The Ringer NBA Show: While You Were Making Fake Giannis Trades: The Feisty Mavs, Deni’s Double Leap, and More. Plus, Who’s Cup Tough?

Date: December 8, 2025
Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, J. Kyle Mann
Episode Format: Group Chat

Episode Overview

This episode of "Group Chat" dives into the NBA’s mid-season stew: while fans busy themselves with fake Giannis trades, the trio gives overdue attention to the surging Dallas Mavericks and their feisty lineups, Deni Avdija’s surprising leap in Portland, the rise of Nikhil Alexander-Walker with the Hawks, and the ripple effects of emergent talents across the league. The latter segment gears up for another round of the NBA Cup, with the hosts picking rooting interests and reflecting on the new competitive landscape. The pod balances smart analysis, ridicule, inside-joke banter, and barbed introspection—classic Ringer NBA Show energy.

Key Segments & Discussion Highlights

1. The (Not) Giannis Watch – Social Media Scrubbing & Trade Hypotheses

[00:40 - 04:41]

• Social Media Rumors: Justin, Rob, and Kyle joke about Giannis' Instagram and Twitter post deletions and the overblown "meeting about a meeting" reporting style in NBA media.
  • “It's the Jason Alexander Curb meeting about a meeting thing.” – Kyle [02:36]
  • Kyle isn’t sold on Knicks packages for Giannis: “Why would I deal with the Knicks if I were the Bucks? They have nothing to offer me… the Hawks was the one I liked best. I'm either trying to get Jalen Johnson to come home to Milwaukee, or I'm trying to get that NOLA pick.” [02:59]
• Trade Machine Fatigue:
  • Kyle admits, “I did the trade machine for probably, like, half a day until, like, lunchtime,” before giving up. [02:36]
  • Rob: “This is why you have people… so you don’t have to scrub your own social media.” [03:37]
• Quick Comment on Giannis Cleaning: The hosts riff on the generational divide evidenced by Giannis manually manipulating his Instagram grid. [04:29]

2. The Dallas Mavericks: Restructuring, Point Guard Crisis, and the Nimhard Effect

[05:53 - 18:42]

• Ryan Nembhard’s Emergence:
  • Kyle dives into the unexpectedly solid play of Ryan Nembhard at point guard for Dallas, after earlier experiments with Cooper Flag floundered.
  • “For a guard that small, I worried if he wasn’t someone that could bring a lot of uphill dribble, pull up pressure… Is he gonna just be another one of these heady college guards that doesn’t translate?” – Kyle [07:16]
  • Rob counters: “He’s clearly a heady college guard who translates to an extent… he will make exceedingly simple plays to the point he’s basically played mistake-free basketball for like two weeks straight.” [07:45]
• Lineup Logic:
  • The Mavs’ shift to a “sensible lineup” is yielding results. Rob highlights that playing Nembhard has improved pace, scoring, and roles: “You have all these ways to actually knife inside and create that space, and Cooper is transformed as a result… all these pieces are falling into place.” [11:05]
  • Justin pokes at the slowness of lineup change and Jason Kidd’s motives: “Perhaps… they just ran out of centers... I almost wonder if Jason Kidd was maybe silently trying to tank Nico out of town.” [12:16]
• Point Guard Shortages Leaguewide:
  • Kyle raises a broader theme: “Have you noticed how many teams… are struggling with having a primary ball handler right now? Milwaukee, Golden State, Dallas, Memphis, Portland, Indiana...” [14:02]
  • Rob: “The whiplash of the development of the sport is so hard to keep up with if you’re just a person trying to find your footing in the league.” [16:13]
• Dallas as a “League Pass” Team:
  • “They look like NBA basketball... I gravitate toward them now—they’re a league pass team because there’s enough there.” – Justin [17:28]
  • Rob: “Young fun team actually scoring, actually having some kind of coherent offense. This is bare minimum, but that’s all you need to make a watchable team.” [18:17]

3. Deni Avdija’s (Double) Leap and the Reframing of Stars in Portland

[18:42 - 30:21]

• Deni Avdija Mania:
  • Justin’s giddy over Avdija’s jump in production and his All-Star-level metrics. (Jokingly plans a Deni Avdija fan-cam TikTok.) [21:28]
  • Robust praise from Rob: “The kind of like shining centerpiece is just how fucking relentless that guy is... he just goes, goes, goes all the time... he grabs every single marginal opportunity and makes something out of it.” [24:04]
  • Deni is now getting almost ten free throws per game—a marker of NBA elite status.
• Comparisons & Role Flexibility:
  • Kyle compares Deni’s narrative to Franz Wagner: “Deni’s production beats him in almost every category… I’m not dismissing Franz. I’m just saying, side by side, Deni’s production looks like a star.” [25:35]
  • The group notes Avdija’s malleability: “If you did bring another superstar… he’s overqualified as a supporting part. You can modulate and figure out what makes sense.” – Rob [28:11]
• Blazers Team Construction:
  • Portland’s logic is about “a lot of these two-way wing types” awaiting activation by someone like Deni, Scoot, or Future Star X. Justin: “If the flow is what it was earlier in the season, I think this is the type of team that can kind of do something significant…” [29:28]

4. Nikhil Alexander-Walker’s Role with the Hawks & Market Dynamics

[33:49 - 41:39]

• Nikhil Alexander-Walker’s Leap:
  • Rob is amazed by NAW's jump in production: “He has just kind of shot past pretty good into a role of incredible importance for a competitive team in the east…” [34:38]
  • NAW’s PPG over career: 5.7 → 11 → 10.6 → 6.2 → 5.9 → 8 → 9.4 → 20.7 [35:16]
  • Both Rob and Justin suggest NAW’s gains are both real and a matter of opportunity: “It’s a leap of opportunity, for sure.” – Kyle [35:45]
  • Rob: “He’s become one of the best three point shooters at volume in the entire league… he’s in that next group with guys like Ant [Edwards] and [Michael] Porter Jr., Grayson Allen.” [37:34]
  • Justin advocates for NAW to be a starter even when Trae returns: “I don’t think Risachet should be starting anymore. Nikhil has pretty much cemented himself as a starter.” [38:55]
• Cap/CBA Implications:
  • Justin: “The big picture thing… is how many other Nikhils are going to be out there from teams that have so many guys they can’t pay them all?” [40:39]
  • Rob: “There’s completely a market for that… you could do well in the league just by riding in the wake of a pretty good GM and finding the picks they can’t afford to keep around.” [42:39]

5. The Pat Spencer Story & Golden State’s Dilemma

[45:51 - 57:19]

• Cross-Sport Curiosity & “Flow”:
  • Kyle tells the story of Pat Spencer, the lacrosse star turned Warriors fill-in hero: “His brother, Cam Spencer... played lacrosse. And if you listen to Pat's college coach talk about him... he said he was the Lamar Jackson of lacrosse.” [45:51]
  • Rob on cross-sport athleticism: “You naturally look at the way the kinetic movements of that sport feed into others… he is part of a lacrosse kind of flow in his way.” [48:02]
• Warriors Rotation Crisis:
  • Spencer’s surprising steadiness is a “feel-good story” but an indictment of failed internal development (especially Kuminga): “It’s just embarrassing for Kuminga… [Pat’s] geometry of getting off the ball quickly, the thing that’s going to keep him on the floor is he’s a great connective passer.” – Kyle [52:25]
  • Rob: “All you have to do is participate. If you have Steve Kerr as your coach, why are you wasting time with Jonathan Kuminga?” [55:26]
  • Justin: “This is the same conversation we’ve been having about the Warriors and Kuminga for three years…” [56:21]

6. San Antonio Spurs: Surviving & Thriving Without Wemby

[57:47 - 64:30]

• Winning Without Their Star:
  • “They played ten games without him and they’re 7–3… pretty incredible… it’s been an incredible ensemble effort.” – Rob [58:19]
  • Shouts to Keldon Johnson for thriving in a new role; Jeremy Sochan reinvents himself in the second unit; team depth is highlighted.
  • “The Spurs, in this state, are not doing the thing we know them to do… they’re not the game-changing defense, straight about scoring teams. And if they have that in their back pocket… they could be a real challenger.” – Rob [63:29]
• Future Outlook:
  • “The hard work almost begins now… let’s see everybody together—the work kind of begins now.” – Justin, on integrating Castle, Harper, Fox, and Wemby [64:30]

7. Noah Clowney & the Nets: Unexpected Competence and What’s Next

[65:17 - 76:29]

• Noah Clowney’s Sudden Impact:
  • Justin: “What if Rob Williams shot threes and was healthy and played?” [65:59]
  • Rob: “What if Ryan Anderson was also JaVale McGee?” [66:08]
  • Clowney's developed into a valuable two-way role player—blocking shots, crashing the rim, and hitting threes at volume.
  • Kyle: “The handle improvement… Jalopy plane landing, but the plane’s landing.” [68:07]
• Potential & Roster Construction:
  • Justin speculates: “What if they didn’t trade anybody… and added a top pick to the existing group?” [72:49]
  • Rob & Kyle agree the Nets are feisty, maybe a league pass team, and are on the verge of being a fun, competitive mid-level team with the right new addition.

8. NBA Cup Chatter & Rooting Interests

[79:27 - 86:45]

• NBA Cup Quarterfinals Preview:
  • Rob: “I do think this is an awesome Cup field… in terms of a random draw, this is a pretty nice field.” [79:37]
  • Matchups: Thunder vs Suns, Lakers vs Spurs, Magic vs Heat, Raptors vs Knicks.
  • Discussion of which teams have something to prove: “The Cup is most interesting for me… in terms of, like, which teams have something to prove.” – Kyle [80:37]
  • Podcast host-pick 'Cup rooting interests': Kyle takes the Raptors, Rob the Magic, and Justin the Suns (as underdogs).
    • “Suns are the ultimate underdog.” – Justin [83:52]
    • “If the Suns even make the final, it’d be a spectacular cup run…” – Rob [84:03]
• Cup Stakes & Cup History: The hosts joke about the meaning and legacy, but agree: “Knockout NBA basketball is something we don’t get, and so this part makes sense. It has been sick the past two years.” – Justin [80:14]

Notable Quotes & Standout Banter

• On Deni Avdija’s Leap:
  • “There's like an iteration on iteration on iteration thing with Deni… manipulating all those aspects of his game into one big snowball rolling downhill…” – Rob Mahoney [24:04]
• On NAW’s opportunity in Atlanta:
  • “It's a leap of opportunity for sure… The Hawks roster build is so interesting: they're sinewy and long… I feel like Jalen [Johnson] is sort of the emblem.” – Kyle [35:45]
  • “He gets them playing even faster… he's also become one of the best three-point shooters at volume in the league.” – Rob Mahoney [37:34]
• On Warriors' Development Model:
  • “If you have Steve Kerr as your coach, why are you wasting time with Jonathan Kuminga?” – Rob Mahoney [55:26]
• On “Dark Horse” League Pass Teams:
  • “No one has been purely unwatchable from start to now. They've all had a week or two stretch. We'll enjoy the Nets while they last.” – Rob Mahoney [78:03]
• On The NBA Cup:
  • “If you feel strongly one way or another about the cup, you’re probably a weirdo… But knockout NBA basketball is something we don’t get.” – Justin Verrier [80:14]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Start | Highlight | |-----------------------|-------|-------------------------------------------------------------------| | Giannis Scrubbing | 00:40 | Trade rumors & social media manipulation | | Mavericks/Nembhard | 05:53 | The state of Dallas, emergence of Nembhard, league-wide ballhandler crisis | | Deni Avdija | 18:55 | Blazers, Deni’s leap, All-Star case, role malleability | | NAW & Hawks | 33:49 | The Nikhil Alexander-Walker leap, cap/CBA implications | | Warriors/Pat Spencer | 45:51 | Pat Spencer’s lacrosse roots, Warriors development paradox | | Spurs sans Wemby | 57:47 | Spurs’ resilience, Keldon Johnson’s role, new team ceiling | | Nets/Clowney | 65:17 | Noah Clowney’s fit, “what if” draft speculation, Nets outlook | | Cup Talk | 79:27 | Knockout basketball, rooting picks, Cup legacy |

Final Thoughts

This episode spotlights how NBA narratives can shift quickly; while the basketball world obsesses over stars’ social media feeds, major player development and team identity shifts can slip under the radar. The dynamism of the young Mavs, the late leap of Deni Avdija and NAW, rotation breakthroughs on the Warriors, and the evolving team contexts in San Antonio and Brooklyn highlight a league in continual flux. And with the NBA Cup adding new stakes and storylines, it's a reminder that "bare minimum" entertainment is sometimes the best kind.

Listen for:

• Spirited, joke-laden but insightful breakdowns on emerging league trends
• New All-Star debates (Deni! NAW!)
• A playful, competitive draft for Cup rooting interests
• Wit, wisdom, and enough banter to make it a true “Group Chat” episode