Haliburton's Status, Game 6 X-Factors & Lakers Agree To Sell For $10 Billion

Summary

No Dunks Podcast Summary
Episode: Haliburton's Status, Game 6 X-Factors & Lakers Agree To Sell For $10 Billion
Release Date: June 19, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of No Dunks, hosted by J. Skeets, Tas Melas, Trey Kirby, and super producer JD, the team dives deep into the high-stakes NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Game 6 on the horizon, the hosts analyze pivotal elements that could determine the series outcome, discuss significant offseason moves, and explore major league developments. Listeners are treated to expert insights, lively debates, and notable quotes that encapsulate the excitement of the playoffs.

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Haliburton's Status and Its Impact on the Pacers

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Tyrese Halliburton's uncertain status due to a calf injury. The Pacers' coach, Rick Carlisle, has yet to make a final decision, potentially affecting the team's performance in Game 6.

• Concern Over Halliburton's Availability:
  Trey Kirby voices strong concern, rating the impact at an 8 out of 10, stating, “I feel like I'm an eight. A bit of worry on both offensive and defensive end” (03:52).

• Tas Melas Expands the Concern:
  Tas Melas believes the impact is even greater, pushing the concern to a 9 out of 10, highlighting Halliburton's role as the offensive engine of the team and his critical performance metrics (05:35).

• Potential Lineup Adjustments:
  Discussions include the possibility of starting T.J. McConnell or Benedict Mathurin if Halliburton cannot play, with J. Skeets noting, “Halliburton did take part in the Pacers practice on Wednesday, but that was a lot of like watching Phil” (07:57).

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Game 6 X-Factors

The hosts identify key elements that could influence the outcome of Game 6, focusing on both teams' strategies and individual performances.

• Pacers' Offensive Strategy:
  J. Skeets emphasizes the need for the Pacers to score at least 110 points, noting, “They gotta hit 110 points scored. They're 14 and 0 in the postseason when they do, and they're 0 and 7 when they don't” (13:27).

• Key Players to Watch:

  • Miles Turner:
    Trey Kirby highlights Turner as the ultimate X-factor, stating, “I think he is the ultimate X factor for me tonight to maybe get to a game seven” (16:04).
  • Andrew Nemhard:
    J. Skeets points out Nemhard’s potential to have a significant offensive impact, saying, “A nice like Nemhard game offensively tonight, hitting these shots, hitting some threes to really give us to a game seven” (17:54).

• Defensive Adjustments:
  Tas Melas suggests that controlling turnovers and emphasizing defensive efficiency will be crucial, stating, “Turnovers are huge. I mean that's, that's a huge part of the reason the Thunder were able to blow it out” (14:33).

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Lakers Sale to Mark Walter for $10 Billion

A major highlight of the episode is the monumental sale of the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family to Mark Walter, valuing the franchise at $10 billion.

• End of an Era:
  Tas Melas reflects on the significance, “This is the end of the Buss era in Los Angeles. The glamour franchise of the NBA and the Lakers was just a family-run business” (32:18).

• Impact of New Ownership:
  J. Skeets elaborates on the implications, noting, “They could hire any GM they want. Like Messiah Jerry maybe. Come on down, Sam Presti, come on down” (35:05).

• Comparison to Other Franchise Sales:
  Trey Kirby draws parallels with Mark Walter’s ownership of the Dodgers, highlighting his strategic investments and management style, “What the Mark Walter led ownership of the Dodgers did was a lot of those things” (34:43).

• Future Prospects:
  J. Skeets speculates on the future operations, “Jeanie Buss is going to continue to serve in her role as Lakers governor. To which I say, bullshit. No, she won't” (39:08), suggesting significant changes under Walter’s leadership.

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Pacers Trade: Mojave King to Pelicans

The Indiana Pacers make a strategic trade, sending Mojave King and the 23rd pick in the 2025 NBA draft to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for the Pacers' own 2026 first-round pick.

• Strategic Financial Moves:
  J. Skeets explains the financial rationale, “Pacers roughly get rid of like $2.7 million of Gallant guaranteed salary” (29:15).

• Long-Term Planning:
  Trey Kirby interprets the trade as a move to manage the roster and prepare for future seasons, “I think it's Just another asset for them to trade essentially to package it with other players” (29:32).

• Trade Details and Impact:
  The hosts discuss the swap's implications, noting that the Pacers are focusing on retaining core players like Miles Turner while managing their draft capital effectively.

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Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant Trade Speculations

The potential trade of Kevin Durant by the Phoenix Suns is dissected, focusing on the team's lack of leverage and the challenges involved.

• Trade Challenges:
  J. Skeets and Trey Kirby discuss the difficulty Suns face in trading Durant without significant assets, “This is the latest on the sun maybe having to like, oh, we got to take way less to maybe get this done” (49:31; 52:22).

• Comparison to Past Trades:
  The conversation draws parallels with the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade, suggesting that similar strategies might be employed, “It makes it more realistic that a team can try that path if they don't have to give up everything” (54:09).

• Future Implications:
  Tas Melas and J. Skeets speculate on the Suns' future without Durant, emphasizing the importance of finding balance and maintaining competitiveness.

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Chicago Bulls Front Office and Billy Donovan Extensions

The Chicago Bulls secure extensions for their front office and head coach Billy Donovan, signaling stability amid their competitive yet fluctuating performance.

• Extensions Announced:
  Tas Melas highlights the significance, “We got and the Bulls front office and their coach, they're doing their jobs” (55:03).

• Team Performance and Strategy:
  The hosts critique the Bulls' strategy of maintaining low payroll and avoiding being an embarrassment, “Their job responsibility will be to win. But that's not what it is right now” (56:21).

• Ownership Stability:
  J. Skeets and Trey Kirby discuss the potential changes in ownership and the historical context of the Bulls’ management, noting, “Jerry Reinsdorf just sold off a piece of the Chicago White Sox” (37:03).

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NBA Plans for a New Pro League in Europe

The podcast explores the NBA's ambitions to expand its reach with a new pro league in Europe, considering the evolving dynamics between the NBA and the Euroleague.

• Collaboration with Euroleague:
  Trey Kirby notes, “The NBA and Euroleague after the Euroleague turned down the NBA's offer to partner with EUROLEAGUE to run a European basketball league” (43:10).

• Vision for Expansion:
  Tas Melas envisions a global NBA presence, “Adam Silver's dream to have a club World Cup of the NBA of basketball” (46:26).

• Potential Outcomes:
  The hosts speculate on the structure and reception of the new league, discussing how it might coexist or compete with the existing Euroleague, “They are going to have some sort of league as opposed to the Euroleague” (44:25).

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As Game 6 approaches, the No Dunks hosts encapsulate the tension and anticipation surrounding the NBA Finals. With questions surrounding Halliburton's health, strategic trades, and major franchise sales, the episode provides a comprehensive outlook on the current state and future directions of the NBA.

• Looking Forward:
  J. Skeets concludes with excitement for the upcoming game, “But game six on tonight, we're of course back here tomorrow morning to talk about it” (60:36).

• Engagement with Listeners:
  The hosts encourage listeners to stay tuned for Game 7 discussions and to engage with their content, “Hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners. Five-star ratings and reviews” (60:49).

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Notable Quotes:

• Trey Kirby: “I think he is the ultimate X factor for me tonight to maybe get to a game seven” (16:04).
• Tas Melas: “This is the end of the Buss era in Los Angeles. The glamour franchise of the NBA and the Lakers was just a family-run business” (32:18).
• J. Skeets: “They gotta hit 110 points scored. They're 14 and 0 in the postseason when they do, and they're 0 and 7 when they don't” (13:27).

This episode brilliantly balances in-depth analysis with engaging banter, making it a must-listen for NBA aficionados eager to stay informed on the Finals' critical developments and broader league news.

Transcript

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[Trey Kirby]

Over. Roger, wait.

[J. Skeets]

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[J. Skeets]

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Thursday, June 19, 2025. I'm J. Skeets here in the classic factory and alongside me as always, Tas Melas.

[Trey Kirby]

Basketball lovers, this one's for you.

[J. Skeets]

Next to it's the bearded one, my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby. Ayo. Ayo. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer jd Hello. There he is. Here we are. Appreciate everyone joining us here today either on YouTube or you podcast listeners. In case you missed it, we recorded a banger of an episode yesterday ranking the last 25 NBA Finals. So if you haven't checked that one out, do yourself a favor, fire it up here. You got time before Game 6 tonight of the NBA Finals as we use the tier maker to go over the every NBA finals from this century. Had a blast Trip down memory lane.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, this one's good for all Robert Ori fans out there. People are saying we were too hard on 2010. Should have been an S tier.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, wow.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, I lived it, man.

[Tas Melas]

I blogged it, man.

[J. Skeets]

Exactly.

[Tas Melas]

That's true.

[Trey Kirby]

Another one of the finals that we ranked, this 26th one that we're currently in. Can't wait to find out if we're gonna have seven games that would bump it up.

[J. Skeets]

We ended up putting it a tier. Is that right?

[Tas Melas]

It's been good so far.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it's been very good.

[J. Skeets]

But we said, hey, it could go up to an S tier special if we go to game seven and we're going to get into that, we'll do a little is this news later and dive into the lakers sale for $10 billion. But after a back and forth battle here between the Thunder and Pacers, 2025 NBA Finals, one step closer to crowning a new champion. Does it happen tonight? Let's break it down. And you know, we got to start with the status of Tyrese Halliburton. Yesterday Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that a decision on Halliburton stat is for game six here tonight. It's not expected to be announced until later this afternoon, maybe this evening. Looking like he's a game time decision is where we're at with Halliburton. So my question, shout out to the guys at ESPN for this one. On a scale of one to 10 tests, how concerned should the Pacers be about Halliburton's status in that calf injury?

[Trey Kirby]

I'm bumping it up. I feel like I'm an eight. A bit of worry on both offensive and the defensive end because I think defensively he's just got to stay in front of his guy. We saw the Thunder extremely smart when there was enough space out there to just fly to the rim. Well, if they didn't get back fast enough, if enough guys weren't back fast enough when they turned the ball over and over again or had late shots and in shock lock situations, the Thunder were just good enough. Like Shay wasn't the primary ball handler, but if they weren't getting back, he was doing a smart thing and getting to the hoop. Even Lou Dort, who Tyrese Halberton will probably be on, was doing a good job of getting to the rim and initiating the passes. It's not so much that Tyrese Halberton's just going to get kicked his butt kicked one on one, but it's just a passing that happens. It happened over and over and over again. Jalen Williams, obviously the guy who was so good at his cuts that first half, all of his baskets plus one three point shot were all on cuts. And so that's what he was doing. And so I think I'm worried about Halberton just getting into the right spot at the right time. We saw OKC battle Aaron Gordon in the second round, where Aaron Gordon came and played in game seven of that series with a half of a hamstring and he played well enough. Jalen Williams took it to him and scored 24 points and was extremely good there. I just want to be able to see Halliburton, you know, be able to do that and then on the offensive end just be able to try and get in the lane. It's not so much that he has to score, but he's got to get into drives as much as possible because the Thunder are going to be scrambling, they're going to be everywhere. And I just wonder if Halliburton can keep them moving. That's the key. Obviously it's going to fall on the other ball handlers and NEMHARD and Matt McConnell and Siakam and stuff. But I do worry about both ends. This Thunder team is just too good on both sides.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, you have it at an eight. You go higher, lower, or the exact same, barely higher.

[Tas Melas]

I would go a 9. I don't think it's impossible for the Pacers to win without Halliburton. I just think it's pretty unlikely. You look at game 5, 4 points, 0 of 6 field goal shooting, but the Pacers actually scored pretty well in that game. Was their second best offensive game from an offensive rating standpoint. But Halliburton is the engine for this team on the offensive end. 110 offensive rating when he's been on the court so far in the finals. 102 when he subs off. That's not good enough to win against the Thunder team. And unfortunately for the Pacers, they lack a guy who's like a LeBron James type. We're going to throw you the ball, pound it for 20 seconds. Either you're getting a good look inside or you're creating the right shot for somebody else like Pascal. Siakam can attack from the mid post area for sure, but that's not the way the Pacers want to play for an entire 48 minutes. And you know, we've seen Siakam kind of fade in some of these fourth quarters though it was pretty good to start the fourth in game five. And it was a two point game. Like the Pacers played it close without Halliburton really being able to do much outside of being a decoy in Game 5. So I think if they're able to like match his minutes to every time Isaiah Hartenstein is on the court for the Thunder, put him in a pick and roll every single time, at least then Halliburton can be somewhat of a threat. Even if he's limited to shoot a pull up mid range jumper, to shoot a pull up three pointer shots that aren't going to require him to turn the corner, beat his guy off the dribble and get in the lane. Now obviously the Pacers want to be in the lane, but I don't know if that's going to be realistic for Hal Burton. But if he's able to go and I'm sure he's going to at least try and gut it out, it's going to be the Aaron Gordon. It's like you're playing but you're not the same guy. This is an opportunity for Andrew Nemhardt to actually step up and have a pretty decent game here. He's been 10 points, three rebounds, three assists so far in this final series. 44% from the field, 33 from three. He's had a pretty down finals. But last year in the Eastern Conference finals when Halliburton went out with, I think he had a hamstring strain at the time, Nemhard stepped up 32 points, 24 points and two close losses against Boston. So it's somewhere deep in there. Yeah, of course he would then be the guy having to face Lou. Do you know he's getting upgraded on his defensive matchup so it's going to definitely be tough for the Pacers, but I think they really lost game five because they couldn't stop the Thunder defensively. So maybe there's a tiny opportunity there.

[J. Skeets]

Halliburton did take part in the Pacers practice on Wednesday, but that was a lot of like watching Phil. So he's just sitting there using his eyeballs. He can do that. They had a 30 minute walkthrough and then they did some light shooting and he was basically just flat footed out there, just firing it up. So he wasn't like obviously going at game speed or anything like that. They've been trying every treatment. The reports are to make this a little more comfortable for him here for game six. Hyperbaric chambers, needles, massage, electronic stimulation, special tape. So they are giving it a go here. It had at least a big gap between games five and six to try and fix the strained right calf.

[Tas Melas]

But you think the H waves are going to work?

[J. Skeets]

I don't know. I'm not sure if he can't play. Like that is a possibility, right? Like he warms up tonight and they're like, we gotta save him from himself. Like he can't play. Is it as simple as putting T.J. mcConnell into the starting lineup? Is that what you would do if you're Rick Carlo? Because he did say like we have a plan if he can't go, what do you think that is? Is it just see if TJ can start the game off for them?

[Trey Kirby]

I think it is tj and what would be the other option? Benedict Mathurin. I don't think you want to put him in that role. He hasn't really thrived.

[J. Skeets]

Hey, it's his birthday today.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, great news.

[J. Skeets]

Give the birthday boy a start.

[Tas Melas]

You think he bakes his own cake? Maybe it was Ben Shepard that started for Halliburton when he was out last year. He hasn't done much on the offensive end, but like I said, I thought the defense was more of a problem for the Pacers in game five. I would personally start Matheran just because I think he outside of the last two games, he can at least get in the lane. And I think that might be the Pacers best chance of scoring efficiently against the Thunder tonight is drawing free throws. Like Siakan can get to the line, Ben Matheran can get to the line. Maybe you do just play it slow mode, which is completely antithetical to what the Pacers have done for the entire season. Tough way to switch things up in the elimination game of the year. But we will see.

[Trey Kirby]

That's the risky part is you might see Benedict Matheran try and take it upon himself to be the non Pacers. I mean, just not passing the ball enough, using everybody, this democratized team, that's what they have to be to be super good. And so that's why I think TJ would start. But you know, I don't think you want one on one stuff at all, period. With Halliburton out there or whoever, everybody's just gotta, gotta get a taste because defensively the Thunder are gonna stop you and they have to move the ball and they just have to get the shots early. They can't wait 20 seconds to get a shot in the shot clock which happened in, in game number five. And that hurt. Had those turnovers or late shots that really hurt.

[J. Skeets]

I am with you guys though. I, I, I think Halliburton starts this game and at least tries to test the calf and see how it is and then there'll be decisions to be made. Right. If he's getting exposed or the explosiveness is not there at all and the shot's not falling whatever, then I think Carlisle and that staff have to make a quick decision to go earlier to tj, go to Mathurin, Ben, whatever it is, Ben Shepard. So we'll see. Look, Halliburton has not had a good series as it is now. He came in sort of with these lower leg injuries. He's only averaging 15 and 7. Had a bunch of turnovers for him in this series, too. But a big part of that's loot Dort's on him. And that's a great point.

[Tas Melas]

Unfortunately.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, it's like. It's just the honest truth. He's in the Dortra chamber. So it's like, I think even if he's fully healthy, I don't think these numbers are all that much better, personally, because he's such a focus of loot door and he can just like, lock in on these guys. But we'll see. Hopefully he can go. So the next question is, what do the Pacers need to do here tonight to extend the series? What's an area of focus that you got your eye on?

[Tas Melas]

They got to make three pointers. I think they should be spamming threes. I think they should be going for as many efficiency points as they can. Three pointers and free throws. Only 36% for the series are the Pacers. So far, they're averaging 12 and a half makes per game, which sounds good, but the last three games has been 9, 11 and 11. So a lot of that is skewed by game one when they went crazy 18 of 39. But Oklahoma City, playing games three and four in Indiana, only six and a half makes from three per game. They shot 34%. They were cold from three on the road. So the Pacers have to hope that flips their way playing back at home. Maybe that means you're getting some big games from a Miles Turner OBI toppin. You have to hope like Nith is ready to shoot. Mah has a good shooting night, but they need to get as many three pointers up as they can and try and flip this math wise on the Thunder.

[Trey Kirby]

I think, yeah, Miles Turner has to be the guy who gets it started. Those shots will be open. Will he be willing to take them? I mean, it really falls on all three of these guys. You know, beside Aaron Neesmith, when Halberton's in that front or in that starting lineup, it does fall to Turner and Emhard and Siakam in different sort of ways. Andrew Nemhardt has to be aggressive, but he's that. He's that guy who likes to slow it down a little bit. You know, he does the D cell when he gets into the lane. That's his thing. But guys have to be around him to cut for him. He has to be just a little bit more aggressive. Everybody has to be a little bit more active. While Siakam can be that guy that takes advantage of every single matchup. He is that good, whether it's a guard. Okay, we got this. He can do that. Or whether it's a big. He should be able to go around Hartstein or whoever. So there's. All those guys really just have to produce in different ways. And I. It's. It's easy just to say that everybody's got to be good, but that's who the Pacers are playing. It's because they're playing the Thunder. And I think you'll hear, like, Richard Jefferson on the broadcast, if the. Things are going well for the Pacers and everybody's producing, you'll say, whoa, this team knows that Halberton needs other guys to produce, to drive hard, to shoot those threes. I mean, it trickles down to the guys off the bench. There's just so many things that they have to do. Aggressiveness, cutting, shooting threes, playing basketball. Yeah, that's the thing.

[J. Skeets]

They really need to control the tempo tonight. And big part of that is, like, don't turn it over 20 plus times. Like it. You somehow won game one when you did it. But like we said, you run that game 100 times, it feels like you only win it that one time with the Halliburton jumper. 99 of the other times, you're probably losing like we saw in Game 5. That's huge. And then the magic number is 110. They gotta hit 110 points scored. They're 14 and 0 in the postseason when they do, and they're 0 and 7 when they don't. And I know it got awful close the other night with the 109, but, hey, 110 is the magical number.

[Trey Kirby]

One missed free throw for Johnny Furfy.

[J. Skeets]

That's right. That's right.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. So Pascal has to start better. He led the team in turnovers with six. I mean, he can be the guy that they depend on. He had three in the first quarter. That's where OKC just started running. And again, that's where I think the defense can be a problem for the Pacers if everybody's not back and ready because they're going to move it. They're going to. They just use the perfect opportunities. Man. I know Jalen Williams had 40, but a lot of it was just playing off of his other guys. If they're ready to go, their defense has to be that. Pacers defense has to be cutting off every single lane every single time.

[Tas Melas]

Turnovers are huge. I mean that's, that's a huge part of the reason the Thunder were able to blow it out in the fourth quarter is a two point game and then they turn it over on four of their next five possessions. So you can't win that way. Chasing the Thunder the entire time. You gotta play it slow. Like this should be a monster Siakam game. He should take the most shots on the team by far. He should have the ball almost all the time. I do think, you know, Jalen Williams has done a very good job on Siakam. I think when they switch him onto Siakam, that's when he kind of gets turned off in fourth quarters. Now he was five for five in game five. Hit the shot that got him within two. It's in there for Pascal. So this has got to be a good game for him. And they can't go away from him because I feel like sometimes he does get lost when he's not in the transition opportunities. And that's definitely going to be an area of emphasis for the Thunders to get back, especially if they're playing without Halliburton. Like they're probably not as worried about the half court offense from the Pacers.

[J. Skeets]

Do you have anyone else as a game 6x factor heading into this on either side? Because we could talk about the Thunder 2 if you want, but I know it's a lot of focus on the Pacers. Like who needs to really step up.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I think Obi Toppin is, is key in that his drives have to be decisive. He has to go for it. Just watching every single one of his misses in game five, he's just wasn't letting it go at the right time. Just getting to the rim as much as he could. I mean he's one of five from three. There were some rattlers there and so he could just be, he could just be great. I mean the bodies are there to get in front of him of course. Cause OKC is that good. But he is so, so athletic. If he can just let it go over a guy, we could have had a couple more makes and he can shoot. He's going to get opportunities. He's just Going to so score.

[J. Skeets]

I, I, I like that one. I'll double down on that. I do think if they're going to win this game and give us game seven, the Pacer sort of front court needs to at least play the the OKC front court equal or if not better. And a big part of that is Miles Turner. To go back to him, he's tonight has to be the night where he hits three or four of those threes up top. They have to be. He's got to take them, shoot him with some confidence. Maybe he sees the first one go down and then they are off and running. But he's five of 22 from deep in the finals. He's a good three point shooter. He's been a very good three point shooter for a very long time. And like this is a bad time to go ice cold. But with Halliburton's role in question, they desperately need a good Miles Turner game. I think he is the ultimate X factor for me tonight to maybe get to a game seven. But I also think with Toppin just the front court of the Pacers have to outplay OKC in at least a Game 6.

[Tas Melas]

He is overdue for a good game. Hasn't had 20 or more points in a game since Game 4 against Cleveland in his last two. Just 6 of 15 from the field, 1 of 8 from 3. And his confidence is completely shot. There are wide open looks for Miles Turner that he would take during the regular season, that he took through the entirety of the Eastern Conference playoffs, that he's now pump faking and looking to just move the ball. Whether it be a mid ranger or a three pointer. He's got to have a good game 13 and five for the series. Doesn't feel like he's had much of an impact. Get busy on the offensive glass. You are still tall out there. He's actually broader than Chet Holbrook. So I don't know if he'll actually be able to push him around. But this is time for Miles Turner to have like a very good game playing in Indiana maybe for the last time. Right. Like he's got to be a free agent this summer. So I think he'll come back. But you know, it's time for a good game. I think another guy for me is Mather and 27 points in 22 minutes in Game 3. Since then, 15 points on 3 of 13 shooting. He was very bad at the end of game four. Missing all the free throws, crazy fouls, all this kind of stuff. It kind of bled into Game five. I thought the way he played was not very smart. So they need him to just have a great Matheran game.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. And then to go back to Andrew Nemhard, I think offensively he it'd be a great timing if he had a big game. Andrew, please call me Drew Nemhard. Zach Cram pointed out how he has quietly regressed on offense in these playoffs. This is what you were sort of talking about, Trey. Through game two of the Eastern Conference finals, Nemhard was averaging like 14 and 6. He was making over half of his three pointers. And since then, so we're like, we're talking about a majority of the Eastern Conference finals and then in through the finals here, he has fallen to like nine points per game, three assists and then really struggling to hit the three. Now 31% over that stretch. Now I think in his defense, it literally is his defense. Like he's really committed a lot of his energy and time on that end, trying to slow some of these star players with when it was Brunson and then sga. So like you can give them that as a bit of an excuse. But man would they love a nice like Nemhard game offensively tonight, hitting these shots, hitting some threes to really give us to a game seven no dunks.

[Captain]

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[Tas Melas]

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[J. Skeets]

As.

[Announcer]

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. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com creditcard.

[J. Skeets]

So the final cue here, it's a true or false is this series. I guess I should say it like this. True or false. This series is going to game seven, baby. We're playing the Zaza clip on tomorrow's podcast.

[Tas Melas]

True or false, Trey, I truly hope so. I would like to see a game. I mean, come on. Obviously this is a major Thunder advantage right here. I saw they even have people driving from OKC to Indiana. There's even thunderstorms and tornado warnings in Indianapolis, so it's almost a home game for the Thunder. But the Pacers have been a great, resilient team all year. They hadn't lost two straight games since March. I don't know the last time they lost three straight games before March, I'm guessing.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

So it's been a long time. Backs against the wall, player injured. Everything is pointing towards the Thunder winning their first championship. But I would love to see Zaza Petulia in that grainy footage.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I know. As would I. I think a lot of us would. What do you think, though? True or false? Game seven, baby.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, everybody definitely thinks that OKC is winning here in Game six, so it'll be a surprise the Pacers are taking it. Yeah, we saw the Thunder score enough points because of Jalen's 40 and Shay's 31. And also these miraculous performances from Case. And Wallace banging home three threes after he hadn't hit one the first four games. Lou Dort splashing two threes in the fourth quarter after he hadn't splashed one fourth quarter three. And Andrew Wiggins. Not Andrew. Aaron Wiggins. Chipping. Chipping in with three other three. So they did score 120 points. But I don't know if all those things happen again. You had 71 from two guys and these miracle games from guys. I know, I know Case Malls can hit a three. They're capable, but they're. Yes, they are. But they hadn't been doing it. Now we're going to Indiana.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Trey Kirby]

Things are a little different. I don't know how many people are driving from okc. How many blue shirts will be in there. Shouldn't let those people in there. Check their clothing. Not let them in. It's not. They're not allowed.

[Tas Melas]

That's the way.

[Trey Kirby]

That's the way it works. But I'm sure they'll be wearing. They'll probably come in, in a yellow shirt and take it off when they're in there. That'd be smart.

[Tas Melas]

Camo.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. So, yeah, I just want to see. I just want to see a great performance. I do want to see Halliburton out there playing, and I think the guys will be playing for him, around him, and they're going to have to. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

I had four predictions for these finals when we were doing our preview of this thing. My first one was J Dub would be the early finals MVP favorite, but SGA would win it. So I had that one backwards. You know, J Dub Started slowly in this series, but now over the last three games, has, like, got himself sort of into Finals MVP conversation. I don't think he's winning it. Regardless, it's going to SGA. So that one's like a half one, right? I did say we'll get a TJ McConnell podium game now. I don't think he ever actually got to the podium, so. So there's a technicality there where he went and talked to the press, but, man, I'm gonna take that one as a. As a win. He had two games. I think we could argue he sort of got overlooked in the Math game. But McConnell was on fire that game. And then he had a really good Game five. I did say it didn't. I didn't say it was gonna come in wins. I was gonna say he was gonna have some big moments. Then I said two of OKC's wins would be huge blowouts. Thankfully, I was wrong about this one. No one wants blowouts. We definitely don't want blowouts to talk about on the show because we had OKC winning game two by 16. It's not a blowout, is it? I don't think so. I was thinking 20 plus in my head.

[Tas Melas]

20 plus, I agree, is a blowout. But game two is the only game that's felt like a blowout.

[J. Skeets]

That's right. And then game five, that they just won, they won by 11. But it was definitely close. Yeah. So that was wrong again. Half the league. But my final one was Thunder in six, and that's why this one ends tonight.

[Tas Melas]

And if the Thunder went in seven, you'll say, like, I was basically right.

[J. Skeets]

I didn't expect. No, I won't.

[Tas Melas]

No, I won't.

[J. Skeets]

No. You guys had Thunder in five. It's Thunder in six. You were wrong.

[Tas Melas]

Well, we were technically right on that. They won game one as well. But, you know, technically, a guy hit a shot at the end.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, my goodness. They're winning their championship tonight. I can't believe Halliburton's barely playing on one leg here. They're toast.

[Tas Melas]

Shock the world, baby.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, go ahead. I think it's over tonight. Okc, all those people driving up there are going to be able to celebrate, I guess, on the road.

[Tas Melas]

Now I have to drive home. That sucks.

[J. Skeets]

Well, not that night. You're going to be partying in Indianapolis. See you at a St. Elmo Steakhouse. Snorting the horseradish out there.

[Trey Kirby]

Snorting.

[J. Skeets]

I think Thunder went tonight, but okay, if it goes seven, it goes seven. We got more basketball That's a.

[Trey Kirby]

Wake up, man. Snorting horseradish. We had the pleasure of being there. That horseradish was hot. There's nothing spicier.

[Tas Melas]

Oh, interesting.

[Trey Kirby]

There is. There is. Other than like when Lee Alice ate peppers on our show.

[Tas Melas]

Pick Up Peppers.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Oh, that's. That's a great Netflix stock, actually. The Pepper test. The pepper contest. It's part of the great Netflix doc called.

[J. Skeets]

What?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, the End of the. It's like all these contests.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, is that the one where they had the frog jumping contest?

[Trey Kirby]

The frog jumping. The cheese roll in England?

[J. Skeets]

It's like weird sporting events.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Sporting events.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Paper pepper eating contest. Cheese roll. Super fun. Frog one was. Meh.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I watched that one.

[Trey Kirby]

It was good.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. We asked the people here on the stream team, who's winning game six tonight? Thunder. 61% of the vote right now, 39% saying, Indiana, get us a game seven, baby. They want the Zaza. Talk it into existence. We will see.

[Trey Kirby]

We are the champions. I knew it, but I couldn't say. It is the Netflix cheese roll, slash other stuff.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, okay. All right. So that's a little preview for game six. So we'll wait to see how Halliburton is, if he even plays tonight. But let's get into some. Is this news? All right, first headline. We're sticking with the Indiana Pacers because they made a trade. And I'm sorry, we can't even call up the Southern lawyer for this one. No, no, no, no. That feels disrespectful, but speak to my.

[Tas Melas]

Associate, the Southern paralegal.

[J. Skeets]

Yes, right.

[Tas Melas]

We got ourselves a trade.

[J. Skeets]

There you go. NBA.com we'll go to the headline. Pacers trade Mojave King and the number 23 pick in the 25 NBA draft to the Pelicans. So again, in the trade, Pacers sending the number 23 pick in this year's and the draft rights to Mojave King to the Pelicans for The Pacers own 2026 first round pick, which the Pelicans previously acquired in a deal that sent Brandon Ingram to the Raptors. So there's like a little swap going on here, Tas. Pacers getting back their number 26 pick, but giving up the 23rd pick in this year's draft of the Pels. Is this news?

[Trey Kirby]

I'm saying it's news.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm saying the Pacers have too many players and they don't want to draft one this year. They may draft one next year. Maybe, maybe. But I think this is Just another asset for them to trade essentially to package it with other players. I know we all talk about the Rockets, potentially the Timberwolves, the Spurs as teams that could package their talented players, but the Pacers could also do that. And now they have a pick next year and it'll probably be a worse pick, I would say, than 23 because I think they will finish in the top seven of records next season. So 24 through 30. Yeah, I'm just assuming so. I just think they're saying, you know what, we don't want it. We don't want this pick. We don't want a draft pick here this year, save for next year. See what we do with it, I guess.

[J. Skeets]

Hollander pointing out in shipping out this pick, the Pacers roughly get rid of like $2.7 million of Gallant guaranteed salary. And that would go to that player, of course, so you don't now have to do that. And they are trying to figure out Miles Turner and his contract extension. So maybe they just save some money here and they get their 26 pickback.

[Tas Melas]

That's 100% of the reason they did it is to try and pay Miles Turner. They say they're going to go into the Tax. Pacers usually don't go into the Tax, but Miles Turner has been there forever. They went to the finals. So I think that's why they did this. Basically the pacers have a 10 man rotation already with guys at the end of it in Johnny Furfy and Jerus Walker, two recent first round draft picks who can barely get on the court. Like Fury is the guy. The the human victory or the human game is over. Cigar at the very least for the Pacers. Obviously Walker has been hurt for this entire Finals, but played sparingly throughout their run through the Eastern Conference finals or playoffs. So if you've already got your team, you've already got your rotation, you've already got two pieces that you're trying to develop. It makes sense to save the couple of million dollars and try and pay Miles Turner over the summer. And like you're saying the pelicans are saying 23 this year is better than 25 next season.

[J. Skeets]

Right? Right.

[Tas Melas]

So let's do it.

[J. Skeets]

Let's.

[Trey Kirby]

Let's do it now and give us your king. Mojave.

[J. Skeets]

There is a player involved in this.

[Tas Melas]

The miracle over the Mojave King. A lot of people say who? Me and Taz say no, we call the Mojave King game once upon a time.

[J. Skeets]

Wow.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Well, in the G League there's a G League igniter.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I didn't think he played, but he was on there. Yeah, he was in the packet of information, the dossier that we read.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, did Dink play?

[Tas Melas]

Dink Pate? I think he played, actually. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he played more than the King.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. I do believe this makes all of Indy's picks from 26 to 32 either tradable or now swappable. Right. You know, depending on the year. Even numbered years, they could trade. Odd numbered years they could swap. So it does sort of like complete that set again to go back to what you're saying if they are a player or active in trade talks. Like, you know, you have draft capital now to do that in getting that back, you know, with the whole Stepien rule and all that. So anyway, they got it. I guess it was the last time. I'm thinking when this trade goes down, you're like, whoa, a finals trade with a team playing in the Finals? That's rare. When was the last time that happened? 25 years ago. The Nuggets did it. Yeah, in 23, which I had completely forgotten about. Obviously not a big deal either. Basically, along these same lines, 100% the same lines. Just some work in the books a little bit.

[Tas Melas]

We want cheap players on our team. It's kind of what it comes down to.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And never somebody who is an active player.

[J. Skeets]

No, I. No, I don't.

[Trey Kirby]

I imagine.

[J. Skeets]

I don't think so.

[Tas Melas]

I think it was all draft picks for. Yeah, it was like they traded their first for two future first or something along those lines. When you're a good team, you got to figure out ways to extend your window and get cheap guys who can contribute.

[Trey Kirby]

Especially now.

[J. Skeets]

Yep. All right, moving on. Our next headline. This was a big one in the NBA world. We'll go to espn. The Buss family agrees to sell the Lakers to Mark Walter at a 10 billion valuation. TK Is this news?

[Tas Melas]

This is huge news. This is the kind of news that the hoop collective did an emergency podcast for on a team sale. That's how big a news this is. And honestly, it feels like it could be kind of sad, if I'm being quite honest. The end of the Bus era in Los Angeles. The glamour franchise of the NBA and the Lakers was just a family run business. A family owned business, which is kind of crazy and kind of worrying for the rest of the NBA now, I think. Cause it's like the Lakers are always going to come out on top over the course of time. Like every good player that gets photoshopped into A Lakers jersey. He ends up on the Lakers in the future. Regardless. Now they have a ton of money to spend on everything else outside of basketball. Because we got a hard cap in the NBA. The second apron basically functions as a hard cap. There are reasons a hard cap was put in place for a guy like Mark Walters, for a guy like Steve Ballmer, Joe Lacob who have enough money that they don't care about spending over the salary cap. They'll pay anything in luxury tax. But there's all these penalties for aggregating players, your draft picks getting frozen, this stuff that makes it so Walter can't do what he did for the Dodgers in mlb where you just pay everybody more money than anybody else can. So at least there's a playing field that's level from a salary standpoint for the Lakers. But now they can have, they can hire any GM they want. Like Messiah Jerry maybe. Come on down, Sam Presti, come on down. We'll offer you $100 million a year to be our guy. They could easily do it if they want to. They're going to have the best facilities in the NBA. They're going to have the best player development staffs in the NBA. That's the funny thing about the Lakers is they are such a star studded franchise, but that's mostly on the court, off the court. They were kind of lagging behind other teams and now there's no way that's going to be the case.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes, exactly. It's. And that's why we won't see these family run businesses anymore. You're going to see companies and organizations that are run by organizations that are smarter with their money and willing to spend. And what the mark Walter led ownership of the Dodgers did was a lot of those things that you did say, Trey, look, improve facilities, improve the front office, improve that kind of thing. Coaching talent even, you know, find J.J. redick, some other assistant coaches that can help player development go deeper, go deeper. And I think that's what they're going to do. They're going to spend. Even though, you know, these numbers are just, just these numbers that it's impossible for me. I don't know if I speak for you guys, but it is impossible for me to understand. It's 10 million, 10 billion at this point it could eventually go up to 12 billion.

[J. Skeets]

So the reporting thing and the numbers.

[Trey Kirby]

Keep getting higher with all of these organizations that are going to be run by a non family business.

[J. Skeets]

Sovereign wealth funds.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes, exactly. These, these, these.

[Tas Melas]

So yeah, the Abu Dhabi Lakers.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, exactly. Walter Paid Shohei Ohtani a ton with the Dodgers. You know, it's the same ownership. He paid Johei Otani 700 million over 10 years, although it's like all of it was deferred.

[Tas Melas]

That's, that's the craziest thing. When you're reading this, to see the Otani contract, they owe him $700 million, but they pay him $2 million a year.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they push 680 later, we'll play, we'll pay you later.

[J. Skeets]

They're probably laughing. They're probably like coming out easily in, in the, in the green.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Trey Kirby]

And Ohtani, for sure.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. The winning World Series. He's obviously a star around the globe. Yeah, sorry.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. No, no, Ohtani, part of his reasoning for signing there was the ownership, which is an odd thing to say. I always talked with Our man Joel McMillan on no buns that he would always say, oh, the Dodgers, no, they're never going to come around. They're never going to come around. They're not going to be good. And then all of a sudden they change ownerships and now they're there doing it every single season winning 100 games because of these tiny little changes and a $700 million change, but also these tiny little changes in, you know, practice facilities and all that kind of stuff. And that's where the Lakers seemingly will benefit.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, so, so Walter here and his group, like you guys are saying, primary owner, chairman of the Dodgers, he is currently holding a minority stake in the Lakers. Like he had like 27%. So this is just being bumped up to the majority here. He took stake in 2021 of the Lakers, him and his partner. Again, that 27% share of the franchise. It was valued at that time, the Lakers, at 5 billion. And here we are four years later and we're looking at 10 + billion, which is pretty wild. It's just insane. We just saw the Celtics in, I guess, I don't know if it's official, official, but that's a $6.1 billion sale. You know, that's a lot more than even. Just what happened with the Mavericks and Cuban moving off. I think that was like 3.5. Like this is an eye opening number. You know, you saw all the valuations. I remember at the time, like Lakers are probably six or seven somewhere around there. Ten, Billy, Trey.

[Tas Melas]

I mean, the most valuable franchise in sports, period. Not in America.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Tas Melas]

Globally.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

It's amazing. You can see why Glenn Taylor tried to call take backsies on selling to a rod for $1.5 billion. He's like, whoops.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, damn.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

No, it's a good point. And the Buss family has done pretty well. Jerry Buss purchasing the Lakers from Jack Kent Cook, one of my favorite names to say back in 79 for 67.5 million. That was. The transaction also included the Kings. The Los Angeles Forum, I think a ranch was included as well. And then the Lakers. So that was, you know, quite the return on investment here. The 67.5 million, about 50, whatever, 40, 50 years later, we're at the 10 billion plus now. Ramona Schoherd had an interesting tweet. She said, you know, maybe the reason why this is happening here, like, why the Buss family is selling it. The majority of the lakers is that Dr. Buss structured his trust after, you know, what, before he passed, so the team could only convey to his six children. So it was set up sort of, maybe even oddly, as a last man standing situation, unless the team was sold by majority vote beforehand. Because, like, my point here, like, to. To break that down, it's like the way it was set up is like, probably whoever the youngest of the Bus family kids are like, they'll be the ones that eventually would take it all on. But they thought, you know, maybe that's not fair. Maybe we. We start getting into these numbers that we do sell here to then evenly share this money to Johnny, to Jim, to Genie, to Janny, to Joey, to Jesse.

[Trey Kirby]

Now, are those all the children?

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, there's a.

[J. Skeets]

There's a seventh that Dr. Buss has, but I don't. Rick. Steve.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, they went through a legal battle a few years ago. They went through a legal battle a few years ago where Jeannie was able to retain management, ownership.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

So I don't know. I don't know how all those legal battles work, but she had ownership, she had the ability to run it, and she was doing it extremely well.

[J. Skeets]

Well, and they say, at least here, the reports are that Jeanie Buss is going to continue to serve in her role as Lakers governor. To which I say, bullshit. No, she won't. She will. Maybe right now it looks good, but she will not continue.

[Tas Melas]

Ramona Shelburne reporting that there's language in the contract, and her source is Genie Bus.

[Trey Kirby]

So you're saying, Skeets, you're saying it's more of a Mark Cuban situation?

[J. Skeets]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Generally, people don't buy things for $10 billion and say, hey, the other person, you run it.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, it's For a few years is what they're sort of implying.

[Tas Melas]

Allegedly the Buss family kept like 15%.

[J. Skeets]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Tas Melas]

Which is what you have to have to be considered a governor for the team. Must. Mark Cuban must hate this. Every time a team sells, they're like, what about Mark Cuban, though? He said he was going to be running the team.

[J. Skeets]

They did say that.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, exactly.

[J. Skeets]

That was proven not true. So I think something similar will happen here. Maybe I'm wrong, but the other part, holy crap. You have to assume like Silver and the league knew these sales were cooking here, right? I'm talking about especially the Celtics, the gross pick sale. And then now this one with the Lakers. Like he was kicking the can when it came to expansion down the road. I think in large part because he's like, hold on, hold on, hold on. We got two of the most storied franchise in the world. They're talking about sales and stuff like that. Let's get those sold. That's going to only drive up the market for these eventual expansion teams. Right? Like, it's so obvious now. It's like they could have done expansion, but. And then the television, new television deal too. And I know that comes into play, but man, because now this just is like even crazier now. Like the pockets you're gonna have to have to get these expansion teams, it just sets it higher. Yeah, right.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, there's no doubt. I. I do wonder what happened with the ranch.

[J. Skeets]

Sorry?

[Trey Kirby]

To go to the ranch.

[J. Skeets]

I think the ranch, you're right.

[Tas Melas]

That was reported for sure.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm interested. Does that have anything to do with Phil Jackson being done with the ranch? So Genie Buss is done with the ranch and they can just get rid of the ranch. But I don't know if that's part of this sale.

[J. Skeets]

I don't know.

[Trey Kirby]

That was part of the 79.

[J. Skeets]

Maybe the unnamed seventh bus child has the ranch, right?

[Tas Melas]

Rick's ranch.

[J. Skeets]

Cowboy. See, Cowboy Rick.

[Tas Melas]

I don't care about the team. Let me have the horses.

[Trey Kirby]

Ricky's ranch.

[J. Skeets]

Anything else on this?

[Tas Melas]

Look, I'm not a conspiracy guy, but.

[J. Skeets]

Everybody, that's always what a conspiracy guy starts with.

[Tas Melas]

Something always starts with the Luca trade. If you're trying to say it's not a conspiracy. Having the Mavericks get the number one pick and then the Lakers sell for $10 billion are pretty hilarious things to like let leave with no cover up at all.

[J. Skeets]

Sure, no.

[Tas Melas]

No cover for this team, but pretty crazy the way this has played out.

[J. Skeets]

Unbelievable. So right now, reported 10 billion valuation. But yeah, could be even more. We'll we'll wait to find out.

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[J. Skeets]

Moving on here this headline from the Athletic As NBA Plans for New Pro League in Europe Progress, Euroleague re enters the conversation. Tas, we'll start with you here. Is this news?

[Trey Kirby]

This is news. It sure feels like the NBA is going to expand have some sort of league in Europe. We just watched what a franchise sold for in the Los Angeles Lakers. People are hungry to sell sports. They are alive and silver along with Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum. He they commented and said we're meeting here with Euroleague officials and representative of all 13 permanent Euroleague teams along with the NBA to have that conversation. Where are we going? How do we expand? And it sure feels like this is going to be not with the Euroleague by any means, but there's going to be this sort of secondary league. I would say maybe it sure feels that way.

[J. Skeets]

But in the article it said, quote, the two leagues have had a frosty relationship over the last year. We're talking about the NBA and Euroleague after the Euroleague turned down the NBA's offer to partner with EUROLEAGUE to run a European basketball league. But the relationship seems to be thawed in recent months and I guess Tony Parker playing a part in that.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he's one of the owners of the Euroleague. Euroleague team, permanent team. Asevel. That being said, they're going to meet and just discuss what is going to happen in Europe. How are we going to have another league. They did meet and they had this conversation and Tatum basically said it's going to happen in two to three years that we're going to within that athletic article that there will be a European basketball league. And he, you know, further expanded and said into this vision of a revamped top tier league in Europe that is going to surface fans, the millions of basketball fans in Europe that currently aren't serviced today. And you saw a team, a German team, Alba Berlin, leave the Euroleague to this, to go to this fibas basketball Champions League and that will seemingly be the affiliate of the NBA or whatever it is, but I think it'll be the secondary league. And they're only meeting with the Euroleague to just get to the table and say hey this is what's going to happen in Europe. You guys know what you're doing but we have to expand. There's just so many fans that are unserviced in Europe and it just feels that way. It feels like there will be some sort of league as opposed to the Euroleague.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I think there will be the NBA's European league and probably still the Euroleague as well. And the Euroleague is saying oh they're going to come in here and leave us behind and make all of the money here. So why don't we get on board with this or at least talk it up to see if we can't be included in this somehow. It's kind of like the NBA ABA merger. Like they'll probably, the NBA's version will probably take like the biggest and best Euroleague teams to start up this thing. And my other takeaway was like is Adam Silver's dream to have a club World cup of the NBA of basketball? You know they're doing it right here in Atlanta right now. We Got Inter Miami vs. Rico Puerto Porto tonight at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. But it does seem like that would be something that excites Adam Silver is having NBA run leagues in America, in Europe, in Africa, in Asia. Then we get them all together to play in an NBA sponsored World Cup. Come on. The guy loves international basketball and international tournaments. I think this is the long term goal.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, he loves, he loves the beautiful game too. He Loves soccer, he loves football.

[Tas Melas]

Yep.

[J. Skeets]

We're like five years away from Silver proposing basketball players use their feet.

[Tas Melas]

One shouldn't be like, hey, what if we kick.

[J. Skeets]

What if we throw it on the ground and kick it around, boys? I'm joking. But yeah, that's a great point about the. I like that. Maybe put the potential of the ABA and NBA, if that does start to happen over there, we have the Euro League, then we have an NBA European League. And could they form at one point or at least work together? And that's sort of what this article's about.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I think they will be. I assume they will be separate. That being said, they will play in some sort of championship game. Whoever wins the Euro League, it's probably going to be Olympia coast or Penathan I Coast. It's got to be a Greek team.

[J. Skeets]

But I want to know if European fans want this. Like, well, you know, we're over here and we're like, okay, sounds cool. Yeah, but like, that's not a given that they want this at all.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it seems like there's 13 teams there that are permanently in there and there's just more fans to have that. There's just these focused, you know, whether they're local or country team type of teams. There's more to be.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, the NBA has said like basically on record like eight times now. Like, there's money being left on the table here. You guys could be doing a better job. And like, this is all working with FIBA as well, right? To like. Yeah, to really try and turn into FIFA. I mean, that's also what we're getting at here. Like this big global, obviously just basketball brand.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, the NBA has that relationship with. With fiba. There's no doubt. And when I mentioned that German team going into the Fever's Basketball Champions League, and that just seems like it's like.

[J. Skeets]

Laying the groundwork to eventually be one of the first teams into this NBA European League. Right. Yeah, it feels like.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. The Euroleague turned down the NBA's offer to partner with them last year to run a basketball league, but now they're at the table with Tony Parker running things. And we've got a game here tonight, as you mentioned, Inter Miami's here, Messi's playing. Anybody going? No, no, no. Yeah, there's an NBA game. That's the 3:30, though. Oh, it's at 3:30.

[J. Skeets]

You guys want to go?

[Tas Melas]

I think good seats still available. From what I can tell though, this is a messy game. So. So maybe a little bit.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

There was only 20,000 plus in the first game on Monday or Tuesday. The the other oh club World cup game.

[J. Skeets]

But they are still right now the.

[Trey Kirby]

Lowest of attendance numbers in the history of the Mercedes Benz Stadium compared to the Atlanta United.

[J. Skeets]

I literally just saw a headline. I think it was from the Athletic. It was probably in the Pulse newsletter, which I think we just made an appearance in this morning for yesterday's show. But about this idea is like, is there too much soccer? We have too many games. It really is too many cup games now. But I don't know, you tell I'm not a soccer fan, so I don't.

[Tas Melas]

Really know that they are saying the same thing about us. Do Americans want all this soccer? They don't. But guess what? They're still doing it.

[J. Skeets]

All right, well, let's move on to our next headline. I got a couple more here for you from the Arizona Republic. The headline is, Suns have no leverage, May have to lower Price to Betrayed Kevin Durant. K TK I'll start with you on kd. We've talked a lot about the hypothetical Durant trades, but this is the latest on the sun maybe having to like, oh, we got to take way less to maybe get this done. What do you think?

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I think the fact that everybody who cares about basketball seriously has known Kevin Durant is going to be traded for four straight months is coming back to bite the Suns. They tried to trade him at the deadline, didn't go well. And from that moment, everybody's like, he's going to get traded in the off season. So all the other teams in the NBA are being smart. Somebody's going to get a good deal. Like they're not going to have to give up everything for Kevin Durant. Like he wants to go to the Spurs. So why would they offer the second pick, especially if nobody's going to be able to beat that. It's not like the Mavs are going to offer up the first pick. Maybe you can get number 14, maybe you can get one of our prospects, but we're basically just matching salary and tossing you a bone or something like that. Like Minnesota, there's a deal to be done there if Phoenix wants to do it and if they're okay with Kevin Durant not wanting to be there. It just seems more realistic to me now that a Kawhi like situation would happen where the price gets so low that one team is like, all right, what's the risk here of tossing demarta Rosen and Jakob Poeltl in a trade for only one year? And it results in a championship. I think it makes it more realistic that a team can try that path if they don't have to give up everything that they are able to trade.

[J. Skeets]

We talked about it at the time, at the trade deadline when the Durant rumors happen, and we said, I remember, we said you got to be careful with stuff like this. Once that starts getting leaked, right, that. That you're entertaining deals to move a guy like Kevin Durant, because if it doesn't work, obviously, then you have the ramifications of, like, maybe an upset superstar. And it didn't seem to be all that upset, really, I guess, to play the rest of the season. But, like, now it's like everybody knows you're in the spot. Like TK Just said, like, okay, well, we know you're trading them, so we're not offering you anything where maybe it's like a little more secret or like whatever back channel. It's like, oh, we can get Kevin Durant. Maybe in that scenario, you're more likely to throw a little bit more in. Now, look, he's 37 years old. There's all that part, too. Can he stay healthy? How he's going to age? He wants the extension. Do we want to pay him 50 plus million when he's 38?

[Trey Kirby]

39.

[J. Skeets]

There is that, too. But what's your take on this headline and the no leverage?

[Trey Kirby]

It sure feels like the Phoenix Suns have this reputation of having a poorly run organization, and I think that plays a part in it as well here. It's been extremely open that Kevin Durant wants to be traded, which is unfortunate for them. That being said, it just takes one to make some sort of offer for Kevin Durant to bump up the trade value. And I'm looking at San Antonio, Minnesota and Miami. And so it's if. If Randle is offered for Minnesota, I mean, that. That would be the biggest name there. Probably Devin Vassell in San Antonio and probably Khalil Ware in Miami. So if you don't offer Randle, then it's Vassell or Khalil Ware. If you don't offer Vascell, you're getting Khalil Ware and that's what you get. I mean, obviously it comes down to draft picks as well, but as far as the talent goes, yeah, this is a different time than two years ago when they got them or four years ago when Brooklyn got them. It's very different, and it's a very different organization that's making the deal.

[J. Skeets]

And you said it comes down to draft picks as well. That's another part of this. Right? I mean, the draft's next Wednesday and like, in theory, they would want, I assume, at least one draft pick if they can get it in the 25 NBA draft. So it's like you want to have that pick before you want to make that selection with it. So maybe like, they're sort of under the gun here, too, like to maybe trade them. Before that. You predicted, Trey, that it would happen on draft night. And of course that could still be the case. But yeah, it's not going to be the sexiest deal, it sounds like. Nope. And it just goes lower and lower, having no leverage. So again, we just wait on this. We've talked about this a lot.

[Tas Melas]

Yes, yes, we have. But at least they can trade him. Bradley Beal literally can't be traded. He's buying more property in Phoenix. He loves it there. They don't have a lot of leverage anywhere, huh? The Suns. A lot of money in the pockets, not a lot of leverage in the front office.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. What a trade by Houston last year. Just to geekify it a little bit. Three team deal to be able to swap for Phoenix's pick this year. So they have the number 10 pick because of just this smart move by Raphael Stone. Basically banking on the sun stinking. It worked out.

[J. Skeets]

And you brought up Minnesota again. All reports say he doesn't want to go there. Durant does not want to go play in Minnesota, and I would not want to trade for an unhappy Kevin Durant. I don't care what else.

[Tas Melas]

It's Randall.

[J. Skeets]

And so what? Just hope you can win him over and he bonds with Ant and I.

[Tas Melas]

Think more so hope that you can get close to a championship. Like, I don't. He probably won't stay, but it was worth it for the Raptors, wasn't it? Kawhi didn't want to go to Toronto and he left when he could.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah. It's just this era of the Timberwolves where they've gone to two straight conference finals and they still think they can get better. I suppose, you know, like, I mean.

[J. Skeets]

That'S the similarity to the Raptors. Raptors were a damn good team. And then traded for Kawhi, obviously a superstar that they needed to win the title.

[Tas Melas]

I would do it for Randall because his contract, he could either be a free agent this summer or he can opt into his player option and be a free agent next summer. So it's like not. You're not really missing out on anything. You're getting one year of power. Forward Randall or one year of power forward Kevin Durant. I wouldn't do it for Rudy Go Bear.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Tas Melas]

Because that doesn't make sense to me. He's signed for longer. He's a more like backbone piece of their team, I think. But if the price is Randall, and I mean Divincenzo would hurt to lose, but you got to trade something a little bit valuable. So I would do it for if the price is right.

[J. Skeets]

Final headline. Tk we're going to you on this one. The Chicago Sun Times. Did you ever have a. Yeah, I.

[Tas Melas]

Preferred the Times to the tribute. It's like a. A book read.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, it's that one. Yeah. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Up and down.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Well, Chicago Sun Times had the headline yesterday. Bulls locking down front office and coach Billy Donovan with extensions. Is this news?

[Tas Melas]

The Times had the scoop of my guy. Drew Stevens had the information first. This is not even the slightest bit surprising news. This apparently has been done for months and they just didn't tell anybody because the Bulls front office and their coach, they're doing their jobs. They sell out the arena every night. Biggest arena in the NBA, first in home attendance. Once again, they're year after year after year. Number two, they don't spend 25th in payroll. This season. The Bulls were sure. You're saying, aren't they the third biggest market in the NBA? Yeah, they are. But still they don't cost very much. And most importantly, they feel the competitive team. Competitive meaning not the worst team in the league. Someday the job responsibility will be to win. But that's not what it is right now. Right now it's keep costs low and don't be an embarrassment. Because there was like two years where the Bulls were an embarrassment and they didn't like that. But basically Mark Eversley, Arturo Carnishvist and Billy Donovan are getting a complete second chance at a build here. They had five years and after the Vuchovic trade, I think they're like four games under.500. It's crazy. They traded a bunch of stuff back away and they've traded for it all back. What do they have left for one playoff win in five seasons? 2 and 3 in the play in the opportunity to overpay Josh Giddey and Matas Bou Zealous is here.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Which is exciting.

[J. Skeets]

That's what people are like. It's wild that these guys are be being rewarded for finishing below.500 in four of the five seasons when it seemed to be, you know, clearly stated public goal is to obviously be competitive and compete and all that. Which I Guess they think they are. That's what they think by being in play in games where most people don't consider that really a being competitive and competing. But yeah, they're getting these extensions and they love to do it in secrecy for. For the most part, don't they? God, what's with that too?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they're going into the stability mode of a franchise. You're gonna have the same guys keep doing it even though it ain't working all that well. Even though they are leading the league in attendance, it sure doesn't feel like the people who buy them or the corporations that buy them are there. It feels quiet. I don't know how. They're literally leading the league in. In tickets soldiers. So yes, it feels like, yeah, we're here in purgatory. I mean it feels like, yeah, we sell seats. Yeah, we're a play anti. That's about it. I mean, there doesn't feel like it's.

[Tas Melas]

Better than when they tanked is what the Bulls thinking is. They used to tout having a seven year long playoff streak. That was like an accomplishment for the Bulls. We went to the playoffs every year for seven straight years. And then they had a few down years where they kind of tanked, kind of didn't. They never committed to it the whole way, which is why they never really got a high draft pick. Their best was Patrick Williams at number four in the 2020 draft. 2020 draft has been a disaster for a lot of teams at the top. So bad stuff. But I'll say the Lakers sale gave me a little bit of hope. A family business selling the team for $10 billion. That's what it is in Chicago. Jerry Reinsdorf bought a controlling stake in the Bulls in 1985 for $9.2 million. Even now, the Bulls are a massive brand. They sell out every single game. They're probably one of the three most famous teams in the NBA. We've seen the Celtics sell from their family ownership. We've seen the Lakers sell for their family ownership. Jerry Reinsdorf just sold off a piece of the Chicago White Sox, who he also owns, to Matt Ishby, his brother of all people. So I know Michael Reinsdorf is there like waiting to take over as the next generation of Bulls owner. But if the Celtics sold for 6 billion and the Lakers sold for 10 billion, what are the Bulls worth?

[Trey Kirby]

Right?

[J. Skeets]

Right. So these numbers get so astronomical that you're like it'd be almost malpractice to not consider, yes, getting out or selling.

[Tas Melas]

And that's the only thing that will change for the Bulls is they need a change in ownership because right now it's just don't be an embarrassment and keep selling out the building and keep payroll low. And they do that every single year, which is why they bring these guys back.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Well, there you go. A Bulls fan talking about the front office getting those extensions along with Billy Donovan into. Which is a pretty funny part.

[Tas Melas]

This guy, it's not his fault, I'll say that.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. It's the front office for contin. They. They are trying to emulate a team with good players, just good players. As Karnishova says, we just want. We just need nine good players. We don't necessarily need a super duper star. Those guys.

[J. Skeets]

Well, that's wrong.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, that's wrong.

[J. Skeets]

Then he should be fired immediately.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, he is the guy to blame. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he made the Vuchevic trade, which, you know, two. Two juicy draft picks that turned out to be Franz Wagner, you know. Yes. That's the problem. I mean, that was an old Vuchovich. As we sat there and we talked about it, he was peaking. That was his peak.

[J. Skeets]

It's like, yeah, you need nine good guys to get into the play in. Yeah. In the East. Yes. You might need a franchise guy, a superstar, either by trade, either by their. Through the draft, whatever, to maybe go and win some playoff series.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

And actually go. Go higher. But.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. But Giannis recently watched a live stream that Montes Bouzelis and IO Disumu did together. He said it was lit. So come on down, buddy. Yana still has a few more years before he's past his prime, and that's.

[J. Skeets]

When he's coming to the most. Yeah, you've been calling it for a.

[Tas Melas]

While when he's like 35 and finally starting to show signs of age. I'd love to see that 34 in Chicago once again. Bill Weddington gifting him the jersey.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, wow.

[Tas Melas]

Beautiful.

[J. Skeets]

That'd be fun. All right, that. Is this news. Some great headlines here during one of the off days of the NBA Finals. But game six on tonight, we're of course back here tomorrow morning to talk about it. Are we either crowning an NBA champion in OKC or are we dropping the Zaza clip on you and getting hyped for a Game seven on the weekend? Can't wait to find out. But join us at 10am Eastern here from the Classic Factory. And yeah, hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners. Five star ratings and reviews. Fun show today. Till next time, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

[Tas Melas]

Have a great time.

[J. Skeets]

Turn up. Love you guys.

[Tas Melas]

Awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Thanks for joining us. And remember two best words in sports Game seven. Let's hope we get it. Let's hope we get one.

[J. Skeets]

Brace the day people.

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