56:55
you, but there's a lot of distraction. There's
56:58
a lot of distractions, but I mean, Hell, Zion's
57:02
having distractions in New Orleans. And the one
57:06
thing I'll tell you is, is we can say, you can
57:08
say whatever you, I know, we know what South
57:10
Beach is. We know what Miami, all that entails.
57:14
Right. Name a player who gets in trouble like
57:17
that in Miami. They don't play, Pat Riley don't
57:19
play that shit, man. True. I'm just saying as,
57:24
if you're thinking about a place for Jah, you
57:27
know, Milwaukee was, is a good safe place. I
57:30
don't think you need he's shown that obviously
57:32
he hasn't Like you can say mature grown up, whatever
57:36
the case may be. I don't think you want to add
57:39
to that. Okay, that's fair Zion's a different
57:43
story. He's just on a on a counter. He's on a
57:46
counter I would to only counter that is the adding
57:51
adding that environment to it I actually think
57:55
is is actually beneficial because what you do
57:59
is one, you get him into a, I mean that, you
58:01
know, the heat culture quote. I, one, I believe
58:04
that. Two, no one there is fearful. Spolstra
58:10
ain't fearful of losing this job and ain't nobody
58:12
gonna, Pat Riley gonna have to drop dead in that
58:14
heat facility. And you've got champion veterans
58:18
that are still in that building. You got D Wade,
58:20
you got Alonzo Mourning, you got Shaq. who's
58:24
still a part of that, like he's still in that
58:26
building, you know what I mean? Haslem. Like
58:29
they got guys who's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey,
58:31
hey, you're, you going out tonight, Haslem's
58:34
going with you. Heats, the Miami Heat security
58:38
is going like, we don't do this dumb shit, you
58:41
know? They're gonna hire, they're gonna hire.
58:43
Hey, why not? Why not? They need someone to make
58:48
sure that that dude doesn't get into trouble.
58:50
And here, and one more thing, and then I'll leave
58:52
this alone. And I would like to see Jai in Miami.
58:58
I just want to see him have an opportunity to
59:00
play basketball at a high level for a really,
59:04
really tight -knit organization. And I feel like
59:08
Milwaukee has some of that, but Miami's kind
59:11
of the shining. I guess when we say Miami or
59:13
San Antonio. But on the flip side of that is
59:16
I want you to think about this. Think about all
59:18
the stories that came out of the Heat's locker
59:22
room. when LeBron was there, and LeBron wanted
59:27
to do LeBron things, and Pat Raleigh's like,
59:29
no, the hell you not? What you mean you gonna
59:32
have, you gonna put, who you wanna bring on a
59:34
team plane? Nah, nah, nah. They gonna have to
59:36
catch a flight like everybody else, suddenly
59:38
catch an American Airlines flight to meet us,
59:40
but no, you're not gonna stay over, over everybody.
59:44
We came here together, we're all gonna leave
59:46
here together. That's the protocol. And they
59:48
didn't make exceptions for LeBron. No, I mean
59:53
I definitely agree with that part of the organization
59:55
the coach would be in Johnny's that he needs
59:57
structure They don't tell they don't tell his
1:00:00
dad for sure shut the you ain't got no say You
1:00:03
can sit in your court side seats looking like
1:00:05
Usher But you don't get no say of what takes
1:00:07
place and no playing time shut the hell up Don't
1:00:10
be making comments to reporters. You're not bit.
1:00:12
It's not gonna benefit him and it ain't gonna
1:00:14
work No, that's a good counter. I like it Like
1:00:18
I said, I agree with that part. Yeah. Yeah, he
1:00:20
needs it. I just want to see John play ball again,
1:00:22
man Like get the dude back out there. He's a
1:00:24
hooper All right, I think we covered a lot we
1:00:31
covered the ones the big trades the big moves
1:00:34
the not moves so We're gonna end this episode
1:00:37
on a kind of a fun random topic that you surprise
1:00:41
me way to do it. I'm smiling Let's go what you
1:00:42
got So, since we're talking about trades and
1:00:47
waivers and releases, let's talk about you, Logoff.
1:00:56
Logoff has, however you want to put it, he's
1:00:59
requested a trade, his release. I have James
1:01:05
Harden in this situation. Oh, yeah, I have James
1:01:10
Harden. I just shaved my beard, too. But no,
1:01:15
we'll go. How you want to frame this? How you
1:01:18
want to put it? Because honestly, I didn't know.
1:01:20
I didn't know how you wanted to address it if
1:01:21
at all. Yeah, well, I want to address it just
1:01:26
so, you know, we get it so you can look. We can
1:01:29
we can look to the future. And again, we don't
1:01:32
have to go into detail. But, you know, I thought
1:01:33
it'd be fun to talk about it here at the end
1:01:35
of this episode, which is going to be your last
1:01:39
episode as a I'm going to put this like this
1:01:42
because I have like You know, I'm a dreamer,
1:01:46
right? This is your last episode as a regular
1:01:50
host. Okay, that's fair. And I think that's fair.
1:01:55
And I'd like to think that no matter what, it's
1:01:57
like there's no animosity. I don't even, I don't
1:02:00
think you and I have ever argued ever, which
1:02:02
is kind of scary. But yeah, I don't think, yeah,
1:02:07
no, never been like, oh my God, I hate you. I'm
1:02:11
mad at you. No. Never, never. But I started thinking
1:02:15
about, I was going to, you know, I had been thinking
1:02:18
about, do we do a whole episode? Do we do a segment?
1:02:21
And then I started looking up like sports breakout.
1:02:24
I was like, are we Mike and Mike? Are we Stephen
1:02:26
A and Max? Are we skipping Shannon? But but like
1:02:31
you said, there's there's no animosity. So, you
1:02:34
know, I think it's I think I think it's more
1:02:36
along the lines of like a Mike and Mike. Well,
1:02:38
no. And this is so here's the. The only difference
1:02:41
I'll say to that is Mike and Mike, and I've heard
1:02:46
Greeny say this quite a few times, him and Golic
1:02:50
didn't really have a relationship outside of
1:02:52
the show. That's not you and I. You could always
1:02:56
text me for anything and I'm gonna reply, always.
1:03:00
So I think that's where it's maybe a little different.
1:03:03
For me, I mean, I'm a nobody, dude. I ain't no
1:03:06
celebrity. And I ain't rich. You know, we'd been
1:03:10
talking about it back and forth for months. And
1:03:13
the main thing is I knew I had a ton of things
1:03:15
coming up in 2026. And I haven't even had the
1:03:20
chance to tell you this. I had major, major stuff
1:03:23
take place at work. All good news. But like work
1:03:27
is about to get really busy for me. And, you
1:03:30
know, so the timing actually kind of worked out
1:03:33
perfectly for me because I didn't want to feel
1:03:35
like I was shorting you or shorting the show
1:03:38
in terms of quality, what we do and how we do
1:03:41
it. So like, I mean, we we talk all the time,
1:03:45
man, like this is the other thing. I don't know
1:03:47
if you've noticed. I didn't know if you wanted
1:03:49
to make a correlation to this, but I was super
1:03:51
quiet this week because I was busy as hell at
1:03:54
work. You know, so usually it's back and forth,
1:03:57
you know if not every day every other day several
1:04:00
times a day of us setting up the show and you
1:04:02
know, just having you know, regular banter back
1:04:04
and forth but But no, I mean like like I said,
1:04:07
this has always been fun. Like I enjoy this I
1:04:11
enjoy you know, just kind of the the shit talking
1:04:13
and you know doing this it gave me an opportunity
1:04:16
to be Creative in ways that I never really thought
1:04:20
about or considered I learned a lot of things
1:04:23
and there were things that I was really good
1:04:24
at when it came to putting out a podcast consistently
1:04:29
the way that we have. There's a lot of things
1:04:31
that I didn't know that I was really, really
1:04:34
good at and I turned out to be really good at
1:04:35
them. So, I mean, a huge, huge benefit. And I'm
1:04:39
sure things will come up where it's like, yo,
1:04:40
we want to get you on the show for this. Hey,
1:04:42
we want to get your thoughts for that. It's just
1:04:44
going to be way more few and far between. than
1:04:47
how it has been you know with the you know the
1:04:49
40 plus episodes we put out including all the
1:04:52
the bonus stuff so um yeah you know if there's
1:04:55
something you know we can always revisit that
1:04:57
but yeah for me that's all it is i don't want
1:05:00
anybody to think that you know i'm gonna you
1:05:02
know fall off the face of the earth or you know
1:05:04
you and i had a fistfight in the parking lot
1:05:05
that's that's not what it was you know it just
1:05:08
but but i will say it we we stretched things
1:05:12
out and the timing literally could not have been
1:05:17
more perfect. This entire show was completely
1:05:22
your idea. I know you want to give me a lot of
1:05:25
credit, but the genesis of this came from you
1:05:29
in terms of, I mean, even the name and the format
1:05:32
and how we wanted to do things. Right. So I pushed,
1:05:36
I pushed you, I pushed you hard to get this.
1:05:39
I mean, not, not, not pushed, you know, I wouldn't
1:05:41
say pushed. Well, well. No, but like I said,
1:05:44
yeah, I get it. Yeah, I will take, you know,
1:05:46
I appreciate that. But like I say, you did a
1:05:49
lot on the show and it's not going to be the
1:05:51
same without you. But to that point, you know,
1:05:56
it will move on. I'm going to give it a go to
1:05:58
be solo. So we'll see how that works out. But
1:06:02
yeah, definitely, definitely we'll have you,
1:06:05
you know, like you said, I think the idea is
1:06:07
to have you for certain episodes when you're.
1:06:10
Yeah, stuff's going to happen and you know, again,
1:06:14
I enjoy it, man. Like this is, it's been really,
1:06:17
really fun. And you know, it's actually given
1:06:20
me, I mean, we've known each other for years,
1:06:22
dude. And it's given me an insight to your fandom.
1:06:29
Some of it I love, some of it I don't necessarily
1:06:32
love, but you know, but it makes you you. And
1:06:36
it helps kind of put... the pieces together.
1:06:39
I'm not a lot about a lot of stuff sports related.
1:06:42
It's a lot of sports stuff that happened that
1:06:43
I don't care about. And, and, and luckily that
1:06:47
was the yin and yang where it's like the stuff
1:06:50
that I cared about, maybe you didn't care about
1:06:52
and the stuff that you cared about, maybe I didn't.
1:06:54
And we were able to find ways to make it fit.
1:06:56
So, um, no, man, I, like I said, I've always,
1:06:58
I've always appreciated it. And I don't think
1:07:01
it's going to be too different i got some ideas
1:07:04
i'll share it with you once we uh once uh once
1:07:07
we officially log off for this episode um but
1:07:10
yeah i got some stuff here i think there's some
1:07:12
creative things that we can do um as you keep
1:07:14
things moving along yeah for sure and like i
1:07:18
said i'll be figuring out but yeah everybody
1:07:21
uh you know no no no no yeah so it's gonna be
1:07:26
it's gonna be different i'm gonna figure out
1:07:27
the format like say with your help maybe some
1:07:29
others you know uh figure out a format kind of
1:07:33
the same but again it won't be the same because
1:07:35
again I'll have nobody to bounce off you know
1:07:38
stuff so it'll be a little different similar
1:07:41
to the wrestling episodes but again try to even
1:07:45
you know modify that into something of its own
1:07:50
with the show so we'll see where it goes we'll
1:07:52
see what else it can do and how it can grow but
1:07:55
again thank you log off as you log off. Yeah.
1:07:59
Yeah. Yeah. And an unofficial final log off.
1:08:03
And yeah, like I said, I appreciate your words,
1:08:05
man. I'm all like I told you, you know, when
1:08:09
we kind of came to that, you know, fully support
1:08:12
you. You know, the question was, OK, do you I
1:08:15
knew you were going to want to keep these keep
1:08:17
this thing moving. And I and I encourage you
1:08:19
to do so. And like I said, when we when we hop
1:08:21
off, I got some stuff for you. I think you'll
1:08:23
like it. All right. Cool deal. All right. Well,
1:08:28
that is another episode of fanatically speaking
1:08:30
and I am Kent your co -host and I am log off
1:08:34
the log off legend the hater of social media
1:08:37
I am the co -host and producer of the show and
1:08:40
Thanks again for listening. And yeah Everything
1:08:44
everyone spread the word send it to everybody,
1:08:47
you know tag them post it Share it as much as
1:08:51
you possibly can so that way we can expand the
1:08:54
footprint of it And go ahead and break out the
1:08:57
socials and stuff, because I don't do social
1:08:59
media. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Socials, Facebook, Instagram,
1:09:03
TikTok. You can also listen to us, watch us,
1:09:06
YouTube. No video yet, but we're there. Yes.
1:09:11
All of us there. And yeah, spread the word and
1:09:15
I'll say it. Tap the app. No, I'm sorry. Tap
1:09:18
that app. Tap that app. Tap that app. Yeah, listen
1:09:22
on all podcast outlets. It's everywhere Just
1:09:25
go look us up look at you know, like I said and
1:09:28
like you said listen share that's the biggest
1:09:30
thing if you're listening tell a friend and Yes,
1:09:34
everybody likes sports If you're listening to
1:09:36
it, you know people that like sports give it
1:09:38
to other people that like sports and tell them
1:09:40
to give the feedback You know, I don't mind shit
1:09:43
talking tell them to talk shit and send DMS and
1:09:46
all that fun stuff Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
1:09:50
All right. Awesome. That's a wrap