The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Giannis trade updates: Steph & Warriors best offer, will Wolves & Knicks get enough assets?

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

Jason reacts to the latest in the Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee Bucks trade saga including whether Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are the right fit, why the Minnesota Timberwolves should not break up their core around Anthony Edwards, why the New York Knicks situation is a little more complicated with Karl-Anthony Towns, and more. Then he discusses whether the Warriors should pivot to trading for Anthony Davis from the Dallas Mavericks and Andrew Wiggins from the Miami Heat and whether the Los Angeles Lakers should trade for DeAndre Hunter to put around Luka Doncic and LeBron James. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet.  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She's an outsider to win the French win. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any service. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. The Volume. Welcome to Hoops tonight here at The Volume.

Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. Have a jam-pack show for you guys today. We're going to be diving into some more trade deadline stories. So obviously some of the dust has settled from the Janus pseudo trade request that went down on Wednesday. the trade request that wasn't a trade request. But I want to dig into some additional angles, especially with teams like Minnesota and New York.

And I also want to dig back into the Golden State angle and why I understand some of the hesitation from Janus specifically. I want to talk about the rumored pivot for Golden State surrounding Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis. And then at the tail end of the show, I want to talk a little bit about some of the rumors surrounding DeAndre Hunter and what he could do if he were moved to the Los Angeles Lakers. and some of my concerns about that potential deal.

You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops and out YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like this video that helps us a lot over on YouTube. And then last minute, at least, if you want to get mailback questions into our mailbag, we already did a weekly mailbag this week, but we'll be doing, getting back to them on Friday, starting next week. If you want to get questions in for that, just drop them in the YouTube comments. All right, mailbag with a colon, write your question that helps me sort them out in the comments

and we'll get to them in our mailbag start the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. With the Janus Trade Saga, bear with me, I'm feeling a little under the weather, so I'm having a little trouble talking today. But there's three additional angles that I want to get into. First is the idea of Minnesota and New York and the idea of them potentially achieving the draft compensation they need via moving important role players. So these two teams popped up in the Shams reporting that came from ESPN the other night. So we can acknowledge, first of all, like why teams like gold is. state and Miami are more immediately appealing in this sort of discussion because they just

have draft picks that they can throw onto the table, right? And Miami in particular also has the means with which to potentially achieve more draft compensation through some of their higher level role players, right? So that's why they're in the position that they're in. Minnesota and New York, neither of them have anywhere near enough draft compensation to get into this discussion, right? So after doing more digging, it appears that they're looking at multi-trade scenarios or multi-team constructs within a single trade that involve using guys like Jada McDaniels or maybe a McAle Bridges or an OG and an OB and OB. To bring in the necessary draft compensation to facilitate a deal for Janus.

This is where this type of trade can get super complicated and very risky. Now, I will say between those two teams, I think it makes more sense for New York than it does for Minnesota and we'll get into Y in just a minute. But with both constructs, you'd basically have to bring back at least three first round picks. And that would be tough to do for either team. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where the draft compensation you get for a McDaniel or for a Jada McDaniels is also enough to get you Yonnes and Tenacumpo, right? There's a little bit of a disconnect to there. Like, would you have to move multiple high level role players? Like, Would Minnesota have to flip Dante Divencenzo to get additional draft compensation?

Or would New York have to do something similar with like a Mitchell Robinson or something to get enough draft compensation? It just gets complicated. So I think based on that fact alone, it's somewhat unlikely still for both of these teams. But as a thought exercise, kind of similar. Remember when we talked about the J. Dub for Trey Murphy thing this earlier this week? I meant that more as a thought exercise surrounding archetypes of players. Like, would a guy like Trey Murphy fit Che better necessarily than a J. Dub? It was just a thought exercise.

Similarly, if we can just pretend that New York and Minnesota can get the amount of first round draft compensation that they need to get Janus, does it make sense as a thought exercise for these teams to break up the construct of their team to chase? So let's start with Minnesota. And that's the team in particular that I hate this idea for. So let's again, pretend that you're able to get this deal done just by moving Jada McDaniels for picks, then rerouting salary and those picks to Milwaukee for Yannis, which again, I think is pretty unlikely. You might have to trade a Dante DiVincenzo or a Nas read as well to get additional draft compensation to actually win that type of bidding war. But let's say it's just Jaden

McDaniels. He's a 25-year-old who's played in 70 plus games four. years in a row, played in 82 games last year, has only missed two games this season, and is having an absurd career year. He's shooting 44% from three. He's had 11, 20 point games this year. He's one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, just all around one of the best role players in the entire NBA. After you get at, like, once you move on from Jaden and aunt, the rest of the roster is a little bit on the older side. Rudy Gobert's 33. Julius Randall is 31. Dante Vincenzo's even in his late 20s now. You move Jaden. You bring back a 31 year old Janus who's been having injury issues, right? Now, to be clear, Anton Janus is a monster duo. I definitely

think they'd be at least a little better in the short term. I'm a big believer in do not overthink things when it comes to talent upgrades. Like, this is not trading important role players for an older Russell Westbrook. Like that wasn't a bad deal just because they sent out good role players. It was a bad deal because they sent out good role players in a first round draft pick for a player that was a star that was incapable of producing like a star. Like that was the problem with the Russell Westbrook trade, right? Yonis is still a bona fide top tier superstar. and his game compliments and well, they'd be great together. But in that event, even though you would be better in the short term,

your chances of sustainability greatly diminished. We've talked about this concept a lot this week. When you've got a young superstar, superstar in his mid-20s, early 20s, you're looking for sustainable success so that you don't have a guy get into his late 20s and start asking for trades or seeking him, a pathway through free agency to find greener pastures.

You want to have sustainable success. Jaden McDaniels is the closest thing on that Minnesota roster to a guy that you feel certain can be in the trenches with Ant winning high-level playoff games for at least the next half decade. Everyone else on that list, Yonis included, is a question mark.

I don't necessarily see Rudy Gobert, being the foundational piece for a championship contender at 38 or Julius Randall at 36 or even Dante DiVincenzo at 33. But I feel pretty good about Jaden McDaniels being a dude who can be a running mate with Ant for at least the next five years. Trading for Janus now could very well be the thing that has you trading Anthony Edwards in a few years because Gobert goes down a level. and Janus goes down a level or has some injury issues. And suddenly you got Ant alongside a bunch of really old NBA players that are underachieving in a Western conference with OKC and San Antonio that are having sustainable success.

And now all of a sudden you're shipping Anthony Edwards off and you're stuck in purgatory if you're Minnesota. That's the risk. And then as soon as you have to start including additional guys, like if you do trade Dante, you suddenly have an extremely weak guard core after Anthony Edwards, and it's already a weak guard core after Anthony Edwards. If you trade Nas Reid, all of a sudden your front court depth disappears, or some of the lineup versatility you have building lineups around a center that can shoot threes. Like there is a lot of potential downfalls that come with that kind of move for a short-term

upside at almost certainly a sacrifice of your long-term sustainability. And you guys know how I feel about Minnesota. I like this Timberwolves team because Ant has gotten so much better, because Jada McDaniels having a career year on offense, because Rudy Gobert is catching and finishing around the basket better than ever, I view them as a top tier contender. I know Oklahoma City is dealing with a bunch of injuries. And obviously when AJ Mitchell and J. Dub are out, they struggle to generate offense when Shea's off the floor. But I've completely changed my opinion about the Minnesota Oklahoma City matchup compared. to how I felt after the postseason last year. They've had enough internal improvement that I actually think they have a real shot to beat Oklahoma City, even just within this season as currently constructed, even if they don't even make a smaller trade for like a Kobe White as a guard or for some sort of role player upgrade somewhere on the roster. Like, I really like this Timberwolves team. And I think they have some sustainability. So I don't love the idea. Like, all you need is Barron Jada hit. And, you know, like if just Barron J hits, him, Jaden, and aunt are a pretty strong

foundation three, four years from now after some of these guys age out. Like they have some possibility for sustainability as is. So I don't like the risk reward proposition. I don't think it's just you add Janus and then it's happily ever after from there. There's a short term risk in the form of lost depth and a long term risk in the loss of sustainability. ability. So I do not like this for Minnesota at all. I'm super excited to tell you guys about our partnership with Viori. Those of you guys who are familiar with Viori have noticed I've been wearing it on the show a ton over the last few years. It's become a workhorse for me. Today I'm wearing the seaside pullover hoodie, one that I just got that I've really enjoyed. I wore it out on a cold,

windy day the other day, and it was super warm and comfortable throughout. They make all sorts of stuff. I love their athleisure stuff. I wear that stuff on the show all the time. You've seen me wear the Ponto Performance T-shirt, an excellent t-shirt. I think it's the best. I think it's the t-shirt in the game right now. I also wear some of their Ponto Performance hoodies and sweatpants when I go to the gym. There's a lot of versatility with Viori clothing. It's super durable. You can wash it a million times and it maintains the same quality that you expect when you purchase a piece of Viori clothing, but it's versatile. I can wear it in casual settings like around my house. I can wear it

here on the show. I can also wear it when I go out to lunch with my wife or when I go out shopping or go out and run errands with her. There's a ton of versatility and utility in your wardrobe when you go through Viori. Viori is an investment in your happiness. For our listeners, they are offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at Viori.com slash hoops. That's V-U-O-R-I dot com slash H-O-O-P-S.

Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over $75. in free returns. Go to viori.com slash hoops and discover the versatility of Viori clothing. Exclusions apply.

Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up the name Hey Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. The athlete, themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabakina. is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface

because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Now, the Knicks conversation, more complicated. It depends on how you view the Knicks this year.

I don't view them as a top tier contender, but at the same time, I do think they have by far their best chance to win the Eastern Conference compared to the last few seasons. As a matter of fact, I still think if I had to make a pick today for who is going to win the East, I'd probably pick the Knicks. I'm not super confident in that pick. I don't think they're a runaway favorite or anything, but among a bunch of flawed candidates,

I think they have the best overall playoff package. for ability to win three rounds in that Eastern Conference. But I didn't even view them threats as threats at all in previous seasons. So I do think that this is a better landscape for the Knicks than the previous years. But the East is super open. They definitely can win it all this year. They've won four in a row. They're starting to look good again.

They've had strong metrics. So I've been less worried about them in their slump than most. So the risk for this particular situation when New York is the exact same sort of risk. that we talked about with Minnesota. If you give up multiple high-level role players to bring in the picks that you need to get Janus, let's say you do have to give up, you know, some version of out of Mikhail Bridges,

Josh Hart, O'GNan, O'Neumby, and Mitchell Robinson, let's say you have to give up two of those guys. Just as an example, in that scenario, you run the risk of rebuilding the Damian Lillard, Janice, and Tenacompo, Milwaukee Bucks. having an elite guard plus Janus and nowhere near enough two-way talent around them to win four playoff rounds.

I'm not saying that's guaranteed to happen. To be clear, Brunson is a better basketball player than Damian Lillard was when he went to Milwaukee. And the Knicks should at least be able to keep one of O.J. and Mikhail in this instance. So they'll have some two-way talent on the wing. But the risk is similar in that they could get a second star and still not be good enough. So I bring it back to the very beginning.

It comes down to how you feel about this version of the Knicks. If you're sitting there thinking, this team is going nowhere, fuck it, let's just try something, then yeah, I think it makes some sense. If you think this team's going nowhere, why not pair Brunson and Janus and just see what happens? You know, compared to Minnesota, we're totally different because I actually think they're a top-tier contender, this season as currently constructed, even without any trade. If you feel differently, if you're like, hey, we can win the East. Who knows who will limp out of that Western Conference bloodbath? We've seen Oklahoma City if they lose one of their ball handlers, they suddenly become very beatable.

We've seen that Denver has a bunch of guys that are injury prone. Stephen Adams is down now for Houston. You see a San Antonio offense that can go really cold that New York has demonstrated the ability to beat. Like, there is a chance that somebody limps out of the West and the Knicks can beat them. If you feel that way, then do not mess with it. Don't go and do something that risky and blow your opportunity potentially to compete. So again, that the best way I can kind of synthesize that down is trading for Janus is not like trading for 26 year old Luca Donchich. It's not like, trading for 35 year old Paul George either. It's in the middle of there somewhere. Extremely high upside, but some real age and injury risk. This is guy who's missed eight of his team's last

16 playoff games. He's had multiple calf injuries that have taken him out for a month plus this season. Like, it is a different level of risk reward factor than some of these other younger superstars around the league. So again, if you don't think the Knicks have any chance, by all means, go after Yannis. But be aware that there's a lot of risk there. For Minnesota in particular, I think it's nowhere near worth it, even though it can be tantalizing to think about Anthony Edwards and Yonis Antenacoumpo playing together. Second thing I want to hit on the honest trade front.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the idea that the bucks might wait until this offseason. There are some teams that can't really get involved until then because of various factors, whether it's, you know, poison pill contracts or everyone gets access to an additional 233 first round pick when you get. get to the off season, right? So that could be an extra pick for everybody to include. I've talked about like a random deal involving like Orlando's flipping Palo Bancaro for Janus and Tenancumpo as an option. They can't do that really feasibly until this coming

summer, right? So like maybe this off season is the situation where you could get a little bit more for Janus. If I'm Janus, I am raising hell behind the scenes to make sure that doesn't happen. if it's all just a ploy and i like a method with which to negotiate you know to get more leverage so you can get some better offers fine but if i'm yonis the idea of sacrificing yet another year of my prime wasting a playoff run for a bucks team that has literally no shot just so the bucks can like maybe get a different young player they like or maybe get a better draft pick? I think that's downright disrespectful to Janus. He brought a championship to Milwaukee. Asking him to delay his opportunity to compete in real high leverage basketball when he's in his

30s just so you can get an extra first round pick or maybe a better first round pick. It's just not a sure thing. If you knew for sure, like, if it was like, oh, if I wait till the summer, I'm going to get a.J. DeBanza, yeah, it's a different discussion. But like, when you're talking about specifically a chance at something slightly better, I think that's unfair to put

Janus in that position. If Janus wants to go now, if he wants to go play and play meaningful basketball right now, the Bucks should facilitate that. Similarly, niche option. So let's say a team like, you know,

Atlanta wanted to get involved. or Brooklyn. I saw Brooklyn get thrown around. Like Brooklyn has a million draft picks. You know, they could throw something insane for Janus. And look, Brooklyn has some young players that I really like. But if I'm Janus, I have no interest in wasting my early 30s trying to carry a Brooklyn Nets team or an Atlanta Hawks team. And again, they have Atlanta in particular, like Atlanta with Yonnes, they'd be feisty. They'd be a decent team. But they're not competing in this loaded top tier in the NBA. So like anything that sends Janus to play more low leverage basketball,

whether that's in a Brooklyn or in Atlanta, or it's still in Milwaukee, if I'm Yonis, I'm like, hell no, man. If we're doing this, let's do this. And it's like the bucks are headed for a substantial rebuild no matter what. It's not like if you make a deal this summer, you're moving your contention timeline up multiple years. Like, you're headed for a three, four year rebuild no matter what. So do right by Janus, a guy who put his body on the line for the better part of a decade

to win you a championship, do right by him by sending him to a place where he can play meaningful basketball in the short term. Last thing on the honest front. This Golden State upcoming rebuild. Steph turns 38 in March. I like Golden State the most out of all the available possibilities. I think Giannis and Steph are a beautiful basketball fit. I think they'd play the type of basketball that all of us basketball fans would love to watch.

I think that team would contend, but not be some sort of unbeatable juggernaut that would leave basketball fans feeling hollow if they won. I just think it'd be great for Janus, great for Steph, and great for the NBA. but I do understand why Janus would have some concern about sustainability there. Even though I do love Golden State as a short-term option in this particular case for Janus. If Janus goes to Golden State, he's probably getting traded again in two or three years when Steph retires. Because if Steph turns 40 and he decides I'm not playing anymore or if he's, experiences some sort of dramatic drop-off,

the Warriors do not have the type of foundation to keep Janus in the bay. They don't have enough talent. So I understand why Janus would look at partnerships with the Jalen Brunson or in Anthony Edwards and go like, this is an opportunity for me to potentially finish my career in this spot. And I could see why that would be an upside for him.

That doesn't change the fact that I still think Golden State is the best place for Janus. And it's definitely what I'm really. rooting for as a basketball fan. But if I saw a report come out on Tuesday next week that was like, Janice has scratched Golden State off of his list of preferred destinations because he doesn't want to have to be traded again in two or three years, I would at least understand that.

My thing is, go in a title with Steph and stamp yourself in basketball eternity. Don't worry about the next part of it. That's just kind of my perspective, but I at least understand. and Janice's point of view there if he were to decide to look elsewhere. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Sportsbook. Listen, we talk a lot about hoops on this show, but everyone's locked in on next Sunday's big game. I cannot wait to see Seahawks versus Patriots.

Hard Rock Bet has all the different ways you can get in on Sunday's action. If you haven't signed up with Hard Rock Bet, there's never been a better time. This week, they're launching a brand new welcome offer for customers. Plus, Hard Rock Bet is kicking off its $7 million big game bonus party available to all users. You're definitely not going to want to miss that. And if you're in Florida or New Jersey, the big game energy doesn't just live exclusively on the app.

Head to a Hard Rock Casino property for drawings, giveaways, and all the excitement leading up to kickoff. Hard Rock Bet also offers new promos every day. So if you're listening to this later, just open up the app and check out what you've got any day of the week. That's Hard Rock Bet. download the Hard Rock Beck app and make your first deposit today.

Payable and bonus bets, not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling, in Florida, call 1-8-33 play-wise. In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help,

call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential. title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs.

And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina. But I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now.

And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Lastly, on the Warriors Front. the idea of the warriors pivoting through two separate trades for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis has been floating around over the last couple of days.

Should the Yonis saga get pushed to the summer, it gets pushed to the summer, all of a sudden it makes even less sense for Golden State, right? You have better trade packages that could be offered by other teams when you get to the summer. Steph will turn 39 before last year, next year's playoff run. It gets even more complicated there. So when it looks, when you look at like Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis as a pivot, I love it as a pivot. it, I love it as a backup plan. Before the Yannis news came out on Wednesday, if you guys remember, we had a Western Conference trade preview earlier in the week. In that pod, when we got to Golden State, I discussed the idea of Anthony Davis being

the obvious best trade target for Golden State if Yonis is off the table. He just provided the best combination of affordability and real championship upside. A guy you can bring in who, when he's healthy, Anthony Davis is still, when he's healthy, as a playoff player, top seven or eight in the world. Because he's such a good defensive rebounder, such a good defensive foundation, and a guy who's going to score 25 points per game on 60% shooting in the postseason. Like you just, there's just not many players that have that level of floor in terms of night to night impact in the NBA postseason if he's healthy.

I also think he's a very good compliment to Steph Curry. So getting that level of talent affordably because of his injury history. And again, you wouldn't even be able to look at Anthony Davis as a, option unless you wanted to pay Janus prices if AD had not missed any games since 2024, right? Because 2024, he had that brilliant year, played a bunch of games, looked fantastic in the first round series against Yokic. Then he started getting hurt again last year and it's been a problem this season. If he was healthy that whole time, he would cost close to what Yonis would cost, not quite close. He's affordable because of his health issues. You take the risk.

If he happens to be healthy, all of a sudden you have a top seven or eight playoff playoff play. in the world. Even just in that construct, I would look at Golden State back in the second tier of contenders if AD could stay healthy. You had Andrew Wiggins to that mix. I'm a big Andrew Wiggins fan. Guys who are apex athletes who rebound like crazy, who can guard multiple positions well while also hitting 40% of their threes, and he's a guy who can put the ball on the floor a little bit. I think him and Anthony Davis and Steph, that's a hell of a trio to build a lineup around. So to be clear, I think they have a real shot at Janus.

It's what I'm rooting for. But should they miss on Janus, if the bucks do somehow convince Janus to waste another year, or if they end up making a deal with Miami or a New York or Minnesota, I do like that as a potential pivot for Golden State, capitalizing on the urgency of the Steph situation, focusing on players that are relatively affordable to their talent. Andrew Wiggins is better than Herb Jones. He's a better basketball player right now than Herb Jones,

but he's less expensive because he's in his 30s, right? That's a distressed asset, so to speak, because he's expensive. He makes $30 million a year, and he's in his 30s. That's why he's affordable. Anthony Davis is a superstar level talent, who's dealt with injury history, who makes over $50 million. That's why he's available at the price point.

So Golden State kind of has to operate in that arena, should they miss out on Janus. and we even talked about this in the Wednesday night pod. Janice's calf injuries are the only reason Golden State has a shot here. If Janice had played in every game this season and looked like a healthy MVP candidate, you would see one of those other teams that has a lot of draft picks. You would see somebody else jump in and just grandfather offer and get him. You'd see a Houston jump in.

You'd see a San Antonio jump in. It is the injuries to Janus. in conjunction with his previous injury history that caused him to miss playoff games that is scared off some of the younger, richer teams in the league and opened to the door to teams like Miami and teams like Golden State

and teams like New York and Minnesota. But in the event that Yonis, if they miss out, I like Wiggins and Anthony Davis as a pivot. Last segment for today. Should the Lakers make a trade for D'Andre Hunter? So the Cavs have D'Andre Hunter on the books for this season plus one more additional season at 25 million. And he's viewed at somewhat as somewhat

of a negative asset right now because of that $25 million contract next season. He's at injury issues. He's shooting the ball poorly this season relative to previous seasons. He's not exactly the scrappiest three and D guy type, you know, in terms of dirty work guy in the world. We're going to get into that more in a minute. But he's viewed as somewhat of a negative asset. We got $25 million on the books for next season. The calves are dealing with some cap constraints. could potentially be looking to move him at this deadline. I'm not super high on DeAndre Hunter. We'll get into that more in a minute.

But my take as to whether or not the Lakers should make a move for DeAndre Hunter is pretty simple. If it's just expiring salary, let's call it Gabe Vincent, Maxi, Caliba, and Dalton Connect. Gabe and Maxi are expirings. Dalton has two team options the next two seasons. So he's effectively in expiring, but you can keep him if you want to keep him at a discount.

That's all out. That would be a way for essentially the Lakers to be like, here's a bunch of money. that comes off your books at the end of the season. We'll take back DeAndre Hunter. All that 25 million disappears from the Cavs books next year, buys them financial flexibility. If that's all the prices, then sure. Why?

Because those three guys are providing next to nothing for the Lakers right now. Dalton and Maxie are basically out of the rotation. Maxi will only play if one of the centers is hurt. Gabe Vincent plays a little, but he's just not very good. So if you can add DeAndre Hunter into your rotation for, basically nothing. No draft compensation in a bunch of expiring salaries. And yeah, a young player on a rookie contract in Dalton Connect, but one that also is not very well valued around the league,

it's a simple talent upgrade. You're taking two guys that don't play and a guy that probably shouldn't play, and you're replacing him with a guy that say what you want about him, he'd play 20 minutes a night for the Lakers. If you can do that, jump all over it. But I wouldn't include anything in terms of higher level rotation players or draft compensation for it. Like if the deal requires you to include Rui Hachamura, I hate it. I only would send out Rui Hachamura for a bona fide starting small forward or starting center that you know is going to be in the trenches with Luka for five plus seasons as a starter and a guy that's going to close every big playoff game.

If you can do that, by all means send Rui out because I don't think Rui is one of those guys. but Rui right now is a good enough player as a rotation scoring power forward who can hit threes on kickouts to the weak side, who can drive a close out and hit a mid range pull up, do some work as a bigger athlete on the team. You can't afford to send him out for another player that may or may not be better than it. And D'Andre is maybe a little more natural as a three. Although my thing with threes is I want scrappers at the three. I want guys that could really guard on the perimeter. I want guys that really rebound. And DeAndre's just not that guy. But he's a little bit more natural as a three than

Rui. So there's that tiny bit of upside. But I don't think he's particularly good enough at that position to justify a swap that involves Rui or if you have to include draft compensation that prevents you from getting other players. Again, my issues with Hunter is he's basically not a scrapper. He looks like a 3-and-D wing because he's got this big physical frame, but he's not a very good rebounder, not a very good on-ball defender, not a very good off-ball defender. Think of it like this. This is a player who's having a down year, but he's averaging 14 points per game on 55.4% true shooting. Again, not super efficient, but not horrible, horribly inefficient. It's like a little below league average. And there's

volume there. He's scoring 14 points every game. He has seven games this year where he scored 20 plus points. If he was even remotely considered a good dirty work guy, like a guy who really could guard in multiple facets of defense, both on and off the ball and really scrapped for rebounds and sprinted and played hard all the damn time, if he was that, nobody, not even the calves in their current predicament, would let him walk over 25 million.

Like, if it was Jaden McDaniels, instead of DeAndre Hunter on the exact same contract, there's no chance the Cavs trade him. They are trading him, not because he's less efficient than usual, although that's part of it. If he's making a ton of shots, it overcomes some of those issues. But it's because he's not nearly as good as Jalen Tyson as an all-around role player. Jalen Tyson rebounds. Jalen Tyson plays his ass off as a defensive player every single possession.

So again, if you can turn useless players into D'Andre Hunter, if you can turn a bunch of guys that are out of your rotation and Gabe Vincent into DeAndre Hunter, then great. You just add him to your bag, right? He's another tool you can use. Some nights he can play a big role. Some nights he can start. Some nights he can come off the bench.

Some nights he can play a smaller role. He's just talent for a team that needs talent. but if you have to include Rui or draft compensation for him, it's just a bad idea, in my opinion. And if Rob Polinka ends up flipping Rui Hachamura for D'Andre Hunter this year, I think that would be a huge mistake for the Lakers and detrimental to what their goals are over the coming seasons. All right, guys, that's all I have for today.

As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We will be back on Monday with our normal power rankings pod. see you guys then. Hey guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick and guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to us.

We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless, and at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know, I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the I-Hart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.