The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Warriors right ship, Top 5 trade proposals, Lakers "Big 4," Celtics bulk up

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

Jason Timpf reacts to Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and the Golden State Warriors' 109-98 bounceback win over the Brooklyn Nets. Is Jason confident in Golden State to reach the NBA Playoffs? (3:30)  Later, Jason lists the top five trades he'd like to see at the NBA Trade Deadline including the Celtics getting bigger (20:30), Kevin Durant's Suns and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks getting help for a playoff push (26:00), LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers forming a "Big 4," (30:00), and the Oklahoma City Thunder making a championship-level move (38:30). #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of, of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Looking for a super offer for Super Bowl 58? Well, Draft Kings has you covered. New customers can bet on the big game and turn five bucks into 200 instantly in bonus bets. The line

right now is that San Francisco minus 1.5, but you can bet all sorts of things on the game, even the coin toss, although big shock, it's going to be. 50-50 odds there. My brothers and I always place a bunch of bets on the Super Bowl every year. I'm not actually sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'm excited. It should be a great game. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now and use code hoops. That's H-O-O-P-S. New customers can bet five bucks to get 200 instantly in bonus bets. Only on Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 58 with code hoops. Again, that's H-O-O-P-S. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 games.

or in West Virginia, visit www.1-800 gambler.net. In New York, call 8778, Hope, NY, or text Hope N.Y to 467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-889-77777-7 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 plus age varies by jurisdiction, void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash football for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gambling resources.

All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great week. We have a jam-packed day of basketball talk over here today. We're starting this morning with a breakdown of Voyeurysburg. nets from last night for our Warriors fans. And then after that, we're going to hit on five teams with five trades that I would like to see this year at the deadline. And then later this afternoon, I'm actually recording with Chris Mannix and with Colin Coward separately. So we've got tons of

other basketball talk coming out later this afternoon as well. Then we'll get back into some game breakdowns tomorrow morning before we get into the trade deadline on Thursday. We got a fun night tonight of basketball. We have Orlando, Miami. That should be interesting because both Miami needs a win. Orlando's playing really well. And then we have Phoenix, Milwaukee, which is going to be an awesome game that we'll be hitting in tomorrow's show. You guys have the drill before we get started. Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel. It mean a lot to me if you guys would take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button. Don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast under hoops tonight, it also is super helpful for those of you guys who use the podcast feed if you leave a rating and a review. The Twitter feed at underscore Jason LT. That's where we put film threads as well as show announcements. And then last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions. We're going to have our mailbag for this week in tomorrow's show. All right, let's talk some basketball. So one of the beautiful things about the game of basketball,

something that I've always really appreciated is when you have a bad day, you can typically turn around and fix it within a day or two. You know, whether it's, you know, you're playing in college and you have a bad conference loss. There's usually not a lot of time to think about it because you've got to turn around and play another conference game, usually two or three days later, right? or in the pros or even if you just go down to the gym and you have a bad day playing pickup,

you usually can turn around and go up the next day and make it feel better, right? Just by playing better and writing those wrongs, right? Well, the Warriors had a heartbreaking loss on Saturday night in Atlanta where they wasted a 60-point Steph Curry performance and they righted a lot of those wrongs in some specific areas, crunch time execution, getting some support for Steph. A big one was just getting better and sharper on the defense.

end of the floor. Actually, ironically, it was the bench that fueled this win against Brooklyn. There was a kind of a strange lineup there at the end of the third quarter that ended up springing the run is Brandon Pizemski with Lester Quinoes, Gys Santos, so another big forward that we haven't seen much of this year that kind of just provided that size and motor, which is so incredibly valuable in the NBA, some solid point of attack defense as well. Jonathan Kaminga was the offensive fulcrum of that run pushing out in transit. drawing fouls. He hit Kavana Looney on a cut to the basket when the nets lost him. They straight, Isoed him against McHale Bridges on the left block and he just went to that little

left shoulder fade that he's been hitting. Once again, all season long, we've been wondering whether or not Jonathan Camingo would slow down as like a post-up kind of fulcrum weapon that they could go to, especially as just like a half-court option that is in Steph Curry. And he just continues to be efficient. And we're going to get back to that when we start talking about trunch time. But like that's, they ended up building a double digit lead going up by 10 points there in the early fourth quarter. And that just kind of changes the calculus of the way the end of the game is going to go. Because then when Steph comes back in, he's not in a situation where he's in a dog fight. And he has to hit shot after shot after shot just to stay punch for punch with a

Trey Young or punch for punch with a deer and fox or whoever it is that they're going up against. Instead, he's hitting stiff arm shots. He's hitting shots. He's hitting shots. that are maintaining the lead and keeping that distance or lower pressure. There's more margin for error. And that's the key because margin for error has been one of the biggest issues for the Warriors this year. They can't afford to really get into super close games late because they've struggled so much, particularly getting stops and getting offensive support outside of Steph.

And when you give yourself more margin for error, then when Royce O'Neill gets hot like he did there in that fourth quarter, he was the one guy for Brooklyn or really had it going. just a guy that can get really streaky hot from the three point line, right? And when Royce O'Neill got hot and made a bunch of shots, he never was able to actually get the game to the point where it was in danger. It was all just kind of stuff that kept the game somewhat in reach, right? And so that margin for error made a big difference. So shout out to those guys.

Again, Jonathan Camingo leading the way on the offensive end of the floor. And then everybody just playing really hard in that group, specifically down the stretch, Guy Santos and Brandon Pizzymsky were super, super, super, active on both ends of the floor defensively in help, especially on the offensive glass. Those guys had five offensive rebounds, some huge ones. Gi Santos just was constantly right around the front of the rim where he needed to be. Brandon Pizempsi got a contested offensive rebound.

I actually clipped this play and put it on my Twitter feed where he was going up over a bunch of 6-8, 610 athletes and just rose up over everybody because he wanted the ball more and went to get it, right? We talked a lot about this concept on the show, the difference between, you know, talent and like discipline when it comes to a good defense, and both parts are equally important. There are personnel limitations. You're going to need Gary Payton back

to be as good as you can be defensively, right? You're going to need Andrew Wiggins in the lineup to be as good as you can be defensively. But if you do all the right stuff, if you're in the right spots, if you're committed to the details, if the communication is there, your basketball character, as I always call it,

if you can get there, that's half the battle. And particularly in matchups like this, against the Nets, a team that don't have, like, they're struggling in their own ways, right? Like, Mikhail Bridges is a number one option, has some limitation. Spencer Dinwiddie's had a bad season. He once again last night driving into traffic and throwing up BS and missing shots and complaining to the refs while they're running out the other way. He's just had a rough year, right?

And like they got some young guards that like, like Dennis Smith Jr. And Cam Thomas that can struggle with decision making and defense and stuff like that. So, like, in a group like that, if you do the right stuff, Like if you just are in the right spots, you can go a long way towards pausing their offense to have issues. And then when you play against the best teams in the league, that's where you need both. That's where you need the personnel strengths and the schematic strengths. But I thought last night was a big step forward just in terms of the commitment that the warriors need to make to being a better defensive team. And then down the stretch, I really, really liked the versatility that Golden State went with in terms of their offensive approach.

We talked a lot yesterday about the idea of like Steph Curry just kind of hunting his shot. And when it's working, it's great. But when that starts to, whether the defense starts throwing multiple bodies at him or whether it's, you know, him just starting to cool off. Like, you know, jump shooting is a is a high variance thing, even for the best player in the world, right? Or the best shooter in the world, I should say, right? So like that's an important kind of like part of that process.

And so adding a little bit more variety to their attack can go a long way to kind of maintaining their offensive success. And I really like that they, they did run some pick and roll. There was a Draymond short role that led to a Jonathan Kaminga dunk when Steph Curry drew up blitz. But they didn't overdo that. One of the things that becomes a problem that we've seen this season is teams just start to blitz step super, super aggressively. And the Warriors had struggled a little bit to work off of that. And we, we saw this a little bit in the Hawks game, where Steph started just going straight ISO against the Jonte Murray. We saw a lot of that down the stretch. And then Draymond, instead of setting a ball screen, he'd sit in the lane and

basically like box out the help defender, like screen the help defender just so that he can't step over and help on step. And then he ended up icing the game with a floater that was an and one where beat a guy in straight ISO, then he was getting just kind of slowed down and waited for the back pressure to come, drew the foul and made the the little floater. But the big, the big kind of thing that stood out to me was there was a big possession down the stretch of the game where the Nets kind of, because again, the Nets kind of kept it close with those Royce O'Neill threes, where they, Steph just straight up went to Jonathan Kaminga on the left block in a post up against Royce O'Neill, and he drew a foul. And I thought a couple of different things. One,

like the trust that Steph was showing. And again, we talked about this. I actually was pitching this in yesterday's show, but like, like before last night, Jonathan Kamingo was seven for 13 in crunch time this season. That's over 50%. Again, this season, a post up for Jonathan I think Kaminga's been worth well over a point per possession. And it helps in a bunch of different ways. It's rest for Steph, but it's also, it's also just variety. It's a different thing for the defense to have to deal with. And so I really, really liked just the overall kind of variety that Golden State brought

to the table down the stretch in crunch time. They've got a couple of tough games on the horizon here. So we're going to find out a lot about the Warriors in the next week and a week and a half, but I thought last night was a big step in the right direction. You will not see Golden State on my top five trade. list. They might end up making some type of deal, but Steve Kerr is right. The Warriors deadline basically amounts to guys coming back. I would put the Warriors deadline down to three things. You're getting CP3 back to stabilize your bench units. You're getting Gary Payton back to stabilize

your perimeter defense. And then the rapid rise of Jonathan Kaminga is an influx of talent in his own way. He had another 28 points and 10 rebounds last night. We're now at a 10 game stretch of him averaging 25 points and seven rebounds on 61% from the field, 54% from three, and 80% from the line. He's getting to the line a half dozen times a game this year. The foul drawing thing has been something that's been consistent. That's what he did on that big light post up. He just went to that same left shoulder fade, but he could tell Royce was being physical with him. So he just elevated straight up and down and baited Royce into bringing too much contact to the table. It's starting to get a favorable whistle too in a lot of ways. The refs know that the,

that Jonathan Kibinga has these defenders out of position. But really, the only way you could truly substantially improve this roster is to trade Jonathan Kaminga because he's the one guy who has the value that could bring back a truly like franchise altering talent. But then you give up his substantial long-term potential. And that's just not worth it. And so at this point, you're better off with the rise of Jonathan Kaminga and some reinforcements from guys who are injured with trying to make a run at that point.

And then you can make a call based on how Jonathan Camingo looks as a number two option in this year's postseason, which I do believe the Warriors will get into that play in tournament, at least have a chance to play seven games against a really good team so you can get a good read for how ready Jonathan Caminga is to contribute in a championship context. All right. So we're going to go through five traits that I would very much like to see this season. Trade number one, the Sons get a wing that can play alongside their stars. The framework of this trade would be Grayson Allen and Nasir Little with two second round picks for Dorian Finney Smith from the Brooklyn Nets. Now, I know Sons fans are going to immediately be repulsed by this because of the idea

of losing Grayson Allen. And this is where I want to talk more about separating regular season results from the reality of your playoff matchups. and one of my long-standing basketball philosophies, which is the most important thing for a basketball team, is to have a group of five guys that you can trust to go down against the best teams in the league. This is an issue that I've dealt with a lot with Lakers fans

as it pertains to DeAngelo Russell. Like, DeAngela Russell has been vitally important to the Lakers this year as a playmaker and as a score in a lot of ways, especially as of late, right? like similar to what Grace and Allen has provided to the Phoenix Suns alongside their stars, that offensive firepower and shooting has, Grayson Allen's been the best shooter in the league this year from Three Point Land, right? So like, I understand the sentiment.

And like that's the thing, like when the Lakers lose DeAngela Russell, if they decide to trade him in this deadline, they are losing playmaking. They are losing scoring. It is a tradeoff. But what I've always said to Lakers fans is the simple reality that you cannot win the NBA title starting Austin Reeves and DeAngela Russell or

closing with Austin Reeves and DeAngela Russell next to each other. Why? Because when you get to the best teams in the league, not the 82 games, but you can go and play quality basketball over the 82 games against a bunch of random opponents. But when it comes to beating the

clippers four times out of seven, beating the nuggets four times out of seven, beating the Timberwolves four times out of seven, beating the thunder four times out of seven, I don't think that works. And the same thing, goes for the sons. Bradley Beal is 6-4. Devin Booker is 6-6 and is not particularly strong or athletic. The sons have struggled against the bigger front lines than the league this year. They've struggled against quality opponents in general, like they're 0-and-2 against the Clippers, their 0-1

against the Denver Nuggets. The big, I went through their schedule. The big frontlines they played are Philly, Orlando, Minnesota, the Lakers, the Nuggets, and the Knicks. They're four and seven against those teams. So it's been a consistent issue, especially when they run into bigger, more physically imposing teams that they haven't been able to win that battle in terms of like, let me outskill these guys as opposed to trying to match their physicality. And so the way I look at it, do I think Grayson Allen, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal can all be on the same floor to start and close games against the very best teams in the league? I don't think so. I think it's a little too small. I think it's a little bit lacking in that physicality. Dorian Finney Smith gives you a real

option there. He can take primary point of attack assignments. He can really shoot the basketball. He increases the physical profile of your lineup. He's not going to be as good offensively as Grace and Allen is, but there's a diminishing return in an offball offensive role. And what you're gaining in the physicality area of the game goes a long way towards addressing that specific concern. I also think it gives you a clear fit in your starting and closing five. So let's say, for instance, you need to go big against a team like Denver. I like the idea of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney Smith, Yusuf Nurkich.

You have a big body that can bang with Yokic. You have a ton of offensive skill around him, and you have two giant forwards on the floor. I shouldn't say giant, but two big forwards on the floor that can help you in rotation around Yusuf Nurkich. Okay, you're playing Antsac. clippers, the clippers sent Zubots to the bench, and you want to go, you want to size down with them. Instead of sizing down into a much smaller version of the clippers with Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen and literally just four guards next to Kevin Durant, you can go Kevin Durant,

Doreen, Phine Smith, Eric Gordon as a guard that sizes up a little bit with Bradley Beal and Devin Booker and just give yourself a more physically imposing version of that KD at the five group. And so I just think, I think again, it's when you look at the Sun's situation, because they don't really have much draft capital aside from second round picks, because they don't really have easy salaries to swap around to make this type of change. Grayson Allen, even though he's been such an important player for them this year, kind of turns into one of their more important assets. And so that's kind of the framework of that deal. And then for Brooklyn, you're getting two second round picks and a player in Grayson Allen that you can try. probably turn into more draft compensation. Grayson Allen has a lot of value around the league.

For instance, he's that affordable number, best shooter in the league this year. It's really that simple. It kind of reminds me of, this idea kind of reminds me of what Portland did this summer, where like you're getting draft compensation in these deals, maybe not as much draft compensation as you could get elsewhere,

but you're getting another player that you can then turn around and get more draft compensation for. It's almost like a domino effect in that sense. So that's trade number one. Trade number two, Boston gets Porzingis insurance. So essentially the way this would work is there is a trade exception from the Grant Williams deal that would be able to take in Andre Drummond's

entire salary this year. And so basically it'd be some form of draft compensation in the form of second round picks or swaps or something along those lines for Andre Drummond. Now, here's the idea. Chris Hopps Porzingis has actually been Boston's most important plus minus guy this year outside of Derek White and Jason Tatum, who are arguably their two best players, depending on how you feel about Jaylen Brown, right?

But ironically, it's not as much about the offense, in my opinion, as it is about the defense. Khrasop Sporzingis is the only guy on the roster that provides a real rim deterrent. And again, as I've talked about so much on the show, when you actually combine perimeter defensive talent with an aggressive approach to, like, just attacking the basketball, basically,

you force guys to drive. And when you force guys to drive into length, real imposing length around the basket, it can be bothersome to an offense, right? And I think we saw this a lot over the years with Robert Williams. Like, there's no doubt that the Celtics offense kind of had more free-flowing, driving kick potential with Al Horford at the five. But when Robert Williams was out there, they were able to reach defensive ceiling,

especially in that 2022 season that was higher than anybody in the league. So the idea there is like when you really dig down into it, Derek White's been mostly healthy this year. Jason Tatum has been mostly healthy this year. Jalen Brown's been mostly healthy this year. I expect true holiday to be ready to go in the postseason. Christops Porzingis has shown the propensity to suffer little nagging injuries. His ankle's been bothering him a lot this year. There's just little things that I've been bothering Christop's Porzingis. And with him going down, it's a pretty steep decline to Al Horford and some of the bench centers that they have. And this is an example of like a margin for error trade. You're turning basically,

some moderate draft compensation and a trade exception into a player that not only gives you some depth and some, like I said, some insurance on Chris Ops-Porsengis, but also gives you a real physical look. I covered Andre Drummond very closely when he was with the Lakers, obviously, that was back when I was doing State of the Lakers. And what I remember about the Andre Drummond experience is like he can't be someone you're leaning on really heavily from a talent perspective, but he is truly physically imposing. He's inconsistent, but he can actually win you games with some of the strength and physicality that he brings to the table. He's actually like a surprisingly active pick and roll defender with his hands that can get deflection. He's always been a high steals guy for a center.

This year he's averaging 18 points and 19 rebounds per 36 minutes. And again, that doesn't mean he would get that if you played 36 minutes. It's just an indicator of how active he is within his minutes. He's as active in his minutes as a 36 minute player would be if he's, averaged 18 and 19, right? So like, I just think when you really look down the roster, I see some other needs for Boston. Could they use a backup guard? Yeah, but that's a tough one to go after. And then also when you really look at the rotation, it's going to be Derek White and Drew Holiday at the end of the day. You kind of know what you have there, right? Could they use

a bench wing? Sure. But the way I look at it, I expect Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown to be ready. The one real area of weakness in my opinion that's a real vulnerability is like, what if Chrisops Porzingis is just not able to play? And this just gives you an additional look there. You can lean on Al Horford, but if Al Horford doesn't have it, you at least have another high quality option you can go to in that spot. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all. embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got? to do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you guys ever had a bad ticket buying experience?

Maybe you go to checkout and ends up being way more expensive than it was when you clicked on it. Or maybe you go to your seat and ends up being not. what you expected when you bought it to begin with. Or maybe it's just an overly convoluted and complicated process. Well, this is where I want to talk to you guys about GameTime, the fastest growing ticketing app in the United States. They have all in pricing. So you know exactly what your total is going to be up front.

And you know you're getting a great deal before you check out. Also, you get to see the view from your seat in the app. So you know exactly what you're getting for your money. And it's a super easy process. You can buy tickets in seconds with two taps. Game time has deals on tickets right up to the start of the event, and even an hour after it starts, it's the place to find last-minute seats. You can find exclusive flash deals and sponsored deals on tickets for football, basketball, baseball, concerts, comedy theater, and more.

And this is the coolest part. The game time guarantee means you'll always get the best price. If you find tickets in the same section in row for less, game time will credit you 110% of the difference. And as great as it is watching these games on TV, especially with the NBA heating up here on the home stretch. Go out and see a game. Go to see one in person. The NBA is in a really great place right now with talent.

You've got to get into the arena to really get the full experience. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Hoops for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code Hoops, that's H-O-O-P-S for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guarantee. All right, trade number three. The Bucks get a two-way guard to put next to Damien Lillard. So the framework of this trade would be Marjan Bochamp and a second round pick, specifically a second round pick they have from Portland that is projected to be in the upper half of the second round.

So effectively is like a very late first round pick, if that makes sense. but the framework of the trade to be Marjan, Bochamp, and a second round pick for Chris Dunn. Now, Chris Dunn, for those of you guys who have been following the league in a more broad sense this year with the Utah Jazz has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. He's got super long arms.

He got like a 6-9, 610 wingspan. He's very physical. He's very athletic. He's very active. He can actually guard up a little bit. But he's just one of the better point of attack defenders in the league. And he's actually been shooting really well this year. He's got 1.25 points per catch-and-shoot jump shot. this year. That's outstanding. He's converting spot at possessions at 1.21 points per possession, albeit not super aggressive, but if you leave him open, he has been making teams pay this year.

He also has like a little bit off the dribble pop where he like late, light clock, like rescue possessions and stuff. He's a guard. He can make a dribble combination into a pull-up jumper if he needs to. He's actually had a pretty solid offensive season at super, super low volume. But the idea here is like that that's what Chris Dunn does. for a living. He defense. This is an example of a player because like you, when you look at Andre Jackson Jr. and Marjan Bochamp and some of the other options that the bucks have tried at the two this year, they're athletic wings that have potential to be outstanding options in those spots, but it's the classic tradeoff. And Doc Rivers has shown you, he's not interested in playing

the young guys anymore. He wants to lean into the vets, right? So like the potential that those guys have It doesn't really match up with what the actual goal is of this team within this season. And so obviously you're giving up a young potential wing in Mars and Bochamp. You're obviously giving up a pretty high quality second round pick, but you're putting yourself in a situation where you have a different look in your backcourt. To be clear, Malik Beasley's having an amazing season, shooting the basketball ridiculously well. I personally have been impressed with this just level of commitment and trying to get the defensive end right,

especially in the last month or two after it was a little dicey to start the year. And I'm not even necessarily saying that that won't still be your option that you go down with. You may decide that you prefer the offensive upside of Malik Beasley over the defensive upside of a guy like Chris Dunn. But the idea is you have a look. Like you might end up in a playoff series and find out pretty quickly that Malik Beasley doesn't have it. That the shot's not falling. And you're in a tough spot if you don't have a lot.

a reliable option you can go to there. And like, I'm not sure Pat Conantin is that. I'm not sure campaign is that, right? But you can imagine a universe. We've seen before, by the way, the combination of like really active perimeter defense with rim protection with Janus and Brooke Lopez. And we were just talking about this with the Phoenix Suns a minute ago, but like, excuse me, with the Boston Celtics a minute ago, but like real perimeter, active perimeter defense combined with real rim protection can go a long way towards disrupting an offense. And so that's an example of a deal that allows the Bucks to have a real option to go lean more into defense at the two spot next to Dane. You might have to, again, we talk about winning different ways. The Bucks can outscore people.

We know they can, although their offense has faltered as of late. But the truth of the matter is, is it be really helpful if you could win in the mud, too. And Chris Dahn would just give you a better chance to do that. All right, two more trades, and then we're out of here. next one the lakers form a big four so you guys have probably all seen the framework of this trade it's been thrown around by a million people but the basic gist of it would be de angelo russell to the brooklyn nets spencer dinwitty and the lakers twenty twenty nine first round pick to the atlanta hawks and de jante murray to the lakers now de jante has been playing pretty well as of late so the lakers might even have to throw more draft compensation on top of that but basically the gist of it is draft compensation and d angelo russol with

the Nets fulfilling the third team role in that to take on DeAngela Russell and send Spencer Dinwiddie to the Atlanta Hawks. But draft compensation is essentially what Atlanta is getting in the process. So a couple different things. First of all, I actually think DeAngelo Russell is a really good players having the best season of his career and specifically is good with offensive organization, which is a point of weakness for the Brooklyn Nets. And so in a lot of ways, like I actually just think DeAngel Russell is a better fit for Brooklyn than Spencer Dinwiddie is a player that they've been pretty frustrated with this year. the Hawks, you get a highly valuable first round

pick to use in your rebuild around Jalen Johnson and Trey Young. Now remember for the Lakers at 2029 first, that's after LeBron leaves. This is an organization that has not going to get into it today, but they have really, really screwed the pooch on this one in so many

different ways over the course of the last, you know, five years between letting Brooke Lopez go for nothing, letting Julius Randall go for nothing, letting Alex Caruso go for nothing. The Russell Westbrook, Trey, just the sheer lack of understanding or appreciation for how important quality role players are alongside your stars. It's very possible that when LeBron James retires, that this thing goes nosediving into the

ground. I would imagine if you ask the general managers around the league, that 2029 Lakers first is very, very valuable. And again, especially if they can squeeze some additional draft compensation out of the Lakers in lieu of how well DeJante Murray's been playing. Specifically, as of late, DeJante's been a big-time clutch shotmaker, making a lot of big time pull up 15 footers and things along those lines to tie games to win games to ice games. He's just been a really, really good late game shotmaker. And I think that's added some value to him around the league. I think teams are seeing just how important it is to have guys like that, that real firepower in the lineup. Right. So again, like some highly valuable

draft compensation to to help you rebuild around Jalen Johnson and Trey Young. Jalen Johnson's so exciting. He had tip dunk against the Warriors the other night where like he literally dunked it with his arms like out in front of him like this, like his head was at the rim. And I was like, this is just disgusting athlete that you're building around with Trey. So the idea for the Lakers, DeJante Murray would help the Lakers improve in a bunch of key ways.

Number one, he would anchor their perimeter defense. This is something that has been an issue for them all season. It was an issue again in the next game when they were having trouble finding a body to throw at Jalen Brunson. It's an even bigger issue now that Jared Vanderbilt's out of the lineup. DeJante Murray is not the best perimeter defender in the world. he hasn't been asked committed in those areas, but just in terms of actual physical tools

for the position, he's way better than anything the Lakers have had there in a long time in the guard spot. So basically since Alex Caruso, and so that to me is the first and biggest way DeJante Murray can help. Number two, you provide more reliable dribble penetration. DeJante Murray can actually

stare eye to eye with some of the best perimeter defenders in the league and beat them off the dribble, which is immensely valuable in a bunch of different ways. One, it's getting the defense into rotation, creating advantage situations. Two, rim pressure. We've talked about rim pressure as a value before.

That's what kind of opens up that second wave of athleticism with LeBron and with, you know, some of their other active offensive rebounders like Anthony Davis, Jared Vaynerbilt, when he's healthy, things along those lines. You've got to actually engage rim protectors to open up those opportunities, which is something the Lakers have not been very good at this year. The Lakers have been one of the worst teams in the league at driving to the basket. Most of their activity in the paint comes off of touches in pick and roll that go to the role man and post-ups and things along those lines.

They're two of the most active teams in the league in those categories. They're not a team that beats people off the dribble. DeJant-Timerry can help significantly in that area. Number three, late-game shot-making. This has been a big issue for the Lakers over the years. LeBron has brought late-game shot-making to the table in a big way this year, and it's been super, super helpful. We just saw that recently again in the Warriors game,

but it is an issue where LeBron can be a little inconsistent in that area. Austin Reeves can make some big-time shots. but against some of the best perimeter defenders in the league is going to be a little, it's going to be a little more challenging for him to create those looks. Anthony Davis can be inconsistent with his over-the-top shot making. Dejante Murray and his ability to just hit those tough pull-up 15-footers would go a long way towards just adding some margin for error in the Lakers clutch offense. And then last but not least, he would get you a gigantic step closer to a clear-cut starting

lineup and a clear-cut closing lineup. I personally would put Vanderbilt in that group, but I even think you'd could get away with Torian Prince in a bigger way. One of the big things I've noticed with Torian Prince, and this is something I've talked about all season. My issue with starting Torian Prince is gigantic minutes and playing him next to two non-athletes in DeAngelo, Russell, and Austin Reeves. I don't think Torian Prince is not good enough to start in the NBA.

I think it's one of those things where if he's very clearly your fifth best player, and if you can slot him properly, meaning like he's not guarding the other team's best perimeter offensive weapon, but maybe their second best, perimeter offensive weapon, if he's getting higher quality looks because you're generating more dribble penetration, a lot of that can work. I even think we've seen that this season in some of the better moments for the Lakers when, you know, that stretch right before the in-season tournament when Cam Redish was at the two, having a real athlete that could slot Tori and Prince properly. As of late, it's been Max Christie. Having Max Christie out there as a real athlete that can take those higher, higher difficulty,

a perimeter defense assignments, slotting Tori and Prince properly is the biggest issue. Like he just was in a situation where next to DeAngelo Russell and Austin Reeves, he's the guy that has to do all the dirty work. And that's just not his strength. That's not something that he, that's not what he gets paid to do in the NBA.

And so it, to me, Dejante Murray just kind of like balances so many different things for the Lakers. Lakers have won 10 of their last 16 games. And things are starting to trend in the right direction. Again, one of those losses was with Anthony Davis out of the lineup as well. The offense in particular is getting way better. It's really interesting.

About a month ago, I was just about all out on the idea of the Lakers five-out offense. One of the big things that's kind of stood out to me over the years is like they prefer to play a real slowdown bully ball style of basketball. It's much more brute force offense than you would think. And I always was, I kept coming back to the same thing. like they'd move the ball around and play like some fluid basketball and then they just kind of like a degenerate down into their brute force offense again. And so I was skeptical as to whether or not the five out would ever work for this group

simply because of the fact that they did not seem to be, you know, wired like that, if that makes sense. And a lot has changed on that front over the course of this end of January and an early portion of February. Like it's starting to look like this team is actually comfortable moving the ball. around a lot. Staying in that, you know, pass screen cut, drive, kick, kind of like five out system, which is, which requires a commitment to ball movement. And I've been impressed just with their kind of leaning into it in a lot of ways, especially LeBron James and Anthony Davis, because

them in particular, I'm not sure that's the way that they've liked to play the most over the course of the last half decade. But it's leading to some real offensive results. We're seeing some really high assist games for the Lakers. They're consistently getting these like 35, 37 assist games that are that are just, that just weren't happening early on in the season. And so a lot of encouraging stuff on the Lakers front. Again, like I said, I want to see a 25 game stretch where they're truly dominant. 10 and 6 over 16 is good, but it's not good enough.

They've got more work to do. And it could go a long way. You beat Denver on Thursday and you beat the Pelicans. I think it's on Saturday. both of those games are at home. You win both of those games. Now we're talking about a 12 and 6 stretch capped off by some real quality wins between beating Boston and Boston, beating the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, getting the monkey off your back by beating Denver, beating that Pelicans team that just beat them pretty badly when they went down to New Orleans. That's what stands in front of them,

an opportunity to demonstrate a clear like we won 66% of our games over the course of a month and a half and beat a bunch of quality opponents. That to me is like one of those like check boxes that you have to check if you want to really have a chance to win the NBA title. And I thought this last week was a good step in the right direction for the Lakers. And then lastly, my last trade for today's show, the Oklahoma City Thunder finalize their core. So the structure of this trade would be something like Josh Giddy and Alexei Pukoshefsky,

plus some large amount of draft compensation, whether that's, you know, know, five first round picks or four first round picks or whatever it is. But that's what I would offer if I was Oklahoma City for Lori Markinen from the Utah Jazz. So to me, the Thunder core is clear. Shea Gildis Alexander and Jalen Williams are your offensive initiators. They're your number one option and your number two option in terms of the guys that are going to bring the ball up the floor and basically create that initial advantage. Right. Lou Dort is the textbook 3-D wing.

he's as good an option in the league as you can find to throw out the other team's best player and he's very good at knocking down catch and shoot three is in attacking closeouts, right? And then Chet Holmgren is the ideal stretch five that can run pick and pop, which is one of the most difficult actions to guard in the NBA, while also providing you real rim protection on the other end of the floor. But what they don't have, the one thing they do not have on the roster is a big athletic forward that can help them hold up better in the physicality areas of the game. Even despite being the number one seat in the Western Conference,

the Thunder are still the second worst defensive rebounding team in the league. And so Lori could not be a better fit. And to me, there are three reasons why. Number one, he does not need the basketball. He's averaging 24 points per game on 65% true shooting, despite only running 107 ISO's post-ups and pick and rolls this year. So he's not a guy that is initiating the offense. He's doing almost everything as a play finisher.

He's made 325 field goals this year, 152 of them. them. So basically half have been catch and shoot jumpers. Another 80 of his made field goals have been off of cuts in offensive rebounds. So like well over two thirds of his offense is basically scoring off the catch, scoring off the cut, scoring off the offensive rebound. That's significant. He's only made 36 pull-up jumpers, floaters, and hooks all season. To me, what that means is he's super easy just to add into the mold. I want to shout out a buddy of mine just a provide this example. So my buddy Chas Mack, he played at Cornell, and he plays with me and my men's league team on Sundays. And it's funny because our team has an interesting construct, like me and

this guy named Josh, are basically the two primary ball handlers on the team. We both played in college. Josh is more of like a pass first guy. I'm more of like a score first guy, so we compliment each other in that way. But Chaz is like a perfect fit for us because he never puts the ball on the floor. He often leads our team in scoring, but it never disrupts the flow of our team because he only plays off the catch. And so he'll sprint the floor and transition every single time. So if you see him up the floor, you can push the ball ahead. He's going to get a layup or hit a corner three while he's running in transition. If you run and pick and roll and you draw an extra defender over and chas's man sags, you throw the ball to him, he's going to either knock down a catch and

shoot three or he's going to be able to attack the close out. Oh, they run a zone against us. He's really good at just catching and turning and hitting shots at like 15 feet. Oh, he can run the baseline and finish there too. He's got good size. He's like six four and pretty big and strong. And like it's funny because I always compliment, Chas, when I'm talking basketball with the guys around town because, like, I can't tell you just how much better he's made us because he's just super easy to play with. He defends, he plays his role, he can score the shit out of the basketball, but in a way that doesn't disrupt the flow of your team at all whatsoever. And that to me is what Lori Markinen can do for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He can help them in the physicality areas.

He can shore up the defensive glass. Lori averages nine rebounds a game and just throw 32.6 minutes. He's an excellent athlete. He's like seven feet tall, brings like real power and force to the position, but he also has the ability to just be a shoe and fit on the offensive end and make everything easy for them on that end of the floor.

I think you can also craft a pretty easy and achievable defensive role for him. Like you don't need him to guard on the perimeter. Lou Dort and Jalen Williams and Shay got that under control, right? Like you don't need him to anchor your pick and roll defense or protect the rim because Chet's got that under control. You can give him a classic low man type of role, or he's always guarding the fifth best shooter, where he's always in that weak side,

just stepping over to help whenever Chet gets engaged, whether that's cleaning up after a pump fake to block a shot, or that's cleaning up the defensive glass or rotating back out to the weak side. I think it's an obvious fit. And most importantly, he fits your timeline and you can afford him. You have the assets to go out and get him. And again, the case is, So the last piece of this, and this is something that I'm sure a lot of Thunder fans thought about, is like, yeah, but what about like the urgency element? Like, do we need to overpay for Lori Mark and we still have so much time with this core?

They're still so young. We still don't know anything about what they're going to look like in the long run. And to me, it really comes down to this. He's literally perfect. He's the perfect player for this position. And then two, the way I look at it, repetition matters. losing and building scar tissue matters. This year the Thunder will have in all likelihood,

they'll probably be favored in their first round series. So they're going to get at least two weeks of playoff basketball, maybe four weeks of playoff basketball. That could be very, very important to the development of this core. And to me, I'd prefer to have my core five guys available for that. And rather than kind of like getting a playoff run in with this core, and not knowing what the construct of the team is going to look like, I don't think there's a more clear-cut five-man group to run with long-term than

Shea, Jalen, Lou, Lori, and Chet. Put those five together, let them start their battles now. Let them start their wars. Let them build their scar tissue. Let them learn what they're made of. I think that probably more than any other trade on this list is the one I want to see the most, simply because I just think it's one of those ones where it would be an overpay in all likelihood, because Utah would have all the leverage.

But the Thunder have the assets. To me, they have the group. There is no more question marks surrounding the team at that point. That to me is the direction that they should go. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. I will tweet out later this afternoon when whatever I record with Chris Mannix is finished. And then also this evening when me and Colin get our show out,

I will tweet that one out as well. As always, I appreciate you guys. And I will see you then. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two.

Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.