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- [00:00]
Tas Melas
As we head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume there will be a few calls made by the refs that will be hard to accept. But you know what isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover.
- [00:21]
Trey Kirby
Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.
- [00:23]
Tas Melas
Learn more at discover.com creditcard now at.
- [00:26]
Trey Kirby
Verizon, we have some big news for your peace of mind for all our customers, existing and new. We're locking in prices for three years guaranteed on my plan and my home. That's future. You peace of mind and everyone can save on a brand new phone on my plan. When you trade in any phone from one of our top brands, that's new phone peace of mind. Because at Verizon, whether you're already a customer or you're just joining us, we got you. Visit Verizon today. Price guarantee applies to then current base monthly rate. Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.
- [00:56]
Tas Melas
Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
- [01:11]
Trey Kirby
With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Hey, say what you want to about.
- [01:29]
Tas Melas
Being single on a Saturday.
- [01:31]
Trey Kirby
I got my blood orange and pomegranate candle going. I got some food, Swee tater zucchini and salmon. And I got some goo Dolls. What you got on a Saturday?
- [01:47]
Tas Melas
Welcome to no Dogs here on the Athletic podcast network. It's June 24th. Ah, man, I forgot it was National Hydration Day yesterday. Hold on a second. Feel so much better. Yes. I was not even coordinated. I'm Tas Melas. With me, it's the man in the middle, Trey Kirby.
- [02:10]
Trey Kirby
First time drinking water. It's good.
- [02:13]
Tas Melas
And the man making the magic happen, it's JD Hello. I have no hydration back here. Oh, no. Oh, you're late. I have a coffee, but it's a diuretic, so that doesn't really count.
- [02:24]
Trey Kirby
The opposite.
- [02:24]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [02:28]
Trey Kirby
That'S all right. Today's national parchment day, J.D. so if you want to draw up any documents and seal them with a stamp, that'd be great.
- [02:37]
Tas Melas
Oh, perfect. No ski today. He's traveling at home to be with his family very soon. We're thinking of J E Skeets. Hopefully he will be back next week. He will be taking some time. Now we've got some shirts to sell. A shirt that no one else is selling. It's got back to the pawn shop. No coins for you on it. Inspired by our friends at AND one and inspired by Nora, Skeet's wife who made this happen. It's on sale for only 12 more hours because it was on sale for only 48 hours after the championship. So if you're listening here Tuesday morning, no dunks.com for the next 12 hours or so. Make it happen. Also, a little information for you. We've got details on our live show. We're doing a live show in Vegas Friday, July 11th at 8. At 8. It's 4 local time at the Sportsbook at Mandalay Bay. It's free, it's fun and yeah, it's in Vegas. Come and hang with us. Looking forward to that.
- [03:39]
Trey Kirby
Better hydrate then July, Vegas, no coffee. J.D.
- [03:44]
Tas Melas
Oh, I can't promise that you're gonna be doing a lot of work. That's a good point. Now we will talk about all the transactions today because there's transactions happening. So we'll get to all the ones that are happening over the last few days and to inform us we need the Southern lawyer.
- [04:02]
Trey Kirby
We got all sales.
- [04:04]
Tas Melas
A tree.
- [04:05]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [04:05]
Tas Melas
Came out of nowhere. Drew Holiday dealt to the Portland Trailblazers. No one saw this coming. In return Anthony Simons and two second round picks. Now this isn't going to happen officially for a few days, so there could be some extra parts moving in, an extra team moving in as this one will officially be declared on July 6th. That being said, these guys are moving. Drew Holiday is going to the Portland Trailblazers trade. What do you think about this deal?
- [04:36]
Trey Kirby
I think you nailed the test. This came out of nowhere. Very surprising to me. Not surprising. I think that Drew Holiday was traded. That was kind of written in the tea leaves, you know, with the Celtics trying to get under the second apron following Jason Tatum's injury, they were going to be up against it financially even if Tatum was playing next season. So that's not the surprising part. I'm surprised on one hand that the Celtics targeted Anthony Simons. I'm very surprised that the Blazers are the team that added any draft compensation in this one. Just a couple of second round picks. But they're the ones trading the expiring contract. Meanwhile, Drew Holiday signed for the next three years in Portland. That was surprising to me. But you know, I guess he had a nice conversation with Chauncey Billups, when he was traded to the Blazers before the Blazers shipped him to the Celtics a couple of seasons ago. So that's not unusual when teams do a deal together. The GMs are like, hey, that went kind of nicely. You want to get back on the phone and see how things are going? So apparently Cronin and Brad Stevens had some nice chats and when it came down to it, the Blazers decided to go after Drew. And the Celtics are taking a flyer on Simons. Interesting.
- [05:43]
Tas Melas
Yes. As you said, Billups and our man Drew, they hit it off there for that week in between where Billups said, listen, I got traded once upon a time and I had to deal with it after winning a championship. I thought, huh, doesn't feel good. But now Drew, having done that, is going to Portland to hang with Chauncey Billups. Everybody questioning, why are you going to get Jrue Holiday for three more years under his contract? What does that make, does that make you a much better team? The nice thing is though, there's sort of this middle of the pack type of team that is going for it. They're actually trying to be good. And I know Drew Holiday, after the season that he had, may not do that for a lot of people. That's totally understandable. But I think they're kind of taking the stance of the Houston Rockets super young team and they said, let's add Fred Van Vliet, let's see if he can be our stability guy to get us somewhere else to be this incredible defensive team, which they were. You add him in with Tomonte Kamara, Denny Avdia, Donovan Klingon. Yeah. And Jeremy Grant, probably, which is the, the questionable part here because him and now Drew Holiday are signed for the next three seasons. That being said, Drew Holiday, like that veteran idea we talked about with Chauncey Bills, is going to be there for Scoot Henderson. Right. Just to kind of guide him to being fit in where you can fit in type of guy. Like fit in where you can, man. Well, who you are exactly that type of deal and hopefully that can work.
- [07:17]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, there's definitely value in having veteran leadership on these teams. It's a more balanced backcourt rotation. I think adding Drew Holiday as a defense first guy. The age and the contract are the questions. But they're hoping for a Fred Van Vliet in Houston effect, like you're saying, or at even better, like a Chris Paul in OKC one season effect where he trained up Shay Gil, Just Alexander setting the table for a run eventually for the Thunder. So I see it from there. But I think it's interesting you instantly start thinking about the Blazers. I guess it's because they got the bigger name in the trade and Drew Holiday. This to me seems like more of a win for the Celtics for sure, trade wise. I'm interested to see what happens with Anthony Simons in a competitive environment. He spent seven seasons in Portland, made the playoffs the first three seasons, but he was a reserve at that point. That was still Damian Lillard era. He eventually turned into a 20 point per game scorer, but the team never won more than 36 games. That was last season when some of their growth was when Simons would go out for a little bit of a time. You know, he wasn't necessarily driving the winning, I don't think in Portland. So it's going to be an opportunity for us, for the Celtics, for Simons to figure out is this guy good? Is he a winning basketball player or is he just a super talented dude? Because what he's going to bring to The Celtics is three point shooting. The last three seasons, eight three point attempts per game, 37% from three and about 50% of his shots are are three pointers. That is Boston Celtics offensive basketball for sure. Almost five assists per game as well. That helps. I don't think he's like a natural playmaker or anything like that. I think he can kind of get a little loose with the ball, but I think it's maybe an upgrade over Drew offensively at least the defense is the question. On the other side, Anthony Simons is a skinny guy, he's a super great athlete, but he's not really bringing much on the defensive side. Definitely Portland got better last season, but it wasn't because Simons was locking people down. Boston still has Jalen Brown on the perimeter for defense. They still got Derek White on the perimeter for defense. Kind of question marks about who's the actual point guard for this team I would say. But losing Drew Tatum out for the season, it seems unlikely to me that the Celtics would be able to maintain a top five defense that they had the couple of seasons jrue Holiday was there. So maybe Boston is just deciding we're going all in on offense for at least one year, right? Like just try and run and gun shoot even more threes or at least keep their 50% attempt rate going and see if they can outscore some teams. It's kind of taking a flyer on Simon since he's going to be an expiring deal. He might not have him finish the season With Boston.
- [09:49]
Tas Melas
I don't even know if he starts the season with Boston and all that. They, they may just look at this as a financial thing and say, all right, we got rid of Drew Holiday's three year deal. We now have Simon's for an expiring deal. Maybe we trade it for even somebody's cheaper deal for this year. And continuing to do that. It's sort of a step down effect. Just keep on trading for a cheaper trade after cheaper trade after cheaper trade. John Hollinger on the Athletic threw together some deals that could be this continuous step down to get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. Now as you said though, I think people underrate a little bit how good these guys could be just because they kind of have to step up and take Tatum's role. You know, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White will be those primary, primary scores, right? And then beyond that from the bigs, who knows if Al Horford comes back, Kristaps Porzingis is still there for a year. Peyton Pritchard, 6 Man of the year is going to get shots. That being said, this is about finances for sure from the Boston Celtics perspective and we'll see how good they are in the future. You said that I started with the Blazers because I think I've swayed on the Blazers. At first I thought, well, who's bidding for Drew Holiday when it comes to Anthony Simons and picks? I mean they, I feel like they just outbid other teams. And so I first started with that. I said, that is just too much for a guy here for Joe Cronin to say, well, we're a 36 win team and we're going for it, baby. And I kind of said they're a middle of the pack team. Now. 36ways isn't a middle of the pack team. Especially in the West. Pack, unfortunately, yes, especially the West. That being said, they're, they are extremely young. They are going for it. And so, you know, I just started to come around on that idea. We've all sort of been fans of those teams in purgatory and it feels like the Blazers here are destined for that. Maybe they didn't think that they were going to attract somebody in free agency and they had to outbid teams because there had to be teams. Like I thought the Clippers were a possibility. Him, Drew Holiday replacing Chris Dunn in that starting lineup would be ideal. Or the Dallas Mavericks, who we'll get to, who made another deal, who desperately need a guard out there. So that would make sense. So maybe they were bidding against other teams and Anthony Simons was a guy that they had to move on because as I mentioned their backcourt. Now it's Scoot Henderson. It's going to be some shaded sharp time along with Denny Avdia and then those other guys I mentioned who are great defensive players. It's their time to move on from the Simon's era that just frankly, it didn't work. He was there for so freaking long.
- [12:25]
Trey Kirby
I can't believe he was there for seven seasons. That's a long time. Yeah, he played with Evan Turner. Evan Turner's been podcasting like us for three seasons at this point. So yeah, it's, it's weird. I just have to assume that Simons is coming up for a new deal next summer. Right. I guess he probably is extension eligible. So maybe he's indicated that he wants a contract that's going to be bigger than the Blazers were willing to pay going forward and now is the time to move off of them. I have to kind of think because like you're saying, they've got the replacements there. They got Scoot Henderson going into year three. He's only 21 years old. I think he showed flashes in the second half of last season. His defensive effort got a lot better. He'd got smarter about playmaking. He. He started making some three point shots. Shaden Sharp. You're now Anthony Simons, completely 22 years old going into year four. Are you talented or are you a good basketball player? We shall see. I do think Jrue Holiday seems like a Chauncey Billups type player.
- [13:19]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [13:19]
Trey Kirby
The defense, the veteranship, the toughness, the mentor ing that he's going to do for these guards, he makes sense. Like you're saying with Denny and Kamara Clingan, that defensive core makes sense. But then you look at it, it's like Deandre Ayton still there.
- [13:36]
Tas Melas
Yep.
- [13:36]
Trey Kirby
Jeremy Grant's still there. Drew Holiday, those are your top three paid players and none of them seem essential to the core of the Blazers. So it's just pretty confusing to me. Is it like a pump and dump scheme? You know what they did with Malcolm Brogdon? He played a year with the Blazers. They traded him for Denny Abdia before last season. They weren't able to do an in season trade with Brogdon. They haven't been able to do the rehabilitate your value and get a pickback or something with Time Lord. So I just don't really. I don't know what the Blazers are doing except for helping the Celtics out a couple of times with Drew Holiday. Twice somehow.
- [14:12]
Tas Melas
Right. I can understand why they want to get off of Anfree Simons, but it does feel a little like they're bridging these two eras, oldies and newies. That being said, if you look at the contracts, Deandre Ayton will come off the books after this next season and so will Robert Williams. And there's a Matisse thible in there. He still exists. That that's on. That will be coming off the books in one season. The ones that are going to be around a long time. It's Jeremy Grant to now go with Drew Holiday. So it is confusing, but those are going to be in a good scenario. Those are going to be the vets making Denny Avdia, Tamani, Kamara, Donovan Klingon and now Scoot Henderson and Jaden Sharpe better. So that that's where it is. Andrew Holiday is a guy that we're all thinking about now as being a little too old. I mean, he was added years ago by the Milwaukee Bucks. They win that ship. He was added two years ago by the Boston Celtics. They win that ship. But is it way past that era now For Drew Holiday, that is definitely a possibility. But he can be that guide if he decides to be that guide to help Scoot Henderson. It is an idea here of a get in where you fit in. Scoot, you can be that guy. Because Drew Holiday started his career as this, you know, star type of guy where he was put on the Philadelphia 76 and New Orleans Pelicans to lead their teams and be a guy who did a lot of scoring. It didn't work out and either scenario. So that's why he moved on and that's why he was great at what he was at. So that's why Scoot can replicate not only what Drew Holiday did, but what he did in the second half, as you said of this season under Chauncey Billups, to be that guy, to just play freaking hard defensively and take your shots where they are. And then you start to see, oh, me and Denny and Kamara, we all work really well together and those veterans could help be that type of team. That being said, they're a 36 win team last year. What's the ceiling now? In a. In a perfect scenario, I guess it's 45 wins. Whoa, that's a lot. It's a lot. It is a lot. That being the second half of the season was good for this team.
- [16:25]
Trey Kirby
You know, I don't believe as much in the second half of the season always.
- [16:29]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
- [16:31]
Trey Kirby
I think the Goal for the Blazers. There's a play in appearance, more than likely a 910 game and we'll see where it goes from there. If Scoot Henderson turns into a Drew Holiday like defender, this deal was 100% worth it. But if not, they're paying 35 year old Jrue holiday 104 more million dollars after this season. That is a lot to play a tutor to pay a tutor.
- [16:50]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [16:51]
Trey Kirby
Is he even going to start? Because you got to have Denny on the court, you got to have to money Camara on the court. Yep, that's two spots in the backcourt. But you've got two young guys who are theoretically the future for your team. Certainly they're invested in Scoot Henderson. Maybe Sharp is more of a question mark, but $35 million for Jrue Holiday to come off the bench, that's crazy. I wonder how much of this is trying to rehabilitate his value. After things didn't go so well last season in Boston, he took a step back, didn't make his threes, looked even worse in the playoffs. If we're being honest, there are teams that could use a Drew Holiday. The Clippers and the Mavericks definitely make sense. So maybe the Blazers are saying, come here, play for us, help teach our young guys, show you're healthy, put together a good shooting season and then we can make a move going forward. Because that's just, that's just weird. Like I mean they're paying so much to Jeremy Grant and deandre Ayton and those are two guys they don't want on the team. I don't really think they were better when those guys went out of the lineup. They just checked out Simons here. So maybe things are turning, but it's weird for things to be turning and for the like the, the churn of the roster to be flipping over to the next era. And you're also doing this deal and throwing in a couple of picks. Like we're saying second rounders aren't that great, but they can be nice sweeteners in a deal to get things done at the trade deadline. So I don't know if this is just like my problem for your problem kind of trade. Boston needed to get cheaper. They did a little bit. Portland probably doesn't want to pay Simons long term. It just doesn't make sense to do that with Scoot and Sharp. You can't pay 3 of your top guys as guards unless you are the Phoenix Suns. So kind of awkward dance partners. They're grinding.
- [18:27]
Tas Melas
They are grinding. They're Trying to make something happen. They're. They feel it coming. There's no doubt about it. There's $4.7 million are what the Boston Celtics save this coming season. The bigger thing is the following two seasons. An Simons again is not paid. There's not a guaranteed deal. So we will see what the Celtics do for those two seasons. But I can see why the Blazers and Celtics may not be done in either scenario. You mentioned Ayton, potentially Robert Williams as guys that you could just try and get somewhere else to potentially. Yeah. Get another teeny tiny pick or, or basically for the purpose of getting off the books with them and going the young direction for the Blazers. And on the Celtics side, a similar.
- [19:14]
Trey Kirby
Scenario that you can't say the Blazers are going young when they trade it for Drew Holiday.
- [19:18]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [19:19]
Trey Kirby
But that's an all that's like that just.
- [19:21]
Tas Melas
It just go younger.
- [19:22]
Trey Kirby
Counter. Counterintuitive to where it seemed like they were going. I would think they would want to be shipping out their older guys.
- [19:28]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [19:28]
Trey Kirby
In Grant and Ayton to get younger guys. But it's been a long time since the Blazers have made the playoffs. We're saying four years. And that was like bottom of the barrel playoffs in the Western Conference. They want to probably be back there. Yeah. Just. Just odd.
- [19:44]
Tas Melas
It is just odd. It is odd.
- [19:45]
Trey Kirby
And I don't know if you're a Celtics fan. You got to be thinking let's just keep trading with the Blazers. This is working out great for us.
- [19:53]
Tas Melas
But you're right though. It does go both ways because what was, what were the packages coming back for Drew Holiday? Not all that big. What were the packages coming back for Anthony Simons? Not all that big. So it is sort of a, a problem. My problem for your problem. Also I, I do think even though they, they do have the, the older guys, the older side of things, they also have these younger guys. So they, they, they are combining both. I mean now they do have Grant Ayton and now Drew Holiday. Grant and Holiday the ones sticking out again for three full seasons. So we'll see if they're done. Doubt it. Yeah.
- [20:28]
Trey Kirby
It feels like both teams have moves to make. Obviously Porzingis is going to be a question mark for the free agency slash trade period that we're in right here. And then, I mean the Simons decision is interesting. They could pay him next summer if things go well. Seems unlikely to me. Maybe they use that, just use the cap space to find something around Tatum, Brown and white for the 26, 27 season or maybe they try and ship Anthony Simons to Orlando or something at the trade deadline or something like that. I don't think it's a guarantee that Simons is going to be there for the entirety of the season and definitely not past next season. I think that's really a coin flip. It probably depends on how well he plays in actual competitive environment.
- [21:10]
Tas Melas
And I will say this one thing about the Blazers considering the new CBA and how it kind of handcuffs everyone from just bringing in any sort of free agent. This was the way to go get a solid player and I think they may see that. Number one because of the way the CBA is designed and number two because it is Portland and they do have that hiccup year after year after year. So this was one way of getting the guy to ideally make your young guys better. And I think the the system in in Houston with Fred Van Vliet coming in where they paid him a lot of money, also worked out in that he helped out young guys. They had an incredible, incredible identity there playing defense. And I know we've ridiculed Chauncey Billows before for not having that, but they did do have, they did have that in the second half.
- [22:02]
Trey Kirby
They did.
- [22:02]
Tas Melas
We'll see if they can turn it around and make that. I shouldn't say turn around. If they can continue that next season.
- [22:07]
Trey Kirby
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- [23:33]
Tas Melas
As we head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume there will be a few calls made by the refs that will be hard to accept. But you know what isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover.
- [23:54]
Trey Kirby
Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.
- [23:56]
Tas Melas
Learn more at discover.com credit card race the rudders, Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait, Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
- [24:15]
Trey Kirby
With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results terms and conditions apply.
- [24:32]
Tas Melas
All right, we've got another transaction which is going to happen here. Not a trade, so the Southern lawyer will not be asked to work. But but the Dallas Mavericks are going to extend Daniel Gafford for three years and a reported $54 million. A team source has told the Athletic. There were some other reports out there that it was even more it was three years for 60 via Sham Charania at ESPN, but it looks to be three years and 54. So he has signed for four more seasons with the Dallas Mavericks because that's an extension after this coming season. What do you think about this, Trey, with Gafford staying in Dallas?
- [25:10]
Trey Kirby
I think this is really good, actually. Three years, 54 million. That's 18 million average annual value for a guy who's a good starting center, a good backup center. If Lively is healthy and takes the spot from him, which he has at times. I just kind of thought Daniel Gafford was going to be shopped. I didn't think he was going to be signing an extension now because of the way the raises were structured. In this extension, he's still trade eligible and maybe at 27 years old he plays both sides of the ball and now he signed for three years, that might actually increase his trade value. There are teams that would definitely be interested in a Daniel Gafford, but it seemed to me like he was going to be one of the big trade targets of this off season just because of the lopsided nature of the way that the Mavs are built right now, where it seems like all of their players are front court players with Kyrie Irving being injured there in the back court. You got Davis coming back from injury. Lively is going to be coming back from injury. PJ Washington is there and obviously they're going to draft Cooper flag tomorrow. So that's a lot of guys who are in the three to five position and that's most of their money. They need a Jrue Holiday type player. But I think this is good. Anthony Davis insurance and the fact that he's still trade eligible, I think it's really good. I think it's good for Gafford to get a nice deal here. This is a good contract for him. This is a good starting center. Money as well. And if they decide to move him, they decide to move him. And good for Dallas. So I think good business for everybody. Really.
- [26:34]
Tas Melas
Yeah. I was pumped to read about this and seeing those numbers. I thought, well, that is a very, very good number. Kudos to Nico Harrison for making it happen.
- [26:43]
Trey Kirby
It's a solid guy's pulling all the right moves.
- [26:45]
Tas Melas
He is for sure. I. I just thought it just made so much sense. So I know this isn't southern loyal, a southern lawyer worthy, but is it Southern paralegal worthy? I mean, it's not a trade though, sir.
- [26:57]
Trey Kirby
We got ourselves a trade.
- [26:58]
Tas Melas
Yeah. Yeah.
- [27:00]
Trey Kirby
We got ourselves a new contract.
- [27:04]
Tas Melas
Because that 18 AAV. I love saying AV love saying that. I mean, it makes sense. We saw all these bigs on the Dallas Mavericks. Yes. There was the question. They've got ad, they've got Lively, Cooper's coming. Maybe it's time to trade one of them. And it does make them tradable. I don't think the Los Angeles Lakers are getting Daniel Gafford. There's some talk about that. But I don't think Nico Harrison gets back at the table at that coffee shop and says, here you go. Here's Daniel Gafford at a ridiculous contract. He's 26 years old. He was ballin for a while there with Derek Lively out and he was the guy. And him and Anthony Davis, they clicked when Davis got there that first game. That was their incredible game that they played together. That one game. And that one game was sick. Everybody got hurt. Now I say all those names. Is there. Is it inevitable that one of those big skits dealt? I don't think so. I think we're going to see a giant team in Dallas. I Think whether it's Derek Lively or Daniel Gafford starting, depending if one of them is hurt. Anthony Davis at the four and then Cooper at the three I think is what they go with. And Derek Lively is such a good player as it's so exciting to watch him as a 21 year old. That being said, he's only played in 55% of the games in his two year career. So I think as insurance you don't do that, you don't make a trade. But they need Cards desperately so I don't know where it comes from. I don't know where that addition comes from because you know Kyrie's out. They really have one point guard and Brandon Williams under contract. Dante Axum isn't under contract right now, so I don't know where they go. But I mentioned those small forward, power forward and center spots. I get excited. I think the St. Mavericks team obviously it's, whoa, they could be good. It is one of those things that they could be injured because they're old. Anthony Davis is 33, Clay still there at 36, but then your PJ Washington, who obviously creates another glut there at the bigs and, and Max Christie, they're, they're good players to be potentially a good solid team if they can get a guard help. Where that comes from I don't know. But they're definitely ready to make some sort of deal. But the PJ Washington probably makes more sense to me anyway.
- [29:18]
Trey Kirby
You think he's possibly a gettable PJ Washington?
- [29:21]
Tas Melas
Yeah, I think so.
- [29:22]
Trey Kirby
I think it just doesn't seem like it makes sense to carry all of these front court players going forward because you wonder about their effectiveness. Not playing with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Right. If Kyrie is going to miss the majority of of next season, obviously Luker is a Laker right now. A lot of the offense for Gafford and Lively was lobs or plays created by those two guys. So I think in the new CBA environment it's smart for teams to resign their free agents kind of no matter what. An $18 million contract is still tradable. PJ Washington still tradable, but right now everything's just bigger in Texas.
- [29:59]
Tas Melas
Look at the Rockets.
- [30:00]
Trey Kirby
They're going to be starting like three six foot ten guys and another six eight guy and then a little bitty Van Vliet. You got a 7 foot 5 guy in San Antonio and everybody who plays for the Mavericks is a big guy at this point. So if you are 6 foot 8 and over. Get yourself to Texas.
- [30:16]
Tas Melas
Just get there. Everything is huge. It is true. When you look at those three rosters, they're getting bigger. Stephen Adams coming off the bench in Houston.
- [30:27]
Trey Kirby
Big ball is back.
- [30:28]
Tas Melas
Big ball is back, baby. And they do it well and they just throw it up on the rim and they miss it and they then they just go grab it because they're that good. Moving on to another transaction, a very, very small one. Chris Middleton picked up his player option with the Washington Wizards to be expected. This contract that he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks years ago when they were trying to keep the Giannis vibes alive and the championship vibes Alive pay him $33.3 million this coming year. So why on earth would he not take it as an option?
- [30:59]
Trey Kirby
Right? Yeah, this was Ryan Rusillo. I think he's going to pick that one up. Shout out, you know, ball podcast. It's just nice to remember that Chris Middleton's on the wizard sometimes. Yeah, I got no problem with veteran leadership. I've got, you know, after the way that the Sixers process went when they had basically no vets and they didn't really turn into a real team until Embiid became a player and, you know, Ben Simmons was on his way up, I just think it makes sense to have guys who know how to play winning basketball. That's why they did the Marcus Smart deal as well. They're obvious they're getting, you know, draft compensation for Middleton and the Kuzma deal as well. So it makes sense. They're cheap basically everywhere else. Smart has a big deal, Jordan Pool has a big deal. But you can afford $33 million for Chris Middleton and who knows how well he plays with the Wizards this season. Maybe they're able to ship him out at the trade deadline again to a team that is competing and can toss him a few second round draft picks or a late first or something like that. So I think the Wizards have done a pretty good job of tearing things down after the Bradley Beal era ended. They're on the come up right now. They still need a star. Hopefully they're able to get one in the draft, but the way the lottery went, a problem for them. But right now they've got a smart guy in Chris Middleton. He's going to show them how to be professionals. He's going to hit some big shots when they're winning their 25 games during the season. He'll be instrumental in those victories, I think so. I like this deal and you know, $33 million ain't nothing to sneeze at if you're Chris Middleton.
- [32:22]
Tas Melas
Absolutely not. You're totally right. They're not paying other guys too much money. So it sure makes sense to keep that guy around who was there for the second half and was a very good vet and showed flashes of being good to help them just grow a little bit. But you do bring up a good point. Let's say he is playing decently well as he did a little bit late in the season. Somebody may say, hey, we can take you on. Not to insult Chris Middleton and what he does, but it's a similar thing that happened to Gordon Hayward when he went from Charlotte to okc. Good call. It did not work out in okc. That being said, they played him. They. They were looking for a guy. So that could be a situation. And since I'm seeing all these little reports, I just want to include them here. We've got. The Celtics reportedly are trying to continue to trade Kristaps Porzingis from our guys J. King at the Athletic. And I did want to mention one guy about Daniel Gafford. I forgot. Or one team that could acquire and would want to acquire Daniel Gafford. It could be the Pelicans. Maybe they just lack a big. I know Eve me seed had a decent rookie year, but he's not that big.
- [33:29]
Trey Kirby
But he's not huge, you know.
- [33:30]
Tas Melas
Yeah, and. And Gafford, I mean, those numbers, I. I didn't want to mention them, but they're really good for. It was a month, but it. Let's say. Let's say he's in New Orleans. He doesn't have to play 40 minutes. He's not asked to be the starting guy. Who's going to be this star he was great with. Like you said, with Luca and even good without him this past year late in the season he needs guys just setting it up for him. But again, he doesn't have to be a superstar. So it could work with the Pelicans, who are probably at the table and looking to trade guys here in these next two days at the draft where they've. The. The front offices have an extra day to talk. And yeah, I think the Pelicans would be looking. They have so many guys now to be dealt. Like we can talk, you know, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum. And it goes on and on and on. So that's a potential. Potential move there for the Dallas Mavericks and the Pelicans if they can get to the table.
- [34:26]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, they seem like a. The Pelicans seem like a team that's going to be active this week. You know, all the reporters told us this is going to be an active trade season specifically because there's not a ton of cap space out there. So maybe free agency in that way will be a little bit muted, but trades are definitely happening. We've had Kevin Durant, we've had Jrue Holiday, we've had Desmond Bain. Just like that, more guys could be moved. I saw people mentioning a return to Chicago for Daniel Gafford as well. I'll take him. Mavs want Nikola Vuchevic. How about a big that can shoot? They don't have any shooting right now.
- [34:57]
Tas Melas
Interesting. Well, you mentioned Kevin Durant. Let's, let's take another look at that trade and how it all shakes down for both sides. KD dealt to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dylan brooks, a number 10 pick and five second round picks a day later here. Tre I guess it's two days later now. How are you feeling? Because Vegas and Everywhere here from BetMGM have got the Rockets way up in the odds to win the 2026 NBA title. They're literally tied for second. The second best odds tied with the Clevel Cavaliers behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.
- [35:41]
Trey Kirby
Is that crazy? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's crazy. That's Vegas preying on people's mindset that, whoa, Kevin Durant went to the second seed. They got to be a championship contender. So you're going to get some bets down, I suppose. But I to me, it's unlikely that you go from winning zero series to winning four series, especially in the Western Conference. But I still love this trade for Houston. Major upgrade for the Rockets, I think. You know, Skeets asked what tier I would put them on after this trade and I said just a little bit behind the Nuggets in a separate tier, like a two and a half kind of tier. I think maybe they're actually closer to the Nuggets than I'm giving them credit for before. Denver has really had a chance to do anything this postseason. I just love that they kept their future intact. They can trade their own picks now. They still got contracts that could be moved if they wanted to. They also kept those Suns picks, which could continue to be juicy. They're going to need guards, but I think what they're mixing up is pretty nice in Houston. I'm excited to see Ben Shepard or, sorry, Reed shepherd get a little bit of an opportunity because he's going to become important for this team. 3rd overall draft pick wasn't really able to get on the court this year because didn't bring a lot defensively and there was a couple of guards ahead of him in Dylan Brooks and Jalen Green. Fred Van Vliet still there, but there's an opportunity for him now. And I've come around on things a little bit for Phoenix a little bit. I think they did as good as they could have given the leverage. And according to Brian Windhorst, basically Kevin Durant made his way to Houston turning down any sort of trade offer. Miami was never serious about this. They refused to put Khalil Ware in the deal, so shut that one down. They wouldn't even put Jovic or Hawkes into this deal. So it wasn't going to happen for Miami. San Antonio apparently didn't involved. Minnesota wanted him, but Kevin Durant said no way. So if you're the Suns, you're like, hey, we got two starters. One of them is a young guy with upside and we got a lottery pick. Now you just gotta nail the number 10 draft pick. And I don't know if that's gonna happen, but they got a new gm, so maybe there's a little bit of hope in Phoenix, but I still think this is a big time win for the Rockets.
- [37:42]
Tas Melas
Yes, a. A very new GM in that he has no experience. Yeah, the Phoenix side is interesting from the Kevin Durant side. I am, I'm excited about him on Houston that needs a number one offensive option because Kevin Durant lives for that. That's what he is. That's who he is. And so to hear him at that fanatics fest, when he was asked about it, as, as it just happened, he was asked about it, he said, quote, they had a great season last year, love their leadership. I felt like I'd be a good addition. So he's basically saying I felt like that means I told him I'd like that, I'd like that there. And when he says, you know, I love their leadership, it means they were a good hard playing team. They were the fourth best defense, they played extremely hard that needed somebody to score. So the fit is perfectly. I thought Miami could be that type where they were a pretty good defense but they needed another score. But Houston is an absolute perfect fit. So I guess they won the package offers in terms of what they were willing to give up versus like you mentioned the Miami Heat. If they weren't willing to give up Khalil, where. But I can understand from Kevin Durant's perspective why he'd want to be there and, and be the guy and shoot and shoot. And shoot. Because he was ridiculously efficient last year. He was stupid good in comparison to the guys that the Rockets were, were throwing out there. Now the, the whole Minnesota thing was also reportedly a place that he didn't want to go. That could be just because of the makeup there. And he didn't want a similar scenario. I know it's not Golden State, but a scenario where they were successful. I mean they went to two conference finals and maybe not, not to be as much of the guy with Minnesota as he would be with the Houston Rockets. So it just, it feels, it feels so good. If there's any criticism of Kevin Durant in his career is that sometimes the locker room doesn't work out right. And so now you got one in Houston with a coach that is a hard nosed guy in Udoka, just got his extension. That team is going to be so good around him. I mean the names are so good as you even. I get to even get excited for Reed Shepherd. I keep watching that G League game that he had. He dropped 49. I mean he was looking good obviously, but the, the guys that you could just put around Kevin Durant, the length is going to be ridiculous. As you said, it's so much bigger in Houston. I'm in Thompson. I'm Atari Easton fan. So those two guys with Fred and Shangun and it goes on and on and on with that team. So it's, it's going to be tough to play those dudes.
- [40:12]
Trey Kirby
Do you think they would start Easton over Jabari Smith?
- [40:15]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that's a good question. I think they could go both ways. Yeah. Which one?
- [40:19]
Trey Kirby
I mean, Eason has generally been their bench guy. He has, you know, Smith went to the bench after what he broke his hand last year and that's when Amen Thompson kind of took off and took his starting role. So they didn't mess with it.
- [40:30]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [40:30]
Trey Kirby
Going forward, I think it'll be E. I think it'll be Smith. I think he'll be the, the fifth starter there. But they could go Easton and definitely he's going to be a big part of their team regardless. Like he'll be one of their top eight guys. And, and as we saw with the Thunder, as we saw with the Pacers, you need eight guys right now at least to make it through the entirety of the postseason. The fit is just so nice with Kevin Durant. It makes so much more sense than Minnesota. I think the fit would have been okay with Minnesota depending on how they did the deal, but it could have cost them. Go bear and that's kind of a non starter. I think if you're Minnesota. Otherwise it maybe would have cost them McDaniels. That's also probably a non starter. The only way they would have done it is if it was for Randall and DiVincenzo. And even then they're much shallower than the Rockets are. So opportunity for Eason, opportunity for shepherd, opportunity for Whitmore. Those guys definitely need to take a step forward if they're going to be the second best team in the Western Conference with a chance in the playoffs. I mean they did lose in the first round this year. Part of the reason was because they didn't have a go to option. I think they lost three clutch games against the warriors in that series and now they got a guy in Kevin Durant who's going to take the clutch shots. It's going to be on Ime Udoka to get everybody on the same page offensively and to figure out the right way to balance shots between Durant and Shen Goon letting him in Thompson create letting Fred Van Vliet do his thing. They also got to sign Fred Van Vliet. He'll probably, they'll probably say no to his team option and sign him for a longer deal with a little bit less money. They got some stuff to do still, I think Houston, but this worked out perfectly for them. This was probably the ideal scenario, you know, hard fought seven game series. We figure out where our flaws are and make a move to sort of address those going forward.
- [42:13]
Tas Melas
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- [42:34]
Trey Kirby
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- [42:35]
Tas Melas
Learn more at discover.com creditcard now at.
- [42:38]
Trey Kirby
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- [43:10]
Tas Melas
Raise the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
- [43:24]
Trey Kirby
With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply. What do you think about the Phoenix side of things?
- [43:43]
Tas Melas
Yeah, it's. It's so interesting from the Phoenix side because from the Rocket side. All right, we'll give up Dylan Brooks because we've got all these defensive parts. Tar Eason, you're in there. I meant Thompson. You're playing more. Jalen Green has prospered. Definitely potential to get even better. And forget about how old Kevin Durant is right now. You replace him or you replace. Yes. Jalen Green. With Kevin Durant, the offense is clicking. What they're looking at in the books, they gave up the number 10 pick. Yeah. Here. And Jalen Green now with the Phoenix Suns is the question is, can he and Devin Booker really play together or are the Phoenix Suns just going to continuously look for another place to trade Jalen Green? And I think they're going to give it a shot. I think Jordan Ott, who came from under Kenny Atkinson, who made Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell work really well together, I think he's going to try and make those two guys work together. Now, their bigs are not Jared Allen and Evan Mobley, but they're going to try. They're going to try and get in Oso Iguaro to make some magic happen. I suppose they have. They have a, you know, the Ryan done thing. They'll try. But I do think Jordan Ott is coming here and trying to emulate a little bit of other situations with. With their guards. As I said, you know, from under Kenny Atkinson, it just, it just sort of makes sense to me that they're going to try Jalen Green. Can he and Devin Booker share the ball and do it? Well, Jalen Green did have some fantastic moments in that series against the Golden State warriors and some bad ones. He had that 38 point game with six assists. And those six assists are the key for me because he was able to find Amen Thompson on the cuts and if he and Booker can work together, I think unlike Houston, where other teams where the warriors were able to just take him out. They had Buddy healed. Just Buddy healed. Buddy healed. Take out and take him out the Other teams definitely have to focus a little bit more on Devin Booker than what Houston had to have be focused on, you know, beside Jalen Green. So there's that, there is that bonus, the fact that Houston has more guys. Excuse me. The Phoenix Suns do have more guys than Houston did in the back court. I know Fred was, was shooting from the outside, but he isn't Devin Booker. And so they're gonna try, they're gonna try and get Jalen Green to be not only just, hey, I'm an ISO guy, I'm going to create, I'm going to pass, and we are going to be, be this type of team under Jordan Knott that gets everybody involved. Will that work? It's a fair question. But Jalen Green had a freaking good regular season. He was a very good player again in the regular season. It slowed down in the playoffs against Golden State warriors, but he was pretty solid in that regular season. You can go through lots of positives. He plays a lot. He plays every game. He plays every game. So you're gonna try and make it work more and more. I know you weren't a Jalen Green fan.
- [46:37]
Trey Kirby
No.
- [46:38]
Tas Melas
But are you coming around to what they could do? I suppose with Jalen Green and Devin Booker? I mean, it's, I don't, I don't know if we're going to them up against the Portland Trailblazers. I'm probably picking the Blazers and what they could be ahead of the Suns. Yeah, I, I, they don't have, the Suns don't have the depth. So we're talking about two guys here.
- [46:57]
Trey Kirby
They got shooting guard depth.
- [46:59]
Tas Melas
They have shooting guard.
- [46:59]
Trey Kirby
Seven of their 10 players under contract right now are shooting guards. If you're trying to be optimistic about Jalen Green, you look at the athleticism first and he does have a jump shot, but he's the kind of guy who, if he's going to shoot 40% from 3, it's going 6 for 10 one game and 2 for 10 the next game and taking the exact same shots. He doesn't necessarily have the greatest feel, but he also hasn't played next to a perimeter guy like Devin Booker, who will get the number one assignments, who will be the primary ball handler. It will be a little easier for Jalen Green to create on the second side, assuming he's the starting shooting guard. I don't know if that's even a guarantee. Right. Like they still have Bradley Beal. There's been reporting from John Gambadoro that somehow, some way, Beal will not be a Son next season. Maybe they buy him out. Maybe they somehow find a trade with this 10th pick. I think that would be pretty short sighted to attach the 10th pick to Bradley Beal just to get off the deal. But it could be Booker, point guard, Beal, shooting guard, Brooks, small forward, Green, sixth man. It could be Greenpoint, guard, Beal shooting guard, Booker, small forward. It's just, it's, it's odd. It just doesn't really make sense to me. Grayson Allen is still there. Royce o' Neill is still there. Those seem like tradable guys to me now that they've brought in Jalen Green, I don't know. To me, Green, his peak is like a Zach lavine type player. But Zach Lavine made a lot of improvements at the first few years of his career. He got a lot stronger, got a lot better finishing inside. Jalen Green looks like the exact same guy that came out of the G League Ignite. I don't know if he's lifted a weight since he got to the NBA. He just looks so, so skinny and the team is so unbalanced right now. The Suns have a lot more work to do. They do kind of think they'll keep Jalen Green more so than I did when they first pulled the trade. Just because there's gotta be a way for them to have some sort of future going forward. They're getting their cap a little bit more under control here. They're trying to get some draft picks under control here. They're mostly going to be end of the first rounders after they did that trade, their future pick for three late ones deal last season that didn't end up netting them anything. So I don't know. The team doesn't make sense. It's like if you could put together the Suns and the Mavericks, you would have the perfect number of front court and backcourt players. Unfortunately, they're both lopsided.
- [49:14]
Tas Melas
Yes, they are very much lopsided. I definitely think Jalen Green starts beside Devin Booker and then they just dream about a team that wants to take on Bradley Beal because that's the problem. Obviously he's got the trade restriction. They could just buy him out I suppose because Mattish be a. I wouldn't be surprised if he's that type of guy to say we need to change this thing as he said the last couple years. So let's just write you a check. It's going to be a monster check. It's going to be the biggest buyout in NBA history. If it does happen, the guy is basically guaranteed 110 million over the next two years. That's a lot of money.
- [49:54]
Trey Kirby
A lot of money.
- [49:55]
Tas Melas
So it may even be cheaper to do the buyout versus the, the trade because it's. There's a 15 trade kicker. And Phoenix would be the one that would have to take it on, I assume. But you can't even. I'm, I'm the, I'm the positive guy, but I can't even formulate an idea of some team that wants to take them now. It would have to. It could be a third team and just taking on salary, but the salary is so big. It would have to work out really well for them in the, in the reception. The receiving team would have to say, okay, we want to get rid of somebody and we'll get a third team involved. And so there has to be, it has to be contracts that other teams that don't want. And again, Bradley Beal has to say yes.
- [50:37]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [50:38]
Tas Melas
Because he's in a trade restriction area. I don't see a good team saying or one player away. Like we, we just talked about Chris Middleton. We're, we're close. We need somebody. We'll take on this 53 million dollar deal that's guaranteed this coming year. It's. It seems crazy. It just doesn't seem like it's gonna work. It's not worth it. He's not close enough. And if you're a good team, you don't have the money to go back the other way because those guys that are getting paid that much are doing good things for your team. So it's very unlikely.
- [51:08]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, it's pretty unlikely. I saw some rumors that maybe a Wizards reunion could happen for Bradley Beal. I guess they do have the Middleton contract, which gets you 60% of the way to Bradley Beal's Gigantor 1. I had a dream once upon a time of trading injured Damian Lillard for not injured Bradley Beal. But that seems like it doesn't make any sense for Phoenix right now. Cause they wouldn't get anything from Lillard this season. And then they just traded for Jalen Green. So like, what are you doing? You need to get somebody. I don't know. This number 10 pick, though, seems like a huge deal to me. For Phoenix, sure. Getting a lottery pick is big. They need a little youth. They need a cheaper contract on their books for a long time. Somebody that they have financial control over going forward. And they just got to pick the right guy and hope that he can actually contribute this season. Like I'm sure Malawatch will be good for them. But the dudes, 20 years old, you know, he's not going to be a huge contributor. But they could use an upgrade over Nick Richards, I do believe.
- [52:08]
Tas Melas
Yeah. I am very interested to see what that entire organization does because as I mentioned, their gm Brian Gregory doesn't have any experience running a front office. He's been there for a couple years sort of as this consultant to be around. Mattispee has brought him around to hang out and we'll see what they want to do. Because Ishbia is so much of a guy who does have his hands on things, does want to make things happen immediately.
- [52:35]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [52:35]
Tas Melas
And you have a number 10 pick. I suppose it could garner back some sort of deal, some sort of player to come back if they want to get good right now. But it doesn't really make sense. It doesn't make any sort of sense, any short term sense. So TBD maybe. Who knows who would come back in a deal. But it makes more sense to just keep the guy and keep it going. And we'll see what Jordan Knott can do. A lot of experience as an assistant coach in the NBA. So we'll see his first head coaching experience and what he can do with again Jalen Green and Devin Booker being the 1, 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 option on that team. Like it's. It's who they are. As you said, Nick Richards. I mentioned Iguodaro. Ryan Dunn.
- [53:20]
Trey Kirby
Iguodaro's good. Like a rotation guy. Yeah, I think Ryan Dunn's a rotation guy, but I don't know if you want him starting necessary though. They don't need the ball all that much and it doesn't seem like there's going to be a lot of shots to go around. After accounting for the backcourt in Phoenix. It'll be interesting to see if sending Beal to the bench again is enough to get him angry enough that he okay a trade anywhere. Right. They tried that last season. They're like, it ain't going well. You're going to the bench. Maybe that will make you upset enough that you're okay leaving. But why would he.
- [53:52]
Tas Melas
Yes.
- [53:53]
Trey Kirby
Got this gigantic contract. He gets to pick wherever he wants to live. And if he gets traded, if he finally says yes, he gets another 15% money.
- [54:00]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [54:00]
Trey Kirby
This guy's got the best contract in NBA history. From a player perspective. I don't know if you would say so if you are a team.
- [54:06]
Tas Melas
No, no. This is going to be the biggest buyout in NBA history. I gotta think that it's gonna happen. I went through the numbers and, and, and, and Blake Griffin got out of Detroit when they wanted to move on, but he was also done way later in the season. And so the numbers aren't even close to what Bradley Beal would get. But you could be right. They could say, go to the bench. We'll figure this out. And then he could just be mad a couple months in and say, I'm done. I want to go play somewhere where I could get more minutes and be more of a guy. Because it really doesn't make sense now with Booker and Jalen Green. So I am looking forward to seeing what happens there over the next even couple days. Where anybody goes over the next couple days, we'll be here monitoring it. We may jump in if there's an emergency deal or trade. But as of right now, the plan is we'll come back Thursday after the draft, take Wednesday off. Unless something happens. Then we gotta jump in because.
- [55:11]
Trey Kirby
Exactly.
- [55:12]
Tas Melas
Right. Because stuff could happen.
- [55:14]
Trey Kirby
Giannis trade seems pretty unlikely at this point with the reporting and, you know, just Giannis basically saying, I want to make it back to the finals with Milwaukee and all the injuries in the Eastern Conference. Like the Bucks have to be sort of happy. I mean, they're one of the teams that had an injury. But if they get somebody to help out Giannis, could they make a surprise run to the conference finals and then who knows what happens? I guess that's up. The in potential 10 years in Phoenix for Devin Booker. He's extension eligible. 10 years, but they didn't make the playoffs last season. I think it'll be hard for them to make it back to the playoffs this season. You got to start wondering when he starts looking around and then maybe Phoenix starts calling again. Hey, hey, hey. You know, we talked Booker a few times. You want to get back in on it? We'll see. We shall see.
- [55:59]
Tas Melas
That's the beauty of having two days at the the draft. All these front office people have lots of time, lots of hangouts to discuss these potential options, especially with the new cba. That's why it seems like things could be happening more and more these next two days.
- [56:17]
Trey Kirby
That's crazy. The Thunder won a championship like five minutes ago. Yeah, we're like, hey, next season started. Let's talk trades. Wild times, but should make for an entertaining first round of the draft. We got a two day draft, buddy. Excited?
- [56:30]
Tas Melas
Yes. Yeah, I'm excited. I wish I was a fly on the wall with these front office people. Just to, just to hear the Talks that don't materialize into a trade. But they're there. You know, the talks are there. It's fun.
- [56:42]
Trey Kirby
Oh, yeah, for sure. One of my favorite things is always, like, the post trade. Here's what we offered and didn't get it. You know, like, Danny Ainge is the king of that. Pat Riley is the king of that. We were going for him so, so hard.
- [56:55]
Tas Melas
Yeah, yeah.
- [56:55]
Trey Kirby
You know, that's what. That's what the Miami thing with Kevin Durant feels like. They're like, Kevin Durant is available. We should be in on this because we are the Miami Heat and that's what we do. So we're going to be in the mix by offering our worst players and the guys that you do not want. But at least we're talking. It was like Wiggins and Rosier. That's crazy.
- [57:13]
Tas Melas
Yeah, that was great.
- [57:14]
Trey Kirby
Surprising that the sun said, no.
- [57:18]
Tas Melas
You love your Andrew Wiggins.
- [57:21]
Trey Kirby
I think I probably would have rather got Andrew Wiggins than Jalen Green, but I would rather have Jalen Green than Terry Rozier. Interesting.
- [57:28]
Tas Melas
All right, we got to do a show tomorrow. Wiggins or Green, that's our whole show. Or Terry Rosier. Yeah. Because it's quiet right now. We've gone to everything. Only other news is that the New York Knicks continue interviewing people for their head coach. Micah Nori, who's been around as an assistant for a long time, is being interviewed. That's all we got. We've covered everything. I like what James Edwards said about Mike Anori. He's a great basketball mind and better personality. He would be so good on the mic in New York.
- [57:57]
Trey Kirby
Very quotable man. The relationship with Carl Anthony Towns.
- [58:01]
Tas Melas
Nice connection. Very nice.
- [58:03]
Trey Kirby
We shall see.
- [58:04]
Tas Melas
All right. Unless an emergency happens, we will see you Thursday. But for now.
- [58:12]
Trey Kirby
Clipper Bros.
- [58:12]
Tas Melas
I forgot about the shirt. I forgot about the shirt. J.D.
- [58:15]
Trey Kirby
You want to go shirt first? Yeah. You go to no dunks.com to get this incredible shirt. We've got, what, 13 hours left? Maybe it's 11 o' clock Eastern Time.
- [58:26]
Tas Melas
Yeah.
- [58:26]
Trey Kirby
So go get that. Look how buff that guy looks. You can even see no dunks on the basketball right there. Very cool.
- [58:33]
Tas Melas
But for now, Now, Clipper Bros. Now.
- [58:37]
Trey Kirby
Okay. You heard it here first. Have a great time.
- [58:40]
Tas Melas
Turn up.
- [58:40]
Trey Kirby
Love you guys. Awesome. Thanks for joining us. And remember, if you say you're monitoring the NBA off season, you can scroll your phone all day because it sounds like work. We're going to be monitoring things today.
- [58:53]
Tas Melas
We're going to be monitoring them. And now, from now on, when I want The Clipper Bros. J.D. i know I got to say Clipper Bros. Guys, I know you're waiting and I just say, but for now, I think, I think they come. That's, you know. But for now, we'll be monitoring. We'll see you Thursday. Oops. Hi, it's Paige from Giggly Squad. Let's be real. Cat dads are in their golden era. Temptations, America's number one cat treat brand, is celebrating how seriously irresistible these guys are. They've got sensitivity, snack, timing, precision, and their cats adore them. Add in a handful of Temptations treats and boom. You've got a certified cat dad. Show more love to the cat dad in your life with Temptations Cat Treats and tag your fave moments with catdadsighting. You know we're dying to see them.
- [59:45]
Trey Kirby
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