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- [01:45]
Dave DeFore
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for January 8, 2026 presented by Amazon Prime. I'm Dave DeFore here with S. Baraheny. Coming up, Trae Young traded to the Wizards. We got Josh Robbins on to talk about it. Bunch of crazy games last night. We're going to go through them. And Brian Geisinger is here to talk about the Hornets and their development this season. Good morning and welcome to the show. Guys, we got some breaking news at the top. Josh Robbins is here to talk about it. Trey Young traded to the Atlanta Hawks for CJ McCollum and Corey Kisper. It's kind of the deal we were talking about earlier today. Josh, lay out the specifics and how we got here.
- [02:27]
Josh Robbins
Okay. Very clean trade going to Atlanta CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert going to Washington, Trey Young, that's the trade. Yeah, easy peasy trade. How did, how did they get here? Well, Trae Young did not agree to a long term extension. Let's put it like this. The Hawks and, and Trae Young did not agree a long term extension during the off season or in the past few months. The Washington Wizards lack a long term solution at point guard. And while it's unclear whether this will work, this appears to be a very low risk, relatively low cost move from the wizard standpoint and from Atlanta standpoint, a team that is built to contend. Now in the east, they get two very good wing scorers who should be able to help. And CJ's a combo guard, so he can handle the basketball quite deftly. And so I think, I think in the short term this should work for both teams. And I will be interested to see how much Trae Young plays the remainder of the season for Washington. That seems to me tbd. And so that's something for.
- [03:50]
Brian Geisinger
All of.
- [03:51]
Josh Robbins
Us here on this podcast and the fans listening at home to, to monitor.
- [03:55]
Dave DeFore
Yeah.
- [03:55]
S. Baraheny
Were you surprised at all that there were no picks going, I mean, in either direction?
- [04:01]
Josh Robbins
I never expected any, I never expected the picks that the, any picks that the Wizards sent to Atlanta to exceed any in value. Anything Atlanta sent to the Wizards. Now, 24 hours ago, 12 hours ago, I would have thought Atlanta would have sent draft capital Washington's way in order to accept the salary for next year. It's a $49 million player option. Yeah, but I was proven wrong. But there was so much speculation in so many corners of the Internet, social media, TV that the Wizards would be sending the Hawks picks. That, that part, I never, I never thought that was going to happen. Unless maybe the Wizards sending a second round pick and then getting a first round pick. So. Right on that one. I'm not surprised. A lot of other things in basketball surprised me. Not this one, though.
- [04:57]
S. Baraheny
Josh, do you see this as a trial run for Trae Young or is there, I guess, momentum or acceptance of the fact that this could be a long term thing, extension wise?
- [05:07]
Josh Robbins
Well, as our colleagues and I wrote, our colleagues being David Aldridge, Sam Amick and me, right now it looks like it's going to be a trial run. If we assume that Trae Young plays again this season, they'll have the rest of the season to, for both sides to look to evaluate, particularly the Wizards to evaluate. And if he doesn't play this season, it can go into next year. Evaluate the fit with the young players on the Wizards and Trey Young, see how that goes. It's going to be a very interesting dynamic because Trae Young is a ball dominant point guard. And after the Wizards have moved off of Jordan pool, it's been a motion offense where everyone's passing the ball at a super fast pace. And that's what the Wizards are going to have to evaluate. And let's just say they don't come to any sort of long term agreement. And we assume that Trae Young invokes his $49 million player option for next year. Well, then the Wizards will have a decision to make at the 2027 trade deadline or free agency in 2027. Yeah, and with the trade trial, it is essentially a trial run.
- [06:23]
FIN AI Representative
Right.
- [06:23]
Dave DeFore
And with the trade, they also get his bird rights. So if they wind up working out, you know, an extension down the line or whatever, they have that tool in their pocket. I mean, the fit to me does make sense if, if you believe in a higher ceiling for the Wizards defense next season, the, the tenability of having Trey Young at the point of attack on your defensive end, I, I think could set this team back. Like when you're talking about development. But on the offensive end, there is a very strong argument for having someone that talented that can organize your offense, that can run pick and roll. With Alex Sar that you can't help but see the, like the hopeful optimistic view where maybe he can be the a rising tide to elevate some of these guys. I see it said perfectly.
- [07:11]
Josh Robbins
Said perfectly. He has so much gravity with the ball in his hands, also from distance beyond the arc, that that should open up driving lanes for explosive players such as Bilal Koulibaly. It should open up open shots for Trey Johnson, Keshawn George, Bub Carrington, all of whom are approximately 40% and up three point shooters in Johnson's case, that's potential. He'll likely get there. So they should feast on the gravity that he creates. Same with Alex Sar on the perimeter. And as you said in the pick and roll, if Trae Young can make Clint Capella one of the league's top lob threats, then he should help elevate Alex Sar to be one of the league's top lob threats.
- [07:59]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, I, I agree with that completely. I mean, I guess if the growth that we've seen out of Sar this year, one way to see if there's more to that is to add a guy like Trey Young. I, I absolutely, completely. Josh Robbins guys, go and read him over at the Athletic. I mean, he's on the Wizards, he's on the Magic, he's on everything. He's got us covered here with the breaking news. Stick around. We're going to talk about some of the games from last night, you know, as something I didn't think of there while we were talking to Josh about the, the Trey Young trade. The Hawks and the Wizards, they're playing. Yeah. And the Wizards were in Philly and it made me think about hot fuzz. Okay. Imagine CJ McCollum as like Nicholas angel, who was too good for his job, so they sent him out to the country. Okay, C.J. mcCollum, overqualified. Like he's been too good. Hey, man. Winning too many games send you to the country, down to Atlanta. I was thinking about Steve Coogan. Well, then you're packed already. Nick Nurse, after the game with the Sixers, you sent me this. The, at least the, the, the quote itself. He said, oh, it was us. They, he, they asked him about the Trey Young trade. He said we was it for Cody Kispert, Corey Kispert and C.J. mcCollum. And they, they were like, how'd you know? He's like, oh, they said they were sick and they didn't look very sick.
- [09:19]
S. Baraheny
They did not look sick. Yeah, they did not look sick at all. It's kind of funny because I think there's a lot of conversation about, you know, Trey and, and what happens with the Hawks moving forward. They got some flexibility to maybe go out and make some other trades. But looking at it from the Wizards perspective, there's a pretty crazy trade tree happening here all the way back to when they first moved Bradley Beal. So they basically went from Bradley Beal to Chris Paul to Jordan Poole to CJ McCollum and to now Trey Young. And through that process, they got four years of pick swaps, they got six second round picks, and they saved $16 million over the next two years. I, I think that is unreal organization from the Wizards, who by the way, like over that span compiled a bunch of draft picks, drafted this really interesting young core who I think both of us are, are at the very least.
- [10:16]
Dave DeFore
Intrigued by, very excited about. Yeah.
- [10:19]
S. Baraheny
So it's just good organization.
- [10:21]
Dave DeFore
Bradley be might have been the worst contract in the league at the time that they traded. No trade clause. So tip of the cap, good front office work. We don't, we don't have to do.
- [10:31]
S. Baraheny
That very often around of the Wizards front office. Former front office member for the Oklahoma City.
- [10:39]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, everybody's been Everywhere, though, so it's not that interesting. Just, you know what, this show is packed. We're going to, we, we do a deep dive after the break on the Hornets a little bit with Brian Geisinger, who. Who hosts the Buzz Beat podcast. It was a lot of fun and we figured, hey, they. They just beat the, The Thunder was. When are they ever going to be riding that high? Well, we'll get to them at, at the end of this, this segment here. But there were some awesome games, not just the Trey Young trade. And I want to start with these Zombie Nuggets, although a little less zombie because, you know, everybody was playing who was healthy. Jamal Murray, man, he's just been unreal this season. He leads the Nuggets to a big win on the road against the Boston Celtics, who we've talked about kind of, you know, very high on, but Jamal Murray, kind of a crazy game for him. When you think about the fact that we see him playing off of Jokic and Jokic being the primary playmaker, we, we maybe forget a little bit that Jamal Murray is more of a traditional point guard than we give him credit for. You know, he, he plays with, with Jokic, but when Jokic isn't out there, he's. He has a high assist amount, right? 17 assists in the game, 22 points, 8 rebounds for Jamal Murray. And look, we've been saying that this is an all, all star season for him. I, I think that if you were going to, if you just wanted to take one game and make that case, you say, hey, look at this game where they go into Boston with no yic and look at what he did.
- [12:03]
S. Baraheny
Yeah, I love the way he's using the attention that defenses are sending him.
- [12:08]
Dave DeFore
Right?
- [12:08]
S. Baraheny
Because when the Nuggets are running pick and rolls, a lot of times defenses are trapping, blitzing, they are sending two to the ball because they know they want to get the ball out of Jamal Murray's hands. And you know what Murray is doing? He's saying, I will you and make this pass and credit to the Nuggets supporting cast. Guys like Peyton Watson are knocking down their shots. Just in general, everybody on that team is able to knock down their shots. Like the depth of this group between the Bruce Browns and Tim Hardaway juniors.
- [12:39]
Dave DeFore
Feel like we got to give Calvin Booth these last two wins. You know, when you look at this.
- [12:44]
S. Baraheny
Team shouting out front offices, why not?
- [12:46]
Dave DeFore
You know, listen, this is, this is. We've talked about the fact that for years they didn't have anybody, but it turns out they did. They had young guys that just, you know, the development plan wasn't in place. And. And, you know, I'm glad you brought up Payton Watson, because the thing that was missing for him was the shooting. You know, he's up to like, 37% from three this season. He had a big game six to seven from three. To me, it's how confident and how willing of a shooter he has turned himself into, which is the most important thing when you're playing off of YIC and Murray. You cannot take a pass and be open and not shoot because the floor shrinks when that happens. You know, Andre Roberson used to be a killer for okc because you don't have to guard that guy. It means I can put my center on him. My center can hang back and be helped. It just shrinks the floor when guys will not shoot. The makes are important down the line, but, like, the. The bigger thing to me, and he is making them this season, but the bigger thing to me. I love seeing seven attempts out of him, and you see it way more often this season. I think he's up to about a little over three attempts a game. I'd love to see him around five, because I do think, like, the shooting looks pretty real, the form looks real, and the confidence is obviously palpable.
- [13:57]
S. Baraheny
This is a guy that the Nuggets have to resign this summer. They have to. No question in my mind. Now, over the last, you know, not including this game, the first four games without Jokic, he was averaging 23 points, five rebounds, two stocks. And look, it's. It's all very small sample size, but it's clear that the. He has more in his game offensively that he can tap into. And so naturally, I kind of want to see him explore that more often over the time that Jokic is out here. Also, it's worth mentioning that the Nuggets in general, without some of their main guys, no Cam Johnson, obviously no Nikola Jokic, Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon are back for them. But overall, when they lean into their depth more, they actually have good defenders out there. So Zeke Najee is playing well for. For them right now as sort of this backup guy. Jalen Pickett can guard for them at the point of attack. We just talked about Peyton Watson and what he can provide. They held the Celtics, who are the number one offense in the league right now, to 34% in that fourth quarter. They shut them down. And I think that was really, really telling of like, hey, what's the identity of this Nuggets team without Jokic how are they going to churn out wins even though they don't have their MVP candidate? You know.
- [15:09]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, this is the way. And, and it's not like these guys can't score without Jokic. Absolutely. You know, Jamal Murray and, and Aaron Gordon both have 50 point games. I mean it's, it's pretty easy. Okay. So we also last night we had three games that featured crazy.
- [15:24]
S. Baraheny
It was a great night in the NBA.
- [15:26]
Dave DeFore
Really was a wild, fun night of basketball. Would be game winners that were thwarted by buzzer beaters. We're going to start with the Thunder and the Utah Jazz and S. I was ready to make so many jokes in the group chat for Andrew. Andrew Schlect, our producer. You know he's on vacation this week and you know I just was. I was just ready for them to lose to the Utah Jazz for their third straight loss. But they snatched a win out of the jaws of defeat. Now Lowry Market makes a great play with a couple, you know, three seconds left or whatever.
- [16:01]
S. Baraheny
Offensive rebound, reverse layup. Dying seconds of the game put back.
- [16:05]
Dave DeFore
Excellent play to, to, to take the lead for Utah. But Shay Gilders Alexander gets to the mid range and even double pumps. Yeah. And ties the game up.
- [16:17]
S. Baraheny
Since he rolls his ankle in the shot. He actually rolls his ankle and still able to you know, knock down the shot. Send the game into overtime. And of course in overtime they took care of business. But SGA, you can't get to the.
- [16:31]
Dave DeFore
Overtime with the Thunder.
- [16:33]
S. Baraheny
46 points for SGA.
- [16:35]
Dave DeFore
Pretty easy.
- [16:35]
S. Baraheny
But they needed all 46 truthfully to beat the Jazz tonight.
- [16:39]
Dave DeFore
So. Absolutely.
- [16:40]
S. Baraheny
OK. Grinding.
- [16:42]
Dave DeFore
Yeah. And Orlando look again. We were ready. We were going to slander the Orlando Magic. Did they?
- [16:47]
S. Baraheny
This game was absurd.
- [16:48]
Dave DeFore
Nearly lost to the, to the Wizards and Nets on back to back nights. But okay, they pull out a win. Pao Bankaro hits the bank shot. Buzzer beater. Game winner. Yeah. Just ridiculous shot. And, and right before that. Listen, let's not forget Jagor do. Yeah. Jagor Dolman hits the A bank shot. Would be game winner shot.
- [17:12]
S. Baraheny
It was insane.
- [17:13]
Dave DeFore
It was absurd. And, and Jagor by the way who we haven't talked about a lot on the. On the show this year. You know Brooklyn just hasn't gotten a lot of attention from us. Had a great game. 5 of 8 from 318 points. The way this guy plays like the confidence that he plays with.
- [17:30]
S. Baraheny
Plays with a lot.
- [17:31]
Dave DeFore
Understand why this team was very into him.
- [17:34]
S. Baraheny
Yeah, no he. He was awesome. The shot making from him was really cool. Again he plays with a Lot of swag. So when those shots are going in, you see his confidence kind of scale up too. Yeah, that bank shot was awesome. I really kind of wanted that moment for him. Even though Paulo hit the game winner, and that was crazy in its own way. But Joman, I, I think has been putting together some good performances. And it starts with the shooting. Like, the dude can shoot the lights out, 30 foot range.
- [18:01]
Dave DeFore
Like, he can just pull. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So if you got to guard a guy that far out. And by the way, I don't want to Skip over Paolo. 30 point game. Absolutely. You know, the Magic struggled in this game. Obviously they only put up 104 points. I think they're gonna struggle while Jalen Suggs is out. But it was good to see Paolo down the stretch. Like, I mean, that shot in particular. Okay, you banked it in. Yeah. But still. Yeah, it was a good look. And he. And he makes the shot and hey.
- [18:26]
S. Baraheny
Like he, he had missed a game winning opportunity against the Raptors a couple weeks ago, so now he's kind of redeemed himself.
- [18:31]
Dave DeFore
Yeah. Speaking of the Raptors. There you go.
- [18:33]
S. Baraheny
You segue. I got you, man.
- [18:35]
Dave DeFore
Yeah. So Lamelo ball hits what would have been a game winning floater with 1.8 seconds left.
- [18:43]
S. Baraheny
That's correct.
- [18:44]
Dave DeFore
And then Emmanuel Quickley wins the game for the Raptors. Totally ruining our. Our segment after the break where we were discussing how great the Hornets have been.
- [18:55]
S. Baraheny
Yeah, no, it, it was a, it was a gruesome game. Terrible offensive game. I mean, before that clutch shot that Emmanuel Quickley hit, he was 2 of 10 from 3. So that was, that was something that he absolutely needed to go down and. Yeah, look, it was a pretty great shot. What was your favorite game winner from tonight?
- [19:15]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, I'm gonna go bias. I'm gonna go Paolo.
- [19:18]
S. Baraheny
Paolo. Yeah, the Paolo shot is pretty crazy.
- [19:21]
Dave DeFore
I'm not sure. It was a bank shot. Right. Like, there's something. I don't know, there's something about the bank that just makes it a little bit extra. I don't know.
- [19:28]
S. Baraheny
Have you seen the Emmanuel Quickley celebration?
- [19:31]
Dave DeFore
I have not.
- [19:32]
S. Baraheny
Call five.
- [19:33]
Dave DeFore
No, no, no. It's pretty good.
- [19:36]
S. Baraheny
It's pretty good.
- [19:37]
Dave DeFore
No, I've seen him do it. I didn't know that's what he was doing.
- [19:39]
S. Baraheny
What he was doing.
- [19:40]
Dave DeFore
I watch a lot of Raptors games on mute. I. I won't lie. It was just kind of. It's about what time it's on, you know, and usually it's up head to head with the game.
- [19:48]
S. Baraheny
You're west coast team.
- [19:48]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a little bit different out here. Hey, speaking of the Hornets, look, we're very high on the Hornets. Even though this was a loss, I mean, they were right in this game again. Like thought Lamelo hit a game winner, which would have set us up so perfectly. After the break, we talked to Brian Geisinger about the Hornets because frankly, like some of these teams, like we're just not going to get a lot of opportunities. And hot on the heels of that big win against the Thunder, felt like it was time to give this team a little bit of shine. We've hit concept, but I feel like there's a lot of guys that we haven't hit. Yeah, and Brian is very good at covering the Hornets, so I don't know. We just talked about fans we have listening, but you know, go and check out his stuff on the Hornets.
- [20:30]
S. Baraheny
Absolutely. No, we, we just talked about how the Wizards are building. I mean, the Hornets are doing something very similar there. Right. And he, he breaks it down in great detail. It was a lot of fun.
- [20:39]
Dave DeFore
Anyway, stick around after the break, Brian will be talking about the Hornets.
- [20:47]
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S. Baraheny
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- [23:24]
Dave DeFore
The Charlotte Hornets are a little bit of a surprise this season. They've been better than expected in a development year. Had a pretty good draft and then they had a huge win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. So that's why we're talking about them here. To talk about them with us, our guy Brian Geisinger. He hosts the Buzz Beat podcast that covers the Charlotte Hornets. You guys do a pretty good job over there. Have fun covering what has been a bad team. I imagine that this season's been way more fun than previous years.
- [23:53]
Brian Geisinger
It's been even the last month has been more fun. And yes, I'm glad to get, you know, the Hornets could get Oklahoma City on the second night of a back to back three games in four days. And that's why you guys were knocking on my door. But good to be here in yes, we've been doing this podcast since 2016, the Busby Podcast, and the Hornets have played in a total of zero playoff games since then. So.
- [24:17]
Dave DeFore
Wow.
- [24:18]
Brian Geisinger
It's coming, man.
- [24:19]
GAB Tech Advertiser
It's coming.
- [24:20]
Brian Geisinger
It'll be exchanging this year, but it's we're on a Colts, we're on a cold streak here.
- [24:25]
Dave DeFore
Okay.
- [24:25]
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- [24:26]
Dave DeFore
But this team is not that far off from the play in and I should say I'll note that we're recording this before they play the Raptors. So when you look at the standings, they're only three games behind the Hawks for the play in and it's not like the Hawks have been setting the world on fire. Obviously the Hawks are in a lot of trade talks right now, but this has been, you know, this is a turnaround of a season regardless. I mean, and I know we're saying this about a team that currently has 13 wins. It's not like they're setting the world on fire. But a play in birth would be a step in the right direction for a franchise that's kind of been floundering. So like, what has the season been like in your opinion from a development standpoint?
- [25:05]
Brian Geisinger
It's been significant. I mean, it certainly starts with, with Con Canipal, who's been, you know, 1A, 1B or maybe the second best or certainly at least like a top three rookie in the NBA this season. Absolutely on pace to set the record for threes made by a rookie. But he's done more obviously than just shoot the ball. He's created offense, he's been a connector. He's really important for them as a screener in a variety of their sort of like guard, guard or drag screen actions. Um, so for him to be like this good was significant because it looks like the 2025 draft is going to be, you know, a really good one. And to have a top four pick in it into like hit on it is, is, is significant. And then just from that, like this stretch recently with Lamelo Ball healthy and playing well, Brandon Miller healthy and playing well after he missed, you know, played, you know, played the first two games of the season, got hurt in Philadelphia, then missed the next month or so. So for those two guys to be back at the same time, it's, it's, it is significant. And I think there have been other like good development pieces like some of the other rookies. Seon James, Ryan, Colbert, the two second round picks I think have played well. They've been spot starters for the Hornets. T John Salon has started to sort of like come along a little bit more.
- [26:24]
S. Baraheny
Starting to figure it out.
- [26:25]
Dave DeFore
Yeah.
- [26:25]
Brian Geisinger
So for a lot of like the age, like under 25 guys on this roster, to be sort of like on the, you know, on a positive development arc at the moment, healthy at the moment is really encouraging for a team that's finally, for the first time under the new ownership group, taking a more like, patient approach towards trying to like rebuild something more sustainable in a smaller market.
- [26:49]
S. Baraheny
Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the fact that Khan has been such a great facilitator of offense for you guys because he's a bit of a conduit. Right. He can, like you said, be the screener in guard screening actions. He can connect stuff together. He's obviously an incredible shooter. The lineups with him, Lamelo and Brandon Miller are just destroying teams offensively. They score at an incredible rate. We've only seen it for about 200ish minutes. Do you feel like what is the ceiling of Khan? Canippal as a player, now that you've got to chant, got the chance to watch him for like 41 games.
- [27:22]
Dave DeFore
Ish.
- [27:23]
S. Baraheny
What is the ceiling of Khan?
- [27:25]
Brian Geisinger
Yeah. 231 minutes with Miller, Lamelo and Khan on the court, the Hornets, 129 points per 100 possessions, 42% on threes, 59% on twos. So they quite good offensively in a relatively small sample with those guys. But look, I, I live in Raleigh, I cover college hoops, I cover the draft. So I was at the, the majority of Khan's games at Duke last season and he, you know, he kind of blew me away as a, as a prospect. And to me, con is someone who, I think a lot of. He, he. He's sort of like a false ceiling player. That term's been thrown around and I think it's pretty accurate for him. People see him and they know he's a good shooter and they think they sort of like typecast him into that. Yeah, heading into the draft, he was sort of one of the, like, he's, you know, he's already 20, sort of like an older. For, you know, for a rookie prospect. I think a lot of people thought if the Hornets are trying to like, win right away, this is a guy you, you bring him in, he can, you know, you can plug and play and put him next to Brandon and Lamello. And like, that's true because he is super malleable and he can play without the, with off, without the ball. And he can be a connector. He can screen, but he clearly has more upside with the ball in his hands. He can organize, pick and roll. Like there are some real limitations. He can struggle against length. He doesn't have an elite handle. But I think his, I think his handle has gotten better since he got to the pros, since leaving Duke in his ability to play off the shot, to use the shot fake. I don't know if I don't think Khan projects as like a, you know, ever like a top, you know, 15 guy in the league or a guy that's, you know, sort of like leading in offense as like a heliocentric type guard or anything like that, but I think he can be a really good, you know, number two style option. Maybe that's even selling him a little bit short. But that's kind of where I feel like a little bit more confident, sort of sort of given some of his limitations that he has athletically. But at this point, he's, he's been phenomenal this season and truly, truly, truly a, an important bright spot for the franchise.
- [29:34]
Dave DeFore
Yeah, I mean, Cooper Flag has come on, but Con Knippel was the front runner for Rookie of the Year for a good chunk of the season. I mean, I think, you know, now that Cooper Flag has had some of these just massive performances, I think it's, it's a much closer race. But looking ahead for this team. I mean, what's the future of the Hornets? Because there's been a lot of buzz about Lamelo Ball and you know, whether it, it makes sense for him to be the centerpiece there in Charlotte or whether it makes sense for them to move on. Obviously Brandon Miller, you know, I think Con canipple has opened up a lot of questions about the team and where they're heading in the future. Where do you see, what do you see them doing, like as we're approaching the deadline and this offseason, you know, Lamelo and I don't think they're going to move Brandon Miller, but Lamelo is a real question.
- [30:18]
Brian Geisinger
So I don't see them being buyers. Like they've been sellers at the last couple of deadlines basically since Jeff Peterson took over. And that's been important for them. I mean they have. They actually, for the first time of me covering this roster, they have like future draft picks, you know what I mean? Like in including like they've got the likely the Phoenix pick along with their own pick this year. So like I don't see them being sellers or trying to like add a, you trade for Nick Claxton or get a center or something like that to sort of like solidify that position and make a push. If anything, I think they're sort of more likely to just like not trade anyone and ride it out and just sort of see where it goes. And if they make the play ends great, so be it. I do feel like they would love to have another top four or five pick on the, on the roster heading into the season. I wanted them to be in the Boozer Debanza Peterson sweepstakes and that really changes the future.
- [31:17]
S. Baraheny
Right. If they end up somehow in the top three with these flattened lottery odds, you get a situation where you have this trio plus one of those blue chip prospects on top of it.
- [31:27]
Dave DeFore
Right?
- [31:28]
Brian Geisinger
Absolutely. And I just, just to answer your Lamello question, like I've been in the, the patient like the, the patience camp with him for several years now because I know trade chatter has intensified with him, you know, maybe a month into the season this year, but it's been on the back burner sort of like simmering for a while now. And he's been pretty banged up with injuries basically since his second year in the league. I've always. To me, there was never a better show in town, so there was no need to. To try to, like, sell, you know, to like, move off of him. Yeah, it's a little different now because they could sort of like, really do, like, a deeper tank and sort of try to build around Khan and. And Brandon Miller. But when those three guys play together and you have these three tall shooters that can handle and really pass, it sort of shows you potentially a portal into something else. I just worry long term about the health of Lamello. Like, that's the thing that sort of like, sort of, like, concerns me the most. The ankles, the ankle injuries seem chronic. And look, maybe this off season is a time to try to sell high on him, but I think they're going to be really reluctant to do it when these three guys are healthy and playing together. So my guess is that they're just going to try to keep it rolling. But it's just tough because it's like, you know, a couple of weeks from now, who knows if one of one of these guys, if Lamelo gets hurt again and then all of a sudden the calculus changes and then what does that do for his trade value, too? So it's. It's a tricky needle to thread.
- [32:57]
Dave DeFore
Yeah. And also, let's not forget Colin Sexton sitting there, that somebody might want him.
- [33:02]
S. Baraheny
Honestly, a pretty interesting trade candidate, Right?
- [33:05]
Dave DeFore
Yeah.
- [33:06]
Brian Geisinger
There's chatter. There's chatter that Minnesota had done. I think Jake Fisher reported that, that, like, that Minnesota had done due diligence on him expiring contract. I mean, when healthy, he's played. He's played well this season. I could see maybe he. Or maybe Josh Green, who shot well on corner threes, and he came back. Bridges is probably a tough guy to move, but those are maybe guys they could potentially flip. But I just. It's hard to see an obvious deal with one of those guys. So I could also see them just riding it out, just seeing where it goes. And who knows, maybe they would continue to try to push for a playing spot or maybe come March, you know, they might get a little intentional with how they set the lineup.
- [33:47]
S. Baraheny
I like the way you phrase that.
- [33:49]
Dave DeFore
Because the most important question I'm going to ask, because we don't get a lot of rally guys on the show. Bojangles or cookout?
- [33:58]
Brian Geisinger
Oh, oh. Depends on the time of the day.
- [34:00]
Dave DeFore
You can do Both, but that people don't compare them. But which one?
- [34:04]
Brian Geisinger
I have no, I would say when I visit, definitely Cookout it is. I mean, Bojangles is great.
- [34:10]
Dave DeFore
It's a great. The Boberry Biscuit is what I heard.
- [34:13]
Brian Geisinger
It's a great North Carolina company. We love it. But no, give me Cookout. I just have a lot of, like, positive, like, late night, you know, memories and associations with Cookout. The Cookout parking lot is sort of like a mythical place. If you're like a. A high schooler in the state of North Carolina, where I grew up, that's like where you hang out after hours.
- [34:33]
S. Baraheny
You know, you guys are opening a world for me that I had no idea. I know Bojangles obviously. Bojangles I've heard about, but Cookout I have not heard.
- [34:41]
Brian Geisinger
So look, you need to ask RJ and Brandon Ingram. So you get there, get their take. I'm guessing when they were doing their stops in Durham, they. They hit Cookout at some point.
- [34:52]
Dave DeFore
Guarantee it.
- [34:53]
S. Baraheny
Okay.
- [34:53]
Dave DeFore
All right, Brian. Thank you so much, guys. Brian Geisinger. Go and check him out. Not only on the Buzzbeat pod, but he, he does draft work too. And as you can hear, he knows hoops. So go and check him out. We'll get him back on the show. Maybe for some draft stuff too. Oh, yeah. Thank you, Brian, for hanging out with us. Thanks to S Bar Henny. I'm Dave DeFore. This is Ben, NBA Daily. Thanks for listening. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
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Josh Robbins
Right?
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Dave DeFore
Except Discover in a little place like this. I don't think so, Jennifer.
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S. Baraheny
Oh, yeah, huh?
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Dave DeFore
Discover is accepted where I like to shop.
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Dave DeFore
So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report.
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