The Deep 3 Podcast - The Biggest NBA Failures Of The 2020s | TD3 Clips

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

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I asked you guys on a community post to let us know what you think are the biggest failures in the NBA during the 2020s. We are going to react to their picks for the biggest failures and rate it 1 through 10 based on how big of a failure we think it is all things considered. Okay, let's do it. First off, what we got? First one. Let's go read your souls. All right. The Sun's trading for Bradley Beal to make a big three.

Oh, that's a big failure. Yeah, it's honestly, I think it might be a 10 out of 10 because you got like you got, like, you got a new. no playoff series wins. Swept. Once you trade for Kevin Durant, you tell the world, we are ready to win a championship. You were absolutely not in a position to win a championship. And everybody just kept saying, like, even me, I understand. Games about a bucket.

Too many buckets? Not enough passing. You got to set yourself up for failure. I'm going to go 10. It makes it even feel worse than the 10. It feels like a 13 because how guys talked about this roster, meaning like Devin Berk, I remember in like a preseason interview. He was like, yeah, there's three of us.

How you go to guard us? Matt Ispia after they got first rounded by the Minnesota Timberwood's crazy work. He was like, oh, yeah, if I ask all 29 other GMs, which rather, which Russia would they rather have, mine or theirs, they would say ours with no fucking flexibility with a no trade clause on your team. You're crazy. His body was made a bullshit and he was like, I'm the sexist. Yeah, but he's ridiculous.

They died hard on this hill that it was going to work. And you know what sucks? Kevin Durant was coming off of a stretch of Nets basketball that was so full. fucking amazing that we had to get better for the doubt that you add him to what they got with devon booker surely they'd be contenders one move was able to nullify all of that this is the 12 out of 10 that team made the finals two years prior and then added Kevin Durant and stripped it all down yeah yeah this is one of the biggest failures in 2020s for sure super tough next the anti-flopping rule the rest were calling it for like three games of the season and then never did it again yeah i'm

going to say it to be failure because i'm fucking sick and tired of hearing about flopping this course, while it doesn't bother me, I recognize that it bothers other people, and I would love to stop hearing their tears about it. So yes, I do wish they think it's, too, this rules more. I think they need to start finding players when it comes to flopperiness. That's what they tried to do. Yeah. And then they never did. Yeah, man, I get it. So the biggest loser is Adam Silver not having a backbone. I do think it's crazy that, um, down to Adam Silver and not having a backbone. I do think it's crazy that the NBA just like implements rules and just stops enforcing them. It's crazy. Like that's insane. The floppy rule, another one that I have.

haven't seen in a minute a take foul well people stop people stop doing it because of the penalty so that's a good rule okay I guess but you're right some of these did happen sometimes where they have these like remember a couple years ago Jordan pool a call for like three carries and three games yeah silence for 82 more games it's kind of insane yeah stand on something if you're gonna make a rule make it facts 10 and 10 failure because of inconsistency all right next Zion Williamson and John Moran damn because I want that beard looks crazy. It never looked right. They have just their names. No context. No jokes. No argument

points. Just their names. You know what's up. Just failure. Just failure. They're supposed be next up. Yeah. We had a little gap in like superstars rising. We're like, who's going to be on Team USA? Because the NBA put all their marketing dollars into these two guys. They were supposed to be next up. And you know what happened. Guns and buns. Guns and buns. Guns and buns. Yeah, man. RIP. Salute. Hashtag guns and buns in the comments. Let me see it.

Okay. RIP. Next. Dallas Mavericks losing Jalen Brunson and Luca is just crazy. This is a generational fumble. It really is. I've never thought about it this way. They did lose two of the ten best players in the world.

Yeah. This is a generational fumble. We never seen the organization do this for no reason. At the same position, too. Yeah, like everything that Jalen Brunson, you wanted him to be. He went out when Luca when Luke was hurting the second round against Utah Jazz

gave them fucking 40 he was so consistent and then you just let him walk because you don't want to pay him too much come on man yeah that's the crazy part is like you lost both of them by choice yeah like you didn't want to pay Brunson and then you traded Luca Donchitz

worst trade in NBA history potentially this is we can say that for sure firmly easily say that all right worst trade in NBA history and it's funny losing Brunson is like kind of understandable in the moments now you look double

stupid because you did something stupid after. You did a stupid amplifier. So all your past moves look all the more stupid. They haven't been smart in 10 years. Exactly. I don't know. I don't know what they've ever been smart now. That's how stupid the Luca Dutja Trade is. We'll rewrite 35 years of history. That's what makes the Cooper Flag lottery win even worse because like, how do these dummies keep getting the luck? I don't know. They can't keep getting away with this. Adam Silverman. It all comes back to you. He's a great writer. You got a milk mustache? I got a what? You got a milk mustache? Do I? Yeah. I can't camera let me see got milk head eyes oh i do you dry ass milk listen i was drowning man you were i'm drowning all right next the king's fumbling if you

ever sing a boogieing me again i lose your mind he had a run man come on yeah he did have a run not too much all right the king's fumbling the twenty twenty three bean team Is this a failure or is this just like reality coming down to earth? No, I think it is. I think it is a failure. It's not a 10 out of 10 failure like the other ones where this is probably more like four out of 10 because you are the Kings like you did just have like a blip and you guys just played extremely well.

But to go from the beam team and all the good vibes and within 12 months, everything just be cooked. Coaches fired. Darren Fox is traded like so much stuff changed in a year and a half after that. That just sounds to me like some. thing that happens if you pay attention to history even a little bit. That sounds like the Kings being the Kings and a blitz not being the reality. We always talk about don't overreact the small sample sizes.

You overreacted to a small sample size that Kings being normal. You should have known this would happen. That's why it's not a 10 out of 10. That's why zero out of 10 to me. This is shit being regular. Yeah, it didn't really like one out of 10 for real. Like I remember going into the next offseason, Mike Brown was like, yeah, man, like we didn't really make any changes.

Meanwhile, every other team in the West is getting better. And they're like, yeah, our. growth comes from internal. Kegan Murray, you're next. Keegan Murray? Me? I'm Paul George. Fuck.

This is steep, man. I'm coiling. Hell no. My 22-year-old ass? Yeah, one at a 10, hardly a failure. Yeah, no one cares. Don't give a fuck. All right.

Next. Bucks going all in for Dame and effectively ending the Janus title window has to be up there. That's tough. We're feeling the effects now. All this goddamn drama of him will I leave will I stay will I leave will I stay do I like Miles Turner do I hate Miles Turner all of this stems back to the Damon Miller trade not working 10-10 failure first of all he hates Miles Turner sure that's maybe that's never been here that's one two of course this is this is 10

out of 10 like they were supposed to go ban for band with the Celtics and the east I thought that be better in 2024 after trade happened I thought this would be a Kobe and Shaq level dynamic duo that can't be stopped me too I was so scared oh shaking him my boots. Bro, they were in, they were in the, in the playing. Not in the plane.

In the end season. Oh yeah. The in season tournament. Making a run. Oh, maybe that's a good point then. It can't be a failure. They got jewelry.

Come on now, man. Yonnes lived in a trophy with Dave. He only said that because he got jewelry from that too. I forgot. I got jewelry to that too. LeBron's got two of the things. I got jewelry from that too. Let's go.

We all got jewelry. Back here with shit, man. Fuck. You can't even get the IST. We cast, too. Exactly. He's giggling. He doesn't have an IST championship either.

I don't think this is going to be a 10 out of a two. And have your titles up before segregation. Facts. You're going to say about that now, B. I dare you. Lakers got 5'2 before segregation. Just saying. We cast response.

No, you got more. Fair. Oh, yeah, 10 out of 10. Zero out of 10. If you valued IST, like us true NBA fans do. I don't know if it can be 10 out of 10. team in NBA history to complete a double to get to get two chips.

Slow down. Entirely too much. It's on the table right now. There's one Shay ankle turned away from it happening. Sure. Anything's possible? I guess so. If that happens,

I'll be so mad. We're the first team member to win two championships in one season? I'm going to mad as to score guard myself and taking that L.A. O'Brien trophy. Y'all don't deserve that. They're going to kill you.

It's also a good thing we don't keep it there. You don't know about that though. We don't know. Real question. We don't keep it. Why would I tell you when you just said you want to rob me? I'm just curious. You're actually inspiring.

Why would you? No. You actually think I'm stupid. I can Google this. It's like, yeah, I want to rob it. What do you hold it? What's the code? All right, next.

The Pistons giving the absolute bag to Monty Williams. What was the bag of the game? Is it a hundred million? Yeah, it was like 20 million a year. Yo, that's the hit of the century, man. Are they still paying him? Yes. You know what long it takes to pay off $100 million?

To someone you don't employ? They got a wave and stretch that bitch. He got six years, $78.5 million. Damn, he got a nasty. And then after he got fired in 2024, they still had $65 million on the books. Oh, my goodness, man. He was the highest-based coach in the NBA. And his ass is playing Killian Hayes and Kate Cunningham together.

And what I know what I got to say about this? Forcing the ball to Killian. This is the greatest. argument for Chris Paul's legacy, you are a top 20 player of all time because you got Monty Williams a generational bag by turning the 2021 sons around so unbelievably well, everyone said it's got to be him. I got to give him ultimate riches. Good job, Chris. I really did get people paid. Salute. Salute. Salute. Next. Guys forgot about how the bubble Lakers fell apart so fast. felt like basically every decision that front office made upheed

what made that team so good culminating in Lakers, Westbrook, and giving up Caruso for an insane bet on THT. THT, man. Thth T.T. and a pick? I'm going to name you several things that happen. Tell me what's the worst one. Train for Russell Westbrook. That's the worst one.

Yeah. That's the worst one. Letting Caruso walk so you can pay, Thti. Refusing to trade for college. Lowry in the year he could have been a championship winner because he won the key THD. Yeah. Having Mark Nassau, who's the perfect pair with Anthony Davis,

benching him and ruin your relationship for goddamn Andre Drummond. I forgot about drummer. Okay. That's kind of up there. It's about number three. What else? Firing Frank Vogel,

hiring the handman. The hand man. The hand man. Mr. Pocket. That is true. Forget about that. The ham man. Drafting Jail and Hitchafito

and Daltar connecting back to my gear. just a few of the small things that happened to ruin the LeBron James area of the Lakers Not a single good young player, bro. Outside of us and reason, but he wasn't even drafted. Just get your team to the trade deadline, though. That'll be all right. I know they locked in at every trade deadline. Got to a worth of conference finals.

You didn't even need all of that to be successful. Imagine if I had all that. So you didn't need it. Three Pete. All right. No, I mean, not really. You said, all right. They should have went back to back easily in 2021.

If they didn't have the short and off season, they still went back to back. if they just had a normal year dealt with that, didn't overreact, don't get Russell Westbrook, they undoubtedly win two championships in this era. That's fine, not three feet, but that's fine. I'm joking, but like, but if, I don't know. All right, let's stop.

Hell not. Listen, man, you beat the bucks in the war years. You beat the box in the warriors if all things are well, that's not impossible. Can you imagine LeBron 3P? Yes, I can imagine it plainly. It'd be beautiful. You ask me, can I imagine Nirvana?

That's a little brawn thing. I'm like, ooh. Yes, I can imagine Nirvana. never did it. Yes, I can imagine my wildest dreams. I see it every night. He had multiple shots at three feet. He did.

He did, he did. Never got there. Technically, everybody's multiple shots of three feet. You can play six years or more. Fair, fair, fair. No, got to single him out. 20-20 clippers. That's it.

That's all you need to say. Big failure. They're talking about the battle of L.A. Who's going to come out of the playoffs? L.A. R.A. R. They got the ass wax. You thought the neighborhood basketball courts are going to save you. Pat Bevan Llew was

We still don't rock with you like that I appreciate the goals though Appreciate the part Yeah shout out Making the community better Nobody give a fuck Nobody did Nobody cares

I will still play on the Clippers court With my Lakers jersey You have people Yeah media members saying This is the greatest starting five We'd seen in the modern NBA Yeah right Who was it?

Who was your starting five Patrick Beverly Paul George Kyle Leonard Marcus Morris Zubach I remember when they did trade for Marcus Morrison It was a heist And they had Montres and Loua

Coming off the bench They did Multiple other good players off the bench They were loaded They were absolutely loaded Not shit to show for it Terrence man Terran's man

Tough Not shit to show for it The Rudy Gober Stopper Terrence man Tough This not much to say Just 10 out of 10 And then everything happened after that

The fact that they could never Put it back together For various health reasons Of various stars Super failed era. All right. Next. Warriors going for the two timeline shenanigans. Shenanigans is a funny way to frame it.

Yeah, I mean, they got a championship out of it, so I hesitate to say it's one of the biggest failures. I'm not going to give it a 10 out of 10. But it is a 5 out of 10 failure. They maybe could have got another one or competed better and give and stuff a better twilight phase if they had traded some of those picks or hit on them or something other than getting the exact players they did. Five out of 10 failure. I don't know, man. I think they didn't win a championship so it cannot be a 10 out of 10. I almost want to give this like a 7 out of 10 though because it did soil all the years after that championship because once time has come and you don't have Angel Wiggins on your team

anymore. Seth maybe slows down a little bit. You offshore Jordan Pool, whatever. You all these young players that could have been other assets like, I don't know, a past Gossiakum or any other player you can think of who was a four trade at that time for that time. They would have been, they wouldn't be in this position right now to where they're fighting for lies in the plan, you know, and they're not even in the playoffs. It's an 8 out of 10 because the players that they picked, it would have been a success that they just hit on one, but they pick James Wiseman. He's out here rapping.

They pick Jiminga. He's on another team. His rap's nice. Come on. It might be. There's some good NBA rappers. Yes, so. He's like a Ken Carson type rapper.

Oh, brother. I think. Jordan Poole's been on two teams since he left the Warriors. Do I look crazy if I just like drink the Saratoga at the big ass bottle? No, do it. That are gangsters hell.

You do look crazy. Yeah, stop. The kingpin. Yeah, we drink Saratoga like this. It's so big. Not sure from the side. It's so. There you go.

Oh, I ain't like that. I ain't like that. It doesn't even taste. Just water That one was clean I like the one Yeah big failure Yeah

10 out of 10 man Yeah Pretty much sucks Definitely the big three Nets How that team never even made it To the finals Is baffling to me

Well let me tell you about A global pandemic Let me tell you about a guy New Carrey Irving Who didn't have a good time During the pandemic Let me tell you about a guy named Dr. Sebi

Yeah It's definitely 10 10 out of 10 10, for them to never get to a conference finals is ridiculous. I think about this a lot, actually. I like find myself routinely

every few months thinking about the fact that prime James Hardin, prime Kevin Durain, prime Kyrie Irving, were on the same team, played for nine games together, were utterly dominant and had nobody in front of them

to win the East outside of the bucks. We're up to O. We're up to O'O on the Bucks and he did one of the two guards to stay healthy, couldn't get a single one, and then never got back there. And they got swept the next year.

I think I split the next year. By zero. And James Harden, Hamstring, took four years to recover. The series of events that he's got all that's come true is crazy. The most unlucky fan base I've ever seen. They got bad luck for life, man. What does Josai do to deserve this? He has some skeletons in his closet that he got cursed like this?

Now he rocking with MPJ. The rock one of MPJ. And Yeager. Shout out. 10 out of 10, man. One of the craziest what-ifs in NBA history. You got like the eighth pick this year or something. They just kissing Fleming, Dem and Hoops, it's going to go crazy.

Super tough. I think they got six. They got six, yeah. I just know they moved down. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough regardless. It was last year. The Hawks trading three first round picks and a pick swap for DeJante Murray to the spurs to be shipped out in two years.

I forgot. I forgot the competition three in a pick swap for DeJante? This is one of my favorite failures. This is one of my top ten favorite failures in the decade because it never made sense. Not for a single second. Did it make sense to look at trade? young, see him get you to a conference finals and say, how do I allow my point guard to take the next step from my city? How about I get him a point guard? I never was that smart. Yeah, I mean,

I understand the idea because it's like, okay, at the time, Desaunt Timbury was like a good defender, top, top of his class, actually. Do you understand the idea or do you remember hearing them say the idea? No, I understand. Come on, I understand the idea. I don't understand it. Yeah, and you want to have another guy who can get buckets off because Trey was overtaxed and shit. I get it. Obviously, disgusting overpay. We're past those days now. 10 out of 10 still.

Definitely set our organization back. I heard them. Never understood it. I can squint and see the vision. You know what makes it even worse also too? Because like right after this, I think maybe like a month or month and a half later, that's when the whole candy stuff came alive and he was available to. Like you shot yourself for no reason.

Traded three first round picks. You think he would have liked playing with try? probably probably not no probably not what is katy like katy loves playing with a point guard kiddie didn't like playing with step curry

I don't know if katy would like anything could you could you imagine kady in film sessions when he's trying to be like yo trade you got to play defense and nobody's saying anything yeah fair fair fair it wouldn't have been pretty

he has a big time failure I can squint and understand the idea of getting a two-way creator next to treyong yeah that is not a jonté murray like the idea of him being this great off-ball player that could coexist with them. That's the hard part. It was always going to be taking turns and the ceiling was only so high. Exactly. That's the hard part. We didn't really like think about it fully offensively on as to how these who are going to mess together. They absolutely didn't. And at the point

the trade for him, we already kind of saw the slippage of his defense a little bit because the year before that he became the offensive star and wasn't defending like that. So the idea of trying to get somebody who's not trying as hard defensively anymore, bring him in and say go back to doing the dirty work. Stop being a buck getting star. That's never going to work. Yeah. We've seen it work, but in like way smaller scales like Aaron Gordon for instance Sure Hey go ahead and stop being like

Stop trying to beat the 1A guy And go ahead and play defense Jonte Murray is far off from that And it's different because Aaron Gordon wasn't ever good as a 1A guy Jante was just an all star Yeah exactly Having someone taste the accolades

Of being an all star And say go back to being a role guy He'll want to do that Never gonna do that He won't even do that Yeah exactly Exactly so it was tough Spurs ran off man

Mckeal Bridges wasn't even an all star for real He just kind of looks sort of ish like an all-star. And it took him three years to start playing defense again. But he's back. He's locked. He's locked. He is locked. They had to convince his ass for 36 months.

All right. Next. Oh, my God. The easy answer is Nico Harrison trading Luca Donchish, but I think the biggest failure has to be Yokic's playoffs this year. He folded so hard that now I think everyone unanimously agrees. He isn't the best in the world. And Wembe is better, and Wembe is the better center.

and now his entire career is being called fraudulent. Yeah, welcome to life of being the best in the world and not having any down periods. And finally getting in time for people to get the licks off, they're going to be dramatic. Why he biting his lip like that? Frustrated. It is frustrating. Anthony Edwards is around. It is.

It is a 10 out of 10 failure to go out in the way that you did and to have your chain snatch as best in the world. Yeah. I think like this decade so far We haven't seen the star player go out like this at all Where like there's no you lost You're going up against the team that doesn't have their best player And also they lost their best shooter as well You know what it looks like

Unfortunately looks a little Joelle and Bid lit Looks a little imbeatish Their worst nightmare getting fruition Now they're the one going outside Embed like Has anybody lost the war harder than Nuggets fans You look like a beat now? Come on, man.

Unfortunately. This is definitely up there. I hesitate to say it's one of the biggest failures of a decade because they just weren't as good as people hoped. So it's fine. It's not like you're the one seed. I mean, if they lost in the second round, that'd be okay. First round?

Yeah, no, it's a bad loss. No, Aint? No, Dante. I'll miss the game too. Never mind. Fuck, it fire everybody. No, it is. I think it's the worst from a superstar this decade, for sure.

Yeah, okay. All right. Next. Zachary Bruce Shea took him at pick number one just for him to be a mid-bench player. And that's doing a lot. Let's do it a whole lot. He doesn't play.

Mid. You wish he was mid. You'd be ecstatic if he was mid. Him or Prime Harrison Barnes. Oh, what the hell? I don't know, man. Prime Harrison Barnes is a bucket. Prime Harrison Barnes is a beast.

One needed. This is tough. That's all I could say, man. He doesn't even watch Harrison Barnes. Him or Prime Cory Brewer? Prime Corey Brewer. Broer drop 50 now. Zach doesn't have 50 in his bag,

So I'll take Brian Corey Brerner. I'm going to score 15 a month. He's taking prime court. Listen, man. Your three Zach would be straight. Oh, shit. Your three is that going to be straight, man. Just watch.

Yeah, okay. All right. Next. Adam Silver letting Solomon Hill exist. How dare he? Oh, talking about the whole LeBron thing. How dare he let this happen? How dare he let him end?

LeBron's prime. Did he get suspended for that? No, it was just a regular play. He didn't do anything wrong. He just felt. there. A lot of people will still cling on to that. Talk about how Bronn hasn't been the same since then. It's true. Yeah. At that point in 2021, LeBron was still like the fastest player on the court, still had the quick first step. It looked pretty much the same as he did in 2018.

Yeah, that was like the most freakish injury that he's had. Yeah. Doe for the ball, straight on that ankle. Tough. All that ankle stiffness, call. And now Solomon Hill will be in the history books forever for the LeBron James fans. Didn't LeBron say that he still feels it to this day in like some random interview? Yeah, I don't know if I believe him, but he did say that. He did say that. He said I'm not the same. It's crazy that he'd still be better without a freak injury. Like, that's insane.

Yeah, he'd still be better than Jason Tatum without that ankle. All right. Next one. He would be.