← Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Lakers Capable Of Playoff Run? Giannis Injury Gives Bucks Options? + Knicks Step Up
01:01:35
Hoop Collective: Lakers Capable Of Playoff Run? Giannis Injury Gives Bucks Options? + Knicks Step Up
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- [00:00]
Wendy
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Wendy
Welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA which we're doing on Sunday afternoon before the football games. So a little earlier than we normally would do. But you know, might be nice to watch a little NFL. Joining us from New York City where he's back just beating the storm up from Philadelphia after watching the Knicks play the Sixers in an excellent game on Saturday afternoon, Tim Bontemps.
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Band McMahon
Hello everybody.
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Wendy
And Bontemps, you were traveling back from Philly, but I was settled in watching the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks and moments before Tipa I caught the game. The truth is I went to dinner at like 5:30 because I'm an old person and I watched it on tape delay. But you know, let's just say that I turned on the Lakers Mavericks game and Bon Temps right before tip off. They gave, you know, they don't always give the sideline reporter the before tip off. Sometimes they wait into the first quarter. But oh no, right before tip off. Who do I see doing sidelines but our buddy band McMahon on a Saturday night NBA showcase product sideline man band McMahon.
- [01:43]
Tim Bontemps
Howdy partners. It did take Texas freezing over to make that happen. You know, little travel issues and there was concern the game was going to be canceled. So I believe Lisa Salters was rerouted to Chicago just in case. I know Mike Breen was so little emergency.
- [01:59]
Wendy
No, that's not exactly true. Breen was, was, was on the plane and the flight was totally going and then he got the text that said, hey, just so you know, Tim McMahon is going to do sideline. And Breen was like, oh no, that might be true. Canceled.
- [02:13]
Tim Bontemps
Like I told J Kid pregame this is going to be like Isaiah Thomas's stint with the Dallas Mavericks. Emergency circumstances, convenience of location one and done. But I'm going to get some shots up. So you know, just like, just like that great Isaiah Thomas where he literally played One game during the COVID crisis for the Mavericks.
- [02:32]
Wendy
Well, there was a bunch of guys who played one game during COVID but this is true.
- [02:35]
Tim Bontemps
Isaiah Thomas says that's a good name. But honestly that the initial standup I asked, you know, I asked for feedback afterwards and I was told, you know, maybe tighten up on the time and a little bit long winded. And I told him, I said, listen, you gotta understand, I'm used to talking until Bontemps interrupts me and it never happens.
- [02:50]
Wendy
So I know Richard Jefferson and Mark Jones were very respectful of you. You're not used to that sort of treatment.
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Band McMahon
Way too respectful. You did a great job though, buddy.
- [02:59]
Tim Bontemps
I appreciate it.
- [03:00]
Wendy
Fellas, just, you know, before we talk about the game, which the Lakers had to give up a huge run and almost lost it, then came back and won. But just, just the experience you can pass along to our listeners of what it is to do sidelines.
- [03:12]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, so I've never done it before. You've done it on the radio side? It's something I had done.
- [03:16]
Wendy
No, I did it for TV a few times, but you know, you know, never like a premium ABC Saturday night game.
- [03:23]
Tim Bontemps
I would have liked maybe some summer league reps before, to be honest with you. It was an interesting experience. It, it's a different perspective, you know, to, to have the broadcast in your ears, you know, to be like communicating with the producers, trying to, hey, you know, I, I've got this, I've got that. You know, there was a couple things I didn't get to update wise that I wanted to, that just, you know, weren't able to fit in. I'm. Honestly I, it's completely foreign territory. This is very like inside baseball stuff, like the formatics and stuff. I'm like, where do I stand? Like, how do I get in, how do I get out? All those kind of things. I was very. The most exciting thing to me was the access. Like, you know, there's, there's the pre. Coach conversations.
- [04:03]
Wendy
So I don't. The audience isn't going to know this. So when there's a national television game, before the game, both coaches sit with the, the, the crew, the broadcasters, the sideline reporters and it's off the record. I mean, you know, you can use the information that they give you.
- [04:18]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah. And they'll tell you if there's something they don't want mentioned. They'll, they'll let you know. But yeah, it's a great, it's a great exchanging of information, a great peek behind the curtain.
- [04:26]
Wendy
I have to assume that when J.J. redick saw you first, he like, you know, well, oh, well, I guess RJ was in there.
- [04:31]
Tim Bontemps
But yeah, and J, he, you know, him and rj, it was, it was comedy hour though. It was. Imagine the bigger 10 minutes of hoops.
- [04:39]
Band McMahon
I'd imagine the bigger issue is when J. Kid walked in there and saw you sitting there. He was probably.
- [04:43]
Tim Bontemps
No, he. He knew, you know, that he'd caught wind that I was doing it. He was messing with me even beforehand. And you know, him and rj too, they played together in New Jersey, remember for. For a while. And so it was great working with Mark Jones and Richard Jefferson. Those guys were awesome. Phil Dean, the producer was awesome for. I mean, not only was I like, it's not even a 10 day call up. This is like bringing somebody out of like, you know, AAA baseball and throwing them onto an NBA court. So, you know, they were awesome to work with. George Sedano, shout out to him. I gave him a call yesterday morning. It was basically, George, they got me doing sidelines tonight. Like, what the hell am I doing?
- [05:22]
Wendy
He started laughing and then when he, when he picked the phone back up, he was like, okay, what can I do for you?
- [05:28]
Tim Bontemps
And so a lot of what I was asking him about was like the protocol in timeouts, like you're able go to behind the huddle. And he was like 45 degree angle, you know, try not to make direct eye contact with the coach. I'll be honest with you, I was very excited about that access. It was so loud in there, I couldn't hear anything. You know, I could see him drawing stuff up. There was one time Luca looked over. He's sitting on the Lakers bench and he looked over.
- [05:54]
Wendy
Can you imagine Luca, you know, he's. He's, you know, it's a high stress game, button temps, you know, he's in Dallas, everything like that. And he looks back over his shoulder and McMahon is in the freaking Lakers huddle. Can you im.
- [06:06]
Band McMahon
I thought Luca was throwing the game for a minute to make sure he'd have to do the walk off with McMahon at the end. I was like, there's no way he wants to see this guy on the court after the game. Who knows what I'll ask him.
- [06:13]
Tim Bontemps
I'll say this. Luca looked over, saw me standing about 10ft away, you know, trying to lean in and did not greet me with a smile. But. And then there was no threat of a Luca walk off because he was doing inside the NBA on, on the headset. So, you know, that was not a concern. But honestly, it was a. It was a cool experience. I don't anticipate it becoming a regular thing or even a repeat thing, but it was definitely a unique experience.
- [06:39]
Wendy
Well, last year, I did sidelines last year in Paris with the pace with the Pacers and the.
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Band McMahon
Just had to toss in the Paris part, McMahon, just to make sure.
- [06:48]
Wendy
Well, whatever. Had a one up with the Pacers and the spurs and you know, our pregame meeting with Rick Carlisle. Rick Carlisle and I just made fun of you for five minutes.
- [06:59]
Band McMahon
I believe that.
- [07:01]
Wendy
But the most memorable sideline thing that I ever did was an unscheduled one, and it's not memorable necessarily in a good way, was the night Paul George broke his leg.
- [07:10]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, yeah.
- [07:11]
Wendy
So I was in the stands and I had done some pre. It was in Vegas at Thomas and Max and our unlv.
- [07:16]
Band McMahon
I was watching that in a bar in New York City when it happened. I remember you doing this.
- [07:21]
Wendy
So it was in the second quarter, I believe second or maybe the third quarter, well before the game was supposed to be over. And I saw the play happen and I unfortunately had a really, unfortunately had a good angle on the play and I saw what happened. I knew immediately what happened. And I just remember, like, I actually, you know, this is back when I would tweet during the games I was at. I was like, they can't. You just knew in five seconds that I was like, they can't continue this game. So they didn't. It was an exhibition game, intersquad game for Team usa. And it was extremely high level game. In fact, it was, it was, I believe it was on a Saturday night. And it was, I was like, wow. I thought this was going to be just a nothing game. It was ahead of the 2014 World cup, which. And they. So they call the game and ESPN is not ready with programming. SportsCenter needed. SportsCenter was going to come on, but SportsCenter needed like 15 or 20 minutes to get ready to go. They were not in place, ready to roll. So we had to vamp, as they say in the business and, oh, I.
- [08:24]
Tim Bontemps
Don'T know that term.
- [08:25]
Wendy
They're sure as heck weren't showing that replay. And so like they came to me and I was in, I was in a suit and they were like, can you come down and like, you know, come on the broadcast? And I was like, holy Moses, what the hell am I going to do? So I come down and, you know, it was Mark Jones like you had. And Fran Frischilla was on the color. Fran, by the Way had literally, like, 10 days before, maybe less, given the famous line when the Raptors drafted Bruno Kabocalo.
- [08:50]
Band McMahon
Bruno Kabocalo. Two years away from being two years away.
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Wendy
It was one of the greatest live draft analysis in the history of espn.
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Band McMahon
In my view, he wasn't wrong.
- [08:59]
Wendy
So, anyway, and they're about to come to me, and I really had no idea what I was going to say. I really didn't. And I was looking. I was standing not too far from the basket where Paul George had just been stretchered off. And I'm looking at the basket, and I'm looking at how close the basket standard is to the baseline. And at UNLV at that time, the basket standard, I mean, I don't remember. I measured it later that night. I think it was something like 18 inches. And if I'm wrong, and it was 2ft, I don't know.
- [09:24]
Band McMahon
This is like an Inception thing, because I was. I was sitting at a bar and the Lower east side of New York City watching the. Watching the game. Freaked out when I saw the injury. Cause you'd see it clear on the broadcast. And I sat there and watched you talk about it later.
- [09:37]
Wendy
Yeah. So they come on, and I. I am looking. I'm like, boy, is that awfully close. And then I pulled up on my phone and actually saw where I could see the replay with a Paul injury, unfortunately. I mean, I could see it. And he had his. His foot had run into that basket standard. And so we were in break, and we had to come back, and we had to fill, like, eight minutes. And they were gonna come to me. And, like, literally within seconds, I just said to the camera guy, go, be prepared for me to show you this. And they came to me, and I go, hey, I think this might have something to do with it. And, you know, by the next day, everybody was covering their backsides on that. But I'll tell you one thing. They moved the basket standard back at unlv, both for UNLV games and for NBA games. And you go, when you go look. I mean, now it's been a decade, but when you go look, when they play summer league games there. The basket standard is pushed way back when it used to be, anyway, not to bring it down.
- [10:25]
Tim Bontemps
I got a Rick Carlisle store that's a little bit more chipper. That sent you mention. I got to get a prop.
- [10:31]
Band McMahon
Hold on. I found this. Oh, geez.
- [10:35]
Tim Bontemps
As I was moving, I have. I've got to rediscover my Wendy bobblehead. It's in a box somewhere. But I did find the check. I'm going to cover the numbers at the bottom for a $29 that Rick Carlisle, misspelling my name, wrote to me. And you see the. It says in the memo, kings of anything iTunes download. So this was. There was a player that the Mavericks suspended during preseason, and unfortunately, the guy's really fallen on hard times these days, but the player had well known mental health issues. And, you know, I asked Rick, you know, hey, is this related to those issues? And Rick looks at me. This is in a scrum. He looks at me, he goes, do you have itunes? I was like, yeah. And he went into this whole thing about one of his favorite. You know, Rick's a piano man. One of his favorite.
- [11:32]
Wendy
He's doing misdirection here. He's totally misdirecting the question.
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Tim Bontemps
He said one of his, One of my favorite singer songwriters, Sara Bareilles, reminds me of, of one of her songs. And I was like, huh? And he goes, you know, you should, you should download it. It's called King of Anything. And I look at him and goes, it's a song about minding your own business. And I go, how much does that cost? He goes, $1.29. You want me to loan it to you? I said, sure. And then they played a preseason game the next night and I got the text from Rick. You hear, come to my office. Which those texts would come every so often. And it was either he wanted to yell at you or he wanted to, you know, download some information. But even when he yelled at me, get, you get stuff out of it. And so it always be, I'd always come in, you know, come in the office, sit down, and usually I'd be in there for like 20 or 30min. On this case, he was standing in front of his office with the door closed and had an envelope in his hand. It said TMAC on it. And just in a bleed beaten grin on his face, he handed me the. Handed it to me and just walked out kind of chuckling to himself. Open it up. And sure enough, it's this check, which.
- [12:41]
Wendy
You could sell that to Darren Revelle for 50 bucks.
- [12:43]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I think I'm going to. I think I'm going to actually cash it because you can do it now where you just cash it on your, on the phone. You don't have to actually lose the check. So, Rick, you're about to be a $29 poor buddy. More hoop Collective podcast after this.
- [12:59]
Wendy
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- [15:02]
Wendy
All right, anyway to the court. Eventually the Lakers won that game. Right now on this road trip, you know the Lakers had come into this game losing 36 of 9. I believe there was game three of a nine game or eight game road trip. It was kind of like a split trip because they were home to play the Clippers. So like the, the, the bulk of it is it was the game one of six games on the road. But anyway they, they, they'll take anyone they can get right now and that was a good comeback win and you know, another Excellent night for Luke. I think he came up just short of a triple double. But any game that the Lakers, quite frankly, can hold the opponent to 41% shooting, which they did in this game. Even though I know the Mavericks aren't Exactly the. The 2012 Mavericks. But you know, you got to see.
- [15:45]
Tim Bontemps
The lakers, you know, 2012 weren't very good. 2011 won the championship.
- [15:49]
Wendy
All right, 2011. Sorry, I forgot that. Anyway, the. You got. You got to see the. I would say it was not one of DeAndre Ayton's best games.
- [15:58]
Tim Bontemps
4 of 16 and Road Pine down the stretch and road pine down the.
- [16:01]
Wendy
Stretch the other night against the Clippers too.
- [16:03]
Tim Bontemps
That's been. That's been a trend. The 416 has not been. He's came in shooting 68% from the floor.
- [16:09]
Wendy
That's got to be the worst shooting. I didn't see the stat. That's got to be the worst shooting game of his career. He's probably. There's no way he's missed 12 shots in a game before.
- [16:15]
Tim Bontemps
He was smoking layups left and right. But you know, the thing, the most notable thing about that Clippers loss was post game when, you know, a lot of people perceived it as JJ Redick calling out Luca. And I'll just read the quote he said, there's got to be a trust factor with all our guys just to trust the pass. That starts with Luca. He's going to have the ball to most of everyone. He's got to trust the pass. He gets two on him and he's playing in a crowd. He's got to pass the ball. I think as much as we can talk about being connected on defense, he. You got to be connected on offense. And so the last part there is interesting because when JJ Redick is talking about Luka's got to trust the pass. He's not worried about offensive strategy because guess what, Luka ball hogging is good offensive strategy. It's efficient offense. He's worried about if the ball's not moving, if guys aren't involved, then it's going to.
- [17:10]
Band McMahon
It.
- [17:10]
Tim Bontemps
Does he like. He. He will tell you it does just completely SAP their energy on defense. Lucas passing impacts their defense, not necessarily their offense. And you know, Bon Tims, you brought this up. Coming into the season, they've got a ton of guys who either have player options or in their last year of the contract. And JJ Straight up like, let's get it out in the open. He said, I think it just goes back to the human element of everything. Guys are Worried about their futures. And that's what happens when you have a team full of free agents, player options. I think it's just natural you're going to worry about the offense. I've been there. You can get in your head a little bit. I played five minutes. I haven't got a shot yet. That's a human thing. It's not anybody's fault. So basically saying, Luka, you got to make sure all these guys are motivated by involving them offensively so we can be a somewhat decent and not dreadful defensive team. And it's funny because he said JJ told us, like, the number of passes has no correlation to their offensive success statistically. But their highest passing games versus their lowest passing games, they're four points better on their defensive efficiency. On the higher passing games. Now they are seven.
- [18:29]
Wendy
And oh, good offense leads to good defense. Is that what he's saying?
- [18:32]
Tim Bontemps
No ball moving leads to good defense because good offense can just be luka jacking up 35 shots if we're being real about it, you know what I'm saying? But if Luke is jacking up 30, 35 shots and scoring 52 points and everybody else is kind of picking their nose on offense and going, well, sheesh, man, what am I doing? Then that's the way they're going to play defense. Shoulders slump and I ain't touching it, that sort of a thing. They are seven and, oh, and they have 30 assists. And after last night they had 26 assists. They are 21 and four when they have at least 25. So again, it's not. It's. It's.
- [19:04]
Wendy
That's interesting because, you know, when you talk to, you know, we talk about the Lakers, I mean, Bon Tempos and I are like broken records. We look at their defense and go, my God, their defense is just dreadful. And what Luke, what JJ is saying there is that while that's true, the key to that isn't necessarily digging down more, but it's being more democratic on offense.
- [19:24]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah. And again, the. The ball hopping around is not necessarily about offensive strategy. It's about psychology. And, you know, look, that's an NBA fact of life. Like, how many times have you seen. Hell, you know, Scotty Brooks used to run a post up for. For perk on the first play of every game. You think that's because he thought that was efficient? Yeah, I mean, that's an old thing. You know, they did it for Ben Wallace back in Detroit. Like, you know, let your big man touch the ball early so he can. So he'll be motivated to do all the dirty work. And so look, they have their, their defensive issues are personnel based first and foremost. But you, if you have personnel problems and motivational issues, that's how you end up a bottom five defense in the league.
- [20:07]
Band McMahon
Yeah, I mean all that is fine but at the end of the day, like I was watching the fourth quarter of this game and yeah, the Lakers came back and won against this tanking Mavs team and there was some tanktastic play, I would say in the fourth quarter of this game from Dallas letting.
- [20:22]
Tim Bontemps
A game the Mavs have just won four straight long.
- [20:25]
Band McMahon
I know and they watched Luca and they, and they clearly wanted to make sure that they didn't get another one. But at the end of the day we're talking, we talk about the Lakers all the time because they've got these two megastars on their team and you know, I saw after the game on inside Shaq goes, these guys are legit championship contenders. Right. So they're not right. That, that to me is the only thing that really matters. Like is this team actually, does they actually have a chance to do anything? And the answer to that pretty clearly is no. As of today, as of the, as.
- [20:59]
Tim Bontemps
Of this season, no.
- [21:00]
Band McMahon
Well, and look, they have a lot of expiring contracts. They have things they could do with the roster. Perhaps they will make moves between now and next Thursday, but you know, the next 10 days, perhaps they will do things to give themselves a higher floor defensively to have a chance to make a run in the playoffs. However, I'll go back to the Clipper Game which I think is a more relevant game here. Like they got handled by the Clippers who have been playing way better than them now for an extended period of time. And I, I don't know if you guys agree. I think if that those two teams right now play a seven game series, I would probably favor the Clippers to win.
- [21:39]
Tim Bontemps
How many games does Kawhi play?
- [21:41]
Band McMahon
Well, that's right. I mean they have plenty of questions too and I don't think the Clippers are any kind of contender. But like at the end of the day like can they, can they hang with Oklahoma City? Can they hang with even San Antonio or Houston or a healthy Denver? I Minnesota like so you know that to me if we're going to talk about the Lakers and we're going to talk about these guys like yes, if they move the ball like everything JJ said is right, if everybody touches the ball, they're going to be more engaged on defense. They're Going to try a little harder. But is that trying harder going to get them to a point where they can actually play against a really good team and win? I don't think so.
- [22:18]
Tim Bontemps
Here's the deal. When you talk about guys in the last year of the contracts with player options, it's not just the DeAndre Aytons and Marcus smarts and you know, Jared Vanderbilt's of the world. It's a fella named LeBron James who frankly knows that this is going to be it for him in a Lakers uniform. And Wendy, you've mentioned many times, okay, who is. Okay, who, who is a intelligent, extremely intelligent guy, especially about the business of the NBA.
- [22:51]
Wendy
Yeah, there's a chance this is going to be it. That's right.
- [22:54]
Tim Bontemps
Understands it's extremely likely. But listen, for the Lakers to be able to have the kind of roster reconstruction around Luka that they need to have, LeBron's salary's got to be gone. That's just, that's just a simple fact.
- [23:09]
Wendy
Well, maybe not all of it, but a lot of it.
- [23:11]
Band McMahon
Well, and by the way, if Laker fans are sitting there, sitting there listening to the pot or watching it and going, well, what about Austin Reeves? Austin Reeves is going to be back soon. Why? You know Austin Reaves is going to make the team a lot better. Austin's a great player. He was having a fantastic year before he got hurt. Austin Reaves is not going to help the defense get better. And again, this goes back to the fundamental problem the Lakers have had since the start of the year of having. If you have Luka and Austin and LeBron all on the court together, you have no chance to be a good enough defensive team to beat the elite teams in the league. Which again goes back to. There are massive questions ahead for this team over the next 10 days and over the next six to seven months. Over. You got Luka in the trade, he's now on the roster. You now have to try to construct a roster around him that's good enough to be a real threat when you've got all these other ascended teams in the west and there is an awful lot of work to be done to get the Lakers to that kind of place.
- [24:07]
Tim Bontemps
But there's also a roadmap and it's another big time scorer creator check. Austin Reeves will be that guy moving forward. Now he's going to get a big raise, but he's got a cap hold this summer that gives you flexibility because the other thing you need is length, athleticism, shooting and a legit defensive anchor. Lob threat, big man.
- [24:29]
Wendy
That's a, that's a lot of, that's.
- [24:31]
Band McMahon
A lot of stuff when you have none of it.
- [24:33]
Tim Bontemps
It is. But you know what they also have, they have the fact that they are the Los Angeles Lakers. And I can just tell you big men will do backflips to be able to be in that Lakers uniform. Paired with Luke, I was talking to an agent who's got a big man or may or may not be on the move who would love to get his guy in la and like, you know, big men are going to want to play with Luka. That much I can assure you.
- [25:03]
Wendy
Yeah, I think the Lakers heavy lifting will be done in the summer and I think if they do anything at the deadline, I think there's one of two things that would happen. One, it would be a, some sort of, you know, something akin to what they did with deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart where they get a guy on a such a discount they can't say no or they trade expiring contracts for a guy, they rent a player or whatever or they, they make a move that's substantial where the guy is going to be there for, you know, years into the future. And I, that's hard to do. They would have done it already. I don't think there's going to be so much of a middle path where they're going to like, you know, be able to, you know, do a deal all of a sudden. Like is a, that leaves on their flexibility this summer but also helps them immediately. I just, I think that doing, I think accomplishing both of those are going to be next to impossible.
- [25:54]
Band McMahon
Well, and they also have a lot of money on the books this summer too. Like they do have a lot of free agent cap, they do have a lot of salary cap space. But they've also got between Jared Vanderbilt, I would assume we think deandre Ayton picks up this option, Jake Laravia, Marcus Smart, who we expect to pick up this option, I think and Dalton Connect, that's $35 million in money on the books. Now maybe they can use that $35 million in trade to do things with a couple first round picks they have. But like, like yes, they have Luka Doncic and very likely will be keeping Austin Reeves like that. That is a good foundation to build from. But they're also trying to get the stuff especially on the wings that every single team in the league is looking to get and it's, it's not going to be as easy as just like oh yeah, let's go find 3 or 4 dynamite 3 and D wing players who are combo forwards to slot in on the wings and like fill out this roster around Luka and Austin. Like again, you'd rather start with Luka and Austin and figure it out. But it's, it's going to be, it's going to be fascinating to see how they put this roster together because they have a lot of holes to fill and they don't have the most tools to go about trying to fill them.
- [27:10]
Tim Bontemps
You know who'd look really good on that roster? 3 and D wing shown some creation ability 68 LA native Peyton pay him Watson oh slice of that salary cap space more than the mid level bond temps. I'll double down on that bet that guy is getting paid.
- [27:28]
Wendy
All right, that's for our discussion for a later day then the He's a restricted free agent before anybody makes assumptions.
- [27:34]
Tim Bontemps
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- [28:36]
Wendy
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Band McMahon
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Wendy
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Band McMahon
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- [29:10]
Wendy
All right.
- [29:10]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, we can get into that, but.
- [29:12]
Wendy
Go on the game that you were at Bon Temps, the Knicks were as low as they've been all season about four or five days ago when they had their ninth loss in 11 games.
- [29:23]
Tim Bontemps
To the Tanktastic Mavericks.
- [29:25]
Wendy
Correct. Who came into the Garden and did that to them? They go to Philly, a team that has owned them in recent games and recent matchups go into Philly. Philly's been hot. Joel Embiid has looked fantastic. He looks fantastic again in this game.
- [29:42]
Band McMahon
In the first half. It wore down a little bit in the second half, but 28 points. No, I, no, listen, he played 46 minutes Thursday and then in the first half he had 28 on, I believe, 10 for 12 shooting like he, he was great. You know, he, he looks a lot like Joel Embiid again, which if you're a Sixer fan, is pretty exciting.
- [30:01]
Wendy
So. Yeah, so Embiid had 38 and 11, but the Knicks really, I guess, was kind of a dominant third quarter of this game. You know, the, Was it, was it tied at the half or was it the two point game at the half or something like that?
- [30:14]
Band McMahon
The Sixers were up four. They shot a gazillion percent in the first half from two, obviously led in part by Embiid playing great. And the story on the Knicks side, the Knicks out shot them a bunch from three and they dominated in second chance points and on the boards. And in the third quarter, which has been a problem for Philly all season, the Knicks dominated the boards again. They hit some threes and frankly, Carl Towns, who was in foul trouble the whole game and was dealing with back spouses, to be fair, he left the game two minutes into the third quarter, Mitchell Robinson came in and Mitchell Robinson absolutely took over the game and just dominated. And through energy and effort, the Knicks just ran Philly off the court.
- [30:56]
Tim Bontemps
And, and that's what the Knicks have lacked is energy and effort. And after that debacle against the Mavericks on, in front of a national television audience and in front of James Dolan for one half because he left at halftime. So not the second half. Bond temps. You called it. You said, hey, this is a fraught game against the Nets. And they, you know, Ramona reported they had a players only meeting called by Jalen Brunson, you know, some of the players. Oh, it wasn't a players only meeting. We just talk. Whatever it was, you know, whatever it was. There were some frank discussions had and they responded. They responded by blowing. The Knicks are bad, but they've been losing the bad teams. They responded with a franchise record blowout against the Nets and then this one. So maybe whatever happened in the players meeting or non players meeting, whatever the hell happened there, the Knicks Needed to have some real discussions basically about, hey, are we going to just be a complete embarrassment or are we going to going to have some pride here? And they've responded with some pride.
- [31:59]
Band McMahon
No, they have. They have for sure. And, and look, I, I do think, you know, Mitchell Robinson has been super impactful for the Knicks when he's been able to play. Obviously he's had a whole bunch of injuries and his availability can go up and down, but the game, the game. And again, to be fair to Carl, he did come into the game dealing with back spasms. He looked like he was struggling, moving around. So that's worth saying. But the Knicks were a lot better when he wasn't playing in this game. And with the energy and effort Mitch Robinson was playing with. Like there's been this kind of push and pull all year about Carl's role in the offense and his relationship with Mike Brown and sort of all of this stuff going on. And like, as the season progresses, this is going to be a question that I think is going to linger at times as to whether the Knicks are going to have to try to play him and Mitchell Robinson for extended minutes together and play Cat at the four. And then which of those forwards, probably Josh Hart, are you taken out of the starting lineup and how is that going to go? And some of this also might come down to opponent because if they're playing against the Sixers and Joel Embiid if they're playing against the Pistons and Jalen Duran if they're playing against Toronto, which even though Jakob Hurdle, by the way, Yaka Purdle, who we've talked about some, he is now out again, an extended period with this back injury that hasn't gone away. So while Toronto's got a bunch of big wings, they don't have anybody really at size playing at center.
- [33:25]
Tim Bontemps
An indefinite period, right?
- [33:27]
Band McMahon
Indefinite period of time. But you know, a lot, you know, it could come down to matchups too. But I, I think as we're looking at the Knicks going towards the playoffs and towards the trade deadline, if they could do anything like sort of that ongoing question of what alignment are the Knicks going to lean into more having the all the wings with Carl and sort of leaning into offense or having Mitch out there more, potentially with him more and leaning more into defense, that's going to be an interesting discussion that's going to happen around the Knicks and for Mike Brown to have, and it's probably going to tell a bit of the tale of what the next couple months of their season looks like.
- [34:03]
Wendy
Caperto by the way, just has a non impactful season due to injuries. Only played 21 games. He's averaging his fewest points I think in about six or seven years after signing $100 million contract extension in the off season just as a drive by to that.
- [34:19]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, and it's too bad because a.
- [34:21]
Wendy
Good year for the Raptors. They're in the top four in the.
- [34:23]
Band McMahon
East like that's and their rookie center, Colin Murray. Boyles, who has gotten some Draymond comparisons out of South Carolina has been awfully good early on. But again he's the reason he's getting Draymond comparisons is he's Draymond size which is hard to have as your full time center, especially if you're going up against Carl Towns and Mitchell Robinson and Jalen Duran and Joel Embiid and even nemusked on the Celtics. He's a big seven footer.
- [34:49]
Tim Bontemps
Bam. Out of Bio.
- [34:51]
Band McMahon
Bam. Adebayo, Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. You know, Wendell Carter for the Magic. Like there's, you know, there's a lot of big centers in the East. It'll. That's going to be something to watch there.
- [35:01]
Tim Bontemps
Anthony Davis for the Hawks. Just kidding.
- [35:06]
Wendy
Report Colon.
- [35:07]
Tim Bontemps
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Ad. Hey, he is working out hard with some kind of fancy protective glove.
- [35:16]
Wendy
Yeah. On the pod the other day we had Slater on and Slater was. AD was in the background.
- [35:21]
Tim Bontemps
Well, he did it. He did it as the media was allowed into the, into the building the other day. It was kind of like, hey, look and listen, ad's rich. Paul wants him traded. AD doesn't want to get traded. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. I think most likely he's on the Mavericks roster February 6th, but we shall see.
- [35:43]
Wendy
By the way, Slater called the area where you do your stuff from in the arena, your TV stuff. I guess you've done the pod there.
- [35:50]
Tim Bontemps
I haven't done the pod from up there. I've done the pod from the hockey press box.
- [35:53]
Wendy
Okay.
- [35:54]
Tim Bontemps
The only time I'm allowed to be associated with hockey.
- [35:58]
Wendy
He described it as McMahon's lair.
- [36:01]
Tim Bontemps
I listen to the podcast even when I'm not on. Also, I listen to Warrior Stock report with Bon Timpson. Slater.
- [36:08]
Wendy
So I hear the cheap shots Bon.
- [36:09]
Tim Bontemps
Timps takes at me there. Slaters coming to Dallas and on.
- [36:12]
Wendy
On. Howdy, partners. I'm sure Bontemps hears your cheap shots that you throw at him.
- [36:17]
Tim Bontemps
He just assumes they're there.
- [36:19]
Wendy
Well, Mitch Robinson had a classic Mitch Robinson game on Saturday, six offensive rebounds and he was plus 14 in his 27 minutes and Towns only played 16 minutes, fouled out and was minus six.
- [36:32]
Band McMahon
Well, again, like, like I said, he was dealing with some stuff but the difference was stark in that game. And, and to, to spin ahead a little bit to the summer the Knicks right now, according to Bobby Marks, his books are $6 million over the luxury tax line with eight players under contract and that that those players do not include Mitchell Robinson. And that is going to be a fascinating thing to watch. Again, we're going looking ahead to the summer because like I said before, yes, Mitchell Robinson has injury issues. He can't play all the time. You've got to be careful with his minutes. But he is a massively impactful role player and is particularly massively impactful for the Knicks and that is going to be a really interesting thing to watch this summer if they can find a way to bring him back or if they choose to bring him back or not. Because if they don't and if he does go somewhere else, it's going to be very difficult for the Knicks to find a way to replace him on the roster. And he is, he has been a part, he was a huge part of the run last year. He's, he's been a part of some of their best stretches this year and they just look like a completely different team and have a different fastball when he is on the court, when he's able to play and that you know, those are the kind of choices the new system is has designed. It's designed to do is to make teams that could spend a lot of money have to choose how to allocate it or if they want to go deep into the second apron or not. And that's going to be one question for the Knicks because right now again they're lease as is projected right now $17 million below the second apron with eight guys on the roster. So going to be hard bottom temps.
- [38:12]
Tim Bontemps
I would like to get your thoughts real quick on what we've seen from embiid not just over these last couple.
- [38:18]
Wendy
Games but like about Mitchell Robinson. Real quick.
- [38:20]
Tim Bontemps
Okay, go ahead.
- [38:22]
Band McMahon
Take your hands off the wheel, McMahon.
- [38:24]
Tim Bontemps
My bad.
- [38:28]
Wendy
So is any have you seen Bontemps? Have you been on the streets of New York when Mitch has arrived or left a game?
- [38:35]
Tim Bontemps
I needed his truck today driving home.
- [38:38]
Band McMahon
I have seen Mitchell's truck. It looks like a mini monster truck. It's pretty wild.
- [38:44]
Wendy
How many pickup trucks do you think right now are in Manhattan? Is it less than 10?
- [38:50]
Tim Bontemps
Could you imagine driving that thing on the streets of Manhattan, dude, how do you part that thing?
- [38:58]
Band McMahon
As someone who drove dump trucks when I was a kid on the farm, I really cannot imagine driving anything that size in Manhattan. It would not be fun.
- [39:07]
Wendy
The thing about Mitch was that he was involved in. Some agents were involved in a lawsuit with him and years ago when he first came into the NBA. He's a lottery pick, right?
- [39:18]
Tim Bontemps
No, he's a second round pick. He was a big time, like.
- [39:24]
Band McMahon
Highly.
- [39:24]
Tim Bontemps
Ranked high school guy, but not. He slipped.
- [39:27]
Wendy
Well, okay, sorry. Anyway, the agent who lost him to the agent who got him, I remember, filed a lawsuit or whatever and he alleged that the way that he got Mitch was by giving him a pickup truck. And I say, well, that agent who gave a pickup truck learned who Mitchell Robinson was. Yeah, that was pretty good. I'm just thinking, talk about a new contract for Mitch.
- [39:52]
Tim Bontemps
Like, how many trucks is he gonna buy?
- [39:55]
Wendy
Well, I'm just saying, like I, if I were the Knicks, I would, you know, make accommodations for his pickup truck. I would, I would, you know, you know, put in like a, you know, like a ramp for him to come up at the facility up in Westchester, all that stuff.
- [40:07]
Tim Bontemps
Like, not a bad idea.
- [40:08]
Wendy
All right, sorry, you were saying about.
- [40:10]
Tim Bontemps
No, so indeed, like, listen, man, we've talked a lot about, you know, just how tough the contract looks and his decline, the lack of availability, month of January. He's played all but two games. They're seven and four. When he's been on the floor with him being plus 81 in those 11 minutes, averaging 28 points a game on 55% shooting, eight and a half rebounds, four plus assists and playing, like I said, almost every night and averaging 34 minutes a night. I am not going to lie. The minutes police sirens went off in my head when he played 46 in that over the Rockets.
- [40:48]
Wendy
The minutes police were gathering at the, the scores table with on that one.
- [40:54]
Tim Bontemps
But you know, in his last four games, he's had 30 plus points in each game. Like bond temps. Are we starting to think that, you know, the process has returned to form?
- [41:05]
Band McMahon
Yeah, I mean, look, here's what I would say after the game on Thursday. Even more than the minutes, even more than the points. I wrote about this after the game. He had a 32 point triple double in that game. Played 46 minutes, his most minutes in three and a half years since he won the year he won MVP. They win the game in overtime. And Joel was cracking jokes about the fact that it was two years to the day that he scored 70 in a game. So maybe he'd try to have a kid the next year on that date. And he started asking me after you're driving past that.
- [41:36]
Wendy
But he basically said that he was going to start counting on the calendar with his wife.
- [41:41]
Band McMahon
But yes, wife, you might have to.
- [41:43]
Tim Bontemps
Make a road trip to conceive.
- [41:45]
Band McMahon
That is correct.
- [41:46]
Wendy
To allow for another child to be born on whatever January 22nd I think it was.
- [41:51]
Band McMahon
And then after the scrum, he was asking me whether I had him on my. In my All Star column knowing he.
- [41:58]
Tim Bontemps
I thought he was going to go straw pole.
- [42:01]
Band McMahon
No, not straw pole. However he.
- [42:03]
Wendy
Give him time.
- [42:04]
Band McMahon
I gotta say we're probably going to talk about Yadis in a minute. Joel has some vacation plans for All Star weekend. I'm just going to say right now an international player in the east is going out and Joel EMBIID is averaging 25 and 8. And with the way he's been playing pretty hard. Not to argue that if he doesn't get selected by the coaches, he shouldn't be the honest replacement in the All Star game. Which again, interesting.
- [42:27]
Wendy
I hadn't even thought about that.
- [42:28]
Band McMahon
I, I hadn't thought about it either.
- [42:30]
Wendy
Do you think they're non refundable the. Those plans?
- [42:33]
Band McMahon
Oh, I, I think you're not.
- [42:35]
Wendy
Okay.
- [42:35]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah. Well, you know the argument against it. The argument against it gets us into jackass territory because it is 25 games. Yeah. He's missed.
- [42:43]
Wendy
He's.
- [42:43]
Tim Bontemps
He's already not going to be all NBA eligible.
- [42:47]
Band McMahon
He'll be short of that.
- [42:48]
Wendy
Yeah.
- [42:48]
Tim Bontemps
He has 19 of their 44 games. That, that's the argument against it. But I don't want to, you know, draw Wendy's ire.
- [42:55]
Wendy
Listen, you're talking to the guy who voted for Embiid for rookie of the year when he played 31 games. That. I don't regret it.
- [43:00]
Band McMahon
I don't. And what I would say, what I would say in general is Malcolm Brogman's mad at you.
- [43:05]
Tim Bontemps
That's okay.
- [43:06]
Band McMahon
The Sixers have not lasted. The Sixes have not been able to be incredibly consistent. They've had a lot of guys in and out of the lineup. Obviously Joel has not been playing back to backs. Paul George has been missing back to backs. They've struggled some at home like in this recent stretch. Have had some good opponents at home. They've. They've dropped a few of these games. Obviously lost a couple games last week to Cleveland at home. They lost this game to the Knicks at home the other day. But they, if they're if their guys are healthy on April 15, they might be the most talented team in the east. And they, I think there's, they are feeling like that Joel is starting to get back to where he was before. And I think they see a path in a wide open east to be able to make some noise and make a run. And I am the first to say that, as we've said before, am I going to put the house down on the Sixers being healthy for two months in the spring? No, of course not. We've seen this script before. But they are, they finally have Kelly Oubre back. He missed a bunch of time. They've got all their guys out there and playing. They're starting to get some chemistry. They're starting to get some rhythm in this game on Saturday and be caught the ball at the three point line, took two steps, jumped from basically the free throw line and dunked it. I didn't think I was going to see that again.
- [44:20]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, I forgot, I forgot to mention in this like, like he's got a recent flurry of dunks after not having one for the first couple months of the season.
- [44:27]
Band McMahon
Yeah, I mean it's, it's pretty crazy how much better he looks than he did a couple months ago. And with how open the east is, you have to at least look at these guys as having a chance and being in the mix.
- [44:39]
Tim Bontemps
Hey, from top Sixers to six in the east as we speak with the arrow pointed up the I better be careful pointing arrows camera might go crazy. Anyways, hey, beat in the Sixers. At least have my attention.
- [44:52]
Wendy
All right, before we move on, this hasn't been announced yet as we're recording this, but the expectation from what I am told is that Giannis Antetokounmpo was correct when he self diagnosed himself on Friday night as having a calf injury that was going to be out four to six weeks. I am told that that's the realm that it's going to be in. His second calf injury this season, his fourth in the last year and a half.
- [45:21]
Tim Bontemps
Plus time to trade him by Nico. Time. Time to trade them. Forecast drains. He's out.
- [45:27]
Wendy
I mean, I will say this like independent of the trade situation. Let's just say that the trade situation wasn't a thing at all. The four calf strains in a year and a half is. It's not a good development. And not only that, but these calf strains are to both calves and I think, I think this one is his right one and they're happening when he's just sort of doing. They're happening in games, but they're happening. You know, he's not like leaping or anything like that. He's just sort of jogging or walking or jogging and that's. And a couple of times he's given the look back, like, where did that come from? So independent of everything else, that's not ideal. Bottom line, he's going to be out through the trade deadline and he is not going to give his 65 games. So he's not going to be eligible to win awards. I have no idea what's going to happen to the Bucs. You know, in the NBA, right, when you think you've got everything is set, things go sideways. But the Bucks are.
- [46:25]
Tim Bontemps
You have an idea, but go on.
- [46:27]
Wendy
Well, they play tonight, but they're 15 and 15 when he plays and they're. They're 3 and 11 when he doesn't. So the idea that they're going to just be a. Okay is. You would be in the, in the minority on that. As we sit here right now, Milwaukee has the 8th worst record in the league at 18 and 26. Again. We'll see what happens tonight. But bon temps. Even if everything goes as the way Giannis and the Bucks have said publicly and there's no trade, forget about that. Should the. And he's going to miss four to six. Should the Bucks just sit him down and say see a next year and worry about the draft pick?
- [47:04]
Band McMahon
Yes. Gianna said Kupo shouldn't play again this season. Like, let's just call him. It is they at least. I mean, yes, for the Bucks, he shouldn't. He should not be traded, I would say. And they should shut him down. Like he, he's had all the recurring calf issues and those are, as we've seen, those are scary. And, and here's the deal. For all we've talked about with the Bucks and all the problems that they have, they obviously do not have a good enough roster. They have stunk when Giannis hasn't played this season. I believe they're 3 and 11 in games he hasn't played. That is unlikely to be any better without him going forward. They've struggled with him. Frankly, they haven't looked good lately. Maybe that's because of the trade stuff. Maybe that's because they're just. They don't have a very good roster. Whatever. But over the course of the year, they've been a mediocre to bad team with or without him. And without him they've been really bad. And at this point right now, if you Take a hard look at the Bucs roster. Ryan Rollins is a good young player on a good contract. Miles Turner is a least an average starting center, maybe slightly above, but probably average on an okay contract. And then they've got Giannis and that's basically it. Bobby Portis is an okay third big. So if you want to construct a path to the Bucks being able to convince Giannis that this is a place he can win long term, here's what it is. He basically is out the rest of the season. They are already, as you said, eighth in the lottery standings. They can fall pretty quick, pretty far in those lottery standings with the roster they have, they're going to, they have a real shot, I think, to be in and around the top five in the draft. Now, yes, they don't have full control of their pick, but as we've talked about, they get the lesser of their pick and New Orleans pick. There's a real chance that the second pick in the draft, yeah, this could be a good pick in the draft, the fourth pick in the draft. But let's, let's say they get super lucky. Let's say it's the second pick. Let's say the Hawks get one and they get two, which is not out of the realm of possibility, especially with the new rules. We've seen all sorts of teams from anywhere from one to ten get the number one or number two pick. So if they come out of the draft with the second or third or fourth pick and they get a Caleb Wilson or AJ Debinza less than this scenario, say to Bansa and well, that's, you have Giannis. Well, you have AJ DeBancer, you have Ryan Rollins.
- [49:26]
Wendy
I mean, I don't think that's, I don't think you're getting AJ Debanza because I think AJ advance could be the number one pick. And if they, if they have to swap, they're not going to have the number one pick. But okay, let's just say it's a good player.
- [49:34]
Band McMahon
Well, as of right now, I would say AJ DeBancer will not be the number one pick. He'll probably be the second or third pick. But either way, whether it's Cam Razor or Darren Peterson or AJ Advantage, he's.
- [49:43]
Wendy
Going to be the number one pick. But.
- [49:44]
Band McMahon
Well, yes, this is a historically great draft. The point is, yes, you discovered AJ Advancer. We're aware. The point is whoever, whoever of those guys they get, they all have chances to be generational players. This is an all. This has got a chance to be an Unbelievable draft. If you get one of those guys, you put them with Turter, Rollins and Giannis, they then have draft picks and salaries to go trade for another impact player, preferably a perimeter player, to balance out the roster. That is at least a path where you could sit down with Giannis this summer and say, hey, look, we've got a young stud who's going to be with you now for a long time. We've got a really good at minimum 3 and D guard, maybe better than that. We've got Miles Turner to space the floor for you and we're going to get this other impact player, whoever that player is, as the other perimeter score to go with them. We think with you healthy, this team could be a real force in the east going forward. You want to stay and see if he wants to extend or not. But because of this injury.
- [50:41]
Wendy
May I also point out that as of right now, The Bucks have one first round pick. They're allowed to trade either 2031 or 2032 after July 1st. And like, look, I'm not advising that they trade, do more mortgaging, but these guys, you know, Dan Gilbert and Matt Ishby are looking at this team going, whoa, I've never seen mortgages like this. In theory. I will just say that today as we sit here today, The Bucks have one first. They can trade on July 1, they can trade three. They could. In theory, they could trade this year's pick and they could trade 31 and 33. Look, I'm not. Again, I'm not saying they could do this, but I'm just saying, just to buttress what you're saying. Bon Thames.
- [51:34]
Band McMahon
Well, in this scenario, they wouldn't trade this year's pick, but they'd have the two future ones to trade.
- [51:38]
Wendy
Why not?
- [51:39]
Band McMahon
Well, I mean, if you're going to.
- [51:41]
Wendy
Mortgage it, you could mortgage it.
- [51:43]
Band McMahon
Wow. Because in this scenario.
- [51:45]
Wendy
Okay, well, let's say they end up with the eighth pick. They're not going to get AJ Debate.
- [51:48]
Tim Bontemps
When they did the Dame stretch and wave the Miles Turner, what did you compare that to financially? Wendy, you had a good.
- [51:54]
Wendy
I said it was mortgaging your mortgage to buy a sports car.
- [51:56]
Tim Bontemps
Yes. So they've done a lot of that.
- [51:59]
Band McMahon
The point is, the roster right now has no chance of being competitive in the Eastern Conference. But the way this has broken, if they do take a gap year, which is essentially what it could be, and they get a, you know, Tim Duncan to go with David Robinson type scenario, which with the top of this draft this year, if they get One of the top two or three picks, it's got a chance to be that kind of player. Like Cameron Boozer has better numbers than Cooper Flagg did last year. I'm not sure he's going to be that good of a player.
- [52:27]
Wendy
But say, okay, that's a little bit. But they could get the seventh or eighth pick.
- [52:30]
Band McMahon
They could get the game. They could get the second pick. Like, it's.
- [52:33]
Wendy
I know, but these are all perfectly within the realm. I'm just saying they could. They could go to. They could. If they wanted to go to market this summer with what would be Kyle Kuzma's $20 million expiring contract as the base of a trade and up to three firsts, including the pick that they get in a lot of.
- [52:50]
Tim Bontemps
Sure.
- [52:50]
Band McMahon
I'm just saying they could have 35 million in expiring money plus one of the top three. Like, it's very real. They have. If he doesn't play the rest of the year, they're going to have a very real chance of doing just what.
- [53:00]
Wendy
Philly did last year, even if he does play. And instead of shutting and they shut him down for the full six weeks, and then they shut him down a little early, like in April, Like I said, they're in eighth right now. You're not going to need magic dust to get in six, seven.
- [53:17]
Band McMahon
We just got done talking about Philadelphia last year. Philadelphia had the completely disastrous season, and that's a good line. And they got VG Edge come out of the draft. And that, coupled with their guys getting healthy, has flipped their franchise around.
- [53:35]
Wendy
There.
- [53:35]
Band McMahon
There is a path to the Bucks falling into the exact same scenario that the Sixers did, where they get the second or third pick in the draft. They get Cam Boozer or Debaser or Darren Kerson.
- [53:48]
Wendy
Stop. You. I don't want to stop.
- [53:49]
Band McMahon
And then they can also make a trade, and then you can go to Giannis and say, what do you want to do?
- [53:52]
Wendy
I know they have to go. They have to swap their pick. So you're assuming that both they and New Orleans jump up. I mean, I would need Pelton to run the match.
- [54:00]
Tim Bontemps
New Orleans might not have to jump up.
- [54:01]
Wendy
They might have to get a top four pick to do that.
- [54:04]
Band McMahon
Well, the Pelicans are going to be one of the worst teams in the league, and the Bucks are going to be one of the worst teams in the league.
- [54:09]
Wendy
I agree. It's not impossible, your role on them having the third pick.
- [54:15]
Tim Bontemps
Can I just simplify things real quick? There's no benefit in Giannis playing for the Bucs again, this. That's right. There's only downside, there is upside, in that you continue to slide or rise, as you want to say, in the lottery standings. And the Bucs pick situation is very similar to the Mavs pick situation in the sense that this is the only year between now and 2031 that you can benefit from being bad. And it's a good year to be bad because how loaded this draft is at the top now you're talking about, you guys are talking about, okay, hey, how can you use that to rapidly reconstruct and try to put together contender around Giannis, which, look, that's obviously been the goal of this franchise year after year after year after year after year. The other thing, though, is you look at it and say, hey, if Giannis finally says, fellas, can I get out of here? Which he keeps hinting at and passive aggressively doing all this crap. If that finally happens, having this pick puts you in a position where it's still going to be tough, you know, with the picks you don't have moving forward for the next four years, but you at least have a piece to build around. Kind of like the Mavericks. They're in a very similar situation. The Mavericks, except for the Mavericks, already traded the face of their franchise, and the Bucks, you know, are trying desperately not to reach that point.
- [55:41]
Band McMahon
Well, it goes without saying that that obviously is another path the Bucks can take. But a big part of why, in talking to people around the league, they thought the Bucks needed to do a deal now for Giannis was because it was likely the best asset they would get back in the trade was their pick this year and their pick this year being high. So by Giannis being hurt and not available now that he's going to be short of all the awards and they're not going to be a playoff team, there's really no incentive to have him play when he has had a series of leggings.
- [56:13]
Wendy
You still might have to trade Giannis, but this adds a pretty satisfactory option.
- [56:22]
Band McMahon
Which is, yeah, it gives you the benefit of having that pick without trading him, and it gives you the ability to go to him this summer with the possibility of either moving on from him and getting a ton back in a trade or being able to construct a roster that you could realistically say is good enough to be a factor, and maybe it's enough to get him to extend.
- [56:41]
Wendy
I would tell Giannis, Giannis, there's a jet at General Milwaukee Airport with a full tank. You can go to Athens, go home.
- [56:53]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, Be with your family, Thanasis, if you want.
- [56:59]
Wendy
Go home, be with your family. We'll send a therapist out there to make sure your calf is okay. When the snow melts and the lottery is near, we'll send for you. Just don't worry about it. That's not the craziest thing that you could do.
- [57:14]
Tim Bontemps
And you know what else this does? This should save the Bucks from doing something stupid before the trade deadline. Oh, let's make a move to win now, when you're the 11th place team in the Eastern Conference and you've already got all the picks out the door.
- [57:29]
Band McMahon
Until 2031, if Giannis is out for six weeks, we're already into mid March.
- [57:35]
Wendy
Yeah, this. This injury is. It's okay. It's distressing because again, it's the fourth time here short his calf. And whether Giannis is a buck or whether Giannis is Team X, that's a concern. However, this injury happening now deals the Bucks a few more cards. That's the point we're trying to make here. So just keep an eye on that situation and we'll see what happens. I would say that just the teams out there that were interested in Giannis being traded, some people saw the injury and said, well, that's it. He's never. He's never going to play for them again. And I was like, well, maybe.
- [58:14]
Tim Bontemps
But I said, I've thought that too many times to keep thinking it.
- [58:17]
Wendy
I know. All right.
- [58:20]
Band McMahon
What these injuries overall do seem to indicate is that. And again, these are famous last words. And I always caveat everything that we didn't see Luke getting traded, but with AD Hurt, with Giannis hurt, with Jimmy Butler hurt, you're seeing a lot of teams all of a sudden between Golden State having less incentive to really go all in on a trade. And it's seemingly unlikely Giannis will be traded. Seemingly unlikely AD Will be traded. You're pretty quickly running out of a lot of spice happening over the next 10 days. Again, famous last words on that. But. But this is at least from the conversations I'd had with people over the last couple days. It is shaping up to be a fairly quiet deadline where we've only had one trade all season so far.
- [59:04]
Tim Bontemps
Ooh, we got breaking news here, and I know Wendy can't wait to get to this. Oh, Wendy, do you want to read it? I Jonathan Kaminga, injury update fresh from the Golden State warriors presses. Golden State Warriors 4. Jonathan Kaminga, who exited Thursday's game at Dallas with 352 remaining in the second quarter due to a sore left. Stephanie underwent an MRI on Friday. The MRI confirmed that Kaminga has a bone bruise as a result of the hyperextension injury. His progress will be monitored and a reevaluation date will be determined in the coming days. Uh, oh, emergency pod. We need to go another hour.
- [59:44]
Wendy
Wait, hold on. Let me find out where Slater is. We're gonna. We're gonna tape with Slater.
- [59:48]
Tim Bontemps
He's in the backyard.
- [59:49]
Wendy
It ain't jamma to the front.
- [59:51]
Tim Bontemps
Actually, he's in. He's in Minnesota.
- [59:54]
Band McMahon
In all seriousness, when Jimmy Butler got hurt, it was an opportunity for, and frankly, a need for Jonathan Kaminga to play a real role for the warriors.
- [60:04]
Wendy
Without him, 30 minutes.
- [60:08]
Band McMahon
Right. And without him, like, the warriors are going to have a hard time winning any games for a while with the. The lack of.
- [60:17]
Wendy
Of.
- [60:17]
Band McMahon
Of shot creation they've got outside of Steph, Utah.
- [60:20]
Wendy
Move down, Milwaukee. Move down. Down.
- [60:23]
Band McMahon
I'm not saying that, but I will.
- [60:24]
Wendy
Say the tanking pool needs another seat.
- [60:27]
Band McMahon
Well, I will say that I. As of today, I. I think the warriors are the 10th best team in the West. I don't think they're as good as the Clippers, and I don't think they're as good as Portland.
- [60:37]
Wendy
The. The Thunder, who, you know, just lost to the Pacers. We're not going to cry for them. That's true. They did. Pacers finally got a win in Oklahoma City that they needed. The Thunder are like, my God, the Clippers were.
- [60:48]
Tim Bontemps
I want that series were doa.
- [60:50]
Wendy
The Clippers were doa. And now the pick that we're gonna get from the Clippers is gonna be out of the lottery because all these teams are rushing back and the Clippers are zooming past.
- [60:59]
Tim Bontemps
I want so badly that Thunder Clippers series. How many storylines do you have there?
- [61:05]
Band McMahon
A lot.
- [61:05]
Wendy
Well, I don't think there's that many storylines I think the Thunder would win. But the.
- [61:10]
Tim Bontemps
There's four games worth, for sure.
- [61:12]
Wendy
The Jazz have three plates in each hand and one between their toes to tank.
- [61:18]
Band McMahon
What do you mean?
- [61:18]
Tim Bontemps
Yusuf Nurkic has three straight triple doubles, sir. That's like 30 years worth for that.
- [61:23]
Wendy
Yeah. Well, that's why the Mavericks are glad that their flight got canceled. Are not glad that their flight got canceled because they could have just easily rolled out a G League team today to lose in Milwaukee.
- [61:33]
Band McMahon
Not sure that would have went.
- [61:34]
Tim Bontemps
It would have been the Texas Legends versus the Milwaukee Herd for sure now.
- [61:37]
Band McMahon
That the Bucks just lost the bottom half of the Nuggets roster. So it's no guarantee they would have lost to the master.
- [61:44]
Wendy
Well, that's what I'm saying. Like the, you know, Dallas was, you had the perfect excuse to literally have Jason Kidd go out there and play 13 minutes. But that other game just got postponed. All right, we're going to go watch football. Thank you to Jackson and Mark, our producers. Thank you to McMahon for filling in on sideline duty. I'm sure there'll be a big bonus in your check for that.
- [62:07]
Tim Bontemps
I look forward to just as big as I get for this.
- [62:09]
Wendy
Yeah, that's right. Thank you to Bontemps for braving the snow. How much do you have at your house right now?
- [62:17]
Band McMahon
There's probably close to a foot.
- [62:19]
Wendy
Okay.
- [62:20]
Tim Bontemps
Wow. We've got a Texas foot's worth, which we've got like a solid, I don't know, a few inches around here.
- [62:27]
Wendy
Everybody stay safe. Everybody enjoy the football games. They'll be over by the time you hear this. And we'll talk to you next week.
- [62:35]
Tim Bontemps
Adios, amigos.
- [62:46]
Band McMahon
Well, the holidays have come and gone once again. But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift.
- [62:52]
Tim Bontemps
Well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless. So here's the idea.
- [62:58]
Band McMahon
You get it now.
- [62:59]
Tim Bontemps
You call it an early present for next year.
- [63:01]
Wendy
What do you have to lose?
- [63:03]
Band McMahon
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch limited time.
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Tim Bontemps
50% off regular price for new customers.
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Wendy
Upfront payment required, $45 for three months.
- [63:10]
Tim Bontemps
$90 for six month or $180 for.
- [63:11]
Wendy
12 month plan taxes and fees.
- [63:13]
Tim Bontemps
Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes.
- [63:14]
Band McMahon
Per month when network is busy. See terms.