The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Postgame Show: The Trade Deadline Tears The Family Apart (feat. The Kid Mero, Rachel Nichols, and Amin Elhassan)

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

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Because local news is big news. Choose news, not noise. CBC News. So I think the defense aligned for the Cocks is going to really challenge Drake May. What are you eating there? Blue chips, blue chips. Oh, for like, blue chip talent.

Yeah, thank God we bought the salsa. Dude. because it would have been a bad day. I would have been way more mad, but the Chips and Salza are helping. This is a pathetic day in franchise history. This is one of the darkest moments for professional basketball in Miami, Florida. We're starting late because I was holding Zaz in my bosom and he was weeping and I had to call security because Mike Ryan had to be restrained from running across the street and strangling Pat Riley. Zaz, I heard pathetically while you were weeping into my book. the most pathetic lament I've ever heard from a heat fan, which was, well, Shams has been wrong sometimes.

True story. Has he been? Because I don't think he's been wrong very often. You're hoping that the reporting is wrong on this. And in the next hour, there's some sort of shift that involves the Greek freak, Janus Ante Ticumpo. I better learn that name. I thought I was going to have to learn that.

No, you can forget about that name. You're fine. That guy's a bomb. have to worry about that at all. Hey, we dodged a bullet, right? His body's going to break down. There is going to be a team that regrets the quirers that guy. Loser talk. Look, I'm not mad. Like, I'm mad at the whole scenario. I'm not necessarily mad at the heat. At least not yet. We have 50 minutes until the trade deadline. Who knows? Like, Mike Ryan, you're calling it one of the darkest days in history of the franchise. It was only a few hours

ago where you said if they wind up getting John Morant as a consolation that today would still be a great day. So we still have 50 minutes remaining. So I'm not mad at the organization yet. We have another 50 minutes. But what I will be mad about is if they decide we're not going to do anything significant today because we're going to run it back in the summer and make another run at Janus. When the reality of it is all Janus had to do was go to Milwaukee because the heat apparently were the last team standing, all right?

And apparently Milwaukee did seriously consider the heat's offer because it's a good offer. if Janus would have went to them and said, I want you to trade me to Miami now. Because as it looks now is Milwaukee is going to shut Janus down for the remainder of the season. So Janus essentially would rather not play basketball the rest of this year. How is that allowed? How is that allowed? A lot of fixed tanking.

Salt this commissioner in sports. Salt this commissioner in sports are going to allow a healthy superstar player to not play anymore this season because the team wants a tank. Okay. Yeah. But I will be angry. if the Heat decide to run it back with their attempt to get Yonis. The Los Angeles Clippers are trading Evica Zubats to the Indiana Pacers.

He's a great player. Wow, Clippers really blowing it up, Dan. Zububats is your guy. I love that, dude. Per source, according to Barry Jackson, Heat was informed very late last night that the Bucs would likely not be trading Yannes today. Heat offer received consideration. Obviously, Ban was never part of the deal,

but there wasn't something that the heat had that the Bucks asked for, and the heat resisted that killed the deal. Miami was willing to do what it took. Bucks simply wanted to see if they can get more this summer. More reporting I have for you here. Jake Fisher reports they were never serious, according to one team executive who was discussing a Janus onto Tocompo trade with Milwaukee. And Shams on Janus says these teams engaged but never progressed even close to a deal over the last few days.

Teams involved believe the Bucks feel they can build a contender around Yonnas. Janus this summer and get him back on board to being there. Also from Jake Fisher, he says, as of last night, and this is going to make Mike even angrier, the heat have not been actively pursuing Ja-Morant to my knowledge. Maybe now that they're out on Janus, a jaw-flip could happen, but all along, I've been told from people who would know the heat haven't been making aggressive offers for Ja-Morant. Jesus Christ. I'm pissed.

Yeah. You should all be pissed, too. This is ridiculous. This is the longest stretch of not mattering this franchise has had under Pat Riley. They have gone from, you know, if they wind up doing nothing, again, 47 minutes. They have gone from the team, which I grew up with when Pat Riley got here. Okay, I was a teenager, and then into probably the next 15 years or so after that. they were the team that was always the most aggressive.

Always. If the team looked any sort of middling, Pat Riley will make the big trades the next day. And they're the team that will make the moves and is not afraid to take swings. And now they have gone from that reputation to the team that never does shit. I don't think it's fair what Mike Ryan is saying when this. When he says this is the longest stretch of being irrelevant in that stretch, they've been to the finals two times. Like you can't. No, no, no, you can't put the two finals appearances in my irrelevancy like time period.

You can't. They went to the finals last, what, in 2022? 23. Since then, and we called it out that very off season that we maxed out, we need to do more to keep this thing rolling. They have struck out. Time and time again, they mismanaged their own assets with a Jimmy Butler. thing and I'm not one of these guys that's like, we dodged a bullet with Dame Lillard. No, this franchise remains aggressive and I have never as a fan regretted it.

We overpaid for Goran Dragich. And four hours later, Chris Bosch got blood clots. And I was like, yeah, my team still did the thing. Well, the mismanaged part, and this part I think should make the heat fan upset. We could be mad about Adam Silver having no spine and not doing anything about the Terry Roger Rozier trade. But the fact of the matter is, even if Terry Rozier was in trouble with the FBI, that trade gets an F. It didn't work out. And if the Heat didn't make that trade, they would have four draft picks to be able to trade, including 2026 and 2028. And I'm fairly confident if the

heat were able to offer the package of players they currently have, and four first round picks, they would have gotten the deal done. So for a team that wants to always have the flexibility, have the maneuverability, they kind of screwed themselves with the Terry Rozier thing. Sure. Because I really do believe this would have gotten done. Okay, Zaz, with one pick, do you think that one pick was going to change it when the bucks were, the bucks were obviously running a dog and pony show the entire time? It was complete fars.

I think if you have the, because Milwaukee, look, this isn't going to go away. Milwaukee is eventually going to trade him. Maybe it's a summer, I don't know. But if they wait until the summer because they think that they can get a better deal for him, there is no better deal to be had than all the young players that he were. offering and the maximum for first round picks. It would have gotten done. The

Heat made a massive error with the Terry Rozier trade. Mike Ryan for those who don't necessarily understand his anger, at the height of his anger is the fact that the one trade the Heat did make was for

the player Mike Ryan dislikes the most and is in the fictional hypothetical almost the worst trade they could have made for his emotions, given how little he likes Terry Rozier. So it's not just that they've swung and missed or failed in all of these turns to get the big superstar. They also did make a trade to acquire the player that he likes least in the entire league.

It's the only time I've openly campaigned against acquiring a player. I was begging Pat Riley to not acquire Terry Rozier because that was rumored for a long time. Look, I even wrap my head around the Kyle Lowry thing because I didn't like Kyle Lowry either. And the only rosy side of getting Terry Rozier on the roster was that I'd get Kyle Lowry the hell off this roster. There's been a lot of bad

acquisitions, non-impactful, and a lot of passing. We mentioned this on the main show earlier today. It's not just the superstars that they strike out on. It's guys that can really help like Pascal C. Akum and O.G. Ananoby, guys that could have, when added to this core, made a difference in the postseason. The way that those players ended up doing. And this is just really disappointing. This is starting to feel sad around this franchise. Their inability to do what they made their names on. I know Pat Riley

came here with a ton of credentials. But with this franchise, it was always swinging for the fences and occasionally connecting and not striking out the way they have. It feels a little pathetic. As of right now, again, 42 minutes. But as of right now, there's only two teams in the Eastern Conference, Miami being one of them that has not made a trade yet. All right, let me bring in Amin al-Hasson here from our New York studios to get his expertise on this and a bunch of other things that I've been wanting to talk to him about because we're not just going to be doing Janus for this hour. I want to do a reaction to whatever it is that happens in the league.

But first, I mean, you've been in listening here to what it is that's being said. What are your thoughts to what it is you've heard here? We can't hear him. Let's make sure to get him pot it up so that... To be honest, Dan, it's Jeremy's first time sitting in the captain's chair there, so... All right, so we will try again here before I send Jeremy away because he's looking... Like, I could not possibly have any less confidence in what Jeremy is presently doing. Yeah.

He just asked, is it Zoom? It says Zoom 1. Hold out, Danny's here to fix it. Right? Zoom 1? Yeah, this is that right? We got all the Danny's here to fix it. Danny GQ.

I did the right thing. We should kick him out. I did the right thing, right? I'm thinking about doing it. Let's see. Yeah, I was right from the beginning. Mike is right there in the back row. Literally right there.

Amin, let's see if we can hear you and your thoughts on what it is that we said now. How about now? Yes, for me now? Yep. Okay. Oh, he was holding the wrong mic. No, no, I was holding the right mic, but I just unplugged it and plugged the different mic now. Yeah, you got to sound like whiny, entitled babies.

Like, Mike says this is the worst stretch. can I refer you back to when LeBron left? Five years? No, that was great. We had three playoff miss. We had five years. Coming back from the clots. We had Goran Dragich.

We were a game away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Five years. Three playoff miss. One conference semifinals. One first round exit. That's like that's better than this stretch. Yeah. Hassan Whiteside and Dionne Waiters and

better than this stretch. Bloodsport? Yeah, I hear you. Yeah, you had three playoff appearances and one conference semis. No, no, no. You had three playoff misses and two playoff appearances. That was pre-playing in two, by the way. They would have gotten into the play-in.

And let's not even talk about the playoff appearance last year that ended up costing a scuper flag. Any other thoughts that you have? Because I'm more aligned with you here than I am with Mike. You know, like the whole thing. Dan. Oh, they didn't land the well. Like, it takes two to tango, man. Like, all the reporting is that Milwaukee was not serious. Like, it was more of a fact-finding mission for them, which, of course, is still an improvement of where they were about a couple of months ago where they're not even listening.

Now it's like, okay, we'll hear pitches. And the teams that threw in pitches kind of figured this isn't kind of going to happen, right? Or at least it's not going to happen now. So how is that Pat Riley or Andy Ellesberg's fault? If Milwaukee is not intending on moving them. Yeah, I mean, I think that's fair, but the heat's rivals, be it New York, Indiana, Boston, Milwaukee. Every year, they're Cleveland. Every year, they're able to make moves. And the heat like-

Every year? Yeah, every year is some combination of them. What the Knicks do this year? No, no, not every one of those teams every year. Jose Alvarado. Every year those teams make, some combination make moves. I mean, heck, last year, the Knicks got towns, you know? Like every year, one, two, maybe even three of the Heat's rivals,

they always seem to make a move. And like, the Heat don't make any moves. But I could take the same tack and take one team and say, well, all they've done was that deal. And every year, everyone else is doing deals. You can't go against the field and say, how are you not beating a field on all these deals? It takes two to tango.

You need a willing trade partner, number one, and then you need to make it work under the cap and the CBA, which we know what Miami's pick situation is, right? It's not, it's awful, but it's also not ideal. So when you are in this scenario, you can only do what you can do. You can only control what you control. Damian Lillard should have been a Miami Heat player. We dealt with the front office that literally said anywhere and anything but them. What do you, how is that?

How is that Miami's fault? I don't see. I think you guys still think about it like in a fantasy football kind of way. It was like, if there's a deal to get done, I can get it done. And that's not how the real NBA work. I think we covered where Miami misstepped in the day pursuit. The drawing a line in the sand, the rosier acquisition beforehand. But Miami did approach the Damian Lillard potential acquisition with a great deal of arrogance.

And this show was guilty of pushing that propaganda. They did it. They did exactly what you guys were asking for. Oh, we swing our dicks and we get shit done. That's what they did. And it backfired. So when you guys said, oh, I got, we used to be aggressive and we'd slap everybody across the face with our phallus. Why don't we do it anymore?

Yeah, I did that two years ago and it didn't work. No, they didn't do what we asked for. They didn't get the guy. That's what we've been asking for. Get the guy. You're saying. Look, it's not just the role players either. It's the fact that Luca Donchich gets traded in the middle of the night.

And Miami has no idea that that trade is even going down. Yeah, everyone knew except for Miami. It's kind of crazy. Like, everyone had an opportunity to go get Luca Danty. Don't tell me to come down. And they were, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I don't tell me to come down. I don't, I don't hear this show, we're expecting sound basketball analysis, are going to

hear it. You don't have to. You can go to the kitchen and go have lunch. I have my lunch right here. I'd love to have lunch too. But the reality is that bucks were not going to deal this guy. That's what everyone said. They walked away saying, what the hell are we doing here?

And when Zaz is sitting there telling you, oh, the wolves did the move before the move, I said, no. The wolves are trying to get under the luxury tax. And that's what they did. They got under tax. The sons did a deal. Got under tax. The Raptors did a deal. Got under tax.

Everyone's just trying to save money. Before this week, the non-tax-paying teams, So the way it works with the tax, they take all that tax money, they divide it by 30. And then if you are a non-taxpayer, you get a check in the mail. Before this week, the check was projected to be $14 million. As of right now, the check is going to be $5 million because so many less teams are paying the tax and there are more non-taxpayers getting a share. It is sinking everything.

And so as you sit here, like, why haven't we done anything? Who's done something? Did you want Anthony Davis? Do you want to try young? Yeah, I've been very clear. I want something. I want to mix it up. I know that I'm not good enough.

And I've known for three seasons that were not good enough. In fact, three and a half. And I've seen them take a flamethrower to their own assets because they were stubborn. I saw their stubborn approach when it came to Damien Lillard. And you could play the result and say that didn't work out for them. I'd maintain that if Damien Lillard came to Miami, it might have gone different. But I just hate that we're doing the status quo. And I don't think we're in a position to.

So did we? You know who else? You know who else? Want to just mix things up? Nico Harrison. You want to mix things up? Oh, that's not fair. I'm just saying. You got Cooper Flag at least?

I do think this part's fair, though. That had nothing to do with what Nico Harrison. It was our pick. Okay, there was a less than 1% chance of getting it. Who told you that, though? I mean, the fair criticism, I think, is they waited six years for this moment, and the team that took Butler from them had more pick. than them to offer in this scenario.

And they passed on moving Khalil Ware and Jovick for Durant and then didn't play where and bashed him in the press. Like I believe that's fair criticism, is it not? I think, so Durant is an interesting thing because, again, we have to accept, A, how old Durant is, as great as he's playing, and B, is Durant plus this roster? Does that get it done? Probably not, right? that when Jimmy Butler's deal was done back in 2019, right?

The idea was this guy is young enough for us to say this is a first step and we'll continue to develop other options around him, either by acquisition or through our farm system. And they did that, right? And it went to the final slice or whatever. With Durant, he's so much older than Jimmy Butler was in 2019. The window that you open up is much smaller to do that sort of thing. So to say I'm going to give up these two really young assets who look like pretty good players,

for a guy who's knocking on 40, that's not really sound as far as planning goes. I know as far as some sexy and we did something, yeah, but that's not how this organization runs itself, and that's not how a professional organization runs itself. Now, if you want to say the way they've handled where has been bad, that we can have a conversation about it. Just like we have a conversation that Terry Rozier was a bad deal. I'm going to fucking murder. It was an aggressive deal.

This is stupid. Dan, we have the details of the Avica Zubots trade, okay, to the Indiana Pacers. How about what the Pacers are giving up? The Pacers are also, they're sending out Benedict Matherin and two first-round picks to the clippers. The first one is kind of phony. It's a first-round pick this year in 2026, but only if it lands between numbers five through nine. The rest of the round is completely protected. and they also sent a 29 unprotected first round.

That's kind of interesting. You know what I'm going to stop allowing? People to talk to me, the way that I mean talk to me earlier. I am done being... I'm done being little brother. I'm done being little brothered on my Miami Heat takes when I've been right for three and a half years, when I have told you and forecasted every season for three and a half years

when I'm seemingly the only person in this goddamn room that's been keeping it real about this franchise. for three and a half years, and I'm getting the same paths on my back telling me, no, no, no, they weren't serious. It's okay that they didn't acquire the superstar. If you guys want to support a team with those standards go right ahead. I support the Miami Heat. Mike, I want Janus.

Like, they want Janus. They weren't dealing them. What do you want? Do you want them to go and take a gun at John Horst? It's not just by Janus. This is about something that I've openly been complaining about for three and a half years. Mike, you have to have a partner. You can't just force your way in and say him, he's coming with us and kidnap him.

Like, it's taken. There has to be a transaction to be made. Where's John Moran? Where's basketballs he-alk him? I like that way better. Pat Riley is supposed to have a particular set of skills. You say it's not taken. He can take him.

He's that guy. He's the guy who takes him. That's who he does. That's what he does. Let's get into a few other things, and we still have a half hour of flimmed. hope here to yell at each other. I enjoyed that back and forth. Amino Hassan.

Can you please do me the favor of playing the Amin-N-Nose basketball song? I know this is a big ask for Jeremy's first time. Why you put him in this position? First time in the chair, but I'd like for you to find some things. I also want to see can I see what it is that you guys have

done to prepare for today's show? Because you put a bunch of blue chips in front of me because people want to get blue chip prospects. I also saw the The poop emoji for some reason was around here. Why is the poop emoji? Is the poop emoji a reaction to criticism of Pat Riley? Why is there some fake poop in the studio?

That poop right there with the money. That's our salary dump. That's how we prepared for this. Yeah, just in case also, I know it really can't happen. It's not going to have much. But this is our, in case there's a sign and trade, this is our and trade sign. Okay, so that's a sign and trade sign or that's a, okay, so a sign and trade sign would be redundant. Yeah, in case there's a, well, we couldn't find a VHS tape, so we had to use a book.

But in case there's a blockbuster trade, we have a blockbuster VHS tape here. Yeah, that makes me nostalgic. And if we end up talking about bird rights at all, clip this little bird right here, it's on my right shoulder. All right, Jeremy, you're doing better work now. You screwed up the thing with bird rights. Now, fine. Now, fine for me. We don't say that anymore.

Fine for me the Amin knows basketball song because he does know basketball, and there are a number of different trades that I want to talk to him about. The Anthony Davis trade to the Wizards. Tony and Mike were saying they love the Wizards Young Corps. I think the Wizards are doomed for the entirety of my lifetime and any generations that... Hold on. I didn't say I love the Wizards Young Corps. What I said is I like what the Wizards front office is doing. making smart moves and getting distressed assets

and maybe in the next couple of years be a good team. Don't back down. Keep exaggerating what they said. I mean, your thoughts, please, on Anthony Davis to the Wizards. How did his mic go out again? Is this Jeremy's fault again?

This is Jeremy's fault. Looks like he's muted to me. There we go. Unmute yourself? You want to talk talking again? Yeah, that looked like operator error. That's not operator error because I didn't mute myself. if we want if we want to throw people under the bus

I was told wait we're testing someone else's Mike I mean hold on here and they hit my mute and then that's when Dan says I mean what do you think so maybe get on the same page everybody but I think what the Wizards have done is where Mike thinks the heat have actually been which is they've been awful for so long

they're willing to try anything including betting on two guys who have been hurt a lot they said we've been collecting assets for too long it's time to cash it in now they managed to do that obviously without giving up the real stuff, which is Alexander Saar and George and Trey Johnson and the guys they really like the young guys.

But they've taken a gamble, particularly with Anthony Davis, and really Trey Young as well, and that these are guys who want to get paid soon. And so now you're going to have to commit fairly quickly to people who, again, have not shown the ability to say healthy. Now, if they say healthy, I heard what you guys say earlier. I agree. I think this could be a playoff team. if you told me, Trey Young and Anthony Davis are going to play 70 games.

But I don't know if they're going to pay 70 games. And when you combine that with how much you have to pay them, and you combine that with how much they gave away in terms of draft capital, it's a very risky, risky move. But again, when you've been as bad, really bad, like the Washington Wizards have, these risks become more palatable as opposed to Miami, which has been a decent team. When he talks about palatable, I think there is something happening here that makes this extra nasty in taste for those of us who are not finding it palatable

and don't have a lot of hope in the next 30 minutes that an Andrew Wiggins is going to be moved for something that moves the needle in the Eastern Conference. But Winhorst has said, and we're going to talk to the kid Merrow about this in a second, but Winhorse has said the following, the Knicks are as strong and as good of position as they've been in the last 30 years to win it. I don't actually believe that because I don't think that Jalen Brunson this year is going to make them better than the Pistons the way Jalen Brunson last year made them better than the Pistons. And I don't actually believe that as beloved and wonderful as Brunson is, and he's super easy to root for. It's hard to win a player, win with a player that size.

Not many championships have been won when the player that size is your best player. But the thing that makes this extra not palatable for the heat is, oh, the name. are better than you. Oh, Boston, you were really close with them a few years ago, and you are not anymore. Boston has gotten a good deal better. Yes, I mean. Yeah, well, if you remember the year the heat went to the finals, 2023, in that conference finals, I said, Boston is way more talented. In order to be successful, they literally have to do everything right. They've got to be an execution team. Whereas the Celtics are just more talented. They can roll out talent and be successful more. often than not. And everybody in Miami got so upset, right? Oh, how, how can they're so talented? Why are they down three oh? And I said, look, I'm not saying it was a better team. I'm saying talent. But what you've seen then when you say, well, we used to be neck and neck and now look

where they went and look where we went. That was the talent. That was, hey, they had two guys who were under the age of 30 who are all NBA caliber players. And you guys had one who was over the age of 30 and one who's maybe all in the may, maybe not. And that's the difference right there. The heat got away with, we have enough talent if we do everything right, if we execute. But as that talent

began to deteriorate because Jimmy Butler's getting older, that's where your team went. They had the young bucks, and their young bucks just got more wizened and better over time. They also made the moves. They realized they weren't good enough, and they acquired a Drew Holiday, somebody that the might

swung and missed on. And they acquired Chris Staps Porzingas. These are not superstar moves. These are moves to improve your team as they stood idly by and watch the rest of the conference make them. Yeah, and this is a team that went to the conference finals, like five years in a row. Like, they were there. They were a Drew Holiday away from being a champion. Like, the heat were not. That's my point. I keep going back to. You're not that. And you're looking for that whale. But, man, like the whales don't come along all but so often. You don't have a birthright to it. I don't care what Pat taught you because when you were 10 years old,

they went and got Alonzo morning. I don't care what Pat taught you because when you were 15, they went and got Shaq. Like, that's not a birthright move. That is like a once in a million move. And the Heat managed to do it three times. Say thank God for it. Don't say, why does this happen every day? I need to correct myself, though, Dan, real quick. Since the Indiana Pace is acquired Aviga Zubots, the Miami Heat are the only team in the Eastern Conference that has not made I see on my screen someone who's radiant and smiling because he is enjoying the drinking of these heat tears. The Knicks haven't felt this good and the fact that the Knicks are this good while the heat are flailing. And we're weeping makes the kid Mero happy.

You can hear him hot 97 mornings with Mero weekday 6 to 10 a.m. Host a victory like with the kid Mero from IHeart Radio. New episodes twice a week wherever you get your podcast. And he's got his YouTube channel as well at according to the kid. Why are you radiant? Am I reading your face correctly right now? And as an added bonus, conio, Alvarado, really, we're doing this.

We're going to be Hispanic. The Knicks are going to be Carl Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado. Are you shitting me? Come on. Listen, this is what I was trying to tell y'all. This is why I'm beaming. It's because the New York Knicks

have a Puerto Rican and a Dominican on the team. That is... Handling the ball. Handling the ball. They're controlling the ball. And let me tell you something else. Not just the Puerto Rican, a Brooklyn Puerto Rican, okay? Which is a different breed of Puerto Rican.

It's a different. The New Yorkans, okay, they're different. This is a guy who went, remember when he went viral? Because I forgot somebody was defending him and was like, yo, can he shoot? And he was like, excuse me, can I shoot? And they shot it and made it and they ran down the court. He has the hang time on the cornrows is tremendous. You know what I mean?

He's, bro, he's out. here, man. He looks like a, like a, like a Puerto Riga stud. You know what I mean? And that's what we need on his team is aggression. That game last night was fun. Brunson goes for 42. You meet, you beat the nuggets in double over time. You stayed up, right? Even though you got a morning show? Even though you got a morning show, you stayed up or did you go to sleep? I don't sleep. I don't sleep, Dan. I don't do that. I'm a father of four. I'm a Knicks fan. And I got a lot on my plate. You know what I'm saying? So I'll sleep when I'm that. Did you enjoy that one last night though? Did you like, I mean, because the the nuggets are really good. I mean, Murray and Yokic were terrible from three. I think they were like, I don't even know. Last I checked, they were like five of 30 or something. Yokish was one for 13.

They were terrible from three, but Murray hit you with his best shot in the first quarter. He had 20 points in the first quarter and you still take out the nuggets who can beat anybody. That's what I'm saying. So now, using the transatlons, property, the Knicks can be to anybody. You know what I'm saying? And I don't see them losing to anybody in the East. I don't care what anybody says. It is just inevitable.

Okay? Because people keep saying I heard you say the thing about Jalen Brunson, you can't win a player that's with a player that size. Becky Hammond said the same thing, bro, and she became a meme for saying that. And this is what I'm saying. We're going to go deep into the playoffs.

And Kat is going to do his thing. Jailen Brunson is going to Lewis thing. We have a complete team. And we're actually touching the 10, 11, 12 guys. You're going to see Diawara minutes. Hey, yo, hey, yo, come on. Hey, that was crazy. Yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, my fault. My fault. Pardon. You're going to see Diora minutes in the playoffs, dog. That's what I'm talking about. Like, that was the knock on Tibbs that was adjusted with Mike Brown. We had a little spiral for a minute. Then they had the players only meeting. And now we undefeated. So I think we're just going to roll right into the playoffs.

And continue on this successful mission, bro. Like, that's just it. I mean, I want to ask you about what he's saying, but first, give him his intro music. Times of all basketball. Aminos basketball. They'll see you basketball, expert in basketball. Do you believe, Amin, that New York can take down Detroit? They barely did last year.

And this Detroit team is a good deal better than last year's Detroit team. they won in five. I don't know if you could say barely. Like it was a good series. No, wait. All of the games were super close. It was a good series. It was a good series.

But barely is stretching the meaning of the word barely there. Look, Detroit has question marks, right? Number one is, are they experienced enough, right? They went to the playoffs last year. They had a hard-bought first-round series. Is that enough to carry you deep in the playoffs? Number two, the shooting. Now, they made some moves to.

address that to get better by adding Kevin Herder. Kevin Herder at the same time, not shooting great this year from three. So it'll be interesting to see if they get guys who can consistently make shots because I saw the pistons like two weeks ago. And that pain is clogged, man. It's clogged. And right now, the main guy that you have to worry about from three, you guys might have heard of him.

His name is Duncan Robinson. He can shoot threes? You don't trust him? Yes, he can. But you also remember how many times you're like, Duncan Robbins is wide over for three. Here we go. Like, ah, shit.

Ah, bomb. Yeah. Merro, you told us the last time we did a live stream, even as you lost to the Pacers, you told us, yeah, Detroit's better than the Pacers. I don't fear the Pacers. I fear Detroit. Because of the physicality, the way that they were playing,

like, to a means point, that was a hard force. Even though the Knicks one in five, every game was physical and, like, scrappy, right? So that was a problem last year Because we were only playing six guys You know what I mean? So if one of them gets hurt Or it tweaks an ankle or something like that

Now you're assed out Now we're playing 12 guys 13 guys So if somebody goes down It's next man up And even if it's Jalen Brunson You know Something could happen

Duce can have a crazy game Tyler Colick bro Tyler Colick That's challenging Challenging Timothy Shalemy For a white boy in a year come on that's a line I ain't going to cross

that's that's one where Tyler Colick I'm like part of getting Arborado is because now you don't have to pay Tyler Colic like that that's part of that it's like okay this guy actually defends and he makes shots as opposed to Colac who I like him is a nice young player but I don't know

if I want to trust him in a playoff series having to deal with A being pressured up the court and then B having to guard somebody when you already got Brunson who doesn't Go ahead. Jeremy, get your shit together. Tias Jones, sources say, was traded.

I would hope so. Leaking confidence. Charlie Hornet to drink Tias Jones to the Dallas Mavericks. Was he drunk there? What was that? I'm luring. I hesitate to do this because I kind of need him to sit in that chair. Minor penalty, two minutes for leaking confidence.

You know what to go up the day? Hancock of the walk. Oh, look, Rachel Nichols is joining us now, too. We'll get her sound right in a second as we continue to rotate people. But can you tell me, Amin, before what it is that I was saying before about as wonderful as Brunson is, unless you're Isaiah Thomas, a player that size never wins the championship as the best player on a team. Does that change with the idea that now we're playing so much from three that maybe that's

no longer something that's relevant in basketball? the way it's played today. Yeah, I think it's changed in the sense of the style of play. You know, there was a time when they said you couldn't win a championship with a perimeter player of any sort until Michael Jordan. And they're like, okay, maybe you can build around a shooting guard. It all determined by the style of play. The other thing I would say also is, like, Tony Parker was finals MVP on that Spurs team

that won in 2007. He was the guy, really. Tim Duncan had taken a smaller role by that. point. So you can argue that it has happened before. The bigger thing for me is not Jaylen Brunson being their best player, not their best player, is can the Knicks have enough defenders on the floor to make up for his lacking, right? So that's the part where Towns' defense really becomes very central because obviously his offense is incredible that if he can defend, and he's defended well this year, if he can defend well enough to

make up for Brunson, then I think the Knicks will be fine. But again, it's hard, man. There are other teams trying to do this shit, too. Yeah, nah. Listen, I think, I think Cat, that's the take, right? That's the correct take. Kat's defense has to improve. It has to make up for the other shortcomings, no pun intended.

You know what I mean, that Jaylen Brousa has. But at the same time, I think he just needs, like, a foot reduction. Because he has, like, a size 28 foot. And I think that's what's making him have stupid fouls, is that he's kind of doofy with his feet. You know what I mean? So if we reduce them to maybe, like, a size 16, You know what I mean?

Like he'll be more mobile, have better footwork, that can't be right. That cannot be accurate. Size 28 is simply not accurate. That's not a real thing. That can't be a real thing. It's metric. No, there's no way that what you're seeing is accurate.

It's facts. No, Shaq is like 23. He wears a 20. Cat wears a 20. A 20 and it's snug. Rachel, appreciate it. No, you're very busy. Appreciate your expertise.

Are you here to also give Merrow, hope to this is the closest thing that the Knicks have had to real championship hope in 30 years. Is this team more capable of beating Detroit than last year's team? Which I mean, I need to correct you. That was six games, Pistons and Knicks. And the last one took a Brunson shot to beat them. Otherwise, it would have gone seven. Thank you for joining us, Rachel.

I know you're very busy. What are your thoughts there? Do you give Merrill Hope today? I always like to give Merrill Hope. I'll say this. I agree. it is one of the best teams to have a shot at getting to the finals, maybe winning. But it did get harder today. I'm sure you guys have been talking about it. It got harder today.

I think in the east there's this feeling that like, eh, the calves, they're not going to really be in it when it counts. I think they're more dangerous now. Boston got more dangerous in the last day or two. We still don't know what's going on with Jason Tatum, but even if he doesn't come back, they're more dangerous. So the road to the finals is going to be more difficult. I do think this Knicks team is more equipped to go down that road than they happen in the past. Let me ask you this, Rachel, because the Knicks absolutely match up before against Cleveland in a way that slaughtered Cleveland. The Knicks have no fear of Cleveland in its previous form. They have playoff issues that have now added a player in James Hardin who has playoff

issues. So you think what of what Cleveland did there and the match of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden both needing the ball so much? Well, James Hardin's playoff history is a little complicated, right? You can't really put it all under one umbrella because he's had some pretty phenomenal playoff performances. The problem is he can get tired and at the end of series, when it really counts, he's not there. And a lot of those times that you were thinking of, as I say that, that I'm talking about,

are times when he has had an injured co-star. So we think about his last playoff series with Philadelphia. He was phenomenal in game five, kept the most. afloat, did things that nobody expected of him, and yet in game six and seven, it looked like he was out to lunch. James M. B., uh, Joelle Embedd wasn't there. Chris Paul got hurt. Then we looked at James Hardin and we were sort of like, hmm, what do you doing, man? Kevin Durant got hurt. Kyrie Irving, in and out of the lineup. Those kinds of things definitely have a fact on James Harden because while he is out on the court, he's a bull out there. He's a much bigger guy.

Everybody here, you know, and I know Miro, I know Amin, we've all spent time with him in person, but on TV, he doesn't look quite as big as he is. When you are with standing out on the court, he's a large guy, plays physical, puts a lot of energy into what he does, and man, he's out there every night. We talk about some of these guys. You can barely know whether they're going to play or not. James Hardin's going to play. He likes playing ball, and he is reliable and consistent. So he plays most, if not all, game some seasons. And that is why we see him kind of tire out at the end of playoffs. If Donovan Mitchell stays healthy and I'm going to knock on everything because that kid has had just an on-fire season this year, James Harden, I don't expect to disappear at the end of

playoff series in the same way because the loan on him is just going to be completely different. And I think that's the gamble that Cleveland's taking right now. Amin, were you trying to get in here? Yeah, no, it's exactly what Rachel just said. He's a guy that in Houston, 78 games played, 73, 81, 82, 78, right? And then the minister, per game. 36 plus that entire time for his career. He's a 35 minute per game player. He plays games. He plays most of the games. And like Rachel said, it's not like he's out on the perimeter catching and swinging. He's got the ball in his hands. He's creating contact. He's taking contact. He plays a very physically taxing style of basketball in an era where everybody is trying to

manage down that load. He is accepting. And so part of his foibles in the playoffs, like Rachel said, running out of gas. Part of it also is we remember the really bad moments. We don't remember the great moments. So like all of those things factor in. Now you get to Cleveland. It's like, hey, I don't have to be the second best player. I could be the third best player of Evan Mobley takes that leap forward. So now you're saying, okay, I get to pick and choose. I get to conserve. And most importantly, I play in a team defense that's really good on its own. He gets to fit in and maybe ration out his energy a little bit better. amino acid. Hey, Rachel, so speaking of Hardin and the Clippers also a little while ago traded Zubots to Indiana, why are the Clippers holding on to Kauai?

You want my real reason? My, my fun speculation reason. Do you want my money? What do we want? All of them. Yeah. All right. Wait, I'm not going to say it because it's going to get aggregated in a weird way, so I'm going to let Amin say it because people will know the, I mean, what am I talking about? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know why I'm in New York right now. I have no idea why I'm in New York. I just thought it was going to be warmer. Look, first of all, I don't know who is, I'm sure they're taking calls on Kauai. I'm sure people are calling right now because between Hardin and Zubach is very easy to see where they're going, the direction they're going in right now. I don't know if someone's going to, I don't know if there's

going to be an offer for Kauai that's going to actually reflect his value. And I don't know if the clippers are going to want to part with quiet Leonard in the middle of this whole aspiration investigation. Merrow has to get out of here but hot 97 mornings with Merrill weekday six to 10 a.m. Host of Victory Light with the Kid Merrill from IHartRadio. New episodes twice a week wherever you get your podcast. You don't have a flag there for your country there. You don't have you don't have anything that you usually carry a flag everywhere. He's corporate now. They got to him. The money got to him. I'm in my I'm in my I'm in my studio. This is Victorite Studios. And I have the bodega gambling machine right here, you know,

and I also have various accoutrements. You know what I mean? I got the TV over there, and I got a cigarette machine over there. Oh, he's got a sick machine. I love that sick machine. All school, old school. You know what I mean? So yeah, I got, you know, bodega flavors around me. Before we let you go, I just, I said this to somebody the day. I loved that the last time you and I were walking down the streets of New York. You stopped. You took a highlighter out of your pocket and you graffiti signed your name on a garbage can because you're still leaving your imprint all over New York. I love that, buddy. I have to do it. I have to do it. I'm the son of New York. See you later. Congratulations on everything your Knicks are doing. It's totally infuriating.

Get out of here. Get him out of here. Thank you. Yeah, Boston. Boston and New York, thank you, Rachel and me. See you later. Boston and New York getting better as the heat fade. We've got seven minutes here left for the heat to acquire a superstar. Rachel, over the last few days of trades, who do you think got better best? I mean, we were just talking about Cleveland. I think they really changed their fortune, right?

Nobody including people in that locker room felt like, man, we have the chance to win it all in the east. I'm not saying not everyone in that locker room, but there were feelings around the organization. the change needed to happen. And I think that they are going to now go at the playoffs with a pretty renewed energy and renewed in different chances. So that's pretty significant to me. I think that Boston really upped itself. It's funny, the East is, quote, wide open, except everybody was in an arms race again. I mean, we've seen this happen in the East much more than the West in different years. One makes a trade, and the other ones are like, well, I better make a trade. Well, I better make a trade. The Nix obviously didn't feel that way because they really weren't in those

conversations in the end. And they think that staying pat with what they got. I think I think that's where you have to look is that clump at the top of the east as sort of where the biggest impact was made. I don't know. What do you think? Dan, this is such an embarrassment. We're five minutes away from the trade deadline. Like that they've done nothing. He's done nothing. It's embarrassing. Rachel, what criticism is fair of Pat Riley? Mike Ryan back there is furious. He's just, he's enraged that the front office has not been very good the last five years. Well, what do you think, what would you have like to see them do? Anything.

Yeah, anything. They don't have an answer, Rachel. They just want something new and shiny. Don't listen to him. I literally said anything. They traded nothing for Norm Powell, by the way, an all-star. And that satiated me for a little bit. That was a pretty good acquisition.

Yeah, they're 500 teams. They're like, who cares? Seven and nine in their last 16, and their 17th in the league in offensive rating after a good start. Rachel highlighted the reason for my frustration. And again, I'm not in a losing position. here. You guys have to convince the nation. I've been right. Every single time, the East is getting better. They need to do something. They don't do anything. They get lapped. That's my frustration here. And I thought it would come to an end. And it's not just Jan. It's okay. You want to tell me that

Milwaukee wasn't serious? Fine. You want to tell me that the narrative got out there that the league just wasn't going to allow Damian Lillard to go to Miami? Fine. We struck out on Kevin Durant three times. We didn't make any of the other ancillary moves to get somebody next to Jimmy Butler that could make a difference. Since dating back to the finals of 2023, it has been evident to everybody, obvious, to every single person that follows this league that Miami needed to do stuff to improve the roster. And they just didn't. They just failed. And I'm not used to this franchise and that executive in particular failing as much as he has recently. I mean,

Rachel, Rachel, all I need to do is I should have won Powerball and I didn't. I should have won Mega Millions and I didn't. And that's on me. I've let myself down. as I see other people doing much better in life and making more money, the opportunity for me was there just to go out and win megamillions and win Powerball, and then I could have been the rich guy. What criticism is fair, Rachel? I mean, it's not wrong.

But also, look, a front, there's a question with a front office that has been intact for, is it 20 something? How long has that sort of core front office? The heat? 31 years. 30, 31 years, 95. I was going to say 26, 27 years, but yes, 30 years. You know, are they bringing in enough new voices?

There was a moment where Pat Riley really felt like he was gambling and trading for now because he was sort of, I think he even said it at one point, right? Like, I'm not going to be around forever. So, you know, the time is now, that kind of thing. And they did make some bold moves. But in terms of what opportunity they had in this particular trade deadline to do something that made fans feel like, man, we now have a chance to contend. I don't know if they were there.

I didn't hear about any. And the Janus play was obviously would have been huge for them. But in the end, the Bucks just weren't going to deal. Well, do you think they were serious at all, Rachel, Milwaukee? The Bucks? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I think it's been confusing.

I think it's hard. I think it's hard to know what to do in this situation. And Janus has complicated feelings, and he's talked about those complicated feelings so much that it makes it a little bit harder. Janice, what he's actually said in interviews the past few days is, I love Milwaukee, I wish I could stay here, I want to retire as a buck, but he says, I also only want to do that if I can play for a championship. And he's challenging interviewers. Do you think that we can play for a championship here? And that sort of thing. The problem is that headline that makes it to Buck's fans is, I want to stay a buck for the rest of my life. That's all people here in Milwaukee. And so there's just, it makes it difficult for the front office to really know what Janus wants. He said at different times, hey, I want, what was the phrasing?

I'm ready to leave, right? Ready for a new home. I'm ready for a new home. So wait, you want to deal him. On the other hand, do you want to wait until the summer where Janus will have a little bit more sort of agency of where he goes because he'll only have that one year left on his deal. So he'll get to call the shots a little bit more. but also teams will have a lot more assets once draft day comes to deliver and trade because contracts will be up because they get more picks, you know, refresh on draft day, that kind of thing.

So it could be more advantageous for them if they are going to deal to do it in the summer. And then what is Janus saying to Bucks fans at that point also? It is a complicated situation because I think Janus is being honest when he says he doesn't really want to leave, but he also really, really wants a title. and he is prioritizing that more. Another title. He's prioritizing that more. And it just makes it complicated. I think they were genuine in having the discussions and seeing what they could get. I am not surprised that they're keeping him for now. Also complicated. Chris Haynes is now reporting that Kauai is not going to be moved. So you tell me what you think is going to happen with Kauai and Adam Silver. because a whole lot of people I hear saying around here nothing's going to happen,

and I simply can't believe, Rachel, given how thorough the reporting has been on this by Pablo Tori, that nothing's going to happen. I don't believe that's possible at all. I couldn't tell you because I don't know what the investigators are going to say. It's just, it's, it's too hard to sit here and predict. You know, they have a different standard of evidence. It's not a more stringent. It's just different.

and I don't know what they are going to come up with, how clear any smoking gun is going to feel to them. You know, Adam said something when this was all sort of top of mind in news conferences. You know, he said that a smoking gun doesn't have to be sort of tangible. This is the email where we said, you know, we are circumventing the cap. It doesn't have to be that. There can be circumstantial evidence that leads to a smoking gun. but I don't know what they are going to consider what they're going to say reaches that level. So until we know what their standard is, until we know what they find, I just think anyone who's

predicting is sort of just guessing is my opinion. Rachel, thank you. I know you're very busy, and this is a obviously busy time. Thank you for making the time for us on short notice. Always appreciate it. Happy draft day, gentlemen. Not happy. Draft day is next.

Happy trade day. Not happy. Unhappy trade day. No trade day. Why didn't John Morant get moved? I thought that that one was definitely going to happen at some point. I can answer that one. Yeah, can you?

Yeah, nobody around the league. Okay, let me be careful, not nobody. Who wants him? This is a little bit like your, this is like your Miami question kind of in reverse. Memphis wants to trade John Morant. And the way that you know that nobody wants him on their team is that he's not on another team right now.

This is not speculation. on my part. This is nobody wants him and the price for him has actually gone down. Since they have made other trades, what they need for John Morant is actually less because now they have picks from the Jaron Jackson deal. Now they have sort of their young core. So they are able to move forward and get less for John Morant and he's still not on another team. Well, let me ask you this. That is the answer to your question. Okay, even though I said goodbye, let me ask you this question and I'll put it to a mean after you're gone. But Jaron Jackson's a two-time All-Star,

a rim protector, a defensive player of the year, okay? So, A, what the hell is Memphis doing? And B, give me the historical precedent for what you just said on John Moran. Guy who was being talked about for face of the league a couple of years ago,

dumpster discount value a couple years later. You tell me when that's ever happened in all your years covering the sport. We talk about a guy, face of the league, and a couple years later, he has no value. I don't feel like that's as rare as you're saying. I don't know.

I'm not having like the perfect guy spring to mine. I mean, maybe you can help me. But guys, there's definitely the NBA is full of guys who we thought were very promising and beyond promising. We were sort of like, oh, man, he's ready to do it. And then they shoot themselves on the foot. Like, we've seen it. I think that with Memphis and what they're doing overall,

they clearly understand that what they've had the past couple years isn't working. And Zach Klyman in the front office said it. He's like, we're not in the mix. He's like, it's not like we're close and we just need to get through that hump. He's like, we're not. So they are clearly signaled when they got a great offer for Desmond Bain, okay, we're going to rebuild. And they were waiting to see if that was enough, if the team could still sort of operate the way that they wanted it to. At that point, they still thought John Morant was in their plans.

and that he was going to be able to come back and be the superstar we all expected him to be. And it was very obvious in the first half of this season that that was just not gonna happen. He threw another series of temper tantrums. There was another set of problems. It was another coach he had a problem with. And they just decided that's it.

And he's been available for trade for a long time, guys. For a long time. There are a lot of people who had the opportunity to go in and get him. And again, the way you know that nobody else wanted him is that he is still in a Memphis Grizzlies uniform. This time I say goodbye and I mean it and I say thank you again and I meant that each time that I said it. Thank you.

Bye guys. I mean, your thoughts on what Memphis is doing because they were real close a couple of years ago. It felt like we were talking about that team as clearly an ascending team that was going to be around for the next five years. It was them and the Timberwolves, Dan. Those were the two teams that were rising, young players, a new generation, They're taking their franchises somewhere, and they played against each other in the playoffs, actually. Memphis actually ended up winning

by making two less turnovers than the Timberwells. Because that series was one of the worst basketball playoffs series I ever seen in my life. But the reality is life came at them fast from three different angles. Angle one, health. They had a lot of injuries over that period of time, particularly also to jaw.

Angle number two, jaws off-the-court issues. That hurt. And angle number three, Jaws game did not develop the way it needed to, right? At some point, the league has a book on you. And so we're going to guard you like this. And so that's when you develop counters to get around us guarding you like this. Michael Jordan was really great. And then the pistons beat his ass.

And so he said, oh, I got to get in the weight room. And I got to get stronger. And he countered that. And then he's like, I got to take less high-flying acrobatic plays at the rim. I got to do more mid-range. And he got better at that. that's how the progression goes. John never progressed.

He stayed kind of the same type of player. Does that mean he'll never progress from here on out? No, he's still a young guy. But when you have all three of these factors, him not getting better as a player, him not getting healthy, and him not taking that shit seriously as far as how to comport himself

and what his life should be about, those things all conspire to bring the Grizzlies to where we are now. But you keep saying, I can't believe Jared Jackson for that little. I'm like, They got three first rounders for them. Oh, no, I didn't mean that little. I just meant that they're blowing it up and starting over and doing maybe what it is that the heat should have been doing,

given that they're just tearing it all down. I'm not saying for so little. I'm saying that they're getting rid of him at all. He's a good player. He is a good player, but, you know, I heard David Sampson talk about this earlier about winning 100 or losing 100. And I saw him today, and I said the only part I would disagree with is there are some stops along the way to winning 100. It's not either 100 right now or nothing. There are some stops along the way.

But for Memphis, once they began to realize this guy, isn't the guy, now you've got to take a step back. Can we take multiple massive steps back and help ourselves out by moving off of Jaron Jackson? They ultimately said yes, and they knew it. But again, before Mike says, that's what I want Miami to do, the biggest comparison here is that Memphis has been terrible. They've been bad with their guys, right? And Miami has never hit that we're terrible. I'm sick and tired of being terrible. They're just not progressing to that next step

because, again, getting these superstars are hard. And by the way, lest you believe, let me just get a zillion picks and then I'll get them in the draft. Look at what Philadelphia went through, through that whole process before they got Joel Embed and then before Joel Embed was healthy enough to play. It takes a while.

Even that's not a surefire strategy. You just have to figure out one way or not. another, how do I acquire that whale? I can feel Zaz's despondent. I'm annoyed. On me. I can feel, because we're seven minutes now past the deadline and some things trickle in late, but are we really in a position where the only team that didn't make a trade of any kind is the heat?

Why are you holding your head? Is it because Cam Thomas randomly got waived just now? I don't get that at all. That's crazy. He's a good score. That's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. He's a good

scorer. Yeah, but he's a rationally confident guy who might be a trouble in that locker room. Like that, you don't know? Well, I would say no, Dan. It's not that he's trouble in the locker room. Obviously they try to trade him. The hard part about trading him this year is

he has a no-trade clause. So he could have cock-blocked any number of deals that they may have had on the table for him for good value. My thing is, hey, I would have held on to him and then try to do a sign and trade. In the offseason. The idea just waving him is pretty staggering.

But the reason, it's probably unfair for me to go straight to. He's a problem in the locker room, but waving him and not getting any value for that suggests to me that there's something that they just wanted out of their facility. Yeah, I mean, I get it. Even if I

told him to stay at home, I still would have held on. I don't think I would have done that. I'm eager to hear what the reporting is about why they decided to wave him, just straight up wave him. I mean, if he was that much of a jerk, to be honest with you, let me put on my David

Samson hat and say, I would especially not have waived him. I would just say, hey, here's your paycheck, stay at home, and then good luck in free agency. I want to bounce around the league just a little bit with you here as we wait to see if there's any news that ends up

trickling in. But your thoughts on what happened with the Warriors? So the Warriors, I actually was tech to with Jeremy about this earlier. The Warriors hit that level where the Timberwolves hit, which is, you know, these guys aren't serious. And so, if

you're not serious about trading Yanis right now, then I need to do what I need to do to get rid of Cominga and get value on that. And so this is, I think, more commiserate with what Mike wants. The Warriors rolled the dice big time. Because they

said, I'm going to take Buddy Heald, who has been a good role player for us. I'm going to take Jonathan Kaminga, who, depending on who you ask has varying levels of value around the league. And I'm going to go get a guy who might be the most sick player in NBA history. I've never seen somebody miss more games due to illness than Chris Sautsport Zingas. Again, if he's healthy, then he's an actually really good addition for them because he's a good defensive player. He's a good three-point shooter.

You can't kind of single guard him in the post, all those things. That's great. Champion pedigree, obviously. but the guy hasn't been able to stay out of the doctor's office for at least three years now, right, since the championship. And even then he was dealing with stuff. That's a gamble to me. And you tell me that's the best deal they had on the table for Cominga.

I kind of say, really? And then I say, maybe. Maybe that was the going price. I mean, I think all the teams had ended up being interested in Janus and being close, had offers on the table, ended up either late last night or earlier this morning making moves. Clambese. Yeah, they did. And Miami appears to have not, which is truly shocking. If there was one team that reputationalally, there was a ton of pressure to actually make a move this season. It was the Miami Heaton inside the east. And they didn't. If I could say real quick, I mean, like, obviously you're right. I mean, when you say it takes two to tango and Milwaukee, like, they didn't make them available. They wouldn't trade them. The heat's plan then, putting all their eggs in a basket to acquire a player who is literally unattainable. That's. bad plan? I would say this, Zaz, the absence of proof is not the proof of absence.

The absence of proof is not the proof of absence. Just because a plan B did not materialize does not mean a plan B or a plan C or a plan D or a plan E wasn't in place. It just means that they were not be able to execute him for whatever reason. So what if plan B was, okay, I'm going to take Simone Fontecchio and I'm going to flip him for something of value. And every Fontechio deal that they had or create part of they had was like, You got to throw in a first. We still have the honest plans for June and July until he signs an extension. We are still going to be holding out.

We don't want to be that team that took ourselves off the table because we traded Simone Fontecchio for like Luke Conard or something like that. Well, they did that when they traded for Terry Rozier was actually when they took themselves off the table. Well, that's assuming that that first round pick would have got the deal done. You're making vast assumptions. Well, it would have been two first round picks. Yeah, you're making vast assumptions. that that was the difference in between Milwaukee's that sold and where we are today.

And without that, your guys are going off your assumptions because the deal wasn't done, that means they had no plan B. Well, that's not true at all, right? There could have been, like I said, plan Z. But if every one of those plans, everyone those partners is trying to screw you over, and you know, wait, I still have to have enough available to make a concerted run at this dude in three months or four or five months, then the best plan is to not do that. The best plan is to sit it out.

With the heat and with the Warriors, we were expecting to see more salary dumps, which we have right here. But Dan, it's because you don't want your team to get to the first apron or the second apron, and we have that going up right behind you. They're hanging the first apron right now. That's what they're doing. They're getting me under the apron.

Yeah, you're right under the apron. There's three Danny's in that studio. I think we're clear. I mean, yes, in a vacuum, I don't even totally disagree. It's just I've heard that for three seasons now, and that's where I reach a breaking point. Also, my Uber's here. Well, let me see if Amin has an opinion on should the heat have moved Wiggins or Powell or if they could have even moved Rozier.

Is that what they could have done for assets? Then, the boring answer is, you need to tell me what they were going to move them for. if you tell me, yo, they had a deal for Norm Powell for three first round picks from Utah, then I say, yeah, Norm, sorry, hey, had fun in Salt Lake City. But you guys are assuming that these deals were available in the heat said, no, no, not for me. I like my team. No, man, every front office in the league, Oklahoma City did a deal.

Like, every front office in the league is trying to get something done. But you don't think there was a first rounder for Wiggins or, or for Powell so that you can sweeten the offer and just go ahead and dump the season? So are you saying to sweeten the offer for Janus right now? Yes, well, they're going to be competing with 20 other teams for Janus in the off season. So wouldn't you get yourself in a better position now to have more picks in the off season so that you can make the best offer? So if it's for the off season, sure.

But then if you trade Wiggins, now you've lost what could have been one of, of the pieces that you would use to build up salary. Because remember, Terry Rozier is a free agent at the end of the year. So his availability of his contract as a piece that you can make a deal for, it ended right now, ended 50 minutes ago. Right?

That's the key piece here. So now you gotta say, okay, well, how do I add up to $50 million, which is what Yonis makes in order to be able to acquire him? I can't just give out, oh, now I got the pick. Well, you know, how do you make the salaries work? These things all happen within, like, a bigger context and not in vacuums. And you guys keep thinking about it in a vacuum.

Jeremy asked me yesterday, or, I mean, Zaz asked me yesterday. How does that work? Right. I think I could trade so-and-so for a first-round pick and then, and I said to you, Zazz, that's not how it works. How it works is like, what gets the deal done? Three first, get it done? And then if you say four, I'll say, okay, I'll go get that fourth one.

That's how that works. But if they're saying to you, if they're playing coy, or they're saying, seven first gets it done or whatever tactic that they're using, very quickly you realize right now I ain't going to get it. And trading Wiggins for one more first round pick. How about now? It's probably still not good enough. And that's why I keep saying you guys keep assuming the absence of proof is the proof of absence, meaning you assume because they didn't get, uh, yeah, uh, yeah, honest, that means they didn't come correct on their offer. Or because they didn't trade one of these other guys for something.

That means they didn't have a plan to try to do that. No, it means the plan didn't work. Zaz, it's an Excel. You guys want to get out of here? Should we finish the whole thing? You want to give us some more thoughts on the Lakers? I wanted to bounce around the league, but I think everybody wants to get out of here. I'll bounce with you.

You got that black? I only do Uber black. Do you guys think it's over? There's not going to be any more announcements. The heat are going to be a team that does nothing. They're going to be the only team that does nothing. I cannot believe I have to hear those words. This is so painful.

They stood, Pat. I can't believe it. A lot of these teams, Dan, again, I told you guys this earlier. We went from, you were supposed to get a $14 million disbursement to five as a non-taxpayer. A lot of these deals that seem like, oh, my God, they did the move before. It's just teams saying, I don't want to pay my taxes. I want to be under. I cannot justify to my ownership group that, hey, we paid this much.

We missed out on this check to get to the second round. What's happening right now? What's happening on the screen? Why do you guys keep doing this to me? Why is this keep happening? The Bulls, I mean, your thoughts on what the Bulls did? The Bulls did a shitty version of what most teams, I guess what Mike wants, which is like, just trade the guys and get assets.

Problem is they didn't really get assets. You got Nick Richard, you got a couple of guys, but you didn't come home with the draft. Nine second round picks. Nine. Nine. Nine. That's above six foot nine. It's a currency.

It is a currency. It's not as good a currency. How many first round picks is nine second rounders equivalent to? It depends on what kind of second round pick it is, right? If it's, for instance, Washington's second round pick all the top of my head, sure. Or Sacramento's, that's the 31st pick in the draft. 30 seconds. It's damn near a first round pick.

If it's Oklahoma cities, yeah, that's one of the worst picks. You might as well just at that point. There's a stage in the second round where I'd rather not draft you. I'd rather sign you as an undrafted free agent because then I have a lot. a lot more flexibility with how I can word the contract. What are you giggling about? The fat me? What?

Now they're making me. Oh, he's moving. No, you can't. All right. You know what? I'm going to end this now. It moves. I'm going to end this now because I don't like what they're doing.

What about Dallas? Let me do my Dallas victory lap, which is early in the season, I said, Dallas controls its 2026 first round pink. After 2026, they don't control shit. And so if there's ever a window, I don't advocate 10. But if there ever was a window to tank, right now was it. You move all those bets, you get out of there, and you build everything around Cooper Flag moving forward, right?

They did that by moving Anthony Davis. They didn't get to move Gafford or PJ Washington or Najee Marshall, who all I think should have commanded good gets on the market, apparently not, because they didn't move. But they did move Anthony Davis. They did the right thing. And I think Dallas is actually way, way more well set up moving forward, even even though it doesn't make up for the lucid deal. Quickly, you mentioned that you're anti-tanking.

A news item was that Milwaukee intends on shutting Janus down if they were to not move him. How is this not against tanking rules? I would say good luck with that because I don't think Janus is going to get shut down. He's going to rehab. And when he's ready to play, even if there are 30 games under 500, he's going to play. I want to get all of the mean thoughts on all the things. and I really don't know, actually, as we move along here, I don't know if anything 20 minutes after the deadline can trickle in.

I don't want to wander out of here and have something happen in the next seven minutes. But I am as frustrated as any of you are with the fact that the Miami Heat Basketball Organization, which has been the shining example of sports excellence in our community for 30 years, has taken this market from the football team and turned into one of the majestic things I've ever seen in the history of sports down here. I can imagine Zaslow that you are wildly wounded right now, that we're leaving here. I'm disappointed. And there's nothing that it's just the same stuff they're going to be playing for the Chicago's and the Atlanas and the Orlandoes. The Diamondbacks and Orioles are in agreement on a trade with infielder Blaze Alexander going to the Orioles.

I'm wounded. I'm tired. I'm sad. I speak for the group here. You know what? I'm not doing this with you guys. You can't keep putting that fat thing up there. And it moves now.

It looks like you're speaking right now. And it's, you know what? Just have it replace me. I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave. And, I mean, I want all your thoughts on what the Lakers are doing.

I can't get enough basketball thoughts from you. But, yeah, I'm not doing this with you guys anymore. Well, let's start with the Lakers because I really thought they did a good job of improving along the margins. They sent out Gabe Benson, who they signed a couple of years ago, thinking they were going to get Gabe Vincent from that 2023 playoff run in Miami. Instead, they got the Gabe Vincent from that 2023 Miami regular season where he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. But they managed to pawn him off alongside a second round pick for Luke Kinnard,

who's an excellent three-point shooter and an underrated creator off the dribble in some secondary pick and roll action. He also leads the league in three-point percentage. I just learned that right now. He's damn near 50% from three this year. Meanwhile, the sons, like I said, one of those teams get under the tax. What are we doing? We're barely a million dollars over the tax. They did a deal.

They sent out Nick Richard, who really was the odd man out in their center rotation behind, of course, Mark Williams, and of course, Iso Iigado. But they didn't address needing a power forward. And it's going to be interesting to see what they do in free agency. which is what's going to heat up right now instantly. It starts with the Cam Thomas waiver. Who are the guys that are going to get waived and end up helping a team that is playoff bound?

Jeremy, I heard you ask about the Kings not doing anything. DeMar de Rosen is one of those names that we expect to hit the waiver wire at some point here. Remember, these guys have to sign with their new team before early March, because at the early March deadline, they're not going to be eligible for playoff play. So that's one thing to keep an eye on. really also enjoyed the Utah Jazz doing something I don't know right the Utah Jazz obviously

their pick is top eight protected right if they don't if it if it doesn't convey then they keep it if they're one of the eight worst teams the problem is you went out and got Jaron Jackson Jr then remember the Utah Jazz as a team was had the worst defense in NBA history three straight years in a row that is a crazy crazy record I think we'll never get touch. But now when you add Jared Jackson Jr., does that streak end? Do they bring it back down? And now they become from one of the worst

defense in NBA history to just merely one of the worst defenses in NBA history. Either way, we'll figure out what happens with that pick as we move on. What else is happening? Oh, that's right. The Pacers adding too much. We didn't talk about this at all. Who is the second time?

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