Thunder strike down Nuggets + All Star Reserves

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily | February 2, 2026

Episode Title: Thunder strike down Nuggets + All Star Reserves
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, Esfandiar Baraheni

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Main Theme

This episode delivers a detailed recap and analysis of the Oklahoma City Thunder's statement win over the Denver Nuggets, breaks down the 2026 NBA All-Star reserves—including notable snubs and controversies—and discusses recent NBA trades and their implications ahead of the trade deadline. The hosts maintain a lively, humorous, and insightful tone throughout, blending sharp basketball insight with friendly banter.

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Key Topics & Segments

Thunder Beat Nuggets: OKC’s Statement Win

[01:54 – 11:02]

• Shea Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP Case

  • SGA exploded for 34 points and 13 assists, slicing up Denver’s defense and showcasing “superstar gravity.”
  • Dave Dufour: “This was a game where Shay Gilgeous-Alexander came out looking like he was trying to seal the deal on the MVP award... He was on another level last night.” (01:54)

• Thunder’s Offense Clicks

  • OKC shot 19/48 from three. SGA’s gravity freed up shooters like Cason Wallace (7 threes), Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins.
  • Zena K: “Just how many guys he pulled, which allowed Case and Wallace to go off, which allowed Isaiah Joe to get those open threes. That... is another way you showcase why you are the most valuable player.” (02:40)
  • S. Baraheni: “When they go 19 of 48, when they take more threes than the Nuggets, that is a big equation too… This is how you show OKC can be one of the best offenses in the NBA.” (03:47)

• Defensive Gameplan on Jokic

  • Lou Dort and physical team defense pestered Jokic, causing 6 turnovers and limiting his shot attempts (just two in the first half).
  • Dave Dufour: “It was like bees, you know, let’s just send two or three guys at him... they caught him early.” (06:25)
  • S. Baraheni: “Six turnovers for Jokic... they weren’t able to get him the ball as frequently as they could. OKC is the number one defense in the league.” (07:06)
  • Denver missing 3 starters (Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon) didn’t help.

• Denver’s Out-of-Rhythm Offense

  • Jamal Murray and Jokic were held to 16 and 12 points, respectively. Peyton Watson had 29, but hosts question if that’s sustainable.
  • Dave Dufour: “If Peyton Watson can give you 29 a night against us in a playoff series, we’re gonna watch him do it.” (08:26)

• Potential Playoff Rematch

  • Hopes for both teams to be healthy come playoffs, curious to see if OKC’s style can hold up in a full-strength series.

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All-Star Reserves Announced: Discussion & Snubs

[11:02 – 16:50]

• East & West Reserves
  • East: Scotty Barnes, Jalen Duren, Jalen Johnson, Donovan Mitchell, Norm Powell (first-timer), Pascal Siakam, Karl-Anthony Towns
  • West: Deni Avdija, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, LeBron James (22nd time), Jamal Murray
• Kawhi Leonard Snub Debate
  • Dave Dufour: “Kawhi Leonard not making the All Star reserves, I do believe is a controversy.” (11:43)
  • S. Baraheni: “LeBron has played less games than Kawhi... Kawhi, this year, 27 points... over last 20 games averaging about 30.” (13:12)
  • Consensus: Kawhi deserved a spot, but the problem is, “Who do you take out?” (Zena K, 12:41)
• LeBron’s Lifetime Achievement Nod
  • Hosts acknowledge LeBron’s iconic status but argue that on performance, Kawhi had a better year.
  • S. Baraheni: “I agree with the lifetime achievement award that LeBron James is getting here... but if this was all fair and just, Kawhi Leonard would be in the All Star Game.” (14:00)
• Injury Replacements & Format Confusion
  • Questions on Giannis’ replacement as he’ll sit out; Embiid seen as an obvious snub but dogged by availability concerns.
  • S. Baraheni: “There is at least a case for Embiid to be in this conversation... just depends if you think the availability is enough compared to other guys.” (14:53)
• Other Snubs
  • Brandon Ingram’s case discussed; hosts ultimately see his numbers/downside (“efficiency is down, turnovers are higher”—S. Baraheni, 15:59) as not quite enough for selection.
  • Surprised that no Clipper made the All-Star team despite their strong run (16–4 in last 20 games).

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Trade Deadline Moves & Analysis

[19:46 – 27:17]

• Keon Ellis / DeAndre Hunter / Cavs-Kings-Bulls Trade Breakdown
  • Cavs receive Dennis Schröder & Keon Ellis (described as possibly the most valuable trade asset for his contract/production combo); Kings get DeAndre Hunter; Bulls acquire Dario Šarić and picks.
  • S. Baraheni: “This is the most Sacramento Kings trade of all time... they helped the Cavs save money, got themselves deeper into the luxury tax... for a worse player in DeAndre Hunter.” (21:30)
  • Keon Ellis deemed a great fit to address Cavs’ 3-and-D need.
  • Kings’ logic is questioned. “Not only did you mess up your present, you mess up your future...” (Zena K, 23:28)
• Hawks-Blazers Minor Trade
  • Hawks send Vít Krejčí to Portland for Duop Reath (out for season) and picks.
  • Purely a cap/move roster bookkeeping trade. “Feels like Portland already has a lot of guys that need minutes.” (Dave Dufour, 24:44)
  • Also opens up a potential roster spot in Atlanta to convert Christian Koloko’s contract. Zena expresses excitement for Koloko’s potential fit.
• Paul George PED Suspension
  • 25-game suspension, eligible to return March 25. Helps Sixers financially ($6 million in tax savings).
  • Dave Dufour: “For Paul George, it’s just kind of like if he can come back and be the same guy he’s been so far—good. If he can’t, then I think Philly is still going to be okay.” (27:51)
  • Debate over whether this affects PG’s Hall of Fame case; consensus is it won’t (“I don’t think it’s going to have any effect whatsoever.”—Dave Dufour, 29:19)
  • Empathy for Paul George’s situation and mental health, hoping for a strong return.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On SGA’s dominance:
  • "He was on another level last night."
    — Dave Dufour (01:54)
• On OKC’s math game:
  • "They did the math last night, right? It worked for them."
    — Dave Dufour (03:17)
• On Denver’s lack of aggression:
  • "I would have loved to see him come out and try to set the tone by being aggressive..."
    — Dave Dufour on Jokic (05:05)
• On Kings’ confusing deadline strategy:
  • "This is the most Sacramento Kings trade of all time. What are we doing?... Kangs is fully back."
    — S. Baraheni (21:30)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Thunder-Nuggets recap: 01:54–11:02
• All-Star Reserve Announcements & Snubs: 11:02–16:50
• Trade Deadline News (Keon Ellis, Kings/Cavs/Bulls): 19:46–23:28
• Smaller Trades & Cap Moves: 23:59–26:22
• Paul George Suspension & Implications: 26:30–29:49

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Conclusion

This episode seamlessly blends analysis of the league’s biggest storylines: the answer SGA and the Thunder delivered to the reigning champs, All-Star selection debates and controversies (esp. Kawhi and Embiid left out), and a practical look at how trades are shaping contenders and oddballs alike (Sacramento, we’re looking at you). The hosts deliver expert insight, stats, and some sharp humor—perfect for staying on top of NBA drama as the trade deadline approaches.

Transcript

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[Dave Dufour]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon prime for February 2, 2026. I'm Dave Defour here with Zena K and S. Barahenn. Coming up, the Thunder get a big win over the Nuggets even though Jokic was back. We're going to talk about that. The All Star reserves are out who got snubbed and we're going to talk about some trades that happened over the weekend. Good morning everybody. What's up guys? Hope you had a good weekend.

[S. Barahenn]

Good morning.

[Zena K]

Morning. Morning Dave. How are you? Happy Black?

[Dave Dufour]

I'm not too bad. Heck of a game we got last night. At least the matchup, right? The Thunder looked pretty good. They pick up the win. 121. 111. Guys. This was a game where Shay Gilous Alexander came out looking like he was trying to seal the deal on the MVP award. Yeah. And I frankly, I don't know. He might have. He. He dominated the the Nuggets. I mean every single time they had blankets on him, guys. And, and he sometime somehow was still hitting shots. Hit a ridiculous shot from his back. But this guy, he was, he was on another level last night.

[Zena K]

He also. What I love most is that while he was providing assists and also finding his own shot, it was just his gravity was on display.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Zena K]

Just how many guys he pulled which allowed Case and Wallace to go off, which allowed Isaiah Joe to get those open threes. Like that, to me is another way you showcase why you are the most valuable player on your team or in the league is just how much attention you draw and how much you open up just by existing out on the court. Court that. Yeah, it looked like he kind of wrapped up those three letters. I don't know. I don't know. We might have to give Joker a little time acclimated. Exactly.

[Dave Dufour]

It's not that long left, though. S. And no, you're right. Jokic, he missed a bunch of games. You don't have to convince me that.

[S. Barahenn]

You know, so that's true.

[Dave Dufour]

I believe that. That's stamped in the passport, right?

[S. Barahenn]

Absolutely.

[Zena K]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

But anyway, so he had 34 points, 13 assists. And you know, to your point about the gravity, the. The Thunder were 19 of 48 from 3. And that's the point we hit. We hit this, right? All these teams with the math problem and they. They did the math last night, right? It worked for them. Yeah, they took. Had more threes than the. Than the Nuggets did hit them. And a lot of that is. I mean, Shea could. Could average Ted assists a game, but they don't hit shots like this often.

[S. Barahenn]

Absolutely. Big shout out to Case and Wallace, who knocked down seven threes tonight. He was awesome as a release valve. Like, every single time Shea was finding someone, it felt like it was Kayson, Wallace for three. And then overall, as you mentioned, Xena, the bench guys, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins knocking down threes. To your point about the gravity, I think that gravity is always on display. It's just the shot making on the other side of it isn't. And so when they go 19 of 48, when also they take more threes than the Nuggets, that is a big equation too. Like actually actively taking the shots, finding them, getting quality looks, that's the big thing for okc. And you saw them. I know they're missing a lot of creators. Andrew Schleck will remember remind us of this constantly. No AJ Mitchell, no Jalen Williams, etc. But I think it's very important. This is how you show OKC can be one of the best offenses in the NBA.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, absolutely. Look, the release valve being Lou Dort is. Nobody wants to see that.

[Zena K]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

And so, you know, you think about it when they start to get some guys back, Dort's maybe not out there for some of the higher leverage minutes. Obviously his defense is important, but man, the shooting last night was. It was the big difference for for the Thunder, for the Nuggets. Look, Jokic comes back. He has that, that great 31 point game against the Clippers on Friday, and frankly, didn't look as good in, in this. In the game last night. Wasn't as aggressive. I mean, and Jokic does this from time to time. He only took two shots in the first half. He came out a little bit more aggressively in the second half. But this is one of those games where I would have loved to see him come out and try to set the tone by being aggressive, looking to score, because that, I mean, this is the most powerful offensive weapon that maybe we've ever seen in the NBA. And I don't, I don't think the rest of those guys find their rhythm in big games if he doesn't come out aggressively.

[Zena K]

They tired him. You saw, I mean, Lou Dort was battling with him down low, but then it was also the fact that OKC was doing what they do. They got. They sent Kenrich Williams to the boards, Isaiah Hartenstein to the boards. They were battling on the O boards. That fatigues you. And that's what I think I saw a lot in Nikola Jokic. I mean, we, we know that he's not necessarily the best defender. He's not someone that's just going to be, you know, rolling out on the ground to get balls. But even with Chet Holmgren getting those top of the three, top of the key threes, even the closeouts were just kind of slow and not there. And so you could tell that he was fatigued early in this game by just how hard OKC crashed the boards and then also how hard they fought by sticking Lou Dort on him for multiple possessions.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, they pestered him the entire time. It was like, let's. It was like bees, you know, let's just send two or three guys at him at a time, hit him hard. I mean, I thought that it was extremely effective, but because they don't really have anyone who can bang with them. I mean, Hartenstein can a little bit, but, you know, when Jokic decides he wants to turn and use his. All of his girth to get to the basket, it's just impossible. But I thought that they caught him early as, like before he can get to that drop step and, and get the turn on the shoulder and by sending guys from different angles. I mean, they had a couple turnovers there that were uncharacteristic. Jokic turnovers where it looked like they were ripping the ball from him. That just never happened.

[S. Barahenn]

So, yeah, six turnovers for Jokic tonight, that's the big number that I look at and I'm like, whoa, what happened there? And you think ultimately the fact that he couldn't catch it in the post to your point, pestering him. And then I also think it's a, it's a fact of he took nine shots. Part of that is they weren't able to get him the ball as frequently as they could.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[S. Barahenn]

OKC is the number one defense in the league. Part of that is how good they are at the point of attack. Those post entry passes were a lot harder tonight than what you would regularly see even against the Clippers the other night. So I think that's the, the big thing. And also, yeah, he looked gassed, he looked tired. It's. I'm not going to knock him for that though.

[Dave Dufour]

He's the second game back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. His cardio obviously is not where it usually is, where we're used to seeing him. A couple of things to note, right. So the Nuggets, they're down three starters. No Cam Johnson, no Christian Brown, no Aaron Gordon. Peyton Watson had 29 points, but a lot of that in my opinion. Guys, there's going to be teams that make him prove it. Is he really this, this shooter? And he was five of seven from three. But the, the numbers to look at to me are the Jokic and Murray numbers held him to 16 points and 12 points respectively. Murray was 4 of 16, 1 of 8 from 3 to your point. S about that point of attack defense, like they bothered both of those guys.

[S. Barahenn]

Absolutely.

[Dave Dufour]

And, and I think if you're the Thunder, you just say hey look, if Peyton Watson can give you 29 a night against us in a play series, we're gonna watch him do it. I would love to see it. Can these other guys beat you? Because they, it seemed like they figured out a way to take away that two man game like you said. Just, just they were hitting those guys early and often they're, they're able to switch so many guys up top on Jamal Murray. Yeah. And none of those guards can get pushed around in the way that Jamal Murray typically can do to, to point of attack defenders in the NBA. So I don't know. This is. Look, we, we've been talking all year about how once we get to the playoffs, we don't know what's going to happen because the styles are going to vary. The Thunder right now, like if they can, if they can repeat this, they have, they look like they've got the best shot at being able to Handle the. The Nuggets. I'm not sure what the Nuggets look like when they get it all back together.

[S. Barahenn]

Yeah, I want to see both these teams healthy because this, this felt like a little appetizer compared to what we might be able to get in the playoffs when everybody is available and that includes both sides. Like I thought, even though SGA had an incredible game, you still want to see the second side actions from Jalen Williams and how they look. Obviously with Chet Holmgren taking a step offensively, it's like, how does that all match together? And to your point, if Peyton Watson is this guy, I think that's always a good problem to have if you're Denver, but it's. How do you incorporate that within the system of Murray and Jokic and can we still win basketball games when he's scoring 30 and we still have these guys, these other guys that we have to get involved?

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[Zena K]

I don't feel like. One thing I'll just say about Peyton Watson is that a lot of the times, especially early in the game, like you saw him and he, he's done this for several teams now. A lot of his buckets come from a team. Goes zone, he goes to the middle of the paint, gets, but like gets the nice little bunny. Yep. Right. What I love about Peyton Watson's game, for the most part, he doesn't need the ball in hand in order to create offense. Which I like what you're saying as like, it's a good problem to have if he can get to 29, if he can get to 20 points and most of his buckets are just coming from. You are the only, only open option in this, you know, zone offense or you're the person that's the kickout on the drive. Great. We don't have to have a ton of you dribbling.

[Dave Dufour]

You don't have to run plays for him.

[Zena K]

Exactly, exactly. So that's what I like about Peyton Watson's game. But what we also love about him this season is that we found out he can dribble if we need him to. You know, it's crazy.

[S. Barahenn]

It's absolutely absurd how fluid his dribble is now compared to what it was even last year.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, he had. He had one finish that I just don't think he had in his game last year. In this game. Yeah. Very impressive season for him. All Star reserves came out yesterday. Guys, we. We'll get to the snubs in a second. Let me list them off for the Eastern Conference. Scotty Barnes made it We. We kind of nailed that one. Jaylen Duran makes it. Jalen Johnson, Donovan Mitchell, Norm Powell, first time all Star Pascal Siakam and Carl Anthony Towns for the Knicks in the West. Denny Abdia, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, LeBron James for the 22nd time, and Jamal Murray. Little bit controversial here, guys. Kawhi Leonard not making the All Star reserves, I. I do believe is a controversy. Kawhi got snubbed here. Yeah, I agree.

[Zena K]

I think we all are in the same boat. I mean, you have a career high in terms of points scored, correct? Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

He's averaging a career high this year.

[Zena K]

Yeah, yeah. Career high in that steals per game. Like he's. He has. He was this resurgence behind the Clippers, kind of, you know, he. They were going off a deep end clip, like just a cliff dive, and Kawhi started picking things back up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the Clippers are going to come and take over the west, but Kawhi is playing superb basketball and absolutely deserved to be in the All Star conversation and to be an All Star. The issue when it comes to snubs is when I'm like, if you see someone, who do you take out?

[S. Barahenn]

Who do you take out? Let me ask you.

[Zena K]

Enlighten me. Enlighten me.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[S. Barahenn]

Look, man, I love that he made it for the 22nd time. I think it's awesome. And ultimately we can go tit for.

[Dave Dufour]

Tat here for fans, as I really.

[S. Barahenn]

Don'T want the LeBron James haters to come at me. One of these posters in the back is LeBron James. I am a LeBron James fan. Okay? But we have to be real here. All right? LeBron has played less games than Kawhi Leonard this season.

[Dave Dufour]

Yes.

[S. Barahenn]

Okay. He's averaging 21 points. He's obviously not the same guy he was defensively in his past. That's a given. And Kawhi this year, 27 points. Like you said, the steals are there. The Clippers defense is better when he's on the floor. He is over the last 20 games averaging about 30 points a game. He is clearly a part of the resurgence of this team, and I think he's just very simply had the better season now. I agree with the lifetime achievement award that LeBron James is getting here. I'm not hating that. I remember when I was a kid and Michael Jordan got it and Vince Carter had this whole tit for tat about who's going to start. Can you sacrifice your starting spot for Michael Jordan. Shout out to Mariah Carey and the Michael Jordan dress.

[Zena K]

You guys all made him cry. Love that.

[S. Barahenn]

Yes, made him cry. I remember that. But I. I understand. I'm just putting it out there. If this was all fair and just, Kawhi Leonard would be in the All Star Game.

[Dave Dufour]

Right? Is that into it? It's probably going to make it anyway because as we know, they're going to name five more people to the All Star Game by the time we get there.

[S. Barahenn]

That's true.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah. Giannis isn't going to make it. So on the Eastern squad, which, by the way, they announced these east and west, even though there's various teams, you know, America versus the world, again, your guess is as good as mine here, I assume. I. I don't know where the Giannis replacement will come from.

[S. Barahenn]

Right.

[Dave Dufour]

My guess is it's Eastern Conference, since that's how they announced it. Yeah, but he's obviously a world player.

[S. Barahenn]

So would it have to be an Eastern Conference world player?

[Dave Dufour]

Does Joel Embiid count for that? Because I think Joel Embiid has a pretty strong case for making the.

[S. Barahenn]

Allar is a snub already. Like without even. You look at the east guys and, and I think all respect to Carl Anthony Towns and the Knicks winning and Pascal Siakam has had a really good year with the Pacers. But I think you could make valid arguments of Embiid over any of those two guys. And not to say that those guys don't deserve it, but there is at least a case for Embiid to be in this conversation. Embiid, in 28 games this season, which is about half of the Sixers games so far this year, is averaging 26 points over the last little bit. We've talked about it. He's starting to play 30 plus minutes a game. He's had multiple 30 point games recently. He's looked like an All Star. It just depends on if you think the availability is enough compared to some of these other guys that have been more available and healthy.

[Zena K]

It's interesting.

[Dave Dufour]

Anybody else?

[Zena K]

That the conversation for both Kawhi and Joel has been availability versus production. Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Anybody else? We left out that. That maybe had a case, an outside shot.

[Zena K]

I think, I mean, I'm shocked. S. I am shocked you have not spoken about your guy.

[S. Barahenn]

Oh, Brandon Ingram.

[Zena K]

Brandon Ingram. Like, see, I think.

[S. Barahenn]

I think. I think there's a. It's a tough case and I've actually, I already did a video about this for Rosters Republic, but I think it's a tough case for BI just because his efficiency is down, the turnovers are a little higher. So when you look at his role in comparison to some of these other guys, the box score numbers aren't there. But in terms of sheer impact, it's no doubt that a scorer like that has really revitalized the Raptors. I mean, he's a big reason why they're top six in the Eastern Conference. He is a snub. It's just, who do you take out for him?

[Zena K]

Right, Right.

[S. Barahenn]

That's the question you have to ask. And I don't know if he has as good of a case as some of these other guys. Maybe he ends up being the replacement player. Who knows?

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, it's still, it's wild that there's not a single Clipper that's going to make the All Stars game.

[S. Barahenn]

James Harden had a case.

[Dave Dufour]

James Harden had a case.

[Zena K]

James Harden had a case.

[Dave Dufour]

Kawhi had a case.

[Zena K]

They're 16 and 4 in their last 20 games. Like, that's impressive. That's, that's a, that's a turnaround. They're, they're chomping at the bit to get within, you know, top eight and so.

[Dave Dufour]

Well, it's unfortunate. Guys. We were told that the aspiration investigation would be wrapping up after All Stars, so hopefully they're not catching multiple Ls around the all Star break. Guys, stick around after the break. We're going to talk about the Keon Ellis trade.

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[Dave Dufour]

It is trade deadline week, and before we talk about the trades that happened over the weekend, I just want to send out a plea. John Horst, the Milwaukee Bucks Please do not trade Giannis until Thursday during the NBA Daily Trade a Thon live stream on YouTube.

[S. Barahenn]

Say don't trade him at all.

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[Dave Dufour]

Please. If you're gonna trade Giannis, save it for Thursday during the live stream, guys.

[S. Barahenn]

Join the Discord Lunch.

[Dave Dufour]

Yes, that's right. Let's, let's take it out to the deadline. Join us over on YouTube Thursday. We're gonna, we're going to be in person in our Chicago studio having a great time. Hope you guys can join us. Obviously, we'll put out an episode immediately after the deadline with a compilation of of what we've got. I think John Hollinger is going to be on the post trade deadline episode, so check that out, guys. We did have a trade. I'm calling it the Keon Ellis trade because he's the best player involved in the trade. The Cleveland Cavaliers send DeAndre Hunter to the Kings for Dennis Scher and Keon Ellis. The Kings send Dario Sarich to the Bulls and a couple of picks. The biggest thing here I look Keon Ellis and and Dennis Schroeder. They're going to help the Cavs. The Cavs have missed Ty Jerome. They could use another guard. Keon Ellis. It might have been the most valuable trade asset on the market. If you Just look at the value of his contract and how little he was playing and, and how much teams feel like they could get out of him. The Cavs are going to save about $50 million in salary and tax penalties. So you can see their real motivation here to, to do that. Go ahead guys. Give, give me your thoughts on, on this trade for the Cows and the Kings.

[S. Barahenn]

I will start now. This is the most Sacramento Kings trade of all time.

[Dave Dufour]

Insane.

[S. Barahenn]

What are we doing? Like Kangs is fully back in. You know it. It's just Kang's nation at this point and I, I can't believe it. Because they helped the Cavs save money. They got themselves deeper into the luxury tax and they did it for, in my opinion, your opinion, maybe Xena's opinion, a worse player in DeAndre Hunter. And now they have Keon.

[Zena K]

They.

[S. Barahenn]

They've let go of Keon Ellis which by the way, like why did that not work? Why did the Keon Ellis thing fail if he was such a sought out player where 10 plus teams according to multiple reports are interested in Keon Ellis, why did that not pan out in Sacramento?

[Dave Dufour]

We're going to have Sam Amick on the show this week. I'll ask him. Because it is odd that this guy just couldn't seem to break into the rotation. Zena, they don't really have that much talent.

[Zena K]

They don't, they don't. And it's kind of funny when you kind of laid this out. You talk about the Cavs. Shout out to the Cavs. Great trade, good move, great move for the Cavs. You get, you know, the Darius Garland out. You get somebody that comes in and Dennis Schroeder helps your second unit. You know, that's awesome. But then also you mentioned Ty Jerome person I was thinking is Isaac Okoro, right? Like they miss the 3 and D from Isaac Okoro in my opinion. And so that's what I think. Keon Ellis is going to be able to plug in smoothly in that role. But yeah, this I can't explain what the Kings are thinking because not only did you mess up your present, you mess up your future for what I think the entire league has seen that. The on DeAndre hunter that we saw in Atlanta that moved to the Cavs even last year, what he was doing in the, in the playoffs and the at the end of the season. We have not seen that.

[S. Barahenn]

DeAndre on yeah, no, we really haven't. Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

So.

[Zena K]

Well, everyone has seen this problem. And so for the Kings to be like we're too far on the west coast we seem to have like missed anything towards the middle of the country. I don't know what it is but alas have at it Kings.

[Dave Dufour]

Apparently the Kings are really looking forward to the DeAndre Hunter king and Murray duo. They're going to build around sure.

[S. Barahenn]

Those two guys and N Clifford is going to be there and getting playing time. Sure.

[Dave Dufour]

Maybe he's getting more minutes so we're going to see how that goes.

[S. Barahenn]

I, I think that's they have a lot more I, I, I guarantee I.

[Dave Dufour]

Do believe action yeah the that we're going to see a fire. Yeah. The Hawks make a trade with the Blazers. Vite Krechi is moving to Portland. In return the Hawks get do up Wreath and two second round picks. Wreath is out for the season. He had surgery on a stress fracture in his foot. Atlanta might waive him to open up a roster spot. It would allow him to convert Christian Coloco's two way contract. So it, it basically this is like a little bit of a bookkeeping move for, for these teams. I don't know Kre I, I don't know if he helps them or not. I mean he's a good shooter. They could probably use some shooting up there but it just feels like Portland already has a lot of guys that need minutes so I'm not sure if, if this is much of a trade.

[S. Barahenn]

Yeah, I, I, I like V Kre in general. I thought he was good for Atlanta so I'm surprised that they were willing to trade him. I, I think ultimately like he had stepped in. Obviously good three point shooter was kind of this jumbo playmaker for them at times off of the pen bench and so maybe Portland could use a little bit of that.

[Dave Dufour]

John Hollinger is going to move to Portland I think because this is like one of his favorite players. You know anytime beat, crunchy does anything.

[S. Barahenn]

Apparently he's the guy in the Hawks locker room too. So I don't, I don't know why.

[Zena K]

They yeah I really think that anytime a team gets a product of OKC it's a good thing.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Zena K]

These are guys that can come in plug in and we've seen that in beat Kraji. What I actually love more than anything is the bookkeeping move because I've been a fan of Christian Coloco since he was on the Lakers. Like we, I don't know if you guys remember that he had that blood clot condition.

[S. Barahenn]

Yeah, he was on the Raptors. Yeah, right.

[Zena K]

Exactly, exactly. Like I feel like we never quite got to see what his like rookie year was going to be and what he was capable of. But he was heavily hyped as being this like really. I think what they want deandre Ayton to be at the Lakers. Now this is what Christian Coloco was supposed has been.

[S. Barahenn]

You are breaking the hearts of Raptors fans right now.

[Zena K]

I'm just letting you know. I'm just saying I. I'm a fan of Coloco and I think that this is a really, really solid move for Atlanta. They haven't had. They haven't had this type of big that can move in the pick and roll and finish above the rim. Obviously they lost capella. So I think this is a nice ad for them for sure.

[S. Barahenn]

This is, this is exactly what. Because you know who, who needs a big. Who can do exactly what you just described.

[Dave Dufour]

They thought they were. Yeah.

[Zena K]

And they thought they were. Yeah, there you go.

[Dave Dufour]

And guys, we had a ped suspension in the NBA which does not happen often. Paul George gonna miss the next 25 games. He'll be eligible to return March 25th. We don't know what he took. I was hoping it was going to come out that it was something kind of funny. Maybe, you know, one of these guys taking protein shakes that they don't know about. But it does seem that, you know, he, he said he took something to try to self medicate for a mental health issue. Whatever it may be, this suspension oddly helps the 76ers s wild. Yeah, they are going to save $6 billion in taxes. And then the other thing is, does this not guarantee you Paul George being healthy for the start of the playoffs?

[S. Barahenn]

That's true.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[S. Barahenn]

They get 10 games of regular season Paul George before he heads to the playoffs. So it's like perfect timing for him to return. It gives them more flexibility to convert some of those contracts that we've talked about before because those guys were contributing, you know, Don Barlow, etc. And I think, you know, if you think about it from the Sixers perspective, they're sort of a well oiled machine at this point at the wings with Kelly Oubre and Barlow. Barlow. And they just have a lot of options there already. Paul George was sort of this additive guy, like a, a 50 million dollar elite role player.

[Sponsor Voice]

Right.

[S. Barahenn]

You know, but they're going to miss that. But I don't think they'll miss that too much. I think they'll be okay. They'll win their games. And for Paul George, it's just kind of like if he can come back and be the same guy he's been so far Good. If he can't, then I think Philly is still going to be okay without him, to be honest.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, I think so.

[Zena K]

I think. I think it's. It's even less about, you know, Philly and Paul George and his ability to come back and be able to contribute. For me, I think about more long term. This is 25 games for PDS. Like, does this impact his hall of Fame conversation? Does this impact his, like, overall legacy? I'm very curious. Like, I think he's going to be.

[S. Barahenn]

A Hall of Famer.

[Dave Dufour]

I don't think it's going to be. Yeah, I don't think it's going to be so too.

[Zena K]

I just, like, I am just wondering, for example, Bill Belichick is going to be a Hall of Famer. First ballot hall of Famer, right? Like, do these type of things have an impact at all? I'm just.

[Dave Dufour]

I don't think this will. I mean, if, look, if it came out he was taking HGH or something that we know is a direct, like, performance enhancing drug, then you might get some of that. But it's also, I mean, it's basketball. It's kind of like, it's not baseball, it's not football. It's not a sport where we. I think we traditionally think about steroids, you know, being like a huge advantage or even being a huge problem, although it may be, you know, I hope you don't know.

[Zena K]

Like, I was in your response to that. Like, I hope it isn't something like that, but because it's so rare, I'm just curious, like, yeah, does this have this impact?

[Dave Dufour]

But I don't think it's going to have any effect whatsoever.

[S. Barahenn]

I don't know how you guys feel about this, but when I heard the news, I had a sense of, like, this. I'm sad about this because, you know, Paul George obviously has dealt with a bunch of injuries recently. He's. He's kind of now some sort of like, butt of the butt of the joke, right, when it comes to playoff beam, podcast, p. Et cetera, et cetera. Like, this is a tough time to be Paul George if there is a tough time to be. So, like, I don't know, I think we need to be empathetic and give.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, no, no.

[Commercial Voice]

And.

[Dave Dufour]

And absolutely. Whatever the heck is going on, certainly empathetic. But the. At the end of the day, there's a silver lining, and that's for the Sixers. They're saving all that money. And for Paul George. Look, you're gonna be healthy going into the playoffs for the first time in a long time. So, you know, hopefully the Sixers, he comes back and everything, they don't miss a beat, you know, that that's kind of the trick that they have to figure out. All right, guys, that's going to do it for today's show. Don't forget, like and subscribe all that jazz. Set up the alert so you know when we go live on YouTube, we're going to be live Thursday. We're skipping the morning shoot around on Wednesday. We're going live Thursday all day long. I think we've got like 40 guests for the trade deadline, so gonna be very intense. Come and hang out with us, please. Let us know.

[S. Barahenn]

Let us know who we subbed, snubbed or we snubbed in the All Star because I feel like we forgot names too. So let us know. Probably mad, you know.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, we Michael Porter Jr was not on my list of snubs. I'll just throw that out there for Nets fans. For Xena, Kada and Esperahenny, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[Commercial Voice]

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[Zena K]

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[S. Barahenn]

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[Dave Dufour]

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[S. Barahenn]

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[Dave Dufour]

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[S. Barahenn]

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[Dave Dufour]

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[S. Barahenn]

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