The Bill Simmons Podcast - Luka Gets Traded to the Lakers… What??? | With Ryen Russillo and Rob Mahoney

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo and Rob Mahoney for an emergency podcast to discuss the bombshell news that Luka Doncic is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers! Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Ryen Russillo and Rob Mahoney 'Producer: Kyle Crichton The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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All of a sudden, Luca Doncic got traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Holy shit. Rob Mahoney, Ryan Rosillo, myself, we just hopped on. We banged out an emergency podcast as fast as we possibly could. You can watch this as well on the Bill Simmons YouTube channel. Here's the pod. Let's bring in our friends who also can't believe Luca Dacius is in Los Angeles Laker from Pearl Jam. Jim.

The most shocking trade I think in the history of the NBA, at least from a shock value. Oh my God, is this real? Has Shams been hacked? What, what, what is happening? Rob Mahoney is here. Ryan Rosso is here. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out was this real? And then Shams, obviously he had to retweet.

No, no, this is real. Mahoney, you, you followed Dallas pretty closely. Was there any sign whatsoever that Luca was on the block? Not like this, at least that I heard you hear burbling with players of his caliber all the time of like, Oh, if he, if it ever got to the point, then maybe the Lakers or a team like that would be consulted if it ever reached a certain threshold, but this is, I'm completely blindsided by this as apparently as most of the league, including many of the players in it.

Rossella? I couldn't believe it. I mean, I was getting texts and then I was like checking with people and then with Bobby Marks was like, Hey, this is real. Like Shams had to say, I'm not hacked above it. And then Bobby Marks above that had to be like, this is real because the headline of it is that it makes no fucking sense at all. And whatever we're, you know, we're going to go all over the place and try to figure it out.

But like you have. Traded at worst, the third best player in the NBA. And when he's right, probably the second best guy and you've traded them at this age and you've completely reset the Lakers in a way that is basically impossible. So it doesn't make any sense at all. So my, here's my psycho as I went through it. Somebody forwarded me the tweet.

I thought it was one of those NBA sentel, oh no, oh somebody's messing around. Then you click on it. They would have Barani in it. Right, true. So then you click on it, it, somebody's messing around. Then you click on it. They would have had Barani in it. Right. True. So then you click on it. It's Sean's actual account.

Then the next thing is, well, this he had to have been hacked because if you're actually making a trade of Luke Adantja and Cheney Anthony Davis, the Lakers would be giving up more stuff. It wouldn't just be the 2029 first. And that's it. I would have been a 2031 first. There would have been pick swaps. And then over the next 10 minutes, it just started to seem like it was real. And that's when I think probably all of us were getting the text.

You start going on Twitter, there's confirmation stuff on Twitter. And it's like, I guess that's it. I guess the Lakers just basically hijacked Luka Donchich. Rob, here's this team that over and over again has found ways to reinvent itself over the last 60 years, really. In fact, Luke Adancic, Rob, here's this team that over and over again has found ways to reinvent itself over the last 60 years, really. Going back to when they were able to get Will Chamberlain in the end of the, you know,

the late 60s and then Kareem in the 70s and they pull off Magic Johnson in the 80s Shaq and Kobe show up in the 90s and this just, Palgasol in 2008, LeBron miraculously, out of nowhere in 18 and then this. This is almost a totally different level than any of those things. I think just because of the pure shock value, because it is a superstar, not even yet in his prime, and we're already starting to see the information

filter out from Dallas about why this could have possibly happened. I am as stunned as anybody, and I don't think there is any justifiable explanation for trading a player as good as Luka right now, unless he, he has come to the maps and said, I don't want to be here anymore. All right. So we had a year and a half left in his deal. Yes. And there may be, there were discussions behind the scene that, that I'm out of here after my contracts up at the end of 26. So if you can get something for me now, but that raises the biggest question in this whole thing. If you're gonna trade Luca, why not shop him? What can you get for him?

Why not actually try to really come through? I don't, do you get that part, Rossella? Why wouldn't they have shopped him to at least like three, four teams? It doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'm texting with teams right now and hopefully I'll get some responses here throughout the show on just, you know, did you know that he was available? I'll never forget like teams reaching out just to be pissed off.

It's not like they wanted to talk to me that bad when Gasol was traded there. Yeah. All right. And I know people have debated about whether or not he was available and all this kind of different stuff, but like when the actual trade went through, there were other teams being like, we, we, we had no idea that it was like coming to this point. And you know, it's not just cause it's the Lakers thing, there was a lot of stuff going on at the time

that you could kind of read the tea leaves of like how it all came together. But this is not enough of a haul. Like if you were shopping them, you would do better than this. So unless it was like you guys said, like Luke are going, hey look, I'm, that's the only place I wanna go. But you know, we didn't even go through the cycle. We didn't even go through all the stuff

that we're used to, like, oh, this guy already wants it. So even if he wanted out, then it's like, so what was the hurry if this is the return? And on top of everything else, like, look, I don't think Dallas was a very good matchup against Boston. That's a good basketball team. And if everybody's healthy and what they've done

and drafting lively, the Gaffer Washington stuff, Kyrie, which by the way, like does the Kyrie alarm start going off here? Like, are we back on the clock for like what he's thinking about next? Cause he was finally like basketball happy again here for a year and a half. So my point would be, okay, so say Luca,

cause we'll find out more about this stuff. And I wonder if there's like a Dallas hit piece coming like the old Boston stuff that used to happen with a guy in the Red Sox that goes somewhere else. And then the whole two days later, Red Sox hit piece. Yeah, the Brian Curtis, now you tell us deal. So I don't know if that's coming, but I just, my overall thing, I'm sorry, I'm going long here.

It's just that, okay, fine. If Luca was forcing your hand, why not just play it out this season? If you're healthy, the West is not as deep as good as okay. See is all the depth behind. It's not what we thought it would be this summer. You just made the NBA finals. He's 25 years old. He's 26 in February.

You have them under contract. The year after that, There's a player option. You would have done better. This deal was not so like, oh, we have to do this right now. We're talking about AD, the 29. What is it, Max? And they got rid of, I guess, some Kleber, Mark Keefe Morris money.

Sure. I actually thought Max Christie was, just having him thrown in there. I'm like, eh, Max Christie's not like nothing. No, he was pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I did my trade, I did my trade value rankings and I put up the thing on

Thursday and I had Luca, a big thing for me was trying to decide whether I should move SGA ahead of Luca and I didn't feel great about it, but Luca's been hurt. Luca had the year and a half left in his deal. And I was just like, I, I, I just think SGA is, seems like slightly more untradable than me, but I had Luka fourth at Davis 11th, Davis is 31. So he's six years older. Davis already just got hurt a week ago. He's been up and down the whole time.

And I just think these are two different classes of players as great as Davis is. And I just think these are two different classes of players as great as Davis is. There's Luka, SGA, Jokic, Janis Tatum. And now we're starting to drop a little bit to some other next level of person. You can win the finals with Luka as your best guy if you can put the right people around him. So I guess the questions that we're going to have, Rob, coming out of this are, was the Luka Dallas situation worse than leaked out? Did Luca tell them I'm going to the Lakers in a year and a half. So just trade me there now.

If you trade me anywhere else, I'm still going to go to the Lakers and we'll tell the team that's about to trade. Is it, was there more gamesmanship behind the scenes or was this Dallas and the Lakers just stealth going, Hey, what about who did this trade? And like neither side had any idea. I'm already scared of the, the galaxy braining effect of what is going to happen as a result of this, because it does make you want to believe in a conspiracy theory. The fact that this has been buttoned up clearly to the point that it

shocked the entire league, shocked the basketball landscape. I, I am, I am stunned that it got to this point. I'm, you know, even if you consider it in the trade value that you just laid out, Bill, none of those other guys are going to be available. None of those other guys are going to be on the market. So if you are going to trade Luca, it's going to be for someone in that next class, the Anthony Davis class of player. But you would think there would be more to it than this.

You would think that there would be more supplementary pieces involved. And that that's where all of this seems to have come together so fast. And I'm with you, Russell, like the the acceleration from whatever instigating event, whether it was Luka coming to the Mavs or otherwise from there to here. I don't understand why that period of time was fast-tracked to the degree that it was. We still have days left before the deadline. Our friend Mark Stein is reporting, Luca Doncic did not request the trade.

What are we doing? And the Mavericks did this on their own accord. So do you think Luca was just home? Like he was watching Night Agents season two and it was like the phone rang. It's Nico Harrison. I have some bad news. We've traded you to the Lakers. Like, I wonder if he was blindsided by this. I just refuse to believe in this league that is so beholden the players and

player relationships that a superstar would be blindsided. He had to have had some idea, right? Rossella. I'm so confused by this. No, you would think, you think there had to have had some idea, right, Rossella? No? I'm so confused by this. No, you would think there had to have been something. What would have motivated them to want to get rid, like even if we play out, well, he does get hurt, he doesn't take care of his body, he comes in out of shape,

there's all this stuff with him. It's like, dude, okay, fine. And he still might be the second best player in the world. Yeah, right. I actually have a bit of a line of like Yolkich, which I don't think is really. Obtainable at this point for any other player. And then it kind of goes back and forth between Janice and Luca.

And then I do have SGA fourths, you know, even with the numbers, I just think that there's, there's a slightly different ceiling with some of those guys, maybe just because I've seen Luca do it in the playoffs where it's like, there's really nothing to do with that guy. Once he just decides he's going to drive and go slow and get you on his hip, it seriously, I've called it like the best look that you'll get in basketball. Like if you just sort it all out and go, I need the best look that

I feel just the best about as soon as the guy has the ball in his hands, it's that with his passing and his size. So like, even if, cause somebody will do it, like somebody will do the, well, you know, they were worried about how he was going to be later on his crew. You go, okay, worry about that when he's 30 and you have to worry about the extension. Right. He's not even in his prime yet by, by NBA standards, which is 27, 28. Bobby Mark 28 Bobby marks you know points out astutely that he was in line for a massive extension this summer for five years 345 million and you know as I started thinking okay but I mean as the cap goes up like that that looks like Jaylen Brown's deal

was the deal where you're like that's that's. It's also Jaylen Brown and not Luca, but every year we go through the cycle of deals where you're thinking, you're paying 200 million for that guy. And it's like, dude, in two years, these guys are beginning at 350 million. Now, Bobby says he's not gonna be eligible for that now. So that changes up some things.

The only thing I was thinking was, I always thought the Cuban ownership thing was really weird. That this is somebody that has enjoyed being an owner in sports more than any person, maybe in any sport. This is somebody who nine years ago said, you know, um, what is it? Pigs get fed and hogs get slaughtered when he talks about the NFL. And granted, he was basically pumping up his own product, like going on TV, talking about a position you have

in a company when you own all their stock, but he was basically dogging the NFL's future while he was propping up the NBA's future, all right? And that was nine years ago where he was like, it's going to happen, and it hasn't happened, okay? That's fine. But is there anything to this that it was still very, remember too, like, oh yeah, we don't own the team anymore,

but we're still gonna run it. You're like, oh yeah, right, because that's what billionaires love to do, is buy things and let other people make all these decisions. But I think people will run- So you think it was the new owners potentially not wanting to pay the 350. I don't know, I don't know.

I'm so shocked by this, guys, that it crossed my mind. Could it be any new owner thing? But apparently people really like, like think that this group is, they're not gonna screw around with it. So, you know, you can't even buy one of these teams anymore. So 350, I didn't see, I didn't think he was in like the greatest shape this year.

Would you agree, Rob? I agree. Wouldn't say he was. Guys, who cares? No, I know. Who cares? I'm just trying to figure out from their perspective. They're worried about, hey, what's going on with this dude?

He doesn't seem like the light bulb's going off. We're hearing rumors maybe he wants to leave unless we give him the 350 million should we do it. With all that said, I'm raising my hand for the people listening. I just would never trade him. Never. I just wouldn't.

Like I would trade him for Wemby. I would trade them for Jokic. I would trade them for SGA and that's it. There's no other player unless I'm also getting like five, six first round picks. And when you think this is a league where Mikhail Bridges went for five first rounders, or a couple years ago, KD went for,

what was that, four first rounders, two swaps, Mikhail Bridges and Cam Johnson. This just isn't enough for Luca. And I think that's why like David Aldrich tweeted, he's been covering the NBA 37 years. Um, nothing that happens deals for agent signings, coach hiring fires, rises to the level of as the great Ben Bradley used to call them a holy shit stories. This is a holy shit trade. I think it's bigger than that. I, the only thing I can think of, I think it's a holy fucking shit trade. I think it's bigger than that. The only thing I can think of. What would that be called?

I think it's a holy fucking shit trade. Whoa. The only thing I can think of is that night when all hell broke loose and Paul George and Kawhi ended up on the Quippers. But at least then we were on kind of call that week. We knew something was happening. We were waiting to see where Kawhi was gonna go.

Yeah, but it was a week long. We were trying to figure out where Kawhi's kids were registered for school. Like we were on call. Yeah. We're on call like doctors. This is a Saturday night. The Lakers just played. LeBron looked fantastic against the Knicks. Davis was supposed to come back in a couple of days. There was no sign whatsoever. And we all thought Shams got hacked.

So as far as since we've all been working together, it's the most shocking NBA trade, but I'd have to go through history. I can't imagine a bigger one. Well, and in that case with Paul George and Kawhi, like Kawhi was on the market. So there were the precursors. There's no market for Luka Doncic. I was under the impression, frankly, with the way the NBA has been operating over the

last five or 10 years, that a player of this caliber would just never be traded again without a demand or request of some kind on their part. And if that really is what happened, that this is entirely preemptive by the Mavs. Granted, maybe they are reading the tea leaves about the extension. Maybe they are forecasting and saying, you know, a year and a half from now, we're gonna have to deal with this

in a way that doesn't look good for us. Every other team in these instances holds on too long and ends up driving down some of the value in a potential trade. The fact that the Mavs jumped the line on that market and still came away with what feels to be such low value for a player of Lucas caliber. Why? Why are you preempting it? Like, why are you getting ahead of yourself and doing something that no other team is willing to do in part because no other team pretty much has a player as good as Luca.

Well, and you're also now you have this team that's built around Kyrie, who was 2010 draft, 2011 draft. So he's in his early thirties. Davis was 2012 draft. He's 31. So you have this older team that's kind of built to win right now, but it doesn't have the, uh, the long-term ceiling. I don't think of what they had before.

So Bobby Marks said Luca was in line for five for three 45 this summer. He was super max eligible being on the same team. That's out the window now because he got traded. So this actually cost him money. I, Rossello, can we, can we just, I'm still wrapping my head around this. Can we talk about the Dallas piece of this? Does Dallas think this made their team better? I don't understand it.

I mean, I'm still reading stuff like Shams has another post here. This is quote, the Mavericks approach the Lakers recently and offered Luca Donchich sources tell ESPN Lakers brass met and believed the 25-year-old Donchich has the ability to be the face of the franchise for the next decade while giving Anthony Davis a win-now move in Dallas. The best is like the last sentence, like hey, say something nice about Anthony Davis

on the way out of here. Right. Yeah. I love the idea that they got the call and then were like, all right, let's kick around some thoughts. Yeah. How many opposed, you know, uh, you know, they

must've thought that they were getting fucked with when that, that call first happens, um, but yeah, on the Dallas side, you're right. Well, don't you think they, if you get that call and you're almost like, am I being pranked? Is my phone tapped? Are they trying to like, they can't, they can't possibly be actually trying to trade Luka Dantjes to us. Or what's wrong with them? Like what happened to Luka that they would even want

to trade him in the first place? It's like the put when Paul Pierce dropped to 10 in the 98 draft and he hit around like pick six and all the Celtics were like, what happened? Is he, is he, was he arrested? Like why is he dropping? Uh, Rossello, how about this? Dave McBenneman just tweeted, LeBron learned of the Davis-Donson trade after the next game. He was out to dinner with his family.

Sources close to James told ESPN he was surprised by the news, is processing it, had no idea it was in the works, sources said. I actually believe that. Because I think if any of this even came close to leaking out beyond like the immediate people that were involved in it, I think it would have leaked out. That's one of the shocking things about this is that none of this leaked out. No, I mean it can't happen,

but that also I think speaks to the speed of what this was because if it, if they had reached out say two weeks ago, I think eventually somebody figures it out. I would say though, like if clutch knew because granted Davis is their client in this, um, they, I don't think that they would have leaked, like what would have been the purpose? Like you wouldn't want anyone to even know about any of this stuff because they would have told the competition. They tell Lebron and then you don't know what happens if you tell them what if

Lebron doesn't want the trade to happen. Sure. You're Lebron. It's like, I mean, there's so many pieces to talk about this, but now we have LeBron, James, and Luca Dacic on the same team. Luca's had the best, I don't know,

what, seven year start to a career that any player's had since LeBron. It's been on all the same, and now they're gonna be on the same team, which is like, that has only happened a couple times in the history of the league. Where it's like, hey, Wilt's now gonna be on the team with

Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. You know, like we just don't have superstar, super duper star pairings out of nowhere like this. And I honestly don't know how they fit. I think it's a pretty weird fit, the two of them. You know what though, like that used to be something I used to always think about when they would say Chris Paul and LeBron really wanna play with each other. And when they were at their peaks, I always thought it was a little stupid

because I just felt like it was redundant. It was taking away what, what both of their greatness was. It was just setting everything up and reading it. And when they were both in their primes, I'm like, why would they actually, I don't even know that that makes a ton of sense. Now, when you watch the Lakers and you think about their best possessions, like they were so good tonight, man, when you watch the Lakers and you think about their best possessions, like they were so good tonight, man.

Their spacing and the way LeBron was reading everything. But a lot of times like Austin Reeves, now post Angelo Russell is tasked with having to figure out a way to set up their offense. Cause I think he's, he just has the energy to do it. LeBron doesn't have the energy to play point guard the entire time. And then on the other side of it, as good as Reeves has been,

he's the number one hunt target for the other team's best player and they're trying to get him into every single switch. So it's just an exhausting role for Reeves to have all that stuff. And it was the best version of him based on who they had. But now with Luca, like at this stage at 40 for LeBron, this is great for him. This is, this is fine. Now we could talk about their defense because they were always trying to figure out their defense. They're looking LeBron and Austin Reeves all at the same time. Three of your five guys

and no protection. No protection. Jackson Hayes is still out right now on the East coast. He's like extension baby. Jackson Hayes is like finally, you know what it is though? It kind of, I mean, is it worth, is it worth going like, you know, immediately unless there's some more moves, they are kind of a weird team and the Lakers in ownership are like, fuck it, who cares? Of course they said who cares

because now we have arguably the second best player in the world at 25 years old. Now you do this every time. You just do what I- Zero questions asked. But it could- You don't even blink. arguably the second best player in the world at 25 years old. And now we feel- Now you do this every time. You just do what I- Zero questions asked. But it could- You don't even blink.

It could play out for a team that's been playing better. And again, you don't make decisions based on how a team's playing for two weeks, but it could play out that it becomes more of a reset year than a, what if we get lucky in the right playoff matchups? And next thing you know, we're in the Western Conference Finals, even though I think that that was still unlikely,

going up against some of these other teams that like better in the West. I don't know that we could completely write it off. This is the frame. No, because they also might have another trade for some sort of room protection person. Well, they need a big, they need somebody. I'll say this, man.

I don't think that's valence unis as far as room protection. God, that's not what you want. No, but maybe it's like a Robert Williams. Well, I don't know if he would be able to stay in the court, but it's that kind of level, like the 10, $11 million center who can stay near the rim. I'll say this, this team would, like, I'm just,

it's breaking my brain thinking about it, but LeBron, the way he's looked tonight in a couple of the games recently, where he's really, really, really, really good and efficient in some of the choices he's making and the way they were spreading the floor for him. Like he was just annihilated the next night. And then you think about that with Luca and those guys spread out playing off each other with the offense spread. Like it's, well, it's not nothing, Rob. I'm looking at the Laker odds right now in Fandual. They have the six best odds now to win the title at 21 to one.

So people are wagering on this, Rob. They still need a lot of work in terms of that front court. I mean, just as we said, playable bodies, the Christian, Koloko, Jackson, Hayes thing, that's not going to get it done. These are small potatoes problems in the scope of when you bring in Luka Donjic. Ultimately, having two supercomputers on the court is just going to give the Lakers something that literally no other team in the league has. And the selective deployment of LeBron that we've

been talking about where he can now pick his spots at a level that he's never been able to before. And he was someone who played with prime Dwyane Wade. And so that in itself puts them in such a unique space that is frankly unquantifiable in terms of what the title race is. I will rule nothing out at this point. Lakers exceptionalism clearly is a thing that exists and we need to acknowledge that they can move the pieces around the board in ways that no other team can. There are big markets. Dallas is one of the biggest markets in the league. There are massive markets that operate in their own ways. And then there is the Lakers in their own zone of existence, making shit like that.

This happened on a regular basis. From a hunting the, the weak link on the other team standpoint, this is kind of a nightmare now with, with Luca and LeBron, if they can actually figure it out how to kind of balance that. And there's, there's always going to be somebody who were like, Oh, you're going to, that's who you're going to have on him. Oh, cool. And if they can figure that they still need some room protection.

I, Rossello. Yeah, but we both know, like we don't even need to say it, but maybe we'll just say it one more time. Like, I think the point is, is even if they feel like they can't fix themselves, none of it matters. You still do it. Right. Yeah.

So Rossello, here's the question for you. None of it matters. You still do it. Right. Yeah, so Rassila, here's the question for you. What else would you have thrown into this trade from the Laker side before you said yes, if you were Dallas? The trade they already made, if you were the Dallas GM, what more would you have had to get?

Nothing. There would not have been a trade. I would have gone to a different team. I would have asked for all their picks. I would have said, San Antonio, you're gonna asked for all their picks. I would have said San Antonio you're gonna give me all your picks you can't even make up some shit and I'm getting castle and I'm getting Vaselle and You know, I'm getting I'm getting at least one really good young player that profiles to be a difference maker Which still like sometimes we fall in love with these guys so much that you're like you can go back

It's kind of like the JJ Hicksson, Amari Stoudemire thing. Um, created Amari ended up being heard a little bit. And it was like, you know, he loved Amari, but, but, you know, we can't put JJ Hickson in the deal and it just happens time and time again. And I'll admit even like right now, when I think about the Fox castle stuff, I'll be like, Oh man, castle, there's something to him. But then, you know, that's where you can start making some mistakes. So as far as like, what would the Lakers need to keep adding for me to

say yes, if the core of this is Anthony Davis, who last year was fantastic. All right. But it was the first all-star team he had made in three years. He played 76 games before that he'd played 56, 40, 36, 62 and 56. So it was his first 70 game season since 2018. And as much as we love what he is and he's already got the ring and he was so good last year,

they're like, I'm trading for him. I'm trading for Anthony Davis. So if Anthony Davis is the main piece I'm getting back, because I guess they can argue, hey, we're just different, but now we're competing and Luca wasn't even playing and we get some bad news and it might take another month

and things were getting a little weird. Okay, fine. So I guess you're not resetting it the way we would normally expect a franchise and roster to have to reset on moving on from somebody like this. But what's more likely? Davis just ages really well the next four years. No, I feel like we're at the tail end of the prime with them.

Yeah. For me, like if you, if you, if somebody tasked us not knowing this trade was going to happen, make up, make up a Dallas Lakers trade. Yeah. Reeves would have to be in it. It would have to be Davis and Reeves or Dalton. I would assume. He's untouchable. Don connect untouchable.

The 29 pick and the 31 pick. I would have wanted swaps in 28 and 30. I'm sticking you with the worst contract I have on my team. You're taking that too. Like we're going. It's the Vando deal. No, it's the Vando deal. Right. Now I'd have to have all the math in front of me here once Davis and the other stuff is included, then maybe it doesn't work or whatever, but like, when it ends,

every five minutes I still can't believe it happened. So Windhorst, I guess, was on ESPN saying that, the clip notes are, the Lakers were the only offer that Dallas had in their pocket. He didn't think Dallas could get all they could get from LA and that Dallas was hesitant to offer Luca the Supermax this summer.

I have no idea why Dallas was hesitant to offer Luca the Supermax this summer unless they, even if they had some sort of crazy insights to his terrible diet habits, some sort of physical issues that maybe they're only aware of, I still would offer him the Supermax. He's Luca Doncic, made the finals last year. No doubt.

So I don't, I just don't understand. He could have been smoking cigarettes, Bill. He could have been smoking cigarettes, bringing the ball up the fucking court, and I would still be like, when can we sign you to the Supermax? By the way, I've heard from multiple teams that I sent texts to in the beginning of this thing,

not one team even thought, they were like completely shocked, totally off the radar. People did not know that he was even available. No. So this is Palgasaw. I'm not, I'm not, right. This is Palgasaw the sequel,

but it's like the Dennis E. Sequel. It's so much worse. The budget is way bigger. It's like, this is not, this is not little indie high school anymore. It's glad I heard too. Yeah, this is a big budget. I, as you guys know, This is not little indie high school anymore. So it's gladiator 2? Yeah, this is a big budget.

As you guys know, I kind of hate the Lakers. This is infuriating. You're fair though. You're fair about it. Bill Boston fans are infuriated. How dare they get Luke Adachich? What the fuck? And then what if he gets in awesome shape in a year?

Now they're like, reset. I felt like the Lakers were, you know, they weren't real title contenders. They were just delusional enough to think they could be title contenders. And they weren't, they were headed the wrong direction. And now this is, this has saved them because Dallas didn't feel like Luka Dacic was worth $340 million over five years in a league where everybody is getting 300 million over five years in a league where everybody is getting $300 million for five years now.

If that part is true, this is just going to go down as one of the biggest self-inflicted wounds in NBA history. The fact that that's where they balked. That's where the line is. Inexplicable shit. I think, so I'm trying to think though. Do you think you'll wake up tomorrow, Bill Bill though? I'm sorry to interrupt you, but like when something like this happens, where everybody is going, you've got to be getting guys in the work in the league or texting me going, I can't believe this. Just like, I can't believe it. Is there a moment three days from now where you think you'll understand more? There's two things I'm not going to understand.

One, how is this the trade? I just, I'm just going to trust my blink reaction to reading it and thinking it was Shams getting hacked because the trade seems so lopsided. I just couldn't, I was like, ah, they fucked that up when they hacked Shams. That's one. And then two, how do you not chop them? You have this incredible asset. You basically, you have an open house for the best house in your neighborhood and

the first person walks in and makes you're not like done, done, cancel, cancel everyone else who came in. I'm done. Wait, wait, I think we can get more. Nope, nope. That was the first offer. We got it. Uh, I just don't understand that. It's just bad business. But he's not even the house. He's the neighborhood. Like, this isn't an asset. Like this is not a tradeable player. No, it's not even the house, he's the neighborhood. Like, this isn't an asset. Like, this is not a tradable player. No, it's not.

Unless it's for Yokich or Wembedyama or SGA. Even then, you would have to really think about it. That's how good Luka is. So I guess Tatum's more untradable than Luka Brasileo. It's one of my lessons tonight. I don't think the Celtics do this trade. Big one for themselves. Everyone you're hearing from is like, we had no idea he was available.

Again, I'm not talking to 29 teams here. I'm not that cool, um, to get 29 texts back, or I guess I would ask for 28 texts back, but yeah, multiple, Oh, teams. Another Tim McMahon. We missed this one. The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Donska due to his constant conditioning issues and limited commitment of another super max contract extension. So we're gonna get the now they tell a story Monday about the war behind the scenes to keep Luca in shape, that whole thing? Yeah, but we all knew this stuff. Yeah.

And none of it mattered and they still made the finals and the Western Conference finals two years before that. So if you're going to say like, hey, if he were 32 and available for whatever the most it was, and you're trading for 31 year old AD and you know, it's run its course. And he's been there a decade plus. Okay, fine. All right. So say all of it, cause you're right.

It's all going to happen. What's the problem with shopping them? There's nothing that tells me this would be the best deal. If you call 28 GMs and said, it's real. You have a, you have 48 hours put together your best offer. And by the way, you'd leak it. You'd leak it so that everybody knew, that everybody knew that it was serious.

So that when it's leaked to say a Brian Windhorst, right? Who he'll probably go, I can't believe this is happening. Don't burn me on this. He would have to have the relationship with Nico or somebody with that team. That's how this stuff works. And then all of a sudden, like Windhorst is getting calls from team saying,

is this serious? Like, what do you think they're doing? And then Windhorst is, like wind horse is getting calls from team saying, is this serious? Like, what do you think they're doing? And then wind horse is almost like in that position. Cause that's kind of like, woge was so powerful, man. Woge was so powerful that people be checking in on him going like, what's going on over there in Dallas? And then woge would be telling him the truth, but you would be doing that.

You'd be planting that seed so that everybody knew because this guy is now available. So put in your final bids because we're serious about this. And then you start bidding against things you don't need. You know what I mean? Like when there's those blind bids for Daisuke Matsuzaka who had the mysterious gyro ball. Remember like they were blind bids? And so you didn't know, you're like,

should we offer 15 or 51 million? And you're like, well, you know, I don't wanna lose this guy. So you're almost bidding against yourself a little bit. So even if all that stuff, which it's going to come out, the negative Luca, he was all of these things, we wanna get in front of it. You don't wanna get this in front of it.

You don't wanna get so in front of it that the rest of the league doesn't know that he's available. So, I mean, to me this is like fireable shit. And that's why I wonder, like, did ownership get involved in some level? But from what I've heard, it wouldn't make sense. Like, who's buying a team now

that's scared off from a Supermax, especially when it's somebody like this? Rob is shaking his head as violently as if it was the worst season finale of all time On the prestige TV podcast and him and Joanna were just like I just can't believe they did that I just can't believe it. It's just presumed innocent all over again. My brain is breaking It was a time machine The thing that's really shaking me up and we touched on earlier is there isn't even the plausible that's really shaking me up and we touched on earlier is there isn't even the plausible deniability of trading for things that are on a completely

different timeline. Like if you weren't trading for another player in his like ostensible prime, and it was all of these picks, all of these swaps, you can at least understand an underlying logic. It would still be questionable. It would still be questionable, but here you have one pick, no swaps. Max Christie, thank God. Um, you know, you couldn't even get Jalen Hood Shafino out of Utah.

Rosillo, remember I texted you today about the Utah? Yeah. And I was like, this, this set, but so Utah made that weird trade today where they took PJ Tucker's contract and they took money and they took Quippers and it was like, man, this is a weird trade. And I texted Rosillo and I said, this, my shit detector is going off. You do this kind of trade when there's another trade coming. And we were like, Oh, I wonder if that's going to be John Collins and PJ Tucker for Brandon

Ingram. Not realizing it was going to be Luka fucking Donchich as the, as the third team. But, um, so. I'm trying to think like if they had offered him to San Antonio and I would, and the three of us were running San Antonio, we would have a two hour meeting and we would basically say, all right, how much like we could basically give up every single asset we have, and if we just end up with Luca and Wemby, we're probably good.

So do they want Castle, Vasell, seven first round picks? Like, yeah, let's do it. Oh, they want us to take a bad contract. Like, whatever I had to do to just get Luca and Wemby on the same team, I would have done it. And the Lakers basically got it. It feels like 40 cents in the dollar, 41 cents in the dollar. We're so, I just want to have 42. What do we not understand?

What do we not understand about this? Dallas is now under the luxury tax. Cool. So that happened. Congrats according to Bobby marks. There's 628,000 under the luxury tax. What would you, Rob, you know some Dallas fans. They're not doing well, by the way. Yeah, I was going to say, I don't even know. What would you say to a Dallas fan who thought

Luca was going to be in their life for the next 15 years? There's no consoling a fan of a team like that in a situation like this. And as we said, there's no precedent to say like, oh look, it worked out okay for this other team and this other star. They rebooted, they got things together. Markasol ended up being pretty good. Yeah, Max Christie could be their Markasol. That's really what they're hoping for.

He's further along than Mark was. We should say congratulations to Anthony Davis, who will be playing with the center, you know, Daniel Gafford for now, Derek Lively later, you get what you wish for, congratulations to Anthony Davis. Yeah. There's no coming back from this. And I would say the polar extremes of a fan base that was able to hold on to

Dirk for so long and had all of the hopes in the world that Luka could be that same kind of fixture within the franchise. Maybe that was always a bit of a stretch. Maybe no player in the modern NBA is that kind of thing anymore. But I think they all kind of want him being around longer than this. And certainly if he did leave, there being a little bit more ceremony to it, there being a little bit more of a bidding war to it and not just swept out the door in the night for Anthony Davison to pick and Max Christie.

It's one of the biggest mistakes. I feel very comfortable saying this right after the trade. It's one of the biggest mistakes I can ever remember in NBA franchise making. How is there not a swap? How are there no swaps? Every trade now, it's like, oh, and by the way, we get two swaps.

We have seven swaps and 14 second round picks. There are swaps, there was a swap in a Houston deal where I was like, that's such a stupid swap. It gets already set in stone that it's not going to happen. But you wanted to be able to say, potentially we have this other pick. Because I think it was an in-season deal. It may have been the Hardin-Netz thing

where the way the math worked on the swap was like, oh, we also get like the swap this year. And you're like, you heard it. It was the Netz Houston one. Yeah. Where it was like, Oh, we also get like the swap this year. And you're like, it was the Nets Houston one. Yeah. Where it was like, yeah, we're going to swap and we had no chance. There was no way that was actually going to be in play that they would want to swap picks with them, but it just sounded better, right? Because all of these trades get reported as like, and potentially up to five

trades or five first round picks. How I don't like that part of it was one of the first things where I thought it was hacked. I was like, Oh, the guy hacked him and wasn't smart enough to put in like two swaps because this deal would always have a couple of swaps in it. So two things. Number one, this is, this is where like, I have to go back to things I've written in the past and regurgitate them.

The FU factor with Luca now is going to be unbelievable. And I think he's the wrong guy to challenge with an FU. I can't think of somebody in our lives from a basketball standpoint that I'm more excited about to have a fucking fire lit under his ass now. Like really? You guys traded me? What happens if he really takes this seriously? Like all right. And then, you know, I never felt like from a physical diet, the whole

thing, it always felt like there was going to be some year coming. We would joke about it on all of our podcasts. Oh, wait till the year when there's the video of Luca in August and he's fucking working out and he's jacked and you know he's eating, he's eating grilled chicken and beets and pickles. Maybe that's going to happen. That's one. The other one is uh, is LeBron the next move here? Because I had somebody that uh knows things was saying that they do this, they don't give LeBron a heads up. And then the next move is LeBron and the Golden State. Wow. And they're just basically out of the LeBron and AD business and rebooting.

What happens to LeBron? I think he's probably in the trade. Yeah. I think he has to come LeBron. He had a lefty layup today. He's in Santa Cruz. He got one today. He did. I love the, I love the, I love the, I layup today. He's in Santa Cruz. He got one today. He did. He still got percentages in the teens again.

I love all the announcers. It's like, they, you know. But what if LeBron was like, LeBron has the no trade clause, but what if LeBron's like, all right, now I'm next, and that door was open too. Or maybe he'll be like, this is great, I can't wait to play Luka.

And then Laker blows up a deal. Cause he's like, I'm not paying tax on Bronies extension. Yeah. Can we stretch Brony for the next 18 years? Um, what do you, Rousseau, what do you think about the FU side of the Luka thing? No. Yeah. I mean, I think he's already a year and three years where he's just an awesome shape and just declaring war on the league.

I would hope so. I mean, it just think how much scarier that would be, but years where he's just an awesome shape and just declaring war on the league? I would hope so. I mean, just think how much scarier that would be, but I think he's always one of those guys. Jokic has a bit of this where you always think Jokic is spent and it's just the way he carries himself for his 35 to 38 minutes a night. And, you know, granted it's been cranked up, what he's had to do, uh, especially the beginning there with all the injuries, but Luca is somebody who forever throughout the game, he constantly looked like he's hurt. He's, you know, he's a bit theatrical with it.

Um, LeBron has been that way for a good chunk of his career. We were like, Oh no, is he going to get up? Is he going to get up? Um, so maybe, but I, he's a pretty mad guy. I mean, he's probably one of the maddest players and you would want that to translate some of the off season stuff. And I think there have been times too, in Dallas where I hear like, okay, we really expect him to kind of come in so pissed off. The problem is like, what are you going to do? Like he may, it's not like

he's putting up 30 and they're the 11 seed in the West, you know? So whatever his approach is, it's kind of hard to tell him, Hey, you need to change this thing. Cause I know that his, his background is that, you know, it's, he's just kind of different now, obviously he's very different. His father's different. Like it's a different kind of culture and the way they kind of look at the profession of the whole thing. I don't know what the LeBron part of it is.

I wonder, Rob, like, do you think, do you think AD feels like I'm out of this and this is cool or I went to the one team that clutch wanted me to go to, to be paired up with LeBron, win the title and no granted, you know, the Lakers are just going to do this no matter what. Yeah. Or, you know, is there a part of this where if LeBron's 35, they don't do it because they're worried about the relationship more with LeBron. But again, then they, maybe they don't take his kid.

I'm just kind of thinking about the clutch part of it. If Davis is thinking, Hey, it's cool. Whatever. I've always, you know, Dallas would be one of the five places I'd want to play. I have, I don't know if he has any relationship with Kyrie. They're going to say all the right things and all that kind of stuff. Rob, before you answered that there was stuff on there about how AD and Nico Harrison had a really good relationship and that was one of the reasons Dallas wanted to trade for him. Take that for what you will.

The Nico Harrison part of this is fascinating too because he had done a pretty tremendous job overhauling the Mavericks roster over the last couple years. Even moves, I was highly skeptical when they traded for Kyrie in the first place, I didn't quite see the vision of that. It was just hit after hit after hit. I think it's fair of everybody to be like, I don't know that I would want to trade for him, but at that point, yeah, go ahead. But at this point, if you are AD, I agree that if you're a player of his stature at his position that plays the way he does, if you look around the league, Dallas is a pretty good spot for AD to land and the the compliment of being the return for Luka Dončić

is a pretty strong endorsement of your game in and of itself. What's a little confusing to me as we kind of juxtapose all of the pieces in this deal, not only are the Mavs getting AD, they're getting this 20-29 pick, but we just said that Luka Dončić is not only this level of playmaker,

but this level of fuck you competitor. Are you, you're betting that a Luka Doncic Lakers team isn't going to be that good in 2029. I think they're going to be pretty fucking good. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. You would almost want the 2031 pick over the 29 pick or just get fucking both of them. Cause you traded for Luka Doncic. Give me both picks. What picks do you have? I'm going to take all the remaining picks you have. I'm getting a slew of texts and they're now moving as we're like 40 minutes

after the trade, 45 minutes to camps are now emerging. The, this league fixed it for the Lakers. This is fucking bullshit. You've got to investigate this. I'm getting those texts. Are you doing that monologue on Tuesday's pod? I want to research it more and maybe talk to talk to some lawyers. And then there's some, there's some, uh, clutch and AD and LeBron pushed the

Lakers too far and they finally said, fuck it. We've had it. And that was why they didn't give them a heads up any of that stuff. I actually believe that because I think when the, when there was those stories last week about what was it a week or two weeks ago about we need some help. It was the Celtics game. We've got to improve the roster. I was when the, when there was those stories last week about, what was it? A week or two weeks ago about we need some help. It was a Celtics game. We've got to improve the roster. I was in the building.

When they did that, I was like, are you guys fucking serious? We're doing this again. You're doing that. We've got to improve the roster passive aggressive thing. Your roster is actually pretty good. Um, so I wonder if maybe they're just trying to get out of this business completely. Yeah. And plus they traded for Luka Dončić.

So of course they're doing that. So they trade for Luka Dončić and the Lakers get to be the little guy standing up to big bad clutch. The little $7 billion team standing up to the $15 billion agency. Yeah. By the way, six months after they drafted his son and gave him a two year a hundred million dollar extension. And so like, you know, wow, you guys really told them.

You did it guys. I knew they could. But if we want to compliment them, do you think Polinka at some point, like Niko was like, I need two first and Polinka had the balls to go. No. I'll give you one. He's like, what about a 20, 30 swap? He's like, no, my offer's my offer.

My shitty offer stands. Right. Cause the story about when the Celtics did that net steal, when it was all of their picks, like it was like a real Christopher Columbus type moment with one of those trades. And I remember I was in Brooklyn for the draft cause I was doing the draft for ESPN and I, I, I remember how confused I was at first. I was like, so they get this pick, but then they have the right to do this.

And the story goes that they were like, hey, it's Prokhorov, just keep asking. Right. They'd agree and then it's like, call him back. That's how they got the 17 swap. That's how they got the Tatum pick. But the last second they were like, hey, we want that too. And he's like, oh, that's fine. That sounds good.

I will give you that. Some good Prokhorov right there. Thank you. I've been working on my Prokhorov. I knew it was gonna come in handy. Yeah. So, so Dow is Nico Harrison, uh, um, really values the center position, apparently values conditioning and doesn't value picks in the 2030s. That's what we've learned.

I'm just trying to think of how it would have hit me. If someone would have told me a week ago, Rob Polinka is going to win executive of the year and what it would take to get us to that point. But I think it just happened to get us to that point. But I think it just happened. I think it just happened. There's one other Tim McMahon reporting that Luke was pushing 270 pounds. I don't care.

I don't give a shit. It doesn't matter. 70. Yeah. Rusello, can we talk about hood Chafino's fit with the jazz? How do you see him playing off of John Collins and some of their base? How are he going to play together? Yeah.

I just don't want my guy will hardly to retire this year if there's another on ball dominant dude while marketing standing off to the side. She's being sad. The number of times I like Yontay George, but the number of times I'll see him dribble in and then not get the angle and then be like, all right, let me just reset this. Like Trey Young watches that film. It's like, dude, you gotta move the ball a little bit.

He'll go away. I mean, it doesn't happen all the time anyway. Nobody wants a jazz breakdown at this point. I, I think you wait your whole life to have a player like this, a franchise weight, you know, you hope to have, you know, there's some teams that are spoiled. Your team, bill, the Lakers are spoiled. Chicago certainly had that one guy. I'm not saying Lucas MJ or any of that kind of stuff.

And LeBron's had some different stops is a more modern version of what we're used to in the NBA, but. more modern version of what we're used to in the NBA, but you hope, you know, as, as an owner or a city, you get somebody that makes you think anything is possible. If you have the right pieces around like what happened last year. Yep. Yeah. Right. And, you know, the fact that he turns 26, you're talking about somebody who has a

chance to go down as one of the 15 best players of all time. We haven't seen anything yet that would make me think that's not still in play. And he's hit every sort of statistical benchmark you'd want. He's made the finals already, which is a huge piece of when you're talking about the greatest guys ever. Did they actually have a moment where they got to the big stage pretty early in their career? He did that.

We know that players peak 26, 27, 28. He's not even those ages yet. And now he's going to be playing for the Lakers. He's going to be a huge star. He's going to love it here. He's going to be a big celebrity in a city of celebrities. And he's playing for, you know, this is the most famous franchise that we have in the NBA has been the most successful because the Celtics have won a couple more titles. I don't count the Minnesota ones, but this is the most famous franchise that we have in the NBA. Has been the most successful because the Celtics have won a couple more titles.

I don't count the Minnesota ones, but this is the most famous franchise in the NBA. It is. They've been the most famous franchise for 60 years. Celebrity fans, they keep winning. They're relevant every single decade. And they pulled it off again. I just can't believe it. How many is this?

So it's Will, it's Kareem, it's Shaq, it's LeBron, it's Luca. Am I missing anybody that's kind of- Will, Kareem, and they look out with the magic trade. That was ridiculous. But yeah, Shaq. Right, it's a trade, but he's, I'm saying like- Gasol. Yeah.

Yeah. Kobe, like 12 teams passed on Kobe, but then especially like- I'm talking about like player acquisition. Yeah, player acquisitions, Gasol is a big one. And then Davis is the last one. So it's, they have, so say that again. So it's will it's Kareem it's Shaq it's Gasol it's LeBron it's Davis and it's

Luca. Yeah. Just players. They didn't draft that just showed up into's Luca. Yeah. Just players they didn't draft that got sucked into their franchise. Yeah. Because people love living in Los Angeles, including me and Rossello. Um, all right. No one traded for me. So just one, one, the only thing we didn't really cover is a Lakers team that

will have Rui Hachimora, LeBron James, we think, unless he's the next piece of this, Austin Reeves, Jackson Hayes, Finney Smith, Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Connect, and Luca when he comes back. And I assume they'll trade for some sort of big rub. Yeah. And I think- I don't want to see that team in a playoff series. Sorry. I don't I don't care who is on Lucas team I wouldn't want to play against him in a playoff series and this is part of this formula too Is not only is Luca one of the best players in the world He's uniquely capable of lifting up minimum salary guys

Mid salary guys all the players that are gonna be essential in an apron luxury era, luxury tax era. He's the player that makes those pieces work, that makes a Christian Coloco viable, right? That will make Jackson Hayes viable, that will allow you to find, like, he broadens the range of the supporting talent you can put around him to make it make sense. And so yeah, if it is LeBron and Luca and Rui

and Austin Reeves and whoever, you can butcher us around that make it make sense. And so yeah, if it is LeBron and Luca and Rui and Austin Reeves and whoever you can buttress around that, it's going to be competitive. It's going to be formidable because Luka Donjic is a part of it. And it's, I would say one of the biggest gambles in the history of the league, the Mavericks who basically seemed like they just wanted to get out of the Luka Donjic business, which was frightening enough, a decision to make, but then on top of it to not shop him. I think it's gonna be something that if it works out

the way I think the three of us might think it's gonna work out, that we'll be talking about for the rest of the time we talk about basketball. It's like, remember when the Mavericks did that? Remember when they just didn't shop Luca at all? They traded him for 28 cents of the dollar. It's an amazing trade. I think we hit everything.

Anything else, Priscilla? Yeah, I just wanna follow up Rob's point though, a little bit on like what's possible around it, you know, long-term and how he raises your floor so much. I always think there's these conference finals runs with teams that are really fluky, can actually cause more damage to the team in believing there's something that they're not.

And maybe a couple of years ago, you could have made that case for Dallas, but they turned the team over. They're better. They make it to the NBA finals. And we know it's primarily because of Luca. But if you look at like that team that played against the Warriors and lost in five games a couple of years ago, like look at the shot attempts, Luca took 118. Here are the next shot attempt leaders.

Jaylen Brunson, who was not even close to like, I can't even say half formed, like not even fully formed Jalen Brunson, Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney Smith, Reggie Bullock, Maxie Cleba, Bertons. Like those are the guys taking shots against the Warriors. And that's the team that he had in the Western conference finals. So I'm totally with you on how he raises it, but I do wonder how much of it is kind of like feeling each other out, knowing that you kind of have to stay glued to your spot for Luca on those drives, because he's going to make the pass at the last possible second.

I mean, that's stuff that basketball players can figure out pretty quickly. Like don't reset, move from your spot because he's going to find you. But defensively, yeah. I mean, there's still, there are, this is a, no one's gonna sit here and go like, oh, I don't like them now defensively in playoffs. That's not what this is about, is you have a face of the franchise that's this special for the next seven years, probably.

Because hell, as much as we could worry about his conditioning, if he's this good already, right, he's already played at the body type of the guy that ages later on. So I can't believe it. I can't. I just, I know I've already said it a million times. I don't know how you run a basketball team and you don't let the

world know that he's available. And then for the Lakers, when you're looking at the tail end of this LeBron thing, God only knows how many more years he's going to play, but when you think you got to keep the building filled, you got the most expensive seats in the league. You got all those suites and it's like, what are you going to do? Are people going to be coming to see Anthony Davis and Austin Reeves? And now you have Luca, who other than Otani is now the biggest and LeBron,

obviously, but LeBron's on the tail end. But now you have Luca who has a chance to be the biggest star in the city. And your other option was Austin Reeves. Rob seems kind of like sneaky, devastated. You just know too many Dallas Mavericks fans. There'll be a lot of hugs in your future, a lot of like Zooms where you're just telling people it's okay.

A lot of just nodding acknowledgement with people who are in deep existential pain. And you just have to be there for them in the way that you can. You have to listen. You have to, you have to feel everything that they're feeling. I honestly, for everything that Dallas is going through, I am in utter disbelief of exactly what you just laid out, which is the expedience of the Lakers reset. I just, I, I had taken it into account that whenever the LeBron era or the AD era or the combined era coasted out, it would take a couple of years at least

before they could find their next shack, their next career. We know they're going to do it. Yeah. Maybe, maybe this would be the one time where it would actually take a significant window before the next superstar walked in the door. We really didn't even have to wait. The era didn't even end. Like this is the smoothest transition of power that we've seen in recent NBA history.

It is jarring on every possible basketball level and an inexplicable trade for Dallas and it just doesn't get better than this. If you're the Lakers, it really doesn't. I mean, think about it. They had a six year playoff trial before they won it. Right. One other thing I was thinking, I was just thinking back to my pyramid, like the best guys ever.

Some of them got traded, right? Like LeBron switched teams, Kareem got traded, Wilt got traded a couple of times. Moses got traded, but really signed with Philly and then they traded him. Durant changed teams. He go through the top 20, KG got traded, but he decided where he was going. If you go through the top 25 players ever, none of them were blindsided by being traded. This is the first time somebody at least who has like top 25, top 30, all time talent, I'm going through like Barkley, Cousy, I guess Barkley, but Barkley knew

he was going to get traded that summer. Uh, Kawhi Leonard was demanding a trade that whole summer. Like this is the first time we've seen somebody with that kind of talent just been like, hey dude, you're out of here. Here's the number of the new GM, call him. He'll tell you how to get your stuff. Like this is just an unconscionable trade.

I think it's a massive mistake and I think it's an amazing day for the Wakers. And I refuse to congratulate them. I can't believe this happened again. How does this happen? The pal cassava trade in this, how does this happen? Where there were no other bidders for a guy that nine teams wanted. Uh, the, the power one's easy to explain.

Is it incompetence? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there was a lot of, I just remember the conversations at the time, you're like, oh, okay. Yeah, just they trade them two weeks ahead. I'm worried about Bill, because you're gonna have access to these people in your life that are gonna start hammering, kind of like the Chiefs Get Too Many Calls stuff.

The conspiracy stuff. Yeah, it's gonna get me the route up. You're right, I gotta be careful. Right, just be careful, because I'm worried about your next episode, and if Kopitar signs an extension with the Kings, then you're gonna be like. Right, just be careful because I'm worried about your next episode and if Kopitar signs an extension with the Kings, then you're gonna be like, oh wait, this was all countrymen.

They were all. Oh yeah. Wow. All in it together. Like a big Slovenian thing, Jesus. I didn't even think of that. Thank you to, thank you to Nephew Kaya who I, I don't think was 100% sober tonight, but it's fine.

I think he was functional enough to produce the pod. That's why he's a pro. Listen, it was the day off for all of us. Thank God. Uh, my wife is doing dry February. I'd like to thank her that I wasn't drinking wine tonight, that I was able to do the podcast thanks to Rob Mahoney and Ryan Rossello on very short notice. And, uh, I can't wait to find out more about why that fuck the straight.

You could listen or you could watch this podcast too, on the Bill Smith YouTube channel. Guys. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Bill. I don't have a few years with him. On the wayside, on the front side. I don't have a few years with him.

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