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Ask your doctor about tremphy today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trempharadio.com. Good morning sweet world and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Friday, July 3, 2026. This is the Drop. I'm J. Skeets here on the Classic Factory and alongside me as always, Tas Melis.
Tas Melis
NBA podcast listeners, this is for you.
J. Skeets
Next to him, it's my top shot, hot boy Trey Kirby Ayo. Hey. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer JD There he is. Here we are. Hello to everybody on YouTube. Hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews. On today's drop, we're going to share some NBA free agency winners and losers. And we'll also end with some rapid fire questions. But first we gotta circle back to the shocking trade from earlier this week. We dropped the emergency podcast cause on Wednesday night, the Beantown Boys split up one of the most successful duos in recent NBA history. The Celtics traded Jalen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George. Two first round picks, 2028 by way of the Clippers and their own unprotected in 2031 and then two second rounders. Yesterday, Jaylen Brown released a statement on the deal, writing in part because look at this thing. It was lengthy, but he did say, quote, I'm still processing how this all went down. I'm excited and disappointed at the same time. And he wasn't done because last night he hosted, I think it was an hour long Twitch stream finally and talked more about obviously the shocking deal here. You've had some time to think about it, Jalen Brown of the Sixers. And maybe you've read the statement and watched the clips from Twitch. I don't know. Yeah. What do you think here? After a couple of days to, to really ponder this move.
Tas Melis
This was just more about money than it was about basketball for the Celtics. Their ownership decided, hey, this is the way we're going to plan out our roster and our salary cap for the next few years. We don't want to give Jaylen Brown an extension at some point. It was more like the Tetris. It was like, let's fit these in the spreadsheet, okay? Jason Tatum, you're surely the number one. And then everybody else fits below that. And this ownership was unwilling to give two guys max deals. This is not about basketball. This is not about Jalen Brown's comments on his platform or social media, him liking it or, or the team like it. This is strictly about money. It's what it comes down to. And they decided to give a shorter term to Paul George and move on from there. And then, yeah, have. Have smaller pieces down the roster. I mean, you see one team in Philadelphia willing to commit $500 million to their three guys over the next three years in Jalen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, and other teams that don't. Some teams want to do it, and this ownership doesn't. You know, back over the last few weeks, I was thinking, okay, I was getting into Bill Chisholm and his ownership, and if he'll see eye to eye with Jaylen Brown, because he's a true fan and he is the owner, but he's more of a ceremonial owner. He's there, but it's the money behind him, the private equity money behind him that decides where we're going with this. And that's just the habit. And what's happening with a lot of ownerships in sports in general, it's private equity money, and they decided we're not going for it. Really.
J. Skeets
That's fair. But then why did they trade Brown for this package short? Could they have not done better?
Tas Melis
Yeah, Paul George is done in 30. He's 36. He's got two years left. We don't have to give six years of money to somebody. I mean, that. I think that's what it comes down to. We can go to Derek White and Peyton Pritchard and M.K. and others, and it's, again, it's Tetris, man. Jason Tatum's the big bar, and then the other pieces fit in. That's. That's. That's what it is. To me, that's what it sure looks like. Some teams will do it. Some teams will say 2 max, 3 max. We're seeing it in other teams, but, I mean, you can hear Cuban talk about it now a lot. He basically says ownership has changed. There's the families that own it here and there, but those are getting far, far fewer. We're just seeing a lot of this happen in a lot of sports, and that's what Boston's doing. I don't think it's about Jaylen Brown, really.
Trey Kirby
Do you think Peyton Pritchard would be, like, the little plus?
Tas Melis
Okay, sure.
Trey Kirby
That's what I have. It would either be the plus or the box. I don't know which one of them. He's got to be one of the smallest ones. And it's symmetrical as well, Peepee. So I like that. But I'm with you. I do think that this is largely a financial move, and I think one of the big takeaways in general from free agency is that we're feeling the effects of this new CBA and how scared teams are to go until the second apron. The owners completely crushed the players on this one. It aim ever going back to a time when it was. To a time when it's not a hard cap. And that sucks for the players and it sucks for teams that draft well and build up these guys. Because now we're getting to a place where giving Jaylen Brown a guy who is a homegrown star, who's a Finals mvp, who's an all NBA player, you're like, I don't know if we want to pay this guy. I don't think that's the way that this CBA was supposed to work. It was supposed to make it easier to keep players in the places that they started in. And now it just becomes we're signing that deal and then moving it later because you can't pay top five money to a top 15 guy. And that's basically what it is. But I think the other thing at play here is Celtics just must hate Jaylen Brown. Like, why would they do this deal now? Like, you're saying they could have just waited? No, you don't even have to be in Boston right now. Jaylen Brown could be on vacation if he wanted, but he's. He's streaming, so that's his choice. But he could be doing anything else in the world. The Sixers would do this trade any day of the summer. They absolutely could have waited. They could have tried to patch things up with Jalen Brown. They could have brought him back for the season. Maybe things go well, maybe they don't. But guess what? Some other team's going to come out of the gate and go 4 and 16, be like, oh, we got to do something. Maybe then you could pounce on this. Or they could do the Paul George deal later. The only other thing I can think of is maybe the Celtics now think they've got something else lined up because they do have flexibility. They do have salary cap relief a little further down the line, and they got a couple of more assets that they can throw into a trade. So I know they've been linked to, like, a Trey Murphy, like, type character. Maybe a different pelican in Herb Jones. Whatever it may be, this can look a little bit better if they get somebody back who's more young, for lack of a better word. Like, if it ain't just Paul George. If it's. If it's Paul George and Trey Murphy, you're. That's fine, right? Like, but still, this Is dumb for the Celtics to have done this. I think they can still be good in the regular season, but I don't think they're a championship contender anymore.
Tas Melis
Yeah, I think that's what ownership is all about. Now we can be good and they will be.
J. Skeets
Yeah. In the, in the regular season.
Tas Melis
Yeah, we might want to play.
J. Skeets
I guess they're convinced that they could be good in the playoffs too, if this is their. Just their, you know, current roster or. Yeah, there's another move to be made. But I, you know, but.
Tas Melis
But their peak is lower. Their peak is not as high. It's clear. No. So I think they're comfortable saying, all right, we'll start to piece these together. We get a draft pick here, maybe they have another move here. That's why they're comfortable keeping a Shireman and a Hugo Gonzalez. Like the cheap parts.
J. Skeets
So is that why you think then they ultimately didn't make the trade for Giannis then too? Because of this idea of like, well, that'd be just two max guys there and okay, we'll just be giving Giannis now the massive supermax extension. And now we still have 70% tied up in two guys.
Trey Kirby
Right.
Tas Melis
Seems to be part of it as any guy who has injury.
J. Skeets
Depressing.
Tas Melis
Yeah, It's. It's giving 70% of your salary cap to two guys. That's what the problem is now with today's hard cap. That's not a hard cap. That's a hard cap. But 70, you just, you can't go over that. And so those guys each earned 35. Giannis specifically and Tatum, same with Brown. So it's just, it's harder to, to just ship guys away. It's easier to look at it and say, okay, well, you can lose a little, but we'll be good. It's about money.
J. Skeets
Like earlier in the week we had Brian Windhorse saying that he had heard Brad Stevens and Celtics were like offering Jalen Brown everywhere to use wind horse's line. You know the word everywhere. Shams doubled down on that after the trade and he was like, yeah, they were full blown shopping Jaylen Brown because remember there was like reports of like eight to 10 teams, like whatever that
Tas Melis
was the term strong shopping.
J. Skeets
To go back to what you said, tk, like, this does not happen really, in my opinion, you know, there's no salvageable relationship here between Jaylen Brown and it feels like the Celtics front office to then just like, all right, we'll take Paul George and some draft capital. Like usually when an all NBA player is traded It's a big hall of picks or at the very least a young player or two. Not Paul George. No, that's. That's the weird part. Despite being one year earlier, done and not having to give a contract.
Tas Melis
Extension. Extension. Yeah. You're giving Jaylen Brown a max extension. That's a big part. So Jalen Brown gets on Twitch yesterday and he seemed hurt. I mean, they did. They packed me up.
J. Skeets
Yep. Yeah.
Tas Melis
And so I, I don't know how hurt the Celtics are towards what they feel towards Jalen Brown. I, I don't buy into that. They didn't like him. This is just wasn't salvageable. I, I don't buy that part.
Trey Kirby
Well, I, I do buy that it was something unsalvageable because, I mean, he didn't say. He literally didn't say the word Celtics in his going away thing. He says, I'm mad and disappointed. So obviously he's still upset. But you can also tell him to suck it up. You're upset in the summer, who cares? Come back and play.
J. Skeets
Right.
Trey Kirby
They have him under contract. They could have done that. It could be weird. We've seen that happen before. But that would be better than this.
Tas Melis
I mean, they picked Tatum over Brown. That's clear.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, absolutely. And they should.
Tas Melis
Yeah, he is the better player. Let's remember that. As good as Jaylen Brown was this past 12 months, I mean, there is a question if Tatum's going to be the exact same guy. But he looked great coming back this season. But to me, your ceiling is not as high. They picked money more than basketball. It is weird timing wise. They could have done this in September.
J. Skeets
I mean, this is going to just be discussed all summer long. What happened here? And I can't wait for the. What do they call it, the now you tell me article, because, oh my God, you feel like that's going to be dropping in the next couple of weeks and maybe we get some more details of what the hell went wrong. Was it all about this analytics angle and this idea that, oh my God, Jaylen Brown makes a lot of money and is an all NBA player, but somehow we're better when he's not on the floor and we win games when he's not out there and all that? There's the relationship between Brown and Tatum. I assume we get more from that. I don't think he said Tatum's name last night in this Twitch stream. There's the Giannis part of it all. And you know how that opened up a can of worms. It's. It's it's a mess here. And you're right, he did seem. He seemed like generally sort of shocked and hurt and like obviously now he fires up the whole revenge idea of he's back in the process or he said, roll the damn ball.
Trey Kirby
He's literally like, I gotta change my mindset. I hate the process. Now I'm part of the process.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah.
Trey Kirby
I guess he's not part of the process. I guess we're post process at this point. And that's one of the interesting things to me is like there's barely any talk about the result of the team for the Celtics here. There's barely even less talk about the result of the team for the Sixers here. It's all about the Celtics books, which is kind of weird because this is awesome for the Sixers to get another all NBA player. For Paul George. They got two guys who made second team, all NBA. They got two guys who last season got MVP votes in Tyrese Maxey and now Jaylen Brown as well. That to me is very exciting if I'm a Sixers fan. This is a maxi move. This is not an Embiid move. This is a new era for the Philadelphia 76ers. You said this seemed like a Daryl Morey move. Daryl Morey would have never traded for Jalen Brown. He would have been one of the analytics guys saying no way.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
And not to mention Daryl Worre seems to have been scared to make a big move in the past couple of seasons for the Sixers unless his hand was being forced. But it's interesting to me because now Embiid becomes a luxury. He becomes their ceiling piece. He was their floor piece last year. You look at the playoffs, they were down 31 when Embiid was not playing or barely able to be on the court. He had three great games. They won all three of them. He was back to doing nothing in round two. They lost all four of those games. They were solely reliant on Joel Embiid to make them a better team. Now they got Maxi, who's going to play a ton. They got Jalen Brown, who's going to play a ton. They're a better team right now. Vijay Edgecombe will take a step forward. They're deeper than they were. We'll get into the Simon signing Huck Porty as well. They're a younger, more athletic, deeper team. That's not as reliant on Joel Embiid. Now the question is his contract. How much can he actually give you to reach your peak?
J. Skeets
Right.
Trey Kirby
It Matters a little bit less now, and I think that's huge for Philadelphia.
J. Skeets
The Philly starters are Maxi Edgecomb, Brown, probably Dean Wade right now at the four. And then Joel Embiid and the bench Bona Barlow, Huck Porty, Justin Edwards and Forney Simon signed a two year, $12.3 million deal with the Sixers. And then their first round pick, LeBaron Filan Jr. Not bad. Obviously an elite, elite starting lineup task. But a lot of this hinges, of course, once you get into the postseason, on Joel Embiid. They're good. Yeah, they're going to be good in the regular season, Embiid or not, I think. But for them to like, really go far. Conference finals, Finals. Yeah, it's. It's Embiid.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Your bigs are, you know, now if Embiid is hurt, it's Dominic Barlow and some bona and some Huck 40. Yeah, that's what it is.
J. Skeets
It's not scaring anybody.
Tas Melis
No, it's not.
Trey Kirby
Sure, but they were starting Don Barlow
Tas Melis
last year during the regular season. Yeah. And they were good in the playoffs
Trey Kirby
when Embiid played, but Barlow's an eighth man now. Like, the team is just so much better. And they did it for what, one extra year of a younger guy?
J. Skeets
No brainer.
Trey Kirby
They are probably. I don't think any of us have them as winners, but they're the winners of the postseason or the off season so far for me, you got a
Tas Melis
great player, simple as that. I mean, in the east, it's fun to look at the tears because, yeah, the Philadelphia should be in that second tier, but Toronto could be there where Detroit is. Yeah, the whole thing is we'll get into the Eastern Conference and how it all looks later on in the show. But yeah, Philly is Phillies laughing right now.
J. Skeets
And according to the Athletic, the Sixers have thrown their hat into the proverbial ring to acquire LeBron's services on the heels of this Jalen Brown trade, too. Yes. You know, look, again, it makes sense from a basketball perspective. I know, Trey. I saw you share it on Blue Sky. I think it is real, this rich Paul whiteboard going around of him basically breaking down all of the, I guess, realistic landing spots for LeBron to go, sort of the four, the basically starting lineups minus LeBron and his spot for some of these teams. And Sixers is on the board, and so is the Cavs, so is the Wolves. So it's luck. I mean, guess he could be going there. He could land there.
Tas Melis
Absolutely. Yeah. Where does LeBron go it was interesting to see everybody realize that Mike Gansey, the guy who's running the 76ers front office, played AAU in high school ball against LeBron. He was second a runner up to Mr. Basketball to LeBron in 2001, and now he's running their front office. And. And Steve Gansey, Mike Gansey's brother, shared a photo of the two of them together as high schoolers. Steve Gansey, who we watched as a College Park Skyhawks head coach. There's. There's lots of connections. Yeah. How. How could you not get excited about that?
Trey Kirby
Well, I mean, come on, at this point with LeBron, you can find a photo of him with any NBA player he's played with, like what, a 30% of the league or something like that. I'm sure there's photos of him with Sean marks from 20 years ago, but
Tas Melis
a high schooler and who was second in Mr. Basketball voting? Come on, you don't see that? Anyways, it is pretty cool to see all that drama happening. Yeah. As far as the, the draft picks go that Boston gets back, that's all convoluted. But it could be Phillies if it ends up being bad for some crazy reason. Yeah, it could be that first, this first one in 2028 if it lands one to eight. So it could be super good too, outside of the Clippers portion of it, which it could turn into the Clippers because it's convoluted.
J. Skeets
The Celtics also made some other moves here in free agency. Namius Keita is signing a new four year, $56 million extension with Boston. And then we know about Mitchell Robinson agreeing to a three year, $47.4 million deal with the Celtics. Trey, a couple big guys here. One keeping obviously Mitchell Robinson the big addition.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
And you know, the Celtics came into the off season saying, we want to put more pressure on the rim and Mitchell Robinson's gonna help with that. I do think the Celtics are still going to be a good regular season team next season. They won 56 games without Jason Tatum for the majority of the season. Now you're basically switching Tatum for Brown. Paul George is in the mix now Mitchell Robinson's in the mix. It feels like a big time bet on Peyton Pritchard and seeing how much more creation he can take on being the one on one guy that Jaylen Brown was. So, yeah, I do think the Celtics, like we said earlier, they're not a title contender this season, but I think that they've like figured out the regular season. They were playing Nobodies last year during the regular season and winning 56 games because they just understand how to max out possessions and the math of taking so many threes.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's interesting that the Knicks kind of picked Alvarado and Shamet over Mitchell Robinson and said, mitchell, you go your money elsewhere. As James Dolan keeps saying, the second apron is suicidal and doesn't want to get anywhere close to that. So this kind of crappy as we'll get to winners and losers for the Knicks and how this is all panned out as far as Mitchell Robinson goes, because he is, I think, you know, a bit of an emotional motor for that team. So that stinks. But the Celtics are not better. One, two. But they're better. Yes, seven through 11 because of what they've done to these little parts.
J. Skeets
Anything else on six or Celtics? We got a lot more to still get in here.
Trey Kirby
Who's the number one guy on the Sixers? Is it the guy who won an mvp? Is it their best player from last season or is it the guy they just traded for? That's a question I think they're going to have to answer because obviously Jaylen Brown wants to be the number one guy.
J. Skeets
Right?
Trey Kirby
We saw the twitches, we saw the clips.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's.
Trey Kirby
There's two guys who have a claim to it already and I don't necessarily know necessarily how they all make each other better, but I think that this is good for Philly. They needed a big win creator. That was the place that they were lacking. And I think that both Maxi and Vijay Edgecombe are awesome off ball players. Yes.
J. Skeets
That's the part I love. I love Maxi off ball. I can shoot. Obviously he's operated there before. And look, Nick Nurse loves nothing more than hey, go cook him. Yes, he loves that type of offense. We saw him win a championship, you know, to some extent with Kawhi Leonard as that guy. Just go get us a bucket. Now you've got two, arguably three if you get the ball into him being like, hey, just go get us two points here or three in Maxi's case. So yeah, it's good. There'll be some growing pains. But again, this is an absolute no brainer. I think this fell in their lap. I truly believe this was like this was not on their vision board at the start of the summer in free agency. Oh, we'll go get Jalen Brown for Paul George. I don't think so. And it was like, you know, suddenly you pick up the call and you're like, really? That's all it's going to. Yeah, we'll do it. I will figure it out from there. That's a classic. Get the guy.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
And figure it out.
Tas Melis
Yeah, they'll figure it out. I think Maxi and Jalen Brown will figure it out. Great sign that Jalen Brown takes to his first twitch and starts talking about how he's going to have to adapt to a new scenario where Maxi is the number one guy. I think Joel Embiid knows that Maxi has taken over and we saw that through the regular season. The Maxi Brown question is important if we're going back. You bring up Nick nurse managing the 2019 championship run. Obviously, Kawhi was number one. Pascal was an incredible number two. Taking it to guys, you know, if you need the ball and you need a possession, Pasky was really, really good at doing that. Who takes the question. Yeah, who is the. Who is the Kawhi and who is the Pascal Siakam in this case? I guess they. I don't know. I don't know if they're both equal. Sort of, kind of.
J. Skeets
That's. They're going to be somewhat interchangeable. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
Stagger them as well. That's. That's awesome. Because like when Maxi would go to the bench, they didn't really have anybody else. But also Maxi had some troubles, I thought, during clutch times making smart decisions. Another question I have is, who's going to lead the NBA in minutes? And Maxi led it in minutes per game. Edgecombe was 11th and Jaylen Brown was 15th. I think they all finished top five next season.
J. Skeets
Oh, top five. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
Man loves the plays.
J. Skeets
I know he does. I know he does. Yeah, they'll be high. Yeah.
Tas Melis
Yeah, the Wings are going to play a ton because, yeah, they did get a little deeper, but because they lost Quentin Grimes and they lost Kelly Rigg, two guys who played. It's going to be on Jalen Brown and, you know, some Dean Wade to play a ton of minutes. Because you're Justin Edwards, me, you're Anthony Simons. I don't know how much those guys are going to play at all.
Trey Kirby
So Simon's going to play.
Tas Melis
Yeah, he's gonna play.
Trey Kirby
He's their third guard. They needed a third guard unless they wanted to come in with Filan as the guy. And that's risky as a rookie.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's true.
J. Skeets
And you know, he played pretty well for the Celtics. I mean, shot nearly 40% from three. Look the guy like, he'll fire away from three, man. He's a pretty good three point shooter. He's shown that over the last couple seasons here. So yeah, he joins the 76ers. As I said there, he's dribbling the ball with everything on the line. He's driving down the pitch.
Trey Kirby
He's facing price hikes and cuts past him. Carrier contracts, tries to block him.
J. Skeets
Oh, he leaves him in the dust.
Trey Kirby
He's at the edge of the box.
J. Skeets
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Trey Kirby
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J. Skeets
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Trey Kirby
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Tas Melis
Awkward time to ask this, but. Hey, did you download the trail map?
J. Skeets
Yeah, no, I don't need to.
Tas Melis
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J. Skeets
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J. Skeets
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Whoa. I don't trust my carrier that much. We'll just use your phone as a flashlight.
Trey Kirby
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J. Skeets
mobile.com hey guys, have you ever found yourself craving a cold snack?
Trey Kirby
Yep.
J. Skeets
Do you even know what a cold snack is?
Trey Kirby
I do.
J. Skeets
Well, some of you may have noticed I've been wearing a Montucky shirt on the video version of the podcast. And that's because Montucky makes my favorite cold snack. That's right. It's a cold snackable beer and summer is the best time to enjoy it. You're right, Ders.
Trey Kirby
Montucky is a light American lager from Bozeman, Montana. It's snackable, shareable, and perfect for all occasions. Hey, that sounds like the dream beer to me. Go to montuckycoldsnacks.com snack-finder to find Montucky cold snacks and a retailer near you. And if you're looking for some Montucky merch, use important snacks all one word for 20% off their merch store.
J. Skeets
They got some cold horses on those cans.
Trey Kirby
Cold snacks Introducing Taco Bell's new Jalapeno Citrus Salsa with bright citrus, real red jalapenos, guajillo chiles. Usually you add sauce to the food,
J. Skeets
but when the sauce is this good,
Trey Kirby
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J. Skeets
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Tas Melis
Not a rolled quesadilla anymore.
Trey Kirby
Now it's a sauce shovel. Taco Bell's Jalapeno Citrus Salsa.
Tas Melis
Get it with any item on the
Trey Kirby
Cantina chicken menu while it's here. The participating U.S. taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last
J. Skeets
contact store for availability. All right, let's move on to the Lakers. They got busy on, I guess was this was Wednesday. I'm losing track of time.
Tas Melis
It was Wednesday.
J. Skeets
I think it was Wednesday. But after they learned that LeBron, of course, was going to, you know, get on LinkedIn, they added Walker Kessler in a trade with the Utah Jazz and then they signed him to four year, $136 million deal. And then like in the span of like, what was it, 35, 40 minutes, they signed Mamu to a four year, $52 million deal. He played for the Raptors last year. Quentin Grimes four years, 60, and then Colin Sexton, young Bull two year, $19 million. So they did a lot here and maybe they're not done. You know, they're still linked to Jonathan Kaminga as a possibility here. TK Your thoughts on the Lakers off season?
Trey Kirby
I think Rob Pelinka wanted to have a chill July 4th, get it all done. So he did all of his deals in 45 minutes and we're good to go. Double overpay for Kessler in my book. Too big of a contract and way too many picks for this guy. The silver lining? I think he's young, he is a good player. He fits the exact mold of a guy that looks good next to Luka Doncic. So I think Luca can make this contract look okay from a monetary standpoint. Like, I don't think Kessler has proven at all that he's worth $35 million a year. But if you're shooting 70% and dunking every single thing and being the only guy who plays defense for the Lakers. You can look like a 35 million dol a year player. Like Luca made Daniel Gafford look awesome. I think Kessler is more talented than Gafford is at the very least. The problem though is that they have zero picks to trade going forward. They literally aren't in control of a pick until 2033. They have no wings on this team. There's very little athleticism on this team. I don't know if they're better than they were last year. They just lost their top four in minutes played from the postseason.
Tas Melis
Yeah, they went hard with not only Walker Kessler, but then the other guys in Mamu and Quentin Grimes. You're going to depend a lot on those guys and as I name those two, those are probably your starters with Walker Kessler, Luca and Austin Reeves.
J. Skeets
Yeah, probably.
Tas Melis
So you're relying a lot on them and you're relying a lot on Walker Kessler's defense. Quentin Grimes is a really good defender but he's, he's smaller and he's going to have to do a ton for Walker Kessler and Austin Ruso. You're just relying on a lot here. We'll see if Walker Kessler can grow. In those five games he played last year he was starting to bomb away from three and not just corner threes but up top. Not a lot, but we'll see what he can become. It is a high pay both dollars wise and traffic. Lakers can't do anything now and now they've got 480 million committed over the next three years to Luka, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. That's a lot of money for a guy who hasn't showed it in this league.
J. Skeets
So yeah, yeah, I think it's like you hate, you hate that both had to happen. If you're a Lakers fan. The picks to get the Kessler signed trade and then obviously the deal itself. If it's one or the other, it's like okay, that maybe makes sense. You can stomach it a little easier. It's the both he better be obviously awesome and he's young and why not? And he'll probably look great next to Luka. He's got to play too. There has been health concerns with him now some of that then spun into straight up tanking. I think on the Jazz and slow play that. So hopefully he gets back to being healthy and should contribute but some bold moves. We'll talk more about the Lakers a little bit later. Tari Eason he got it done. He's sticking with the Houston Rockets. Agreed to a five year, $81.5 million deal returning to Houston, fully guaranteed Trey player option in the fifth year. 10% trade kicker.
Trey Kirby
Great deal for the Rockets. Apparently they offered tar east and $100 million before the season started. He bet on himself, turned it down and now he's getting 81 and a half million. I suppose the silver lining for him is that more guaranteed money than in the one they offered him back in October, but I know that 100 is bigger than 81.5, so he's got to be a little bit disappointed, which is why he tweeted after signing this extension, I guess. Bruh. Yeah, I know exactly the sort of mindset you want going in to a season. Feels like a Houston Rocket to me. They're hoping for a bounce back because weird season for Tari east and he shot 48.6% from 3 in calendar year 2025. Yeah, and then he shot 30% from 3 in calendar year 2026. As he's seeing his money just burn on the calendar. He plays defense, he rebounds, he's got great energy. If it's the right month, he's going to make the open three pointer. He's a good player and this is a great deal for Houston to get him for less than Patrick Williams money. If you get signed for less than Patrick Williams, it's a good deal.
J. Skeets
That's a great way to put it. Yeah. This was a. This was his money slowly burning like you said over the 2026 NBA season when he couldn't hit a shot and he just went ice cold where Jalen Duran, maybe he just burned his money a lot quicker. It was rapidly there in the postseason. We're still waiting on him. Thoughts on Eason though?
Tas Melis
Yeah, worth every penny in comparison. Jabari Smith on that team seems like he gets paid too much. Will he take a step up with Fred Van Vliet coming back? Will Jabari Smith benefit well, Clarissen as well become a three point shooter behind him. And those are the questions. And you look at Houston, the running back, the same team essentially with a healthy Fred Van Vliet. They would love to added Marcus Smart. Add Marcus Smart and they'll love, they would love to get rid of Dorian Finney Smith. Unfortunately, Dorian not looking like the same player he once was. So there's that contract. Hopefully Jabari can play better and Tar Eason can play better. They need it to happen internally really.
Trey Kirby
I think the thing I like if you're Comparing Jabari versus Tari Jabari Smith knows who he is as a player. He's like a switchable defender, corner, three point shooter, maybe something in the mid range. That's what Tari Easton should be as well. But Tar Eason thinks he has an off the dribble game and I don't really think he does. He makes some pretty bad decisions driving into traffic and just putting his head down and trying to run over people. So that's the difference to me between those two guys.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I am with you though. They're really just like. And maybe it's the wise strategy. It's like we think we have something here. Houston Rockets we just need a real floor general and leader in Fred Van Vliet to steady everything. And if he was there last year, maybe it goes differently and I think that's a big thinking here of their off season.
Tas Melis
Yeah. And Smart is the insurance if Fred isn't right.
J. Skeets
Yeah. And yeah, maybe the Lakers will miss Marcus smart. Kelly Oubre Jr. Agreed to a two year, nearly $17 million deal with the Pacers as we sort of anticipated. Tobias Harris agreed to a two year, $31 million deal with the spurs and the Mavs acquired Sant Tldama from The Grizzlies for A.J. johnson and future picks. Those are some of the more notable transactions here. Trey, any thoughts on any of those three?
Trey Kirby
Yeah, the spurs needed a big forward who can shoot Tobias Harris. Technically that guy. Yeah, there are some players I would have liked more for this spurs team. Rui, Hachimura, Mamu, maybe making a return there. John Collins I think would have fit as potentially a starter. Maybe a backup four as well. They're all younger and Toby's on a pretty short contract here. He's basically replacing Lindy Waters. So you can't get too mad at this one. Keeps the books clean. They're going to be expensive in the future and realistically most of the improvement for San Antonio comes from their young guys getting better. So having Tobias Harris ain't going to hurt this team.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah. And he can play positionally. If they want to go a little taller at the 4 because champagne isn't that big and I know people question that device. Harris can't play defense. That ain't true. He can and he was part of good Pistons defense. He can be that guy just to be that rock if they need him to fire away. Now he's not an above the break three guys. That's a little odd because Champagne is really good at that. So that will be a decision I mean, it's really. You get now a decision between, if you're Mitch Johnson, who's bringing on Billy Donovan apparently beside him to go.
J. Skeets
That's right.
Tas Melis
Yeah. To bring back a. To have a vet beside him, an older coach. I think that's a nice, nice decision. Nice opportunity for Mitch Johnson. We going bigger and older or are we going a little bit younger and smaller out there? Otherwise, uber great. Santiago Damo, we'll see what he can do with the Mavs. But the Grizzlies, obviously, new direction, getting younger. We've got a protected pick for Santi Aldama. They're just moving on. Really.
Trey Kirby
Let me ask you about Billy Donovan. Is it weird.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
That they're hiring a guy who is literally a Hall of Fame coach? Does this mean they don't trust Mr. Johnson? Anytime the rubber hit the road for San Antonio, we heard a story about Gregg Popovich coming in and whipping the troops.
J. Skeets
True.
Trey Kirby
And now they're like, actually, you know, you could use an experienced second in charge here. I wonder how much longer Mitch Johnson's going to stay the guy for San Antonio that just. This is strange to me.
Tas Melis
Yeah. I think it's more just old guy, have him beside him. I know we all question. We question everything about the Spurs. Like, ah, they got. They're gonna do something here. Tobias Harris, why would they need him? All I think is just the old guy beside him. I think that's all it is. I think they do trust Mitch to get it done.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I. I think the perfect plan is he's there to help him. But I hear what you're saying, TK it's like if the mistakes keep piling up or whatever confidence is lost in Mitch Johnson, then it's then a hiring like this, generally what happens is bye. And he slides over, especially as a respected and veteran coach. So, you know, I think they want the first part. They're like, oh, just having another voice in the room, seeing the game a little differently, helping us out there to help Mitch Johnson out. And Pop can obviously stay up in the suite. Yeah. Perfect world, but you never know. Minor deals for you. A whole bunch. Okay, just buckle up here for a second. Kenrich Williams, Kenny Hussle, staying with the Thunder one year, $5 million deal. Raptors signed Mr. Anderson, Kyle Anderson and Elijah Martin. Javante Green is returning to the Pistons. Tyus Jones and Marvin Bagley III going to the Nuggets. Daquan Plowden, our guy who we saw here play for the College Park Skyhawks and played for the Hawks. He returns to the Kings on a two year $5.1 million deal. Tass's guy, D' Anthony Melton returning to the warriors two years 11 million. Jonathan Isaac and Javon Carter returning to the magic on one year deals. Jackson Hayes 2 years $12 million deal with the Utah Jazz. And Pat Spencer agreeing to a two way contract with the Suns. Those are some of the more smaller transactions. Any you want to address.
Tas Melis
Pat Spencer couldn't get guaranteed money. A little surprised by that.
Trey Kirby
He was good.
Tas Melis
It was good. You know he's more than just a lacrosse player. I thought he would get guaranteed money. Mentioned some of the guys like Daquan Plow and getting guaranteed money. I thought he would.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Tas Melis
A little surprised by that. Kyle Anderson. Hey, Kawhi's former teammate. Get him in there. Just like Minnesota acquired him at the trade deadline. That's. They got Kyle Anderson to just be that vet be around. Be that former player. Just to be that old guy around. So it's just one of those things that the Raptors.
J. Skeets
I don't love it and I don't mind Kyle Anderson's game but we need. The Raptors need some shooting. I think Kyle Anderson is not giving us shooting.
Tas Melis
No.
J. Skeets
But he's probably there locker room vibes. He's a connector.
Trey Kirby
A tough guy too.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah. We'll see how he. Yeah. How he pans out shooting wise. I didn't even. I don't even think about him on the floor at all. I think more. More of his locker room guy. But. But then you question, you know, the health of Kawhi guys and if they're gonna require minutes of Kyle Anderson, that's a possibility. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
Is he their backup center?
Tas Melis
Their backup. Well, CMB is their backup center. Call Murray Boils. Yeah, he's their guy. Other other.
Trey Kirby
They could use a big guy.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't have a lot of money to play with.
Tas Melis
Where's Orlando? Orlando Robinson, Is that his name? That's a guy. That's a guy. Former Raptor. Very big that they added as you know.
J. Skeets
I thought where Orlando is on in the state of Florida.
Tas Melis
No, I always forget Orlando Robinson.
J. Skeets
I think it's in the middle.
Tas Melis
He can fight out there. Yeah, it's definitely in the middle.
J. Skeets
It's still creepy. Far from Atlanta.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
And like a 10 hour drive still from somehow from here just like one state over. How's that possible?
Trey Kirby
It is far. It's very surprisingly far.
Tas Melis
It's very muggy.
J. Skeets
We've talked about this before. Can't you drive like quicker to Chicago than you can to Orlando.
Trey Kirby
Oh, definitely not. Having driven to both. You can't do it quicker to Orlando, but it is far.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Tas Melis
Anyway, Marvin Bagley joined the Nuggets. That's interesting. Give him a shot, I suppose, but I think Dallas is indicating we got Gafford. Maybe Derek Lively will return one day. Plus Cooper fly plays big. You don't really need Marvin Bagley. Well, so you give him a shot. It's an interest. Denver's a whole interesting thing. What's going on? Jamal Murray showing up to watch Nikola Jokic playing qualifiers. That's cool. They're buds. But what's happening behind. What's happening with Peyton Watson? What's happening as far as you know, Gordon and Johnson and Big questions.
Trey Kirby
Big questions is done.
Tas Melis
Looks like it. Yeah.
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah.
Tas Melis
Looks like he's gone. Looks like they're giving up on that. Yeah. And going to Marvin Bagley instead of
J. Skeets
all those names I chucked at you, Trey. Like any excite you or Will of that bunch of names, like who will have the biggest impact in 26, 27. If you had to take a guess. It's tough.
Trey Kirby
I think Jackson Hayes plays the most minutes.
J. Skeets
They got a lot of big guys in Utah, but you're probably right. I got Nurkic back. Obviously have Jaren Jackson Jr. And Larry Markin in. Not a center, but a big guy. And then now Jackson Hayes. Okay. Of all those guys that I threw at you, maybe there's an opportunity. He is in Utah. That's gonna be funny. Weird in a Utah jersey. I think I was happy to see Kenny Hussle here. At least stick around with the Thunder because we weren't sure how that was going to work. So he's still on a very, very good team. A chance for another title. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, we'll actually do the winners and losers of NBA free
Tas Melis
agency when it comes to the World Cup. I heard USA is going to beat Belgium. Landon Donovan told me that. Oh, wow.
Trey Kirby
Unbiased.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
A win into the quarterfinals would be the furthest that the US has ever gone in the modern era. Good for them. They got further 96 years ago, though. 1930. Yeah, but Fuller and Baligan not playing.
J. Skeets
Ridiculous.
Tas Melis
That red card.
J. Skeets
That was ridiculous.
Tas Melis
Didn't like the red card. Call on that. No, I agree. Either. Did the former players call in and out? Obviously it looks like a kick when you do a slow mo. It looks like he's unintentional. Yeah. Didn't look like it hurt. Though.
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Trey Kirby
Getting your ankle stepped on as you're spraying your ankle.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
Ouch.
J. Skeets
That sucked.
Trey Kirby
But it didn't matter because the USA scored another goal with one man down.
Tas Melis
That was cool.
Trey Kirby
Yeah. That was awesome.
J. Skeets
What a free kick.
Tas Melis
Canada taking on Morocco. This is the biggest stage in world soccer, man. This is just fun right now. We had Portugal, Croatia. Yesterday happened in Toronto. Scotty Barnes taking it in.
J. Skeets
Drake was there.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah. I wasn't gonna mention that, but yeah, he was. He was.
J. Skeets
I think she was there too. I think.
Tas Melis
Okay.
J. Skeets
I think so.
Tas Melis
This is the biggest stage. And now FanDuel is giving you a reason to root for every single goal. Introducing every goal pays, bet on a match and get bonus bets for every goal scored in that match. That's right. More goals means more bonus bets. And all you have to do is turn on your token. Let there be goals on FanDuel.
J. Skeets
We got. Excuse me. Australia, Egypt today. That's the first game at 2:00pm this thing is bouncing around like crazy. Argentina, Cape Verde and then Colombia, Ghana tonight, three entertaining games.
Tas Melis
Hopefully.
J. Skeets
We'll see. We'll see. We'll see where these playing Dallas, Miami, Kansas City is hook up a little something for you here.
Trey Kirby
If you put Mo Salah and Lionel Messi to both. Both score a goal today, plus 285.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Trey Kirby
Plus every goal pace you can, you can book Messi.
J. Skeets
Yeah. You're calling.
Trey Kirby
That's unstoppable.
J. Skeets
Yep, yep. Fair, fair, fair, fair. Oh, they got the Cape Verde's got the old goalkeeper guy standing on his head right now.
Trey Kirby
Let's see if we can still do it.
J. Skeets
See if they can shock the world. That would be big. All right, let's get into NBA free agency. Winners and losers, start with winners. Obviously, we've talked a lot about these teams and these transactions and sort of tipped our hands in a lot of cases whether they were winners or losers. But tk, where you going? Was a big winner for you.
Trey Kirby
For me, it's the Portland Trailblazers. I know what you're thinking. What did they do in free agency? Actually, I didn't sign anybody. But they traded for John Morant. And that to me is my single favorite move that happened. It cost them Jeremy Grant's contract, same years as John Morant. It's going to cost the Blazers 16 million more dollars. But they get a look at a star guard on a contract that can be reasonable. If Jaw's able to stay healthy, he doesn't have to get back to MVP candidate John Morant. He just Needs to be good player John morant. He's only 25% of the cap. This was his first big deal, not his Jalen Brown deal. You know the $300 million one. It can be reasonable. He's the best talent that Portland has had in five seasons basically since Dame Lillard was in his prime. They're not building around any of their other point guards. It's not going to be 36 year old Dame. It's not going to be 35 year old Drew Holiday. It's not going to be scoot. Sorry. The ship has passed. They might be able to build around Ja Morant though. I agree the team does not make sense at this point but they're positioned to improved. They can make trades. They can try and pounce on the next big name. We thought they would be in the Jalen Brown sweepstakes. Apparently not. They want to keep their powder dry and they did a good job of that by not putting any picks in this trade. Including the Bucks picks that they control in 28, 29 and 30. Those are blue chip picks at this point. So the Blazers, I think they got better this off season and they really positioned themselves to get a lot better if a big name comes available.
J. Skeets
They did have one free agent signing. I just remembered Brandon Carlson. They did get BC they agreed to a one year deal with him and then resigned. Time Lord. Yeah, the big cheese John Moran is the big move here.
Tas Melis
Yeah. I wonder what their ceiling is. I mean you look at their basketball roster, of course tons of questions what they're going to do there. But you start to look at John Brandt and say hey, he's playing for his NBA career. Maybe he can play better. But on the floor, you know him and Damian Lillard who's come back from an Achilles injury aren't going to stop anybody as a point of attack defenders. So there's going to be a lot more on Kamara and Denny Abde who I think is going to show that he's a great defender. But also Abdi on the other end is going to be very different. Not taking the ball up top every single time and just saying hey, it's my possession and going at him. So that's different. We will see if they're at a.500 level. Is that. But I mean that's the they were last year.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I mean they hope they're that at least.
Tas Melis
It doesn't feel like they're much better than that. But we'll see. John Morant already meeting with Mike and Nori already buying In.
J. Skeets
I'm excited.
Trey Kirby
Number one for John.
J. Skeets
Yes. He switched up his number. Yeah. 12 to number one.
Tas Melis
Blame for his career, that's for sure. That's clear.
J. Skeets
Feels like it. All right, Portland. I like that as a winner. Where are you going?
Tas Melis
I'm going through Utah Jazz. I think their two timelines are set up pretty nice here now and the future because it turned Walker Kessler into some gold in those two Lakers unprotected draft picks. And they're bigs without Walker. Kessler makes sense. And it makes sense that they moved on from him even though he's a talented guy because they've got Triple J and Nurkic and Larry Markkanen and now Jackson Hayes as well coming into the draft. Let's take a step back. They felt good getting the number two pick after three straight years of 10, nine and five as their draft picks even though they're trying to be bad in a lot of those instances. And so then they get Darren Peterson who arguably could have gone number one. So the future is looking good to attach him. You know, combine him with Keonte George and with Ace Bailey and you can see if they're, you know, down the roster guys, their young guys can help out a little bit more. And Cody Williams, embrace Sensibaugh and your Flipowski. But overall the two timelines are set up pretty nice here thanks to Rob Polinka that we'll get to a little bit later. But it looks, it looks good. It looks a lot better than it did four months ago when everyone was criticizing them of tanking. It looks. It looks good. It looks really good.
J. Skeets
Where do you see them? And obviously, I mean they went 22 and 60 last year and now if all these guys play and are healthy, it's this interesting looking lineup. Obviously there's some youth there, but like what are they hoping for? I guess the better way to look at what's a very successful season to the Utah jazz in. In 26, 27. Realistic.
Trey Kirby
I think realistically they want to challenge for the play in tournament which last year the warriors were the 10th seed. They had 37 wins. That is a crazy low number. I mean in the Eastern Conference was 43 wins for the Heat. I don't necessarily think that Utah can double their win total from last year, but they should be 10 wins better just by playing their guys for an entire season.
Tas Melis
Yep.
Trey Kirby
And there's no like they don't have an incentive to be bad again this year. Right. They traded their to Memphis and they wouldn't have been able to pick in the top five again anyways because of the new lottery rules. So I guess for them they're probably just hoping let's finish 20th, let's finish 21st. That would be a great season for Utah. There's optimism there now, I think.
Tas Melis
Yeah, there's a lot of pressure on their guards. You know, aside from the bigs of Mark and Triple J, there is pressure now on Keonte George to be good and to run a, whatever it is, a playing team of 500 team. They got hopes though. They should have hopes. But you know, everybody's meeting and being buddies with their head coach and Will Hardy is going to tap into Chianti George, I think hopefully as a leader. Well, we shall see. The roster is good enough to battle with the Portland Trailblazers.
J. Skeets
I think I'm going to zoom out for my NBA free agency winner here. And you sort of alluded to it, TAs the Eastern Conference, Eastern Conference sickos must be pumped. You think there's anybody with an Eastern Conference tattoo on their body?
Trey Kirby
Yeah, yeah.
J. Skeets
Gotta be somebody, right? Well, they're pumped right now because look at all the moves that have gone down here. The New York Knicks first off should be still the class of the Eastern Conference.
Trey Kirby
They're.
J. Skeets
They're basically running back their championship squad minus one Mitchell Robinson and his giant ass truck. Okay, so there is that, but otherwise, you know, all their, all their main pieces are there. The Celtics, I'm with you, tk. Despite losing Jalen Brown and how awkward that got, they're still probably going to win a lot of regular season games. At the very least, maybe they falter in the postseason, but should be still around, I think the top of the standings with their squad, how they play. The Sixers upgraded Paul George for Jalen Brown and they're going to be goddamn dynamite if Joel Embiid can like play, I don't know, 50, 60 games, whatever it is. The Raptors upgraded Brandon Ingram to Kawhi Leonard. They were already a top five defense, so that's a nice addition. The Heat added Giannis. I love that. We barely even think about the Miami Heat right now. They did it too soon. Then all this other stuff happened, but you know, that's a different squad with Giannis if healthy. The Pistons are coming off a 60 win season. I know we'll dissect them here in a little bit. I don't think it's been a great off season for them, but were a good team. They were, you know, we'll see what the drop off is, if any. The Cavs made it to the conference finals last year. I think they still think of themselves as a contender.
Trey Kirby
They might get LeBron, too.
J. Skeets
They might get LeBron. The Orlando Magic do have a talented roster. They're going to get the new coach. Bump. That generally helps a lot of teams in. Sean Sweeney coming in there. The Hawks were on fire to end last season. We'll see if it carries over. They didn't do a lot of huge moves. Didn't take any, like, big risks so far here in the off season. But maybe that's okay.
Trey Kirby
Maybe they signed Tim Bontemps. That'd be exciting.
J. Skeets
That is a nice addition if you get Timmy Good times in there. So they could be good. I'm not done. The Pacers get Tyrese Halliburton back. You know, how much will they recover to their 2025 Eastern Conference title? So I think that's 10 teams I just gave you haven't even mentioned the Hornets. They trade Lamelo. Still decent squad, though. Knipple, Brandon Miller sort of given the keys to them. The Wizards, I mean, I don't know. I have no idea what the Wizards, but definitely should be better than they were. There's a lot of squads here, you know, and then, you know, there's the Bulls, there's the Bucks, there's the Nets. Okay. They're probably. Probably the three worst teams in whatever order. Maybe at the bottom there. Wherever you feel about the wizard and hornets, too. But 10 teams. This is loaded, man.
Tas Melis
It's stacked.
J. Skeets
These are huge. Huge moves that a lot of these teams made in the Sixers, the Raptors and the Heat.
Tas Melis
More stacked than the West. That's what some are saying, which seems weird.
Trey Kirby
Well, I mean, they had a better season last year, too.
Tas Melis
They did.
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
Tas Melis
At the top 10. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
At the top 10. And the champion.
J. Skeets
And they won the damn whole thing.
Tas Melis
And they won the whole thing.
Trey Kirby
Who made the best move in the East? Giannis Kawhi or Jalen is what it comes down to,
Tas Melis
you know. You know, Jalen's gonna play. That's true. That's part of basketball.
J. Skeets
Is the best of these three.
Trey Kirby
Yep.
J. Skeets
So. But yeah, obviously. Questions. These are all three. I mean, this is what's exciting about it. All three of these teams are, like, completely, like, going for it really here, sort of in the immediate future, too. Now, the Heater already doing the whole thing. Like, not this year.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
Right. And that's fine. That's fine. Like, it may be the following year still. They're going to be obviously a different team with Giannis and Bam there as your two main guys. But yeah, I think. I think ultimately, I think my answer is the heat with Giannis.
Trey Kirby
They did get Giannis.
J. Skeets
They got Giannis, man.
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
J. Skeets
And again, it's like sort of, because, you know, it's always like, oh, what's the latest thing? What's the latest thing? It's like already on the back burner here, but they did get them.
Tas Melis
He's going to be awesome.
Trey Kirby
How about this? Package wise, things were about the same for Kawhi Leonard and Jalen Brown. As Raptors fans, who would you rather have?
J. Skeets
Jalen. And I know.
Trey Kirby
I mean, you're talking about three seasons with both of them guaranteed. You would have to pay Jalen probably at the end of that third season, whereas Kawhi, you have to pay him right away.
J. Skeets
Yeah. I guess a counter to what I just said, though is Kawhi is a better shooter. Yes, he's a much better shooter.
Trey Kirby
He's a better player at his peak, for sure.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Trey Kirby
He's 35, though.
J. Skeets
Yep, 35. And of course, we feel more confident Jalen Brown playing closer to the 75, 80 games than any Kawhi Leonard season. But in a. But then again, in a playoff series, that becomes a different question. If you're like, okay, you can pick one of these two guys to help you win a seven game series, I'm probably going Kawhi. I am going Kawhi.
Trey Kirby
He has not won a series in five years.
J. Skeets
I know he hasn't. He hasn't. But it.
Tas Melis
I mean, he didn't have a Scotty Barnes beside him. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
He also didn't play a lot of them.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah.
J. Skeets
But it's a great question, like, could they have gotten Jalen Brown for the exact deal they gave up to get Kawhi? I mean, I don't know.
Trey Kirby
Ingram doesn't seem like a Celtics player to me.
J. Skeets
Yeah, right, right, right, right.
Trey Kirby
Great. Though in Boston, you know, a white guy who chucks threes. It's perfect.
J. Skeets
No, we gotta get Grady Dick to the Lakers, baby.
Tas Melis
Stress ledges taken over in la, baby.
J. Skeets
All right, so, yeah, Eastern Conference sickos. Big winner here. Let's do losers. Trey, where are you going?
Trey Kirby
I got the Detroit Pistons as a loser. Just back to back underwhelming transaction transaction cycles for me. My favorite move they made this offseason is Isaiah Joe. For two second rounders, that seems good. They needed shooting. They also needed ball handling and somebody to be a secondary creator, which dates back to the trade deadline in February. I think Tobias Harris to John Collins is like a lateral move. They traded Beef Stew for nothing. So essentially Isaiah Stewart and Tobias Harris, two very important players to the Pistons last year, became John Collins, Isaiah Joe and some second round draft picks. The Herder thing is just a contract play. It feels like there could be lingering tensions with regards to Jalen Duran. At the very least, I don't think the Pistons got better this offseason. And Skeets, you just ran through every team in the Eastern Conference for the most part got better.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
So for me, I'm looking like, what, what are the Pistons doing? Part of it is I think they're worried that they're going to have to pay us our Thompson next year. Either an extension or they'll wait till he goes into restricted free agency. And that can get tough if you're then talking about paying two, three massive contracts to Cade Duran and Asar Thompson. I really, it's like you should have traded for Kobe White.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
That would have solved so much for this team. He's young enough, he's the exact position and type of player that they needed and you can get him on a decent enough deal that it's not killing you going forward. So I think kind of a BL off season for Detroit.
Tas Melis
Absolutely. You look at a bunch of those teams in Boston and Philly and Toronto, I'm probably taking them in a series over Detroit. Although Philly, I should say this, I shouldn't say although. New. New news here from Sham Sharanya. Philadelphia added Ryan Rupert on a two way contract.
J. Skeets
Damn. Did you just get that alert on your watch? By the way, I saw you looked at.
Tas Melis
I only wear my watch for one
J. Skeets
week for Sean's notifications.
Tas Melis
My wife will complain, say where are your watch? And I say, no, no, no, just for free agency. Although, yeah, Detroit is definitely. You got to be skeptical about them. If Jalen Duran is doing this whole thing about talking to other teams, I wonder the connection there with him and the front office and if he's going to improve. I know it's July and maybe he can improve, but at the same time, you got to be skeptical about that. Tobias Harris literally was their second best player and you can give him the ball. You can't do that with John Collins and we've watched John Collins for so long. Yeah, he can put pressure on the rim and Isaiah Joe is fine to help out shoot the ball, but here we are. Vayne is good and it's Cade Cunningham is, is going to lead a good team. I think he's made that clear? Every single season. But when you compare it to a bunch of these teams in the Eastern Conference, it's wide open, baby. And I again, I wouldn't take Detroit not confident. And yeah, who are they giving the ball to? Who's their center? Yeah, I know Jalen Darren can come back, but still, it's weird.
Trey Kirby
The good thing is they're probably going to get a deal on Duran at this point. There's nobody else to give him restricted free agency money.
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
So good for the Pistons. Unless he feels some type of way.
J. Skeets
That's the thing. You better hope he doesn't pout his way through a season. That would be bad. You know, I would hope he wouldn't do that. But they're going to make a panic trade next season at some point when they're like, oh crap, we're being left behind here. I mean, they'll have some of these deals. Like you said, the herder one will probably be a guy move. It could be Collins and stuff like that.
Tas Melis
So.
J. Skeets
So they just scream that. But yeah, I'm with you guys. It's disappointing off season for sure. What about you, loser for the off season?
Tas Melis
Hey, let's free agency. We'll get literal here with the New York Knicks, they lost Mitchell Robinson. He was a part of their team and he's underappreciated. I think he was a guy who helped get Carl Anthony Towns to the postseason as their starting center because he played 20 minutes per game in the regular season just to help him out. Now it's a lot different in the backup center role for the New York Knicks. Huck Porty also out. And so yeah, they'll probably go fishing for somebody else to help out. But Mitchell Robinson, heart and soul again, 20 minutes per game during the regular season. Those minutes came down in the playoffs. They didn't need him as much 14 minutes per game. But we shall see what happens in the regular season to get Carl Anthony Towns to the playoffs again. I think he was just helpful and good dude. The longest tenured Knicks player. Will they lose their chemistry, their locker room? Probably not. But still isn't. He's. He's just a nice to have. Now, who are they playing, you know, behind Carl Anthony Towns? Fair question.
Trey Kirby
Looney is the.
Tas Melis
He's the rumor, right?
Trey Kirby
Yeah, rumor. He does basically the exact same stuff as Mitchell Robinson.
Tas Melis
Just hurt even more than Mitchell Robinson these days.
Trey Kirby
Oh yeah. Looney is certainly past his prime, but I think the Knicks can recover from losing Mitchell Robinson, but they literally need to Get a backup center. It's just like they need someone.
J. Skeets
It's just pathetic is what we're getting. Yeah. It's like you want a championship. Dole and Jesus Christ. Like, God damn it.
Trey Kirby
He was the longest tenured. Nick, too.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
Like, that's. That's the part that's a little like. You roll your eyes at it. Okay, I. I get it. I mean, it's difficult makes obviously building the roster, but you're. You have a very good team here. You're going to be a favorite still. Just keep the band together, man.
Tas Melis
You just made a lot of money.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I think he's okay.
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
Tas Melis
I. I hate hearing this. Second apron is. Is suicidal. It doesn't have to be. If you're bringing back the exact same team and knowing that you're not trading anybody, I mean, you're running the same team back, maybe you can say, hey, Mitch, just one year. Right. You know that flexibility or something like that. So, yeah, it sucks when a team doesn't bring back everybody just for one more chance.
Trey Kirby
Well, especially sucks when the champion doesn't bring them back. Those are the teams that are supposed to be paying into the second apron.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
You should be like, okay, yeah, we got a chance to win the championship again. I guess we'll go into the second apron. It hurts your team building constructs for sure. But they built a great team. Yeah. So what are you adding to it? So I don't know. Sphere tickets are expensive and it's sold out all the time, so they got the money for it.
J. Skeets
Yeah. We're not going to summer league in Vegas this year. Did you look up who's performing?
Trey Kirby
I actually don't know who's currently.
J. Skeets
I mean, I'm curious now if you want to take a second to wizard of Oz.
Trey Kirby
Oh, the Eagles.
J. Skeets
The Eagles are still there. Jesus Murphy.
Trey Kirby
Let's play 18 straight versions of Take it Easy. That's all I'm seeing.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Trey Kirby
That's all I'm seeing right now.
J. Skeets
Wizard of Oz and the Eagles. Okay.
Tas Melis
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Whoa. I don't trust my carrier that much. We'll just use your phone as a flashlight.
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Trey Kirby
Yep.
J. Skeets
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Trey Kirby
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Trey Kirby
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J. Skeets
Capella University. What can't you do? Visit capella.edu to learn more. My big 2026 NBA free agency loser is Lakers executive Rob Pelinka. Our guy, Ben Gulliver at espn. I thought he put it well, noting how Pelinka was facing likely significant pressure from all sides this summer. First off, he is answering to A new ownership group. So that always brings new challenges, new voices that want to have, you know, their opinion heard. There's that. Then you had Luka probably, of course, saying, hey, let's upgrade this roster. Most notably, I need a center. I want a center. And of course they get Walker Kessler, and then LeBron James just leaves. And that's sparking the beginning of a new era for the Lakers. So a tough spot. I believe Polinka was in here. And what's he do? How does he respond? He goes to the aisle labeled exciting whites and he got Austin Reaves to resign. Big deal. I've made my thoughts known on that. Four years, $185 million maximum contract extension. I also get it, though. You couldn't see him leave. Luka likes him too, but it's a lot of money. And acquired Walker Kessler, hefty draft pick package. And then the four year, $130 million. Now the salary actually at his age, like, it's like going to be 18% of the salary cap for Walker Kessler. So that is well below max number. And it has him like 10th or 11th, I think, among centers. So pretty good if he obviously plays and great. Gives you great defense and stuff like that. So I actually don't mind that. But in addition to LeBron leaving, they lost Marcus Smart, Luke Canard, Jackson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, I guess is probably leaving. I don't think he's sticking with the Lakers. They added Quentin Grimes, Mamu, Colin Sexton, and then despite a lot of financial limitations, looks like they're trying to land unrestricted free agent Jonathan Kaminga. You know, look, again, I think he was in a bit of a tough spot here. LeBron leaving, gotta upgrade the roster. There's new ownership. What are we doing with all this cap space in a market where there's not a lot of like, sexy free agent names? I don't know though. Did they get a lot better, the Lakers to you? Are they gonna be the same?
Tas Melis
Yeah, same. Sameish. The roster right now, it still lacks perimeter defense and size. You're gonna have a lot on Quentin Grimes and Sandra Mama Kellish Villi to. A lot on them to guard. And they're small at the three and four. If those. Those are your three and four starting, because I assume they are. I mean, you're not starting Laravia or Jared Vanderbilt, I don't think anymore. And I mean, you got Deandre Ayton to back up Walker Kessler, but beyond that. Yeah, I think you do miss your, your Mark is smart. You do miss that type of grit. And, yeah, the. The perimeter defense, again, size. And I know Walker Kessler is huge, but there's a lot on him right here, right now. And there's a lot on undersized 3 and 4 with Grimes and Mamu Kalashvili.
J. Skeets
According to league sources, Luka is excited about the Lakers signings, so maybe that's all that matters, right? I mean, he's excited about keeping Austin Reaves. He seems excited about the. The rim protection that Walker Kessler could give. And I'll say, despite giving them a sort of a loser here in free agency in Plinka, they have gotten, like. They've gotten a little more younger, gotten a little more athletic. There is some upside than just sort of spinning their wheels here. And they're trying to start the Luca Donticero. I think it just might start a little slower than maybe hoped for once upon a time, but maybe it'll find its way. But I just think in the. In the west here, I don't have them improving all that much in terms of, like, what, they win 53 games?
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
J. Skeets
Top of my head. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
Fourth seed.
J. Skeets
Yeah. What do you think about the Lakers?
Trey Kirby
I think they're actually going to be awesome on offense. They built a Luka Doncic team. Lot of shooting and a guy who runs to the rim. Kessler is going to shoot 70%. If you're a center and you play with Luka doncic, you shoot 70%.
J. Skeets
Sure.
Trey Kirby
Gaffer did it, Lively did it, Hayes did it, Ayton did it. Like, this guy's gonna be good. They're gonna be awesome on offense. This is another. People will definitely be picking Luka Doncic for MVP because this is set up perfectly for him to dominate on the offensive side of things. I don't like the length of some of these contracts. Like, I'm like, Mamamu, good deal. Four years, that's kind of long. Colin Sexton, not really a fan at all. Quentin Grimes, same thing. I'm like, good deal for him. Four years, that's too long. You're stuck with this team for a little bit without all these picks that you're able to trade and change up the team. So this is going to kind of be their team, it feels like, which is just crazy to me. Like, why go into free agency with a lot of cap space? If you're the Lakers, you don't build with cap space anymore. It's just not how it's done. Look at the Lakers. They got Anthony Davis via trade. They got Luka Doncic via trade. Rob Pelinka should know you build teams via trade right now. So to me, ultimate endgame for the Lakers. Let Luca have some fun, be a challenging team. Like, this is still a playoff team to me. And then eventually they're gonna have to trade Reeves to get Luca, whoever the next guy is because it just don't make sense. Like, this team is just not good enough. They got swept by the Thunder. Thunder didn't even make it to the finals.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously Shea should still be in the mix for MVP Wemby, of course. But I'm with you on the luca. I think we could have a fun Luca versus Tatum MVP battle too, when you're talking about narratives built in. So we'll see. All right, those are our winners and losers. Lots to pick from. And we've talked about a lot of these as we've gone over the last week. But you tell us in the stream team, tell us in the comments. Spotify comments as well. Appreciate everybody obviously giving their insight on who they think the big winners and losers are from free agency. Okay, we got to thank some founding members. We got some new founding members here to thank. This won't take long. We gotta give it up for John. Just straight up, John. Thanks, John. Just John joining our substack as a founding member and then jbro. Love this name. So two recent ones here. Appreciate all of our paid subscribers and free subscribers on substack. That link is always in the show notes. I don't think we do a good enough job of telling people too that, especially listen to the podcast. If you want ad free episodes, you can join our substack. It's $5 a month and you get it emailed to show ad free every day. So, you know, there's sometimes complaining, oh, there's too many ads at the beginning of the show, at the end of the show, in the middle show. Well, you can take those all out if you want to support the show by going to our substack page and becoming a subscriber.
Tas Melis
But you'll kind of get an ad here because Brian Melnick, who wanted to shout out. He wanted to shout out a whoa boy a little while back.
J. Skeets
Oh, whoa, boy. Those don't even count out, man. In my mind, they're so fun.
Tas Melis
I. They are fun, aren't they?
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
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Trey Kirby
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J. Skeets
Oh, wow.
Tas Melis
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J. Skeets
50 off. Not bad.
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
J. Skeets
To join a. Basically a league, like you're saying, no joking around. Pick your sport.
Tas Melis
Maybe Jalen Brown will join in Philly. Who knows?
J. Skeets
I thought about that.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
J.D. you said you played pickleball yesterday outside.
Tas Melis
I did.
J. Skeets
Hot as balls here.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, that's hot.
Tas Melis
It's so hot. I mean, it was foolish balls like melting.
J. Skeets
But the.
Tas Melis
The. The league we're in though, we play outside, so know we're trying to condition ourselves.
J. Skeets
Respect.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
You guys taking hydration breaks?
Trey Kirby
Oh, no, no.
Tas Melis
Oh, that's for soccer players. I know.
Trey Kirby
I'm just asking.
J. Skeets
Just asking. All right, before we go, rapid fire fun. Trey, you got the questions this week? We got the answers.
Trey Kirby
That's right. Ben Simmons is gearing up for a return to the NBA after taking a year off to rip some lips. What's something you can. Guys took a little break from that. You're planning to get back into Skeets?
J. Skeets
Love island uk.
Tas Melis
Great.
J. Skeets
So what happened is Nora and I started it, I guess somewhat of a new season a couple weeks ago at least. Started it watching it. But then my guy Jared Dent, who I share a couple subscription services with, he started traveling and I think it bumped me out of my subscription for Love island uk. I didn't want to bother him, so we just.
Tas Melis
You know what?
J. Skeets
Wait till he gets back. Now he's back. Now I gotta log back in and pick it back up. I gotta say, Nora following it on social media says the season started slow, but now it's like really humming along. So yeah, Love island uk, we'll be back into it soon.
Tas Melis
Good. Perfect time to get out when it was bad.
J. Skeets
Yeah, exactly.
Tas Melis
I got a perfect time to get back in to something. Playing basketball.
J. Skeets
Hey, whoa.
Tas Melis
It's taking a while. It's taking a while. You know, I filled it in with other stuff, but ain't nothing like the team sport of basketball.
J. Skeets
There you go.
Tas Melis
Cornholio just wasn't doing it.
J. Skeets
Were you gonna. Cornhole leak?
Tas Melis
Yeah, for sure. Nice one every six bags, maybe. But anyway, it's time to get back in, so it'll happen late summer because I. I ain't playing in the hot heat, that's for sure.
J. Skeets
Okay. You wait till fall?
Tas Melis
Well, yeah, it's August. Summer. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
About you, J.D.
Tas Melis
i've been taking a breaks. A break from breaks. So now.
J. Skeets
Taking a break?
Tas Melis
Yeah, you know, I'm always working. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So now I. I want to get back into having a break. That's it, you know.
J. Skeets
All right.
Tas Melis
I feel like we could repeat that. That from last year's show. Yeah, probably. When I feel like I'm literally having a flashback of. I mean, I have a list of things that I've definitely answered before, like, you know, video games, playing guitar. I always want to get back on a motorcycle. I've spent 30 years. That's not. That's not happening. Skiing is another one.
J. Skeets
Wow.
Tas Melis
But why. What's wrong with the motorcycle? Why can't you ride Two kids?
J. Skeets
And I got.
Tas Melis
I got.
J. Skeets
Oh, God. We've gone over this a million times, man.
Tas Melis
Dangerous, man. Yes, well, it's dangerous. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
J. Skeets
Well, that's why.
Trey Kirby
If you had a motorcycle, would you wear a face mask on your helmet or, like an open face?
Tas Melis
One open face?
J. Skeets
Yeah. You got a beard like that.
Tas Melis
Wind. This is. This is a bit of a problem because it just.
J. Skeets
Yeah. Tuck it into your shirt. You need to put a hair net on.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah. It would happen when I had my convertible. I would be flying down the highway thinking I looked cool, but just looked like a ball of hair.
Trey Kirby
Through a series of transactions, the Lakers have wound up with a starting lineup that could be 80% white. Guys, has there ever been a time when you accidentally ended up with too much of the same thing? Skeets.
J. Skeets
Yeah. I actually have a story here for you. We call it the Great cheese incident of 2021. Oh, yeah. And I think we have a pick. We accidentally got somebody else's groceries to the house.
Tas Melis
Okay.
J. Skeets
And there was a lot of cheese for just two people. Keep in mind, this is just Nora and I. We did not have kids, and it's just us two, so this was a lot of cheese coming through. There was a lot of milk, too. A lot of dairy items.
Trey Kirby
I Was gonna say there's a yogurt hanging out there.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah. And there was a huge jug of milk. We never order that. Like, I. Like I'm the only one that drinks some milk in the house with cereal. So anyway, the Great cheese incident of 2020 21. We accidentally ended up with this and. Yeah. Well, I'm sure we made our way through it. Like, we like cheese.
Trey Kirby
Sure. This could easily be my cheese order.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
I'm never putting in an order from Mascarpone.
J. Skeets
Yeah. Sometimes normal order that.
Trey Kirby
You got a bag of parm and a wedge of parm.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I know.
Trey Kirby
Guess whoever ordered this doesn't have a box grater.
J. Skeets
No. No. So, yeah. The Great Cheese Incident.
Trey Kirby
The Great Cheese Incident. Not to be confused with the string cheese incident.
Tas Melis
Right, right.
Trey Kirby
Yeah.
Tas Melis
So many cheeses. So many white products. I'm just segueing to what you said about potential. Four out of five white starters for the Lakers could easily be five. Luca Reeves, Walker, Kessler, Laravia.
J. Skeets
Sure.
Tas Melis
Mamu Laravia. Yeah. And Quentin Grimes. It's as close to a white guy as you can get. He's half black, half white. So four and a half. Four and a half.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, yeah. His mom. I didn't know that his mom's white. His actual. He's got a half brother who plays in the NHL. Entirely white. Same mom, huh? Yeah. Tyler Myers.
J. Skeets
Yeah. Okay.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Now you know.
J. Skeets
So they're calling. Instead of Showtime, they're calling them Snowtown Times.
Trey Kirby
No time Lakers. Pretty funny.
J. Skeets
Pretty damn funny.
Trey Kirby
Pretty funny.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Trust Les will become Cinco Leeches at some point for me. Well, I went to Costco because sometimes I see a deal and I say, I'm in on this. If you could buy a hundred dollars or if you had. If you bought a hundred dollars of Proctor and Gamble products, you got 25 off.
J. Skeets
Oh, my God.
Tas Melis
I looked. I looked at the list. I did my math. 25 off of a hundred dollars of Charmin paper towel? Sure, yeah. Old Spice Body Wash. God, I don't need that much, but okay. But now I've got so much head shoulders. I can't get through. I can't get through my head and shoulders. I can't get through it. Does anybody want a bucket of head and Shoulders? Essentially, I can't. I'm, like, trying to. What do you mean you can't?
J. Skeets
It takes forever, but you will.
Tas Melis
It goes back. No, I know. It's. I'm not. Not complaining, but I'm like. I just have it. I'm just. I've honestly Added to my huge supply. Yeah. That I've. I've had for years. Sometimes you. Sometimes you think shampoo goes bad. You know, one of those shambling.
J. Skeets
I've never thought that. I've never found out about it.
Tas Melis
I've never thought either way. Yeah, I'm. I. I do think about it, because it's sitting there for years. Did you get the reput. It's a little. Of course it. Yeah. Yeah. It's 25 bucks off. Was it worth it? No. But I guess they got you. They got me. I mean, sometimes. Sometimes shampoos, it looks like they dilute a little bit. You know, it's like they can separate a little bit is more. Is more the proper term.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
So then you got to shake them up. Is that healthy? Probably. It's just shampoo.
Trey Kirby
Shake it up, JD when do you end up with too much of something?
Tas Melis
Well, I hesitate to say this because they're a sponsor of the show, but Fabletics, guys, we got a lot of fabletics. And the only reason I'm saying this is because there's a heat wave happening, and it's all, like, sweats. Like, I have, like, this whole. My closet is full of tracksuits and stuff that I can't wear.
J. Skeets
Yep.
Tas Melis
And it's just a lot of. A lot of fabletics. They sent us a literal metric ton of fabletics, which, you know, very generous, but also, it's a lot.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, you got every style of sweatpants that ever has been made.
Tas Melis
Hell, literally. And luckily, I have. I live with two other men, so I distribute it to them.
J. Skeets
But I thought I saw Jackson wearing one.
Tas Melis
Yeah, he's wearing one today.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I saw him in the baby blue. Oh, I got that one.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, that was nice. I bet the three of you kind of wear, like, similar sizes, huh?
Tas Melis
Yep, yep, yep. Excel, Sharon. Clothes.
J. Skeets
Exciting.
Tas Melis
It's crazy.
Trey Kirby
Celtics lost out on Giannis earlier this week when they wouldn't include Ugo Gonzalez and Baylor Baggins in a trade. Now those untouchable guys look like they're gonna be coming off the bench behind Paul George. Guys, what's something you have that seems minor, but you consider it untouchable?
J. Skeets
Well, because we're, like, the only people on the planet that didn't win a sports Emmy. The one thing I consider untouchable. This is for the collective of all of us. The 2020 Webby Award for People's choice, place of best sports podcast.
Trey Kirby
The people said so.
J. Skeets
Yeah, I do. It's sitting on a shelf in my office. I should bring it in. Here, have it in the background. I will do that, but. Yeah, that's not going anywhere, baby.
Trey Kirby
It's a good accolade for us.
J. Skeets
It actually does. It's a cool. Like, it's a cool statue.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, whatever you want to call it.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
I was looking at it in detail. Like, this is pretty cool. It's got ones and zeros all over that spiral part too, you know, Got her name on it. And the people voted for it. Like, they gave it to us.
Trey Kirby
People had our back.
J. Skeets
We asked the people, hey, let's go get them. Go get a webby here. I don't even know if the webby still exists. I guess they do, but.
Trey Kirby
Oh, yeah, they're even more prestigious.
J. Skeets
Are they?
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
Okay, well, good.
Tas Melis
Yeah, we got it early. We got in at the right time.
J. Skeets
2020.
Tas Melis
No competition. A little bit for me. Something I value way too much. Come on. Come on now, Gene. That's a. That's an old lady peace song to get me to Nalgene. I will never give up analogy water bottle. Never. I love the idea that I'm gonna drink a thousand milliliters or 32 ounces. If I get through one, I'll get through a second. I like the big mouth. I ain't going away. It ain't going away.
J. Skeets
But okay, I. I like temperature wise. I like an LG too. Good. Well, I was gonna say that. And my biggest issue with them is in the car. Oh. I find it. It's like inconvenient because you got to do the twist off, you know? Like, you got it maybe in your cup holder.
Tas Melis
That I don't.
J. Skeets
You know, it's not the. Not the greatest.
Tas Melis
It's not in your cup holder.
J. Skeets
No.
Tas Melis
Well, no, I've got a Carvana cup holder.
J. Skeets
I knew you were gonna say that. That's. Yeah. Well, that's Carvana's.
Tas Melis
I don't know where the holder is. Is.
J. Skeets
That's our. That's our second. Our second most important trophy we've ever won. The Carvana World cup thing.
Trey Kirby
Yeah, that would be an answer for me for. Actually accidentally ended up with too much of the same thing as water bottles.
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah.
Trey Kirby
Like a thousand water bottles that. And jars just seemed to multiply in a household.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Family come over and stay. The past weekend I opened up my cupboard, I said, please take one.
J. Skeets
That's take four. That's smart. Give them away. So thing you never want to, like, throw out or like, recycle for some reason.
Trey Kirby
Definitely.
J. Skeets
Yeah. Like, it defeats the whole purpose.
Trey Kirby
Like shampoo. Never Goes bad.
J. Skeets
Yeah, that's right.
Tas Melis
That's what I thought.
Trey Kirby
JD what's untouchable for you?
Tas Melis
I mentioned a clothing item before my last answer. This is socks for me. I'm stupidly precious about my socks. Again, I mentioned my. To the two men I live with, my sons. If. If what? If I see them wearing my socks, which happens every other day, I. I am incensed because if it goes. If they go into the gen pop of the laundry site, I do my own laundry there. No one's allowed to touch my laundry.
J. Skeets
Nice.
Tas Melis
If it. If it. If it ends up in their cyclone of clothes that never get folded and they're. They're just gone. Like, they're literally just gone. So if I see them wearing them, I'm less concerned about them wearing them. That those have to end up back in my laundry basket or you're banned from socks. Oh, that's it. Wow.
Trey Kirby
That would be a fine time to be banned from socks.
Tas Melis
That was fine. Yeah. But it's true.
J. Skeets
You call.
Trey Kirby
You called everybody else's laundry gen pop.
J. Skeets
That's right.
Trey Kirby
So yours is like the high security wing.
Tas Melis
That's right. The Hannibal Lecter basement. That's where I keep my laundry.
J. Skeets
Why do you do your own laundry?
Tas Melis
Because they don't know how to do it.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Tas Melis
They can't fold. They can't.
J. Skeets
Yeah. I do my own laundry too, but I don't have a full house like you. But, yeah, I'm particular about how the laundry is. My own laundry is done. Yeah, exactly. Yep. You do yours as well. Okay. Interesting. You. Yeah. All right.
Tas Melis
Wow. No question.
J. Skeets
Four men doing their own laundry.
Tas Melis
Doing their own laundry.
J. Skeets
Very progressive.
Tas Melis
I mean, Danielle jumps in on something. I won't. I definitely. I'm particular, though.
J. Skeets
Okay.
Tas Melis
She knows. She follows the rules. There's a guide. I put up a guide in the laundry room. Hang this. Don't hang that. Yeah. Yeah.
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah. Did you ever put up your clothesline?
Tas Melis
No.
J. Skeets
No.
Tas Melis
Sounds. Sounds like a dream.
J. Skeets
Because you can't.
Tas Melis
That's a trick question. Hey, some people. Some we. We talked about having a clothesline in your backyard, wherever that.
J. Skeets
It's.
Tas Melis
We talked about it. It's too cold and all that. It's too hot in Atlanta because there's pollen. Somebody sent this message from Iceland and said, hey, it'll dry.
J. Skeets
It will.
Tas Melis
Even in the cold. It'll dry. It'll be fine. But I never hung anything in Canada.
J. Skeets
No, we didn't do it either. I did. In the winter, 100. Wow. We didn't.
Tas Melis
I did not it's not fun. Yeah, that part. That part too. Yeah. Yeah. Unless you got it close to a window. You can open your window and just. Right. Have it on a wheel, you know.
J. Skeets
Very nice.
Tas Melis
It's a good idea.
Trey Kirby
All right.
J. Skeets
That's rapid fire. Not so rapid. Good idea. But hopefully it helped. Make a classic. You tell us by hitting the like button. Subscribing five star ratings and reviews now. Hey, tomorrow. Hey, you should keep drinking that water.
Tas Melis
I'm hydrating right now.
J. Skeets
You got a race tomorrow.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
You're running the Peachtree Road Race here. America in Atlanta. Good luck to you, good sir. You've been training, I guess, a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tas Melis
A little here, a little there. What are we talking about? 10K.
J. Skeets
10K, man.
Tas Melis
The biggest 10K in the world.
J. Skeets
That's right.
Tas Melis
There's only gonna be 55, 000 people out there. It's gonna make it hotter. Stupid hot. Yeah, but I'm hot, man. Wow. Yeah. But I'm in a slow wave. I'm not at the. They have waves every five minutes back
J. Skeets
or not the backpack, but not the back. But look like you're starting like an hour plus. Probably after they start. Yeah.
Tas Melis
How many waves do they have for 55. How many is in a wave? I don't even. I didn't. I didn't know. I didn't find out.
J. Skeets
I don't know.
Tas Melis
Anyway, I've done it a couple times.
J. Skeets
You're have fun. I mean, that's the thing. If you're not going for like a pb. No, you can literally, like, people are handing out beers if you want, like. And, like, there'll be people with the hoses out and stuff like that.
Tas Melis
No.
J. Skeets
Yeah. Enjoy. Enjoy Heartbreak Hill, though, man.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's power through it.
J. Skeets
It. That's what you should do.
Trey Kirby
Yeah. Shirt yet?
Tas Melis
What do they call it? No, they didn't give.
J. Skeets
Shirt, probably. Yeah, yeah, you'll get it at the end.
Tas Melis
Heartbreak Hill. Yeah.
Trey Kirby
I thought that was in Boston.
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's Boston. Oh, it's a very similar cardiac.
J. Skeets
Yeah, sorry, you're right, you're right. What is it?
Tas Melis
Cardiac Cliff.
J. Skeets
It's by the. It's by the hospital.
Tas Melis
Yeah, that's maybe that's why they call it.
Trey Kirby
They call him Cardiac Cliff because he's always Cardiac.
J. Skeets
It might be Cardiac Hill.
Tas Melis
Oh, okay. No alliteration.
J. Skeets
Yeah, Cardiac Hill. There you go. That's what it is.
Tas Melis
Go anyway, that'll be fun. Yeah, No, I don't.
Trey Kirby
That's Heart Attack Hill, but just a different name.
J. Skeets
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Tas Melis
And they got the hospital right there.
J. Skeets
That's. That's the funniest part. Yeah, Piedmont Hospital, right. Right there. You're gonna go right by, just down the road from Lee.
Trey Kirby
All right, there's Tassie.
J. Skeets
There he is. All right, if you're in Atlanta and you see Tass running by you tomorrow, you know, cheer him on and good luck to you. Can't wait to get on Monday, because we should be back here on Monday in the classic factory talking about whatever else goes down in the NBA. I mean, it's starting to run out of things here at a certain point.
Trey Kirby
We got some restricted guys hanging around.
J. Skeets
Jalen Duran is big. Rui Hachimura, I guess, is a somewhat notable name. Am I forgetting?
Tas Melis
Of course.
Trey Kirby
Oh, LeBron. Yeah, that's. That's the big one.
J. Skeets
LeBron is the big one.
Trey Kirby
Well, like, think of how things change. It used to be we get no free agency news until LeBron decided on something.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Trey Kirby
And now we've had a lot of news.
J. Skeets
Yeah. But we're still waiting on LeBron. Yeah, man, I had forgotten about.
Tas Melis
Wow.
J. Skeets
I mean, I guess I'm seeing all these reports that he's doing the whole documentary.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
J. Skeets
Which has already been going on, but probably really going to be ramped up here if this is his final year. It does make me go, man, how do you not go back to Cleveland? That just writes itself. Right. Just be a little weird if it's like, in Philly or, I mean, Golden State. Even.
Trey Kirby
Philly especially seems like a weird.
J. Skeets
Weird.
Trey Kirby
But who knows?
J. Skeets
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Will we do an emergency podcast for wherever LeBron signs?
Tas Melis
Like, let's say it happens mandatory. I agree.
J. Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
Wow. He's. We've talked about him a lot.
J. Skeets
All right, well, don't over 23 years announce it, LeBron, during the two big games for us this coming well, weekend and Monday, Canada on Saturday versus Morocco, America on Monday. Right.
Trey Kirby
America's Monday.
J. Skeets
Belgium. Okay, don't do it then.
Trey Kirby
I do. I feel like they timed the Jalen Brown trade around Team USA. They announced it at like 6:30. They're like, Call this in. We all got a game to watch.
J. Skeets
Yeah, maybe.
Trey Kirby
I think they did.
J. Skeets
Maybe. Was that. Where was that game? You already have a huge scratch on your head.
Trey Kirby
I got one on my arm.
Tas Melis
Wow.
Trey Kirby
I'm gonna have a nasty shin.
J. Skeets
Damn.
Trey Kirby
I would have never even thought that could have happened.
J. Skeets
Ouch. What were you about to. Oh, I was gonna say, was the game in Philly. I was gonna say, was that Game in Philly.
Trey Kirby
I don't remember no San Francisco.
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah, San Francisco. Yeah, right. Okay.
Trey Kirby
Jeez.
J. Skeets
Okay, this guy gets urgent care. Band aids. Yeah, yeah.
Tas Melis
Get him to be Emery's.
J. Skeets
Just down the road from here.
Tas Melis
Right? Two beds in my room. No problem.
J. Skeets
All right, good luck tomorrow, Tas, and we'll see you Monday. Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.
Trey Kirby
Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.
Tas Melis
Thanks for joining us. And remember, I personally like being late. And that's why I gotta go urinate right now. Because this morning I went and got my bib with the other 55,000 people, and that's why I'm late. And I've. I've been banking it, so. Gotta go. All right,
J. Skeets
brace the day, people. He's dribbling the ball with everything on the line. He's driving down the pitch.
Trey Kirby
He's facing price hikes and cuts past him.
J. Skeets
Carrier contracts, tries to block him. Oh, he leaves him in the dust.
Tas Melis
He's at the edge of the box.
J. Skeets
He cuts past the non stop group chat.
Tas Melis
Trash talk.
J. Skeets
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J. Skeets
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Tas Melis
Guaranteed Human.
Date: July 3, 2026
Hosts: J. Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby, JD
Theme: A deep dive into the 2026 NBA free agency period—analyzing major trades, team strategies, and league-wide winners and losers.
This episode covers the flurry of NBA offseason moves, with special focus on the dramatic Jalen Brown–Paul George trade, early free agency results, and how both stars and role players are shifting the league’s balance. The crew reviews roster construction in the context of the new CBA and the “second apron” salary cap rules, debates the trade motivations, and serves their picks for the biggest winners and losers. The tone is irreverent, insightful, and conversational—classic No Dunks energy.
[02:28–15:12]
[15:48–20:18]
[26:45–30:22]
[30:22–32:40]
[33:00–34:58]
[43:02–68:22]
“Who made the best move in the East—Giannis, Kawhi, or Jalen? … I think ultimately, my answer is the Heat with Giannis.” (Skeets, [52:08])
On the Celtics’ CBA approach:
“It’s Tetris, man. Jason Tatum’s the big bar, and then the other pieces fit in.” (Tas, [06:13])
On the Sixers’ transformation:
“Embiid becomes a luxury. He was their floor piece last year—now he’s their ceiling piece.” (Trey, [14:21])
On LeBron rumors:
“It was interesting to see everybody realize Mike Gansey… played AAU and high school ball against LeBron. Now he’s running the 76ers’ front office!” (Tas, [17:20])
On the EC's strength:
“Eastern Conference sickos must be pumped… These are huge, huge moves.” (Skeets, [48:32])
On the Pistons’ lack of action:
“You should have traded for Kobe White. He’s young enough, the exact position and player they needed.” (Trey, [55:28])
[71:31–84:47]
This episode encapsulates the chaos and intrigue of a cap-constrained NBA. The hosts debate the financial realities versus basketball priorities, assess whether contenders are truly better, and weigh the long-term impact of roster churn. Expect future drama: the LeBron decision, ongoing restricted free agents, and possible “panic trades.”
Signature No Dunks blend: sharp analysis, offbeat analogies, and loads of group chemistry.