Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - NBA West Squad: Will Lakers Contend with Luka Dončić in Purple and Gold?

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

The NBA West Squad Show brings together hosts from various Western Conference teams to discuss the latest developments. This episode focuses on the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade, with Nick Angstadt of Locked on Mavericks expressing his frustration and concerns. The panel debates the impact on the Mavericks and Lakers, particularly with Anthony Davis's injury. They also explore how other teams in the West, such as the Thunder and Nuggets, are positioned after the trade deadline. The hosts engage in lively banter, sharing insights on team strategies, player performances, and potential future moves. The conversation touches on the challenges faced by different franchises and the evolving landscape of the Western Conference. 0:00 Intro: Anthony Davis out indefinitely5:50 Mavs owner's comments on Luka trade11:08 Lakers' center situation after rescinded trade20:45 Thunder as big winners at trade deadline25:15 Second apron impact on trade deadline28:48 Grizzlies' trade deadline approach and challenges32:55 Outro: Wrapping up NBA West discussion Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizepicksNow’s the perfect time to join.Download the app today and use code LOCKEDONNBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup! That’s right—no need to win to get the bonus, it’s guaranteed. PrizePicks—Run Your Game! TALKSPACETherapy is a game-changer. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com/LOCKEDONNBA and enter promo code SPACE80 to get $80 off your first month and show your support for the show.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelFrom the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL Playoffs even more exciting! Right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get THREE HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first bet! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. Make this playoff season unforgettable with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's show, Anthony Davis is out for an indefinite period of time. The Lucidagia trade continues to look worse for the Mavs and better for the Lakers. Let's talk about who are the winners after the trade deadline. Today's Lockdown NBA Squad Show. You are talking ball with the NBA West Squad Show. From the Warriors to the Lakers, the Mavericks to the Nuggets, and everyone else. Why? The local experts of the Lockdown Podcast Network bring you all the scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive look

at the Western Conference. Trash talk and big takes included. No holding back, we're giving the green light. It's time to talk NBA West. And welcome. You are locked on to the NBA squad show West. My name is Nick Engstead, host of still Lockdown Mavericks. This is the squad show where we take over the feed of your favorite lockdown show.

It's an open invite for any host to join and talk about anything that they want in the NBA's Western Conference. Joining me today from Lockdown Thunder, Ryland Styles. Man, still at the top of the West. Lockdown Rockdown Rockets. again, locked on Lakers. God, have to see his face again. Andy Kavanaughke, Locked on Grizzlies, DeMichael Cole, locked on Nuggets, Matt Moore, mucketed up,

and locked on Pelicans, Jake Madison, who did not try to trade their star, even though he has conditioning issues. Gentlemen. I have a question to start. Go for it. For the panel, okay, if your team traded your franchise superstar for Anthony Davis, what second job would you need to get

to supplement your income from lockdown? based off of the expected loss of viewership since Mavs fans are done out. I have never I have never gotten more like goodbye messages like on in DMs and comment and like love the show appreciate everything you've done for me goodbye like like that I had died like it's not you it's me the day the Mavericks died. For what is he Davis by the way still has not thanked New Orleans in an Instagram post like he said he would and did it for the Los Angeles Lake was here. So I'm pretty sure if the Pelicans traded

Zion Williamson for Anthony Davis, as much as Pell's fans might want Zion gone. That might be like the one player they couldn't do that for. He's also still out with, he's now out with the injury. He's been still dealing with since he was in New Orleans, the abductor thing. Hmm. He needs to have the dame surgery.

And you get locked on blazers here to talk about the dame surgery. I don't. I can't believe how bad this. Every single day, this trade continues to look worse and worse. Like this is what I've been doing on my show every day. I'm going to take over the squad wise and just talk about this. It looked pretty good for about a half of basketball.

You had a couple hours there. Not even a couple hours because he plays the first quarter looks great. Second quarter looks great. A half time we're like, oh, this is great. At least the basketball is going to be fun and interesting. Then beginning of the third quarter, he starts grabbing at his crotch. And we're like, what is going on? That's not the abductor.

That's like a different thing. And it was a non-contact injury. And now the report is he could be out. He's going to be out weeks, potentially a month. for Anthony Davis. And that's on the heels of the owner's comments, Patrick Dumont coming out and saying all the things he said yesterday. Actually, I want to pose this to the panel because I found this just close to reprehensible

what Patrick Dumont said about Logan Hodges. He talked about, you know, in my mind, the way teams win is by focus having the right character, the right culture, having the right dedication to work as hard as possible to create a championship winning outcome. If you're not doing that, you're going to lose. Look at the greats of the league, the people you and I grew up with, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal. Those were his examples, which I think if you're talking about character and preparation and culture, like Michael Jordan fought teammates and he stayed out all night gambling. Kobe Bryant had issues and he fought teammates as well.

Shaq came into camp like 400 pounds one year and Larry Bird drank more beer than Luca has maybe ever in his life. I don't think he could think of four worst examples. I have a question for you, Nick. if he had mentioned Dirk in there, which it seems on the surface of like, maybe you should mention that guy in here, would that actually have been better or worse? He could have,

they had the perfect example he could have mentioned. You don't think that would have been fearing it fans more? It may be what a bit. Well, the thing is he's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Anything he said and anything Nico says right now, which I think why Nico hasn't done a real press conference.

He did his, he did a press conference before the Cavs game on the road where nobody was playing. Like literally the map started a G-League team basically against that team. Absolutely wild. It is tone deaf to me that you, I mean, the shack piece of this is especially wild. We talked about this on Locked on Lakers, and obviously we are excited about Lucas impending Dave. Free agency.

Who knows? Maybe he comes back, Nick. Let's go. He's not fat. Bring him back. But like, I had compared the concerns about Luca and to be fair-ish to the maverick. for an office. Like this is something that's been discussed with Luca for a while. It's not like they just all of a sudden landed on conditioning out of nowhere as a way to try to justify this.

Like it's come up. But this is the first time the Lakers have had to deal with this sort of thing, like that type of concern with a superstar since Shaq. Because Kobe clearly dedicated to the game. LeBron clearly dedicated to the game. Anthony Davis dedicated to the game. You don't have to worry about those guys not putting in the work and the conditioning. Like, Shaq is the prototype for the concerns with Luca. So to bring up Shaq is just insane. And also, you don't bring up Dirk? So you're going to insult the intelligence of Mab fans and insult Dirk all at

once. Well done. It's a nice one false loop. He also talked about how he sympathized. Like, I love Luca as much as anybody. I sympathize. I was there at the finals. The confetti falling down on me.

I'm like, dude, you've been here for like. As much. He took over the team December, December, 2023, like literally the middle of the season. That wasn't even been a full season yet with the owner. It just, that was wild to me. I love Luca as much as anybody. As much and anybody are both doing a lot of work there.

Does anybody think the mabs are just cooked? They're just done. The Anthony Davis trait, like this thing, him being out could be a month. now they're just they're they're missing the playoffs now anybody anybody think they're not they're fine the problem is now you you you talk about how jumbled the west playoff standings are and and you know those injuries like you're going to probably end up having to win a play in game just to play the thunder like that's kind of the and you know they've they've done well against the thunder

but i mean it's a look because doesn't beat the thunder the season yeah it's it's a different So we'll see. But I think that's definitely something that's like the road just feels like it's going to be a lot harder now with that being the case. I think they're fine. I just think that the West is super, super, super mid. One team, Jackson Hayes is starting at center for a team. Oh. It's, there are vulnerabilities to be found across the board.

I just think that Davis They're going to be they're going to float around 500 Maybe a little bit under It's going to get dicey They'll push to the end And then probably in the playing tournament There's going to be a lot of teams I think that they can beat

I think they've still got a really good chance We get now that Maverick series It could be like the 2012 series Where the Thunder got the Mavericks again And we're like, let me show you something After you beat us last year We have something that we'd like to share with you But maybe it's still

bad matchup especially with AD so I don't know I don't think I don't think they're cooked they basically floated all season without Luca or most of the season without Luca right so like he doesn't played a month so there you go I mean that's that's a that's a pretty substantial chunk of the season that they've missed without their best player and they've done just fine right they have a pretty strong supporting cast just fine is also a lot of work I don't know what fine is to you I have not done just fine Jackson just fine needs to get in better shape we're not we're not talking about your mental health, okay, Nick, calm down.

No, but, look, depending on how long 80 is out for, if they, if they come, if he comes back, right, what, if he comes back in a month, like, it should be fine. Here we go again, though, with this thing, the star player coming back in a month, we're just going to keep pushing it down the road. And to me, this, the injury is, of course it happened, because he's a player that gets injured a lot, right, Jake? Like, Anthony Davis deals with injury. Does it a trade for a player like this and say, all right, well, we're concerned about

Luca missing time because of a conditioning. To get a guy that misses games all the time was just wild to me to make that decision. I mean, the whole thing's been toned up from the start. Like, we don't need to rehash that again on here. I don't think we're probably all in agreement. Yeah, I need this. I need this guy.

He needs the catharsis. Come on. All right, coming up. Let's get into the Lakers side of this with Luca. Then Mark Williams trade got rescinded. Where does that leave the Lakers now? Let's talk about all that and more coming up. Today's episode of Lockdown NBA Squad Show West

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And if you have existing numbers with other service, open phone will port them over at no extra charge. Again, openphone.com slash locked on NBA. Thanks for hanging out with us on the lockdown NBA squad show West. We've got the host from all the different Western conference teams here talking about whatever's going on to the West. I don't know what else is relevant now. I've just been thinking about a Slovenian for six years and now he's gone out of my life.

And Andy Kamnetzky, the Lakers, rescinded, got a trade rescinded. Mark Williams, didn't pass the physical. Where does that leave the Lakers now? Thin up front? The list of centers they have with any real NBA experience starts with Jackson Hayes and ends with Jackson Hayes. When's Christian Wood?

Yeah, what's that? Also, wait, how can they be thin up front when Lucas fat? Explain that to me. Bartu! Starting at center. Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson. Johnson did it. Lucas should start at center. He might be one of the heaviest players on the team. And the NBA, isn't he like?

I'm doing this for you, Nick. I'm trying to make you feel better. It's not working. It's interesting. I mean, they, they were trading for Mark Williams in part because they thought they might have a center for the future, but also they had an immediate need right now. So they were looking to fill some short and long term needs. For the time being, I think they're going to try to, you know, make it work as best they can with jazz. Jackson, who, to be fair, has played very well over the last couple weeks. Like, Hayes actually played pretty well. The sample size is not huge. The track record for playing at that level for a contending team, obviously not big, but the time being, he's doing well. I'm sure they'll scour the buyout market, but it is slim pickings, to put it generously, in terms of people out there now or potentially who will be out there.

I also think even if Mark Williams had, you know, the physical hadn't been rescinded and he wouldn't been a Laker. I actually think they would have spent a lot of time in the playoffs going smaller anyway, particularly closing unless the matchup absolutely made it so you can't. Because some of their most talented players are, you know, their fours and threes and guards and some of their best defensive late, which has actually happened without Anthony Davis. They've been going small regardless.

So like we, Brian and I talked about that on Lockdown Lakers that we thought even with Mark Williams there, and we're framing this in terms of not being concerned about his lack of playoff experience, it matters. But we thought he might not be closing games a lot anyway. And that if it doesn't, if he's not ready for this yet, fine. It's good just to have him as an option. But look, this is a challenge to overcome. It's not a good place to be in. I'm not going to oversell it. Anybody covering a team of the West worried about the Lakers?

Do Michael Cole, the Grizzlies, Jackson with the Rockets, Matt with the Nuggets? No, I mean, because I feel like from the grizzlies standpoint, that was the big difference between the Lakers and the Grizzlies over the last couple of years. Anthony, I always say Anthony Davis hurt them more than LeBron James did. If you go back to the playoffs series, you go back to the, literally the three games, the Grizzlies and the Lakers have played this season. the Lakers won the two that Anthony Davis played. The Grizzlies won the one that he didn't play.

So, I mean, from the Grizzlies standpoint, I don't think they're too worried about the Lakers at this point. Yeah, I should have like... Historically up to that point, it actually played pretty good against Anthony Davis. So when the Lakers lost AD, I was like, oh, this is unfortunate because for some reason, I don't know, like Shingoon just has usually gotten the better

that matchup until he put on a Mavericks jersey and embarrassed the Rockets. The Rockets went Stephen Adams, Alphron Shingoon. They did. throughout a double-big lineup. They were plus 10 in those minutes. It was an interesting little wrinkle. But from the Rockets perspective, the big issue was going to be, okay, well, you

finally got the big, right? That was going to compliment Luca that was going to compliment LeBron. And the question mark to me still is for the Lakers, that perimeter defense is going to be abysmal with LeBron and Luca out there at the same time. Like that, their whole contingency plan was going to be to funnel everybody in to the interior to Mark Williams. That was going to be their entire defensive game plan. I understand the standpoint of, okay, you can completely.

play small, you can find effective lineups where your best players are out there. And I understand the idea that you would have closed games without Mark Williams. But playing an entire or a majority of a 48 minute basketball game as a small lineup is not, I think, is conducive to winning as it playing the final three to five minutes winning a basketball game. I do think that like short of Rui Hachamora becoming PJ Washington, the Thunder are pretty okay, pretty okay against, you know, against the Lakers. Like 40 something percent. I know that is. That is fair. Man, man. That is scary. And I think that we shouldn't totally discount the Lakers because, I mean, Luca did bring Dwight Powell to a surprising Western Commerce Finals.

That's right. But the Thunder are uniquely positioned with all of their perimeter defenders to fare well against two elite scores of Luca and LeBron. And then to Jackson's point, I don't really see the Shea matchup with the Lakers. So the Thunder should be able to get past L.A. But this is a great move in the future. Vando's the answer. I mean, I'm not saying Vando can shut down. on SGA. I'm saying Vando is the answer to that question in terms of who can who can try to

slow down SGA the most relatively speaking because nobody shuts the guy down. He's I think right now MVP of the league. And he did find success. He literally just did the equivalent of the Anthony Edwards like, yeah, they got KD, but we've got. No, but he's got Jake Daniel. I did not say Vando is the answer to who shuts down. SGA. I said Vando is the answer to who do they try to make SGA's life most difficult. Andy is correct here because last year, like the Lakers did give Shea more trouble than most, but they were able to hold him up long enough to where when he finally broke through Van Doe and then the rest of their length on the perimeter at that time, he was funneled

into Anthony Davis. That's no longer the luxury of the Lakers C. So I do think that that changes the equation. But as far as like giving Shea trouble on an island, you know, it's surprising names besides Herb Jones, which you would expect. But then it's like Dean Wade gives him trouble and other players like that. So he might have a little bit of trouble outside the perimeter, but with no backline help, it could be a long series. And I'm sure what at that. They're going to, JJ's just going to, he's going to copy the Mavs playbook on this.

And the interior rim protection isn't as good for sure. But they're going to blitz-shay coming off of the pick and roll, which then he's going to be like, all right, I'll try Gar-Gard screen in order to isolate you. But isolation basketball, even against the Lakers. Okay, granted, Austin Reeves may have to go sit in a closet for a while. But like the rest of the Lakers can probably do okay in isolation coverage one-on-one enough. And then the Lakers plan is to win with offense. Like that's going to be the whole thing is make anybody but Shea shoot.

And then the question there is like can Chet and Isaiah actually score inside enough to be like a real consistent threat? Like that'll be the formula. I don't know if it'll work, but like that'll be the formula. Right. The Laker have the defense to kind of hold true on that, even if they don't have a great shooting series and even if SGA is an excellent. I mean, Luca and Kyrie last year were not the problem for Oklahoma City. As far as containing those guys go, the Thunder were able to contain both of them

on the scoring. He had a really bad series against J-Dub. And then the Thunders could not hit water out of a boat to make up for that because the Mavericks were able to pack the paint, unlike what the Lakers can do. So I think that it wouldn't be some sweep, but I think the Thunder would get past them. Last year, part of the reason that the Lakers matched up extremely well against the Thunder was the size advantage that they had over them, that even if AD was still on the Lakers, if both Hartenstein and Holmgram are available, they don't have the same size advantage from

last year to begin with, regardless of any roster changes. It'll be tougher this year, just because I think the Thunder are better this year than last year. To be fair to the Lakers, though, the last couple weeks, they have defended better than they profile on paper. they've been doing a really good job with doubling and rotating, trapping, shifting over. They've been really good at it. Can they maintain it for the next 30-something games? It's going to be a tall order. I mean, it will be.

But something we've beaten the drum on all season is, and it changes a little bit with Luca in the equation, but the Lakers have not been good enough this year to coast on talent. They have been good enough that if they play at the top of their game, they can be very good. But they have to play their asses off defensively in order to be good defensively. Like they have no other choice. They don't have it helps to have Vando. It helps to have DFS. It helps to have Dave Vincent.

Like some of that mentality and some of that energy, I think becomes contagious. But between losing AD and frankly losing Max Christie, like Max Christie was really important to them defensively. Christie, by the way, underrated pickup for Dallas. Like Christy's not saying he balances out Luca, but. It's keeping me alive, Andy. He's keeping me above boy. Hey, if you don't want the, I know one thing Luca will not help your team do is to get away from the, let's just coast on talent thing like that.

That is not something that he will get your team away from because that happens. The Mavs have played up and down to opponents forever. Coming up, let's get into the rest of the West. What stands out after the trade deadline or the Thunder, a big winner, because there's not a lot of big moves made in the West. Talk about all that more coming up. All right, we're here, Lockdown NBA Squad Show West. We're talking about the Western Conference and everything going on in it.

Ryland, are the Thunder, the big winners in the trade deadline? Because not a lot of big moves got made. Obviously, the Luka one was huge, but we just talked about how you're not worried about the Lakers in that. Obviously, not worried about the Mavs and that. Grizzlies made some moves. It kind of just dumped some guys. Nuggets didn't really do anything. The Thunder are big runners because the Rockets didn't go get a top score,

so it really just shuts them down in the playoffs. We already talked about the Luka, a Lakers angle. I do think that it's concerning the way that Dallas can play if they're healthy, but that's a massive if. I mean, to navigate a whole play in tournament. We saw last year what the Pelicans had to go through in the play in tournament, which really ended any chance of a non-sweep in the first round against the Thunder. And another area where the Thunder won,

Cam Johnson did not get traded. And so, like, Cam Johnson's still out there this summer for Oklahoma City to go get, if Matt's prediction comes true where Wiggins can't shoot and Joe can't shoot and the thunder suck. Well, in the summertime, they can just go and get Cam Johnson as they went and got Caruso and Hartnstein to fill in the poor front court

depth that they had a year ago. I love Ryan's anti-thundered. I love Ryan's anti-thundering guy. So funny. Look, I don't want it to be true, but everybody like on some level, everybody is kind of wondering. Like, that's the only thing. Because otherwise, like, you're going to win and you're going to win by margin because you're the best team

in the league by margin. Like, you're better than Boston. You just are. Like, we look at the overall, there's no way to argue based on the resume that the thunder aren't just better than everybody, but that confidence that you wear, I think is can can be a little bit over exaggerated in the regular season. Matt, it just dawned on me that we have not mentioned the Denver Nuggets at all. Sleep and Giants. Well, we didn't need to talk about them, whether they were going to meet the Lakers since they've done it 13 to 14 times. Well, no, that feels like less of a robust debate. but you guys did nothing at the deadline.

Like literally. Where do you think that leaves Denver and was that a missed opportunity? No, I mean, say that's, it was unfortunate, but it wasn't a missed opportunity because in order for it to be a missed opportunity, an opportunity has to exist. And it turns out that when you go to teams and they're like, hey, do you want our bad players and bad picks for your good players? that they're like, no. Say it louder from the commenters in the back, Matt.

You got to sell it. The Grizzis fans can't hear you on that one, man. You need a little Zadz. That's it, man. It's like if you're trying to be like, hey, we'll give you the 20, we'll give you a 20-30 first round swap. And if you take Zeke Naji, and we'll take this contract from you.

And you get a 2030 swap when Yokic may very honestly not be in the United States. Like, how does that sound? And there wasn't anybody biting. And they didn't, I was, I did hear, I was surprised at this. The MPJ stuff got shut down like months ago. From the nuggets? From on high. It got shut down that that was a, nope, we are not doing this.

MPJ is part of the core. We're keeping him. Now, I don't know what that means this summer for Aaron Gordon. He's got a trade kicker or Jamal Murray. I don't know what that means. But if the leftovers are then like, who wants Julian Strother? Not everybody at once. then it gets pretty not.

You know what's funny, Matt, for all the talk about Yokic, and I get it because he's Yokic and he's, he's incredible and the Lakers' bad history against Denver, I had been more worried, because you mentioned Michael Border Jr. I've been like, please move him,

like Denver, please move him anywhere. Like, he's really been the guy. Is he getting hurt a lot? That I think has been, that I think has been killing the Lakers. Because Yokich is Yokish.

In a lot of ways, I think AD played him close enough to a draw that it was fine. MPJ was the guy that used to just kill the Lakers. This shows you how fans react because the fans all are very negative towards MPJ or some are. Some are very positive. Some are very negative from him from a look at how bad he was in the Wolf series. And I keep being.

And if you talk to the Nuggets and you ask like, hey, what's going on with Mike? Just like off the record, hey, like what's happening? They're very at like, they're very adamant in that Wolf series. They're like, go look at how they're guarding him. They're staying home. They're sending help from any other place. like that's one of the reasons why Aaron Gordon is shooting more threes this year and doing it well he's 40% from three um but but that's kind of the thing is like versus the lakers npjc kills them yes because the lakers cannot help but but help one pass away for man i don't know why like they literally just forget he's there andy they're just like i'm just guarding no one i'll go help out on yokech now and it's one pass away every single time hey jake can i ask question i was i was actually going to jump in on this one too but go ahead well no hit me and then i'll ask my question So with them not making a move and it seemed like Denver needed to and you said there's no opportunities.

There's a sign of the second apron kind of tamping down the trade deadline where maybe more teams are going to look to do signing trades, things like that with expiring deals and stuff like that. Because there was talk about that with Brayne and Ingram that they may get more at in the off season when it was a sign and trade trade than you might get at the trade deadline for one of those type of guys. Yeah, I think it's like I don't know how you get around that, right? It's just like. Yeah. And so many of the moves that were made were setting up this summer. Like yeah, a few that were for right now. now like, oh, I don't know. Rob Polenka getting a phone call. Hey, you want to meet for coffee and then I'll

give you Luca Donchich. But then, yeah, and like DeAndre Hunter with the Cavs, but like a lot of these moves. And I think the Nuggets honestly wanted to do this. I don't think the Nuggets wanted to make a move to improve their roster this year. I do the Nuggets want to make a move to get assets so that at the draft or on July 1, they can improve their roster. And you heard that from a lot of the GMs run the league, which is they're looking at the summer as when they're going to reshape and reshuffle and work on whatever it is. that they need to work on. That said, Jake, can I just ask a question?

Why will you guys not give up any of the good players, except for, like, you only gave away Brandon Ingram. No offense, but like Herb and Trey. I'm sure none taken from B.I. And Alvarado. Had to be more players available. And there's so many good players in New Orleans. And they're all.

And this team is so, so bad. Look, I'm quiet because I'm covering a 12 and 40 team here in this season. It's why I'm quiet. this is why I didn't jump in. Are you scared of the Lakers conversation? Because there's no need for me to chime in here right now. Jake's scared of his own team right now. Okay.

Yeah, like a little bit. Look, look, we know what the Pelicans are going to try and do, right? Like, they're not going to blow it up. In theory, they, look, if the Mavs are trading Luca because of conditioning issues and Luca can take you to the finals as an all NBA guy, by that same logic, even if it's probably not the most true there with the Mavs, the Pelicans should trade Zion Williamson, right? Like, there's no doubt about that. if that's kind of the logic behind trading a guy like that, they're going to just kind of run it back for the most part with these guys and try and win next year. And they're going to be a play in tournament most likely team again. And they're going to hope that they can be healthy. But that doesn't happen because we're cursed here. And that's why you didn't see any of those guys on the move. You know, I also think I do wonder how much that Luca trade is going to impact teams going forward of like fan favorite players of like, can you actually move a Herb Jones? Can you actually move a Herb Jones? Can you actually

move a Jose Alvarado, right? Like it's not fully in the shot, but that's one of his jerseys back there. Like fans tend to write over stuff like that. And if a team's already precariously, yeah, shocking, precariously balancing some attendance at the arena, maybe that's not the best thing to do. So it's, it makes it kind of weird, I guess. Please for the comedy, like for the comedy gods, the basketball comedy gods, let New Orleans trade Zion to Dallas.

That would be the latest thing ever. Please, I ask for so little. I ask for so little. Yeah, you guys didn't even ask for Luke Dodgers. You just got him, right? You really actually don't ask for a lot. It gets better, though. Trade him for AD.

And then back to New Orleans and have these. Guys, you know, why are your heads at that, man? He's got to thank New Orleans on Instagram first. He promised this years ago and still hasn't done it. They will not let him forget that. Guys, it's okay. We got younger. We got more versatile.

Oh, my God. Don Michael, why did the Grizzlies just dump guys? I mean, they tried. You know, I think there is a responsibility there. From the Grizzly standpoint, they got this mindset mentality. They want to be cautiously aggressive, right? They don't want to just get careless. You know, Zach Climbing the Grizzles' GM.

He said it when we talked to him. He said, I'm not trying to win a press conference here, even though he ended up winning the press conference. But his mentality was, you know, and then he also said something else. Like, he was pretty open. He said that everyone that we tried to trade for, the star players, by the way, the star players that they tried to trade for, none of them were traded. And that was, you know, obviously getting back to this whole Jimmy Butler thing

that was driving everybody wild in Memphis. That was never really a thing. But they tried and, you know, they, you know, they picked up the, phone it to see what was available out there. But at the same time, getting back to the Matt's point, where you're saying, hey, look, we got, we got Marcus Smart for you and we can throw some picks on top of it. And you saw what Marcus Smart's value was, you know, at the deadline. I mean, he basically was a negative asset.

I mean, he's not, you know, valued the same way that Markets Smart was two seasons ago. So when your best from a financial, like a money matching perspective, him having over a $20 million dollar cap hit. He was one of their best kind of ways of getting that star player that has a bigger salary. And he was a negative asset. So they just, they just couldn't do it. If the Celtics or

heat are say, yeah, no, we'll give you this player. We're done. That's good. Walk away. Walk away. Yeah. That's a sign. That's a red flag. When the Celtics are done with a guy, it's over. When the Sixers are, or when the Heat are done with the guy, it's over.

Although the Sixers lucked out because they just traded their guy of Dallas. But like in general, I think that that's like a good kind of formula here. The other thing I've said and I am kind of like would curious about this. So I think like there's stable front office in OKC obviously. He was pretty stable with the success that they've had. Pretty stable in Memphis. And Jake, I think we'll see. Question mark. Yeah, look, that's, I'm not sure either. Um, go either way. And then like Nick, after. you know, in like the 30 seconds when Nico's gone. I have a question.

Like I made this, this argument on substack. You, I don't think you can hire anyone with Laker connections at all. To the Mavericks? To any team. If, if your guy worked in L.A. And knows the lake,

nope, I'm out. Like, you have to avoid. The front office is like three people. Who are you going to hire? Like, it's a tiny front office.

There's, nobody, like even former players or anybody, anyone with any connections. Anyone. because like Jerry West handed them Powell Gasol. Yeah. And their shoe and their shoe salesmen handed them.

Jerry West wasn't even with the organization when the Powell Gasol deal But he's just saying anyone with a good name. Anyone with the ties. With a previous Lakers connection, historically players, coaches, is Jared Dudley a spy this whole time on the matter? Yes. You said it, not me. No, no.

Wait, wait. You think Jared Dudley instpted this into Nico's head? Hey, where was your? No, Nico was, was Kobe's sheep? guy and him and Rob Polinka probably spent a lot of time together talking about this. I think one of the conspiracy theories, if we're just going to, you know, indulge it, indulge me for a little bit, is that these guys made a pact, too. All right, you get three years with Luca and Dallas.

See what you can do. And then send them our way. Where was Jason Kigg coaching before he got the math? Whoa. Frank Vogel's also hanging out with the Mavs too. Oh, wow. The truth is out there. This is wild because, because Zach Climbing, the Grizzly's GM.

He has Lakers ties. I don't know if you knew that, Matt. And now the ratings are fixed. Happy to Adam Silver. Great job. Guys, this is when we got in Jaws yet. I mean, get on it, Zach.

Like, the hell, man. No, no, don't worry. You don't need J. Triple J's in the way. Okay, there you go. You need a big man. You get Triple J. Guys, we have.

In the words of Jod, Jan and Jackson Jr. is the franchise player now. Thanks for hanging out of us on Locked on B. Squad Show West. Check out all these great shows. There's the link in the description to find all of them. Great stuff all the time, even the Lockdown Pelican Show, great stuff all the time from Jake Madison, even though the team might not be good. Guys, thanks for hanging out on Lockdown NBA Squad Show West.

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