The Deep 3 Podcast - Reacting To The CRAZY Karl-Anthony Towns To The Knicks Trade

Episode Date: September 28, 2024

KARL ANTHONY TOWNS IS A NEW YORK KNICK AHHHHH Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/ Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794 Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree Follow us on Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/ Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg Muhamed's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_ Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D 0:00- KNICKS REACTION 26:40- TIMBERWOLVES REACTION Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who has so much disdain for Carl Anthony Towns, you're going to be so sick when he's traded to the New York Knicks in seven, eight months from now. I promise you right now, because I've had this conversation before with a couple of other people and they've told me like, oh, yeah, what, like, what are you doing if Kat, if Kat gets traded to the Knicks? I will put my fandom on pause. I will go root for another. I will go root for another team. I'm not, I'm not rooting for Kar Anthony Towns on my team. I got some bad news for you. Yeah, yeah.

You heard the intro, Donovan, as the world's most preeminent. Carl Anthony Towns Hater and Nick's and Joyer, I got some bad news for you. This is the worst day of your life. Tell the people how you're feeling. We're here for our first emergency episode of the show. The spotlight is on you. You are the main character. I'm not going to say any more words for the next two minutes.

Go crazy. Tell us how you feel. Talk. I can't believe this is my life. I can't believe this is my life. I've never felt this feeling before. I have never ever had a player that I have, I guess, hated on so frequently and so fervently in my soul to now be the source of my happiness

for the next eight months. Like my happiness depends on big purr, and I can't describe to you how that feels. And first of all, before we get into everything, I told both of you I told you two days ago that listen the biggest question to the Timber Wolf season would be if cat could fit

and you guys were like were clearly they figured out the fit clearly they didn't clearly the Timberwolf saw something and they were like yeah this isn't working they saw it I saw it so I told you two

no two to go ahead keep going and what else Chuck if you have somebody at home right learn to love them because Julius Randall I apologize I'm so sorry I should have never treated you that way all right I should that grass is not greener I should have never I should have known where home was at because now we have cry at the town big purr in the big apple and I have again I still

have no idea how to feel this is fam the the Knicks had a summer where everything was good and they had friendship and they had good vibes and they had championship odds. And before we could even get a game of it, they traded everybody. They traded Julius Randall. They traded Dante Deven Chinzo. And they traded a first round pick that came from the Pistons.

I don't care about any protections. You know the pick is going to be good. You know it's going to be a lottery pick. Hold on to it. Please, what are you doing? Leon Rose, I tweeted it out. Listen, I just want to talk, right? We're not going to fight.

I just want to talk, Leon. I just want to know what you would think. because what is happening? What's happening? The fact that we couldn't even see this for a game. We couldn't see what Julius Randall at the five looked like. We couldn't see if there were any other matchups, any other players that we can go in and bring in

to see if we can keep the Nova Knicks together. The whole reason why we got Mikkel Bridges is because he looked at it and he was like, man, it must be fun to be playing with my friends. And then it was like, hey, you, one of your homies, get him up out of here. This is the where I've seen it already. I see it already. Like it can't be one of the friends. can adopt them into the group i see it all right i see the four for 12 game six oh i was looking

i was looking at the stats right right before cat has played in 30 he has played and started in 32 playoff games in 10 of them he has five or more fouls this man every third playoff game He's getting into major foul trouble. If you add three, if you add games where he has at least three fouls in the playoffs, that number goes from 10 to 23. He is in foul trouble every single playoff game that you can think of. I have no idea how this is going to work. I have no idea.

Jalen Brunton, now is your time. Please lead the team. I don't know what's going to happen. And I still, you guys are lucky that I went out to dinner. I had Mr. Mappo Pie. I had some little sugar to call me down. Thank God for apple pie. Thank God for apple pie because right now I am not happy and I don't know what's going to happen.

And I wish I could have gotten a game. We have seen a game of the way that it was supposed to go before Caratty Towns gets on my team. And now, listen, Carinthe Towns, let's tap in. All right, you're here to work. All right, you're here to work. Understand what the assignment is, all right? it's championship or bust i don't care about anything else and i hope that you don't have anything else on your mind either this is this is the championship year please lock in lock in if i see

car car car car car if i see you bowed out we're gonna have an issue please lock in for eight months i need you to be as locked in as you have ever been in your life i am Carl, I'm begging you, please. Focus. First name basis. Focus. Mr. Towns, I'll be nice. Please.

Please. Focus. All right. This is our year. This is our year. Don't mess this up. Please. What do you guys have to say?

Because I have no, I still am just like. All right, take a sip of water. Rub your stomach or something. Calm down. Give you some pat on the back. Thank God for apple pie, man. Thank God for apple pie. Well, I'm going to let you give your opinion on both sides, but that was a good intro.

If you guys live under a rock, obviously, Carl Eltie Towns is a member of the Knicks. And this broke seven hours after our new episode came out in which we gave one big question for every single NBA team. So if you're here now watching this emergency episode, go watch that. It was honestly a great episode. Like I said, every single NBA team, we give our initial thoughts starting preseason. The thoughts that we gave for the Timberwolves and the Knicks are no longer fucking relevant because this changes the entire equation for them. This low-key changed the equation for the East and West contenders

because now two of the top teams are completely different. We've got to talk about why the Knicks did this, why the Timberwolves did this, if it'll work for both sides. There's so much to dissect other than Donovan's rage. Mo, where's your head at? Now, if the people did what they were supposed to do and tapped in with that episode,

they know I introed with the New York Knicks saying, who are these bigs? Who are these bigs? Yes, that was your question. The big irritation was questionable. They answered that question. It's Carl. That's true.

It's Carl. It is big purr. And on big court, I like the fit because genuinely speaking, Don of you can't look me in my eyes and tell me that Julius Randall is a better basketball player than Carr-Anthian Town. You guys literally have an upgrade. Now, the only thing that makes me like, Carl Anthony Towns is much better than Julius Randall. But is he better Julius plus Dante plus first round pick?

Much better I think As an individual That's not the question That's not the question But this is an individual One for one trade And that's what

That's honestly That's what makes it weird Though That's what makes this trade Super super weird Because if you are If you are both teams And you just look at

like the macro version of this You are trading And a You're trading Julius Randall Who has been hurt The last two playoff Playoff series

That he's been able to participate in and then the time before that he had a terrible playoff series so you still don't know what kind of playoff performer you're getting with him and that's for a team that's coming off of a Western conference finals appearance and then you go to the other side and it's like yes you're the Knicks you needed a center you filled that we've seen I just laid out for you you have this seven foot guy who stands outside takes crazy 30 foot jumpers is always in foul trouble so like when we get down to playing Joelle and Bede Janice right and you're playing all of these bigs,

Kat's gonna get into foul trouble. You might end up in a situation where you're still playing Precious or Chua in the fourth quarter because Cat has four fouls. Cat has five fouls. And so he might not even be there. So that's why it's like,

I don't understand why you would take the risk if you're the Timberwolves for breaking up that court and then if you're the Knicks, why you would spend all of that capital to go get cat. I think it's important to know

who your front office and me really more importantly than that who you're, coaches uh tibs i'm so sure that he pushed for this trade like a mug because he's i'm shocked he likes him like that huh really i i feel the opposite i feel i'm surprised that he wants to coach carlidthian towns a defensive minded no nonsense coach that been there done that didn't like it and now we're bringing him back are you sure he wants this oh you're right i forget he did go ahead and coach him back in the day like he didn't like he got fired regardless of fact i'm sure that he

cost him his job thought and the idea of having to coach julius randall full time as a five because that gets pretty scary and pretty ugly yeah as a whole i i like it day one for the nix because it's like nice you have another legit offensive option who you could just throw the ball to whenever jaylian brunson is in hell and it opens up so much for their team now again the future is scary he is owed a boatload of money and that's why i might say i don't know I think that Timberles may have won this trade for now. It's too early to speak on that. But on court, I like it for the Knicks Day 1.

The assets are scary, though, and the commitment to Kat is scary. Okay. Donovan, let me try to walk you through my thoughts so we can try to get to the bottom of this. And let's figure out if you should feel good or bad. Because I think it's quite intricate of a basketball fit. I've had like two hours to think about this. One, we talked about on this last episode when we talked about the Knicks, like Mo said, who are these bigs? They had none.

their center rotation is Mr. Robinson who's already hurt and will get hurt again it is a guarantee it is written he can be your starter but not for 13 games in a row

so they needed another big we can reel on that you don't want to rely on Jericho Sims they would have started the year with Julius Randall at center probably that is a non-starter we were all like oh it could be interesting

let's see what tips can do with small ball they are competent for an office that was like fuck no that will not be good imagine defending a 1-5 pick and roll with Jalen

and Julius fucking Randall. It is nonsensical. It cannot happen. It's a buffet. So you had to make a move. Buffet. All last year, they made a run. We all said.

We all said. Julius Randall, good player, flawed player. Not entirely needed with this roster when you have O.G. who can play the four and be a modern defensive wing playing up a position because we know he can defend the post one-on-one. And, you know, we talked about the Julius Randall of the five thing. It was like, okay, maybe it'll work because O.G. could play play defense centers. He can defend centers one-on-one because he's strong, but you don't want him being this weak side and red protector. That's not Oji's game. You're going to get him

hurt as well. So it makes sense that they decided they have to get a big, and the easiest trade piece they have is obviously Julius Randall. You could have traded Dante Divencenzzo if you want by himself and got him like a mid-tier big. That's not a super available trade all the time. And maybe they like Kat more than Julius because we all know Julius can be a free agent next year and they're already iffy about him, always have been. Offensively, I think it's going to work. Undoubtedly, right? all agree that Katz better as a five offensively than a four would you agree absolutely yes yeah he's at his best when bigs are defending him because he's faster than all these guys and can stretch him out to the three imagine julius i mean jalen brunson doing his thing he's really good at getting to the rim

he's slippery as hell and manages to get to his spots in the midrange get to his spots at the rim despite not having great spacing because they've always had traditional big now we have cat there even harder to guard jaylon brunson we have mcale bridges we have josh hart these are guys I can get downhill a little bit and run a free-flowing offense with a stretch five that makes all the sense in the world and defensively I don't know how much faith do you have in Tom Tibido

do you think he's a true do you think he's still one the best defensive minds in the NBA yes I do I do I'll say that right now do you think Kat is one of the worst anchored bigs at the five in the NBA yeah which side are you going on is a genius defense coach gonna make him work or is the worst

defensive five you could imagine for this team when you already have a small point guard is that going to sink you because you've got to flip that coin and depending on how you feel about that is how you should feel about this trade well one we've already seen okay i'll tell you this here's i agree with what you have just said and i will tell you the the cope that i have come up for myself in the in in the last couple hours one while while while before this trade, the Knicks had incredible depth. I do think there's a situation where we get to the middle of the year, you still don't know who the closing five is,

and you have Dante from last season saying, hey, I was playing major minutes. I was hitting some of the biggest shots in MSG history. Why am I not in the closing five? If you're Josh Hart, I was playing 48 minutes a night getting 20 rebounds. Why am I not in the closing five? you have Deuce McBride who is also on a good contract saying, hey, why am I not getting the minutes throughout the game that I should?

So I think that this trade gives the Knicks a little bit more clarity of who your lineup is going to be throughout the season. And I think it eliminates the problem of any type of like locker room tension or uncertainty of who's playing on the floor in the clothing five. So I think that, I think that is, that's one good thing. Yeah, they had too much wing depth, not enough big man depth. and they reallocated that. They still have the best wing defensive duel in the league with OG and Mikhail.

OG can play the four. Josh Hart has played like pseudo-power forward for a lot of his career. I'm not super worried about that position. The only problem, and another good part is, Kat can be the starting five. He can do his normal Carl Lincoln Towns things from two years ago and before then. We saw him be really great offensively, better than he was last year.

But we saw him adapt defensively to be a four. He can still do that. You had Mitchell Robinson, and there's going to be plenty of games where he's actually available. and he's not Goldberg so let's not pretend he can be quite as amazing as they were at the Timberwolves

but that's you see the play style similarities there you have versatility he can start the five with the OG next to him you can have both together you can try it's a much

like you said it's a much much different thing when it's Mitchell Robinson and then and then whenever there's go bare there the other part of the options to do both again for the matchup

which is fair more versatile than you had before you had that match it's the same thing as with Julius Randall Julius Randall isn't a great defender I don't know if he's that much better than Kat as defensively as a four. It's, I don't know.

And as bad as Cat is as a five defensively, he's gotten better over time at certain things. He's a better defensive five than Julius Randall is. Fair. I will, okay. The other thing is I have come to terms with the fact that like, just because Kat is here doesn't mean that cat and like Julius Randall was the number two, doesn't necessarily mean that cat has to be the number two. And if this, if he ends up in a situation like we saw another X Tim Wolf in Andrew Wiggins, Andrew Wiggins is not the guy that you want to be as your number one option.

He's not the guy that you want to be as your number two option. But we saw, you know, he actually elevated it to be number two. But when Andrew Wiggins is like the third best player on your team, the fourth best player on your team. Okay, now we can do something. Now we're moving somewhere. It's the same thing now. If Kat is like your one or your two,

I don't know if that's going to work. If he is your third best player, right? If Mikhail Bridges and him sliding into that two spot is now a more efficient version of what we saw in Brooklyn, at least offensively, and then the defense

gets back up to where it was and Mikkel can be the two, in terms of, like, you know, hierarchy and then Kat's like your third best player? Okay, maybe I can get behind that. And maybe that will work. My thing is I think that the ceiling for the team, whether if it was Julius, and I guess this is just me being like a Knicks fan, but I think that the ceiling for the Knicks, whether if it was Julius or Kat, was championship.

So I don't think that the ceiling has necessarily gotten higher because I thought that both teams were. capable of winning a title. I'm not sure how much further up the floor has gotten. That's how I feel. I think they already had this potential to be this, and I think they had a pretty high floor. Maybe the ceiling wasn't.

Okay, so the Knicks could, they had no chance of being on the Celtics level before, but they had a guaranteed chance of being in the second tier with whoever else you think is in the east. Now, maybe you get the best version of cat possible, and it fully unlocks them like Christops did for the Celtics. I'm being generous. Now there's a higher ceiling of you before.

Maybe if you're as generous as you could possibly fucking imagine being the carnality talents and his weaknesses, maybe there's a world that can compute the Celtics. But there's also a world where it makes them much worse because defensively you have Jalen Brunson, who's Jalen Brunson, and you have Kat. Who is Kat? These are not strong defensive names by any means. And while OG is an elite perimeter defender, I think people assume because he can play power forward that he's like a Jaron Jackson type that can make up for a poor defensive fighter. that can give you weak side of protection. That's not who OG is. And I fear they might try to make him be that.

Because, again, he has a reputation of guarding Biggs. He can guard Biggs one-on-one because he's very strong and really good in the post and defending up in the size and that way. He's not some great rotate and make up for poor perimeter defense and block shots at the rim. That's not him. And that's kind of what you need at the Power 4 next to Cat, if he's going to be poor defensively. They're going to have to get creative. And I just hope it doesn't put OG in a spot where his defensive skills are being wasted

because they need him to be something he's not. I don't know. Mo, do you think they have a better or worse chance now of being the Celtics? I mean, probably a little bit better for a chance because it depends on you look at it genuinely. I think they get closer because they are better, but also at the same time, too, the massive holes that they even would have had with Julius Randall just got a little bit smaller because Carr Anthony Towns is in general a bigger body who can bang down though. but that's not how the Celtics play. So it generally just depends on how you look at things. It is now banging down low and the fight that is now something that the Knicks have had already as like a plus on their team with John Brunsons play style and what Julius Randall is. And I think still Carnity Town is a level ahead of Julius Randall.

So I think they have a better chance. They match up. They've already, they match up pretty much the same still in my mind. I just think offensively they just have another ceiling. Now, it sucks as we lose the little bit that desk, but it is what it is. I have a tweet pulled up from at Joe Mazula, Owen on Twitter. Carlson-Talans and his one game against Chris Hops for Zingis last season. Seven points, 10 rebounds, three assists, 30% from the field, 14% from three, 0% from the free throw line, seven turnovers.

Filed out in 27 minutes. All right. All right. Why would you read that? That's what's here. And that is exactly what I'm worried about. I understand all of the basketball fit in terms of like, hey, we're running this through 2K or we're talking about like how to build a team.

Oh, 2K, we're killing it. Yes. We're killing it. Yes. A player like cat fits into this system perfectly. But we've watched Carinthi Towns for the last like seven years. We've watched them for the last three years in playoff moments have stinkers and the inconsistencies and not even like inconsistencies.

the consistent failures that he's that he's that he's that he's had if we're being real that's that's what I'm worried about and that's why I said earlier I can see the the game six where he's four of 12 and you know three three of 10 from from three that's what I can see in my mind and that's what I'm worried about and for a guy like but before that what did you who did you have shooting three a 10 from three and stuff like that nobody you had I had I had Dante DiVincenzo who had an amazing three-point shooting season last year and turned into a very good shooter. And now he's not on my team. I don't love Kat against the Celtics.

And I think end of the day, it's about beating the Celtics. And while I do think they should have traded Julius Randall, I think that's a good move eventually. Like, I don't think he's necessary in the team. Cat being the option is weird. I think he might give them a new dynamic that makes them better than we could foreseen offensively. but he doesn't answer the questions they had he kind of makes them worse their rim defense is worse now

you have to give them minutes of the five Mitchell Robinson is a much better five defender and it's very important when you have smaller guards in the team which now you're going to be starting two of them in Josh Hart and Jaylon Brunson and obviously Josh Hart doesn't play super small but you know you have two big wings

and that's it you're not big positionally outside of that and Kat doesn't necessarily play big positionally you play against the Celtics they have four guards who can bandle the ball and stretch you out and they have a five who is capable of defending carlton towns very well he is not super slow he has the length to not let cat drive volume every time they're going ban for bam from the three point range i think now something i will say also it is

a lot easier to guard cat when you have rudy go bear just laying around not roaming around in the pain it's a different dynamic now without him sure but is it a big enough dynamic offensively that's better than what you're giving up defensively because because either one, he's going to be the five, and I think his scoring gets neutralized by Przinga's a good amount, and he has to be your main pick-and-roll defender against four great ball handlers. Or you play Mitchell Robinson starting against Christops,

and you have Kat be the four. And then who is he going to guard? He can't be your primary Tatum defender. He damn sure can't guard one of the guards and run around Derek White or Drew Holiday. I guess you'd probably put him on Drew Holiday and mate Drew Holiday beat you from the corner three. That didn't go too well last year for most teams.

I don't even think that's the right way to look at it. I think the only scenario where you play. the only scenario where it makes sense where you play like Mitchell and cat together is if you're going against the 76ers and you just need some but you can't the Celtics will eat him alive in picking rolls if he's the only pick and roll defender out there no I'm talking about that running that lineup specifically only makes sense for the 76ers not for the Celtics then nothing makes sense for the Celtics then they're fucked squarely because if he's guarding Christops and they have to

and he's the only option to guard Biggs he is getting put in a motherfucking blender by the Celtics ball handlers unless again unless Tom Tibido brings a defensive mastermind just a hell of a season he's a really aggressive coverage where he gets the ball out of the ball handlers and frenzies behind him with those long wings and praise that Carlton towns can get back unless we do something like that some defensive masterclass and somehow the offense doesn't figure it out then sure we're cooking but I don't think it helps him beat the Celtics and the day that's what matters all they could do this is my life is maximize how good they are bro and I think that's what they did.

The Timberwolves made the conference finals because they maximize how good they are. We're also maximizing how they can beat the shit out of the Nuggets because they knew they had to go through them. They are not maximizing how to beat the shit out of the Celtics. I promise you that. They are doing the opposite. The opposite of Celtics maxing. They're doing that.

Donovan. Sure. Question to you. What's up? What would you have rather had happened? Would you rather this trade or a trade being made like mid-season or so? Yeah, yeah, let me see how the other stuff would have played out, right? Like, I think, like, you, you had the benefit of, I don't think that the, that the vibes have been as high for Nick's basketball in, like, 30 years since the last time that everyone knew that they legitimately had a chance to go to the finals.

And the thing that brought McKell Bridges here was, oh, all of my homies over there. and then you ship out a homie. And so I guess, like, for the fan base, I'm not sure how that is going to go in terms of week one, not week one, game one. But then also, again, let me just see it for, like, one game. Let me see. Obviously, it's very, like, it's not ideal

to have Julius Randall play the five all the time. Like, that feels like a lineup that you could potentially close with or, like, your version of the death lineup where you played it, you know, in the third quarter, you blow the game out and then you do whatever. But can I see what it looks like against the Celtics in the first game of the year? Can I, can we get to, can we make it run in the end season tournament? Can we get to Christmas? Can we do all of these things to where I can have some type of picture? And then if we have to reassess, yeah, we can, we can reassess. And maybe, maybe we don't get cat.

That's fine. I'm sure there's going to be other bigs. And I'm sure if you offered Julius Randall or even aside from him, if you offered Dante and a pick, that probably could have gotten you something very, very valuable. So I'm not like, I'm not sure what the, like, what the reasoning for of like why I had to be today and like why this exact move had to be made. So, yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't, I can't answer your question in terms of like, what, what would I have wanted to happen? I just know that this right now feels a little off in terms of timing and specific fit.

Keep my, yeah, this is an instant reaction night of. So by the time you guys may be hearing this a few days later, maybe the Knicks will come out and explained and we had more reporting and it makes more sense. So this might age weird. Maybe in a few days we all understand the deal a little more. So just keep in mind at the instant reactions. Yeah. How do we feel about it for the Timberwolves? Because we've gone through 26 minutes of recording.

And the Knicks are like less interesting to me than Timberwolves. in this. What? Okay, so, rewind. Beginning of last year, we were coming off of a season in which I traded for Rudy Gobert, and it went fucking piss poor. We were talking about, again, this time last year, 2023, September, October, all of us were like, Kat needs to be traded, right? Like, this isn't going to work long term. They gave up a bajillion first-time picks for Rudy Gobert. You are stuck in the Rudy Gobert experience for several more years. Live with it, and trade carnalty towns to find a way to compete with Anthony Edwards, who's ascending. And then Pye was on our face all year because they came out

and were fantastic and were the one seat for much of the year. Cat figured out how to play the four next to go bear. It made total sense. They were true contenders. For 11 months, featuring a Western Conference final strip where they beat the best player in the world at his own game. For 11 months, they had this team

together. Two homegrown superstars. Carnotowne's number one pick went through so much turmoil with the team. Emotionally, in his personal life with the team and their staffers, with a million coaches coming and going, an owner dying that he was close to, everything in his personal life. The true's homegrown star came up and hit the highest level your franchise has ever been to

with another homegrown star who came in and became the alpha. It's like the perfect story for Timberwolves fans. And then after 11 months, it's over for seemingly financial reasons. How the fuck do you feel if you're a Timberwell's fan right now? It can't be great. We need a hit up. We, you know, we need to hit up Elena. What?

Chat moderator. We need to see what Elena is talking about. No, she asked me, she's in my mention. She was saying that she feels terrible. It's horrible. I don't understand. Once again, it's kind of like the opposite. It's the Western Conference version of it where vibes haven't been this high in Minnesota

for 20 years. And it's crazy that you don't even give it a second to run it back and see what's going on. And I, and to do it for somebody who doesn't have the same skill set to, at least offensively, make it work. Like, you can run two big lineups because you have Kat who likes to shoot threes. He likes to be on the perimeter offensively. And Julius Randall, like, yeah, he can space a little bit, but he's not the, he's not the shooter or the, he doesn't want to be out in the same places that Kat wants to be

offensively. Yeah. So now we might have the, we might have a couple of the same issues of like, you know, Julius Randall and Rudy Gober now and try to run into the paint, do all this up, and you might have some friction there. Mo, I don't know what you think about the Randall fit, but I almost feel like Randall's not

super relevant in this trade. It's been rumored for like six months. This didn't come out of thin air. When their ownership situation was changing and they were going to sell to Anthony Rodriguez. I called him Anthony Rodriguez. Oh, my God. They're going to sell to A-Rog.

And then they had this whole bamboozle bullshit where the old owner was like, never mind, I'm going to keep the team because they're in the conference finals. And I like it. That whole went down and there was litigation and paperwork came out because A-Rogood. Rod sued him, A. Rod and

Mark Lorry. And in that litigation we saw paperwork where they planned A. Rod and Mark Lorry, when they came into his new owners. They planned to break up the team and, in their words, shed payroll. Because of the second apron, obviously, broke boys. Broke boys.

Broke boys. They've been writing on the wall for months that they were going to do some broke boy bullshit and break up the team because they don't want to foot the bill and deal with second apron repercussions. I can only imagine even though A. Rod and Mark Lurie aren't here. I can only imagine that's the motivation to this. I'm guessing they want to get Dante DiVincenzo, get a pick, add more flexibility, and probably eventually move Randall again

for more pieces. And instead of being a big three team where you have Aunt Kat, Gobert, is three all-stars, they want to be a big two team with Aunt and Gobert and a bunch of depth. You have McDaniels, Conley, Devinchenzo, the new rookies that is drafted, Nasree. Like, that's a lot of role players. And maybe one or two more if you trade Randall again, maybe with that pick. That's probably the way they want to go with it. But is there a ceiling for an and go bear two-man team and if not is there a ceiling for a three-man team with those two and randall like how are you better off in any way unless you get the perfect trade after this yeah when i see randall in a minnesota timbrel's uniform nods reed mad as hell

he's like cat got traded he's still and he still has to come off the bench he's happy as hell he's happy as hell they had to pick one of those guys if they didn't trade cat they were going to ship nozreed out they had to get rid of somebody for this man's got his money he's good i didn't want to play he would have had his money play for the pisses he would have had his money play for the pistons if they didn't trade cat so he's up he stays so the number one reason why a lot of people are just like uh you know like rudy gobert's fit for the timberos is meh is because of what do is it is because of what donovan alluded to him earlier he's not like a catch-achute guy or a pure shooter by any means he's almost like quite literally the opposite of that he had to grow into

a shooter throw his throughout the entirety of his NBA career and even since then he's still not league average last year shot 31% before that 34 and the year before that 30%. There's an outlier year when he had his breakout year with the New York Knicks where he shot 40% on five attempts per game. That right there, fluky as hell.

Was that 2021? Yeah, that was 2020. That was the 2021 season. The year where no fans were there? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Contract Contract year, no fans? Oh, yeah. That's the same year, R.J. Barrett shot 40% from 3 with no fans? The same year a million other players did it? Like, there was

a lot of fluky shooting years. Yeah Keep going Yeah Exactly So that alone Alongside his play style Which almost feels like

He is Less Athletic 6-9 Anthony Edwards It wouldn't turn to his play style You got two brolic guys Drive into the room now Yeah exactly This lineup is so disgusting

I'm coughing about it right now bro I just don't understand How it's gonna work Offensive you and honestly I'm thinking long term Like yeah I'm probably He's dude Julius Randall as a trade piece

Like if I am Minnesota, I'm looking ahead into the future. I'm thinking to myself, hmm, them boys and new wars over there seem to be in trouble. Let's see if I can float along maybe, I don't know if they'd want to do this, but a Nause read for Brandon Ingram as some sort and make Brandon Ingram your full time for

get ridder Julius Randall or Nause reader, whatever it might be. No, no, no, no, no. Listen, NBA trades don't make sense all the time. I'm just talking about possibilities. And this right here is a possibility. Yeah, I mean, this trade doesn't really make sense. I mean, I get that. But the thing is, we weren't high on Kat and Gobert.

We were proved wrong last year and we had to give credit where credit was due. But I don't think any of us would have to come up here and been like, I see this as being a super good fit. They have to keep it together. So I think trading him in itself, again, we wanted them to do this last year. So they got so much better, but it's the basis of us wanting it. The basis of us having issues are still there. They just, you know, found a way to get around it. but the issues were still there nevertheless.

So I don't want to pretend that it's, like, I can't criticize them too much for blowing up the team when I thought they should last year. But it's like, to what avail? Like, now that we know where they're at, we know the ramifications of the second apron. Black people on Twitter are talking about, you know, Kat was a huge hindrance to their ability

to make moves in the future with how big of a contract he had. They weren't getting out of the second apron unless they had multiple salaries if they kept them. So now they have flexibility, but to do what? To get, find another all-star as good as Kat? it just feels weird because Julius Randall is who you insert and if it's to make another trade and get rid of him then why isn't it's a three team deal right now

they're clearly going to go into the season starting him at first and Julius Randall has always played with the traditional five so I'm not going to act like he's a guy that needs a spacing five to play his game he he's not a he's not Zion you know he's not he's built like Zion but he doesn't play like that he shoots tough mid-range shots a lot of stepback threes like he doesn't need a spacing five yeah but he doesn't make Anthony Edwards better and you should be focusing on maximizing him and was talking last

year like I'm not fucking with the spacing with cat and gobert I don't really like it eventually they figured it out how the fuck do you think he's going to feel about Julius Randall spacing instead of cat like he's not going to love that so even if it's a waiting game you're making yourself worse in the short term and maybe good in the long term if you can make a good deal maybe nobody wants Julius Randall it's not a guarantee you got rid of cat for a big ass if something that should not be undermined it is that, again, they did pick up also a 40%

3-point shooter on 8 attempts per game in Dante de Vincenzo, and maybe he was well worth the investment, even though it was just like, I understand, exactly. And you've got a very valuable pick. I'm not sure how heavy their protections are, but regards to the fact it's the Detroit business,

you take that pick every single day of the week that ends with why. I can imagine an instance or scenario that Julius Randall has another mental breakdown or whatever or just like throws his random his he fits and you roll up a lineup of Mike Conley Anthony Edwards divotent Donje de Vincenzo

and then Jada McDaniels and Ruehobar that's great that's small That is small but that's good The rest of the NBA is small I mean not really not the best teams You gotta be go through Yokish they're not small You gotta the Thunder aren't gonna be small The Lakers won't be small

There's so many teams out west Don't get me started out east with Joelle and Bede with what the Celtics can do like this isn't 2018 like you need some size and so if Julie Reynolds on your team he's gonna have to play a good amount

against many matchups yeah you don't want you don't want you don't want Jada McDaniel was trying to defend Aaron Gordon Yokic Lobbs down there like he's gonna get bruised up this is this is tough

this is tough man yeah I don't I don't know how all of this is gonna work out I think I think for the Timber Wolves this is just once again like hey Anthony Ewe're we're going to need you to take another leap. We're going to need you to put a lot more on your back

because the responsibility is ultimately going to be on here. If you're Anthony Edwards, how would you feel about this? I'd be so mad and irritated. I'd be so irritated. Don't you owe him? He's his first year of superstar him last year. And he makes the conference finals and they make it work. Kat had his up and downs, we talked about it on the last episode.

He's an inconsistent player. That's why he's a top 40 player in the league and not a top 15 like he has a talent to be. Yeah. That's who he is. that's fine. Don't you, if they made it work and your best player got you to conference finals and you

were like, you could have been in the finals. Don't you owe them at least one year. And I don't know, guys struggle with cat, if you owe them that or not. They're broke. Listen,

there were rumors. There were rumors why some, why, uh, why the, the A-Rod deal and, you know, the new ownership group didn't immediately take over because they,

because there were rumors that they didn't even have the money to be making the payments on the team like that. like that you know you know what i'm saying like there's been so there's been so much about about about the current owners wishy-washy as fuck he would you just said the money he used that as an excuse because he wanted to take the team back because he regretted selling it and now he probably first he didn't want to break it up now he's doing this like it might be this guys all over your place and their gm and everybody is taking the the criticism for it but they're just a bad franchise man like i don't know like again you don't you don't move like this you're not

I don't like the fit, so I don't want to pretend that they had to keep it together. But the way in which you go about blowing it up makes no sense to any party involved. It just seems like bad ownership. It just seems like a bad franchise. If I'm-Dante, I'm a miss y'all. I'm a miss y'all. I'm Anthony Edwards, dude. I'm feeling sick to my stomach.

Carl Anthony Townes is someone who he poured his heart art too. And he consistently was like, yeah, like, this is Kat's team. Kat's the best player. We all know he don't fucking believe that shit for real. You know he's that guy. But regardless of the fact, like, great leader empowered that guy and that guy genuinely helped make his life so much easier. And now for that to just be erased

and now get a 6-9 moody version of you is damning. I know. Okay, so that's how you feel about both teams. Let's grade this trade for the Knicks and for the Timberwolves. Who are we giving what? I think I'm going to give the Tim Wolves probably a B minus. They saved a lot of money. They got a Detroit Pistons pick

and also a 40% three-point shooter with a cannon on them. They got, I'm giving them like a C, maybe C-minus. They got worse now when there should be in contention when Anthony Edwards is owed the opportunity to be in contention. They have a less chance now of actually making that happen. They might have more flexibility in the future

if they can trade Julius Randall, not a certainty at all. I can't view this positively. It's a, it's the only reason why I'm giving them a B-minus because they got the Detroit pick. And so, like, the Detroit pick, now, it, it is heavily protected. It's, like, it's, like, top nine protected this year, top 13, I think next year, and then top 11.

Ew. Ew. That's not even a good pick. Now, mind you, though, no matter what, it's going to be a lottery pick. But, like, but, like, but. Barely. Yeah, there's that. But, yeah, so I'll give it, like, a C-minus on the Tim Wolf side.

And then on the next side, probably a. see because i i do think that defensively this is going to take some time to work out and for a team that was built on like grit and hustle and and had you know defensive chops last year i wonder how i wonder how much cat impacts that coming into this year but carl listen hey listen you're here now start purring donovan it's nixate if you if you can get the best version of cat If Tom Tibido can come in, have a magic wand, get all of his strengths to the highest level and just make his weaknesses disappear and your defense won't get worse, might be an A. Or we might live in reality and it might be an F because the defense might be untenable. I have no idea how to feel.

Listen, I'll see you guys in game one, man. Hey, man, anything else we need to discuss? I can't wait. I need to go to sleep. I need to go to sleep. I need a rest of the league, though. If you're the Nuggets, you're so happy. Tim Connolly came clutch again for the city of Denver

Beautiful If you're okay C The West is easy It's a lick now You have no worries You know The Nuggets are unsirious They don't care about Yokic

The Tim Wolves are uns serious They don't care about aunt Curry's old LeBron's old Cady's old Shit is sweet for the thunder It's just Luca Is you and Luca and Jha

Figure it out God damn Wild Times are in That's good A lot times are And if I'm the South Dix I'm less scared of the Knicks Now

You're less scared of the Knicks Hey man, hey, let's like your side Don't piss me off again If I have Janice on my team And I have Joellen beat on my team I'm also less care of the Knicks Wow Let's end this

Donovan you're not gonna protect Your new guy currently Wrap it up Wrap it up Wrap it up I'll see y'all in Tuesday They can be the cows They'll see y'all on Tuesday for the show

Come on When they play the magic They're gonna dust them now Fantastic I can't believe this is my life man If y'all are still here, go back and watch yesterday's episode, the full episode where we gave one question for every NBA team. See our thoughts on the other 28 teams in the league. Hey, am I, get ready.

The season is here. We are back, previewing the entire league. It's going to be a fun one. Strap in. Good night, y'all. It's 3 a.m. Y'all better spam that like button. For the sake of our grind and also Donovan's mental health.

Please. He needs the views or he's going to cry. Please. I will.