What Now For Giannis, The Bucks & NBA Trade Deadline?

Summary

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No Dunks – "What Now For Giannis, The Bucks & NBA Trade Deadline?"

Date: January 29, 2026
Hosts: J. Skeets, Tas Melas, Trey Kirby, JD (producer)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the seismic Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, breaking down potential destinations, trade packages, and consequences for the Milwaukee Bucks and the broader NBA. The hosts dissect reports that Milwaukee is finally listening to trade offers for Giannis, analyze hypothetical deals, and discuss the timing and complexity of a potential blockbuster move. The conversation also weaves in reactions to the idea of Giannis controlling his next destination, the trade calculus for both buyers and sellers, and implications for other stars and teams as the trade deadline approaches.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Giannis On the Trade Block: Reactions and Fallout

• [00:28–04:42]

  • ESPN's Shams Charania reports that Giannis is ready for a "new home" before the February 5th trade deadline or in the summer—prompting immediate speculation and "emergency pods" across NBA media.
  • The Bucks are now listening to offers—a significant change in posture.
  • Trey Kirby notes Giannis' injuries and Milwaukee’s stagnation have accelerated this situation: “Last four playoffs, I've been injured in two of them. My right calf has been hurt twice over the last couple months. And maybe he's saying ... I don't know how many more years I got left." [01:54]
  • Tas Melas: “This was kind of like a Garth Brooks video. Let the conversations begin. But Giannis is doing his thing where he's like, 'I will not specifically say the words I request a trade ... ' but this is basically Giannis and the Bucks ... working together, saying, let's start a bidding war here." [03:29]

• Deadline-vs.-Offseason Trade:

  • J. Skeets emphasizes how the new CBA and cap constraints make big superstar trades much tougher during the season.
  • Offseason trade benefits the Bucks (greater market, more contracts/picks to work with); deadline swap likely helps Giannis’ new team get a 2026 playoff run.

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2. Giannis’ Leverage: Control and Contractual Maneuvering

• [05:29–08:36]
  • Any team giving up their assets will want assurances Giannis will sign an extension rather than walk after a year.
  • J. Skeets: "This isn't like the Raptors rolling the dice on Kawhi... you're giving up a lot."
  • Giannis’ agent/extension situation—and possible agency switch to Rich Paul—adds yet more complexity and potential deadline pressure.

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3. Hypothetical Trade Scenarios: Deep Dive into Options

a. Atlanta Hawks

• [09:44–18:12]
  • Hawks’ coveted asset: Most favorable 2026 first-round pick (Pelicans/Bucks).
  • Deal framework discussed: Giannis for Kristaps Porzingis, Zachary Reese, Keaton Wallace, and the 2026 first.
  • Tas Melas: “The Hawks to me actually have the two best trade assets for Giannis right now ... Number one being the New Orleans slash Milwaukee pick ... Number two would be Jalen Johnson.” [11:37]
  • The Hawks' willingness to trade both Jalen Johnson and the pick is unlikely.
  • Trey Kirby: “I think the Milwaukee Bucks will get a better trade package than this ... they're not a Giannis away from a championship. They need more.” [13:38]
  • Hawks are young and possibly inclined to wait until the draft order is known.

b. Golden State Warriors

• [18:22–23:01]
  • Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy’s claim that "trading Jimmy Butler III is not something the Warriors could envision" is dismissed by the hosts as posturing if Giannis is available.
  • Proposed framework: Giannis+brother+Bobby Portis for Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga, 3–4 first-rounders + swaps.
  • Tas Melas: "This is seeming more likely to me … Jimmy Butler got injured. Like, I don't believe Mike Dunleavy either ... I actually do think they would trade him. This would be the perfect use of an injured contract." [19:20]

c. Miami Heat

• [23:01–28:13]
  • Standard Heat package: Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Terry Rozier (expiring), plus picks/swaps—but far fewer than Warriors/Hawks, and the picks are further out (2030, 2032).
  • Trey Kirby: "The players going to Milwaukee... Tyler Herro kind of flies under the radar as an injured guy ... I just don't think it's all that sexy for Bucks fans." [27:00]
  • Hosts consider this the weakest likely package; the Heat may have to wait until offseason for more pick flexibility.

d. New York Knicks

• [28:13–31:21]
  • Knicks are reportedly on Giannis’ preferred list, but have little immediate draft capital to offer.
  • Possibilities include involving a third team or moving OG Anunoby/Josh Hart; would require Bucks to massively favor Giannis’ wishes over return value.
  • J. Skeets: “Like, man, Milwaukee would just be doing Giannis the ultimate favor if there's, like, no real picks coming … that is silly if they do that.” [30:43]

e. Other Teams

• [32:23–34:40]

  • Raptors: Unlikely to offer Scottie Barnes; Brandon Ingram (if available) not an equivalent centerpiece.
  • Rockets, Spurs: Both asset-rich but reportedly not making offers; offseason might have yielded more.
  • Trey Kirby: “Listen, this national podcast hasn't even mentioned the Los Angeles Lakers, so good for us.” [35:14]
  • Philly, Thunder, others: Theoretically have assets, but no traction.

• Notable Data Point:

  • J. Skeets (citing Bobby Marks): “Seven teams … control 50% of the tradable firsts in the next seven years.” [38:02] – exemplifies how cap/asset constraints shape the market.

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4. Giannis’ Preferences and Team Leverage

• He can shape his destination thanks to extension leverage and the goodwill built with Bucks ownership.
• Teams out of contention or not on his list (Brooklyn, Charlotte, etc.) are unlikely to get involved meaningfully.
• Final short list for likely buyers: Warriors, Heat, possibly Hawks or Knicks (contingent on asset aggregation).

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5. Other NBA Headlines & Listener Questions

LeBron James’ Emotional Return to Cleveland

• [43:08–47:44]
  • Tribute video apparently brings LeBron to tears; speculation on whether LeBron returns to Cavs for a third stint.
  • Trey Kirby: “You guys are good. You got me. … But I don't think he's done.” [43:56]

Knicks’ Four-Game Streak & Identity

• [51:27–57:45]
  • Knicks discussed as a rising threat; Mikal Bridges’ accountability post-slump and the team’s “chip” against Toronto.
  • J. Skeets: “When you watch [the Knicks] play like this, I'm 100% convinced they can win a title.” [56:03]

Pelicans’ Price for Trey Murphy III & Herb Jones

• [58:42–61:34]
  • Front office seeking a "Desmond Bane–like package"; consensus among hosts is that Murphy could net multiple firsts, but not Herb Jones.

Jason Tatum’s Uncertain Return

• [62:36–65:37]
  • Latest on Tatum’s Achilles injury and debate over whether he returns this season; opinions split, major mental/health roadblocks discussed.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This was kind of like a Garth Brooks video. Let the conversations begin. But Giannis is doing his thing where he's like, I will not specifically say the words I request a trade … but this is basically Giannis and the Bucks ... working together, saying, let's start a bidding war here."
  — Tas Melas [03:29]

• “I think the Milwaukee Bucks will get a better trade package than this. ... They're not a Giannis away from a championship. They need more.”
  — Trey Kirby, re: Atlanta trade hypotheticals [13:38]

• “This is seeming more likely to me than I would have thought. And it's because Jimmy Butler got injured... This would be the perfect use of an injured contract.”
  — Tas Melas, on Warriors [19:20]

• “This isn't like the Raptors rolling the dice on Kawhi ... Giannis is going to get a hell of a package. ... It allows Giannis and his agent ... to sort of have, like, a preferred destination.”
  — J. Skeets [07:25]

• “Seven teams ... control 50% of the tradable firsts in the next seven years.”
  — J. Skeets, quoting Bobby Marks [38:02]

• “Has there been a moment like this where the draft experts get every pick out there into the database, they catalog everything and then they show you everything? ... Not 29.”
  — Tas Melas [41:14]

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Timestamps by Segment

| Timestamp | Segment/Key Topic | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:28–04:42 | Giannis to the Trade Block: Initial Reactions | | 05:29–08:36 | Giannis’ Contractual Leverage and Agent situation | | 09:44–18:12 | Atlanta Hawks Trade Scenario | | 18:22–23:01 | Warriors Trade Scenario, Butler’s Injury, Outbidding Pressure | | 23:01–28:13 | Miami Heat Scenario: Flimsy Package, Timing Implications | | 28:13–31:21 | Knicks: Asset Woes, Third-Team Complications | | 32:23–34:40 | Other Teams (Raptors, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers, Sixers, etc.) | | 38:02 | Bobby Marks’ stat on draft pick concentration | | 43:08–47:44 | LeBron’s Return to Cleveland: Emotions & Speculation | | 51:27–57:45 | Knicks’ Streak, Bridges’ Accountability, Raptors Analysis | | 58:42–61:34 | Pelicans’ Ask for Trey Murphy III/Herb Jones | | 62:36–65:37 | Tatum Return Update & Celtics Dynamics | | 66:17–73:29 | Quick Fire: Other NBA Takeaways (Hornets, Spurs-Rockets, etc.) | | 73:29–77:29 | End-of-show banter: Pick’Em Payoff, Listener Prompts |

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Tone and Style

The conversation is breezy, jokey, and knowledgeable, with plenty of NBA insider references, running jokes (e.g., “Guaranteed Human”), and the friendly roast vibe familiar to No Dunks fans.
Debates are lively but analytic, with hosts quickly referencing players, contract minutiae, and league history.

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Takeaway for Non-Listeners

If you haven’t heard the episode, here’s what to know:

• The Giannis trade window is officially open, with the Bucks engaging in talks for the first time. This is expected to set off a bidding war, though the timing (deadline vs. summer) may depend on flexibility and team needs.
• Major bidders include the Warriors (most likely), the Hawks, and possibly the Heat or Knicks—each scenario has dramatic pros/cons, leveraging assets, and depends on assurances of Giannis’ long-term commitment.
• The show also delivers rapid-fire analysis of trade rumors, team surges (Knicks, Cavs), and updates on stars like LeBron and Tatum, with characteristic wit and inside-baseball NBA talk.
• Everyone agrees: the NBA landscape is about to shift, with Giannis at the epicenter.

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Closing Quote:
"We're constantly evaluating who's got the best package. I mean, what team's got the best package? Yeah." — Trey Kirby [78:04]

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Transcript

[J. Skeets]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Trey Kirby]

Guaranteed Human.

[J. Skeets]

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast, presented by FanDuel. It's Thursday, January 29, 2026. I'm J. Skeats here in the classic factory and alongside me as always, Tas Melas Grick Fricks.

[Trey Kirby]

This is for you.

[J. Skeets]

Next to him, it's my top shot.

[Trey Kirby]

Hot boy Trey Kirby Ayo Ayo.

[J. Skeets]

And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer JD Hello. There he is. Here we are. Hello everybody on YouTube. Hello podcast listeners. Got a fun show lined up for you today. We'll talk LeBron, how emotional he got. Is he going to return in his return to Cleveland? Oh, we'll talk about that. The Knicks have rebounded after that post cup slump. Big win against the Raptors. We'll talk about them. Tatum, what's going on with him? Is he coming back? Is he not? We'll get into some of last night's games as well. But, but, but, but we start with some big news here on Thursday. It's not quite a Giannis trade request, but it's pretty damn close. ESPN's Shams Sharanya is reporting that Giannis is ready for a new home either before the February 5th trade deadline or this summer. And the Milwaukee Bucks are now starting to listen to to trade offers. So here we go. Buckle up. I thought it was fascinating to see the influx of emergency pods dropping yesterday for this Shams news. This is something that's been reported for a while, but always Janis saying, I'm not requesting a trade, I'm not doing that. Buck's sort of saying, ah, no, no, no, we're not looking at offers. But now they are TAs. Before we get into actual hypothetical trades where he could land, what was your reaction to the report there yesterday?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, I like the instant reaction from other podcasts because they did the what draft picks can other teams get rid of work for me. I thought they did a really good job. Where do these Bucks. What is the front office really looking at as far as Giannis goes? I think his injury did speed this up in a couple ways. First, I did think he wanted to give it a try this year completely to see what Miles Turner is beside him. What Ryan Rollins along with Kevin Porter Jr. Is in the backcourt now that you have an improved Ryan Rollins. Kemport Jr. Is their second best scorer now that he's also out. I think Janice basically said, oh man, we are done. We really have nowhere to go. Combined with his injury, it's, it's basically at a point where he, he says to himself, last four playoffs, I've been injured in two of them. My right calf has been hurt twice over the last couple months. And maybe he's saying, you know, to Alexis or Alex Saratzis, his agent, I don't know how many more years I got left. Even though he told us that he's going to catch Michael Jordan in about four years for, for the all time points leading score, I think he realizes that maybe it's just time to get this thing going just because of how bad things are in Milwaukee, period. If he wasn't injured, I think it would be a different scenario. The steam would be 500. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

I mean, there are 500 when Giannis plays.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. But I do think he was willing to give the guys around him a try. But now that the injury has happened, it's over. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. Giannis in the summer said, I want to give it a shot, but if in six to seven months I changed my mind, that's just a human thing to do. And it was four months later. Because the season was. Went as poorly as some of us expected it to, Giannis got hurt. The team wasn't good enough with him, and the team isn't good enough by far without him. So this was kind of like a Garth Brooks video. Let the conversations begin. But Giannis is doing his thing where he's like, I will not specifically say the words I request a trade. I just want to live in a different place, in a new house, in a new city, playing for a new team. But he will not say he wants to request a trade. But this is basically Giannis and the Bucs, I think, kind of working together, saying, let's start a bidding war here. Let's see what kind of offers we can get around the league and who will be able to come with the best packages. And if that happens at the trade deadline, so be it. Otherwise, Giannis probably just sits the rest of the season, doesn't play for the Bucks again, and they do it in the summer. I still think it's more likely actually, that it does happen by the deadline because I think teams will be. Nobody wants to let it get to the summer because then a lot of teams will have a better chance. So maybe somebody will overbid right now.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I think an off season trade makes more sense for the Bucks because there'll be more picks available, more contracts that you can work with, likely more disappointed, slash desperate teams that maybe flame out in the postseason. And with the latest cba, the way it is like these type of superstar deals, they're just much more difficult to pull off during the season because of luxury tax and apron concerns and all that. But a deadline swap makes more sense for Giannis and probably his new team. Like you're saying, Trey, it's like, oh, yeah, you get him back in theory, and you get a run at the postseason with Giannis this year. I mean, he is 31. Like, he is getting older. He's got these injury concerns. So you get another sort of bite at the apple, the postseason run, if you make the deal. Now, do you have a feeling on this, Are you still a summer man here, that this happens?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, I do think that they came out and made this statement to get everybody talking, to get every other team involved.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Mainly because I think they do want to do right by Giannis and send him somewhere he wants to go. So you have all these teams get involved for the purpose of saying, okay, you're going to, for example, a Golden State. Are you going to sign an extension there? They need to know that. They need to know that for a few reasons, they're going to give us way more if you're going to sign an extension. So we need to have that conversation. Will we get more in the off season if you are going to sign an extension there? So I think there's. There's that big part of it that he wants to go somewhere. And plus, he can sign that extension earlier, because if he gets traded in the off season, it is six months after that trade date that he can get that $275 million. And that is a lot of money. So, yeah, I think everybody needs to start bidding because this is a guy that everyone was already talking about for months. Yeah. But I. I think this is a clear example and that's why these emergency pods happened, that this is going to happen extremely soon, because Giannis is just frankly done with this team. Although he won't say it, as Trey mentioned, it's a real Damian Lillard scenario with Portland. He's not coming out and saying. He's not yelling. He's not yelling to the. To the trees. I'm leaving. It's Alex Surrattis has to do it. And there also was that rumor that he was trading, changing agents.

[J. Skeets]

Henry Abbott was throwing that out there. Yeah, that. That was a possibility, that he was looking to trade agents, maybe go with Rich Paul. And if. And if you trade agents, there is a rule in place that then you cannot be moved until seven days after the changing of agents. And that Obviously gets us up against the deadline. Those were reports or what Henry Abbott was hearing.

[Tas Melas]

But just more motivation to get it done soon. Because I think Alex would want the payday. He would want that 10% of a $270 million contract rather than going to Rich Paul.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I think the control part is important. I know you and I have talked about this before, this idea, like with Giannis's next contract, because he does have a player option in 20, 27, 28, which effectively right now means he'd be on an expiring contract for next season if he wants to play it that way with whichever team acquires his services. So any team, like, going all in on him, pushing all their chips into the middle of the table, they're going to need reassurances that he's committed, like you would think. So, like, this isn't like a Raptors rolling the dice on Kawhi because they got Kawhi for not a lot. Giannis is going to get a hell of a package. So, like, you're giving up a lot. You're giving up a lot of draft capital. You're probably giving up young players, whatever. So it allows Giannis and his agent, who is still his agent right now, to sort of have, like, a preferred destination, I think, when it comes to these trade talks, because of the whole, well, yeah, I can be a, you know, an expiring deal after one year if I want to. So he gets to sort of say, I'd like to go here, I want to play here.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, we've seen that sort of thing happen all the time. Like, the Anthony Davis is one that I think of where he's like, I won't sign with Boston. So Boston was never a realistic trade destination for him. The team that trades for Giannis is going to have a deal in place and he'll sign the extension as soon as he pops.

[J. Skeets]

Yes, yes, I 100% agree. Should we get into some of these hypothetical deals or you got something else to add?

[Trey Kirby]

No. Well, of course, there's always a stuff ad, but let's, you know, there's plenty of teams here. There's so many teams. You got to talk about each and every team, because it's Yanis de Kubo, we're not going to talk about.

[Tas Melas]

You don't want to go all 29?

[Trey Kirby]

No, I mean, let me see if I have all 29 listed. Charlotte. The thing is about these teams towards the bottom of the NBA that Giannis definitely doesn't want to go to. So they're not Going to make deals. They could be the third team in the deal to execute a part of it. Like when we get to the Golden State warriors, for instance, they got a ton of draft picks, but they don't have the player that Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Bucks want. They need somebody young. So maybe there's a third team involved to say, hey, Chicago, Kobe, White ain't signing there for the long term. Or maybe I.O. dSUMO ain't signing there for the long term, like one of those guys. Maybe there could be a third little part deal.

[J. Skeets]

So you think some deals linked to Giannis are going to have to make other moves to either get players or picks to entice them to watch?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, we'll get to the Warriors. I think the warriors are a part of that. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Let's start with the Atlanta Hawks, though, because they've been rumored before to be like, sort of big game hunting. They have arguably one of the most coveted draft assets in the league, Right. The more favorable 2026 first round pick between New Orleans and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks also have the less favorable 2027 first rounder between the Pelicans and the Bucks if it falls outside the top four. So make note of that. But that 2026 first rounder, that seems like the deal breaker here. TK when you're talking about a hypothetical Giannis making a move for. Sorry, excuse me. The Hawks making a move for Giannis. We have it here up on YouTube. In every trade, Giannis has traded them, including his brother.

[Tas Melas]

Sucks for any team that's trading for Giannis.

[J. Skeets]

You got his brother, you got to.

[Tas Melas]

Pay this guy two and a half million dollars for nothing.

[J. Skeets]

For vibes.

[Tas Melas]

It's. It's fine when it's the Bucks. They drafted him, they raised him up. Every other team's gonna be like, come on. Really?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Podcast studio now.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, it's like 1.25 now.

[Tas Melas]

That's a good point for sure for.

[Trey Kirby]

A guy to be. To be his butt.

[J. Skeets]

If Giannis and his brother come to Atlanta, they don't have to build a studio. They can come here, right here at the Classic Factory.

[Tas Melas]

That would actually be great.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melas]

We'll even let Alex in here. Yeah, if he wants to. All Alex podcast.

[J. Skeets]

So Giannis, look, it's his Giannis, don't worry about the brother part. But to make the money work, it's Giannis for Porzingis, Zachary, Re, Sachet, Keaton, Wallace, and then that 2026 Pelicans pick, like that very valuable looking pick. Again, we're just like these are like frameworks for deals. You don't have to get caught up on the details here. It's like, would really the Hawks trade this pick for Giannis and would the Bucs look at the return going okay? Porzingis expiring deal, Rhys Sachet, obviously a former number one pick and then that obviously first rounder. What do you think?

[Tas Melas]

I think it's interesting because the Hawks to me actually have the two best trade assets for Giannis right now. Number one being the New Orleans slash Milwaukee pick. That's going to be Quite juicy in 2026 draft here. Number two would be Jalen Johnson. Like, that's a guy I'm sure the Bucks would want to get back. And judging by the rumors, the best player that potentially Milwaukee could get in return. You also got the factor with Jalen Johnson is actually from Milwaukee. That might be cool. There ain't no way the Hawks are doing both Jalen Johnson and the New Orleans pick. I think they're more likely to trade the pick to get somebody like Giannis. It's. It's throwing away the future. This is still a young team, especially now that they did the Trae Young trade. But Giannis plus the leftovers, if they were to trade Jalen Johnson, that's not an exciting team to me. That's not a whole lot better than what Milwaukee's got right now. I do think it is better, but it's like probably tops out as a top four team in the Eastern Conference. Not really a title threat to me. But Giannis and Jalen Johnson together, you got something. Nikhil Alexander Walker on the outside as well. If you're the Bucks, you're thinking we have New Orleans pick, we have our pick which will get really good. I mean, I think they're eighth in lottery odds already. They're going to be going further down in the standings. They can't get too far down because of the win gap already. But still, if you get two top five picks in this draft, that's an instant rebuild. That's something your fans can be excited about right away. Would the Hawks do it? Probably. I kind of think they would. Wow.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, it's a hell of a roll of the dice on not knowing where that pick falls.

[Tas Melas]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

Because it could actually work out in the Hawks favor. Right. Like, it could be quite lower. I mean, we're saying, like, wow, it could be the number one pick. Well, it could also not be the number one pick and further down in a loaded draft. Don't get me wrong. They're saying like, you know, four, five, six, maybe guys that look like franchise guys, but lower down, then, yeah, you're doing it. But oh my God, if it's one of these top three picks, top two picks, holy crap. Maybe you're not doing it for a 31 year old Giannis who again, only getting older, slowing down a bit.

[Trey Kirby]

And that's why a team like the Atlanta Hawks might wait till the summer to see where it falls in the draft and make a decision. Okay, it's not the number one pick, it's the number four pick and we'll deal it. But I do think the Milwaukee Bucks will get a better trade package than this. Specifically right here, right now, it's a juicy pick in the Pelicans pick, which you know, could be dropping because the Pelicans are good at this point. They're playing pretty well. Plus some guys here that probably not moving the needle. As far as the guys we mentioned here, you know, poor Zingis is an expiring deal essentially. Love me some Zachary Recesse, but hasn't really moved the needle to the needle to this point. So I think there are better packages out there. And I don't think this is a team in the Atlanta Hawks that says we're one guy away, we can do it. They're not, they're not one guy away. They're not a Giannis away from a championship. They need more. So I think they will be outbid because he's just not on their timeline. Ansi Saleh. The front office of the Hawks has gotten younger and younger and younger over the last couple years and they're trying to get all these picks and then you decide, oh, we're turn it, we're going it for this guy at 31 years who consistently gets injured. I love me some Giannis, but I think that has to be a part of it. The Cav has been injured multiple times.

[J. Skeets]

Do you think the Bucks though, would immediately say, yeah, we'll take it if like Trey said, the Hawks were like Jalen Johnson and that Pelicans pick in the 26 draft?

[Trey Kirby]

Now. Yeah, now we're talking.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, that's a great deal for Milwaukee.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah. But I agree. No way they're going to put both in. I don't even think they'll get to this pick even.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I mean, that's the best of both worlds for the Bucs front office. You get a juicy pick, you get a juicy player who literally is going to be a perennial all star as long as he stays healthy. Yeah, yeah, that. Now, that's a different team.

[Tas Melas]

You don't think Giannis replacing Porzingis and Risa Shay makes them a contender in the Eastern Conference this year?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, contender, yeah. But to go for it, I don't. I don't know if. I don't think it makes them a championship team as decent as they are.

[Tas Melas]

I mean, I agree. I don't think anybody from the east is winning the championship this year.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, well, Hawks.

[Tas Melas]

But, I mean, a conference finals for the Hawks would be huge. They could go to the finals, I think, if Giannis is healthy and back to playing the way he has been playing when he's healthy.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I guess. Yeah. My term for championship team would just mean getting to the finals. That's good enough for me. I don't think they get to the finals. I don't think they. With. With the Giannis. Nikhil Alexander, Walker, Jalen Johnson, I mean, you got to figure that out. Him and Jalen Johnson play in the same spots. True. All the time. That's where they play now. You're gotta. You gotta beat a really good Knicks team. And, yeah, this happens to be a time where the Knicks have won four straight and they're rolling and they look like the best team in the Eastern Conference, but, yeah, I think that. That even the Celtics are real, too. Yeah, I mean, they're part of the conversation because it is the Eastern Conference, but I don't consider them a championship team. I. And does Giannis want to go to Atlanta?

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, I mean, that's a. That's a huge, massive part. Probably the teams we're talking about, the Hawks, are most questionable of if Giannis would want to resign with them, but if they have a successful season. You're talking about two guys that aren't even playing right now in Porzingis and Rishi. That's a massive upgrade to get a top five MVP candidate.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And the Hawks, I think, should be hesitant to give up that Pelicans pick that they made such a great trade for last year just before the draft to turn it around and say, well, this juicy pick is going to turn her into Giannis. That may or may not be here for a long time. That's the hesitancy that I would have.

[J. Skeets]

I think, a big part of this. If the Hawks right now were one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, like, top three right now, this. This then screams like a holy crap, we could win it all. If we got Giannis, like you said, replacing two guys that barely play for us, but they're not that. That's the sad part. They're still below.500. So it's like, yeah, they might be better, but it is no automatic, like, oh, they are going to rampage their way through the Eastern Conference. You had Giannis's team, like, you just. I'm not convinced. And then, man, oh, my God, we could be missing out on another future star player if it's Darren Peterson or AJ DeBancer or Boozer or whatever. And other guys, too. So I just, like, they'd be silly to. They'd have to wait to see where that pick falls. And if Giannis is still there with Milwaukee and are you still interested in the fourth or fifth or sixth pick, then they're talking, but could be number one, man. I mean, they got such a good percentage when you put the two together of the most favorable. So, yeah.

[Tas Melas]

And I mean, those guys could turn into Giannis. They could not turn into Giannis. Of course, it's also like, you want Giannis now or do you want Giannis in 10 years? Who knows? Yeah, it's tough to say.

[J. Skeets]

Next one. Let's go to the Warriors. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. Has said trading Jimmy Butler III is not something the warriors could envision. Even with him out with the torn ACL Bullshit. Mike, what if Giannis is in play here? So unless the warriors are going to trade Draymond Green, Butler's salary has to be included. It basically has to be included for a team. For team sort of swap to get Giannis to the warriors to pair him with Curry. So we have on this one, Giannis, his brother, of course, and then Bobby Portis with Jimmy Butler going to Milwaukee, Jonathan Kaminga and then multiple picks and multiple swaps, which they do have a lot of draft capital. Three first round picks. They could get up to there, 26, 28, 30, bunch of swaps. There are other ways. But James, he could be in stuff like that. But start with you on this one, Trey. How realistic do you feel with the warriors making a move for you?

[Tas Melas]

Honestly, this is seeming more likely to me than I would have thought. And it's because Jimmy Butler got injured. Like, I don't believe Mike Dunleavy either. You wouldn't trade injured Jimmy Butler at 36 years old for injured Giannis Antetokounmpo at 31 years old? I love Jimmy. He's like one of my favorite players of the past 10 years. But he's been in Golden State for, like, 10 minutes. It's not like he has the championship pedigree that Steph and Draymond have. So I actually do think they would trade him. This would be the perfect use of an injured contract. And then the Bucs are able to still tank out this season. They could try and move Jimmy in the summer if they wanted to, or just say, hey, take your time coming back. We'll get another great pick in 2027, though I guess they're still in swap mode for that one, so who knows what's happening? But getting those future Warrior picks is interesting to me. Steph Curry cannot play forever. I don't think that Giannis's late 30s prime is going to be the same that Steph Curry's is either. So if you're talking about picks in 28, 30, 32, those could be top five picks. That's a long time to be waiting for him to come down the pipe.

[Trey Kirby]

But I don't know.

[Tas Melas]

They were a team that was sort of interested in Jonathan Kaminga over the summer, so maybe that's still interesting to them. I don't really know, but this seems more likely to me than when Jimmy was still playing, because then I didn't think that the. I don't think the warriors would trade Draymond Green, but I do think they would trade injured Jimmy.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I think they have to. And I like how you put multiple picks on. Yeah. On the board here.

[J. Skeets]

Four first round picks and then also swaps.

[Trey Kirby]

They got so many picks. Yeah, they have four tradable first rounders and then three potential pick swaps to go along with these guys that they'd have to get rid of, as you said in Butler and Kaminga, most likely. But I do think there would have to be a third team involved because the picks are very good. And again, I. I do think that all these talks have been forced to happen right here, right now. So every team outbids each other, but I think ideally they want to pick and they want a good player. And so I do think they would trade one of those picks instead of going directly to Milwaukee. Milwaukee would say trade it to. Let's get a third team involved that can give us a player. And I do think the Bulls, I know they're not the sexiest of names, but a pick for IO Desumu or Kobe White, whether it's protections or whatever, to get that involved, to at least give the Bucks something. I mean, it's outbidding time. We're here, man. We're seven days away from the trade deadline. Every team is talking and Yanis is the center of the world. So this is what, you know, the. The Bucks ideally want both. So I think, yeah, this could be the juiciest of them all in terms of both a pick and a player, ideally. You know, I'm. I'm thinking what John Horst is thinking. They want both as well, so.

[J. Skeets]

But they also know the warriors of all these teams, or a lot of these teams we're going to talk about, like, they are sort of desperate. They know where they stand. With Steph Curry nearing the end of his career.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

And still wanting to, like, give him maybe another crack at a championship here in the twilight, what better way than to do it with Giannis? I mean, so you can ask for, you know, the moon and the stars, I think.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Did the. Did the package increase, get better because Jimmy Butler's injury. Yeah, yeah. Like Trey brought up, I think their desperation definitely picked up because they got to go for it, it feels like. But I think they would be willing to trade Jimmy Butler. I didn't even know about that Mike Dunleavy quote, but I already thought that. The warriors are leading. They're leading the pack here. And then you hear that Dunleavy quote and it's, come on, come on. They're willing to. They'd have to trade Jimmy Butler because Jimmy's may be able to help them next year, but they got to go for it.

[J. Skeets]

The Miami Heat are a popular team in Yanis trade rumors. They're always a popular team when a big superstar's name is coming up and.

[Tas Melas]

Someday they'll get one.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, maybe, maybe.

[Tas Melas]

They've struck out on basically every other big name that's come on the market.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, those two. But, I mean, when was last time they. They did it? LeBron. That was in 2012. Yeah, 2011.

[Trey Kirby]

It's a long time.

[Tas Melas]

It's been a long time.

[J. Skeets]

So what could the Heat offer the Milwaukee Bucks? Well, it could look something like this could be Tyler herron, Jaime Hawkes Jr. Terry Rozier. His expiring deal, maybe. Possibly. We're not sure. We think so. And then multiple picks and swaps as well. Now they don't have as many draft picks right now that they could put in. They have their 2030 and their 2032, but there are swap rights in play that they could throw in there. Giannis and his brother going to Miami Heat. So, Trey, how do you feel about this one? Miami is a player here.

[Tas Melas]

I like to see him getting in it. And then I also saw that Giannis's mom posted a throwback photo of Giannis in the Miami arena on Facebook. I went to Facebook today to look at that. Yeah, I thought it was on her Instagram, but no, she was using a different meta property.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, wow.

[Tas Melas]

Everything matters. All the metaphors are important.

[Trey Kirby]

So she was in the Kaseya center, probably known as. Must be an American Airlines at the time.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, he was young Giannis. Yeah, he was slanging your yogurt back then. That's how young he was.

[Trey Kirby]

So she was excited because he does bring up when he does his press conferences that his mom or his wife say, oh, we're going to Memphis. And he. That's. That's the one that he brought up Memphis for some reason. I guess it was part of some rumor and he said no, but they. They want to know Memphis. No, but Miami sounds more doable.

[Tas Melas]

Miami's attractive.

[Trey Kirby]

If you're on Facebook and you're liking it, maybe.

[J. Skeets]

Is this enough to entice the Bucks something around this? You could put other players in, other young talent in, stuff like that.

[Tas Melas]

I don't think so. This is a pretty poor return. This to me is the worst return we're seeing. Just because we've seen with Miami throughout their history. Well, I don't mean maybe things will change whenever Pat Riley eventually moves on, but we've heard no rumblings of that happening. But they are always going to be trading their first round picks to stay at least competitive. Like they dodge a lot of bullets that other teams that are based in Chicago don't. But Miami ends up in the play in tournament all the time and they trade a lot of their future to stay in that same play in tournament. So you know that they're going to try and stay competitive. I do think getting Tyler Hero and Jaime Hawkes back allows the Bucks to stay tank worthy for the rest of this season. Hero seems to be a little bit banged up. He's been in and out of the lineup. Hawkez is not going to lead the team to the playoffs. So I think that this year's pick could still be good and maybe that's the best thing the Bucks get back in this. Is that kind of a guarantee of a top five pick going into the summer. But I don't. This doesn't seem great to me to get back for Miami. Like Hawkes is good. He could win six man of the year. That seems to be his peak to me. Hero, I think we've probably seen it. He was an all star last year. He was awesome. Maybe he gets back to that. And if he's the number one guy on a team where he gets to take every shot. He probably averages 27 a game. You're not winning a lot, I don't think. But who knows? They would be middling at the best. So I don't think this is very good for Milwaukee.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I'd be hesitant. I think Miami is more of a summer team being that they get more picks. As soon as that draft happens, they can trade the 26 pick coming this draft, the 30 pick and the 32 pick. So you got multiple picks. Well, right now it's just two picks later on next decade. Yeah, it's the next day. It's 29 and 31 technically. But yeah, the hero.

[J. Skeets]

I thought they were swap rights in 29 and 31 and their picks are 20, 30 and 32. Who cares?

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know. I was going hard. Yeah, we can go there. There is a very interesting. Because they have. If we want to geek it out, they have a lottery protected 20, 27 first round pick going to Charlotte. That would turn into an unprotected 28 first round pick if it doesn't convey in 27. So that ties up the rest of the Heat's first round picks over the next seven drafts. It gets technical. They traded that for Terry Rozier. That was a weird one good move. But I will say there's the players going to Milwaukee in this scenario. As you said, Tyler Herro kind of flies under the radar as an injured guy. Not only this season but throughout his career. He's pretty banged up. You're going to trade Giannis for primarily the premier guy. Here is Tyler Herro, the Terry's rosier contract. Only a contract. And Jamaica. Yeah, it could peak as a sixth guy, but I just don't think it's all that sexy for Bucks fans. Number one and number two, the picks just aren't that great. You know, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but this is a good example of why this may hold out until the summer just for every team because the teams will be more willing to see what's going on. Even. Even Giannis as well. I mean every. There'll be more talks. I know, as I said, they've opened up the table for everybody to talk. But there'll be more availability, more potential for trades in a few months, unfortunately.

[J. Skeets]

And then the New York Knicks. Now we don't have a trade board because it is very difficult to make a trade right now with no draft capital that the New York Knicks basically have. Yep, they got second Round picks. I don't think that's going to cut it here. And you know, obviously like trading Karl Anthony Towns, you could do it. But they're a popular spot because we've heard reports that Giannis wants to play for New York. So can the Knicks find a way to make this happen before the deadline, Trey? Or is like no way.

[Tas Melas]

I mean, don't count them out. Financis was a second round pick of the New York Knicks and that guy's turned it into a 10 year career all on his own nerve. So you can get good players in the second round. This is not likely going to happen during the season unless Giannis puts his foot down as like I'm only going to New York and then it's going to have to be going through like the Bobby Marks handbook of which trade, which teams also have first round picks that they would help facilitate here because it just doesn't make sense to do a deal with the Knicks because I don't think Towns coming back to Milwaukee as the featured centerpiece in this deal is all that enticing to Milwaukee. But you know, we've seen trades happen that aren't great for the team because the Bucks would be trying to do Giannis a favor. They shouldn't be doing that at this point. But they at least have to be mentioned.

[Trey Kirby]

The Knicks do they have to be mentioned? For sure because it was a desirable location he wants. He likes the idea of European players playing in the big markets, especially LA and New York, as he's mentioned when talking about Luka Jokic. Just about everybody. That being said, they don't have a first round pick. Would they make a third team involved like our man Tim Bonteps brought up to trade one of their big name players, whether it's one of their monster wings like OG especially or Townsend. Go get picks and in return give him up for yadda setagupo. It's hard to do. And we'll get to the New York Knicks and what they did last night and how they look right now. I think it's just, it's. I think they want to give this team a shot to see what they got here in New York. Like Trey brought up, the Eastern Conference is open. You got what you got. Their front office decided to fire their coach to see what they got and they should probably go for it for one time here before tearing it down because they look damn good and it's not just because I was watching the Toronto Raptors, but they just look damn good in general.

[J. Skeets]

They did Last night they look.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And in general they have turned it around.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, this is. I mean, at first I go, there's no way this is happening. But I'm like, hold on, it is the Knicks. It is Jim Dolan. Like, yeah, maybe this could happen. Because it doesn't have to be cat. Like you're saying they could do it with OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. Now again, there's not any draft capital. There's no real young talent there. Like, why would the Bucks do that? But that would get it done. Mikhail Bridges can be traded on February 1st. I think so still before the deadline. He could be involved. So they could take one of these wing guys and stuff like that. But like, man, Milwaukee would just be doing Giannis the ultimate favor if there's like no real picks coming. Like, it's like it's mind boggling. Like it's like that is silly if they do that.

[Tas Melas]

That's why the Blazers have been kicking around as a potential third team in this because they have a lot of Bucks picks or swaps from the first Dame trade.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

And they have Drew Holiday who could theoretically be going back to New York to reunite with Giannis there in the Big Apple. But that's like if you're doing Giannis salary plus Drew's salary being both in the Trade, that's like $84 million between. It's just hard to get to that number. But the Knicks do have guys they can trade to get to that number. So it's at least, it's at least interesting.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. In theory, trading OG to another team gets picks and then you turn those picks into Janice. I suppose that's, that's the sort of the theory behind it. And yeah, the, the Portland ones getting their picks back, they got two pick swaps in 28 and 30, so. Oh yeah, you just keep your own pick plus their own pick in 29. So there's that involved. But that seems weird. It seems me to. To me like they would want to go get another treasure chest. Whether it's the warriors or the Toronto Raptors where who have so many. They have all their picks that. That wouldn't. That makes more sense to me. Do you think the Raptors are a.

[J. Skeets]

Potential suitor for Giannis still with all those draft picks? They, they say there's reports that Scotty Barnes and Brandon Ingram are the untouchables on the Raptors roster. If you believe that for even a Giannis.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I think the warriors are more likely than the Toronto Raptors.

[Tas Melas]

Would you trade Scotty Because I mean, I'm. I, I don't believe Brandon Ingram would be untouchable in this strength.

[J. Skeets]

Right, right. The Scotty Barnes.

[Tas Melas]

Would you trade Scotty Barnes?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, it's similar to the Jalen Johnson with obviously the Atlanta Hawks. It's like, where do you draw the line on a young, talented guy that looks like he should be a perennial all star moving forward, an all NBA player?

[Trey Kirby]

They drew the line on acquiring Kevin Durant with Scotty Barnes essentially back then. Would they do it again? Yeah, I think they would do it again.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Because of. Yeah. And his age. It's, it's. And his. And his body. Yeah, I think they would, they would say no. No Scotty.

[Tas Melas]

No Scotty.

[J. Skeets]

Any other teams that you want to talk about here in the running for a Giannis trade before the deadline?

[Tas Melas]

We haven't heard hardly anything about the Houston Rockets or the San Antonio Spurs. Both teams that have like gigantic pick packages that are competitors for the championship this very year. And I think we even heard about the Rockets. They're like, we're not making an offer.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

So like them and the Nets are the two teams that are out. That seems odd to me. The spurs seem to have fallen away though. The idea of Wemby and Giannis together is definitely interesting to think about. Those are the only other things just.

[J. Skeets]

To speak on, those two in particular, the spurs and Rockets. I think if the Bucks maybe wisely, we'll come to see what they actually get. If they had traded Giannis last June, basically after the Damian Lillard, you know, tears his Achilles and it's like, okay, we maybe are screwed here. As numerous people have pointed out, they probably could have extracted a pretty historic package from one of those asset rich Western Conference teams. But now I think the Rockets and Spurs, they're probably keeping their best assets off the table. They obviously look like great teams in the Western Conference. So I just, I believe these reports are like not right now. Nuh. Not for Giannis. Not with all these young guys that you want and all this draft capital you want. So yeah, I sort of think they're out of the mix here, at least when we're talking. Seems like it's Giannis trade deadline moves.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And Houston's now got another issue. With Stephen Adams out, they've got the Fred Van Vliet issue out. They need a ball handler. I think that's their. I know we're talking about Yanison. That should always be the number one goal because Yanis had a goo. But I think the number one goal Is they've got other issues, primarily the ball handler. I think that's what they're going to go for. But they have, yeah, five tradable first round picks, so I think that's what they're seeking out. Could they be a third team involved in. Could they be the third team to go get a. Some sort of pick or player for them? I guess. But really? Yeah, they're not part of it. And listen, this national podcast hasn't even mentioned the Los Angeles Lakers, so good for us.

[J. Skeets]

Wow. What, are they trading?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they only have. They only have one first round pick.

[J. Skeets]

Don't connect.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Trade request. He wants out.

[J. Skeets]

Yes, he does. Yes, he does.

[Trey Kirby]

But after the draft day, they do have three first round picks.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Trey Kirby]

So you're 26, 31, 33. Hey, we. We will stink in 31 and 33. Luke is going to be old now. He could still be playing. So that one. Yeah. It doesn't seem. That doesn't seem real.

[J. Skeets]

Any other, any other teams or do you feel like if this happens, it is the warriors, the Heat, maybe the Hawks, or maybe even the Knicks, if they can obviously scrounge together draft picks from other teams.

[Trey Kirby]

I think it's the team that's closest to the championship, so I don't think it's the Hawks. I do think it would be the warriors, if. If any. Right here, right now.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. All right, well, we'll wait to see.

[Tas Melas]

Let us hear what you're not excited about. A Vuch and Patrick Williams led package for Giannis and 9,000 first round picks. Please, please save us. Please save us. Giannis, come to Chicago. You said you like it there. They drafted your brother once upon a time, too.

[Trey Kirby]

Please.

[Tas Melas]

We'll even throw in Bouzelis.

[J. Skeets]

We'll do it. Wow. Okay, now we got a conversation going.

[Trey Kirby]

All right, which brother they draft?

[Tas Melas]

I think they had Costas.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, Costas.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, wow.

[J. Skeets]

Who could forget?

[Trey Kirby]

But he likes to play on the Kostas by New York. Sorry for the pun. So I just wanted to bring up Brooklyn. Is Brooklyn a thing they have a lot of.

[Tas Melas]

They're one of the teams that said.

[Trey Kirby]

Nah, Sean Marks says, no, it's too early.

[Tas Melas]

Too early for us.

[J. Skeets]

I just don't buy any team that's not good trading for Giannis here. And almost nor should they, in a way. Like, okay, you're going to sell a bunch of jerseys, you're going to put butts in seats. That's cool. But I don't like Giannis on another crappy team. Is just Giannis on The Bucks right now, like, it's not that inspiring.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So he's got to go to a good team to win his, you know, that second championship that he wants. So it's got to be a team in the mix, right?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And I do think the 12 and a half years that he's given them, the blood, the sweat that he's put in there, will make the Milwaukee Bucks front office trade him to somewhere he wants to go that is a part of it. He has to want to go there. And.

[J. Skeets]

And again, because of the contract extension, he can sort of dictate that as well.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And he has to be willing to put pen to paper and sign an extension. Yes. And just be there for a long time. So, Brooklyn, as much as he's had fun there, when it's been Greek Night and he goes there, there's been plenty of dances, they've had a lot of fun. Astoria shows up. It is fun, but ain't going to win. So it's a tough one. It's Michael porter. They have 10 draft picks. Michael Porter and 10 draft picks. What do you want?

[J. Skeets]

I'm glad you brought that up. This Bobby Marks fact blew my mind, and I'm just taking him for his word here because it sounds insane when you say it out loud, but based solely on first round picks, the Thunder, the Nets, the Hornets, the Grizzlies, the Kings, the Jazz and the Wizards have the most to offer, because those seven teams I just listed control 50% of the tradable firsts in the next seven years. I just listed seven teams that have 50% of the tradable firstls over the next seven years. That sounds fake. That sounds incorrect, but I'm trusting Bobby on this one. He knows this stuff. That's crazy, man.

[Tas Melas]

Bobby would never lie.

[J. Skeets]

He would never lie about that.

[Tas Melas]

Go to Charlotte. That'd be awesome.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, it would be cool.

[Tas Melas]

They have, like, so many bags of beans they could throw in to equal up to Giannis's numbers. They got a lot of picks.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

They would be an exciting team.

[J. Skeets]

Stays in the East.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah, man.

[J. Skeets]

I think that's a part of it, too. That's the warriors thing is interesting. Like, I mean, I get it. I get it, because you pair him with Curry and you got Draymond, you still got a good team, but you are in the Western Conference. Like, he really wants to win a second title. Your chances are best to stay big time. East, my man.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So go to Miami, go to the Knicks, go to one of these other teams, maybe but we'll see.

[Trey Kirby]

There was the 76ers. Chitter chatter Three first round picks that they have offer and they do have young players, plenty. John Horst would probably say Vijay Edgecombe has to come over.

[J. Skeets]

Right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

Like one of those.

[J. Skeets]

Jared McCain and like, I know he's had a brutal sophomore year, but like, you know, good in his rookie year.

[Trey Kirby]

Something staying East. You play with Embiid, you got banged up legs. Obviously that would be a problem. But yeah, the East. East side, I do understand.

[J. Skeets]

So basically you're trading everybody except Maxian and Bead in that hypothetical to get Paul.

[Trey Kirby]

George is untouchable. Well, I don't think he would be part of it. No, he would not be part of it. From the Milwaukee side, they're not trading for Paul.

[J. Skeets]

Basically, when the dust would settle, you would have Maxi, you would have Paul George, you'd have Giannis, and you'd have him beat. And then whoever else is remaining.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a Daryl More move.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Hey, look.

[Trey Kirby]

And three first round picks that I'm. I'm not 100. I think they have three first round. Literally three first round picks of their own that they can trade. And those would be very, very appealing because eventually Joel and Bead will not play basketball anymore. You know, like they're. They're getting closer to their end. I mean, Maxi will still be there, but, you know, squint and they look like really good picks.

[Tas Melas]

Giannis is such a good player that Bobby Marks basically had to upload every bit of information. He has about 29 teams in the league. He's like, here's every asset in the entire NBA, you know, every single draft pick now that is possible to be traded for the next seven years just because Giannis wants to get a new house.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melas]

That's amazing.

[Trey Kirby]

It is amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to think. We've been here, we've been doing this forever. Has there been a moment like this where the. The draft experts get every pick out there into the database, they catalog everything and then they show you everything. Like, we don't really. They obviously catalog them at all times, but they don't really publicize them.

[Tas Melas]

No. You usually get like four teams.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Not 29.

[J. Skeets]

Do you think the Thunder are calling the Bucks and kicking the tires on trading for Giannis?

[Tas Melas]

No, I don't think they are.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. I'm curious. Like, we always hear all 29 teams are calling. No, they're. No, they're not. I don't think they are. But I wonder how. Yeah, many are. Like, is it 20 plus? Well, should they?

[Trey Kirby]

Should they?

[J. Skeets]

Well, you don't want that to leak, though, do you? Sometimes.

[Tas Melas]

You don't. You don't.

[J. Skeets]

All right, we'll leave Giannis there for now. Lots more Giannis talk, I'm sure, in the next week or so. Or an emergency podcast if he's traded. We'll take a break and then we'll get into some of the games last night. True or false? Ladies and gentlemen, it's the last call for football on FanDuel. One final Sunday. One last call. Kickoff. A little bad bunny. Oh, yeah. Whole bunch of commercials. You know it. Some touchdowns. I hope so. Some nachos, probably a beer, maybe. And the final chance to place your bets before the NFL season closes its tab. This is Super Bowl 60, aka Super bowl backwards, big shirt.

[Tas Melas]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Super Bowl LX.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, backwards.

[J. Skeets]

I'm calling it backwards. Backwards, big shirt.

[Tas Melas]

That's catchy.

[J. Skeets]

Actually, FanDuel is making sure you're in on it. If you're a new customer, you can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. So whether you're back in the favorite, riding with the underdog, or building one last same game parlay, you gotta make it count, baby. Because after the super bowl, the season's over. That's just a fact that fanduel wanted you to know. When they play the last game of the season, that season is over. Just make note. Put it in your calendar. Football is over after that Super Bowl 60 game.

[Trey Kirby]

What about the flag football leagues? Are they around?

[Tas Melas]

I mean, they got to start training for the Olympics right away.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

28. Yeah. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Last call for football on FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of Super Bowl 60. Visit FanDuel.com podcast to get started. Okay, let's play a little true or false. It was an emotional night for LeBron James. He returned to Cleveland and they welcomed the hometown hero back with a tribute video. And he was quite emotional. Really touched him. There he was appeared to be crying and wiping tears from his eyes. So I want to know him doing so, him showing that emotion. Do you think LeBron has played his last game in Cleveland? True or false? He's played his last game in Cleveland.

[Trey Kirby]

I think it's false. I don't think he's done. I think there's another season in him. He definitely cried. I think that was more of a tactical move by the Cleveland Cavaliers to try and win a basketball game to play the moment from 2007's playoffs, the second round, where the Detroit Pistons were giving it to LeBron. They're hitting them. And then LeBron became a basketball man and was able to beat them with that ridiculous double overtime performance. And then he goes on to the finals. I mean, he. I can't believe that's nearly 20 years ago. And I'm sure. I think he just was sitting there and saying, whoa, you guys are good. You got me. You got me. Basically, you. You were able to hit me right here. And everything was weird about LeBron, even his post game interview where he was sort of asked about the whole thing. And he said, you know, when you were here and you went to 10 straight finals and then you go to LA and then he stopped. He said, whoa, hold on, 10 straight finals? I didn't go, did I go to 10 straight finals? He asked somebody and they said, no, it was eight. He goes, oh, yeah, eight. I've been to 10 finals. Like, he never screws up. And he just screwed up. And that was all it was. They got him. They got him. And he had a bad night. He had a bad night. Game wise, play wise. So I think they did a great job, but I don't think he's done.

[J. Skeets]

You think he will maybe play for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know.

[J. Skeets]

You know, David Menemen saying there's some mutual respect, obviously, but the idea that LeBron maybe if he finished his career with Cleveland for the third stint. But what do you think last night, TK we can talk about that. The emotional tribute video and whether or not he played his last game.

[Tas Melas]

I'm with Taz. I think it's false, and I do think this is a tactical move, and I do think it's because they're recruiting LeBron again, and I think he will go back there. I think this was all a coordinated thing from the Cleveland side. I don't know exactly how involved LeBron would be, but like you mentioned in the Dave McMenamin piece he writes, multiple team and league sources told ESPN the Cavaliers would gladly welcome James back this summer if he wanted to return to Cleveland for his 24th NBA season and third stint with the team. Then they play a tribute video for him, which they've done every time he's come back. He deserves one every single time he comes back. I thought it was a nice touch that they're wearing, like the LeBron era jerseys and they show highlights from him wearing those jerseys against the pistons back in 2007, but it just seems unlikely to me that LeBron is going to retire at the end of the season. Without announcing at some point, this is my last season. The guy's wearing a patch on his jersey honoring himself. I think he's going to want the year long retirement tour and I think it will be back home in Cleveland where I started and where it ended.

[J. Skeets]

Very, very possible. I mean, if you listen to his post game press conference, it is funny. On one hand, for minutes at a time, it does sound like this is it. Like he's contemplating hanging up at the end of the year. Now he always says, I'll decide after the season ends and where I am with my health and where I am with my family and all that. So he always says that and he's been pretty consistent. But on one hand it sounds like a guy that's like contemplating, wow, what a career and maybe this is it and like I'm trying to be present and take this in. But then on the other hand, the other five or six minutes, it sounds like a guy. It's like, yep, I still got a lot left in the tank and I probably have one more year left in me and maybe it's back here. So it's like, yeah, I'm torn, I guess. I am on record thinking maybe this is his last year, but. Hell of a move by the Cavs. You guys are right. The game ops to get his emotions going and they waxed them, they smoked them, they crushed them by 30. I mean, we could talk about the game a little bit. We had Luke having a scare there where he hopped after a shot over to the side and he fell off the court in Cleveland because it's a raised, elevated floor and he twisted his ankle. He returned to the game but the Cavs looked awesome in the second half and steamrolled them here.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I forgot about that elevated floor in Cleveland, but it's a thing. And there were people commenting on YouTube on. I think it was your short Skeets that you made about the elevated floor.

[J. Skeets]

No, it wasn't me.

[Trey Kirby]

It wasn't you?

[J. Skeets]

No, I don't think so.

[Trey Kirby]

I could have sworn. Well, your face is on the, on the thumbnail, so I figured it was you. I think, anyway, it doesn't matter. Basically somebody goog they've got an elevated floor. Our video came up, essentially this is what happened. I will say we've talked about it before. I know that the Cavaliers raised court.

[Tas Melas]

Dangerous two years ago. Jay Skeets.

[J. Skeets]

Really? Yeah, man.

[Tas Melas]

We do a lot of content.

[J. Skeets]

I guess so. It's funny, it says I was like last night judging a lot of people online. I was like, oh, man, we got a bunch of casuals out here because we've known this for a long time, that this court, yeah. Is in theory dangerous because it's elevated a ton, just the way they built it.

[Trey Kirby]

But anyway, yeah, sometimes you see them in March Madness or something, like when they play in a football stadium or something like that. But you don't see it often, but in Cleveland you always see it. I will say a couple things. Post game, when George Sedano asked Donovan Mitchell about the whole LeBron thing, and basically, you know, obviously they love LeBron. And then Jaylon Tyson, his teammates jumping in saying, this is Donovan Mitchell's team. Now that was hilarious. Number one, this is Donovan Mitchell's team. It is interesting. It is interesting to have the whole arena cheering for the opposing player while, you know, you're balling. But I am glad I mentioned Jaylon Tyson, glad I picked him on my Rising Stars game, my roster when we drafted them, because I think he was the best player on the floor at times. Yesterday he looked, looked so good. He was so, so, so good.

[J. Skeets]

He was not backing down from LeBron either.

[Trey Kirby]

No.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

No. The other part is, as far as him going to Cleveland, I hate to talk about money, but what is he going to accept just contract wise because they have so much money tied up? Or is it a trade signing, some sort of deal, trade thing where, where maybe Cleveland's front office has to just go get rid of guys to opposing teams, teams that are able to accept other contracts. I guess there's that option. But that's the interesting part. To me, they got so much money tied up.

[J. Skeets]

You don't think LeBron would finish his career playing for the minimum?

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know. I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say. No, I, I don't think he's a, oh, I gotta make 50 million. I don't think he's that kind of guy. But what do I know?

[Tas Melas]

He took a discount to go to Miami and then basically hasn't taken a discount, I think, since then. But, you know, he's made a lot. He's doing, he's doing all right. This would be a fun game to be at if you were a Cavs fan, though. See, potentially LeBron's last game, he did play his worst game ever in Cleveland, so, you know, not great, but they smoked the Lakers. You got to have a whole bunch of celebrations. Jalen Tyson was killing me. He celebrated a turnover once. Like it was a first down.

[J. Skeets]

That was funny. That was very good.

[Tas Melas]

And you got to see that beautiful Cavs halftime show.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah. Moondog. And I thought you were gonna add. You got to see Bronnie. Bronnie threw a lot of opportunity because it was a blowout and he played well. And that was sort of cool, hearing LeBron say, like, you know, his mom was there. He's like, my mom is here watching her son and her grandson. Amazing. Playing the same game. Mind boggling when you really do put it that way for her.

[Tas Melas]

He's like, I just thought about this.

[Trey Kirby]

It's happened multiple times now when the Lakers have played in Cleveland. The fans are cheering for Bronnie.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And he's played multiple times now.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Threw down a dunk and hit a three. Right. He scored a bit last night. So anyway, yeah, fun game for Cavs fans because they got the victory, too. And they. And we've talked about them on yesterday's show. There's some confidence building here with this team. It's without Darius Garland. You can look into that if you want to. Without Mobley now. Yeah. He's going to be out one to three weeks with a calf injury.

[Trey Kirby]

Not playing until the All Star Game. Like after the All Star Game, I should say.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, right. All right, let's move on. Next one here. Mikhail Bridges scored 19 of his 30 points in the third quarter. Karl Anthony Towns grabbed a zillion rebounds as the Knicks extended their win streak to four with a testy win over the Raptors last night. I thought it was testy because Knicks were chirping and talking a lot to the team. To the fans, it was fun. So that post cup slump, it might be over. True or false, Trey? The Knicks have figured things out and are going to now stand pat at the trade deadline here. Or they should.

[Tas Melas]

I'm going to say it's true and false. I'm going to play both sides of the fence here because I do think they'll stand pat, but I think the reason they're going to be standing pat is because they want to stay in the Giannis chase. And if they trade away what little they have now, they're completely out of it. Like we talked about earlier, they're already in the backseat right now trying to get Giannis. So if they want to stay in the mix, they have to keep the little assets they have. I do think they'll make like a Gershon Yabuzeli move. Who wants him? He was playing last night. A little bit of a showcase for him. I think they'll probably try and upgrade the Jordan Clarkson spot. He's Basically been out of the rotation for him. In related news, the Knicks have started winning games since he's been out of the rotation. I don't know if it all factors in together, but the Knicks did look good last night. Towns 22 boards, that's a lot of roast beef. He could not score. Every time he got the ball, they were just stripping it on him down low. Colin, Murray Boyles was all over him. But I still thought Towns played great. He was so physical. He was playing tough. He obviously dominated the glass. And that's really where the Knicks won last night. 60 points in the paint for New York because the Raptors just look pretty small inside. It was kind of a layup line. Toronto, 12 turnovers in the second half, couldn't hit a three. Meanwhile, New York's getting layups and shot 10 of 19 in the second half from three. So it was a good recipe for the next. Not to mention OG Anunoby is never gonna lose against Toronto. 6, 0. He averages 21 points per game against the Raptors in those six games. He averages 13 for his career. Yeah, he's got a chip on his shoulder to the raptors for sure. 11 of 18.

[J. Skeets]

I love this game because there is like not a rivalry but you know, because of the train maybe. Yeah, some animosity and like, I don't know. You saw Mikhail Bridges, he probably got away with a travel because he got the ball on the wing and he sort of took a couple steps. Then he hit a three and obviously fans in the front row were like, travel, travel. And he hit the three, he turned around, he's like going like this, like mocking them on the way back. And he was playing with like a. A little gusto, I thought last night. So the Knicks have won four straight. They beat the Nets. They won in Philly. Quality win. They beat the Kings. Okay. But then in a back to back situation, went into Toronto and beat the Raps.

[Trey Kirby]

Trey brings up a good point as to why they wouldn't make a trade right here and right now. That would give up assets that would prohibit them from getting Yan instead of Kupo. That, that totally makes sense. And also just them being that good on the floor. Cat had no choice but to play hard because of OG Anunoby and how hard he was playing. And Mikhail Bridges. Those two wings were ridiculously good. And how they got into that zone on the Raptors and got into playing zone and were just. They were relentless. I mean they were Hawks. And that third quarter, Cat had no choice but to. To pick it up. And play it really hard. And that awesome offensive rebound that he was able to grab while flying out and throw it over his shoulder. Sick. But it was led by Bridges, who had 19 in the third quarter of his 30 overall. And OG Anunoby who. Yeah, I mean his dribble package just gets elevated when he plays the Toronto Raptors. He's able to do that little dribble low below his knee. The, the two step, the. The euro step type thing. The dribbling is, is beautiful. He moves. He just is a new guy. And I think this is an indicator for the Raptors where Carl Anthony Towns has 22 boards without Mitchell Robinson in the lineup that they need a big. Now just somebody. They need somebody large. They need somebody whether it's Gogo Bataze who was ruining the rim in Miami yesterday. He was hanging on the rim pre game and they had to go set it. Like that type of player is somebody that the Raptors need just a big body because they're tiny. With Yaka Purdle. It's good for Bobby Webster, the new front office that that kind of gets swept under the rug that they just extended Jakob Hurdle and his back is out. That's a long, big, long contract. But they're teeny tiny. Good to see Colin Murray Boyles back, but again that's without Mitchell Robinson. They also didn't have deuce, but they kicked ass. They look great.

[J. Skeets]

Two other takeaways for me last night, I guess three if we talk about Mikhail Bridges post game interview, which I want to. But. But the Raptors are a good story this year. I mean, I think I've surprised a lot of people. You know, quality record. Obviously Colin Murray Boyle has been great when he's played and all this and all this hustle guys and stuff like that. But they're clearly like a tier below the good teams in this league and that's fine. I mean, hopefully you get your way into that. But like they have a brutal record against like the best teams in both conferences. I think they're 1 and 9 now against sort of the top, top teams. Okay, there's that. The Knicks, when you watch them play like this, I'm 100% convinced they can win a title. When they play like this, when they play this hard and those wing guys are contributing and this Brunt said even have a good game. I mean he's like sort of sick. Foul trouble, all that. Like when I see this, I'm like, yeah, of course. I get it. Dolan. You could make a run here and should make a run in the Eastern Conference this year. And then finally, Mikhail Bridges. That was an enlightening interview after the game. I don't know if you guys saw it or heard it. He said he hasn't been coachable recently, potentially due to a sense of entitlement. And he says, I got to be the best teammate I can be and let the basketball speak for itself. So he was like, basically talking about like that slump when, you know, Bridges was having a brutal January and his name's coming up in trade rumors. And Kat, same thing. And, oh, there's maybe some conflict with the coach. And obviously Jalen Brunson calls the players only meeting. Like, it seems to have worked. Like, whatever Jalen Brunson said. Whoever talked in that meeting clicked a little bit. Where like enough of this. Like, oh, what are we running? Oh, Mike Brown's defense. Like, it's like it's on us here and we need to play hard to go along with our talent. So it was just cool to hear him talk like that after a really good game. And he was like, he was sort of admitting or taking accountability. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

Like I wasn't being a good teammate.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. So they're rolling right now and we'll see if they can keep it going.

[Trey Kirby]

All their other teammates are fighting, as you said. Brunson playing through illness, heart playing through an injury.

[J. Skeets]

And that's another part. Hart is back playing. I know they were losing a little bit when he first came back, but he's been back in all these and he is like, he's doing the finger guns at the Raptors bench. Garrett Temple threw a towel at him. I guess he apologized after. But that's when they were, that was when the game was over basically at the end there. All right, next one here. According to Mark Stein, the New Orleans Pelicans have set a high asking price for Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones in trade talks. The Pels are reportedly seeking a Desmond Bain like package in return. So we're talking here multiple future first round picks in any sort of deal in addition to matching salary. So true or false tasks, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are worth a Desmond Bain type of trade package.

[Trey Kirby]

I think it's true. Ish For Trey Murphy specifically. I think Trey Murphy is just an incredible player. So specifically him. He's a modern NBA player. He's so good. He's having a really good season. Herb Jones a very good defensive player, but he's not on the level of Trey Murphy. So there's, there's that two separate things at the same time, I think the New Orleans Pelicans and what the Benson family did by hiring Joe Dumars to start this season is their idea of this team is to try and grow it internally. And so I don't see those guys moving. I did, you know, a few weeks ago before Jimmy Butler got hurt. I thought the warriors could sneak in and grab Trey Murphy if they continue to play incredibly poorly in New Orleans. But they're playing better and I just think they're. It's one of those organizations that.

[Tas Melas]

You.

[Trey Kirby]

Don'T need to trade everybody. You might as well just floor a decent basketball team and you have your fans at least have something to be excited about. And I don't think they're going to trade these guys. I don't think either one. Just they got something going for them. You know, they, they, they won in Memphis. Okay, not a huge deal. But they beat the spurs, they played a good game against okc. I don't see the deal.

[Tas Melas]

I think this is false because I don't even think Desmond Bain has been worth a Desmond Bain like package. The Grizzlies got back KCP contracts to match and four first round picks. I don't think we're going to see that kind of a return for a trade unless it's a Giannis level player at this point. Rookies are too valuable. Draft picks are too valuable right now from a cheap contract standpoint and from a team building standpoint being able to have first round picks so you can get involved in a chase for a superstar. So when I look at these two players I think like Herb Jones could maybe get one first round pick back. Maybe, maybe guys thought shot 30% from three for this season and last season had a couple of years at the start of his career when he was knocking them down. Which is it? Are you a good shooter or not? We shall see. But I wouldn't trade more than a first round pick plus the contract to match for him. Trey Murphy, maybe he's worth true two first round picks since he's still on the younger side can fill it up. He's an okay defender. I think he could be a more motivated defender if he plays for a team that has actual aspirations. But I do think that the Pelicans should be willing to trade both of these guys if the offers are good enough. I do like the fit of having wings that can play both ways alongside Queen. I'm still, I don't know what to know about Jeremiah Fears. I don't know if he's going to Be like their long term starter there. He profiles to me as more like a Montiellis sixth man or guy you move to really kickstart the next phase of your team. We shall see. Nonetheless, they've got a building block in Queen, a potential building block in fear. So you can see wings making sense around them. But the Pelicans need to get some assets back. So if somebody's going to offer two first round picks for either of these guys, they should take it.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I thought it was funny. Herb Jones is included in this. It really should just be Trey Murphy iii. You're talking about a Desmond Bain like trade package. Yeah, I could squint, maybe see it. I think Trey's right. I think it's less and less likely teams are going to do that. But yeah, multiple first round picks for a guy of his talent. Yeah, Herb Jones. No, I mean, I think teams would love a Herb Jones and you can maybe get one. It ain't going to be a Desmond Bate type package for Herb Jones, I'll tell you that. You know, Lakers have been linked to him for a long time as a defensive minded guy. You could put out on the wing, but it wouldn't cost that much. So he could be moved. I think he could be moved. I think the Pelicans should try and keep Trey Murphy the third, unless they're bowled over by some sort of trade package from somebody which is multiple picks.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, well, we're going to have some fun in the summertime. I think the trade coverage in the summertime will have increased just period. It's good for NBA coverage for people talking about it because there's just more likely that it will happen then. And I think the Pelicans may change their direction then rather than right here right now.

[J. Skeets]

Final one. Celtics forward Jason Tatum told ESPN on Wednesday that he hasn't made a decision about whether he will return from a torn Achilles tendon this season because he, quote, wants to get it right the first time. So it's just a lot to think about. Earlier in the day, Chris Haynes reported that Tatum was reevaluating the situation and considering sitting out the full season. True or false? Tatum will not play this season. Trey Kirby and your bold prediction of him hitting a game winner in the playoffs will not come true.

[Tas Melas]

Okay. I'm saying false, which means I think he's going to come back. I would have said 100%. I think he's coming back. After they had him practice in front of reporters for an hour, I was like, you don't do that. Unless he's planning on coming back. But now we've got Chris Haynes reporting that the situation has changed. Chris also said Jason Tatum told him, personally, I am coming back this season, but apparently something is different now. So does that mean he's had any sort of a setback, or is it just like he's a little nervous about reintegrating with a team that's kind of had a surprising season and at least as formulated, seems like they have a chance in the Eastern Conference even without Tatum. That being said, I still think he's coming back.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

You don't set your mind on a goal like this and then say no at the very last second.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. What a 180. It feels extremely different. I watched the clip of Chris Haynes getting the report. He was literally looking at his phone and. And did it compute in his head? Do. Do I actually say this? Because it's very different than what I said. And so if he's saying it, I'm buying. Feels legitimate. If he's going to come out and say that somebody's not going to play the rest of the year here in January, it's still somewhat early.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, it's not anywhere close to his return date. Yeah, he literally, you know, two and a half months of regular season, so he could not want to play now for a month. And that's why it's. It's kind of still up in the air. And it's hard to say if it's true or false, but if he's going to report it, I'm buying it.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, Tatum is in, by all accounts, has been increasing, like, his workload of late here. And like you said, this full workout in front of reporters. I guess that in Detroit last week, I think you can be physically close to a comeback, but maybe mentally not there. In addition, Tatum may want to come back. Tatum says he wants to play with the Celtics. Might be like, hold on. Our doctors think, let's get this right the first time, and let's not rush anything. And maybe that does mean give you the rest of the season and another off season to really, you know, build that leg back up to full health. So, yeah, I mean, this is a tough question to answer, like, the true or false. Like, it's like, who knows? I. I sort of think he will, too.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Maybe he shouldn't. I mean, but then. Well, that all depends on what happens when he comes back.

[Tas Melas]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

He comes back and re. Injures it. Oh, my God. Everybody's gonna be like, well, you shouldn't have. He comes back and helps him make another playoff run and everyone's like, yeah, perfect. Well, time, you know.

[Tas Melas]

So I did think it was interesting, Jaylen Brown's little interview where he's like, you see what I've been sacrificing. I could have been doing this for years and we haven't fallen off at all. I kind of was like, you throwing shots. That was strange to me that he would say that though. I mean, he should be talking himself up. He's having a great season. And the Celtics are still good? No, they lost last night. Crushed. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Some revenge after the Celtics crushed the Hawks.

[Trey Kirby]

Maybe. Maybe it was the comment Jalen Brown did not look good out there last night.

[J. Skeets]

Well, let's show those other games from last night. The scores, a bunch of basketball. Do you have any other takeaways from some of these games? Anyone you want to touch on?

[Tas Melas]

Oh, Musa Diabate.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah, huge game.

[Tas Melas]

18 points, 19 rebounds, seven offensive rebounds. And he got his three pointer we talked about. Did he hit a three pointer in their previous game? No, he stepped on the line.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, right.

[Tas Melas]

They made this one count from the left corner. And then Grizzlies though, four straight losses. And I will say joggin Jackson Jr. Is checked out. This guy is ready for the season to be over. And it basically is, I think for the Grizzlies. Three and a half games out of the 10th seed right now and they are now behind the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference as well. So down into 12th.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. When I see all the injuries that they've had this season, I know we've mentioned it multiple times, but I still am overwhelmed by the Zach Eady, the Ty Jerome, The Scottie Pippen Jr. And now the UCL elbow injury of John Moran. I mean, that is tough. You literally. That's a third of your rotation.

[J. Skeets]

There's more even too, isn't it?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

He was out, wasn't he, for a while.

[Tas Melas]

Yeah. He played last night.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, not last night. I mean last night. But I thought he was out earlier.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

A lot of guys hurt.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. So that's a, a key question going into the last seven days before the trade deadline. Does that combined with Jaren Jackson junior's future in Memphis, does that expedite their trade deals for John Moran? Especially just to keep Jaren Jackson Jr. Content with that long term deal that he signed in Memphis just to keep him happy. Yeah, that was odd to see that he wasn't happy. I am interested in, in the Pacers. I know they, it's the pacers, and they're 12 and 36. But the way they closed out combined with some rumors, I mean some, I shouldn't say rumors, some talk like the way they closed that with their main guys, Nemhardt, Siakam, Neesmith, those. That's their guys that were incredible last year in the playoffs, combined with Tyrese Halberton is back playing three on three, four on four. Now, you know, he told LeBron that I got burned by Benedict Matheran in practice. I was, I, I said come at me, man. And he literally flew by me. He was at the rim while I'm still at the three point line. So maybe he's not ready. But that's a team that. But I don't know. I'll just never count them out. I just won't. I still think I saw. I still think.

[J. Skeets]

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Tas Melas]

They got a chance to play the bulls. They've got 12 wins and three are against Chicago.

[J. Skeets]

I don't know. Tyres Halliburton is not returning this year.

[Trey Kirby]

It doesn't seem like it. No, it doesn't seem like it. It does not. Okay, but he's playing, he's playing. He's playing well.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, eventually you got to get your health going. Yeah, I get that. But like that malpractice, like the whole the, the Celtics, you go, wow, there's maybe an opening. Tatum maybe pushes us over the edge, but. But they're not even making the playoffs.

[Trey Kirby]

The Hornets seem like the team that can go steal an Eastern Conference play in spot, that's for sure. Oh yeah, they look great.

[J. Skeets]

I'll do you one better. Hornets might win the title, guys.

[Trey Kirby]

Which title?

[J. Skeets]

The championship. You guys brought it up. Brandon Miller, 26 points. Diabate. Awesome. They topped their victory total from all of last season with that win over the Grizzlies. That's cool. But here's the real stat. The Hornets have won six road games by 15 plus points in January. And they tied two teams for the most in a month to do that. The 2001, 2002 Lakers with Shaq and Kobe. The 20112012 Miami Heat with the big three of LeBron, Wade and Bosh. They went on to win titles. Why not? The Hornets got to make the playoffs to win the championship, but they are cooking. What a crazy stat. Yeah, they are just dominating on the road right now in the month of January and with this newfound starting lineup or what now 10 and 1?

[Trey Kirby]

I think so.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melas]

With diamond as a center, they swing a Giannis trade.

[J. Skeets]

They got a chance yeah, there you go. There you go. All right.

[Tas Melas]

San Antonio versus Houston was pretty interesting. It was a close game. And then in the second half, Mitch Johnson put Wemby on him and Thompson and completely flipped the game. Houston had 28 first half points in the paint. They only had 20 in the second half. Now the interesting thing is that 12 of those 20 points in the paint went to Amen Thompson and I thought he was still a negative for the Rockets on the offensive end. Houston had 12 turnovers. San Antonio had six blocks, 18 stocks just in the second half for San Antonio. And it's just because there was so much congestion in the lane. This is the farthest off I've ever seen anybody play off of a perimeter player. Amen. Thompson is bringing up the ball. He's at half court and Wemby is at like the charge circle. Yeah, basically. And you got a 7 foot 5 guy just hanging out there. There's no way your offense can get going. I think that Houston went like 1 of 6 from 3 point land in the second half. Like they couldn't even get shots up because Amen is such a zero offensively and he scored 25 points. They are just not using this guy in the right way. He is not a point guard for this team. This is why they need to go after a ball handler. They should have Reed shepherd handling the ball more often just to give a little bit of space for Sengun, who's not shooting the ball well at all this season from the perimeter and prefers to play inside. Same with Kevin Durant. Like he's going to get his points, he's going to get his buckets. But his shots have been tough as well. So I thought that was pretty eye opening because that's the way every team will defend the Rockets in the playoffs. We also found out Steven Adams going to be out for the season. That's a major loss for Houston. But yeah, that was kind of eye opening to me to see how far off the spurs were playing. Amen. And just being like, hey man, if you get an open dunk in the lane, that's fine because we're taking away literally everything else and it totally worked.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit more about that game. We'll do it through Woah Boy because we got Woah Boy going to Wemby, but this one sponsored Woah boy. Sponsored by Jordan Jormore44 says. Congrats on 20 years. Thanks for the classic after classic after classic. It has meant so much to us all. You're the best lunch on me. Hey, that's what Jordan said.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

In sponsoring woahboy. So Wembanyama gets the Whoa. Boy. Produced game highs of 28.16 rebounds to lead the spurs to that victory. Shot 8, 15 from the floor, 12 of 15 at the line. So a lot of free throws for Wemby. Threw down that huge reverse dunk.

[Tas Melas]

That was cool.

[J. Skeets]

My God, this guy, he blocked a bunch of shots, had five blocks. One of them was an Amen Thompson jumper that he was like a mile away from. He still just put his arm up, blocked it. Three assists, two steals. But yeah, I love just his competitive spirit, man. Like, they lost to the Rockets recently and they're like, not again. We're going to come and get this. And they were down. You know, it looked like the Rockets might get this one, but awesome second half good. Like you said, coaching change there from. From the spurs and how they played them and they sort of rolled or ran away with this victory.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they were way more physical than they were eight days prior. They were willing to fight. It's a good.

[J. Skeets]

And that was the Wemby game where he was like 5 of 21. It was a bad game. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And he was taking plenty of jumpers in that game. That was the game after Kevin Durant said, yeah, he's got to work on his jumper. Yeah, I think Wemby took that personally in this game. Far fewer jumpers. You know, it was about 50, 50 in this one. Rather than like 80, 20, 15 free throw attempts.

[J. Skeets]

Tells you he's being much more aggressive.

[Trey Kirby]

He was going hard, he was fighting, he was scrapping. It's a good photo of him looking very muscular that you chose for the Woah. Boy. His shoulders look huge.

[J. Skeets]

He looks. He almost doesn't look like himself.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, his face.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Well, he's exhaling.

[Trey Kirby]

Looks like a big man now.

[J. Skeets]

He looks like more like Tim Duncan over.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the position. Yeah, it gets you for sure. Now the Rockets don't have Steven Adams. As we said, he's out. They're still able to fight on the offensive glass because that's what IME Udoka's teams do. They got plenty of second chance points, but that's how teams are going to play men. Thompson, they're going to give them space.

[J. Skeets]

Leave them.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they are. So they have to make a deal. It seems like what are they going to do? But they have to get. I mean, yeah, even if they don't make a deal, it's just give it.

[J. Skeets]

To Them or know that Van Vliet is returning? Like, which one do they know?

[Trey Kirby]

Know better or more trust in Reed Shepherd. I mean, that has to be something.

[J. Skeets]

Well, that game lost me another pick them because I had the Rockets and they lost. And I technically can't come back. I can't even tie it now there's. For us, there's two nights here in the month because of tonight and would be tomorrow. And I'm down three. You guys finished tied 11 and eight. I'm eight and 11. I started this month eight and three.

[Tas Melas]

Whoa.

[J. Skeets]

I lost eight straight games.

[Trey Kirby]

Wow.

[Tas Melas]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[J. Skeets]

I was cooking. This is insane, man. And like, it wasn't a. It was like they felt right, you know? It's just so insane.

[Tas Melas]

So you did think you were picking the right one?

[J. Skeets]

Honestly, most of them I did.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

And, you know, there's a couple close calls. Not covers, but a lot of them. Pistons.

[Tas Melas]

Pistons got us yesterday.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. Pistons didn't beat the Nuggets by enough. But anyway, I gotta do another payoff, so if you got an idea, let me know. Let us know in the comments.

[Tas Melas]

Send them in.

[J. Skeets]

I'm not happy about this one because, you know, I'm not happy about being 8:3 and then suddenly losing eight straight to finish eight and 11. Hell, and you guys have good months, too. We had a nice little run going. We had a nice little battle, but ends with, like a wet fart. So what's the. What's the leader in the clubhouse for this? For this payoff? Now you're talking about this football. This chocolate football.

[Tas Melas]

You sent the photo, though. That's a big football.

[Trey Kirby]

It's a big football. I'd say it's. It's over a pound of chocolate that you would have to eat. Like, is that a lot? I don't know. I mean, I saw the weight. I saw the weight on it. I think it's like. Yeah, maybe closer to a pound and a half of doing the ounce calculation.

[J. Skeets]

Want to do another eating challenge?

[Trey Kirby]

It's up to.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

It's up to the box, J.D. really, I guess. I mean, it is tied to football. It's football time.

[Tas Melas]

You want to go to play it again? Sports? Get a full set of football pads and take some hits.

[J. Skeets]

I'd rather do that than eat a bunch of chocolate. Yeah. Yeah. Against. Oh, against who? Yeah, like an actual high school team.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. At the Celtics game yesterday, they kept showing guys from the Pats that are going to the super bowl that are in the stands like they are. One was an offensive lineman. You just reminded me. Very large man. I don't know if I'd be willing to put my body up against it. I would. I would. Okay, next pick and pay off. Just go head to head with an offensive lineman. Why not?

[Tas Melas]

That would be pretty funny, actually, to see.

[J. Skeets]

I'd love to be able to know if, like, could I get around them? I mean, you got speed, but they're also incredibly fast for this guy.

[Trey Kirby]

They are.

[J. Skeets]

So it's like, could you like. I don't know, it's like American Gladiators. It kind of is like.

[Tas Melas]

American Gladiators. Yeah. Do you know any ex linemen? Any ex linemen around here? You know, a guy that works for the Falcons? Maybe you can get one of their big hogs down here to defend the pass.

[J. Skeets]

All right, let it.

[Tas Melas]

Let us know.

[J. Skeets]

Suggestions. We're open to any and all pick and pay offs because I. I gotta owe you guys one here for January.

[Trey Kirby]

I know our. I know somehow I know our man, Jim. Don't call me James Miller. He knows some. Some big line.

[J. Skeets]

He knows a big lineman.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know how. I don't know why, but he's got time. He's got ties.

[J. Skeets]

Probably does.

[Trey Kirby]

He can get somebody in here to ruin our studio.

[J. Skeets]

All right, let's hear everybody's thoughts on the latest Giannis trade rumors. Is he being dealt before the deadline? Which team has the most attractive package? Do you think this bleeds into the summer? Then who's the team that's going to make the deal? Or maybe you're crazy and he's going to stay there forever. Not hearing a lot of that anymore. Hey, he could change his mind for sure. It's like, no, I like it here. Yeah, he is just a human. That's right. So let us know in the comments. We'll be back tomorrow with the Drop Podcast Worst of the week nominees and a whole lot more fun, so hope to see you then. Till then, Clipper Bros, you heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys.

[Tas Melas]

Awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Thanks for joining us. And remember, we're constantly evaluating who's got the best package. I mean, what team's got the best package? Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Brace the day, people. This is an iHeart podcast.

[Trey Kirby]

Guaranteed Human.