Andrew Schlecht (3:10)

S just your general thoughts on this Chris Paul debacle that has happened in LA?

Dave DeFore (3:18)

Well, since the reporting has come out in the seven hours since it's happened or something, it happened like 3:30 in the morning.

Esper Hennessy (3:26)

I am tired.

Dave DeFore (3:30)

With all the reporting that's come out. It seems as though Chris Paul was trying to be a voice in the locker room or in the organization, be keeping people, people accountable. And that didn't seem to rub the right way with, with some of the people in the Clippers organization between Kawhi, maybe between Ty Lu, maybe between Lawrence Frank.

Dave DeFore (3:54)

Yeah. To me it just seems so funny that a, a guy was like, hey, we should keep players and teams and the front office accountable. And they're like, we don't like that. We don't like the idea.

Andrew Schlecht (4:05)

Well, it's also like, what do you expect? This is Chris Paul. Like you're not just bringing, you've known.

Esper Hennessy (4:10)

His personality for 21. Like we, we know who Chris Paul is and the fact that you're saying that he was or the sources are saying that his leadership had become disruptive is silly. Like that is disruptive to who?

Dave DeFore (4:25)

You know, that's the thing. Yeah, yeah. It's like disruptive to who? Because all of the reporting we've heard over the last few years about the Clippers is that they were very, I mean we've talked to Law about this a million times but like they're very tight lipped about Kawhi injuries and the process that has to happen with like how open they are with injury updates, etc. Etc. They're also not very like open to how they are operating in general. I mean, the aspiration thing is obviously looming, but it just feels like organizationally they operate like that. And so this is an insane way to tell on yourself. If you're saying there's this guy here who is trying to keep us accountable and we don't like that. We don't like that there's someone here that's gonna try to lay the law. I don't know. I think that's the craziest part about this whole thing is that it's just the Clippers telling on themselves for their process since Steve Ballmer took over you know?

Esper Hennessy (5:19)

No, the craziest part to me is the fact that aspiration has been tied to this team all year. Like, there's nothing aspirational about the way that the Clippers have been moving at all. And I'm. I'm, like, particularly annoyed, not just because I'm a demon Deacon and hurt from a boy Chris, but the. The level of disrespect. Like, the entire summer, this whole thing about, what, where's Chris Paul gonna land? Like, there was all this hoopla, all of this momentum around him going back to la, him getting to retire with this team, and that's the part that, like, we're not. We're not emphasizing enough. He was coming back to retire with this team.

Dave DeFore (5:59)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (5:59)

And this is a legend. Okay. We just had our top 25 best players in the 20th century. He's in our top half. Okay. He's one of the best point guards of all time. And you're telling me that because Chris Paul was Chris Paul. The Chris Paul he's been since Wake Forest. The Chris Paul he's been in all the stops as he's made is a coach on the bench and a coach on the floor and a coach in the locker room. And you're telling me that that was. We're going to part ways with that. In the midst of you going through not just a losing spell, but like one of the most egregious losing spells where your star players are like, everything's wrong in every way. Things are weird. You're. You've got this dark cloud over your organization because of this aspiration deal that's been on the side. The. That person that is tied to that. Kawhi Leonard, yes, he's been good. But Dave, you mentioned this on our pre. Like, pre call. Good does not necessarily mean impacting winning because it hasn't happened and a person is trying to hold you all accountable to it. A person who can impact winning and has impacted winning doesn't have championship, but that doesn't mean he hasn't impacted winning. And you're saying we're good as S laid out like that. The disrespect is so crazy to me. And it goes bigger than just Chris. It's just like these organizations putting these crappy rosters together, seeing the results. And I appreciate the fact that Lawrence France, Lawrence Frank said, we're not blaming Chris Paul for our loss, like, in our losses and our underperformance is what he said.

Esper Hennessy (7:37)

But that doesn't really help the matters you have.

Dave DeFore (7:40)

That's the Bare minimum of what he could done.

Esper Hennessy (7:42)

Exactly, exactly. And so I just. All of this is disrespectful to Chris. However you feel about Chris Paul, whether you like his personality or not, the, the where he stands in the game, you don't do a Hall of Famer like that, especially at 2:40 in the morning on the east coast, like wild.

Ikeda (8:01)

You know, you guys probably heard Law lay out the timeline of the last few weeks and how weird everything's been. Chris Paul announcing his retirement, the team not making him available to the press like for comments, you know. Yeah, friend of the show Harrison Fagan actually had a really funny story to relay. He was at a Clippers game last week and they had a CP3 appreciation night. And a friend of his, long term Clippers fan compared it to a family giving their dog one last great day before sending them off to the farm and like did the Clippers Old Yeller Chris Paul. It, you know, this team is so weird. It's weird that they can't even say. I mean, we all have an opinion on Chris Paul on the court and Chris Paul like as an antics guy, right? Like, we all kind of have this opinion and it's not often that you find everyone siding with Chris Paul in an argument. Yeah, yeah, right.

Dave DeFore (9:06)

I bet you Scott Foster even agrees with Chris. Right?

Ikeda (9:09)

I would say like, funniest thing is if Scott Foster releases a statement, please, come on, do it.

Andrew Schlecht (9:14)

Be really.

Ikeda (9:15)

I mean, these guys, these referees, they want to be podcasters. That's what we would do. And so I, I just, they can't even do this. And look, Chris Paul over the last few years, whatever, look at where he's been and look at the track record of success and, and frankly, the, the Clippers coming out and trying to bury him after the fact only looks bad on the Clippers.

Ikeda (9:38)

It only looks bad on. It looks like covering your ass, frankly. And now you're trying to say Chris Paul was a problem in the locker room. And I, I mean, look, whether he was or not, I, I find it disrespectful that you're, you're pushing him off the team and then you're dumping that stuff. It just makes you look guilty and bad. And look, you're bad anyway. Maybe they just don't want to rub their stink all over Chris Paul on his way out. I don't know.

Andrew Schlecht (10:04)

No, that's, that's, that's giving them way too much credit there.

Ikeda (10:07)

I agree. And Chris Paul is not a good player. Right. I'm not saying that like this is a guy that they couldn't release or whatever. Like, you. By all means, the. The way that it was handled and the way that it was done just doesn't. It makes no sense to me with the way that the NBA works. And like, it's just disrespectful to a guy that at this point is on his way out. And they wouldn't have done this to a guy if he was 33 years old. You know what I mean?

Dave DeFore (10:32)

Yeah, I thought. I thought Law made a great point, too, but it's like, the Clippers have done this before. Like, people will remember the Blake Griffin saga and how they traded in on a random night and decided that he was going to be sent off to Detroit, you know, and how disrespectful that whole thing was. I mean, if you remember, when Blake came back to LA and Steve Ballmer wanted to shake his hand and Blake ran right past him, like, that's.

Ikeda (10:58)

Yeah, that's the level.

Dave DeFore (10:59)

And by the way, Blake and Chris Paul are arguably two of the goats of that franchise.

Dave DeFore (11:06)

How do you parse through an organization that consistently. One, disrespects his guys, two has no idea how to maneuver. Like, let's be real.

Ikeda (11:16)

These are business guys, man. They're not basketball guys. And yeah, and you can't run it. It's a relationship. Basketball is a relationship business, period. And you can't run this business. Like, you do your cutthroat, whatever with the fake money business. Right. Like, this is one where you actually have to deal with people face to face. L. People who have more power than you do because, I mean, for the most capital more. That's right. I can't tell you. Like Steve Ballmer, okay, yeah, he's famous because he's, you know, one of the richest guys in the world. But most of these guys, they don't. I don't know who they are, you know, I don't care. You don't. You don't score any points. Got no buckets than you. So who do I care? Like, what do I care who you are? And so I. I don't know. The whole thing is just. It's a bad way to treat people. And I mean, look, the Clippers are never going to win. They're just never going to win like this.

Esper Hennessy (12:04)

Well, that's my thing is, like, if they're not only never going to win, for me, I'm like, I'm looking at the. The act in itself, crazy, messy, disrespectful, whatever, but then I'm like, okay, let me take my emotions out of the situation for Chris Paul. Take my emotions for the situation out of respect as a basketball fan.

Ikeda (12:21)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (12:22)

How does this make sense for you Clippers if you want to be a landing spot for any talent moving forward?

Dave DeFore (12:30)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (12:30)

Like people are seeing this trend. I mean, the starting five made very clear how Shea Gildis Alexander felt about his trade away from the Clippers. Right. When he was on the cusp of getting something going.

Dave DeFore (12:41)

Another player that was pretty disrespected.

Esper Hennessy (12:44)

Another player that was disrespected. Right. So that's already. That was already on a spotlight. The Kawhi thing was already on a spotlight. And that the way that was handled was so strange. And then as you mentioned, s in Law Murray's piece that everyone should go read that, you know, broke this down. The early bits of this story around Chris Paul, he reminded me, I forgot the Eric Bledsoe situation, John situation. Like the fact that these guys went to the Clippers left and never played an NBA game again. If I'm an NBA player, especially in my mid career or I'm trying to like land somewhere, why would I choose the Clippers? And this is the track. The track record.

Andrew Schlecht (13:24)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (13:24)

So to me it's like not only from a business perspective right now. You're not gonna win. Move Chris Paul. Don't move Chris Paul. You're not winning, period. To do this is. I'm very curious as to what it's going to do in the locker room. But for your future.

Esper Hennessy (13:40)

How do you think you're going to attract people? There's like, look to your partner to the north. And again, talking about the warriors, but look to your partner to the north. There's a reason why they're able to get free agents outside of their money tied being tied up. People want to go work and play in areas in places that they feel wanted and desired and respected. Clippers, what's happening? Or excuse me, you don't even have to look to the north. Look across the street.

Andrew Schlecht (14:05)

That's what I was about to say.

Esper Hennessy (14:06)

Look across the Lakers. The Lakers make every player that comes through feel like they are a super star. Come on. Like it just doesn't make sense.

Andrew Schlecht (14:15)

Well, and part of the reason why they may have gotten players is because they were, you know, our, our colleague Pablo Torres revealed a lot about some of the things that have gone on behind the scenes. And so like they may have gotten players for different reasons, you know, rather than what's going on there. So it's. They are in an awful, awful spot. And I. I do think that the decision making from the front office has been a huge part of it. Lawrence Frank, he did take accountability, but I think it's. It goes back really far for, like, all the errors that he has made. So he's drafted. Everybody's like, well, he doesn't have any draft picks since he's been the GM of the Clippers.

Dave DeFore (14:58)

Oh, the drafts have been terrible.

Andrew Schlecht (14:59)

He's drafted eight players inside the top 35. Eight. Guess how many of those have turned out to be good?

Dave DeFore (15:07)

I'm gonna say zero.

Andrew Schlecht (15:09)

It's one. It's Shay.

Ikeda (15:11)

Oh, Shay.

Dave DeFore (15:12)

Oh, Shay.

Esper Hennessy (15:13)

Oh, right.

Dave DeFore (15:14)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (15:14)

So here. Here are the names of the guys they've picked in the top.

Dave DeFore (15:19)

Right. He didn't even draft. Shay, traded for Shay, which is a different thing. But, yeah, sorry, go ahead.

Andrew Schlecht (15:23)

But he. I mean, he acquired him on draft night. Jerome Robinson, I knew that was the.

Esper Hennessy (15:29)

Only one I could think of.

Andrew Schlecht (15:30)

Fiondu and the Wizards love Jerome Robinson.

Dave DeFore (15:33)

Hey, Fiondu Cavagelli, by the way, great international career. He's hooping. Just want to put that out there.

Andrew Schlecht (15:39)

Okay. Feather in their captain, Daniel Aturu, who had the. The legendary Tank game in OKC during the. The pseudo bubble. I was at that game and they. The. The amount of post ups that my guy Daniel Aturu got during that game was. It was amazing. Keon Johnson.

Dave DeFore (16:03)

Brooklyn net. Keon20.

Andrew Schlecht (16:05)

He was picked 21st. They actually made another draft night trade, I believe, that night, and traded the rights to Quentin Grimes to. To acquire him. So. Oh, man.

Dave DeFore (16:17)

Terence Mann. Did they not draft Terrence?

Andrew Schlecht (16:19)

Man, he was not. He was not inside the top 35. So I'm just like, like quality draft picks where you can consistently find players, but the fact that they've missed seven times. Jason Preston. Ever heard of him? Kobe Brown and then Niedenhauser, who they drafted at 30 in this past draft. It's like, man, they have human white.

Dave DeFore (16:42)

Flag, as Dave calls them.

Andrew Schlecht (16:44)

They have not nailed one pick. Not even a guy who's like, hey, he became a rotation player. Yeah, you know, like not. Not even really that out of all these drafts. And then that doesn't even factor in some of the trades. Now they've made some, like, good free agent acquisitions through the years and have made like, some. Some nice moves here and there. But, like, the trades are astounding. Like, it goes back to, like, the Shea trade was obviously a complete disaster, but, like, I don't know if people realize because the Thunder have the Clippers pick this Year and next year. Oh, yeah, next year's pick wasn't a part of the Shade trade. Next year's pick was a part of the James Harden trade. So, like, that pick was acquired in the James Harden deal. The Thunder just kind of snuck themselves in there, like, hey, we'll have another one, please. And they gave it to him. And so if you want to, like, talk about, like, embarrassment, like, they like, listen, if, if you are Lawrence Frank, you gotta hang up the phone if Sam calls. Like, if Presti pops up on that caller id, you just, you send that to voicemail, my friend. Because if the Thunder not only treating.

Esper Hennessy (17:55)

Lawrence Frank like the girl you know, will always pick up.

Ikeda (17:58)

Yeah, I would be calling if I was Sam Press.

Andrew Schlecht (18:00)

The.

Ikeda (18:00)

I'd be like three way call with Joe Dumars and Lawrence Frank right now.

Dave DeFore (18:04)

Yeah, exactly.

Ikeda (18:05)

I mean, guys, let's work something out.

Andrew Schlecht (18:07)

The fact that like, they pulled off that deal and a lot of it was like the first, like, big trade, there was like strange leverage that would never exist in any other trade scenario ever, because you have Kawhi going here and they need Paul George to make it happen. And so they're, The Thunder are just like, yeah, we'll take everything. And they were like, how about not everything? And he's like, everything. And they had to do it. You know, they had no choice. But then for the Thunder to sneak back in and to grab another Clippers pick in that James Harden deal is just. I mean, it, it's really, really bad.

Dave DeFore (18:44)

It's so much of like, I mean, obviously incredible work by Sam Presti, but so much of what OKC is now is brought to you by the failures of the LA Clippers.

Andrew Schlecht (18:55)

Yeah. Yes. The championship trophy should say the Thunder of the Champions brought to you by the LA Clippers.

Dave DeFore (19:02)

Honestly, a little, A little thing at the bottom, like hat tip aspiration, you know, thank you.

Andrew Schlecht (19:09)

Aspiration. And the LA Clippers for this title and the, the. The future of the team, I mean, the, the players that the Thunder have gotten so far has really just been Shea and Jdub. But when you think about this next draft, this could be like the next big piece that's added to the Thunder if the Clippers continue to head down.

Dave DeFore (19:28)

This road and next year as well.

Andrew Schlecht (19:30)

And then the following year too, because.

Ikeda (19:31)

Like, how is it staggered?

Andrew Schlecht (19:33)

How is it going to get better?

Ikeda (19:34)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (19:35)

Next year. Exactly. It's. It's not. It's not going to get better. And so they could be getting two Clippers lottery picks two years in a row as they are entering the overlapping primes of Shay, J Dub and Chad. Yeah, yeah.

Ikeda (19:49)

Clippers need to, they need to trade Kawhi and try to get into next year's draft. They, they like, they need to just start moving guys and try to get into next year's, try to get a draft pick.

Ikeda (20:03)

You know what, man? You'd be amazed at who would trade for Kawhi Leonard. And I think James Harden still has value too.

Dave DeFore (20:09)

I mean, I think, I think the guy to trade would be James Harden because he's been, one, he's been great this year. He's been their only bright spot. And two, I think there are, I mean, we, this is kind of a side story to all of this, but there's so many point guards available, and I don't think any of them are as good as James Harden right now.

Ikeda (20:28)

Definitely not.

Dave DeFore (20:29)

You know, and plus, like you, you have that luxury of Harden being on a shorter term contract.

Dave DeFore (20:37)

And that, that element adds to his trade value. So, like, to me, I'm thinking Minnesota wants to go out and trade for a point guard. James Harden is your point guard. You know.

Dave DeFore (20:49)

I don't know, I'm just thinking like teams who want point guards.

Ikeda (20:52)

I don't want to take the ball out of Anthony Edwards hands. Right. And so like, when I think about point guard for Minnesota, the guy that they, that they really need, Nikhil Alexander Walker.

Dave DeFore (21:02)

Right.

Ikeda (21:03)

That they lost because he would be perfect.

Dave DeFore (21:05)

Yeah, perfect.

Ikeda (21:06)

Next, they need a more of a combo guy who can guard up a little bit too, sometimes. And you know, Eric White would be.

Dave DeFore (21:13)

The real, you know.

Ikeda (21:14)

Yeah. So he would be perfect for every team. You know, he's the ideal, one of the best pick and roll ball handlers during the course of his career. But I just don't, I, I don't know if Harden's a fit because of that. Right.

Dave DeFore (21:28)

Harden.

Ikeda (21:29)

Go Bear. Pick and roll would be hard to stop, though.

Dave DeFore (21:31)

See, this is my thing, though. Like, you could, you could feasibly convince yourself that's something the Timberwolves would try and do if the cost is right. I know that they're looking and so I don't know. Timberls are just one example. But there's value in James Harden. Kawhi, I feel like, is a lot harder.

Ikeda (21:49)

He's actually, I mean, he's been good. And the, the thing about it is it's the baggage that comes with Kawhi Leonard. Why would you want to get in the Kawhi Leonard business at this point? Outside of if you're, you know, trying to do something like, with money outside of the NBA regulation, I can't think.

Dave DeFore (22:08)

Of a single team. Right.

Ikeda (22:09)

Hey, Kawhi, teach us how this worked. You know, I just.

Esper Hennessy (22:13)

It's a combination of thinking of a single team that would want to have him join as the difference maker or a team that would just want him because it would just be a boom period. Would Kawhi want to join them? I don't even know if he would have that. That option. But yeah, it feels like the Clippers would give him the heads up and like.

Dave DeFore (22:34)

And like trading Harden and Kawhi. Is that enough to, quote, unquote, reset your deck?

Andrew Schlecht (22:40)

No. No. The answer is no. Like, they're not getting. They're not getting quality. Enough quality assets to reset anything. What. But what they really are wanting to do is to reset their cap sheet and having those guys, basically they have this year and next year.

Ikeda (22:56)

Yep.

Andrew Schlecht (22:57)

And if you're the Clippers, I don't think that they trade either one of those guys just because I think it's more valuable for them to reset their cap sheet than it is to acquire the. What are you going to get? Like the 21st?

Ikeda (23:08)

They're going to be bad whether they're on the team or not.

Andrew Schlecht (23:11)

And you know what do you trust Lawrence Frank to. Even if you get draft picks to make the right pick?

Esper Hennessy (23:17)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (23:17)

I mean, okay.

Ikeda (23:19)

There's no way that guys come on there. I mean, I. Look, I don't ever like to speculate. I don't want to talk about a guy like losing his job. Got plenty of money, I think not to count anybody's bank account. But there's no way. No way. Horns Frank is the GM of this team for the next phase. They can't. It can't.

Andrew Schlecht (23:41)

Oh.

Ikeda (23:41)

After the track record, there's no way. Unless there's just some wild stuff happening or.

Andrew Schlecht (23:47)

Or Dave. He knows too much.

Ikeda (23:50)

That's what I'm saying.

Andrew Schlecht (23:52)

He knows too much.

Ikeda (23:53)

I haven't seen any top secret documents. I read a bunch of emails a couple weeks ago. I did not see any recognizable names. So I don't know if it's anything. I don't know how dark the rabbit hole is for the Clippers, but like, it is strange to me. And, and the thing is, like, we. We heard about like, Ty Lou and Chris Paul not talking for the last few weeks. Ty Lou is another guy. Like, yeah, when does that coach.

Dave DeFore (24:20)

Yeah.

Ikeda (24:20)

To get off to a start like this after the year they had last year where they felt like they had a chance to win the title, like. And we've all made this argument they were good. They matched up well with the Thunder. Right. I mean, if they had made the finals, I think that they match up even better with the. Against the Pacers. So it's. I don't know, man.

Dave DeFore (24:41)

Good friend of Chauncey Billups, by the way.

Ikeda (24:43)

They're loyal to everyone there, apparently. Except for Chris Paul.

Andrew Schlecht (24:48)

Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Chris Paul doesn't. Doesn't have the deets, man.

Ikeda (24:53)

Chris Paul's doing it all above board.

Andrew Schlecht (24:55)

I don't know.

Esper Hennessy (24:56)

I. I feel bad because I do. I do feel like, you know, you spend time away from this franchise, this organization that you helped build and helped elevate, and you pro. Like, I'm sure Chris Paul had some affinity to wanting to improve what was going on and probably the passion behind it a little bit too much. He.

Andrew Schlecht (25:17)

Yeah, he did an interview with ESPN before the start of the season where they talked about his journey and how he's back and he's your home. They did it in the Intuit Dome. They did it sitting on the concourse of the Intuit Dome, talking about how, hey, you're back home. This is basically like the preparation for his retirement tour. You know, he. He announces his retirement tour. Law Law Murray also says, like, he hadn't talked to the media since he did that and had that weird party, like you said. Like, it's just all so weird and it's. It's just so funny that, like, the thing that was the straw that broke the camel's back for them was accountability. Like, can you imagine the Clippers not wanting accountability? Not that team, not that team who we've been talking about since this summer.

Ikeda (26:10)

No, it's.

Dave DeFore (26:11)

It is the biggest way to tell on yourself as an organization to be like, we. That is where we draw the line.

Andrew Schlecht (26:17)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (26:17)

A guy trying to keep us accountable. You want. You want Kawhi Leonard to play in games?

Esper Hennessy (26:23)

No.

Dave DeFore (26:23)

How dare you. You want. You want to run a scheme and have a set rotation or something to. To aspire to, no pun.

Dave DeFore (26:33)

Yeah. No, we're not doing that. Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (26:35)

That one better be intended. I'm sorry.

Ikeda (26:40)

Yeah. The funniest part about this is that Chris Paul was still kind of playing for them, you know?

Dave DeFore (26:46)

Yeah.

Ikeda (26:46)

Yeah. And I don't know. This is a disastrous off season for them. We were all wrong about how this, this year was going to work out for them.

Dave DeFore (26:56)

It's just. I don't know.

Ikeda (26:57)

Clippers are always going to clip. Right? Like, this is. And. And I don't like to Be that guy. I like to say, like, oh, it's all different people. It's not different people at this point. It's been the same people now for a long time there. And it's just. I don't know. There's something there. They're gonna, they're gonna have to move to Seattle.

Andrew Schlecht (27:16)

Yeah, I, I don't know. Do any. I mean, our, our, our old pal Zach Harper wrote an article about like, landing spots for Chris Paul. This clearly cannot be like the end.

Ikeda (27:28)

No.

Andrew Schlecht (27:28)

Like, so I, I think they're gonna trade.

Ikeda (27:30)

They have to do right by him now. Because I do think the PR at this point matters. Like, the NBA should care about this, actually. Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (27:38)

You don't, you don't want this to be the way that his.

Ikeda (27:40)

No.

Dave DeFore (27:40)

So what are the landing spots?

Ikeda (27:42)

What is, what about the Lakers? Let's just do the easy thing, man. He's like, he lives out here. The guy is old. He's not going to play all that much anyway. Send him to the Lakers.

Andrew Schlecht (27:51)

Yeah. Or.

Ikeda (27:54)

Would Sam Presti want to rob the Clippers one more time? I mean, like, what if Chris Paul got his ring with the guys that he helped bring up?

Dave DeFore (28:03)

I, I think that would be cool.

Andrew Schlecht (28:05)

That would be a cool story. I, I'm trying to like, figure out how the Clippers can make that trade and who the else they would have to include because the Thunder don't have a player that matches his salary. It's funny, you know who makes the least amount of money on the Thunder?

Ikeda (28:20)

A.J. mitchell.

Andrew Schlecht (28:21)

It's A.J. mitchell. They sure as heck are not trading.

Ikeda (28:25)

So the Clippers would do that all day.

Andrew Schlecht (28:27)

Yeah. And then it's like, and then like the other guys are the 15th pick in last year's draft. Who? Torres, ACL and Thomas Orber. Nikola Topic, who was a lottery pick a couple seasons ago, is dealing with testicular cancer currently. And then we're all already two Case and Wallace, right? So like the guy that you'd want if you're the Thunder, like, the only really expendable player you have on your roster is Usman Jang, who's on an expiring 6.6 million dollar contract. And so now it's like, would the Thunder like take on another player? It would be. Have to be like Kobe Brown and Chris Paul and like send us to the Clippers and be like, yeah, you can, you can try us if you'd like.

Ikeda (29:10)

Let me, let me ask you.

Andrew Schlecht (29:11)

That doesn't work.

Ikeda (29:12)

Okay, what if we're thinking about Chris Paul not as a mascot but as a player, I mean, he was, he was pretty good for the spurs. And I get it. Like, you know, he played a lot with Wemby, but he was good even after Wimby was out.

Andrew Schlecht (29:24)

Timberwolves, right?

Ikeda (29:26)

Yeah. Like, could he go, they don't need another small old point guard, right?

Dave DeFore (29:30)

Yeah, that's tough.

Ikeda (29:32)

But like, honestly, like there's some, to me, like he could go play with a smart, with a smart team like the Lakers with the way that they play off it. I mean, he could play there.

Andrew Schlecht (29:41)

Yeah, I mean it's, it's almost like doing him a favor.

Ikeda (29:44)

Of course it is.

Andrew Schlecht (29:45)

I don't know who. Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another great doubleheader. The action starts with one of the best rivalries in sports as Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers face Jalen Brown and the Boston Celtics. Then Cooper Flag and the Dallas Mavericks meet SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Lakers and Celtics. The Mavericks and Thunder both really intriguing matchups. What can the potential rookie of the year do against the potent Thunder defense? And then Luca just doing anything is magical against this frisky Boston Celtics team that is led by Jaylen Brown, who's had a really nice year. Coverage starts Friday at 6:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

Andrew Schlecht (30:42)

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Andrew Schlecht (33:56)

I mean Jackson Hayes, like I don't even know.

Ikeda (34:01)

No, that's the issue is I'm not sure how do like how does a team give up anything? For Chris Paul, I get how a team would sign him.

Andrew Schlecht (34:11)

Yeah, Yeah. I don't know what's funny too. I was like, what about the Raptors? God, no, no, no, no.

Ikeda (34:18)

He's not Going anywhere with cold weather. Yeah. And you know, I just don't see it, you know.

Dave DeFore (34:24)

No, I don't see it either.

Andrew Schlecht (34:26)

Yeah, yeah.

Esper Hennessy (34:26)

I didn't, I didn't notice this. I was just looked at. Skeets, our buddy skeets tweet. On November 28, the LA Clippers put out that video for Chris Paul. And it said most of all, you know, I'm in Clipper uniform. That's his quote. And the Clippers Admin wrote, CP3 will end his hall of Fame career at home. Heart and Steve's go. Oh. When they said at home, they met at home.

Andrew Schlecht (34:53)

At home.

Esper Hennessy (34:55)

I am dead. That's hilarious.

Dave DeFore (34:57)

Oh, that's really fun.

Esper Hennessy (34:58)

Wow.

Andrew Schlecht (34:59)

Brutal. Gosh, brutal.

Ikeda (35:01)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (35:01)

It'd have to be a three player trade from OKC's perspective. So Usman Jang for Kobe Brown, Chris Paul and Cam Christie. You could technically wave Kobe Brown and just have Cam Christie and, and Chris Paul come onto your roster. But yeah, like that's not.

Andrew Schlecht (35:19)

I don't, I don't. I mean, I don't know. You don't see it.

Dave DeFore (35:22)

You don't see the vision.

Esper Hennessy (35:23)

You guys have to be like numbers and all that. Better than me. But.

Esper Hennessy (35:30)

Is Memphis an option?

Andrew Schlecht (35:34)

I don't. I mean this, at this point, it's.

Dave DeFore (35:36)

Like, that would be the, that would be like the, that would break Chris Paul's heart, you know, I know that.

Ikeda (35:43)

Guys, is this it? Actually, yes. We're sitting here.

Esper Hennessy (35:47)

No, no.

Ikeda (35:47)

I mean, but I, I don't know.

Dave DeFore (35:49)

If there's a landing spot he'll actually find a team.

Andrew Schlecht (35:51)

Yeah.

Ikeda (35:52)

I just don't know.

Andrew Schlecht (35:53)

I don't know. What. Do you want to go back to Phoenix? You know, it's like another option. Would he. OKC is an option where. But the. I mean, it would have to be like, hey, Chris, do you want to come here and never play? Right. And like be basically just be an assistant to Mark?

Ikeda (36:08)

What? Honestly, you know, I think he would be down. I wonder if he wants to coach.

Andrew Schlecht (36:12)

I don't know.

Ikeda (36:13)

Right. Like if you're the Lakers, maybe you just say, hey, Chris, we got a spot on the bench.

Dave DeFore (36:18)

J.J. chris on the bench coaching the Lakers. That'd be funny.

Ikeda (36:21)

I mean, I don't know if he wants to coach or not, but.

Andrew Schlecht (36:24)

Yeah.

Ikeda (36:24)

I don't know. This is, It's a set. It's a sad way to. For it to end.

Esper Hennessy (36:28)

He's.

Andrew Schlecht (36:29)

He's 41.

Ikeda (36:30)

Yes.

Andrew Schlecht (36:31)

But I understand, I understand. And this is really, this is all the Clippers fault. Like this is right.

Ikeda (36:36)

They could have just not signed him or they could have just done this in any other way or nobody's saying Chris Paul is, you know, contributing anything to the team. He's not a good player. He is old. He probably should have retired.

Andrew Schlecht (36:49)

Yeah.

Ikeda (36:49)

This is just. They did it in the exact.

Dave DeFore (36:51)

He just wanted a farewell tour, man. That's honestly.

Andrew Schlecht (36:55)

And.

Ikeda (36:55)

And that doesn't even matter to me either. You don't have to give people what they want just because they want it. These guys are used to getting everything they want. To me, you could have just done this in a non disrespectful way. And we barely talk about it.

Andrew Schlecht (37:08)

Yeah.

Ikeda (37:08)

We barely talked about the fact that he's retiring. We talked about it for about five minutes because he's not like, he retired for real, like two or three years ago as like, being a player that makes a difference and so on his way out to just like, kind of give him the boot instead of opening the door is sad.

Esper Hennessy (37:28)

What.

Andrew Schlecht (37:28)

What's crazy to me is you're 5 and 16. Like, you're. You're 5 and 16. You're. This. The only team that has a worse record in the Western Conference than you is the Pelicans. So, like, both teams.

Ikeda (37:41)

That's not tanking on purpose. Is tanking done.

Andrew Schlecht (37:45)

No, stop, Dave. But like, that. It's just like, what. What is the point? What is like, what is truly, what is the point?

Dave DeFore (37:53)

They didn't want to be, like, they don't want to be accountable.

Andrew Schlecht (37:57)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (37:57)

They don't want that. That to them is more costly than actually trying to win games and trying to turn this thing around. Having to be told that, like, hey, whatever you're doing is the wrong way to do it. That is more costly to the Clippers because they don't want to get Kawhi mad or Tyloo mad or hard. Whoever it is behind the scenes, that's mad.

Andrew Schlecht (38:21)

Do you think, like, seriously has. Is this all tied back to the aspiration? Stuff is like. Is what, like, keeps, like, hitting my brain.

Ikeda (38:31)

Did they bring Chris Paul back for PR and then blow it?

Andrew Schlecht (38:35)

I just. I'm just wondering, like, if, like, hey, you are. You are, like, shaking the beehive too much. And like, there's stuff that if you shake it enough, like, more stuff is going to fall out. Like, more bees are going to get out of here. It's.

Dave DeFore (38:52)

Maybe he was just like, hey, like, why isn't Kawhi playing?

Andrew Schlecht (38:56)

I don't. I just. I just wonder. I just can't help but think about that. And I don't know that any of that's true. This is like pure speculation at this point. But I just wonder does. Is all of this.

Dave DeFore (39:08)

He was getting too close to it.

Andrew Schlecht (39:10)

Intertwined.

Ikeda (39:11)

Oh, no, this is.

Andrew Schlecht (39:13)

Okay.

Esper Hennessy (39:13)

It's like, it's not just about the.

Ikeda (39:15)

Fact Chris Paul was the inside man. He's. He's been working for the NBA the whole time.

Andrew Schlecht (39:19)

Hilarious.

Ikeda (39:21)

What if. What if he was informing.

Esper Hennessy (39:24)

We are. We are cons. We are tinfoil hats here.

Ikeda (39:27)

Actually write this as a teleplay. And we're.

Esper Hennessy (39:29)

The rest of these boxes are putting on tinfoil hats, rolling them up and tightly binding them around your head. No, like, you know, I don't even want to say, like, you know, language matters. And I don't. Yes, Chris Paul is not a bad player. He's not playing well. Right. Like, he's at the end of his career, but at the end of the day, this is a guy with high iq. This is a guy that if you have him around your team, he is going to make you better in some way. And so it goes back to what S. Is saying, the accountability. You don't even want this guy in your locker room talking to your young guys like, we know what he was doing. Y' all are killing me.

Esper Hennessy (40:08)

Killing me in these comments.

Andrew Schlecht (40:10)

Let's go.

Esper Hennessy (40:12)

Like, you, you don't even want him on your bench coaching up your young guys.

Andrew Schlecht (40:16)

Yes.

Esper Hennessy (40:16)

Right. Which we just saw him do in San Antonio. Which we just saw him do at the warriors. Like, this is what he can do. And the fact that the, the. The team's like, no, we're good. Not only do we not want that, we don't want them on the floor, which we can understand that part. But 5 and 16, yeah, they're awful.

Ikeda (40:35)

I will say, though, of all the teams in the league that doesn't need the Chris Paul leadership thing, right? And that I. If you're just saying we're in a vacuum and it's like, oh, Chris Paul came in and. And was doing the leadership thing and they tuned him out. Of all the teams games, this is the most predictable.

Esper Hennessy (40:55)

Right.

Ikeda (40:56)

It was the oldest team in the league. And frankly, like every story, I mean, like, James Harden hasn't left anywhere on good terms. Kawhi seems like a total diva to deal with from all the stories and reporting that, that we've heard over the years. You know, game time, decision on whether he's going to play some nights, that's got to be frustrating. And if you're Chris Paul, a guy who has been you know, a professional NBA player for a very long time, and you're watching this stuff happen. I imagine you probably think everyone's crazy and he's talking like he's not gonna not be vocal. I. I just.

Esper Hennessy (41:30)

Right.

Ikeda (41:30)

I don't know. This is not. This is pretty predictable. I think if you just consider that the Clippers are going to do everything in a weird way.

Andrew Schlecht (41:38)

Yeah. It's like Chris Paul is.

Ikeda (41:40)

He's.

Andrew Schlecht (41:40)

He's being vocal. Chris. Chris Paul is being vocal. Like, all right, come on now. Come on now. Like, get a. Get a grip. Yeah, it is. This is wild. God, I love the NBA.

Ikeda (41:51)

And we didn't even talk about J and Trey and Lamelo and the powerless trio that are going to start asking for, like, trade demands.

Andrew Schlecht (42:02)

The powerless trio?

Ikeda (42:03)

Yeah. What do you. I'm sorry.

Dave DeFore (42:06)

Oh, wow.

Ikeda (42:07)

Lamelo Ball is going to hold my franchise hostage.

Andrew Schlecht (42:10)

No, no, I don't know that. No. He had Conan up on the Tonight show yesterday.

Dave DeFore (42:15)

That's right.

Andrew Schlecht (42:16)

That's good.

Ikeda (42:17)

He was on the Tonight Show.

Andrew Schlecht (42:18)

Yeah, he was.

Ikeda (42:18)

Yeah. Okay. That's a bit much. Oh, what do you mean? Oh?

Esper Hennessy (42:22)

Oh. So that's where you draw the line.

Andrew Schlecht (42:25)

That's a bit much, Dave. Oh, come on.

Ikeda (42:26)

That's a bit much.

Andrew Schlecht (42:27)

Oh, come on.

Ikeda (42:28)

Come on. That's a bit.

Andrew Schlecht (42:29)

He's gonna win. He's gonna win rookie of the year.

Ikeda (42:33)

The nipple hits. Was Stepan Castle on the Tonight show last year? Just curious.

Andrew Schlecht (42:41)

All right. What is that?

Ikeda (42:41)

There you go.

Esper Hennessy (42:45)

That is a very fair point.

Ikeda (42:47)

I'm making a point here.

Ikeda (42:49)

You know, Gotta read between those lines.

Dave DeFore (42:53)

I'm picking up what you're throwing.

Esper Hennessy (42:55)

Yeah. Well executed, Dave. Very well.

Ikeda (42:58)

Yeah, we're all very excited to have a guy in the NBA named Cooper. I get it.

Dave DeFore (43:04)

Yes, that is true. Just like how they were very excited to see a guy named Larry.

Ikeda (43:09)

Okay. If we haven't hit that nail hard enough.

Ikeda (43:14)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (43:14)

I guess that was the problem.

Dave DeFore (43:19)

Conspiracy theory about Chris Paul now.

Ikeda (43:21)

Well, listen, if Chris Paul was the inside.

Dave DeFore (43:24)

The idea that, like, Adam Silver got on the phone and he's like, look, man, we've tried everything, but you're our last resort. And Chris was just in the. In the Clippers Intuit Dome, sixth floor, looking through the paperworks and the filings, you know, fiddling his fingers.

Andrew Schlecht (43:42)

God.

Esper Hennessy (43:45)

Fiddling through paperwork. But it's fat. It's just great.

Dave DeFore (43:48)

Yes.

Ikeda (43:48)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dave DeFore (43:49)

This. I really believe it. If there was one person you guys talked about. The letter of the law, Right? Keeping guys accountable. All of this stuff.

Dave DeFore (43:58)

Jersey, the Untucked Jersey Guy? Are you kidding me? You spent a dime out of the salary cap. How dare you?

Ikeda (44:06)

Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.

Andrew Schlecht (44:10)

God, it's amazing. It's amazing.

Andrew Schlecht (44:14)

All right, before we get out of here, I just feel like I end almost every show I do now with Tankathon spin. You guys.

Ikeda (44:21)

Oh, I thought you were gonna say, do you have anything to get off your chest?

Andrew Schlecht (44:24)

Do you?

Ikeda (44:26)

I mean, listen, I. The button broke on my electric toothbrush this morning.

Andrew Schlecht (44:31)

Oh.

Ikeda (44:32)

But it broke in the on position.

Andrew Schlecht (44:35)

Oh. So you had to let it.

Ikeda (44:36)

I can't turn it off. So right now it's still going. It's still. It's been going. I'm impressed by the battery life, but I cannot turn it. I'm gonna have to, like, disassemble.

Andrew Schlecht (44:47)

Impressed by the battery life.

Ikeda (44:49)

This thing has been around the planet, like, multiple times. I've had it for, like, four years. I mean, I've gotten my money's worth out of it. Shout out to a company that doesn't sponsor us, so I'm not going to say their name.

Andrew Schlecht (44:58)

Okay.

Ikeda (44:59)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (45:00)

Wow. Anybody else?

Ikeda (45:02)

That's my. That's.

Esper Hennessy (45:04)

Say rest in peace to Eldon Campbell.

Ikeda (45:06)

Oh, yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (45:07)

Oh, yeah. That's.

Ikeda (45:09)

Why so young.

Esper Hennessy (45:10)

57 only.

Dave DeFore (45:12)

Oh, wow.

Andrew Schlecht (45:12)

That's awful. Yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (45:16)

Well, you guys want to do a Tankathon spin?

Ikeda (45:19)

Yes.

Esper Hennessy (45:19)

Bring the vibes back up. I apologize. I just want to make sure.

Ikeda (45:22)

Oh, it's all right. Eldon Campbell, you know, back, like, the two big days.

Ikeda (45:28)

Were actually, like. I have a nostalgia for those. You know, you give me two seven footers on the court at the same time.

Esper Hennessy (45:36)

Throwing lobs, guys.

Andrew Schlecht (45:38)

Yeah. Hey, I used to have Elton Campbell hooping on Kobe Bryant's NBA courtside on Nintendo 64. For real?

Ikeda (45:46)

Could he shoot? Like, did you step outside with him at all?

Andrew Schlecht (45:50)

Oh, no, man. We're.

Ikeda (45:51)

This is all dunker spot.

Andrew Schlecht (45:52)

This is all dunks. Yeah. Come on, now. Just want to give a shout out to. To bad GMS being back in the league, and it's like. It's, like, so apparent in this current draft lottery as. As we look at the pelicans at the top of it currently.

Ikeda (46:08)

Also shout out to Andrew no ad blocker.

Andrew Schlecht (46:13)

Yeah, you know what?

Ikeda (46:14)

Yeah, that's.

Andrew Schlecht (46:17)

That's fair. That's fair. I'll. I'll take that. I'll take that one on the chin.

Ikeda (46:20)

No, I mean, listen to ethical consumption, I guess, right? Like, you're. You're at least letting them make some money.

Andrew Schlecht (46:24)

That is not. That's not. I mean, I do want to support Tankathon. Yeah, I do want to support Tankathon, but that has. This has nothing to do with that. Okay. All right, here we go. One spin. One spin only here on Tank, the Thunder get the number one pick. Let's go. Let's go. Number one pick. So not only did the Thunder get number one, the. They get number one, they get number nine, they get number 14, and they get number 27.

Ikeda (46:52)

This is why the league is freaking out.

Andrew Schlecht (46:54)

This. You want to see why the league is freaking out?

Dave DeFore (46:56)

That's a doomsday scenario.

Andrew Schlecht (46:58)

Because that's why Chris Paul.

Dave DeFore (46:59)

That's why Chris Paul is fiddling through the records, man.

Andrew Schlecht (47:01)

That's. That's three lottery picks, including the number one overall pick. Just one spin.

Ikeda (47:06)

I got a. I got a text that said Lawrence Frank is Nico Harrison for Sam Preston.

Esper Hennessy (47:16)

That's good.

Ikeda (47:17)

I mean, look, we've talked about the Luca trade being the worst trade maybe in sports history. Is the Shade trade not close?

Andrew Schlecht (47:24)

Like, I mean, if this happened, if this, if this happens, it's probably worse because if they get Shea J. Dub and Darren Peterson. Plus, I mean, it's.

Ikeda (47:35)

I think it's worth. Is the Herschel Walker trademark is really what it is.

Andrew Schlecht (47:40)

Yeah.

Ikeda (47:41)

Because you like, they tr. So if for those that don't know, Herschel Walker was traded from the Cowboys to the Vikings for a bunch of picks that turned into like Troy Aikman and Emmett Smith, I mean, it set up the Cowboys dynasty in the 90s.

Ikeda (47:56)

This is what like that trade was. You traded away Paul George because Paul was still a good player. Right. Like, still productive.

Andrew Schlecht (48:04)

Traded him. Yeah, right.

Ikeda (48:05)

But you've got such a huge hall that stretches so far out in the future and it's all of these prospects that allow you to just already do the thing that they're doing and just roll it over year after year.

Esper Hennessy (48:18)

What's the Shams bomb?

Andrew Schlecht (48:23)

What did he say?

Dave DeFore (48:26)

Oh, my goodness.

Esper Hennessy (48:28)

Wow.

Dave DeFore (48:29)

Oh, my goodness.

Ikeda (48:30)

Somebody want to let me know?

Esper Hennessy (48:33)

And his agent, Alex Rossis have just started conversations with the Milwaukee bucks about the two time NBA MVP's future and discussing whether his best fit is staying or elsewhere. Sources tell ESPN a resolution is expected in the coming weeks.

Ikeda (48:48)

Well, they are bad and lost to the Wizards. I think losing to the Wizards would make me consider my future with the team there too. Like, I mean, they. They really are not a good team. They're not set up for the future at all. And Giannis is.

Dave DeFore (49:05)

At least talk about Giannis for the next little bit Here, guys.

Andrew Schlecht (49:07)

He keeps dipping his toe. I mean, Giannis has been doing this with Shams specifically.

Dave DeFore (49:12)

This feels like the biggest dip, though.

Ikeda (49:15)

This is pledged.

Dave DeFore (49:16)

Engulfing the toe.

Andrew Schlecht (49:17)

Yes. You know, they have started conversations about it. I mean, they've started it. I would hope that they would have started this conversation a while ago. Yeah.

Ikeda (49:26)

You know, so okc, hear me out on this.

Andrew Schlecht (49:29)

No, we can't.

Ikeda (49:30)

Oklahoma.

Andrew Schlecht (49:31)

Yeah, I'll hear you, but go ahead.

Dave DeFore (49:33)

Wait, are you telling me the Clippers pick.

Ikeda (49:36)

Wait, you wouldn't want to trade for Giannis?

Andrew Schlecht (49:39)

No. We can talk about it. If you.

Dave DeFore (49:41)

Even with the Clippers pick, like, you don't have to trade anybody, real.

Ikeda (49:47)

I mean, if it's. All right. Hang on. If this is a franchise culture thing and just kind of how the way, like that OKC operates, I can understand.

Andrew Schlecht (49:55)

Okay, just, like, hear me out. Why OKC would not trade, because I've had. I've had this conversation with several people about, like, why the Thunder would not trade this particular pick for a guy like Giannis or Whoever becomes available. One. They're already the best team in the league. They're 21 and one.

Esper Hennessy (50:14)

Right.

Andrew Schlecht (50:15)

They don't. They don't need to go to a higher level than this. They just don't need to. Plus, let's say that the scenario that we just had actually happens in reality, and the Thunder get Darren Peterson and they get to bring him into their building. The guy's 19 years old.

Esper Hennessy (50:33)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (50:34)

That's more, maybe more valuable to you than bringing a 30 year old.

Ikeda (50:37)

And the salary stuff matters.

Andrew Schlecht (50:39)

He's cost controlled.

Ikeda (50:40)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (50:41)

And like, whenever Darren Peterson starts to come into his prime, Shea will be in his, like, what, mid-30s? And then, like, you just get to be like, okay, now you, awesome young point guard, get to take over the team and get to grow with future hall of Famer Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, and, like, you get to actually keep the team together. The minute that you bring a salary the size of Giannis's, because you could probably. You can get there by trading Hartenstein, Lou Dortmund, this number, this number one pick from the Clippers, whatever it ends up being, you can. You could do that. And they have multiple other picks. They could do it. That makes sense. That gets, you know, the Bucks something that they would want. But the minute that you do that, the clock is ticking on keeping this team together. And, like, this is why they don't want to do it. The Thunder want to be good for not the next three years. They want to be good for the next 10 years.

Esper Hennessy (51:35)

Right?

Andrew Schlecht (51:35)

And so, like, trying to.

Andrew Schlecht (51:38)

Like, bringing Giannis in, just speed your time up, timeline up like crazy. And are. Are you, like a thousand percent sure that you're just going to be a much better team, chemistry wise, adding Giannis? Like, I. I think probably yes, you are, but you already won the title and you're already the title favorite now. So he's like, you don't need to do that.

Dave DeFore (51:57)

And you're 21 1.

Andrew Schlecht (51:59)

And you're 21 1. You don't need to do it.

Ikeda (52:01)

I mean, the team is 75 games.

Andrew Schlecht (52:02)

The team that, like, has to really look at it is the Hawks, because the Hawks could, could win the Eastern Conference this year.

Dave DeFore (52:10)

They have the two Bucks picks too, right?

Andrew Schlecht (52:12)

This. They have. They have the Bucks pick next year, which allows the Bucks to actually tank next year. The Bucks have their own pick this year already, so they can tank this year anyways, but it allows them to tank next year. You have.

Dave DeFore (52:24)

I swear, the Hawks have the Bucks pick this year from the Pelicans trade.

Andrew Schlecht (52:27)

I thought it was last. I think it's next year.

Dave DeFore (52:30)

Let me double check this.

Andrew Schlecht (52:31)

Keep on going. But they, but they also have this, this pick from the Pelicans that they can trade. Plus, you have, like, Porzingis. You don't have to include Trae Young. You could include Trae Young if you wanted.

Dave DeFore (52:42)

They have the Bucks pick from this year.

Andrew Schlecht (52:44)

Oh, they have it this year. Well, there you go. You allow a path for tanking this.

Dave DeFore (52:47)

Year and next year. So they have.

Andrew Schlecht (52:49)

Trade them both back to them.

iHerb Narrator (52:51)

I would.

Andrew Schlecht (52:51)

And you allow them to tank because the most valuable picks that you can have during a tanking season is your own draft picks, not somebody else's. So you allow them to kind of control their own destiny. You can get back. Like, I would. Alex and I talked about this on down to Dunk yesterday. Like, include Zachary, Risa, Shay, include Chris Eps, Porzingis. You don't have to include Trey Young. I probably wouldn't want to. I'd want to keep Trey. And then that team is the best team in the Eastern Conference. You just traded for the best player in the Eastern Conference. Now he has a supporting cast that is actually good. And there is not a team out there right now outside of the Detroit Pistons that I believe in winning the East. Like, how dare you?

Dave DeFore (53:33)

I'm just kidding. Go ahead.

Andrew Schlecht (53:34)

Sorry, I just. I just think, like, that is the trade.

Ikeda (53:39)

What about the Raptors?

Dave DeFore (53:40)

S. I. I don't see a world in which they have what it takes.

Ikeda (53:44)

To get them they don't. I just.

Andrew Schlecht (53:45)

They don't, they don't have to go.

Dave DeFore (53:46)

They don't have. Unless, you know, for some reason they decide to include Scotty Barnes in this, which again, I just don't thing they would do.

Andrew Schlecht (53:53)

I, I just think like the Hawks is like the no brainer spot for him and you get to go. Like, I would pick the Hawks instantly to win the Eastern Conference if he went there. I just think I'm worried it's going.

Ikeda (54:05)

To be like, I don't know, just some team out West.

Andrew Schlecht (54:09)

Keep him out of the West.

Ikeda (54:11)

Right.

Andrew Schlecht (54:11)

For the longest out of the West.

Esper Hennessy (54:13)

The NBA could not allow that. I mean, it would be so imbalanced in terms of the star power in the west versus the East.

Andrew Schlecht (54:20)

It's.

Esper Hennessy (54:21)

They. I can imagine Adam Silver is going to pick up a phone call.

Ikeda (54:25)

There's too many Eastern starts. Don't you want your stars to be on TV and be seen by people's eyeballs instead of their eyelids?

Andrew Schlecht (54:35)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. I mean, like that's. It's a huge deal. It's a huge deal that he.

Dave DeFore (54:44)

Just to Clarify there, the 2026 pick is a most favorable of Milwaukee's 21st or New Orleans is 2026 first. So they have. I mean, it's going to be the Pelicans pick. You know what I mean?

Andrew Schlecht (54:56)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (54:56)

Which is still a very valuable pick.

Andrew Schlecht (54:59)

I was gonna say having that option is incredibly valuable. Yeah. So like, yeah, totally. The Hawks are the team to me and they make sense. Like the Thunder don't make sense because it's like, what are they going to do? Win the title harder this year than they did last year?

Ikeda (55:15)

Well, maybe, you know, it kind of.

Andrew Schlecht (55:17)

Feels like it, but like the Hawks don't have a chance to win the NBA title right now, but they certainly do if Giannis is wearing their jersey. You know, like that. That's where it makes sense. It's like you have have a chance to actually go do this.

Esper Hennessy (55:31)

And this is with Trey Young on.

Andrew Schlecht (55:33)

The team and you can keep Trey Young.

Ikeda (55:34)

This is what it is.

Dave DeFore (55:36)

I just cooked up the trade, just wanted to make it official on Spotrick or whatever. Chris Osborzingis, Zachary Richochet, Asa Newell and three firsts that are not the Hawks. The Pelicans first this year, the spurs first this year, and then the Bucks first next year. And that's your package.

Andrew Schlecht (55:55)

Yeah.

Ikeda (55:57)

And then Miles Turner's on the market.

Andrew Schlecht (56:01)

Yeah, I mean, sure. Like you might as well go get another draft pick for him.

Ikeda (56:05)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (56:06)

Yeah, that's there.

Ikeda (56:08)

You know what I, I, if, if this trade season.

Dave DeFore (56:12)

What about Houston?

Ikeda (56:13)

Hands out. It's going to be huge. Houston for Giannis.

Andrew Schlecht (56:18)

No. Yeah, I won't consider, I won't consider it.

Dave DeFore (56:20)

You don't see it?

Andrew Schlecht (56:21)

I mean, just be. I would, I will.

Esper Hennessy (56:23)

Who would you move?

Dave DeFore (56:25)

That is the big question. But they have the salary to move, they have the players to move, they have the picks.

Andrew Schlecht (56:30)

They have, yeah, they have it all.

Dave DeFore (56:32)

And then there's the spurs. You know what I mean?

Esper Hennessy (56:34)

So I like, I just think it's a matter of choosing those people because I think Houston set up, they're similarly set up of, yes, they have win now components, but they have future components that I think they want to build around.

Andrew Schlecht (56:48)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (56:48)

And so that's why I just don't know where they would, going down the roster, who they'd be like, yeah, we're good with getting rid of Knicks.

Ikeda (56:54)

Can't get there.

Andrew Schlecht (56:56)

I just don't think they have like.

Ikeda (56:57)

The, I don't think so either draft.

Andrew Schlecht (56:59)

Capital to make that happen. I think they would want to. Absolutely. They would want to.

Ikeda (57:04)

Okay, what about Minnesota for. I mean, it, you probably. Randall's in there, may or maybe go Bear. You know what I mean?

Andrew Schlecht (57:14)

I just, I just don't think that they, like what like we're talking like.

Ikeda (57:18)

I mean, I feel like the season, Giannis's name, like John Krasinski mentioned Giannis as like if he's available. Minnesota's at least going to have a conversation.

Andrew Schlecht (57:28)

I mean, they're right. They should because they don't have a real future around Ant right now. So they, they need to have that conversation. However, there are going to be offers that are way above what Minnesota can offer. I mean, there.

Ikeda (57:42)

Giannis is also going to get to steer this right. So we'll probably start to hear over the course of this week, oh, Giannis's preferred destination.

Andrew Schlecht (57:51)

I'm sure he wants to be in New York. I'm sure he wants, he probably wants.

Dave DeFore (57:53)

To play in New York. Yeah.

Ikeda (57:54)

So should we think what can Brooklyn pull something off?

Andrew Schlecht (57:58)

No, I mean, how about they don't have anything.

Dave DeFore (58:01)

How about the Lakers? LeBron does one more thing to help out the, the franchise and he's like, you know what? I'm going there. I'm waving my no trade clause.

Andrew Schlecht (58:11)

Okay. I can't s, I can't do it. I just can't do it.

Ikeda (58:16)

Warriors. Warriors.

Dave DeFore (58:19)

You'd have to trade Draymond and Jimmy, right?

Ikeda (58:21)

How about. Yeah, well, at least Jimmy get a Third team send Jimmy there.

Esper Hennessy (58:25)

Yeah. I don't think that with trying to build for the future, they need to stay under their cap. They need to like, they need, they trust me. I don't know if the second unit, the young guys is what Milwaukee would even be looking for in replacement for Giannis. So I, I don't, I don't see.

Ikeda (58:45)

That being a Kaminga.

Andrew Schlecht (58:48)

Yeah. The conversations.

Esper Hennessy (58:52)

Not too much. Not too much now. Not too much.

Dave DeFore (58:55)

I think I found the perfect trade guys.

Esper Hennessy (58:58)

But that being said. That being said, Ryan Rollins was leftovers for the Warriors.

Andrew Schlecht (59:05)

He was. Yeah, he definitely was.

Esper Hennessy (59:07)

I remember covering him in G league and he was barely getting time. This was the, not the, the year. Ty Jerome.

Andrew Schlecht (59:16)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (59:17)

And the guy that I don't care to remember his name was getting 50, full 50 games for the NBA season as a two way player. So. Yeah, I mean there's been, there's been some evidence of players going elsewhere and finding success, but I can't, I don't know. We'll see.

Andrew Schlecht (59:36)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (59:36)

Tyler Hero is from Milwaukee. That's all I want to put out there.

Ikeda (59:41)

Yeah. So is Brandon Pajimski.

Andrew Schlecht (59:44)

Yeah.

Esper Hennessy (59:46)

I think for the warriors it would be less about.

Ikeda (59:48)

So is Bob.

Esper Hennessy (59:49)

Obviously the warriors would love, would love, love Giannis, but more so what would Milwaukee. I mean. Yeah. What would they want back? And that's. That's the problem.

Andrew Schlecht (59:59)

Yeah.

Andrew Schlecht (60:01)

That's why it's the Hawks. That's just.

Esper Hennessy (60:03)

It sure was, it sure was.

Andrew Schlecht (60:05)

Anthony Lamb feeling like Hawks. Wow. Okay, more to come on this story obviously here on the Athletic NBA Daily. Thank you so much for tuning in. A ton of people in the stream really appreciate you guys tuning in. If you, you want to watch this live, we typically go live around 12:30, 1:00 Central time, so we'd love to have you guys jump in live with us. Hope you guys have a great rest of your day and we'll talk to you guys again tomorrow.

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Ikeda (61:00)

Yep.

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