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- [00:00]
Tas Melis
Foreign.
- [00:07]
Trey Kirby
And welcome to no Dunks, the original NBA podcast. I'm your host today, Trey Kirby. Joining me here in the yard, it's Tas Melis.
- [00:17]
Tas Melis
Happy to be here today.
- [00:19]
Trey Kirby
The NBA season, it's technically started. Tess.
- [00:23]
Tas Melis
What?
- [00:24]
Trey Kirby
Well, you know, there was a preseason game here and there.
- [00:27]
Tas Melis
That's true.
- [00:28]
Trey Kirby
I mean, I guess not technically here in the United States, but there overseas in various locations.
- [00:35]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Hopefully Josh Hart is okay. That was a strange one.
- [00:38]
Trey Kirby
Hopefully Josh Hart is okay. No Skeets today, but good news. He and Nora have been approved for their green cards. Should be getting them soon. Hoping to return this weekend. The boys may indeed be back, which is good, because season previews start next week. And when those season previews start, you're going to be seeing a new look. Classic factory. We are under renovations right now. People were already pouring one out yesterday. Tas, for the old purple walls.
- [01:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah. They're seeing these photos of some fresh paint going up. And if you're with us on YouTube, you're seeing friends just paint that wall. What is it? Is it white? Is it cream? We'll find out soon.
- [01:22]
Trey Kirby
Is that an eggshell I see?
- [01:25]
Tas Melis
Oh, nice call. Very nice.
- [01:28]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I don't know. That's got to be an awesome job, actually. Person who comes up with paint names.
- [01:34]
Tas Melis
Yeah, no doubt.
- [01:35]
Trey Kirby
You know, you just sit there, you're like, what does that remind me of?
- [01:42]
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's probably one of the best jobs. Yeah.
- [01:45]
Trey Kirby
The paint namer.
- [01:48]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I used to do some. A little bit of dabbling in, like, more of, like, descriptions of movies and that kind of stuff. Got into titles.
- [01:58]
Trey Kirby
Okay.
- [01:59]
Tas Melis
Got into slightly erotic films. And that was also a very fun job. So when you. You, You. You brought that back. You flashed me back to just out of college and a job I was doing way back for Rogers in a. In Canada. The eggshells. I never had to come up with the word eggshells, now that I think about it.
- [02:20]
Trey Kirby
But what's a slightly erotic film?
- [02:24]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I didn't want to get. For some reason, I didn't want to go. I didn't want to go all the way. I was naming pornography, but I don't know why. I don't know why I wanted to make it a soft erotic film. Like, I'm. Like, I'm watching something that is on Latin tv. I actually saw that yesterday. I was at Beto's Tacos, and they're putting up some, I don't know, like, slightly erotic now. They weren't. They weren't. Okay. Beddo's Tacos was not. But I was wondering for a second, like what are we watching here anyway?
- [03:00]
Trey Kirby
No, I think we should keep going on this. I do think something paint the walls means something different in the slightly erotic.
- [03:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [03:10]
Trey Kirby
Gotta be a fun show today. Later we'll be building an NBA nicknames alignment chart. But first we have our very last bits season news, believe it or not, the big one. After three months of very public negotiations, Jonathan Kamingis signed a contract with the Warriors. The details are two years on the contract, 48 and a half million dollars total. He's got a team option on the second year. As Shams put it while reporting the deal, the deal has a team option designed for the contract to be ripped up and negotiated next summer. What was your reaction to Jonathan Kaminga finally signing on the dotted line? Toss.
- [03:51]
Tas Melis
Those things that you just mentioned made me think initially, this is a strange situation here with Jonathan Kaminga. It's hard to see this working because yes, finally a contract. But he literally, according to the tweets from Sham Sharon, it could be traded before the trade deadline. Like we just signed this contract, three months of negotiation. But he may be traded a few months from now or as you said, a year from now. It could be ripped up. Like the Golden State warriors on one side are just worried about basketball. And that's why I think this is going to be difficult to work out for Jonathan Kamiga because the warriors want to see somebody like what Andrew Wiggins became after he came over from the Minnesota Timberwolves where he had that trial as a number one guy. It wasn't working out. And he learned this new thing where he was a ball mover, great defender and was part of this passing team. And that's why I think with Jonathan Kaminga, he hasn't had that trial that Andrew Wiggins had at the beginning of his career. He still wants to be a number one guy. He still wants that to try that. And that's why it's within this contract. It's within the, you know, the idea behind this contract that he gets moved on and becomes the number one guy. But I'm still pause. I'm still optimistic that this warriors team starts well because Curry, Dre, Jimmy have their first training camp. I think they're first training camp together. I think they're ready to go. I think they're ready to get this thing started. I think that's why they started well last year, their first in the Western Conference a month in. And I think that bodes well for the start of this team. But I just don't see how Jonathan Kaminga becomes that Andrew Wiggins esque type of player ever for this team. He's too much of a ball stopper. He wants to see him do more of that and it's just not what the warriors really want to be.
- [05:49]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, you're exactly right. And maybe the Timberwolves part of it is part of the reason Wiggins was okay falling into like a third banana role with the Warriors. But that's definitely what Golden State wants out of Kaminga, is to rebound, to score opportunistically, to play defense, to play within the flow of the offense. That hasn't been the case yet in his NBA career. Which is why as basically at the same time that this deal was being reported, shamsa saying come January 15, when Kaminga is eligible to be traded, both sides kind of foresee Kaminga being elsewhere. And you know, I think it makes the contract into sort of like a human trade exception. Like they do have 22 and a half million dollars to trade come deadline time, but in the meantime it's good for everybody. If Jonathan Kaminga plays well, it's better for his trade value. It's better for the warriors to get something out of a sizable salary slot and it makes other teams more interested in Jonathan Kaminga. I also think this is a good situation for Kaminga. The warriors have put a ton of shooting around Curry, Draymond and Jimmy, bringing in Al Horford. We'll talk about Seth Curry here in a little bit. Quentin Post is a three point shooter. Melton, assuming he's able to stay healthy, he shoots threes as well. There is some shooting here. What they need is a guy like Kaminga who can put some pressure on the rim, be an athlete, get out in transition. He's definitely the most athletic player on the Warriors. He could learn a lot from Jimmy Butler, the way Butler plays and he could be a big time scorer for this team off the bench. We know Kaminga doesn't want to come off the bench though, so I don't know. I think this worked out the best way it possibly could. The queue, the qualifying offer would have been bad for Kaminga because he'd be losing out on money. It would be harder for the warriors to trade him. So shortest deal possible that Kaminga could sign for the most money, which gives him a chance to get into free agency next year. Maybe a team looks at Kaminga and says, yeah, we'll trade for that guy. We will rip up the contract and do a bigger, longer deal for him next summer or a team who is a little bit more unsure could look at Kaminga, say, yeah, we'll take it. We do have the team option. We can see how he fits with our team and then go from there. So I think this worked out the way it should. Which makes you wonder, why did this drag out for three months? This seems like the most logical possible outcome. And instead it feels like a lot of tension with was built on both sides. You know, from the warriors perspective, from their coaches down through the players, they're all saying once Kaminga gets here, he's going to be bought in. We're not worried about the outside noise. That's just how negotiations go. But we have seen in the past that's not necessarily the way things play out. So that'll be something interesting to watch. Do you foresee Kaminga buying in because his agent was saying if it's not a po, he ain't bought in and it wasn't a po.
- [08:54]
Tas Melis
Yeah, the warriors made sure it was a to I, I think what the free, what the agent essentially got wasn't a po, but he did get a few more million this coming season for Jonathan Kaminga. That being said, I, I, I do see him coming off the bench. I, I do think they want to start this season like they want to finish this season. They want to be moving the ball. They want to be the number one passing team like they were as soon as they acquire Jimmy Butler. They were the beautiful game out there. They're leading the league in passes.
- [09:29]
Trey Kirby
Per.
- [09:29]
Tas Melis
Team, so that's what they want. So I don't think Jonathan Kamiga inserted into the starting lineup makes any sense right now. Now, if we flash back to last year when he became the starter for that little trial run in December, which you said, and I think we all saw as a possibility was really was a trial period for every other team. This guy could be awesome. Do you want him? I could see that happening in those months leading up to his potential trade deadline, whether it's December, January, February, I could see that happening. Because number one, yes, great trial time. Also, they do want guys to eat a lot of minutes on this team. They're old and they want to get into the postseason as fresh as possible. So I think we will see that guy that Kaminga wants to be like the opportunity for him to start because it is so odd here as we, we look at this warriors team. A few years ago, we saw this, this possibility of two different roads here. We're going young, we're going old now Jonathan Kamingan can. If he. If he looks at this in a different way, he could see this team getting old and basically retiring in a couple of years. Everybody. Everybody essentially having to, you know, move on or retire. In two years, there's two more years of Dre, Steph and Jimmy. And so literally, this could be Kaminga's team if things all go well. But it's kind of hard to see that from both. From both perspectives. I just don't know if Kaminga, plus his agent, really wants this to happen. We've seen it before, Trey, you know it, but him and Kur just don't see eye to eye. And. And Kamika's got this. This recent audition of playing in the playoffs against the Timberwolves, where he was awesome. He. I mean, he wasn't awesome in every aspect that the warriors want, but he came off the bench and he scored a lot of points. Yeah, he was productive when they needed it. So I'm sure he's saying, you know, going into his audition tapes, that he was doing with his backwards hat this offseason for other teams, this is the guy I can be. And I'm sure he wants to see that somewhere. There's just no way, I think, that he comes off the bench or is this supporting guy without giving it a shot in some way, shape or form, even if it's a failure somewhere else. I mean, like the great pit bull says, there are no failures, there's just learning. It's a great pit bull quote. Yeah, Pitbull says there's no. There's. There are no failures, there's just learning. I was at the gym today and I heard somebody quoting Pitbull, and I do believe. I didn't go double check that that was Pitbull's quote, but I do believe that's. That's got to be the way Kaminga thinks about things.
- [12:33]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, he's got to get in the pit bull mindset. Next thing you know, he'll be performing at a Walmart in Alaska or something like that. That's crazy. I hope he comes and finally gives an interview. He's like, yeah, you know, I've been listening to a lot of people, and I love the motivation from that guy, but I will be shocked if Kaminga is on the warriors after the trade deadline. Yeah, I mean, wishful thinking. I think for him to wait six years in his career to take over for Steph, Jimmy and Draymond, once they did the trade, once Wiggins for Jimmy, it just became tough for Steve Kerr to Find minutes for coming into play alongside Butler. They'll need him when Jimmy eventually misses time, like they will need him to sop up minutes like you're saying. But it does feel like he is back on the warriors to be traded. They did some good stuff for him on their side by giving him more money here and giving him a chance to get the free agency more as quickly as he possibly could. So I guess the question for Jonathan Kaminga and for the warriors going forward is who's going to trade for him. I've seen Milwaukee as a team that's been batted around. It's kind of hard for them to figure out the contracts of it all. You know, the Kings are certainly still going to be an option there because they were after him hardcore over the summer. I assume the Suns will still try though, tough with contracts as well. There's going to be a team out there, so we'll see how the first couple of months of the season play out and if the warriors able to get any bites on the Kaminga lure.
- [14:08]
Tas Melis
I haven't looked into the salaries, but Kuzma for Kaminga, does that work? I mean, I think it works in theory for the Warriors, Kyle Kuzma, part of a championship team, to be a guy who will take anybody's solid offensive player on the other end. Like he will do that. And he's not. I'm going to say he's not going to shoot every time, although he wants to shoot every time. I don't know if that continues in Golden State. I don't know if the warriors want to take on a contract like that. They could just want a trade exception, as you said, that type of thing, rather than take on a guy like Kyle Kuzma. But in a win now scenario, they may say two years of Kyle Kuzma being a bit of a passer and take some defenders. That could be the answer. I'm just throwing it out there. I haven't, I haven't seen the contracts, but they seem pretty similar.
- [15:03]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I think they could, they could make that happen. I think Kuzma's like, he's like maybe 18 million or something like that. So it's close enough that you could find guys at the end of the bench to match salaries if you are Milwaukee. But I think what Golden State needs to do with Kaminga is find out a way to do a one for two kind of trade. They just need more depth. You've seen the tweets going around since Al Horford signed that no team has ever started 4 guys as old as Steph, Jimmy Draymond and Horford together, I think they're the first team that's planning to start four guys who are 35 plus or something like that. We don't even know who the fifth starter is going to be at this point. They just need some more guys who are taller than 6, 7.
- [15:46]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [15:47]
Trey Kirby
As right now, you look at their roster, they've got 21 guys signed to the team and I think like eight of them are taller than six foot seven. And a couple of those guys are probably not even going to be on the team. So we will see what they do. But this is not the last we've heard of Jonathan Kaminga being on the trade block.
- [16:07]
Tas Melis
Just to throw it in, Kyle Kuzma only makes 22 million and then 20 million the following season. So two years. He fits the timeline of the Golden State warriors being this older team. Although Kuzma. Kuzma would be young in comparison to those 35 year old guys that you just said.
- [16:27]
Trey Kirby
And that's like, that's an impossible what you got, man. Who would you rather have, Jonathan Kaminga or Kyle Kuzma? Let us know on the street team. That's, that's a tough call. And I mean like I've probably, of the three of us, I've maybe been the biggest Kuzma backer.
- [16:41]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [16:42]
Trey Kirby
Got off the Kuz train last year. It did not go well in Milwaukee when they thought he was going to be the guy who had a championship experience to be able to help them. But he does seem like at least the archetype of the player that could help.
- [16:59]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [16:59]
Trey Kirby
The Warriors. I don't know if he's the exact guy, but the right type of guy.
- [17:03]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And that's why, speaking of archetypes and the type of guy, I think that's why Kaminga is mentioned with the Milwaukee Bucks, because they just need some sort of guy who creates. But like other guys that they've taken chances on, like Kevin Porter Jr. Who's there and may play a lot of point guard, it would be taking a big chance here that they just keep taking chances here towards the, you know, the second half of United States career to just get somebody to help out. So it fits the narrative. But is it, is it a fit on the court? Is it a fit in the locker room? Huge, huge question. I'm not sure that John Horse really wants to take that chance in Milwaukee.
- [17:50]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, we shall see. And yeah, I mean, like, I've thought about, I'm seeing here Coyote Jester, and the Stream team suggesting Kaminga for Portis and Gary Trent Jr. Yeah, sounds awesome if you are the Warriors. I don't know that the Bucks would be all that interested trading two guys from a shallow team including fan favorite Slash Giannis buddy Bobby Portis. But look man, Portis would be awesome to play alongside the other front court guys they have in Golden State. In other Golden State news, there's a new Curry in town. A legitimate splash brother. Seth Curry has signed a one year deal with the Warriors. He may not be joining the team immediately. Basically he gets a camp invite, an Exhibit 9 contract which will get him acclimated to the Warrior system. They will likely cut him before the start of the season, then sign him in mid November because doing the deal with Al Horford hard cap them and they can only spend so much money. So to prorate the veteran minimum deal for Seth Curry, he'll just have to hang out for camp, get cut, chill in the bay for a month and then get a real contract for the rest of the year. I think the way Shams put it was that they expect Seth Curry to be on the team for the majority of the season. What you think about this?
- [19:06]
Tas Melis
Love learning about Exhibit 9 deals.
- [19:10]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, one of my top 10 exhibits in the CBA.
- [19:14]
Tas Melis
Yeah, hearing about Exhibit 10 contracts and Exhibit 9 contracts this offseason. Fun stuff. It does seem like Seth will be around for camp and then you got to leave for a month and then you'll come back to hang out with Bro. We just talked about the Milwaukee Bucks. I couldn't help but think about Thanasi Satetokounmpo joining Giants, winning a freaking title. And maybe this happens with Seth and Steph this the coming season. I had to double check. But Seth also has a podcast like Thanasi Sedenta Kumpo does. I was underwear. It's called the Goat. As in G O T E. The greatest of their era. He does podcasts with Trayvon Edwards. He just did it. It's not one of those. Oh yeah, let's start a podcast. Yeah, let's start this rss and then it just dies. He's still doing it. He did it in August anyways. Was the last one. So Seth's doing it. Sadelle Curry, she has a podcast too with Cameron Brink. All the Curry Scott podcasts.
- [20:14]
Trey Kirby
Wow.
- [20:14]
Tas Melis
Except Steph. Steph doesn't have a podcast. So here we are. I think he'll. He'll be around. He'll be off the. He'll be off the bench obviously for those times where they need bodies. I was surprised that he led the league in three point percentage last almost.
- [20:32]
Trey Kirby
46% and took what, like three a game. So I mean, not a huge number, but still knocking them down, played 60 plus games. I'm totally with you on this one. This is basically a Vibes move because the warriors don't really need another guard. That's the majority of their roster at this point. But it kind of seems like from the reporting over at the Athletic and ESPN that the warriors were just like Seth or Sorry. Steph has wanted to play with Seth his entire career. Seth has said no. He wanted to chart his own path. He's done that. He's now at the end of his career. So let's make it happen because it will be cool to have two Curries on the same team.
- [21:16]
Tas Melis
Yes, like you said, they have a ton of guards, but at the same time, D. Anthony Melton is going through it slowly right now. He's not playing in training camp. He'll be reevaluated in a month. So Seth can get lots of reps in training camp, which, you know, it bodes well. I think he'll get reps later on. But yes, they have healed or pods to start besides Steph Curry and then Moses Moody and Gary Payton ii. But yes, it's more of a Vibes vibe and eaten some minutes throughout probably February, March when the other guys need some rest, you know, specifically Jimmy, as you said. I am looking forward to the Jimmy experience. Overall, I think it's got to be better than what started last year in Miami. So he'll have a better start but he's gonna miss 20 games.
- [22:12]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, he misses time for sure. Steph generally misses time as well. So maybe having Seth around will be good in an emergency scenario. I think Jimmy was like the host of the team's pre training camp. Right? Like he was the guy who organized getting everybody together. So at the very least he's doing his best to build some chemistry heading into the season. But I'm a little worried now if Seth Curry has a podcast and he's coming into a locker room where Draymond Green is the preeminent podcaster. Hopefully they don't butt heads. Hopefully they find a way to collaborate with on YouTube now that they've launched that feature.
- [22:48]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Can you tag me on that Instagram? Let's collaborate. Yeah.
- [22:55]
Trey Kirby
The Draymond Green Show. X got wait to see it. A couple of funny things from Seth signing with the Warriors. He did say he tried to buy number 30 off Steph. Steph Said I don't need the money. And then I think he also said our families excited because now they only have to watch one team. I was like, wait a, wait a second. Dell Curry is on the broadcast for the Hornets. They're like, we're not gonna listen to that old man talking about lamello ball. Come on.
- [23:25]
Tas Melis
Not a chance.
- [23:27]
Trey Kirby
A chance. Funny, funny, funny stuff. So it will be cool though to see them rolling out their two Curry jerseys. One number 31. Number 31. Very similar to two LeBron James's on the same team. This one seems to be getting received quite well as compared to the LeBron experiment.
- [23:45]
Tas Melis
Why did he want 30?
- [23:47]
Trey Kirby
He's always worn 30. Oh, yeah, that's the, that's the Curry number.
- [23:51]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, I did. When you, when, when you said he wanted the 30th, I saw him as a three, but I'm just. Maybe I'm. Yeah, I mean, he's half of numbers.
- [24:02]
Trey Kirby
He has worn 31 in his career as well as apparently one, I guess his rookie season with Memphis. I don't remember that, but he's been 30 for the majority of his career. There was one other free restricted free agent available this summer as Quentin Grimes. Turns out he's going the Cam Thomas route. He ended up signing a one year, 8.7 million dollar qualifying offer with the Sixers. Signing that qualifying offer brings with it veto power over any trade. So Quentin Grimes back to the Sixers, $8.7 million for this year. What you think, Tess?
- [24:39]
Tas Melis
I think this is a Quentin Grimes contract year coming. He bet on himself because the offer, apparently a few weeks ago his agent said that they offered us four years, 39 million, so about 10 per year. That ain't enough for Quentin Grimes. Now, I don't want to get all numerical and worry about the numbers of the Philadelphia 76ers front office, but I can understand why Daryl Morey didn't offer him more because of the contracts he signed before Quentin Grimes. They're paying Embiid and Paul George and Tyrese Maxey so much money. They're already in the luxury tax tray. They're paying them for three more years. In three years, they're going to be paying $160 million to those three guys I just mentioned, MP Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Max. That's a ton of money. And I'm sure the ownership is saying the Harris is saying. I don't know if we can go further into the luxury tax for a team that may not make the playoffs. It's not a guarantee at this point. They're the sixth highest team salary. So I understand why you didn't give this to Quentin Grimes. Like a little closer to what he's worth, but he's way worth way more. He's just. He's already proven as a 25 year old, he's a proven shooter. He can put the ball on the floor a little bit. He'll guard whoever. He's a little bit smaller than, you know, a wing defender. He's six, five. So he can't guard absolutely everybody on the wing, but he'll put forth that effort. So he's betting himself for next season, essentially. I think it's a good, a good wager for Quentin Grimes and next year when other teams are one more year into the CBA and understand how to offer guys money, I think there will be more dollars on the table for him that's more appropriate for his value.
- [26:28]
Trey Kirby
I wonder if he'll be able to get more than four years, 40 million. He'll be on his fifth team at that point. I mean, this is team number four for Quentin Grimes. They, his representation apparently asked for $30 million a year, which is a ridiculous number for Quentin Grimes. But then the Philadelphia 76ers came back and said, we will give you $8.8 million if you don't have a no trade clause, which is also ridiculous. So I think this was poor negotiating on both sides because it means Grimes is going to leave the Sixers next season. They can only offer him a contract that starts at this $8.7 million deal and then gets the requisite raises alongside it. He should be able to make more than what the Sixers are offering him. Plus, you just think about the way it all went down. Him thinking that if I ball out for a month and a half, they should want to pay me. Especially because the Sixers came out and said the reason they weren't going to be able to sign Gershon Yabuzeli this summer is because they had to pay Quentin Grimes. Then they lost Yabuzeli and ended up not paying Quentin Grimes. You hit it on the head. The Embiid contract, the Paul George contract, I'm not worried about the maxi one. He's in his prime. He'll be good in three years. That's fine. The other two are the problem. So this is 100%. The Sixers trying to save money, stay under the tax. They'll try and do a deal at the trade deadline to get underneath the tax, which tells you what they're all about this season. Embiid and George aren't ready to go to start the year. So people have tried to talk up the Sixers as maybe this is the year, maybe everybody gets healthy. It ain't going to happen. I do think though, good for the Sixers in the short term at least they do have Grimes on the roster. Like you're saying he's not a huge guy, 6 foot 5. But there's not many wings on this roster. And of the guards who are around, Maxey, McCain, Vijay Edgecombe, he's the most wingiest, I would say of those four. McCain is out right now. Paul George is out. There is an opportunity for Quentin Grimes, but they've only got an $8.7 million trade guy to offer right now. Plus Grimes get the veto any trade that they might come with or they might come up with unless it's to a team of his liking. So I just feel like Philadelphia and Grimes both mismanaged this all around. He should have gotten a deal for like one year, 15 to $17 million with a kind of commingo like understanding that, yeah, you're probably going to get moved, but at least we're giving you a balloon payment here so you can make a little bit closer to what you think you're worth. So, I don't know. Weird. I think if I was a Sixers fan, I would be upset because Grimes was one of the few bright spots from last season. He. He is still young enough to be a piece. But clearly they're more invested in Maxi McCain and their draft pick, Edgecombe.
- [29:19]
Tas Melis
Yeah, and other guys in their training camp. They're also invested in just seeing who works. They have so many guys in their camp going out there. They've got Marvin Bagley's bro, Marcus Bagley. They've got our friend Dominic Barlow that we see play on the G League team here. They signed some good contracts to try and see if Watford can make it happen. That that's seemingly he, like you mentioned, a lack of wings. That guy could play a ton for this team because Uber is going to be out there. But beyond that, with an injured Jared McCain, I mean, these, these minutes are up for grabs and it's hard to see a Philadelphia 76ers team that is going to be able to go to the playoffs. I know that obviously if you've got him beat out there, they're going to be a really good team, but it's just hard to see that. And I wonder at some point, some way, shape or form, Daryl Morey can either say we're tearing this thing down and try and get either another team to take one of these huge contracts. Whether it's Paul George. I know it's impossible to, you know, even think that it's more like a stretch and wave scenario. Maybe that's deep. I mean it's, it's not going to happen now because it's, it's too early. They're going to give this year a try but as I said and be two more years after this one Paul George one plus a player option which is essentially two years. So it's not, not a great sign. Well, hopefully we see a revitalized Paul George but like you said, he's not ready to go yet. So I don't, I don't know how that turns around.
- [31:03]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, they're either starting trending Watford or Kelly Oubre right now alongside, I'm guessing Maxi, maybe Edgecombe starts as a rookie and then Grimes I think will be in there as well and I guess a Dembona is probably their starting center until Embiid is ready though. I was looking at some Patrick o' Gorman Instagram content.
- [31:23]
Tas Melis
Excuse me.
- [31:25]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, yeah, Pat Og, he's just this little guy who has a crazy looking shot but he bombs three pointers. He's just an Instagram content creator. For whatever reason, I got sucked into a rabbit hole of watching his men's league highlights for probably an hour. And for some reason Dominic Barlow showed up playing in a men's league. Oh, like just a random old men's league. He had a pretty good game though. He looked good out there. He looked good. The versatility, the mid range jumpers, we're looking nice. Look, if I'm a Sixers fan, I'm excited. The BJ Edge come looks exciting. Yeah, dude went for a crazy poster dunk. Missed it. But awesome athlete and we'll at least put some highlights on the board.
- [32:09]
Tas Melis
Yeah. As much as I want to tear up the con, the roster that Daryl Morey has put together, there are some incredible athletes. Edgecombe, awesome Jared McCain when he's freaking healthy and not lifting those 8 pound weights, showing off the 20 year old Philadelphia 76ers throwback jersey. Awesome athlete. The Watford contract is a really good contract.
- [32:31]
Trey Kirby
I like Watford. I think he's a decent player.
- [32:33]
Tas Melis
Yeah, they got them. They have, they have a bunch of decent guys, but those guys have, those guys have to eat up. Maybe we can be optimistic and say it's the Eastern Conference for these guys to go out there and get some wins. And they'll probably get some.
- [32:47]
Trey Kirby
So they'll probably get some. The problem is that they just have two albatross contracts at the top of their salary sheet. And, and unfortunately for them, they kind of turned into albatrosses as soon as they were signed as anticipated. Last piece of news, Nikola jovic signed a four year, $62.4 million extension with the Miami Heat. Had a nice run with Serbia in euro basket. 22 years old, coming off career highs and scoring an assist last season. What'd you think about this test?
- [33:20]
Tas Melis
Part of me says, wow, I love the idea of the Miami Heat always investing. They're never just sitting on their hands and waiting. They say, we're paying this guy five years guaranteed now because it's a four year extension on this coming year, which he's under contract for. No options, no nothing. Five years for you, sir. As a 22 year old showed well in the Euro basket. As you said, he's a guy who said, I want to be a starter, I'm ready to go. Now. There's injury worries about him for his couple years in the NBA. He's been banged up, but I think he's got the right attitude, that's for sure. This quote, you know, added on to the fact that he said, I want to be a starter. He said, quote, I'm not really worried about a contract because I know how much of a better player I am and how much I have to work more. So that number that you said, it's about 15 and a half for the four seasons after this one. It's not a lot in today's NBA for a guy who's contributing. And I'm optimistic that he will be a contributor on this team.
- [34:27]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I would say that's exactly right. He, at the very least is going to be a solid role player for Miami with a chance to outplay this deal and make it look like a bargain for Miami. Should Jovic start? I think that's a pretty solid question. Tyler Herro, we know, is out to start the year for Miami. So they'll have Davion Mitchell and Norm Powell in the backcourt. I assume Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo are locked in at two for the front court positions. So the question then becomes to me, is it Jovic starting at the four with Bam at the five or do they start Khalil Ware at the five? Bam is the four. What do you think's the right move?
- [35:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's a, it's a great question. I think Jovic is actually so adaptable. I think he has an opportunity to start over. Khalil Ware, he's that good. Even though they've invested in Khalil where too Jovic will guard anyone. He's a monster at 6:10, super young.
- [35:26]
Trey Kirby
He is big.
- [35:27]
Tas Melis
So, yeah, he's huge. And I. I think the. The summer was. Was great for him. He'll be a. He'll have that going into this coming season, that. That confidence that he had with Serbia.
- [35:39]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I think I would start Jovic as well. Shot 37% on four and a half threes per game last season. He's a decent passer as well, and I think that this Miami team is going to need his playmaking. His, like, you know, he's probably not a secondary ball handler, but he plays well in transition. Can be your tertiary ball handler, if you will. A guy who just makes connective passes and makes open threes and has good enough size to be able to guard some of the bigger wings and smaller fours and fives out there. So I think I would lean on that side. Maybe the Heat decided to go full defense mode, going with the huge front court of Bam and where we'll see. But at the very least, I'm sure Jovic will get a chance in the starting lineup at some point because neither of those guys feels totally locked in.
- [36:27]
Tas Melis
Right. I will say, though, he's tough. Look at this photo I'm throwing up here. This one.
- [36:31]
Trey Kirby
Hey, man, those are some nice muscle bumps.
- [36:34]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah, we got it from two angles here. If you're watching on YouTube, that's. That's one of my memories of Nikola. Yes. One of the first things I think of.
- [36:43]
Trey Kirby
That's pretty crazy. That first photo you showed looks like one of those slightly erotic films you were talking about.
- [36:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Are you speaking from the camera angle? Because we're seeing from directly at the feet.
- [36:57]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. The ball placement.
- [37:02]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I. I always. I always thought of this angle from the side, but, yeah, I saw this photo today and I said, whoa, gotta get that.
- [37:10]
Trey Kirby
I gotta get that. What would you call this one? Tas?
- [37:13]
Tas Melis
I'm.
- [37:13]
Trey Kirby
You're the guy with the titles.
- [37:17]
Tas Melis
Well, you mentioned the bumps on his arms. I will say bump the bump show. No, just. I need. I need. There's a third bump that we're blocking here. Ball blocking, you know, his shorts.
- [37:38]
Trey Kirby
I like it.
- [37:38]
Tas Melis
I like the third bump.
- [37:41]
Trey Kirby
The third bump. Starting Nicola Jovic. Very, very cool. All right, so that's. That's the news, man. I guess maybe. Maybe Ben Simmons will sign with the team. Maybe Russell Westbrook will sign with the team eventually. Maybe we'll get like one of these last second trades, you know, like Towns for Randall. Doesn't seem like there's anything out there like that, but that'd be exciting.
- [38:03]
Tas Melis
No? Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's. Yeah, there's still bodies to be signed, but yeah, the trade, I guess, I guess it was. Yeah, it was wild that we got a trade right before training camp last year. But yeah, not happening this year.
- [38:18]
Trey Kirby
All right, moving on, having a little fun. Bartosh messaged us on Instagram with an idea. With alignment charts being all the rage on Reddit. I would love to see you guys do this one. Sent in an NBA nickname alignment chart. Basically we're going to be matching up players careers, hall of Fame, All Star starter and role player careers. Matching them with nicknames. Hall of Fame, All Star starter and role player nicknames. So, you know, like the way I take this is a Hall of Fame nickname is one of the all time great nicknames. So we are going to need some help from the Stream team to fill in our alignment chart. I'm going to share my screen here. I recreated this in a Google document so that we can actually type in it. We'll start the easiest place, the hall of Fame. Hall of Fame. We need a Hall of Fame player with a Hall of Fame nickname. I don't know if there's somebody you had in mind, Tas, because this to me is kind of like the free square, if you will. There's a lot of great hall of Fame players who have really cool nicknames.
- [39:35]
Tas Melis
Excuse me, I muted my mic. You're back. This, my first initial thought was in alignment with Richard in the Stream team here. The Black Mamba was the one that jumped out to me.
- [39:48]
Trey Kirby
Interesting.
- [39:49]
Tas Melis
Just because I think we're talking about nicknames that have to, they have to last forever. And you know, we're obviously well past Kobe's Kruger five years past the day that he passed away. And the black mama still, still resonates with me. Although, you know, the Magics.
- [40:09]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I see nickname suggesting here. Magic. Yeah, I kind of with you. Like my first inclination was Magic Johnson as well.
- [40:17]
Tas Melis
Really.
- [40:18]
Trey Kirby
But it did become his name. You know, like, I mean his name is Irvin Johnson, but he was known as Magic. I see the dream for Hakeem Olajuwon suggested as well. I do love Charles Barkley round mound of rebound as Michael suggested here in the Stream team. But if you want to go Black Mamba, it was suggested that's fine with me. Even if Kobe Bryant did give himself that nickname. One of the few times that's ever actually worked.
- [40:44]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah, that was. Honestly, I came into this ready to say that it was one of the. The free spots I saw then and get a backup from a Stream tuber here and Richard, so Black Mamba for me.
- [41:00]
Trey Kirby
All right, Richard. All right, Taz, you got it. Which way you want to go, left to right or top to bottom?
- [41:07]
Tas Melis
Oh, you're. You. You're the one who has to type. You tell me.
- [41:10]
Trey Kirby
All right, I will. I'll keep it tradition. We're gonna go left to right. Like Reading. All right. We needed an all star player, so not quite hall of Fame caliber, but with a Hall of Fame caliber nickname.
- [41:22]
Tas Melis
Oof.
- [41:23]
Trey Kirby
This is. This one's a little tougher. Some ones that I considered.
- [41:27]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [41:27]
Trey Kirby
The Microwave, Vinnie Johnson, the Matrix, Sean Marion, Big Dog Glenn Robinson. But I would be curious to hear what you have. And of course, we need to see what the Stream team says. The.
- [41:41]
Tas Melis
Very well started. I. I mean, I was. I was actually with the Matrix for Sean Marion.
- [41:48]
Trey Kirby
You know, there's a chance he gets.
- [41:49]
Tas Melis
In the hall of Fame career hall of Fame as well, but.
- [41:52]
Trey Kirby
But not yet.
- [41:53]
Tas Melis
What about a playoff P now? Not a great.
- [41:56]
Trey Kirby
Oh, interesting.
- [41:57]
Tas Melis
Not. Not a nickname that's gonna stand. I don't think with Paul George. It's also not really a positive nickname with him because I think it's sort of. It's sort of attached to just Paul not performing the playoffs at times. But it was freaking good getting to two conference finals with the Pacers. Anyways, there's that one.
- [42:22]
Trey Kirby
Look we got. We gotta save playoff P for sure. Because I don't. I don't think you can call it a Hall of Fame nickname, but it would be funny to have it on this chart.
- [42:30]
Tas Melis
So hilarious.
- [42:32]
Trey Kirby
If there's no objections. I kind of think the Matrix is great. I love that nickname. It fit Sean Marion perfect.
- [42:39]
Tas Melis
It's one of those that's gonna last forever when you got a the and then a second word. I loved writing with my little descriptions with a the and a second word. But I will say, like, those are the names that stick around forever, right?
- [42:54]
Trey Kirby
To me, yeah, that was definitely like a late 90s, early 2000 nickname convention. The something, you know, we had like the glove. The truth. Definitely better than the just initials generation that we've been in. Yeah. The Admiral, another great one.
- [43:11]
Tas Melis
The Iceman. Like those.
- [43:13]
Trey Kirby
All right.
- [43:13]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [43:14]
Trey Kirby
Hall of Fame nickname, starter, caliber player. I've seen a couple of people suggesting for the hall of Fame, slash all star category. AK47, Andre Kirilenko. He did make an all star team for sure. But I think it's fair to put him in the starter category here because that is a very cool nickname.
- [43:33]
Tas Melis
AK47, man, that is. That is a really, really good one. I see. I see. I'm. I'm getting into the. The starters with my list. Excuse me, excuse me. Role players. My starters. I don't know. I like Bones of Brent Berry.
- [43:53]
Trey Kirby
I had that on the list.
- [43:55]
Tas Melis
Yeah. But this, this was a good. I liked Sweet Water, Sweetwater Clifton. That's a. That's an oldie. A real oldie. Speedy Claxton.
- [44:07]
Trey Kirby
That's very cool. Yeah, he's. That's similar to Magic where it's like. What's his name? Craig. His name. Craig Claxton.
- [44:14]
Tas Melis
That's right. Good call.
- [44:16]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. Speedy. Definitely more memorable. The people are saying I put the microwave here. Interesting. The guy came off the bench. Is he a starter? I think he's got a starter caliber career. What do you want to go with here?
- [44:29]
Tas Melis
The Bald Mamba. No, just kidding. For Alex Caruso.
- [44:34]
Trey Kirby
That's not bad. That's good too. These are good ones to remember.
- [44:37]
Tas Melis
It's good. There are good ones to remember. I got. I got some lists. I don't know. I got bones. What was the first one we said AK47. Oh, yeah, that. I think you go with AK47, to be honest.
- [44:53]
Trey Kirby
All right, sounds good. Andre Kurylenko. I like to remember that guy. Still throw through one of my favorite passes I ever saw in a Utah summer league game. He did like a. Like he drove to the lane and threw a pass backwards over his head like that. Impossible to find a highlight of it because why would they have highlights from the, like, junior version of the summer league? But it was very cool. Role player with a Hall of Fame nickname. This one's kind of fun because there's some ridiculous nicknames like B ball. Paul, I think is pretty funny for Paul Reed. Big shot Bob Ori. I saw somebody earlier suggest off night for Davion Mitchell. These are all candidates to me. Sauce Castillo.
- [45:32]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I. I like Skip to my Lou for Ra.
- [45:37]
Trey Kirby
Okay.
- [45:38]
Tas Melis
That one that stands out, right? That's like.
- [45:40]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, that's awesome.
- [45:41]
Tas Melis
Remember that one?
- [45:42]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I. I love that. Sorry. No discussion needed. Rafer Olsen. Skip to my Lou. Got it from the And1 Mixtape Tour. Skip to My Lou.
- [45:51]
Tas Melis
Oh, yeah.
- [45:51]
Trey Kirby
I do believe it is a. A numerical too, as well. All right. Hall of Fame player with an all star nickname. So, like, pretty good. Like a Pretty good nickname, but not. Not on the level of Black Mamba or Magic or something like that.
- [46:06]
Tas Melis
The Greek Freak is kind of in this category to me. Like, you know, not the best of nicknames ever, but obviously an incredible player.
- [46:18]
Trey Kirby
Okay.
- [46:19]
Tas Melis
And. And it's got the. The thing going for it. I mean, the glove could also be.
- [46:26]
Trey Kirby
Very cool as well.
- [46:27]
Tas Melis
Part of this one big ticket as Nick is throwing in here. What do you think about that one?
- [46:33]
Trey Kirby
I did like Big ticket for Kevin Garnett. There's a nice run of, like, big something nicknames. You know, big fundamental, Big shot Bob, Big Baby. I guess maybe he falls into this category as well, I think. Clyde the Glide. What do you want here?
- [46:51]
Tas Melis
Who. Okay, we're talking just to be clear here for everybody listening. This is a Hall of Fame nickname.
- [47:01]
Trey Kirby
Hot. No. Hall of Fame career. All Star nickname.
- [47:05]
Tas Melis
Yeah, good, good, good. Because I'm looking at the slash here. I'm looking at the. The axis or the. The.
- [47:10]
Trey Kirby
I could. I couldn't make the slash quite as good as when Bartosh sent it in. Like, look at that. That's a nice slash right there. It clearly shows the nicknames on the left. Career at the top. I just. I couldn't figure out how to do it. Okay, so.
- [47:24]
Tas Melis
Yeah, so. So a nickname, All Star. A nickname with an All Star type of nickname. That type of level. The Greek Freak works for me.
- [47:32]
Trey Kirby
All right, let's do it.
- [47:33]
Tas Melis
Let's do it.
- [47:34]
Trey Kirby
I. Okay, we'll see what happens with my fonts here. I'm just gonna go with Giannis because. Because I don't think I can fit this many words right now.
- [47:44]
Tas Melis
What are we either. You can. There you go. You got it. Oh, you want to add Teddy Kumpo?
- [47:49]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see, it's getting a little long, but look at that. That looks okay. All right. All Star nickname. All Star player.
- [47:56]
Tas Melis
All Star nickname. All Star player. You got anything that jumps out?
- [48:04]
Trey Kirby
Okay, how about some. That I had written down. Big Dog has been used for a lot of guys. Glenn Robinson was maybe a two time All Star or something like that. Rip Hamilton, I think kind of falls into the Magic Johnson category of. Yeah, his name is Richard, but everybody called him Rip. People are saying Jesus Shuttlesworth for Ray Allen. How about a grandmama for Larry Johnson? Agent 0 Gilbert Arenas.
- [48:34]
Tas Melis
You guys are doing some really well. I just saw this one on the list here. I never heard of John Morant as Jaw Warrant, as in a warrant for his arrest, I guess. Come on now. Come on.
- [48:48]
Trey Kirby
We can't.
- [48:49]
Tas Melis
No, we absolutely cannot. Those are. Those are some solid ones. Jesus Shuttlesworth, though, It's. It's reality. Is he too good?
- [48:59]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer, One of the best shooters of all time. Let's go, big dog. It'll be a fun big dog on there. Yeah. And eventually, if we can. If we can make this into. Yeah, and then maybe we can get his son on here, too. Little. Little. Big dog for Glenn Robinson. The third.
- [49:17]
Tas Melis
Good one.
- [49:17]
Trey Kirby
All star nickname for a starter, caliber player. So I guess this is the first one where you're like, the all. The nickname is better than the player was.
- [49:26]
Tas Melis
I like Big country for Bryant Reeves.
- [49:29]
Trey Kirby
Okay. It's pretty good.
- [49:33]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah. It's just solid. I. I'm like. I'm going for the people here. I think that will.
- [49:38]
Trey Kirby
I'm seeing a lot of White chocolate come across. White Chocolate for Jason Williams. I like that as well. I had that on my list of cool nicknames. So I'm. I'm down with throwing a Jason throw. It ends White chocolate here.
- [49:54]
Tas Melis
Well done.
- [49:54]
Trey Kirby
I'm gonna do a lot of live typing here. It's so stressful.
- [50:00]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [50:00]
Trey Kirby
I feel like I'm back in the Mavis Beacon days, trying to get my words per minute up on this thing. All right, we need an all Star nickname for a role player.
- [50:11]
Tas Melis
So, like, Chris Anderson.
- [50:16]
Trey Kirby
That's what I was gonna say.
- [50:17]
Tas Melis
Wow.
- [50:18]
Trey Kirby
Birdman is an awesome nickname. He got it tattooed across his throat. He started doing the flapping of the arms things. You had Shaq always saying Birdman. Birdman.
- [50:29]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [50:29]
Trey Kirby
It's cool. Yeah. Yeah. He became. He became the Birdman.
- [50:35]
Tas Melis
He became the Birdman. Another one that bird themed. The Black Falcon for Harrison Barnes. Didn't really stick. Not as good as Birdman.
- [50:44]
Trey Kirby
I feel like Harrison Barnes came up with that nickname himself when he was in high school, which is, like, you know, pretty presumptuous, pretty productive. All right, the Birdman is going in, though. Chris Anderson. Chris Anderson with an en. Bird man.
- [51:00]
Tas Melis
Great life.
- [51:01]
Trey Kirby
All right, here we go. Hall of Fame player, starter, nickname. So, like, just good. Just an okay nickname. Could have done better, but still good. We'll see what the people suggest here.
- [51:13]
Tas Melis
I mean, they're suggesting the Polish Hammer, who. I don't know. He had another career or he wanted another career.
- [51:21]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [51:22]
Tas Melis
I shouldn't say. Yeah, that's a decent one. Any other jumping out here? The big fundamentals. Come on, now. You can't do that. Can't do that to Tim.
- [51:37]
Trey Kirby
You think that's too good? Okay. The answer I've seen the answer come through quite a bit. I always. I thought the answer was always an okay nickname for Allen Iverson. It was a cool name for a shoe, especially, like, coming off the question. They also had the answer, but I feel like he was called AI most of the time.
- [51:55]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [51:56]
Trey Kirby
So maybe that fits in here.
- [51:57]
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's not bad.
- [51:59]
Trey Kirby
All right.
- [52:00]
Tas Melis
People like it.
- [52:01]
Trey Kirby
All right, we got. We got. That'll be our third. The nickname. It was a good era when they were saying, yeah, the. But we'll see what else we can generate here. Starter nickname, All Star caliber player. Maybe this is where, I don't know. Splash Mountain. Brook Lopez, All Star. That's a good nickname, though. I do like Splash Mountain.
- [52:28]
Tas Melis
Sounds like a fun roller coaster.
- [52:31]
Trey Kirby
It is a fun roller coaster.
- [52:36]
Tas Melis
Hot rod. That's. That's real old red velvet for Kevin Herder.
- [52:45]
Trey Kirby
Not an All Star caliber player, I gotta say.
- [52:47]
Tas Melis
You're right. You're right, you're right. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened quite yet.
- [52:50]
Trey Kirby
Not yet. It's. There's still time. All right, we need. I'm having. I'm having trouble thinking more of the All Star caliber player who has a. Okay, Nick.
- [53:01]
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's hard to. To swap it. Just an okay nickname for a really good player like Sean Kemp, the Rain Man. It was all right.
- [53:11]
Trey Kirby
I do like it, though, because it's a good Seattle connection. Yeah, it's cool. But, you know, Coyote just are suggesting it as well. I've seen Luca Magic coming across a couple of times. That's not bad, actually. It's like, we could do better than Luca Magic, I think, for Luca, but he's a great player.
- [53:30]
Tas Melis
So you feel like it fits this square of the. The.
- [53:34]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, Like, I think he is a better player than Luca. Magic is a nickname for him.
- [53:39]
Tas Melis
Let's do it.
- [53:40]
Trey Kirby
All right. That's a good one. That's a good one. Let me see. There we go. Luca Doncic. Because, see, look, this is going to look ridiculous when I type it. Luka Doncic, Luca Magic. It looks pretty weird. Starter, player, starter caliber, nickname just fits him perfectly.
- [53:57]
Tas Melis
I'm not being biased with Wesley Matthews's Iron Man. He. He was a sort of an iron man. It's just a good fit for him. It's also just a good nickname, but we don't have to have it. I'm just throwing it out there. I got Spider for Donovan Mitchell. It's like, fine.
- [54:20]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I agree. It is fine.
- [54:23]
Tas Melis
I have hair Canada for Steve Nash. He was really never, never called that, but he did have the hair flowing for a while.
- [54:36]
Trey Kirby
Oh, Unicorn for Kristaps Porzingis. Interesting.
- [54:40]
Tas Melis
Why do you say that's interesting?
- [54:42]
Trey Kirby
Well, because I feel like Christoph Sportsing has got called the Unicorn. As if we would never see a seven footer who could block shots and shoot threes. And then next thing you know, there's one from every country in the globe.
- [54:53]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [54:54]
Trey Kirby
Dunkle, Dunkle, Jeff. Oh, the name, nicknames. Jay, Rich, tmac. These can like. These can live in the role player world to me, where it's like they're okay.
- [55:04]
Tas Melis
We could.
- [55:04]
Trey Kirby
We didn't put much thought into it.
- [55:06]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [55:08]
Trey Kirby
All right, so what are we going with here?
- [55:09]
Tas Melis
Yeah, we got. We got. No, nothing that stands out. Wave Poppy of Kelly Oubre. That's a weird one.
- [55:18]
Trey Kirby
That was a weird one. Okay. What other people want? What do the people want? Oh, Zebo is one of the best abbreviation nicknames, you know, because it's not totally his nickname. The Worm. Too good of a player.
- [55:36]
Tas Melis
Dennis Rodman, I think 3D for Dennis Scott.
- [55:43]
Trey Kirby
Hey, okay, that's good. I like that, actually. Yeah, that's a good nickname. That's a good nickname. 3D for Dennis Scott. He shot threes. Now he has a son named Trey. How great is that?
- [55:56]
Tas Melis
Good call. All right.
- [55:58]
Trey Kirby
Starter, caliber, nickname. Got it. Has a good nickname. Is a role player. So like a plum dog millionaire. Mason Plumley. One of the best.
- [56:13]
Tas Melis
Booby for Booby Gibson.
- [56:15]
Trey Kirby
Daniel Booby Gibson. Yeah, that's pretty good. That is pretty good. He isn't definitely known as Booby. More so than Daniel Gibson.
- [56:25]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah. I can. I can be fooled as to what his real name was a lot of the time. Booby Solid. I think. Jason Terry. Jet. That was. Those were his initials.
- [56:38]
Trey Kirby
Jet. Yeah.
- [56:42]
Tas Melis
Big Ben for Ben Walls. Me. Booby just hits a little bit more.
- [56:47]
Trey Kirby
You know, that's good. It's like, it's a. His nickname, I think, is a little bit more memorable than his career was. Though he did have some nice moments during LeBron's first tenure with the Cavs. All right, let's move on to a role player nickname for a Hall of Fame caliber player. So a nickname you're not crazy about for a player. That is awesome.
- [57:10]
Tas Melis
Oh, I don't know if this is me just being. I don't know. I'm just sort of met on a lot of Damien Lillard nicknames. Like, because he had a few of them, like Dame Dolla Dame Time. Okay, so those are fine.
- [57:27]
Trey Kirby
Let's save him for all star since he is still currently playing. But I'm with you. I haven't been. He's like dame to me.
- [57:36]
Tas Melis
Yeah, he's. Damn. I totally agree. The Claw. Oh, you want. You want guys who are not playing currently?
- [57:46]
Trey Kirby
Well, I mean, we got Giannis in there, but I mean, like that guy, he's a first ballot unanimous hall of Famer, so I don't mind throwing him in, but if we can find a. Already in the hall of Fame guy, I think that'd be nice. I'm like TMac.
- [58:01]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [58:02]
Trey Kirby
You know, it's just. Just his things.
- [58:06]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Just the beginning of his. Of his.
- [58:09]
Trey Kirby
Just the beat. Yeah. I feel like that was like a dark time for NBA nicknames when it was like Tracy McGrady or TMAC. Darren Williams. Your D Will too simple. D. Rose. See? Derrick Rose, you're D. Rose. That kind of thing. D. Wade.
- [58:24]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [58:24]
Trey Kirby
D. Wade is one of the best ones.
- [58:25]
Tas Melis
But you're.
- [58:26]
Trey Kirby
You're exactly that to me is where these live is the just initial guys.
- [58:32]
Tas Melis
Okay.
- [58:33]
Trey Kirby
So no offense to Tracy McGrady. He just made it to the hall of Fame, but you get to be T Mac.
- [58:40]
Tas Melis
You're in Mac.
- [58:41]
Trey Kirby
Yep. All right. Role player, nickname. All star player. Damien Lillard. You want to go with a dame dollar here? Oh, yeah. CP3. See, that was similar.
- [58:52]
Tas Melis
Yeah, CP3. CB4. Oh, that's a Hall of Famer. Can't put him in.
- [58:56]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, those are similar.
- [58:57]
Tas Melis
The Bostridge. I'm just checking. Yeah, that didn't. That didn't work for Chris.
- [59:03]
Trey Kirby
Pretty funny.
- [59:04]
Tas Melis
Pretty funny. So Dame. Yeah, it's Dame Dolla. Dame time. If people use it so much. And.
- [59:16]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, Dame time is. I mean, he has the He. That's like a Hall of Fame celebration. Tapping the wrist, you know?
- [59:22]
Tas Melis
It is. It is. People will literally see the man and do that to him.
- [59:28]
Trey Kirby
How about Joker for Jokic? Do you like it? I mean, he. I would. I would be comfortable putting him in the hall of Fame category. It's maybe like a starter level nickname. Zoe for Alonzo Morning. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer as well. Oh, Pistol Pete. I love Pistol Pete. Very cool nickname they put on the back of his jersey. Just said Pistol. They would never do that anymore.
- [59:52]
Tas Melis
Let's get in here. Let's get it on the list. I mean, it is. It's so great as a guy who can. It's more for, you know, a guy who could shoot.
- [60:01]
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
- [60:02]
Tas Melis
It's so good. But we're talking All Star here, right?
- [60:07]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, we're talking about a. An all star caliber player.
- [60:12]
Tas Melis
The stifled tower Yikes. No, not good enough. Sorry, Rudy.
- [60:20]
Trey Kirby
All right, what do you. What are we going with here? Point me away. Damien Lillard.
- [60:27]
Tas Melis
Big shot Bob. Yeah. Dame. Dame. Let's do Dame. Let's do Dame.
- [60:30]
Trey Kirby
Dame Dolla. I feel like it's a capitalized. Oddly enough, sitting here on my desk, a Dame Dolla cassette tape, unopened. I guess this has his rap music on it. It was some kind of a promotional item for the dame 3. Haven't listened to it yet. It's a straight up cassette tape. I don't know if a lot of our younger listeners know what this is, but you put it into a tape deck, which is something that cars used to have back in the day. Ooh, what about Mellow? I mean, that's interesting. That one is interesting. Anyways, Role player nickname. Starter caliber player.
- [61:12]
Tas Melis
Role player nickname. Starter. Caliber player. Yeah, I've got a bunch of just. Just. I don't even want to say them. Just a bunch of men names.
- [61:27]
Trey Kirby
Sam.
- [61:28]
Tas Melis
A category of like Mario Hazonia was named Super Mario because his name was Mario Zonia Tyler. Hero was Boy Wonder.
- [61:40]
Trey Kirby
What?
- [61:41]
Tas Melis
Yeah, you know, that's why I was. I was really. You know, I'm. I'm trying to dig to the bottom of the barrel here. Wancho for Juan Hernan Gomez. Yeah. So none. None. Stick with me. Big Z versus Junas Lagoskis. Oh, no, he's too good. He's too good for this category.
- [62:00]
Trey Kirby
You could talk me into him fitting in. Starter. Though he did make an all star team, at least.
- [62:04]
Tas Melis
Popeye. Popeye for Popeye Jones.
- [62:07]
Trey Kirby
Oh, I don't even know his real name. Yeah, Walter.
- [62:11]
Tas Melis
No, no, Seth is his son.
- [62:13]
Trey Kirby
I know that.
- [62:14]
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's. If you think of a character related to a fast food line, Fast food company, it.
- [62:26]
Trey Kirby
Grimace. His first name is Grimace.
- [62:28]
Tas Melis
No, same. Same company, though.
- [62:31]
Trey Kirby
Hamburglar Jones.
- [62:33]
Tas Melis
You're close. Close. It's not the character you usually think of with this company.
- [62:36]
Trey Kirby
Ronald.
- [62:37]
Tas Melis
Ronald. Nice.
- [62:38]
Trey Kirby
Ronald Jones.
- [62:39]
Tas Melis
That's his name.
- [62:40]
Trey Kirby
Wow, I didn't. I didn't know that at all. I thought his given name was Popeye.
- [62:49]
Tas Melis
Ferka and Cork Maz's nickname is Ferk the Turk. Don't believe that. The Alaskan assassin. That was always a good one.
- [62:59]
Trey Kirby
That's a cool nickname. Trajan Langdon. Yeah, I don't mind him making the list.
- [63:04]
Tas Melis
Yeah, that was solid. Ooh, lady magic for Nancy Lieberman. Cool. That's cool. That's a cool one. Yeah. Where are we here? This one?
- [63:15]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. Well, we need one people. The people like Slow Mo for Kyle Anderson a good nickname. He's a starter, caliber player.
- [63:28]
Tas Melis
Throw it in.
- [63:28]
Trey Kirby
All right, Slow Mo it is. Final one. Oh, Grammarly was updated. Exciting stuff. Kyle Anderson. O n Slow Mo.
- [63:41]
Tas Melis
Somebody's saying here, Devin thrown in. How TF did AK47 not end up on here? He is. He's on here.
- [63:50]
Trey Kirby
He's on here. Take a look right here.
- [63:52]
Tas Melis
Come on.
- [63:53]
Trey Kirby
Look at that. Highlighted. All right. Our final nickname. Role player. With a role player nickname. So it's fine. Big Baby. Glenn Davis.
- [64:02]
Tas Melis
Right? That's a good one.
- [64:04]
Trey Kirby
Became his name. You know, he became a name guy. I did. I did like a Kenneth Fareed Manimal. I think that would actually have to go higher. White Mamba.
- [64:16]
Tas Melis
There's some. These are almost too good.
- [64:18]
Trey Kirby
I mean, it's kind of funny to have the. The mirror images of black Mamba in the hall of Fame. Hall of Fame and then White Mamba in the Role player. Role player. David the Body Roddy. Pretty funny. I feel like he is stuck around in the NBA because he does have a nickname that fits him. You know, he's a Jack dude.
- [64:42]
Tas Melis
He is. All those that you just listed, though, they're all. They're all good nicknames.
- [64:47]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, Yeah, I agree.
- [64:50]
Tas Melis
Like, those are all, like, Big Baby applies to a lot of people out there. Candyman. I. We gotta throw that in for Michael Oldwood. Candy.
- [65:01]
Trey Kirby
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [65:02]
Tas Melis
That's a fine one.
- [65:03]
Trey Kirby
I was gonna say. I mean, Candyman isn't too different than, like, Plum Dog Millionaire, where it's like we're taking a movie and putting your name with it. So I don't know. Yeah, I mean, White Mamba is a funny nickname. Especially, like, considering the way it came about for Brian Scalabrini. But it just. It would look funny to have them both the same thing.
- [65:27]
Tas Melis
Tie it together.
- [65:28]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, tie it together. Let's tie a bow. Why not? Brian Scalabrini. White Mamba.
- [65:34]
Tas Melis
Well done.
- [65:37]
Trey Kirby
All right. There's our chart. Man, we made a nice chart. How do I make this chart big? How do I make that chart? There we go. Take a look at that. Look at that big old chart. That's our nickname. Alignment chart across the top. Hall of Fame nickname. Hall of Fame player, Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba. Sean Marion. The Matrix. Our starter career hall of Fame nickname. Andre Kurylenko. Ak47. Rafer Alston. Skip to my Lou. Role player with the hall of Fame nickname. You can find the rest on all of our social channels. We'll turn this into, you know, something we can post. Something actually looks better than just a Whole bunch of text. That was a fun little exercise with our friends here in the stream. Team nicknames out there.
- [66:22]
Tas Melis
Man, so many good nicknames.
- [66:25]
Trey Kirby
Ever have a nickname?
- [66:27]
Tas Melis
Not really. Well, you know, my daughter yesterday started saying molasses because we were. We were. I don't know what she was doing, but I got called just because my name. My last name sounds somewhat like molasses. People called me Tassis Molasses. Okay. No, I didn't really have, like, a go to, though. Did you have one?
- [66:51]
Trey Kirby
No, I'm the same. I never even got to be called TK up until, like, we got to the no Dunks era. Because growing up, one of my friends was named Tyler Klatt, so he. He was always TK and then we got to NBA tv, Turner Sports, and Tim Kiley was one of the big dogs over there, and he was TK So it had to be those two guys exiting my life before I finally got the decent or the honorific TK I have been wearing a jersey to play men's league. On the back, it says Old Mud. And, you know, people are starting to read that now. I was playing this past Tuesday, and the guy kept calling me Old Mudder, which I thought was funny. So that's the closest I got. That came from the girls dissing me. Straight up dissing their old man. But I'll take it. T.K. love old mud. Good for now.
- [67:48]
Tas Melis
Old Mud is good.
- [67:50]
Trey Kirby
Yeah. Yeah, fun times. But that's the end of this show. That is the end of our off season, to be quite honest.
- [67:59]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I'd like to think of it that way, too.
- [68:01]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, it's still a couple of weeks and a half until the games start, but teams are practicing. Everybody's suiting up for their preseason games. Next thing you know, these things are going to count tasks.
- [68:15]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And hopefully this is the end for our studio renovations that are happening now that should be coming together, and hopefully we'll be in the studio starting next week.
- [68:28]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, baby.
- [68:29]
Tas Melis
Full squad. Skeet should be in town. JD Will be on as always. So, yeah, it's time.
- [68:37]
Trey Kirby
Yeah, it'll be nice to sit in the same room together, give each other nicknames, have some laughs. Also in swing, it's not just the NBA season. It is also the Survivor season. We recapped episode two yesterday. You can find that anywhere. You get podcasts, look for no Buffs, or hit up our YouTube channel. No buffs as well. Did you watch episode two, Tess?
- [69:03]
Tas Melis
I did. I did.
- [69:05]
Trey Kirby
Surprising vote to you or kind of saw what was going to be going down.
- [69:12]
Tas Melis
I mean, they kind of. Yeah, they tried to do a little of a turn to show you. Maybe you're gonna vote for this other character, but. Nah, I felt like it was right. It felt like it was gonna happen, and it did.
- [69:26]
Trey Kirby
Yep. Yeah. You knew they were gonna want to keep the tribe strong, so that's what they had to do.
- [69:32]
Tas Melis
Nice time.
- [69:33]
Trey Kirby
Nice timing. All right, take us out of here. Cl. Clipper bros. You heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.
- [69:42]
Tas Melis
Thanks for joining us. And remember, Trey's nickname was Old Mud, but now it's Old Mudder.
- [69:50]
Trey Kirby
Old Mudder. Embrace the season, y'.
- [69:54]
Tas Melis
All.
- [69:54]
Trey Kirby
Let's go.
- [69:55]
Tas Melis
You could stay, oh, every day and I'd be happy every minute.