Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - What Does the Austin Reaves for Dillon Brooks "Rumor" Say About the Trade Market?

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

It's not exactly a rumor, more a suggestion. On the "Run It Back" podcast, former Laker DeMarcus Cousins suggested the purple and gold swap Austin Reaves for Dillon Brooks. No doubt, the Suns wing, who is having a fantastic year, has been linked to the Lakers in rumors before, but the suggestion from Cousins got a lot of attention. Could it happen? Suns owner Mat Ishbia shot it down on Monday, for whatever that's worth. Brooks, he said, isn't going anywhere. Nor does it seem likely the Lakers would make that offer, anyway. But the whole conversation says a lot about the trade market the Lakers are facing. It's a very competitive one, and they won't enter it with a lot to offer. Meanwhile, Deandre Ayton, like the rest of the squad, has seen his production drop off a little over the last couple weeks, and noted that as a big, he doesn't get to give himself the ball. JJ Redick has said it's not unusual -- human nature, actually -- to lose a little intensity defensively and on the glass when you don't feel the ball on offense. Especially for a big. So what can the Lakers do about it? How much is on Ayton? And how much does this conversation reflect the vibes shift around the team? Finally, the Lakers botched a lot of ATOs on Friday, and got their act together on Sunday. But why so many mistakes?  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky  SEGMENT 1: The "rumor" of Reaves for Brooks. SEGMENT 2: Why Ayton needs touches! SEGMENT 3: Are the Lakers slipping in a lot of fundamental ways? Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONBetterhelpBetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist.Sign up and get 10% off at https://BetterHelp.com/NBA. QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go tohttps://Quo.com/lockedonnba.Quo — no missed calls, no missed customers. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now. 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.

What does the latest trade rumor say about the trade market the Lakers are about to enter? We'll tell you next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how or where you get your podcast. This one's always free. It's not going to be behind a paywall.

And Locked on YouTube is where a lot of. lot of folks, over 37,000 subscribers are all hanging out talking to each other, talking to us, no matter how you do it, Andy, though, Apple iTunes, Spotify, the aforementioned, Lockedon Lakers, YouTube channel. However you engage, you are one of the people helping make the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in this or any known universe. I'm Brian Komenetsky with Andy Kaminetsky, spent a long time, almost 20 years covering the Lakers for a variety of outlets, including.

including ESPN and the athletic. Busy day, Andy, where a lot of interesting stuff to talk about, we're going to get into DeAndre Aiton, comments that he made about touches. JJ Redick had to say about that. We are going to talk about the latest. I'm not even sure I can put this as a true rumor

so much as it was, maybe a suggestion. Well, it was definitely, it was definitely a suggestion from DeMarcus Cousins, who last I checked is not a reporter. He's somebody, I mean, Demarcus cousins played in. Well, for people who missed it, we'll get to it in a second, but it was Demarcus cousins on the run it back TV show.

Run it back podcast said he would trade, sort of suggested trading, Austin Reeves for Dylan Brooks on Phoenix. The Dylan Brooks to LA stuff has been, you know, that's been rumored in now as like a, Brooks as a player, the Lakers might be interested. So it's a new suggested twist on a current rumor, I guess. It should be noted that one half of this podcast actually over the offseason created a fake

trade that a three-team deal with the Lakers, Rockets, and Nets that at the time would have sent Dylan Brooks to the Lakers a lot, a lot of our audience pushed back. hard against that said I was a madman frankly Brian and now they watch Dylan Brooks and a lot of them would like him on this team as long as he never spoke. So we'll get to that in a moment when I'll let people know that today's episode is brought to you by Game Time, download on the Game Time app, create an account, use the code, locked an NBA for $20 off your first purchase. So this rumor is again, rumor suggestion, whatever you want to call it, and the reaction of Sun's owner, Matt Ishbia,

says a lot about what the Lakers are staring at as they go into towards February at the trade deadline. So that's coming up in a second. But we do have some housekeeping notes as the Lakers start the front side of a back-to-back tonight in New Orleans, Tuesday night in New Orleans. This is the game the Lakers really need to make sure that they win with a Wednesday visit to San Antonio on the horizon. Again, no Rui Hachimura along with, obviously, Austin Reeves on the sidelines for this one.

Gabe Vincent, though, Andy, might be getting close to getting back on the floor. Well, there's, I mean, he is definitely getting closer in the sense that he was upgraded to questionable. And you're not going to do that unless you expect somebody is getting close. That's true. Yeah. There's no reason to create even the perception that he could be coming back if you don't think he's going to be back for another three weeks. You can't do that to fans, Andy.

You can't dangle Gabe Vincent in front of Lakers fans and not have them and not provide it. No, the Vincent Hive is going to go pretty crazy if you keep putting this out there and not delivering. The Vehive. Yeah, exactly. But whether Gabe plays Tuesday in New Orleans, Wednesday, Wednesday, in San Antonio or Friday versus the Bucks, it feels like this week is certainly a, it's a reasonable, if not expectation,

anticipation. And off the top of my head, I can think of at least one second year shooting guards minutes who could be available. Yeah, he's talking about Dalton Connect, folks. If you missed the show on Monday, Monday. It's the only second year player on this.

Well, I guess Bronny. Technically, Bronny is. Bronny, but he's technically, I guess, a shooting guard. Well, Bronny's minutes are not available because they don't exist. That's true. If you missed Monday's show, we have a rundown on why Dalton Connect may be so deeply buried on the bench that he has to sit under it. The thing with Vincent, though, before we get back to this conversation about the trade deadline, is it's not just necessarily just about Gabe himself.

The Lakers need bodies, especially if Dalton Connect is never going to play again, which he might, again, for reasons we explained on Monday's show. So they need more depth in the in the rotation. And while Vincent hasn't exactly lit the world on fire as a Laker, he can give them some minutes. They just need guys who can help take the, you know, Luca down two or three minutes, LeBron down two or three minutes, whatever it might be.

There's too much pressure on the top guys right now. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's, it is. Gabe is obviously not the savior for this team. And he does not solve, you know, a long list of issues, but he is reliable. He creates a few. He creates a few, but he also, I do think offsets a few just by being a fairly reliable person. He on the court, he doesn't play too far out of character.

He is, if nothing else, more predictable than, say, Nick Smith Jr., who has a higher ceiling in terms of the best version of him, but I think his floor is much lower. I think there's a higher ceiling as a score, obviously. Yes. Other things they don't. I actually think the best, I mean, I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole,

but I think the highest end version of Nick Smith, Jr., putting up 20 to 25, is honestly a higher ceiling version of whatever you're going to get from Gabe Vincent. However, the floor from Gabe, I think, is a wider and more, it's a wider, higher, and more reliable floor. That's the way I would put it. Nick Smith's floor has got holes in it. It's got holes in it. It's lower and it's narrow.

You can ski through the subfloor. Yeah, and it's narrow. Yeah. So we'll see what happens. Look, the Lakers, again, they just need bodies. They need the dues, so to speak. and, you know, obviously, you know, they've got to figure out ways to just, you know, to make that bench a little bit more robust.

All right, let's jump into this Dylan Brooks, Austin Reeves conversation. First and foremost, Matt Ishby, the owner of the Phoenix Sons, squashed this before it could even really become a thing saying, don't even bother calling Lakers. We don't want your office. Austin Reeves means giving up Dylan Brooks. Dylan Brooks not going anywhere. And in fairness, Brooks has been fantastic this year for a son's team that was not supposed to go anywhere.

And, you know, as a culture setter, obviously he's played well, he shot the ball well, he's putting up 20 a night. I could see why Ishbia would say we're not going to trade him. I could also see why if he did want to trade him, he'd also still say we're not going to do it. But setting that aside, Andy, do you even think the Lakers, would entertain that offer? No, I don't actually. I don't think that they would offer Austin Reeves for Dylan Brooks. I think putting aside that whether you agree with this general consensus or not,

you being the listener, the viewer, I think Brian would agree. The overwhelming, if not unanimous consensus around the league is that Austin Reeves is a better player than Dylan Brooks. Again, I'm not asking you the listener to agree. I'm just explaining what I think that consensus is, and the Lakers would be in that camp. They are obviously fairly invested in Austin. They see Austin, I think, short of turning him into an all-star caliber player or higher, they see Austin as a foundational piece moving forward,

or at least want to see if that can happen with Luca and Austin as that foundation. So I don't picture that offer even taking place. I think Phoenix, if it were actually put in front of them, I'm not even 100% sure they, I mean, really, I know what Matt Ishby, as much as he is very, very willing to speak out of school. There is the obvious what the hell else is he going to say. But I do think there is some truth to the idea that Phoenix is having a much better season than expected.

Dylan Brooks, unquestionably, by all accounts, has been a major part of a culture change that has been in desperate need for years. And Austin is an impending free agent. And I don't care how many promise rings he gives the sons if they traded for him or whatever. He can walk. And you're not going to risk having egg on your face,

making that type of deal with the Lakers if you're the sons. Like it's it's not going to happen. But what Brian and I actually found interesting about this isn't even getting into a deep dive about Brooks for Reeves. Would you do it? Who would do it? Who wouldn't? Whatever.

It's more about what we think this speaks to with the difficulties or obstacles the Lakers may face in general with the trade market over the next month. That actually, this story, and again, it's really more Demarcus Cousins's opinion and Matt Ishbia entering the chat because, of course, he is. It's really more just what does this say about the Lakers' odds and opportunities of doing anything impactful. All right. We'll get to that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul and Fridays. They already feel different during basketball season. FanDul is making them even better.

Every Friday night before the games tip off, FanDuel gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. NBA Happy Hour is your official pregame, a limited time window where the special prices drop right inside the FanDuel app before the action starts. Fridays from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern, they become appointment viewing with NBA Happy Hour. Opening the FanDuel app during Happy Hour always brings

something new, boosts, bonuses, surprises. It's easy to check the weekly special before tip off and to make a move before the window closes. So before tip off, check the Fandual app, see what's dropping during NBA Happy Hour. Every Friday night, 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern, a little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA happy hour only on Fandual, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. Lockdown Lakers is also brought to you by Quo. year, new systems. This is the time when a lot of us look at the messier parts of how we run our business. There's got to be a better way. And there is. Streamlining your communications is one of

the quickest upgrades you can make. And that is why this episode is brought to you by quo. It's spelled QUO. And it's a smarter way to run your business communications. Because when your team is reachable, it's organized and communicating in one place, you're not just working cleaner. You're working more opportunities to connect with more customers. Your whole team can call and text from one shared business number. So nothing ever gets missed. Everyone's seeing the full conversation thread, which makes replies faster and more personal.

And it works right from your phone or computer. So you can even keep your existing number if you want. No surprise. Quote was the number one rated business phone system on G2, trusted by more than 90,000 businesses, businesses from solo operators to growing teams. Make this year, make this year the year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try Quo for free and get plus,

get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com slash locked on MBA. That's QUO.com slash locked on MBA. Quo, no missed calls, no missed customers. Before we get into the sort of state of play, which I think is very relevant about this rumor, so to speak, or this suggestion, there are a couple other things that I do think stick out. The first one is the idea, like it makes sense to people because Dylan Brooks is a defensive oriented player and the Lakers need that. He's a two-way player.

The Lakers need two-way players. He's a two-way player. He is a less reliable offensive player than Austin is, but he's certainly a more reliable. He's been a pretty good offensive player. Right. But I mean, this year he's been quite good. But broadly speaking, I think he's a little less versatile. I don't trust Dylan Brooks as an offensive talent.

Again, we don't have to debate it as we can, but we don't have to, you know, it's not going to happen. We don't have to debate that much. I don't trust, I trust Austin Moore as an offensive player. Obviously trust Dylan Brooks more as a defensive one. But I do think it's always worth reminding folks that the combination of Austin with Luca has been really good. There is no reason to break up those two as a combination. Now, obviously, you've got to put the right pieces around them. But the idea of trading Reeves for blank, because Austin is a problem working in combination with Luca, that part I don't buy.

It doesn't make anybody untouchable. I'm just saying if that's your logic, I think your logic is flawed. My logic for breaking them up, as I've said many times, or the reason I would be open to it becoming a necessity would be that you're not going to be able to afford the pieces that you would need around Luca and Austin, the defense, the athleticism, the speed, the two-way presences you absolutely have to have around them with Austin estimated to be costing. 30 to 40 million dollars annually and Luca's cost. And as much as Luca and Austin, I agree, play very well off each other and putting them on the court together works in terms of the two of them offensively from a functionality standpoint. There's nothing Austin provides that Luca doesn't also provide. And I tend to believe, and it's not necessarily hard and fast all the time, but I tend to believe that as you are trying to construct a roster around your best player,

your second best player, ideally, should at least bring some things the first best player doesn't. And the reality is Austin doesn't really bring anything that Luca doesn't. No, not not definitively. I agree with that. So that would be the reason that ultimately you need to use more resources towards offsetting the stuff Luca doesn't bring or frankly the stuff Luca needs

more than Austin who is just a good fit alongside Luca. The Brooks who is three years older than I think than Austin. I think he's 29, something like that. Brooks is, I think, I thought he was already 30. But either way,

he, for the, just so people are aware, makes 20 million next year and then is an unrestricted free agent. So the Lakers theoretically would a little bit more to work with next summer, but then obviously to turn around and pay Dylan Brooks the year following. But either way, the other question would become, do you think the Lakers could get Dylan Brooks without giving up Austin Reeves? And the answer to that seems, I think, would be definitively no. Like, no. Right. And so that is one of the things that, to me, leads into the

challenge that the Lakers have in this trade deadline. Mark, Mark Stein, for example, he sent out in his substack the kind of an update on, you know, the trade deadline and all that kind of stuff. He said, quote, it's believed the Lakers are only going to sacrifice. Lakers are one of the many teams that won a three and D wing and an upgrade on the wing. It's believed that Lakers are only going to sacrifice or projected financial flexibility in the summer, which is expected to furnish them with the ability to make a significant roster changes, only if they can, require a real needle mover at the position. Will such a player actually become available over the next four weeks and change?

So they want a needle mover, Andy, okay. But they probably don't have the stuff to get one. So you can want a needle mover all you want. If you don't have the raw material to make that happen, I mean, particularly here before. I mean, particularly not now. I mean, you could maybe make more of a needle mover. moving move around the draft or as free agency approaches because you're going to have access to

two more first round draft picks. So in theory, that could get you more of that needle mover. They only have one first round pick and only one player, Ruijamura, that has value as an actual player that they would be likely to move at all. But there's also the question of how many needle movers are even out there. Yep. I mean, putting aside the semantical debate of how you are defining needle mover,

not everybody's is going to be the same. I don't expect that many people that would at least be considered by the majority of folks to be needle movers to actually be available. I don't even know. Like, who are the players?

It's a real. Jones, Trey Murphy, you know, know, pick your assorted pelicans, if you think your assorted nets, if you think the pelicans will blow it up. And again, it is, nobody is going to tip their hand. But the pelicans have made no indication that guys like, you know, through the front channels, through the side channels, through the middle channels. They made no indication that somebody like Murphy or Herb Jones or a player like that is actually going to be available.

Sure. And granted, Herb Jones, I don't think is even eligible to be traded for like another week and a half, something like that. So to some degree, they can keep stretching and stringing this thing out anyway because they can't move them even if they are open. So, like, you know, I think, you know, if you made the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, Ellicons like a really nice offer for Zion. I think you could have him.

But, you know, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, I think, are they believe are the types of players that you keep around in order to try to build something. And they've got, you know, they like what Fears has done. We're going to see this team, by the way, Tuesday night. If you remember, the Lakers are playing in New Orleans. Derek Queen's been really good. You know, Fears has been, you know, I think not great, great.

Not as good as Queen has. but still pretty good. Like you feel good about that draft pick kind of good. So I, who else is there? Like Dylan Brooks is not going anywhere. Phoenix is too good. So unless you totally blow them away, the, you know, that trade, that possibility isn't there. And like the, you mentioned various nets.

I mean, Wiggins, Michael Porter Jr. Like I'm saying, I don't think there are a lot. You know, Trey Young, there was a report from Shams today, the SPN, that the Hawks and the Hawks in Camp Trey Young are going to be working together to try to find a deal. Washington, Andy, is a team. But I mean, but like. It would be a nonsensical deal for both teams. But like putting aside the fact that the Lakers don't even have the salaries to move for Trey Young, Trey Young would make no sense for the Lakers at all.

So let's, when we come back, let's let's talk. talk about a little bit more about like what this means. I find this posture a very common one for the Lakers. And then if we have time, we'll get into this eight and stuff. So we'll do that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time during basketball season. There is nothing like being in the building,

that energy, the crowd, the first big run that gets everyone on their feet. Fans want to be there for those moments, not stuck refreshing their screens or guessing what the tickets are actually going to cost because these services are always, lying to you. But that's where game time comes in. The game time app gives fans the advantage back, making it incredibly easy to score amazing tickets, fast, simple, and without the guesswork, browsing the game time app is straightforward, intuitive. Finding tickets takes just a few taps.

The prices include fees up front. So that total is clear from the start. No ambiguity, whether it's an NBA game or another live event. Everything is right there in one place. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. the GameTime app, create an account, use the code, locked on NBA, that's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for 20 bucks, off your first purchase, turns up on your first purchase, download the GameTime app today, get in on the action. I find Andy always that the Lakers are really, really good

at sounding like they want to be aggressive at times when they know there's no possibility of actually doing anything. I find this to be a very common Rob Polinka approach to things is like when you know you're not going to have to make the hard decisions around the draft picks or guys that you'd like to keep or like that that trade that like is that is that a close one obviously anybody will make an easy no-brainer trade for you know a great three and D wing that costs you the one draft pick you can go and like Dalton connect and two expiring contracts.

That's not hard. It's the more challenging calls where you have to either be a little creative or something like that where the Lakers tend not to get involved. And I just, I find this, you know, bachelor like the Lakers are willing to be aggressive if they can find a guy who really makes a difference. All right. Well, we all know that's, that, that is sort of unlikely to be out there. And I just, this, this sort of language is, is nothing new.

Well, I mean, it also depends on, again, like I said before, how are you defining needle mover? And we have seen that the type of players, Rob Polinka, really values the most are star players. Like though, and obviously star players move the needle, but there are only so many to begin with and very few are available. the Lakers have no way of acquiring one right now because they're not trading Luca. LeBron has a no trade clause, and that's all their big salaries.

So, like, the odds of getting a star player are somewhere between slim and non-existent. You know, does put aside whether or not, put aside whether or not the Lakers could even get him? Does Rob Polinka consider a guy like Herb Jones, who is all-defense caliber or has that type of potential, But he's never going to be a star in all likelihood in the league. And he's, by the way, not having a great season. Sure. But he's, he has been a very good defender in the past, like one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.

His shot can come and go. But he's, he is a very good player. And he's the type of player that you would put next to. Instantly, I think becomes, I mean, maybe, maybe you still think smarts and better defender overall, but I would say instantly becomes their best defender, certainly the best defender on the wing. Does Rob value those type of players enough to give up assets of significance? We have not seen a lot of evidence that Rob frankly covets those type of players, much less would give up assets of significance. Do you think that, do you think that Herb Jones is worth

the number one? Yes. Yeah, I agree with you. I think a number one that likely lands somewhere in the 20s. Yeah, which is what the Lakers would be offering. If you're in the 20s, you're hoping to get a Herb Jones. Yes.

Right. I agree with you. I don't think they would do that. I mean, the other thing that makes this complicated, because I don't want this to be just a Rob is always looking for reasons not to do something. although I think there's a little bit of truth to that. It is worth noting that the Lakers' best thing that they can offer right now are expiring contracts.

And the only one of those guys who, if you were a team that was trying to play for something, get in the play in, or to move up a seat, or like you're not one of the three or four teams that have just already kind of thrown in the towel. Gabe Vincent has no appeal. Maxi Kleba has no appeal. Rui Hachamora has some, but I think, you know,

one of the ironies of the way the Lakers have been sort of unable to get Rui involved in the ways that he was earlier in the season, and then combined with the recent injury, they've kind of hurt Rui's trade value. They've made Rui's trade value. Rui's shortcomings much more a feature of how they play on a night in, night out basis, versus the stuff like that he does really well.

Like the first two or three weeks of the season, you're like, ooh, this Rui Hachamura, he's somebody that we will want on our team. And you might still think that because he's not changed as a player, but they have not done a great job featuring him in a way that makes other teams say, that's somebody that we would want to trade for because whether you agree with this trade or not, a Wiggins for Rui trade, for example, which as Miami, you know, if Miami slips,

maybe becomes more viable, is one of those balancing kinds of trades in the lineup. It slots guys better than what the Lakers currently do. Somebody like Rui becomes less appealing now because of the way that he's been deployed or has played or both over the last few weeks. I mean, I guess I think teams can see what Rui is, see how he's been used. I have more objection to how they've been using Rui in terms of how it affects the Lakers than how it actually affects his trade value.

No, I agree with you. Because I don't think they're trading him. So I think it's worse for the Lakers than it is. All I'm saying is a fun side note to this as we talk about the trade deadline is they haven't done a good job pumping up Rui's value. That's fine. I don't even know if it's necessarily hurt his trade value. I'm more concerned with what they haven't done for the Lakers with Rui. But either way, I mean, at this point, I feel like Rui is a pretty known commodity, especially because he's been very consistent with the Lakers.

if you like what you've seen from him with the Lakers, I imagine these last few weeks haven't really done anything. Maybe, I don't know. Probably maybe it depends on the GM. You know, it depends on the situation and things like that. But, you know, if you're talking about a guy that you want to resign, you know, like if you were thinking of wanting to trade, but then like, you know, to get back to Dalton Connect,

like his inability to turn himself into a prospect hurts both. both the Lakers because they need the skill set and they need his ability to be in the rotation. But then it obviously, you know, he, his trade value around the league couldn't be lower. That I 100% agree with you. Unless you are looking for a player to inexplicably two-hand shove Santhi Aldama. In that case, Dalton's your guy. Very specific need. Do you agree?

I feel like, you know, that's not, just be fair, I think the Lakers have to be fair, I think the Lakers have had a role in mishandling how Rui played. I know you don't like the way that Rui's been used. The player is always a little bit responsible. I think in the case of Connect, it's Dalt. I do not blame the Lakers for their inability to feature Daltin in a way that makes Dalton look. They've tried.

He didn't played well. He hasn't earned any minutes. Real quick, before we go, speaking of featuring guys, DeAndre Aitin was more featured in the second game against Memphis. He got touches early in the game, which felt very intentional to get him involved. And he played, this is his best game in probably a week or so. He was closing. He had a lot of good defensive moments down the stretch.

And he was asked about this because JJ, Saturday during practice, acknowledged, as he put it, a human nature for a big man's effort to waxen Wayne, if they're not getting the ball, not really feeling like they are part of the offense. DeAndre said on Sunday, quote, bigs can't feed themselves. I just try my best to do what I can to bring effort and trust my playmakers out there to find me. And look, Yokic can feed himself, but that's a side note. Look, to JJ's point, like, that is standard stuff for Biggs, like right or wrong. And I'm not asking anybody to defend Aiton on this.

But it is common for Biggs to, you see their energy dip if they don't get the ball. And I think there is probably a natural resentment when the same guards that you are often providing a defensive backline for are not remembering you on the other end. And I don't want to make this into a bigger deal than it is because for the most of this season, I think Aiton's effort has been pretty consistent. consistent and pretty good. That being said, though, what I do find interesting about this is because of Aiton's reputation and stuff that has happened in Phoenix and in Portland, he can only play that card or even look like he's playing that card so many times. And I would say, you know, it's now felt officially played once.

He ain't got that many more times. if any. Like, and again. A message, bad messenger. And again, I want to be fair to DeAndre because I don't think this has been an issue for Aiton during the season. And I don't want to, I don't want to treat this like it's been something that the Lakers have been dealing with.

And oh, here we go. Now DeAndre Aitin's coming out. Like, I think there is a very good chance that after Sunday's game and getting maybe a bit of this out of his system, getting the ball. more in ways that help the Lakers, things can go back to more of what we saw for the majority of like the first 25, 27 games, whatever. I just think it's interesting because at this point, D'Andre can only do this so many more times, and I mean limited.

There's a little more to this that I think is reflective of where the Lakers are. Obviously, there's a game on Tuesday night. So, you know, Wednesday's show will be primarily about that. and Thursday show will be primarily about the game that happens on Wednesday. But if we get a chance to come back to this topic, it's sort of like the trade thing. It's about what it's about, but it's about more than that in ways that I hope to explain later in the week.

Lockdown Liquors on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers. Don't forget to go to the show notes. Check out the everyday, the Everyday Club. I forgot to mention that over the course of the episode. We'll do it again tomorrow. But we will see everyone after the New Orleans game. Thanks a lot.