The Drop | 2024 NBA Trade Deadline Winners & Losers

Summary

Podcast Summary: No Dunks – "The Drop | 2024 NBA Trade Deadline Winners & Losers"

Introduction

In the February 9, 2024 episode of No Dunks, hosted by Skeets, Tas Melas, Trey Kirby, and JD, the team delves deep into the aftermath of the NBA trade deadline. The hosts provide insightful analyses on the transactions, highlighting the winners and losers of the trading frenzy, and touch upon other significant NBA news, including the unveiling of a new Kobe Bryant statue. Engaging banter and listener interactions make this episode both informative and entertaining for basketball enthusiasts.

Trade Deadline Overview: Winners and Losers

Timestamp: 03:16 – 07:08

The primary focus of the episode centers around the outcomes of the 2024 NBA trade deadline. Contrary to popular expectations, marquee names like Dejounte Murray, Kyle Kuzma, DeMar DeRozan, and Andrew Wiggins remained with their teams. Instead, nearly 20 trades were executed, predominantly involving backup point guards, three-point specialists, and defensive players.

Winners of the Trade Deadline

1. New York Knicks

   Timestamp: 04:04 – 08:24

   Tas Melas hails the Knicks as the top beneficiaries, citing their acquisition of Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Detroit Pistons. Bogdanovic, praised for his scoring prowess, and Burks, noted for his shooting efficiency, are expected to bolster the Knicks' lineup significantly. Skeets emphasizes the strategic nature of the trades: “They got good players on a really good team to help out,” ensuring depth and versatility as the playoffs approach. With key players like OG Anunoby and Julius Randle sidelined due to injuries, Bogdanovic and Burks are poised to fill the void effectively.

   Tas Melas (04:04): "I'm going with the Knicks. ... These guys are going to be part of it."

2. Dallas Mavericks

   Timestamp: 09:38 – 12:29

   Trey Kirby identifies the Mavericks as another substantial winner, highlighting their trade for PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford in exchange for Grant Williams and two first-round picks. This move is seen as an upgrade in both offensive and defensive capacities. While the short-term improvements are clear, Skeets notes potential long-term concerns regarding flexibility and future assets.

   Trey Kirby (09:38): "It's the Mavericks that completely hit on it... the Mavs are definitely better today than they were yesterday."

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

   Timestamp: 12:29 – 18:17

   The Thunder's acquisition of Gordon Hayward from the Charlotte Hornets is lauded for fitting seamlessly into their style of play, emphasizing versatility and shooting. Despite Hayward's injury concerns, his presence is expected to provide the Thunder with both experience and depth. Additionally, the Thunder's trade strategies, including the inclusion of draft picks, position them favorably for future competitiveness.

   Trey Kirby (11:16): "The only concern I have for the Knicks is maybe they're going to miss Ryan Archidiacono from a vibes standpoint."

Losers of the Trade Deadline

1. Los Angeles Lakers

   Timestamp: 20:28 – 28:25

   The Lakers emerge as clear losers, struggling to make impactful trades amidst injuries and underperformance. LeBron James voices frustration over the lack of significant roster changes, feeling sidelined as key players like Anthony Davis remain relatively inactive due to various injuries. The lack of strategic moves leaves the Lakers vulnerable in both the current season and future playoff aspirations.

   Trey Kirby (23:35): "LeBron James, he's a loser for me. ... Nothing happened."

2. Atlanta Hawks

   Timestamp: 28:25 – 31:58

   The Hawks are criticized for their inaction during the trade deadline, particularly their failure to leverage Dejounte Murray's high trade value. Despite ongoing trade rumors and potential assets, the Hawks held firm on their roster, resulting in missed opportunities to strengthen their lineup. This stagnation mirrors last year’s trade strategies that led to diminished team performance.

   Tas Melas (30:19): "But it's just not the same. ... They're just gonna have to hope that Murray keeps his hot streak up."

3. Malcolm Brogdon's Position

   Timestamp: 20:28 – 31:58

   Despite his solid performance as the Sixth Man of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon remained with the Portland Trail Blazers, missing out on potential trades to more competitive teams. Given his age and injury history, staying with a struggling team limits his prospects for championship contention, marking him as an unforeseen negative outcome of the trade deadline.

   Tas Melas (20:28): "Malcolm Brogdon... he's gonna have to wait till the off-season to see if the Blazers move on."

Key Trade Discussions

Timestamp: 04:04 – 18:17

The hosts dissect several significant trades in detail:

• Knicks' Acquisition of Bogdanovic and Burks: Evaluated for their immediate impact and fit within the Knicks' system, especially with Brunson handling increased minutes due to injuries.

• Mavericks' Trade for Washington and Gafford: Discussed as a short-term boon with potential long-term flexibility concerns, mirroring strategies seen in other successful franchises.

• Thunder's Purchase of Hayward: Commended for aligning with the team's strategic needs, despite Hayward's injury status, positioning the Thunder for a competitive edge.

Kobe Bryant Statue Unveiling

Timestamp: 33:57 – 35:37

Transitioning from trades, the hosts celebrate the Lakers’ tribute to Kobe Bryant. A 19-foot bronze statue now stands outside the arena, capturing Kobe in his iconic number 8 jersey with his right index finger raised—a nod to his legendary 81-point game against the Raptors in January 2006. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remarked on the statue, emphasizing it represents “excellence, discipline, commitment, and love of family,” encapsulating Kobe’s enduring legacy.

Je Skeets (33:57): "The statue is a wonderful contribution. It captures a person frozen in time while acknowledging that the reason there is a statue... is because that person is timeless."

Listener Reviews and Community Engagement

Timestamp: 54:02 – 59:59

The hosts share and react to five-star reviews from listeners, highlighting the podcast's broad appeal and dedicated fan base. Notable feedback includes:

• Jay Rondo: Praised the hosts as his “all-time best pals,” appreciating the daily insights provided by the No Dunks team.

• Listeners from the Philippines and general NBA enthusiasts: Expressed gratitude for transforming their basketball knowledge and providing entertaining content.

The segment underscores the podcast's global reach and its role in fostering a strong, engaged community of NBA fans.

Rapid Fire Fun: Predictions and Trivia

Timestamp: 60:10 – 76:37

In a lively rapid-fire segment, the hosts engage in fun predictions and trivia:

• Super Bowl 58 Predictions: The hosts make bold predictions for the upcoming Super Bowl, favoring the Kansas City Chiefs with a final score of 24-17.

• Halftime Performance Song Choices: Debates ensue over which Usher song will open his halftime set, with suggestions ranging from classic hits like "My Way" to more contemporary tracks.

This segment adds a light-hearted conclusion to the episode, showcasing the hosts' personalities and camaraderie.

Conclusion

The February 9th episode of No Dunks offers a comprehensive analysis of the 2024 NBA trade deadline, celebrating the strategic gains of the Knicks, Mavericks, and Thunder while critiquing the Lakers, Hawks, and Portland for missed opportunities. The discussion is enriched by notable quotes and timestamps, providing depth and clarity. Additionally, the episode honors Kobe Bryant's legacy and fosters community engagement through listener reviews. Whether you're an avid NBA follower or new to the podcast, this episode delivers valuable insights and entertaining content.

Transcript

[Je Skeets]

Your lunch. And I know you're a little. Well, it was the salmon. Sometimes you just get a wrong piece of salmon.

[Tas Melas]

Is that you?

[Je Skeets]

Well, I don't see anybody else in.

[Tas Melas]

Here who's gonna be doing it. Excuse me, but you can show it.

[Je Skeets]

I don't care. I just don't care anymore. These things don't bother me. All right, well, then, let's. We'll start now. Then we'll begin. Did you hear the starter pistol?

[Tas Melas]

Keep your ears open.

[Je Skeets]

All right, now we'll begin talking with Leslie Nielsen.

[Tas Melas]

Yes.

[Je Skeets]

Plays the President.

[Tas Melas]

Yes.

[Je Skeets]

What's different about you and the real President? Nothing.

[Tas Melas]

Just maybe one or two things.

[Je Skeets]

Good. Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Friday, February 9th, 2024. This is the Drop. I'm Je Skeets here in the Classic Factory, trying to keep it together over farts from Leslie Nielsen. Alongside me, as always, Tas Melas.

[Tas Melas]

Podcast listeners. This is for you.

[Je Skeets]

Next to him, it's the bearded woman. Topshot Hot boy Trey Kirby.

[Trey Kirby]

Ayo.

[Je Skeets]

Ay, yo. And last but not least, over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer jd.

[JD]

Hello.

[Je Skeets]

There he is. And here we are on today's Drop. We're gonna discuss Kobe Bryant's new statue. We'll get into some of the more interesting games from last night in the NBA. We got five Star Friday and your great reviews. We've got rapid fire fun, but first, we had another wedgie. Whoa, wedgie. Number 33 on the year. It was in Phoenix, and it was John Collins with a bit of a rare wedgie here. He's gonna get the very kind bounce on the baseline. Fade away, turnaround jumper.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a weird one.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, it didn't stick long, but it counts. Number 33. Look at that pace. Up to 55. And unbelievably, we're gonna have 33 plus wedgies by the All Star break. I was hoping for that last week when we hit 30, I guess, and they're coming in bunches. Tass.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. The pace is high at 55 for the entire season, including the playoffs, of course. John Collins. A rare post move on the baseline. To see it pop up like that, you don't see it really stick from there very often at all.

[Je Skeets]

The wedgies are so hot. TK's taking off his.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm feeling warm. I'm metabolizing too hard right now, Skeets.

[Je Skeets]

Well, let's get into talking about the trade deadline. Winners and losers, because none of the big names that we expected to see on the move. I'm talking Dejounte Murray, Kuzma DeRozan, Andrew Wiggins. None of them ended up changing teams, but there was a flurry of activity. Thanks to everybody that joined us live on YouTube for a couple of shows. Everybody listened to the pod as well. We had nearly 20 trades that were completed in the last 24 hours leading up to the deadline buzzer. We're talking backup point guards and three point specialists and defensive guys. And hell, Cash got traded. So let's take a look at some of the winners and losers as we zoom out here. Because we went through basically every trade as it happened. What do you got?

[Trey Kirby]

We were talking yesterday about like, who's the biggest name that was traded. So I quizzed Laura last night. Just read her through the names. No emotion. Stop me when you've heard somebody. Thaddeus Young and Robin Lopez were the names she knew.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

Former Bulls.

[Je Skeets]

Bulls, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And then her ears perked up at PJ Washington. I was like, you know, PJ Washington. I'm so proud. She's like, well, there's a pj, isn't there? I think she was thinking PJ Tucker. She's like, I know there's a PJ because she went to high school with a kid named pj.

[Je Skeets]

So the point is, a lot of these names nobody really knew.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it was pretty minors. Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Well, we're doing winners and losers anyway. And Taz, you're gonna get us started. Who is your big winner from the 2024 trade deadline?

[Tas Melas]

I'm going with the Knicks. Just like Trey's metabolism is working. I had my metabolism working when I saw the New York Knicks. Cause they got two players. We'll start with Bojan Bogdanovic. Cause that guy is an absolute bucket. Bojan Bucket Danovich, let's call him, because he is a machine. And it's not like he's just a pop and shoot guy who needs somebody else to make it. He actually creates his own. Puts the ball on the floor a little bit. 47 on pull up threes. His percentage is really high there. And he can shoot it, obviously in catch and shoot situations, which he'll get with Jalen Brunson, especially now with OG Anunoby being out, Julius Randle being out. Bojan mcdomnich I think will go into the starting lineup and get lots of reps alongside Jalen Brunson, which will help, I think going into the postseason when he will definitely come off the bench with the other guy that they got yesterday, Alec Burks. Who a shooter himself, just comes off and shoots it. And he shot it a ton for the Pistons. They got both these guys from the Pistons, 41% on catch and shoot himself, 38% on pull up threes. The good thing for him is that he can take Jalen Brunson's minutes a good amount here because Jalen Brunson, he just keeps playing. He's played in most of the games this season. 49, 52 games, and he plays 36 minutes. And Tibbs is just playing him a ton. So they do need a backup guard. Deuce McBride has sort of been their backup point guard. It's nice to get an oldie guy here in Alec Burks, who, you know, he was fantastic with the Utah Jazz early in his career. Then he had this weird point in his career where he was sort of LeBron's guy coming off the bench. He went to the Cavs for a little bit and now with the Knicks, he found himself again. He looks damn good. So they got those two guys for essentially Quentin Grimes, which was the biggest name, Malachi Flynn, Evan Forney, who isn't playing, who wasn't playing with the Knicks, and Ryan Archidinacono, who wasn't playing either, and two second round picks. So two guys that are going to be a part of their rotation. Are we ready for some Knicks playoff parties? Because it feels like these guys are going to be part of it. And I know we 20 trades, which is high. It doesn't feel like that. But we're talking about complimentary players here and, and I know Mavs fans, I can't wait to talk about the Mavs. Trey are mad at us because they're saying, well, we got better. Well, in this case with the Knicks here, they got better on a really good team and the Mavs we'll get to, but it's just not the same. You know, we got good players on a really good team to help out. So I think it's. It's just a sure core thing here. Knicks are going to be good with Blind Bogdanovich and Alec Burks and they.

[Je Skeets]

Get these two guys, like you said, almost like innings eaters, if you want to call them that. At least Burks and maybe even Bogdanovich because we got the news that OG is going to miss some time here, at least three weeks, probably longer after he had elbow surgery. So, you know, no Randle, no og, a very banged up Brunson. So you get these guys and there's no like first round picks going out. There's really? Yeah. A young, talented, three and d ish guy in Quentin Grimes who wanted more of a role. That was the piece going out to to add these two guys, but not a whole lot. You were high on the Knicks yesterday as well. I saw every article I saw of winners and losers had the Knicks as a winner. I didn't see anybody counter that. Yeah, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Because between the Knicks and the Mavericks, they both picked up like the biggest name players. They improved their teams the most. But the difference is the Knicks did it without giving up any of their future assets, so they can go ahead and chase whoever they want come summertime. The only concern I have for the Knicks is maybe they're going to miss Ryan. Archie Giacono from a vibes standpoint, right. He was like the guy they all picked on. He's like the little brother of the Villanova guys. So who's that going to be now? Deuce McBride. I hope he's up for it. But yeah, I think it's great for the Knicks. They definitely kept the OG Anunoby news secret until after the trade deadline was finalized so that everybody would still be positive about the Knicks. But they're going to need offense now with Brunson banged up. Their entire front court is out right now between Mitchell Robinson, OG and Julius Randle. Isaiah Hartenstein is picking up little injuries as well. They need some players because you know, Tibbs likes to play these guys. Monster minutes. Knick fans are just constantly calculating how many minutes OG Anunoby has played. They're like 140 minutes in three games. I don't know about that. Well, get used to it because he's lu all dang for better or worse. Play a lot of minutes, miss a lot of games. But I think if the Knicks are healthy come playoff time, they were probably a conference finals contender. You can call them a dark horse finals contender right now as far as I'm concerned.

[Tas Melas]

Okay, absolutely. Yeah, they did definitely get stronger. They it's dark horse finals contender. I agree. I agree. Also dark horse story about OG Anunoby here because as you said, they kept it under the radar a little bit that this guy got surgery. He does get injured from time to time. This was part of the the Raptors thinking and trading him now going to be double digits again this season. It'll be 15 probably when he comes back. 15 last year, 34 the year before that, 29 before that. But they got this depth here in Bojan to help out. This guy is a little underappreciated in the NBA I think, you know, he's had a 10 year career, over 10,000 points, 41% from three this season. And the Pistons moved on from him a little bit late. They could have done it a little bit earlier and got probably got a first round pick last year or the year before that. Now they got to play the Youngies, which is exciting for Pistons fans. I think in a weird way we'll get to them. They actually won last night. I can't wait to talk about them.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, two in a row. That counts for them.

[Tas Melas]

Absolutely.

[Je Skeets]

And the nut Dust bowl standings are really tight right now with the Hornets, the Wizards and the Pistons. Two games separating our crappy teams. But let's keep it going here. Trey, who's your big winner from the deadline?

[Trey Kirby]

It's the Mavericks task. Completely hit on it and we talked about it yesterday. I particularly do not like the ultimate cost for basically the dance they did with Grant Williams. Two first round picks went out essentially in the deal for him and replacing him with PJ Washington. The cupboard is bare basically for the Mavericks at this point because they're trading these guys for role players, first round picks for role players. It feels so much like LeBron's first stint in Cleveland where you could tell he was one of the best players in the league. So we're doing everything we can to keep him around, to keep him happy, to keep the team competitive. But it means you're jeopardizing your future for an Antoine Jameson. That being said, Taz is also right. The Mavs are definitely better today than they were yesterday. They need a little Derek Lively insurance. He's picked up injuries to the nose here and there. Daniel Gafford plays basically the exact same style as Derek Lively. Lively is a rookie. Who knows what you're going to get from him in the playoffs. Honestly, who knows what you're going to get from Daniel Gafford in the playoffs as well. But at least they have an option. They've been trying Dwight Powell forever and ever. If Dwight Powell somehow vanquishes Daniel Gafford. Come on, come on. And then PJ Washington, I think at the very least can be a Grant Williams upgrade. They were happy to get Grant Williams out of there, so maybe from a vibe standpoint, upgrade there as well and we'll see what PJ can do. He's at least a better rebounder than Grant Williams, though. Not an incredible rebounder. Perhaps he'll help. He can make plays off the dribble. Grant basically just stands in the corner and waits. And if he's hot from three, he's looking good and if not, you're not getting a whole bunch else. So I think the Mavs today, short term, they're definitely better. Long term, we'll see how it plays out.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I can't wait to see PJ Washington with better players around him because he was just pretty average this season in Charlotte where they needed help. And so if you've got Luca making the plays, can your shooting go up a little bit because he just struggled from that end? Can your defense just be a little bit more motivated, period, on this team? Because that's what they need from him. And so that's a question, I think. But the Daniel Gaffer thing is just insurance. As a backup center, he should be backing up Derek Lively. You're right, they do play the same role. Pick and roll now with Luka, he should be setting him up. He scored a lot actually with Tyus Jones in Washington on that pick and roll opportunity. Each and every possession, 1.44 points. That's pretty damn good. And Derek Lavaly gets hurt. I mean they're 22 and 14 with him and 6 and 9 without him. So Gafford is good there for insurance. He's there for a couple more years probably because he's signed. It's just how good is, how good is this team as insurance and the PJ Washington grab? I like, I, I like that Cavs comparison to the, the long time ago where they were just like, okay, let's go get somebody, let's go get somebody, let's go get somebody. I mean they're better than they were yesterday. I'm just not sure how much better defensively and how much stronger they're going to be boarding rebounding as well.

[Je Skeets]

I love the start of this CBS News article. The long standing joke around Grant Williams and his time in Boston was that his CE Celtics teammates learned to tolerate his personality in large part because of the forwards contributions on the floor. That personality however, was not as accepted in the locker room of the Dallas Mavericks and again, probably that was a part of him not contributing as much on the floor as well. But yeah, we're seeing multiple reports that this guy was irritating some of the Mavericks players and hence this deal of pivoting away from him and going and getting Washington gotta do it.

[Trey Kirby]

I guess the vibes in the locker room and I mean if we're guessing at the players, I would guess probably the top two guys on the Mavericks are easily rankled by a Grant Williams.

[Je Skeets]

Type and corny jokes like just annoying like what's. I wonder what the conflict is like the personality of Grant. That's what.

[Tas Melas]

I'm guessing they didn't like his Batman impersonations. I just remember that, that, that and.

[Trey Kirby]

Al Horford slapping him on the butt as hard as possible. Just smacking them. We didn't see that in Dallas. Nobody wanted to smack that booty.

[Je Skeets]

It's probably a big personality and maybe it was an irritant for sure. So yeah, I'm with you. I'm actually. I really like those Mavs moves. Yes, that. That 27 pick. Wow. That. That very likely will be the, the most impressive pick that was dealt at the deadline. Deadline. I mean that could be a really good pick. Of course it's only top two protected but that is down the line. They got Luka, they got Kyrie, they feel good about their team and they got some bigs to help out there in both Washington and Gafford who, you know, a lot of people do not watch Daniel Gafford. They barely know who he is. But he is good. He's really good. So like with Lively and him, they have a rim running, you know, defensive minded center for 48 minutes in theory if they can stay out there. So that's, that's a plus for Dallas. I got them on my winners list as well. I also have the Thunder Hornets, Gordon Hayward trademark. I like it from both sides. I'll talk about the Hornets in a second. But Gordon Hayward going to okc. We know this team. They prioritize basically big guys if they can be, who can shoot, pass and drive. The Thunder lead the league in drives per game by a wide margin. Gordon Hayward, he's always injured so there is that. But those are three skills that he can do. Still getting up there in age. So I like that fit. I just think he's going to fit perfectly into how they play. The other part is this whole Josh Giddey. Is he going to be played off the floor in the playoffs?

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[Je Skeets]

Our team's going to put like we've seen Rudy Gobert. They're going to put their center basically on Giddey and say well we're backing up and we don't think you can hit a three. And you know he struggled from deep. He'll have the odd game where he catches fire but they're going to live with that. So will he get played off? Because you know it's going to be Shai, you know it's going to be Williams, you know it's going to be Chet. It's probably Going to be dork because he's actually hitting threes and he gives you a defensive backbone. And then it's, who's that fifth guy? Giddy is good. He does a lot of incredible things. But when you get into that situation and you're right, tk, you said yes right away. Teams have already tried it. I wouldn't see why they wouldn't do it in a playoff series. You need a bit of a counter. That could be Isaiah Joe. Joe obviously can shoot, but nah, man, Hayward could be that guy.

[Trey Kirby]

Kayson, Wallace.

[Je Skeets]

Kayson. Wallace also knocked Wallace.

[Trey Kirby]

Playoff breakout. Mark it down right now.

[Je Skeets]

Calling it now. Well, I like the insurance here of the big, you know, guy in Gordon. Hayward, who is a big dude. He's going to get a chance here. And what they gave up to get him, you know, they've got a million first round picks. None of that went out. We're talking, man, Bertons. Those guys have played a combined 210 minutes for the Thunder this year. Mijic showed some potential. Very expendable though with the roster they have.

[Trey Kirby]

Can't shoot.

[Je Skeets]

And so they got Hayward. You know, this, this really just like it's an expiring deal as well. It's for a playoff run, it's for a playoff series. It's to obviously help these guys. He has a little playoff experience to help these other guys that don't have much. And just to go back to that whole thing of like if Giddy's off, that's a trickle down effect, right? Because then you want, I want the other team center having to guard Chet Holmgren, who's going to be out there because he's going to stretch the floor and bring them out. But if that big guy, you know, again, let's say a Rudy Gobert has put on Giddy, well then there's like more of a guy that can at least hang speed wise because of a 4 on Chet. So it does that thing. So I think Hayward's gonna have a moment here or two in the playoffs as well. I like that move from Charlotte's side. They got a first round pick from the Heat for Terry Rozier. That trade obviously happened before the deadline. And then they went and got a first round pick in the future for PJ Washington. They're getting some picks here and they're taking some flyers on some of these guys. I like that they are picking a direction. They have Lamelo, they have Brandon Miller, they have Mark Williams. Everybody else we said should have been gettable and they went and actually sold at this deadline and I think made the right decision here. So good on them in this trade. Both OKC and I like the Hornets. When I look at their entire day.

[Tas Melas]

Yesterday, I think OKC's direction is better in that the guys that they just gave up, Davis Bertons, Trey Mann and Vasilija Micic are all signed through next season or the season after that. All three of them. Well, Gordon Hayward becomes a free agent, so they didn't want Berton sitting around or Micich. I mean he was obviously a good player. Trey, man, obviously a good player. But they just have depth and they have a backup guard Case on Wallace who's awesome. So they have enough guys that they're sticking with while Charlotte still question mark. At least they're, you know, Brandon Miller's gonna play, but that team is just. Yeah. Who knows what they're gonna produce here. Um, can't wait to talk about the nut dust bowl. Cause I'm not sure, I'm not sure about this team.

[Je Skeets]

That is a good point though. About those contracts that OKC did send out to get Hayward. I mean, that's like, I think if you add it all up, it's going to be like, you know, 18, 19 million to play with moving into the summer here, which they have guys that they're going to of course have to pay.

[Trey Kirby]

They're going to be an expensive team.

[Je Skeets]

Exactly. And you know, we already always talk about the draft capital and so if they push all their chips in and, and see the right piece to add to their squad. Yeah, that could come back. It's like those little moves that actually end up sort of helping you the most if you're a good team and you have a good front office. So good stuff there. From that one.

[Trey Kirby]

We'll see if Gordon Hayward plays.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Literally has been played since December 26th.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

So if they get him on the court, cool. And if they get him to the playoffs, great.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But that's.

[Je Skeets]

Don't hold your breath.

[Trey Kirby]

A big question mark.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. Yeah. And even if he doesn't play, it was a good two month run. Gordon Hayward, I mean, I think they would let him go is what I'm saying because.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Je Skeets]

This is for now and playoffs.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Berton's was making 16 million next year.

[Trey Kirby]

That's how they took him on to make a trade.

[Je Skeets]

Yep.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And it worked.

[Tas Melas]

It worked. It worked really well. Now Charlotte's gonna be paying him next year for 16 million bucks, which is a puzzle. It's a puzzling question for what this team Is gonna become me. Chelsea under contract. These guys just now. They. They let go James Book Night. Because that's fine. I know. But all these guys. I know. Trey Mann should be fine. Anyways, this team is just a big question mark.

[Je Skeets]

At least they got picks on this deadline with the Rosier and the PJ Washington. They got second round picks in this one, you know, which they sent out some earlier and all that. But that's fine. They did the right thing because they're not good. They're like. We could, you know, we could sit here and say they maybe are the worst team in the league. I know they're not record wise, but when you look at their net rating and when Lamelo's not out there.

[Tas Melas]

That's right.

[Je Skeets]

Thankfully, Brandon Miller is turning into. Appears to be a building block. I'm like, wow, this guy could be really, really good.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they're gonna look totally different next year. I think it's like, Lamelo will be back. Brandon Miller obviously will be back. Those will be their two stars. But I would say that's only the only guarantees. Mark Williams is likely still around as well, but Steve Clifford likely not long for the job there. I can't imagine Kupchak might not even.

[Je Skeets]

Be in the front office.

[Trey Kirby]

They're saying he's cooking this year.

[Je Skeets]

This was nice. This may have saved him his job. Possibly.

[Trey Kirby]

And they're not gonna sign. Miles Bridges is.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, right, right. And he wasn't traded because he would not waive his no trade clause. So there's that as well. Okay, those are some winners. Let's get to some losers. Who do you have in your list?

[Tas Melas]

Everybody's just talking about the teams that didn't make a deal. I want to talk about the person that didn't get dealt. I'm talking about Malcolm Brogdon. Kind of deeper on the Portland Trailblazers. You don't think of him. They have a bunch of vets that they worked in there this year. And unfortunately for him, he didn't get dealt from a very bad team. You know, he's missed a lot of games in his career. I'm sure he has years left. He's 31 years old, but at some point, I'd like to see him on a good team because I don't know how many more good years he has left. There was Victor Oladipo who got dealt this year or recently, I should say. And then he was released by the Memphis Grizzlies. I wonder how much Oladipo is left. I'm sure Malcolm Brogdon has more. But just to make that comparison, I mean, Malcolm Brogdon again, missed a lot of minutes over his career. A lot of games over his career. Sixth man of the year last year.

[Trey Kirby]

He was on a good team last year.

[Tas Melas]

He was a good team. Yeah, he was on a great team last year.

[Trey Kirby]

And he said, see ya.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, it was a weird move. Obviously, the Blazers tried really hard playing alongside deandre Ayton, Jeremy Grant, and this thing has just fallen apart. Lakers, what are you waiting for? Can't get Malcolm Brogdon here. You get to get to get somebody to get Malcolm Broggan just somewhere new. I just want to see him on a good team in the playoffs doing something. So unfortunately for Malcolm Brogdon, he's gonna have to wait till the off season to see if the Blazers move on. But it's just, you know, we talk about the Charlotte Hornets. At least they went young, they went younger with their Brandon Miller Lamello ball. Blazers have not. They're. They're in this sort of, you know, two way zone here. You know, we've got the youngies, but we've got the oldies and they're very bad. So Malcolm Brogdon, it's unfortunate. I'd love to see the president with a better team, just on a better team.

[Je Skeets]

You will. It just, yeah. Didn't happen here at the deadline moving forward. But they seem to also like the idea of, like, having a guy to teach Scoot Henderson how to be a pro and some of these other guys in the locker room.

[Trey Kirby]

That's what Vindhurst said today on the Hoop Collective podcast, is that they basically want to pull the Houston Rockets and be competitive again next year. And if that's the case, then Malcolm Brogdon is there. Fred Van Vliet, a guy who is going to be a veteran out there and a professional and get guys in the right places. But Brogdon's a little overrated. He's kind of just about driving to the hoop and getting some shots up. He doesn't make a lot of other guys better, I don't think as a player on a big team, which is why all of these competitors are kind of fine seeing him go.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I would think his optimum role on a good team is just a backup point guard. Just. Just to be that guy to like he was on the Boston Celtics last year.

[Je Skeets]

He won sixth man of the year.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

This is funny. Last year.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I just, I know those, those games are. They're dwindling a little bit. You know, the years before, he played 36 games and 50. He's missed a ton of games. He's. He's in his 30s here. It's time, I think Victor Olipo, I said goodbye to that prince a few weeks ago. I think it's basically over for Victor Ol Dipo. He's injured, hasn't played this whole season, and Brogdon's going to get some more minutes. But he would have didn't play last night. There are just games he misses. So it's unfortunate.

[Je Skeets]

Trey, who do you have as a loser from the deadline?

[Trey Kirby]

LeBron James. LeBron James, he's a loser for me. He applied a lot of pressure to the Lakers front office. Between the hourglass emoji wearing a Knicks outfit to the game against the Knicks wearing a Knicks towel and showing off his back against the Knicks, nothing happened. Felt like 2018, him putting all this pressure on the team to make some changes. Felt like last year at the trade deadline. LeBron putting all the pressure on the front office to make some changes in 2018. Cavs made a bunch of moves, went to the finals and kept the Collin Sexton pick last year. Lakers made a bunch of moves, went to the conference finals this year, no moves. Rob Pelinka said, you can't buy a house that's not for sale. Maybe that's true, but if you offer a lot of stuff, a lot of people will sell you their house, right? If you overpay for a house, you can buy pretty much any house that's out there. If you want to pay too much for it, they just didn't want to. Then you fast forward to last night's game. No DLO out there. He came down with left knee soreness. He's had a weird little injury sort of thing. They said he was having a procedure, but wait, it's not a procedure. It was just a tune up. Max Christie sprains his ankle, Jared Vanderbilt is out, and suddenly we're looking at a bunch of Jackson Hayes and Skyler Mays. Minutes.

[Je Skeets]

Rhymes.

[Tas Melas]

They've got injuries for sure.

[Trey Kirby]

They've got injuries for sure. And at this point they have to hope that Gabe Vincent can come back and be better than he was to the season. They have to hope that Jared Vanderbilt can come back, he'll give them some defense, which will help, but couldn't play in the playoffs last year when it came down to it. And they have to hope that d' Angelo Russell, his great streak of playing here for two weeks is the real d' Angelo Russell, which good luck. The other Thing they're hoping for is that their buyout pitch works. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Lakers buyout pitch. We're built for the playoffs. Be a part of that. Okay, fair. I think they are built for the playoffs. They won't have to play as many guys. They got LeBron and AD. Great. Lakers could offer $1.5 million. Prorated because of the money they held onto when not giving Gabe Vincent the full mle. Only other teams can only offer a million dollars. Sure, okay, another 500 grand. I'm in on it.

[Je Skeets]

Intrigued.

[Trey Kirby]

Third part of the plan. Have you ever been to Southern California? It is nice. It's very nice. But honestly, they're playing the buyout market now and their main target, it seems like, is Spencer Dinwiddie who was sitting with the Dallas Mavericks bench last night in New York. Not a great deadline for the Lakers, but what are they going to do? I mean, they could have made some moves. They could have traded their picks for a Dejounte Murray or something like that. But I think the Lakers wisely looked at their team and said, we don't have it. We cannot win the championship even if we make a move for Dejounte Murray. So maybe we'll have a better shot at it in the summer when some more picks are available. They did the smart thing, but that's not what LeBron James wanted to happen, right?

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. What do you think?

[Tas Melas]

It's an extremely disappointing season for the Lakers. They can still finish where they finished last year and went to the conference finals, but it just seems like they're so banged up that it's. It's kind of hard to imagine. Last year they made that trade trades and were able to get guys like Vanderbilt and guys who are working really hard. But Vanderbilt, who knows when he'll be back. He's going to be out several weeks, at least until March. Cam Reddish, same deal, probably until next month, but it could be, it could be sooner. And Gabe Vincent actually no idea when he's coming back. So that's three guys that are part of the rotation that would resemble what they did last year as sort of role players and guys who could just work off of LeBron and. And Anthony Davis. Just a little disappointing that they didn't go find at least like a three point shooter from, from a guard because that's something that they're really lacking and that's what Gabe Vincent would be. But Gabe Vincent may not even come back this year. He may not play at all. So it ain't the Same as it was last year. And this is a team that won. The ist did them in maybe.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what's really crazy about this year with their record and where they are is that Anthony Davis is healthy and he is playing for the most part. He's played nearly 50 games. LeBron James, despite his age, has played 47 games. Like, and these guys obviously still great. But like there's no excuse, like, oh, we missed AD for four weeks. I mean, you went through all the other guys, but not their star guys last year. Well, it was Russell Westbrook was the problem. He was the scapegoat. And it actually turned out to be sort of true, oddly, because they brought in a bunch of other guys and it clicked as they made that run in the playoffs. But yeah, what is it now? Who's the scapegoat? It's like they can just look at injuries to all these, you know, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh best players and that's what they can say. But yeah, LeBron's got to be a little frustrated. Lakers fans obviously spin it right away like, okay, look, we didn't trade that one pick because we only had one pick really to trade. Don't you worry, once we get to the dead, excuse me, to the draft, we're going to open up more picks.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[Je Skeets]

More of a package that then we can maybe go get a star guy because we'd have like just more draft capital to persuade a team, maybe Dejounte Murray, the Hawks, stuff like that, which makes sense because they just didn't have a lot to offer teams to get.

[Tas Melas]

In a key player and you'll have a 40 year old player next year. And LeBron James, I mean, well, maybe.

[Trey Kirby]

Also a question, right?

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Do you want 50 million from the Lakers or less from someone else? Probably, Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

I have as a loser sort of pairs with The Lakers and LeBron, I guess Dejounte Murray and the Atlanta Hawks I have as a loser of the trade deadline. Yeah, yeah. I think the Hawks just did what the Raptors did last offseason. I think they just replicated it. They overvalued their guys, they set their asking prices way too high and then they didn't move any of them. And I think what's going to happen is their value is just going to go down. But for Dejounte Murray not to get dealt, obviously DeAndre Hunter, Clint Capella, I mean Bogdanovic had been in a lot of trade rumors, so he's on a decent deal and they just really did. They did nothing. So here they are. It's like the same squad. They're gonna look great. Some nights they're gonna lose the teams they shouldn't. On other nights they're not gonna do anything come playoff time because it doesn't fit like Trey and Dejounte, when they're on the floor together just is an ill fit. When they're separate, they're actually all right. When Trey is sitting Dejounte, Murray, you know, puts up like Damian Lillard type numbers. Over 36. Trey looks awesome when Dejounte is not there. It's just when they're out there together, it's not right. So I'm just a little frustrated that they didn't do anything. They're going to say they're going to kick the can down the road and maybe they'll cash in, but I think they did really what the Raps like when we talked about them last deadline where they didn't move their guys. Now, at least the Hawks didn't go trade a first round pick for a player like Purdl like the Raps did last year and convinced themselves they had something there. At least they didn't do that. But they didn't move off of any of these guys. You disagree?

[Tas Melas]

No, I, I don't disagree. I just. I'm just trying to find out or look at the play in tournament, the standings right now and who I want the Hawks to play because I think they probably have a chance against.

[Trey Kirby]

They're playing the Bulls. Lock it in, right? Yeah, Bulls lock it into 9 and 10 right then.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, looks like it.

[Trey Kirby]

And go balls.

[Tas Melas]

They'll win.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. But like. Okay, so they're gonna play in a plane.

[Tas Melas]

No, it's not a good thing.

[Je Skeets]

That's. That's exactly what happened to the Raptors. That's my point. Last year, it's like it's the worst spot we always talk about being in. It's like you're not bad enough to get a high draft pick. You're not good enough to do absolutely anything except win a play in game, maybe get in a playoff series. But no one has them beating any of these upper echelon teams in the East.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, they thought they had a defense to work around. Trey and Dejante. That obviously hasn't happened. Trey and Dejounte working off the ball, Trey separately, dejante separately. Just being off ball guys hasn't worked. The difference with the Raptors is those guys were expiring contracts Dejante signed forever. So, yes, maybe he'll get something back for them at Some other date. You're right, it's not looking good. That's, that's for sure. Even though they had four game win streak.

[Trey Kirby]

That's right.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, that's right. You know those, those packages that they were asking for once they had the four game win streak included another draft picker too. Had that not happened, maybe they are willing to move off one of these guys. Again, I'm talking Murray, Hunter, Capella. Like there's, it's not just one. It's not just Dejounte Murray. That's the key name because that was at the top of everybody's like, oh, that's the best available player at the deadline. There's a lot of other guys they should be moving off of if possible. And they didn't. So they're sticking with it here.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, first round picks were not flying around yesterday. Two of them were traded yesterday. Then we had the Siakam trade that also included first round picks. But I think the Bobby marks stat was 11 teams controlled 75% of the upcoming picks or something like that. And if they're not in on it, it's going to be hard for anybody else to pay the price that a team like the Hawks would want because they traded so much for Dejounte Murray that they're not only wanting one pick back, then you look at their players further on down the line. Like you're talking about like it might have made sense to move Hunter if they could, but they probably want a first round pick for that back and nobody wants his contract. Capella's not worth a first round pick at this point. Maybe they could have for Bogdanovic, but he's kind of a key member for their team because he can actually play alongside Trey and Dejounte Murray. They're just going to have to hope that Murray keeps his hot streak up and that maybe somebody is more interested in paying up picks in the summer.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. All right. Those are our winners and losers from the NBA trade deadline. Tell us who we missed or your picks. Let us know in the stream team. Let us know in the comments. Tweet at us. No Dunks Inc. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll look at Kobe's statue, some of the games from last night, and a whole lot more. Don't go anywhere. Okay. Still here in the classic factory. Let's get into some fill in the blank. Fill in the blank time. First one. The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant last night honoring their late superstar with a 19 foot bronze likeness that will live outside the arena. The statue depicts Kobe in his white number 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81 point performance against the Raptors back in January 2006. So again, there's a look for everybody joining us on YouTube. The fill in the blank question. Oh, some nice details there on the hand and foot. Fill in the blank. The Lakers Kobe Bryant statue is.

[Tas Melas]

It'S excellence. I think they kept it simple here with the first of three Kobe statues that are coming. This. That's unprecedented. There's going to be three of them. I think they kept it very simple with the first one just a finger up.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

No, no particular pose you might know of Kobe, just Kobe, you know. And it's. It's really about basketball with this one. At this event with the invite, only former Los Angeles Lakers players, a ton of them were there. I think Kareem put it best. He explained the statue. He said this statue may look like Kobe, but really it's what excellence looks like, what discipline looks like, what commitment looks like, what love of family looks like. The statue is a wonderful contribution. It captures a person frozen in time while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there is a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless. So I think this one's gonna be simple and then can't wait to see the other ones.

[Je Skeets]

Two more coming. You're right.

[Tas Melas]

One with Gianna and I'm not sure about the other one.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But some 24 one.

[Je Skeets]

Yes, that's right. That they did say that and Vanessa did say, I guess before they took the curtain off. For the record, Kobe picked the pose you're about to see. So if anyone has any issues with it, tough shit. She called that. Said that. Yeah. What do you think about this statue?

[Trey Kirby]

Check please.

[Je Skeets]

Finger up.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Looks like Kobe's calling for his bill so he can sign off and head home. But yeah, it looks cool. Looks like him. I think it's a good likeness.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, it is a good likeness.

[Je Skeets]

They do a really good job, the Lakers do, of getting the likeness down pat. If. If would you have known this was from the 81 point game?

[Trey Kirby]

No.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, I don't think so.

[Trey Kirby]

But I'm not a Kobe. Stan like that. And if you're a Lakers fan, you probably do recognize this as his. One of his crowning achievements. 81 points.

[Tas Melas]

But he did it to our Toronto Raptors. And I still wouldn't really remember.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, I know, I know because it's.

[Tas Melas]

It's super simple.

[Je Skeets]

Well, and he has like another 15 more iconic images that pop in your head of, you know, either arms out celebrating or the, you know, ripping the jersey to the side or chewing on his jersey. Like there's so many more other, like Kobe, like shots that snap into your head before this one, but he picked this one. And obviously, again, representing the 81 point game, it's got a QR code on the base that you can take your phone up to and then you're watching the highlights of the performance. That's sort of cool. And it says on one of the sides of the base, leave the game better than you found it. And when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend. But yeah, this is the first of many. There's gonna be 1 in 24 and then 1 in theory with GG. So I don't know when we will see those, but probably in the coming years. I have a quick trivia question for you guys if you want to try it. Can you name the 13? Because we're including Kobe now. Basketball legends with a statue at the NBA arena. Okay. It has to be at the NBA arena.

[Trey Kirby]

There's Shaq, lsu.

[Je Skeets]

Exactly. And there are. And there are other statues at call. Yeah. Colleges and in other locations, but actually at the arena. You want to take a. Take a stab at it.

[Trey Kirby]

All right, let's start with the Lakers.

[Je Skeets]

Okay. Lots of Lakers.

[Trey Kirby]

Are you going to include Chick Hearn?

[Je Skeets]

No, I'm going Players only players Basketball led.

[Trey Kirby]

Shaquille o' Neal.

[Je Skeets]

Yes. I will give you the year after you call it 2017. Obviously with the Lakers.

[Trey Kirby]

Kareem.

[Je Skeets]

Kareem. 2012.

[Tas Melas]

Magic.

[Je Skeets]

Magic. 2004. Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

And then you got like seven out there. Jerry West.

[Je Skeets]

Jerry West. 2011.

[Trey Kirby]

Elgin Baylor.

[Je Skeets]

Yes. 2018. That came after Shaq. So you're up to six because I'm including Kobe, of course.

[Trey Kirby]

And then Chickern is number seven. Okay.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm just thinking Lakers specifically.

[Je Skeets]

I'm gonna tell you right now there's one more Lakers player, but it's not in la.

[Trey Kirby]

One more Lakers player, but it's not.

[Je Skeets]

Well, like, like, yeah. I mean, there's another Lakers player too, but it's also not in la. But anyway, this one is more. It actually says Lakers on the statues chest.

[Trey Kirby]

Huh?

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

What?

[Je Skeets]

Where?

[Trey Kirby]

George Mikin.

[Je Skeets]

There we go. It's in Minneapolis, so counts obviously.

[Trey Kirby]

Great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice. I guess I didn't know that George Mikan has a statue. What year did they print that one?

[Je Skeets]

2001. Yeah, I didn't know either.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, Dirk Nowitzki.

[Je Skeets]

Here you go. 20, 22. We're up to eight, so you have five left. Michael Jordan, 1994 for the Bulls.

[Trey Kirby]

That guy got to play when his statue was outside of the arena. Who else has done that?

[Je Skeets]

It's great.

[Trey Kirby]

Bullshit. Nobody.

[Je Skeets]

Okay, you're up to nine. You're missing.

[Trey Kirby]

Are you counting Scottie Pippen? He's got a bust inside the United States.

[Je Skeets]

No, I am not. I am not.

[Trey Kirby]

Me neither.

[Je Skeets]

So, okay, I'm gonna give it to you one more. One more guy that was a Lakers legend, but he is a legend for other franchises and hence has his statue in this other city on the East Coast. So you haven't named a really good iconic Lakers player, but you know, a legend.

[Trey Kirby]

Magic Shack.

[Je Skeets]

No, no, no, not Shaq. Probably the Shack before Shack, though.

[Trey Kirby]

Kareem?

[Je Skeets]

No, the other big, awesome giant center, Wilt. There you go. Wilt Chamberlain has one in Philadelphia. 2004. They. Okay, they launched. They unveiled that one. And then. Oh, sorry, three more left. You didn't name this one. I'm glad I caught it. You have three more left. Two in one city and one I've. I've taken a photo with you in.

[Trey Kirby]

Front of Red Auerbach.

[Je Skeets]

No, that's not at the arena.

[Trey Kirby]

That's just on the streets.

[Tas Melas]

Does Russell.

[Je Skeets]

No.

[Tas Melas]

Larry have one? Larry Bird?

[Je Skeets]

No.

[Trey Kirby]

Taking a photo together?

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, we took a photo, but we were not at a basketball game. I think we were watching wrestling.

[Trey Kirby]

Dominique.

[Je Skeets]

Classic, 2015. And then two more guys. Same team. Same franchise, of course, is what I'm talking about. Same arena. We were just there. I don't know if we actually saw them now. There you go. Stockton and Malone. So the list is, it's Jordan, George Mikin in Minneapolis. It's Wilton, Philly. It's Magic Johnson. It's Stockton, Malone, Jerry West, Kareem Neek, Shaq, Baylor, Dirk, and now Kobe. Those are your 13 basketball legends with statues and at the arena because. Yeah, there are other ones.

[Trey Kirby]

Dwyane Wade up next.

[Je Skeets]

I guess so. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Will we get the Dwayne Wade before we get another Kobe?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it's a rush. We'll find out who put in their order first.

[Je Skeets]

There was basketball on last night, and I want you. TK get us started to fill in the blank. Best game from Thursday night was.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, we haven't talked about the Lakers enough yet, but I think they was the game of the night last night between the Nuggets and Lakers. Game 5 of the Western Conference finals went exactly the same as the first four games of the Western Conference finals. It was close, it was competitive. And the Nuggets made just a couple of more plays to get the win. Going down in history is the most competitive sweep in NBA history. And continued on a tie game with two minutes left. And then the Nuggets just hit the gas. Jamar Jamal Murray hit a deep three. Taurean Prince got completely lost on defense. He got double screened, basically couldn't get around. Easy one for Murray. Then the Nuggets get a stop on the other end. The ball ends up in Jamal Murray's hands. No, Lakers stop the ball. Easy floater inside. Then another stop for the Nuggets. Ball gets to Jokic at the elbow. Austin Reaves tries to sneak around and get a steal from him from behind, leaving Michael Porter Jr. Wide open in the corner for a dagger three. Just a brutal gambler from Reeves. Eight points in 55 seconds for the Nuggets. And we talked the other day about teams that are potentially fraudulent at the top of the standings here. And you watch a game like this and you're like, this is exactly why the Nuggets do not qualify. Because they're never going to beat themselves. You have to beat the Nuggets. Teams can beat the Nuggets, it can happen. But it's not because the Nuggets are doing dumb stuff. They're going to get a good shot every single time down often they're making it. But like look at what they did against the Heat in the finals last year. Michael Porter Jr. Could not buy a bucket and it didn't matter at all. They are a well oiled machine. They've now beaten the Lakers their last seven meetings. Yeah, and that's got to be discouraging for the Lakers because clearly they're chasing after the Nuggets right now and they are far behind them.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, they don't have enough size for that team. That's, that's. That was supposed to be the thing that happened in the off season. Christian Wood was the guy they got. Jackson Hayes, actually a couple big blocks in this one. That was supposed to be that massive.

[Je Skeets]

Chase down block that then led to a Lakers 3. I think that tied it up. Yeah, the place was going bonkers.

[Trey Kirby]

It was loud.

[Je Skeets]

And then Jamal Murray quieted them with that three. I mean just. That guy's cold blooded.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

And loves playing against the Lakers and.

[Tas Melas]

He loves to turn it on in the fourth quarter. This Nuggets team won a championship. So they're not going every single night of every single game. But here we go in February. The game is tight right till the end. 10, 0 run and it's over. And it's good to see a guy like Peyton Watson help out there in that fourth quarter. Because that's the question. That's the only question. With the Denver Nuggets, who's going to come off the bench? Obviously Reggie Jackson is going to be their point guard, Christian Brown's going to help, and Peyton Watson is going to be the other guy. Now it looks like DeAndre Jordan and his hats are dunking balls right now as a backup center, which is caught.

[Trey Kirby]

For a soup last night.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, it was pretty. So those four guys are, you know, taking the place of Jeff Green and Bruce Brown, who didn't get moved yesterday. So those are the questions. That's the only question. Because they turn it on when they want.

[Je Skeets]

I love that. The idea of like, yeah, the Nuggets never beat themselves. And it's so true. And a big part of it is because in a clutch situation, when it's a close game, they're running a two man game with Jokic and Murray and then all these other guys, you're going to be open because they're going to, like, have to gamble, come and help scramble. And so, like, it's Watson, cut off, cut baseline, got an easy bucket, the one you said. Michael Porter Jr. Wide open. 3. You know, that was a dumb play by Reeves. I mean, wish he probably had. He probably wishes he had that back. But, like, it's just so steady when that ball is in Jokic's hand every time. And then Murray, who obviously when he's on a heater, feels like he's unstoppable. Whoo. That was a fun ending. And these teams at least play very entertaining games. Like, it's. Every game is close and down the wire and Denver just keeps eeking it up. But yeah, they look awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't think of Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic necessarily as rivals, but, man, it is awesome to watch them go up against each other because Davis brings it against Jokic. He helped force six turnovers from Jokic last night. Four blocks for Anthony Davis. And there are times when you're like, it looks like Jokic has him beat, gets by him, and then Davis just comes flying back in from behind for the, for the blocks. But they are just such different stylistic players that, I don't know, they just don't seem like rivals. I don't know, but they definitely are, especially if they're going to keep meeting in important games.

[Je Skeets]

Tess, fill in the Blank. Give us another game. What was another one from last night?

[Tas Melas]

I'm going deep. The Pistons Blazers actually is important. It's important to us here at the no dunks table because we have that bet. It's called the Nut Dust bowl, where someone unfortunately will have to inhale nut dust. Yeah. From. From your favorite. From your favorite nuts. Anyways, tbd. TBD on that one. But at the end of the season. Yeah. The worst record of the Pistons, Hornets or Wizards, gonna have to suck that back right now. Right now the Pistons are the worst at eight, but it's close now. Hornets at nine and Wizards at 10. So they're all within two games. And as you said, point differential. Pistons have the best one of all three. Anyways, they're starting to look better. They gave away some of their vets obviously to the Knicks yesterday. So with those trades, you're going to have to play. And I think this bodes well. Cade Ivy, Duran, Asar Thompson, those four guys, that's their young four, core, core four. And they are going to have to go forward and play. And it's just been such a weird year. Jay N. Ivey was coming off the bench for a while. He played 48 minutes yesterday against the Portland Trailblazers because it went to overtime. But now he's playing. Monty Williams decided, oh yeah, this guy's good. Let's play him and him. Cade and Jalen Duran all scored more than 20. It was so weird. It was a weird game. Marcus Sasser, who is also going to have to play for the Pistons, had a layup opportunity against the Glass just to win the game. At the end of regulation, it was late and so they were still able to go into overtime and win that thing for their second win in a row.

[Je Skeets]

Woo.

[Tas Melas]

The first two game streak since October right at the beginning of the season, it wasn't, it wasn't ugly. Overtime. They won 8, 2 in overtime. So we're not going to.

[Je Skeets]

Well, Jeremy Grant had 49 points last night too in the loss, but that's crazy.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, no Brogdon, it was just a wild game. Yeah, no Brogdon in that one. So here we go. It's going to be a fun, you know, 30, 35 games left.

[Je Skeets]

So Pistons with eight wins, Wizards with nine wins, Hornets with 10. Is where we stand right now with obviously a lot of basketball still to go, but. And you said you were checking the schedule, that these teams, our three crappy teams here, they play each other, it feels like almost once each.

[Trey Kirby]

I think they all have about one game against each other.

[Je Skeets]

Wow.

[Trey Kirby]

Interesting.

[Je Skeets]

We have to jump on playback for those.

[Trey Kirby]

No, no, I'm busy. 27 points and 22 rebounds for Jalen Duran. That's a lot of roast beef. But I think he'll have the opportunity to have a lot of 20 rebound games going forward because they traded their two best shooters and this is a team that did not have much shooting to begin with. I guess Simone Fontechio is going to have all the shots he wants.

[Je Skeets]

Maybe I'll pick one more game just to show some love to give me. The Suns cruising to a 129, 115 victory over the Jazz. Good Phoenix win. Never trailed. Won their third straight game 12 of their last 15. Suns are rolling right now. Offensive masterpiece despite not even having Devin Booker. But KD was 31. Beal with 30. Bradley Beal is starting to get it going again here, which is dangerous for the rest of the west. Suns nearly shot 60% from the field. They had 37 assists to 12 turnovers. They scored 30 fast break points. This was really good stuff. And then all the other guys contributing, Eric Gordon 7 of 8 shooting, Nurkic 16, 8 and Grayson Allen turned into a point guard last night. Career high 14 assists that like nearly doubled up his career high. And assist 14 assists for Grayson Allen. So they're just, they're just rolling right now and you know, they did some retooling at the deadline. They got Royce o' Neil coming in, they got David the Body Roddy from Memphis. So, you know, neither of those guys available to play last night didn't matter and they are going to like there's enough gap still between the Suns because they started so poorly between them and then like the top four teams in the West. But could one of those top four teams hit a bad stretch, maybe an injury or something and the Suns could maybe jump into home court advantage? I think it's, I think so because I think this team's going to continue to get better and better as long as they stay healthy as the season goes on. But just some love to them.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, the Suns, like the Clippers, had a poor start to the season, but since the injuries have been squashed, they look so much better. Since Christmas, the Suns are tied for most wins in the NBA. So the six weeks have been good because they've all been healthy. Key guys have all just missed one game in Booker and Beal, et cetera. Durant has missed three, but all the rest of them, just one game. And Chris, now that's a good point. He just needed a New start. I was. I was surprised because Milwaukee tried him out so many times at the shooting guard spot. He just needed a new city. He is good. He is Mr. Four, the fourth best sort of perimeter player along with Yusuf Nurkic, obviously, that's their five. And yeah, they gave away all those guys that were on minimum deals and that. We all thought maybe. Maybe Katie Bates G op can shoot some threes like he did for the Spurs. Maybe Chimezi Metu can fly around. Maybe Utah Watanabe can shoot those threes. He will. Maybe he will in Memphis. Maybe Goodwin. They gave up.

[Je Skeets]

He's a fine backup point card man.

[Tas Melas]

I thought so. I thought so too. But yeah, they. They go get David Roddy and Rice o' Neill. Rice o' Neill being the key here, I think.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, he'll actually play.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

And maybe make a difference. At least he'll help defensively. Some assignments you would think. You would think. But yeah, and then we had the. We had a couple other. Like the Cavs continuing to win. Wolves got a good one. They bounced back. So they stay at top there of the Western Conference along with the Nuggets, I guess, in the number one spot. Final fill in the blank here. The NBA trade deadline come and gone. But that doesn't mean the transactional madness has to stop. Guys, we're talking about the buyout market. We got Kyle Lowry, we got Spencer Dinwiddie, we got a Morris, bro. We got Thaddeus Young, we got the entire 20, 23, 24 pistons. I'm talking Joe Harris, I'm talking Gallinari. I'm talking Killian Hayes. Technically not a bio. Who cares? Who's waved?

[Trey Kirby]

Mike Moscala. Come on down soon enough.

[Je Skeets]

I want to know. Fill in the blank task. Most interesting bio player is.

[Tas Melas]

It's Spencer Dinwiddie.

[Je Skeets]

You didn't say Kyle. You've talked about Kyle Lowry for the last week.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, the last decade, actually.

[Je Skeets]

Holy.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. Kyle Lowry's going to Philadelphia. We know it. Okay, they traded away Patrick Beverly. Of course he's going there. They're not gonna let Campaign be the backup point guard. They got Kyle Lowry potential.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Give him the key to the city. But Spencer did what? He's just damn interesting as Trey brought up. He was at a Knicks game yesterday. Dallas in town. Yeah, he got released from the. He got traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors and got released. So he said, okay, I'm going to this game. And he sat with the Mavs, his former team. And he sat beside Mark Cuban, specifically. Hey, Cubes, I know you just got $4 billion. You got most of that when you sold your team. You can find a way to give me a check, get me back there. Remember the game winners? He used to hit as a Dallas Maverick.

[Trey Kirby]

Who could forget?

[Tas Melas]

Who could forget? Come off the bench and hit some shots. So the Mavs, I think, as we've seen them go get PJ Washington and go get Daniel Gafford. I think they're gonna go get Spencer Dinwiddie.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Why not? Why not?

[Trey Kirby]

But has he ever been to Southern California? He grew up there. He has. He has. He is the most interesting buyout candidate, I think, which means he's pretty. Pretty dry trough.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

I do believe the buyout market almost never does anything. It's just something to talk about one day during the regular season where we say, oh, ye. Yeah, he might help this one. You can at least say, Lowry and Dinwiddie are good players. Could help a team. So maybe whoever does get them is going to be like, oh, yeah, sweet. We got a guy for, you know, a million bucks or a million and a half. Nice.

[Tas Melas]

It's a dry trough. You're right. It's dry in SoCal as well. Does it ever rain?

[Trey Kirby]

I thought it was pouring atmosphere.

[Tas Melas]

It's unfortunate.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, that's. Dave McMenamon. Needs to fix that tweet. The weather ain't that good.

[Trey Kirby]

You don't want to come now?

[Je Skeets]

No.

[Trey Kirby]

Nice, though.

[Je Skeets]

A lot of rain.

[Trey Kirby]

Killian Hayes is a surprise, though. Talk about interesting that he's available. The guy started a game and they got cut.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. This guy's been in the league, what, four years? Number seven pick, right? I know.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. He's 2020 draft, I think.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, that's. That's wild. I mean, that's not. And he's playing on a team where it's like, you got an opportunity, man. He had chances. Yeah. And then I guess book night was another guy that's waved. Not that he was good at all, but.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, my. Main man Ferka and Cork Maz should be available. Honestly, if the Bull. The Bulls need shooting, man. And if they pick up Cork Maws, I will order a jersey.

[Je Skeets]

No way.

[Trey Kirby]

Absolutely.

[Tas Melas]

It says Cork Maws on it.

[Trey Kirby]

Bulls. Cork Maz jersey. Sicko mode.

[Je Skeets]

Wow. All right. I can't wait to see it. That's possible.

[Trey Kirby]

I hope it happens.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, definitely not.

[Trey Kirby]

Really. I mean, those jerseys are probably expensive.

[Je Skeets]

What about Gallinari? Would you get a Bulls jersey for him?

[Trey Kirby]

Nah, just Cork Maz.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Pop the Cork Mazz. Let's do it. Let's do it.

[Je Skeets]

All right, let's. Let's pivot from fill in the blank to some five star Friday. Yes. You got the reviews for us, Trey.

[Trey Kirby]

Kirby Once again, I got the reviews. A lot of discovery stories in the reviews this time around. I don't know if because it came in in January, people just reflecting on their lives, their podcasts. So let's take a look at these five star reviews. Every first Friday of the month or sometimes the second Friday of the month we'll read five five star reviews from Apple podcasts because they're very helpful in the rankings and we love to be ranked highly. Our first one comes from Jay Rondo. The title is My Best Friends. I've actually been listening to this show daily since as long as I can remember. It's weird to think that to me, the no Dunks crew plus JD plus Matty O plus Lele are my all time best pals, but they have no idea of my existence. Everyone I know knows about no Dunks because if they know me, they know about my homies. It's kind of odd, but I love it.

[Je Skeets]

5 stars Rondo. Good stuff, Jay Rondo.

[Trey Kirby]

Thank you. Thank you, J. Rondo. Next 5 star review comes from Dark Reji off brand Inside the NBA. Is it a slam? Let's find out. When I was younger, the Philippines only had a little NBA content on tv. We usually get a few delayed games and random shows during weird hours of the day. One of those odd hours introduced me to a show I thought was inside the NBA. I remembered that inside the NBA had four hosts who ramble about the games that I that is what I saw at random at 3am Four friends talking about basketball and loving every second of it. It's been 18 years since that day and I'm 99% sure I have seen every main show squad Is this good and the great Beyond. I tried to get into the other ones like no breaks, no bunts and no buffs. Apparently didn't take that.

[Je Skeets]

Oh yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But he tried. Looking back, I'm thankful that it was not inside the NBA playing on my tv, but the instant classic factory of the starters. Thank you.

[Je Skeets]

Five stars. Wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Trey Kirby]

From the Philippines. Love it.

[Je Skeets]

So literally. Thought for a while though they were watching inside the NBA. So what, like maybe thought I was Ernie? Thought you were Kenny. Thought you were, you know, Chuck or Shep. Yeah, I don't know.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, that one's a little bit of a mystery. But I love the global reach Next five star review from Luke Summers. Now this is chill. These boys sure are chill. Kenny Beacham recommended your guys show on his podcast for daily NBA recaps and I felt inclined to check it out. Haven't missed a day since. My NBA knowledge is now through the roof thanks to these three fine fellas. Thanks Luke, and thanks Kenny.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, shout out to numbers on the board. The new pod for Kenny and the boys there. Omaha. ESPN and Omaha. Yeah, they're doing big things.

[Trey Kirby]

Peyton Manning watches that podcast. That's crazy.

[Tas Melas]

That's true.

[Trey Kirby]

Crazy when you think about it that way. All right, next five star review from kkkarrot. Cake? Yeah, it's a chunky holy moly. Not a longtime listener, but a first time writer reviewer. I've loved hockey since 2011. In my sophomore year of high school when I went to my first NHL game in Tampa and for most of my adult life since then, hockey was the only sport I loved. Wanted to get into the NBA. Having a lot of nostalgia for the Magic. Having lived in Orlando for a little while when I was really little, but still influenced enough to cover all my binders and folders with different ways to write. TMAC Attack. TMAC attack. Yeah, yeah, you know, binders and folders. It was impossible to get into the NBA with the NHL season and games happening at the exact same time until I stumbled across no dunks last year and have been fully transformed into a basketball sicko. You guys have made me smile and laugh so much. On top of teaching me all types of different things about the game. As I become more and more entrenched in sicko mode, I truly mean it when I say Skeets, Tas and Trey are the best in the game. Greatest of all time. And it's not close. No offense to anyone else, but it's the truth. Thanks guys and thank you. Carrot cake.

[Je Skeets]

Awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I'd love to hear a new listener.

[Je Skeets]

I see that some of these reviews are coming in around our anniversary that we celebrated precisely the date.

[Trey Kirby]

Precisely.

[Je Skeets]

Think we may be asked for some and the people are coming through.

[Trey Kirby]

All right, so that was four nice discovery stories here. They're totally weird. Review from Dead Man's Chest. The title is Skeets and the whole review is this. JE Skeets Joe E. Skeets Jameson Edward Steen. Skeets John Jacob Jangelheimer Skeets Joel Embiid. Skeets just eats Skeets. That's just a bunch of different ways to white.

[Je Skeets]

JE Skeets stands for Justin Everest.

[Trey Kirby]

Justin Everest skates it Doesn't.

[Je Skeets]

But I always like to say that.

[Trey Kirby]

Gotta stand for something.

[Je Skeets]

Exactly.

[Trey Kirby]

That's what it stands for today. So thank you for your reviews.

[Je Skeets]

Yes, that's it.

[Tas Melas]

John Jacobs. J. Eagleheimer Skeets. That was a good one.

[Trey Kirby]

We love it.

[Je Skeets]

We love it.

[Trey Kirby]

More reviews.

[Je Skeets]

Please keep them coming. Thanks to all our podcast listeners for the five star ratings and reviews. We're gonna take one more break, but when we come back, some rapid fire fun. And you know we're ending with a little super bowl talk. I know this week has been a bit of a blur because of the trade deadline, but can you believe that next week we're gonna be doing a live show in Indianapolis over All Star Weekend. Isn't that crazy?

[Trey Kirby]

That is weird.

[Je Skeets]

Strange. Like we're leaving on Thursday. Wow. I got a pack.

[Trey Kirby]

I only know one thing I'm taking.

[Je Skeets]

Basketball shoes.

[Trey Kirby]

Two things.

[Je Skeets]

Okay, what's the other thing?

[Trey Kirby]

That new no dunks sweatshirt we made.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, that's nice.

[Trey Kirby]

That's cool. Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. We're gonna have to talk to each other in the Slack channels. Hey, are you wearing it today or am I? Because I'm bringing it too.

[Trey Kirby]

I know Jerome's bringing it. Yeah, he already told me he's gonna wear it for the live show Friday. So dibs on Friday, I guess, for Jerome.

[Je Skeets]

Maybe we should all wear it. Be good at photos.

[Tas Melas]

It'd be weird, but we are a team. I didn't order one for that reason because I knew everybody was gonna have one.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, but you'd look great in it, man.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, you do, man. You wear it. Wear it alongside everybody else.

[Je Skeets]

Here's what we'll do. I'll wear it for the first block in the live show and then I'll let you wear it.

[Tas Melas]

Okay, cool.

[Je Skeets]

I mean, you gave somebody your sweater last year, so I'll give you mine this year. It's only right.

[Tas Melas]

And I gave somebody a actually T shirt. Actually, yesterday I bagged. I put a nice Pacers T shirt that we got this week. Yeah, I put it in a nice gift bag. For who brought it to his home. A friend of mine.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, nice.

[Tas Melas]

Nice.

[Je Skeets]

Well, I was going to say you again. You took off your sweater. Or was it a. Like a jacket? I guess.

[Trey Kirby]

Cardigan.

[Tas Melas]

Like a cardigan.

[Je Skeets]

Cardigan, yes. That's the word I'm looking for. You gave that to an actual fan in attendance in Salt Lake City last year. I think it's only right that a fan shows up to our show in Indianapolis with our own crew neck sweater from nodunks.com and gifts it to you.

[Trey Kirby]

Interesting. Okay.

[Tas Melas]

What a reversal. Yeah, I'm excited, actually. I went and bought a replacement for that cardigan. I just happened to be in a store and I saw it and I said, oh, right, same cardigan. So if. If a fan gives me the Pacers sweater, then you'll put it. I'll put it on over top of my cardigan. I'll be really hot.

[Je Skeets]

You'll be very warm. It looks like it's gonna be quite chilly in India. I thought it looked like it was gonna be balmy. And I was talking to somebody who's a runner. I was like, am I gonna be running outside? And then they gave me the weather. They're like, oh, yeah, it's gonna be in the 50s. I was like, that's not too bad.

[Tas Melas]

Not bad.

[Je Skeets]

Fahrenheit. And then he wrote back like a day later. He's like, ah, I screwed up.

[Trey Kirby]

I think it's gonna be in the 20s.

[Je Skeets]

I was like, anyway, we're gonna have a blast. But that's next week. Let's wrap up this drop with some rapid fire fun. I got the questions. These guys got the answers. First one. Espn. Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery are forming a new joint venture to launch a sports streaming service in the fall of 2024. Subscribers will have access to linear sports networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, the SEC Network, the ACC Network, ESPN News, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, TruTV, and ESPN. It's just like cable, baby. Cable TV is back. But BTN, right now, there is no formal name for this joint venture. So let's hear your best suggestions. Guys, what should they call this sucker? Task. What do you got?

[Trey Kirby]

What should they call this sucker?

[Tas Melas]

Cable sports on cable. Live sports. I think you really have to keep it simple.

[Je Skeets]

Yes, I agree. I agree.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, because I. Because I've started playing a game on Nintendo Switch, which is called Nintendo Switch Sports. And it's all sports. Sure. And I know it's. I know what game it is. And me and my kids can play it. We go up head to head. This is hard. I think this is kind of hard. I think they're gonna screw up.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, really? You think they're gonna get too cute with.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, it's gonna be too cute. What. What else are they gonna do? That stupid name like sports.

[Je Skeets]

So you're just going sports?

[Tas Melas]

Well, no, live sports. Live sports.

[Je Skeets]

Live sports. All right.

[Tas Melas]

They can pull that off.

[Je Skeets]

All right.

[Tas Melas]

But there are other channels which are not part of it. Like, there are some Sources like CBS is not part of it. You can't watch a football game. Watch that Souply Bowl.

[Je Skeets]

I didn't. I didn't name CBS and I didn't name NBC.

[Tas Melas]

That's right.

[Je Skeets]

So.

[Tas Melas]

So it is missing some. So football.

[Je Skeets]

What's that football In. In this?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Well, there'll be some football. Yes, yes. Not. Not those that have those. I mean, this is gonna be a mess. But, you know, it is what it is, okay?

[Tas Melas]

Live sports.

[Je Skeets]

If they call it live sports, they got to try and get the rights to the song. We like sports and we don't care.

[Trey Kirby]

That's my answer, man. That's my answer.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm changing it. We live sports. We don't care. Who knows? From shooting hoops to the Super Bowl. No, I can't call it that. Souply bowl, as Tass said, that was.

[Tas Melas]

A weird thing to say by me.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

And it's hard to name a network.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

One that should be important, I would think. The Bro Show.

[Je Skeets]

The Bro Show.

[Trey Kirby]

It's gonna be mostly bro subscribing, I imagine.

[Je Skeets]

All right, so we have live sports and The Bro Show. J.D. come on, please. What do you got for this venture?

[JD]

Well, you're absolutely right that it is basically cable, right?

[Je Skeets]

Sort of, yeah.

[JD]

So back in my day, you know, this is the future of television. But back in my day, when we wanted to say something was futuristic, we just added 2,000 to the end. Remember the whisper? 2,000.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

[JD]

So I want to call it the Sports box. Sports box 2000.

[Je Skeets]

Why didn't you go 3000?

[JD]

No, 2000 is the future, man. 3000, that's way too far in the future. But this is the future. And the few, the. Everything old is new again. So it's. It's the Sports Box 2000.

[Trey Kirby]

That sounds cool.

[JD]

And here's my pitch.

[Je Skeets]

Sports Box might be it actually.

[JD]

Sports box 2000. And here's the pitch.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[JD]

Everybody who subscribes gets one of these babies.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, wow.

[JD]

And what I'm showing you is the Old Rogers. I guess they had it here in the States as well. It's the channel changer that's actually connected to your tv and it has two levels. It's double decker. Yeah, yeah. Oh, do you guys ever use this? But you're probably too young.

[Trey Kirby]

I. I've never seen this.

[JD]

You've never seen this?

[Je Skeets]

I think an uncle had this. Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[JD]

My grandmother had this because. And hey, we're. It's. It's cable, guys. We're back. We did it. We're back. We're gonna be cable without the cable. So SportsBox 2000 is my pitch for the name of this new series.

[Tas Melas]

That's good.

[Je Skeets]

Sports Box is actually. I could see that might be Sports Box.

[Trey Kirby]

Solid sports box.

[Je Skeets]

We gotta trademark that, right? Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

And if it can switch between the actual games. Yeah, that's always a pain in the ass.

[Je Skeets]

That's a pain in the ass.

[Tas Melas]

Whenever you develop an app, whenever you go through an app and you're trying to try to figure it out, that will pop through each and every sports game. Yeah. That's what every sports fan wants.

[Je Skeets]

The other big question is, how much is this going to cost? We don't know the price yet on this. People are saying 40 bucks. Some people are going as high as like 60 bucks. Yeah, I know. I know. So we'll see here, baby.

[Trey Kirby]

Watch my sports. I like sports.

[Je Skeets]

Sports. How am I gonna watch my impractical jokers? I thought this isn't it on true tv.

[Tas Melas]

It is.

[Trey Kirby]

What? You're gonna have to get this if you're a joker head. I don't know, man.

[Je Skeets]

Maybe you gotta go on the cruise. I don't know. All right, next one.

[Trey Kirby]

I hope Sal's okay.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, yeah. I thought this was a joke at first, but apparently it's real. The NBA Players Association Raptors, big man Jakob Poeltle and a guy named Gabe are teaming up to relaunch pourtl. You remember this? The daily online guessing game that tests fans knowledge of their favorite hoopers for those in the dark. Pearl was inspired by the impact of these popular daily online puzzle games. And it gives the player 8 attempts to guess a mystery NBA Player of the day. We played some pertle here.

[Tas Melas]

Trey was playing it yesterday.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, well, we're checking on the new upgraded.

[Trey Kirby]

It looks nice.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, it's better.

[Trey Kirby]

Pearl got nasty with the coding because it looks good.

[Je Skeets]

But what's weird is I didn't know that it went away. I didn't know it was getting the upgrade. I didn't know Purdl himself was involved and the players association. But anyway, Purl's back, baby.

[Tas Melas]

It's his. Yeah, his ip.

[Je Skeets]

So weird question off of this, but I just want to know what's your favorite? Either online puzzle game, if you want to stick with that, or just classic board game tests.

[Tas Melas]

My classic board game that I'm playing is Battleship. Love a good old Battleship. It's kind of a board game. Yeah, it's a fun game.

[Je Skeets]

Did you like the movie?

[Tas Melas]

One on one Never watched.

[Je Skeets]

I never saw that.

[Tas Melas]

Battleship.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, it's purely horrible.

[Tas Melas]

But the game, essential, simple, but fun. It's a good one.

[Je Skeets]

Do you space out your ships or do you clog them all together?

[Tas Melas]

Never. I've never clogged.

[Je Skeets]

You never clog. You spread them all out. I used to always think clock was the move. Clock is a good move because then they hit maybe one of them and then you're like, they're gonna move off.

[Tas Melas]

They could screw up and actually hit multiple.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, right. It's a risk.

[JD]

It's a risk. For sure.

[Je Skeets]

It's a risk. Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

You prefer the straight up version or the electronic talking version?

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, straight up for sure. Didn't like the electronic one.

[Je Skeets]

All right. Favorite online puzzle or classic board game?

[Trey Kirby]

Currently Connections.

[Je Skeets]

Love Connections.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, love Connections. Love Connection. Good show. But Connections. Yeah, it's pretty fun. It's a good one to do with your significant other because you think different ways, right? Like one person will be looking at it like, this is impossible. There's no way I can figure this out. Then the other person looks at it, they're like, oh, those four go together.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, it's one.

[Trey Kirby]

And then once you crack the code, you're like, oh, now it's easy. Connections is fun also.

[Je Skeets]

I love when you don't get it or you get stumped and you get furious at the game. Like, that's a reach. That's bullshit.

[Trey Kirby]

I saw people were pretty upset this week cuz spongebob Square and Pants were in Connections but not connected. That's too easy, people. What a hard job that person must have though. They just got to go through every word in the world every day, come up with four of them that fit together four different times. That's tough.

[Je Skeets]

I've been playing it for a while and just realized the whole color thing is actually telling you the difficulty in theory. Took me a while to realize that. Great game. Do you have a classic board game that you like?

[Trey Kirby]

Your go to current classic board game that we're playing is Clue. Oh, it's pretty cool.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, still holds up.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, we got like a Harry Potter version. It's got all kinds of like moving floors and stuff. It's cool.

[Je Skeets]

Like.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, like you gotta. If you land on whatever, you move a circle and it takes you to a special passageway to go to the room of requirement. It was good, man. Solving mysteries. Love it.

[Je Skeets]

You said this is a Harry Potter version. You think they'll make a knives out version of Clue?

[Trey Kirby]

They should.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a good idea.

[Je Skeets]

Right?

[Tas Melas]

Great idea.

[Je Skeets]

Hand in hand. Okay. J.D. what do you got for online puzzle or classic board game?

[JD]

Yeah, my connections, man. As well. My classic board game. It's more of an adult type thing, but it's. It's a Trivial Pursuit. The classic Trivial Pursuit. All the different versions. I avoid sports like the plague, but, you know, that's the category that gets me. That's where I rely on you guys, you know?

[Je Skeets]

What's your go to category? I?

[JD]

Entertainment.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah.

[JD]

You know, so. But yeah, Triple pursuit. It's underrated as far as I'm concerned.

[Trey Kirby]

I assume they're still making new versions of Trivial Pursuit?

[JD]

I don't know, actually.

[Je Skeets]

I think, to be honest. Yeah. Yeah.

[JD]

People still into it?

[Je Skeets]

I mean. Yeah, I would think so, but I guess there's so many now trivia nights.

[JD]

That's true.

[Je Skeets]

Go out.

[JD]

Yeah. Have a drink, which I also enjoy.

[Je Skeets]

We're due for one of these. We haven't been out in a long time. To a trivia night.

[Tas Melas]

I know.

[Je Skeets]

As the weather starts getting nicer. You can sit on a patio here. All right, Final one. Super Bowl 58. Excuse me. Super Bowl LV I I I Is this Sunday? Yeah. Sunday night. It's the Niners and the Chiefs. It's Mahomes and Brock Purdy. It's Travis and Taylor, of course. So let's make some money, baby. Three quick questions for you guys. Who's winning the game? What's the final score? And most importantly, what. What song will Usher play first during his halftime performance?

[Tas Melas]

I like the Chiefs. My homie is Mahomes. So 21 7.

[Je Skeets]

21 7.

[Tas Melas]

That's too low score. Wow. Take it back.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Anyways, they're gonna win. Okay.

[Je Skeets]

And what's the first?

[Tas Melas]

Usher is really interesting here because I think a lot of people who are gonna be watching the super bowl don't know who Usher is. They don't. Yes, absolutely. He's gonna try and tap into people that don't know who he is.

[JD]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

I don't know.

[Tas Melas]

Anyways, this. It's. It's hard to pick the first Usher song. So I just went simple in a song where he says Usher. Yeah. To start the song. Yeah, yeah, me. The DJs got us falling in love again.

[Je Skeets]

Okay, that song plus 1100 because it's just.

[Tas Melas]

It's a hype song. It's not like a slow R B type song.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

It's not. It's not an Usher song like this DJs. God, that's fallen in love again. I mean, it's fine.

[Je Skeets]

It's A banger. He's gonna play it at some point. It's just whether it'll be the first one.

[Tas Melas]

All right. Yeah. But it's not a real Usher song. It's not. It doesn't get me. Usher's so much.

[Je Skeets]

Because Tess is Mr. R B. So. Yeah. You like the.

[Tas Melas]

You. I don't want to dance.

[JD]

You want a deep cut?

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I want deeper cut. Yeah. Deeper cut. I mean, yeah, he does have a.

[Trey Kirby]

Lot of, like, beautiful, beautiful ballad, slower love songs, which I agree. I don't think he'll, like, open with us. So you got to look for the hype ones. And DJs got us falling in love again. Is an option. Yeah, Is an option, obviously. But that one to me has to come in the middle of the set. People go crazy for it.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

So my opening song, omg, it's got a nice slow ramp up to like, have him come 100.

[Je Skeets]

It's a great start.

[Trey Kirby]

Great song. Because you can like his top notch banger, you know.

[Je Skeets]

Now, the only thing with that one. That's a will. I am right.

[Trey Kirby]

That is a willy.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. So, you know, we're gonna have some guests. We don't know who.

[Tas Melas]

Oh, yeah. That could be that one, though.

[Je Skeets]

That one is a perfect, like the first song. I'm. I think you're right because it, like, you can extend it as long as you want to. Exactly.

[Trey Kirby]

He's coming up.

[Je Skeets]

So that one.

[Trey Kirby]

Fell in love with Taylor. Like, Travis Kelce's the guest.

[Je Skeets]

I heard OMG is plus 175. So, you know, that one is one of the favorites to actually open with. So that's a good one. So what do you got to score?

[Trey Kirby]

And the winning team, Kansas City, 2417.

[Je Skeets]

2417. Okay, we got two Chiefs here. Somewhat similar scores. J.D.

[JD]

Okay, I'll swerve.

[Je Skeets]

Whoa.

[JD]

49Ers.

[Je Skeets]

Wow. Love it.

[JD]

33 to 31. It's gonna be a great game.

[Je Skeets]

It's gonna be the most watched super bowl of all time. They're saying. Yeah, get it on the sports box. 2000.

[JD]

That's exactly right. Well, it's not available on the sports box.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, yeah, Right.

[JD]

But maybe someday the Usher song is gonna be. Yeah, it's got to be. Yeah. Like, I think Tass is right. I think some people don't know who Usher is, but as soon as they hear the.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. These are all great picks, guys.

[JD]

Yeah, that's where the. You know.

[Tas Melas]

Oh, that.

[JD]

That guy. Okay, I'm in.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. They got to play the most noble Song. I understand people know who Usher is. Oh, Usher, the performer. But they don't know his songs, Right? Do they? They don't.

[JD]

I. I mean, I don't exactly. I know that one.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Well, here, I'll give you the. The odds.

[JD]

Okay.

[Je Skeets]

You didn't name the favorite. Actually, the betting. Odd favorite. Minus 120, which is a little surprising. My Way. So an old classic. Usher.

[Trey Kirby]

Is that his first song?

[Je Skeets]

I think. Or second.

[Trey Kirby]

You remind me.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. You Make Me Wanna.

[Tas Melas]

You make me Make Me Wanna is his first song. And then My Way, that's the first Usher.

[Je Skeets]

Is that right? My Way. Next. Is that on that album?

[Tas Melas]

No, that's the next album.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, that's the next album. My bad.

[Tas Melas]

I'm pretty sure.

[Trey Kirby]

No Usher, man. They all know.

[Je Skeets]

Okay. So anyway, it goes My Way as the favorite to open up his super bowl halftime set. Then. Omg. Oh, my God. Then yeah. Then loving this club. Then DJ Fall. DJ God has Fallen in Love, then Burn, then my boo. Then good, good. Then superstar, then boyfriend. I've never heard some of these songs. What the hell's. Good, good. What's that one?

[Trey Kirby]

The last three I was unsearchable.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, don't worry. You don't got great odds on those, so. Yeah. Yeah, Can't Wait.

[Tas Melas]

My Way is the same album as his first song. You know, where he's got the. The black makeup on his eye.

[Je Skeets]

Oh, so it is the first album.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, it's part of the first album, which it wasn't. Wasn't the first song.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah. Second. Second release, I think.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Je Skeets]

Okay. Maybe where's. You remind me. We're not even gonna. They're not even. No way. He starts with his first song ever.

[Trey Kirby]

No way.

[Tas Melas]

The song.

[Je Skeets]

What if he did chronological, his whole. Here we go. I'm gonna take you through my entire catalog. You don't know who I am.

[Trey Kirby]

Just a quick rundown.

[Je Skeets]

So here it is. Here's all my hits. All right.

[Tas Melas]

Thanks for the fact here. Jerome. Jerome, let us know that Tyrese is in the My Way video.

[Je Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melas]

It's that song that. Where he laughs at the beginning. I wasn't. Or he does that little accurate.

[Je Skeets]

Can I bet on whether Usher or Tyrese will.

[Tas Melas]

Clockwork Orange. Good stuff, Jerome. Good stuff.

[Je Skeets]

Yes. Yes.

[JD]

So ludicrous. And Tyrese could be on stage with Usher.

[Je Skeets]

This is.

[JD]

Vin might show up.

[Trey Kirby]

That's the special guest. He does the Little John. Pardon. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

All right.

[Je Skeets]

For the record, J.D. i'm going with you. I'm going. I'm going. A close game. And I'm going 49ers winning this. This feels like too many people are taking the Chiefs, but man can't bet against Mahomes. Yeah, but we're doing it. JD yeah. What do you want to put on it? What would you have? You ever bet on the Super Bowl, J.D.

[JD]

Not on the Super bowl, no. I throw 100 bucks down.

[Je Skeets]

Wow. Oh, you bet on tennis? Women's tennis in Vegas.

[JD]

Came out a winner.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, you did, buddy. And you swerved.

[JD]

I did swerve.

[Je Skeets]

Yeah, you did. That's the move. All right, guys, that's it for us. That's rapid fire. That's the drop. Enjoy the Super super bowl this weekend. There is NBA games on as well. We'll be back on Monday to break them down. We're here for a couple days next week before we head to Indianapolis for All Star Weekend live show on Friday night. And then we're there throughout the weekends. We'll have some pods coming your way, of course. Big thanks to all of the fans and to JD And Ash and Jerome for all of their hard work during the last couple days here as we made our way up to the deadline and then a very busy day yesterday. So thanks to those guys. Thanks everybody for either catching it live, watching on YouTube, hitting the like button, subscribing, or leaving us a five star rating and review. Enjoy the big game. We'll see you on Monday. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

[Tas Melas]

Have a great time.

[Je Skeets]

Turn up. Love you guys.

[Trey Kirby]

Awesome.

[Tas Melas]

Thanks for joining us. And remember that the 49ers can't stop the run. Cannot stop the run. So maybe Mahomes doesn't throw for 250 yards, but they're going to run.

[Je Skeets]

Pacheco. Yeah, he runs angry. He runs mad.

[Trey Kirby]

People say he runs like he's biting somebody.

[Je Skeets]

Embrace the weekend, people.