← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Hoops Tonight - Giannis trade updates: Steph & Warriors best offer, will Wolves & Knicks get enough assets?
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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water. Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it, even in cold butter. Yep. Chocolate ice cream. Sure thing, barbecue sauce. Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, Tide pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new coldzyme technology. Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be tied. On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
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Hey, if they'll kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
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What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows A new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert. Listen to Valley of Shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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This show contains information subject to but not limited to personal takes, rumors, not so accurate stats, and plenty more. What's up man? It's your boy Nav Green from the Broken Play Podcast. Look, it's the end of the season. The playoffs are here. Guess what? It ain't the end of your season. You can always tune in with Broken Play Podcast with Nav Green on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Not a team who ain't going to the playoffs. The Chiefs. It's time to rebu listen to Broken Play with Nav Green from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
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All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, here At the volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. Have a jam packed show for you guys Today we're going to be diving into some more trade deadline stories. So obviously some of the dust has settled from the Giannis pseudo trade request that went down on Wednesday. The trade request that wasn't a trade request. But I want to dig into some additional angles, especially with teams like Minnesota and New York. And I also want to dig back into the Golden State angle and why I understand some of the hesitation from Giannis. Specifically want to talk about the rumored pivot for Golden State surrounding Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis. And then at the tail end of the show, I want to talk a little bit about some of the rumors surrounding DeAndre Hunter and what he could do if he were moved to the Los Angeles Lakers and some of my concerns about that potential deal. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like this video. That helps us a lot over on YouTube. And then last but not least, if you want to get mailbag questions into our mailbag, we already did a weekly mailbag this week, but we'll be doing getting back to them on Friday starting next week. If you want to get questions in for that, just drop them in the YouTube comments. All right, Mailbag with a colon. Write your question that helps me sort them out in the comments and we'll get to them in our mailbags throughout the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. So with the Giannis trade saga, bear with me. I'm feeling a little under the weather, so I'm having a little trouble talking today. But there's three additional angles that I want to get into. First is the idea of Minnesota and New York and the idea of them potentially achieving the draft compensation they need via moving important role players. So these two teams popped up in the shams reporting that came from ESPN the other night. So we can acknowledge, first of all, like, why teams like Golden State and Miami are more immediately appealing in this sort of discussion because they just have draft picks that they can throw onto the table. Right. And, and Miami in particular also has the means with which to potentially achieve more draft compensation through some of their higher level role players. Right. So that's why they're in the position that they're in Minnesota and New York. Neither of them have anywhere near enough draft compensation to get into this discussion. Right. So after doing more digging it appears that they are looking at multi trade scenarios or multi team constructs within a single trade that involve using guys like Jaden McDaniels or maybe a Mikhail Bridges or an OG Anunoby to bring in the necessary draft compensation to facilitate a deal for Giannis. This is where this type of trade can get super complicated and very risky. Now I will say between those two teams, I think it makes more sense for New York than it does for Minnesota and we'll get into why in just a minute. But with both constructs you'd basically have to bring back at least three first round picks and that would be tough to do for either team. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where the draft compensation you get for a McHale or for a Jaden McDaniels is also enough to get you Giannis and 10A right. There's a little bit of a disconnect there. Like would you have to move multiple high level role players? Like would Minnesota have to flip Dante DiVincenzo to get additional draft compensation or would New York have to do something similar with like a Mitchell Robinson or something to get enough draft compensation? It just gets complicated. So I think based on that fact alone, it's somewhat unlikely still for both of these teams. But as a thought exercise kind of similar, remember when we talked about the J dub for Trey Murphy thing this earlier this week, I meant that more as a thought exercise surrounding archetypes of players like would a guy like Trey Murphy fit Shea better necessarily than a J Dub. It was just a thought exercise. Similarly, if we can just pretend that New York and Minnesota can get the amount of first round draft compensation that they need to get Giannis, does it make sense as a thought exercise for these teams to break up the construct of their team to chase Giannis? So let's start with Minnesota and that's the team in particular that I hate this idea for. So let's again pretend that you're able to get this deal done just by moving Jaden McDaniels for picks, then rerouting salary and those picks to Milwaukee for Giannis, which again I think is pretty unlikely. You might have to trade a Dante DiVincenzo or a NAS Reed as well to get additional draft compensation to actually win that type of bidding war. But let's say it's just Jaden McDaniels, he's a 25 year old who's played in 70 plus games four years in a row, played in 82 games last year, has only missed two games this season and is having an absurd career year. He's shooting 44% from three. He's had 1120 point games this year. He's one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, just all around one of the best role players in the entire NBA. After you get a like once you move on from Jaden and Ant, the rest of the roster is a little bit on the older side. Rudy Gobert's 33, Julius Randall is 31, Dante even Chenzo's even in his late 20s. Now you move Jaden, you bring back a 31 year old Giannis who's been having injury issues right now. To be clear, Ant and Giannis is a monster duo. I definitely think they'd be at least a little better in the short term. I'm a big believer in do not overthink things when it comes to talent upgrades like this is not trading important role players for an older Russell Westbrook. Like that wasn't a bad deal just because they sent out good role players. It was a bad deal cause they sent out good role players in a first round draft pick for a player that was a star that was incapable of producing like a star. Like that was the problem with the Russell Westbrook trade, right? Giannis is still a bonafide top tier superstar and his game compliments Antwell. They'd be great together. But in that event, even though you would be better in the short term, your chances of sustainability greatly diminished. We've talked about this concept a lot this week. When you've got a young superstar superstar in his mid-20s, early 20s, you're looking for sustainable success so that you don't have a guy get into his late 20s and start asking for trades or seeking a pathway through free agency to find greener pastures. You want to have sustainable success. Jaden McDaniels is the closest thing on that Minnesota roster to a guy that you feel certain can be in the trenches with Ant winning high level playoff games for at least the next half decade. Everyone else on that list, Giannis included, is a question mark. I don't necessarily see Rudy Gobert being the foundational piece for a championship contender at 38 or Julius Randall at 36 or even Dante DiVincenzo at 33. But I feel pretty good about Jaden McDaniels being a dude who can be a running mate with Ant for at least the next five years. Trading for Giannis now could very well be the thing that has you trading Anthony Edwards in a few years because Gobert goes down a level and Giannis goes down a level or has some injury issues and suddenly you got Ant alongside a bunch of really old NBA players that are underachieving in a Western Conference with OKC in San Antonio that are having sustainable success. And now all of a sudden you're shipping Anthony Edwards off and you're stuck in purgatory. If you're Minnesota, that's the risk. And then as soon as you have to start including additional guys, like if you do trade Dante, you suddenly have an extremely weak guard core after Anthony Edwards. And it's already a weak guard core after Anthony Edwards. If you trade Nas Reed, all of a sudden your front court depth disappears or some of the lineup versatility you have building lineups around a center that can shoot threes. Like there is a a lot of potential downfalls that come with that kind of move for a short term upside at almost certainly a sacrifice of your long term sustainability. And you guys know how I feel about Minnesota. I like this Timberwolves team because Ant has gotten so much better, because Jada McDaniel's having a career year on offense, because Rudy Gobert is catching and finishing around the basket better than ever. I view them as a top tier contender. I know Oklahoma City's dealing with a bunch of injuries and obviously when A.J. mitchell and J Dub are out, they struggle to generate offense when Shay's off the floor. But I've completely changed my opinion about the Minnesota Oklahoma City matchup compared to how I felt after the postseason last year. They've had a. They've had enough internal improvement that I actually think they have a real shot to beat Oklahoma City even just within this season as currently constructed. Even if they don't even make a smaller trade for like a Kobe White as a guard or for some sort of role player upgrade somewhere on the roster. Like I really like this Timberwolves team and I think they have some sustainability. So I don't love the idea like all you need is Baron J to hit and you know, like if just Baron J hits him. Jaden and Ant are a pretty strong foundation three, four years from now after some of these guys age out. Like they have some possibility for sustainability as is. So I don't like the risk reward proposition. I don't think it's just you add Giannis and then it's happily ever after from there. There's a short term risk in the form of lost depth and a long term risk in the loss of sustainability. So I do not like this for Minnesota at all. I'm super excited to tell you guys about our partnership with Viori. Those of you guys who are familiar with Vuori have noticed I've been wearing it on the show a ton over the last few years. It's become a workhorse for me. 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What if mind control is real?
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If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have?
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Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car?
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When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings.
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Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you?
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I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused.
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Can you get someone to join your cult?
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NLP was used to on me to access my subconscious.
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Nlp, AKA Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain.
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It's about engineering consciousness.
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Mind Games is the story of nlp, its crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stole, stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all, nlp, might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing. It's an all out manhunt for John Ajay. Every search and rescue team in LA county has been called in to help. Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department. The ruler around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of. Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
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A homicide captain saying, detective, do not.
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Find out if this guy's guilty or innocent.
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Who does that?
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Valley of Shadows A new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert. Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?
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I wouldn't do it alone.
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Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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This show contains Information subject to but not limited to personal takes, rumors, not so accurate stats and plenty more. What's up man? This your boy Nav Green from the Broken Play podcast. Look, it's the end of the season. The playoffs are here. But guess what? It ain't the end of your season. You can always tune in with Broken Play podcast with Nav Green on the Black Effect podcast network. Not a team who ain't going to the playoff. The Chiefs. What's a wrap? It's time to rebuild. Who your MVP right now. Then Drake May up there. Josh Allen up there still. Oh my boy Matthew Stafford.
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Where did Nicks at?
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He ain't too far behind.
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He did all this talking.
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What Matthew Stafford is doing statistically, bro, is crazy. Bro, you know I ain't no Josh Allen fan, but Matthew Stafford got better Web Caleb Williams hey, he should be in that conversation.
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In what conversation?
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He should be in it. Listen to Broken Play with Nav Green from the Black Effect podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or whatever. You get your podcast now.
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The Knicks conversation more complicated. It depends on how you view the Knicks this year. I don't view them as a top tier contender, but at the same time I do think they have by far their best chance to win the Eastern Conference compared to the last few seasons. As a matter of fact, I still think if I had to make a pick today for who was going to win the East, I'd probably pick the Knicks. I'm not super confident in that pick. I don't think they're a runaway favorite or anything, but among a bunch of flawed candidates, I think they have the best overall playoff package for ability to win three rounds in that Eastern Conference. But I didn't even view them threats as threats at all in previous seasons. So I do think that this is a better landscape for the Knicks than the previous years. But the east is super open. They definitely can win it all this year. They've won four in a row. They're starting to look good again. They've had strong metrics, so I've been less worried about them in their slump than most. So the risk for this particular situation with New York is the exact same sort of risk that we talked about with Minnesota if you give up multiple high level role players to bring in the picks that you need to get. Giannis, let's say you do have to give up, you know, some version of out of Mikhail Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anobi and Mitchell Robinson. Let's say you have to give up two of Those guys just as an example, in that scenario, you run the risk of rebuilding the Damian Lillard, Giannis, antenna Kumpo, Milwaukee Bucks having an elite guard plus Giannis and nowhere near enough two way talent around them to win four playoff rounds. I'm not saying that's guaranteed to happen. To be clear, Brunson is a better basketball player than Damian Lillard was when he went to Milwaukee. And the Knicks should at least be able to keep one of OJ And Mikhail in this instance. So they'll have some two way talent on the wing. But the risk is similar in that they could get a second star and still not be good enough. So I bring it back to the very beginning. It comes down to how you feel about this version of the Knicks. If you're sitting there thinking this team is going nowhere, fuck it, let's just try something then. Yeah, I think it makes some sense. If you think this team's going nowhere, why not pair Brunson and Giannis and just see what happens? You know, compared to Minnesota where totally different because I actually think they're a top tier contender this season as currently constructed. Even without any trade. If you feel differently, if you're like, hey, we can win the east, who knows who will limp out of that Western Conference bloodbath? We've seen Oklahoma City, if they lose one of their ball handlers, they suddenly become very beatable. We've seen that Denver has a bunch of guys that are injury prone. Stephen Adams is down now for Houston. You see a San Antonio offense that can go really cold that New York has demonstrated the ability to beat. Like there is a chance that somebody limps out of the west and the Knicks can beat him. If you feel that way, then do not mess with it. Don't go and do something that risky and blow your opportunity potentially to compete. So again, that the best way I can kind of synthesize that down is trading for Giannis is not like trading for 26 year old Luka Doncic. It's not like trading for 35 year old Paul George either. It's in the middle of there somewhere. Extremely high upside, but some real age and injury risk. This guy who's missed eight of his team's last 16 playoff games, he's had multiple calf injuries that have taken him out for month plus this season. Like it is a different level of risk reward factor than some of these other younger superstars around the league. So again, if you don't think the Knicks have any chance, by all means, go after Giannis, but just Be aware that there's a lot of risk there. For Minnesota in particular, I think it's nowhere near worth it, even though it can be tantalizing to think about Anthony Edwards and Giannis Antenna Kumpo playing together. Second thing, I want to hit on the honest trade front. There's a lot of buzz surrounding the idea that the Bucks might wait until this off season. There are some teams that can't really get involved until then because of various factors, whether it's, you know, poison pill contracts or everyone gets access to an additional 20, 33 first round pick when you get to the off season. Right. So that could be an extra pick for everybody to include. I've talked about, like a random deal involving like Orlando flipping Palo Banchero for Giannis, Antenna Kumpo as an option. They can't do that really feasibly until this coming summer. Right. So, like, maybe this offseason is the situation where you could get a little bit more for Giannis. If I'm Giannis, I am raising hell behind the scenes to make sure that doesn't happen. If it's all just a ploy, and I like a method with which to negotiate, you know, to get more leverage so you can get some better offers, fine. But if I'm Yanis, the idea of sacrificing yet another year of my prime, wasting a playoff run for a Bucs team that has literally no shot just so the Bucks can like, maybe get a different young player they like or maybe get a better draft pick, I think that's downright disrespectful to Giannis. He brought a championship to Milwaukee, asking him to delay his opportunity to compete in real high leverage basketball when he's in his 30s, just so you can get an extra first round pick or maybe a better first round pick, it's just not a sure thing. If you knew for sure, like, if it was like, oh, if I wait till this summer, I'm going to get AJ debona. Yeah, it's a different discussion, but like, when you're talking about specifically a chance at something slightly better, I, I think that's unfair to put Giannis in that position. If Giannis wants to go now, if he wants to go play and play meaningful basketball right now, the Bucks should facilitate that. Similarly, niche options. So let's say a team like, you know, Atlanta wanted to get involved, or Brooklyn, I saw Brooklyn get thrown around. Like, Brooklyn has a million draft picks. You know, they could throw something in the insane for Giannis. And look, Brooklyn has some young Players that I really like. But if I'm Giannis, I have no interest in wasting my early 30s trying to carry a Brooklyn Nets team or an Atlanta Hawks team. And again, they have Atlanta in particular, like Atlanta with Giannis, they'd be feisty, they'd be a decent team, but they're not competing in this loaded top tier in the NBA. So like anything that sends Giannis to play more low leverage basketball, whether that's in a Brooklyn or in Atlanta or it's still in Milwaukee, if I'm Yanis, I'm like, hell no, man. If we're doing this, let's do, do this. And it's like the Bucks are headed for a substantial rebuild no matter what. It's not like if you make a deal this summer, you're moving your contention timeline up multiple years, like you're headed for a three, four year rebuild no matter what. So do right by Giannis, a guy who put his body on the line for the better part of a decade to win you a championship. Do right by him by sending him to a place where he can play meaningful basketball in the short term. Last thing on the honest front, this Golden State upcoming rebuild. Steph turns 38 in March. I like Golden State the most out of all the available possibilities. I think Giannis and Steph are a beautiful basketball fit. I think they'd play the type of basketball that all of us basketball fans would love to watch. I think that team would contend, but not be some sort of unbeatable juggernaut that would, you know, leave basketball fans feeling hollow if they won. I just think it'd be great for Giannis, great for Steph and great for the NBA. But I do understand why Giannis would have some concern about sustainability there, even though I do love Golden State as a short term option in this particular case for Giannis. If Giannis goes to Golden State, he's probably getting traded again in two or three years when Steph retires. Because if Steph turns 40 and he decides I'm not playing anymore, or if he experiences some sort of dramatic drop off. The warriors do not have the type of foundation to keep Giannis in the Bay. They don't have enough talent. So I understand why Giannis would look at partnerships with the Jalen Brunson or an Anthony Edwards and go like, this is an opportunity for me to potentially finish my career in this spot. And I could see why that would be an upside for him. That doesn't change the fact that I still think Golden State is the best place for Giannis, and it's definitely what I'm rooting for as a basketball fan. But if I saw a report come out on Tuesday next week that was like Giannis has scratched Golden State off of his list of preferred destinations because he doesn't want to have to be traded again in two or three years, I would at least understand that. My thing is go in a title with Steph and stamp yourself in basketball. Eternity. Don't worry about the next part of it. That's just kind of my perspective, but I at least understand Giannis's point of view there. If you were to decide to look elsewhere, Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Sportsbook. 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When you get to the summer, Steph will turn 39 before last year, next year's playoff run, it gets even more complicated there. So when it looks, when you look at like Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis as a pivot, I love it as a backup plan. Before the Giannis news came out on Wednesday, if you guys remember, we had a Western Conference trade preview earlier in the week in that pod when we got to Golden State, I discussed the idea of Anthony Davis being the obvious best trade target for Golden State if Giannis is off the table. He just provided the best combination of affordability and real championship upside. A guy you can bring in who, when he's healthy, Anthony Davis is still, when he's healthy, strictly as a playoff player, top seven or eight in the world because he's such a good defensive rebounder, such a good defensive foundation, and a guy who's going to score 25 points per game on 60% true shooting in the postseason. Like you just. There's just not many players that have that level of floor in terms of night to night impact in the NBA postseason. If he's healthy, I also think he's a very good compliment to Steph Curry. So getting that level of talent affordably because of his injury history. And again, you wouldn't even be able to look at Anthony Davis as an option unless you wanted to pay giannis prices if AD had not missed any games since 2024. Right? Cause 2024, he had that brilliant year, played a bunch of games, looked fantastic in the first round series against Jokic. Then he started getting hurt again last year and it's been a problem this season. If he was healthy that whole time, he would cost close to what Giannis would cost. Not quite close. He's affordable because of his health issues. You take the risk if he happens to be healthy. All of a sudden you have a top seven or eight playoff player in the world. Even just in that construct. I would look at Golden State back in the second tier of contenders if AD could stay healthy. You add Andrew Wiggins to that mix. I'm a big Andrew Wiggins fan. Guys who are apex athletes who rebound like crazy, who can guard multiple positions well while also hitting 40% of their threes. And he's a guy who can put the ball on, on the floor a little bit. I think him and Anthony Davis and Steph, that's a hell of a trio to build a lineup around. So to be clear, I think they have a real shot at Giannis. It's what I'm rooting for. But should they miss on Giannis? If the Bucks do somehow convince Giannis to waste another year, or if they end up making a deal with Miami or a New Yorker or a Minnesota, I do like that. As a potential pivot for Golden State, capitalizing on the urgency of the step situation, focusing on players that are relatively affordable to their talent. Andrew Wiggins is better than Herb Jones. He's a better basketball player right now than Herb Jones, but he's less expensive because he's in his 30s. Right? That's a distressed asset, so to speak, because he's expensive. He makes 30 million a year and he's in his 30s. That's why he's affordable. Anthony Davis is a superstar level talent who's dealt with injury history who makes over 50 million. That's why he's available at the price point. So Golden State kind of has to operate in that arena should they miss out on Giannis. And we even, we even talked about this in the Wednesday night pod. Like Giannis's calf, injuries are the only reason Golden State has a shot here. If Giannis had played in every game this season and looked like a healthy MVP candidate, you would see one of those other teams that has a lot of draft picks. You would see somebody else jump in and just grandfather offer and get him. You'd see a Houston jump in, you'd see a San Antonio jump in. It is the injuries to Giannis in conjunction with his previous injury history that caused him to miss playoff games that is scared off some of the younger, richer teams in the league and opened the door to teams like Miami and teams like Golden State and teams like New York and Minnesota. But in the event that Giannis, if they miss out, I like Wiggins and Anthony Davis as a pivot. Last segment for today. Should the Lakers make a trade for DeAndre Hunter? So the Cavs have DeAndre Hunter on the books for this season plus one more additional season at 25 million. And he's viewed at somewhat as somewhat of a negative asset right now because of that $25 million contract next season. He's had injury issues. He's shooting the ball poorly this season relative to previous seasons. He's not exactly the scrappiest 3 and D guy type, you know, in terms of dirty work guy in the world. We're going to get into that more in a minute. But he's viewed as somewhat of A negative asset. He got $25 million on the books for next season. The Cavs are dealing with some cap constraints, so they could potentially be looking to move him at this deadline. I'm not Super High on DeAndre Hunter. We'll get into that more in a minute. But my take as to whether or not the Lakers should make A move for DeAndre Hunter is pretty simple. If it's just expiring salary, let's call it Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleba and Dalton connect. Gabe and Maxi are expirings. Dalton has two team options the next two seasons, so he's effectively in expiring. But you can keep him if you want to keep him at a discount. That's all. Sal, that would be a way for essentially the Lakers to be like here's a bunch of money that comes off your books at the end of the season. We'll Pay, take back DeAndre Hunter, all that 25 million disappears from the Cavs books next year, buys him financial flexibility. If that's all the prices, then sure. Why? Because those three guys are providing next to nothing for the Lakers right now. Dalton and Maxi are basically out of the rotation. Maxi will only play if one of the centers is is hurt. Gabe Vincent plays a little, but he's just not very good. So if you can add DeAndre Hunter into your rotation for basically nothing, no draft compensation and a bunch of expiring salaries. And yeah, young player on a rookie contract in Dalton connects, but one that also is not very well valued around the league. It's a simple talent upgrade. You're taking a two guys that don't play and a guy that probably shouldn't play and you're replacing him with a guy that say what you want about him, he'd play 20 minutes a night for the Lakers. If you can do that, jump all over it. But I wouldn't include anything in terms of higher level rotation players or draft compensation for it. Like if the deal requires you to include Rui Hachimura, I hate it. I only would send out Rui Hachimura for a bonafide starting small forward or starting center that you know is going to be in the trenches with Luca for five plus seasons as a starter and a guy that's going to close every big playoff game. If you can do that, by all means send Rui out. Cause I don't think Rui's one of those guys. But Rui right now is a good enough player as a rotation scoring power forward who can hit threes on kickouts to the weak side who can drive a closeout and hit a mid range, mid range pull up, do some work as a bigger athlete on the team. You can't afford to send him out for another player that may or may not be better than him. Him and DeAndre is maybe a little more natural as a three. Although my thing with threes is I want scrappers at the three. I want guys that can really guard on the perimeter. I want guys that really rebound. And DeAndre's just not that guy. But he's a little bit more natural as a 3 than RUI, so there's that tiny bit of upside. But I don't think he's particularly good enough at that position to justify a swap that involves Rui or if you have to include draft compensation that prevents you from getting other players. Again, my issues with Hunter is he's basically not a scrapper. He looks like a 3 and D wing because he's got this big physical frame, but he's not a very good rebounder, not a very good on ball defender, not a very good off ball defender. Think of it like this. This is a player who's having a down year, but he's averaging 14 points per game on 55.4% true shooting. Again, not super efficient, but not horrible. Horribly inefficient. It's like a little below league average and there's volume there. He's scoring 14 points every game. He has seven games this year where he scored 20 plus points. If he was even remotely considered a good dirty work guy. Like a guy who like really could guard in multiple facets of defense both on and off the ball and really scrapped for rebounds and sprinted and played hard all the time. If he was that, nobody, not even the Cavs in their current predicament would let him walk over 25 million. Like if it was Jaden McDaniels instead of DeAndre Hunter on the exact same contract, there's no chance the Cavs trade him. They are trading him not because he's less efficient than usual though that's part of it. If he's making a ton of shots, it overcomes some of those issues. But it's because he's not nearly as good as Jalen Tyson as an all around role player. Jalen Tyson rebounds. Jalen Tyson plays his ass off as a defensive player every single possession. So again, if you can turn useless players into DeAndre Hunter, if you can turn a bunch of guys that are out of your rotation and gabe Vincent into DeAndre Hunter, then great, you just add him to your bag, right? He's another tool you can use. Some nights he can play a big role. Some nights he can start, some nights he can come off the bench. Some nights he can play a smaller role. He's just talent for a team that needs talent. But if you have to include Rui or draft compensation for him, it's just a bad idea in my opinion. And if Rob Pelinka ends up flipping Rui Hachimura for DeAndre Hunter this year, I. I think that would be a huge mistake for the Lakers and detrimental to what their goals are over the coming seasons. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us in supporting the show. We will be back on Monday with our normal power rankings pod. I will see you guys then.
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This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human.