The Mismatch - How Will LaMelo Fit With the Wolves? Plus, Hornets' Fresh Start, Reaves's Max Deal Conundrum, and the Grizzlies Are So Back.

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

Verno and Jacoby are back, as they discuss the blockbuster trade between the Hornets and Timberwolves that sent LaMelo Ball to Minnesota and Naz Reid to Charlotte. They take a look at the trade from both sides, debate whether either team is finished making moves and if the trade will inspire LaMelo to take his game to a different level. Next, Verno shares his absolute excitement for Isaiah Stewart’s arrival in Memphis, whether or not the Celtics will actually trade Jaylen Brown, and the surprising lack of a market for Ja Morant. Also, the rumors of Kawhi Leonard being open to signing an extension with a former team, and the Lakers absolutely needing to sign Austin Reaves to the max contract. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (2:17) Hornets get a fresh start, trade LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves (19:51) Tim Connelly takes another big swing with acquiring LaMelo Ball and trading away fan favorite Naz Reid (23:47) Pistons trade Isaiah Stewart to the Grizzlies (32:40) Will the Celtics actually trade Jaylen Brown? (39:27) Where is the market for Ja Morant? (48:02) Is Kawhi Leonard going back to the Spurs or Raptors (49:58) Was it smart for the Lakers to give Austin Reaves a max contract? (58:59) Second-round draft recap Protect your summer today at WeatherTech.com Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, mid-sized business. We see your big ambitions, but how do you achieve the wins you want when your technology is holding you back? SAP Grow is built to grow with your business, no matter its size, with AI embedded at its core, working across every system, all ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow. AI Cloud, ERP for any size business. Welcome to The Misfatch. I'm Chris Varnan, and joining me see us every week from the ranger.com is Dave Jacob. Vichikovirno, we got things to talk about. We have a lot to talk about.

Which is wild, considering we recorded an episode yesterday morning, as we recorded Wednesday morning, and now we are recording on Thursday night. And the amount of NBA news that has taken place since we last recorded is crazy. Full rundown. All the trades that didn't happen on draft night happened to it. Well, and we will get to draft night at the end. But that second round was a bona fide hat catastrophe as every single pick got traded in the second round outside of Jaden Bradley going to Toronto. Every other pick was moved in the entire second round, which led to absolute hat chaos. Just chaos.

They should just not, they should just give up the hats. You know what I mean? Like in the, in the, in, we all have Claude. We all have AI. We all have Photoshop. out. Just put the hats on them afterwards. This episode of The Mismatch is presented to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows Winter is the MVP in making a mess.

You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer. Unless you hit the beach or go camping, then you'd want a cargo liner. Or a road trip goes sideways. Catchup goes rogue. Ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear, as the mud you're inevitably going to step in this summer, you don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer.

So visit weathertech.com today. So we go to bed last night after the conclusion of the second round of the NBA draft. And we're not players traded the night before. There was one trade last night, which we will get to. But the big trade of a current NBA player, took place by the time I had my coffee in hand. And this was one of those like, what? What?

The notification came up and La Mello Ball was traded to Minnesota. La Mello Ball and Josh Green for Nasree, an unprotected first, three first round picks, and three second round picks. When you first heard that La Mello Ball had been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, what was your reaction? This is not what I wanted to start the pod with, but you asked a question, I'll answer it. The Hornets clearly wanted to be out of the lamella ball business.

The way they finished the regular season, and the stats as well, since January 1st, the Hornets are the best team in the league? Are the Hornets contenders? Remember when they went to Boston just like belt to ask the Celtics who were like one of the hottest teams in the league? You would think they end this season with that type of momentum And yes, they're playing games.

We're not exactly. They didn't cover themselves in glory during those games, especially Argya Khan Knapple. But I thought that they had momentum, that they started to find themselves. And it's like, if healthy, this nucleus can work. That's how I left the regular season feeling about this Hornets team.

And it made me feel like the people in the Hornets organization know way more about Lamello Ball than I. do. I just watch him play basketball and crash cars. And they wanted to get out of the lamello ball business. Also, it is interesting how we remember the way it went down because they were so fun to watch. We're watching Eric Collins on league pass go crazy. We're talking about their five guys having this lineup that is like historically awesome, offensively.

All of that stuff, you remember the. shot from Kobe White and then the shot from Lamello despite the fact that he had played bad. And he turned the ball over. And also remember like this is the team you don't want to see in the playoffs. And then what was forgotten was they had a chance to play in said playoffs. And we were all wanting to see the Hornets against the Detroit Pistons, given that they had had a melee earlier in the year. and they got destroyed. Orlando took them behind the woodshed. And it is crazy because I think about it through the prism of,

man, we talked about them for three months, that starting lineup, all that stuff. In the biggest game that they played, the game that was going to send them to the playoffs, they got demolished. And Con was on the bench. and you do wonder if that played a part. If you sit there and go,

we are farther away than people think we are. That was a win or your season's over game, and they got blasted out of that game. And again, it's a sliding doors moment, right? What if they go and they go to the playoffs and they win a couple games off Detroit, and all of a sudden, now there is a different narrative. And Lamello plays well in the playoffs, whatever.

But the fact that they did not end up in the playoffs last year, I think certainly had to have played a part in this. And the other thing is there was all kinds of like Lamello and Charlotte and is that going to work. And, you know, there was the article that came out with Tim Bontemps that had Lamello, Trey Young, and John Morant, all mentioned as guys that were once supposed to be the next big thing, but now carry negative value.

And like, that was all a thing. But then by the time you got to like the trade deadline, so they might have already been out of the Lamello business, they may have decided like in December. Like, you know what? But then they like flipped the switch and they started winning games and they were fun to watch. And it's like, well, we can't, you know what I mean?

Like we can't break this up now. like we're cracking. Like we got this awesome offense. We'll fund the watch. We might get to the playoffs. After all this, we might get to the playoffs. So whatever's going on with Lamello and Charles Lee. Because you remember those games like,

there were games early in the season where you text and be like, is he hurt? Like, because he just wouldn't play at the end of games. In very odd substitution patterns. Right. And you knew that. And Kendrick Perkins came out and said there was a kerfuffle with those

to that was early in the season but then they got cracking so much that it was like well you don't want to you don't let this thing ride out and then obviously you're right then they decided about then they got the off season know what we felt is how we still feel which is

we don't want to be in we don't want to be in the lamella business anymore I think con playing so well trading for Kobe White and the those playing games were thing and you know what I also think is a factor and it might not even be a factor as far as I know

this trade was agreed upon before it happened. It felt like the bucks waited too long to trade Janus. And it devalued him. And I feel like Lamello played well last year. He played under control last year and he actually played basketball last year. And they decided if we are going to trade Lamello now

is the time to do it. Like his value is at its peak right now. Right. And then they went and they signed Kobe White through a contract soon after. Because I guess there was a possible risk that you could lose him after trading for him at the trade deadline. And they really liked what they had in White.

And so now they're going to build out around those other two. The other thing is this. And again, people can argue with whether or not this was wise or not. There's no question it makes them less fun and less fun to watch and like all of that. But in terms of being a great. basketball team. One of the things that we have talked about is figuring out who is going to get those big contracts. And we're going to get to some big contracts that have already been doled out. And if you are looking towards the future and you think on the horizon, is that the three we want?

And then we're building out around those, right? If those the three, do we want this to be the core of this team to be Mellow Ball, Con Cinnipple, and Brandon Miller. Or do we want this to be Brandon Miller and Concanipple? And then, you know, whoever is next up. You know, maybe it's the kid they drafted, maybe whatever. But, you know, in terms of their ages, you know, all of these teams, it's tricky to figure out like, all right, who's the ones we're giving the money to? Because that has to be good enough.

because you're not going to have enough good players all around them unless you are just in first apron, second abner and tax hell. Oh, yeah, because to have three max players is a poison pill. It's just a poison pill in today's NBA. Right. It's hard. You know, obviously the Knicks won the championship with close to that, but like that's an anomaly. Well, they also had a guy take $100 million less than he could have.

Why do you think he did that? Right. Right. You know, and it's extenuating circumstances is what I'm saying. They have, and they're still, like, they still got an owner that's going out of the air saying, like, no, bro, we're not going in the second apron. Like, we'll keep the starters together, but there will be casualties from that Knicks roster in the same way. And some Nix fans felt like Dolan was being cheap there, but I don't think Dolan was being cheap.

I think Dolan is being advised by Leon and West and saying it's just so restrictive once you're in the second apron that you can't do other things. Like, I don't think it, I think like there are some Nix fans in my life, like, like, why would you say that he's being cheap. It's like, no, it's not like it used to be. If you are labeled as a second apron team, you can't do things that you need to do. Right, because you never know the way the season is going to play out.

And God forbid, somebody has a season-ending injury. You're in a spot where you can't even fix that, right, to try to patch it together. You cannot change your roster. Right, to be able to get to the next level. You can't do anything. No, it's unwise. It's unwise.

to operate. Yes, as the cabs. Right. Good boy. And look, and now they're going to figure out what kind of moves they're going to make. So anyway, we're talking about it from the Charlotte side, and obviously I agree with you that they just decided they don't want to be in the Lamello business. On the other side of this, Minnesota is taking a swing.

And they acquire him to go alongside Anthony Edwards while, in the meanwhile, trading a bonafide fan favorite. Like, Nas Reid is like a... The tattoos, dude? The heart and soul, like, Nas Reid.

People love Nas Reid. His popularity in Minnesota. I even saw, like, when I was scrolling down my thing today, people were retweeting, like, Tim Walts and Klobuchar and these, like, politicians that were all like, you'll always have a home in Minnesota, Nasia. Like, I mean, I'm just saying,

his level of belovedness is outsized for a guy that is a six man, right? Like they love this player. They love this guy and a bona fide fan favorite. And certainly, you know, those three who have kind of been the core of what they've built out around in Minnesota that all came in together. And John Krasinski wrote a great article about this when they're heading into the playoffs, Kind of like the kids at the at the table have now become the guys. And that was Edwards, McDaniels, and Reed.

They all came in together. And they've been a part of this. And you very rarely have three guys that have been on the team that long together. Even now, in this day and age, you just don't have even three that you got to stick with. And they have. And now that one gets broken up. And they're bringing in Lamello. and I don't think anybody knows what it's going to look like.

Well, I do want to say this. I think it's very important to say to our audience, you can judge this trade, but I don't think the Minnesota Timberwolves are done making moves. They literally like don't have a four. You know what I mean? Like if you look at their like, who are they going to start? It's like Iyo, Jaden, Lamello, Edwards, and Gobert.

Like, what? No, this is, there are so many. glad you brought this up because so many of these rosters are works and progress. Exactly. And so by the time you, let's judge it when we see what it's going to look like. Yeah, yeah. Because I do want to say, like, for anyone who's saying, like, I don't like this starting five, it's like, well, guess what?

Tim Connolly doesn't like it either, you know? Like. Well, and look, there are totally reasonable, it's totally reasonable. it's totally reasonable for someone to believe. Like, I think Lamello is mega talented. I love watching him play. It is objectively fun. But is he a player you can win at the highest level with?

You know, Zach Lowe went on a whole monologue about this. Like, what about when Stepcastle is, you know, when you're in the playoffs and Stepcastle has been dragging you down for four straight quarters and what, like, we don't know. That is the difference, right? We don't know how he will respond when you get to the highest level.

And we do know that that carefree basketball that is fun to watch during the regular season is not going to cut it when it comes to the postseason. But I've always been a Lamello supporter even before he was drafted. I just like, I like tall point guards. I like guys that can shoot from deep.

Like, I don't know, I like pastors. I really like his game. And I will say, that he's never been in a situation where you're expected to contend, you're expected to win. And I hope that this brings a new lamello out. The difference between him three years ago and last year was pretty dramatic in terms of just like mature basketball decisions.

And I think this is going to be another leap for him. I'm pretty high on his potential in Minnesota. But that is pending that they make other roster moves because currently constructed the roster doesn't really work. Because he's the guy, he's the one with people, you know, whose jersey is in the stance. He's the one that's on the marquee and whatever. And I think even people in Charlotte would tell you,

like, there's nobody to check him in Charlotte. There's never been anybody. That's what I'm saying. And this is the first time that he could be thrown into check because he's not the best player on that team. We have to win a championship. You cannot throw stupid lobs. You know what I mean?

Like, we have to win a championship. Like, you can't go 0 for 7 from 30 feet. Right. Whereas, and that is the role of, this is Anthony Edwards team, and they have a longstanding coach that has more power than him. With playoff success. With playoff success. They were in Western Conference finals twice and lost to the Western Conference champions last year. Right.

So this will be. So now that is the interesting thing to see. Like what does it look like with this guy gets put in check? Because this guy went through a myriad of coaches in Charlotte and all. manner of teammates and he'd still shoot the ball off one foot from 46 feet feet away. They weren't expected to win and they weren't even motivated to win. I just I just think you're

going to, I'm bullish on Lamello's performance in this new environment. I just want to see what else Tim Connolly in the front office does to build out the roster around them right now because they went from you take Julius Randall away, you take Nas Reid away. Those are

like, those guys played a lot of playoff minutes. You can't replace those with Lamello. Right. You know what I mean? And I think that much like when they made the Randall deal, they had this deal in mind, I think there are more dominoes to fall for the Timberwolves. It's going to be super fascinating to watch him fit in to something. Oh, I mean, right.

There was never any fitting in in Charlotte. And everybody was always great. You know what I mean? But he's not Anthony Edwards. No, no. But he's also younger. You know what I mean? he walks into Lamello's team.

That doesn't all of a sudden become Brandon Miller's team. Lamello was on the team, yes. And I think the Anthony Edwards is, I think the environment, I'm pretty bullish on, obviously, if healthy, blah, blah, blah. I'm pretty bullish on Lamella's performance. I think between Finch,

the environment, and the expectations, it's going to distill him down to a more proficient, efficient NBA point card. Playmaking. There's no question he was able to have his value. I mean, you know what I mean? And the other thing is, look,

Charlotte is very, like, part of that deal is betting against the future there. Because, I mean, those pick swaps could become very real. You know what I mean? I think swaps are flatter now, too, though, because of the new lottery stuff. I mean, again, I know it's only like a three-year thing and some of them fall outside of that,

but it just feels like swaps are sort of flatter now. But the idea is that you hope that you're the better team when you dealt in swaps, right? But that's part of making the deal. Right. That's part of the thing being like, we're not in the mellow business. You will be.

We know what that means. We don't think it's going to work. Well, and the other thing is he was wildly unhealthy until this year. So that's what I'm saying. This was a rehabilitation of, no, he didn't play.

I think there were some games he missed that he could have played in. You know what I mean? During the end of some seasons. I'm a lamello defender. You know what I mean? Like, I am, I like this. I like him.

I like this, yes. I think it's going to get, I think you're going to get a better lamella ball. But you look. And again, this is one of those. Let it play out. We'll find out what their front court looks like. Exactly. As up today, when you're dealing with Denver and you're dealing with San Antonio and you're

dealing with Oklahoma City and you're dealing with some of these big guys that these teams are throwing at you, like you can't just have Rudy Gaubert. I don't think Jade McDaniels is going to be your power forward against those lineups. I don't think that works. And you want him guarding the best perimeter player. I also find it interesting, but that they also invested in I.O.

too. Right. Obviously who they traded for. I just think it's like, I think they're like I.O. Edwards ball. Those are our three guys in the front court, back court. I like that. And also this is another big swing by Tim Conley. You know, he has gone from Carl Anthony Towns.

Then he went to Julius Randall. Now he's trying for L'Belmael. Gobert. Right. No, but now he's going with the bell ball. I'm saying like these are things to, you know, you're trying to win at the highest level with when you've got one of the best players in the NBA and Anthony Edwards. And so you are, look, it may end up being terrible.

It may end up being great. But there's no question you are attempting to move the needle. If you're a fan base, I like to think about fans. If I'm a Timberwolves fan, like, I want a guy like that in the front office. We're not going to be the six seed and losing the first round. Right. You might not make the playoffs, but something's going to happen. You know what I mean?

Something's going to happen in Minnesota. Well, and again, the sliding doors of all of this is, you know, what if Dante doesn't blow out his Achilles if ants not hobble? Like, you know, maybe that year's team. Maybe last year's team is different where guys ended up getting put into miscast rolls and whatever. Like, this is the way this stuff goes. I kind of forgot about Dante. Yeah. So sad. He's so beloved here as a former Nick.

Yeah. God. That makes me sad. Well, and then obviously they got Kobe White, which we, that was such an awesome homecoming for Kobe White. Number one, getting out of Chicago. Joe Kobe White. Let's call him by his appropriate name, please. And then on to a winning organization last year was Charlotte that actually was like making a push. at least when Chicago was going the other way. But also, you remember when we did that at the trade deadline,

and I looked it up and I was like, this guy is in what it was a great state. He is the leading high school scorer in the history of that state. Like it was a true homecoming. He was the best high school player there ever in terms of scoring. He was a standout at North Carolina, and now he's like signed up, you know, at least, long term, short term for the Charlotte Hornets.

It got $74 million, but a beloved figure there too. And I like them keeping him. I like him a lot. I think they saw Kobe White and they said, well, he was playing a lot more and still being productive when he was in Chicago, when he was healthy. Yep. Like, let's plug in that Kobe White,

a starter Kobe White into our system without Lamello. And we're going to lose some of the, scoring and production, but he'll, because Kobe White can table set and he can get you 30. That thing I like about him. Well, but also, you look at their salary and you look at what they freed up with moving off

Lamello and then the Kobe White doesn't take up much of that. Like, they're not done. No. And they're a team that's going to come up with other guys. And I will tell you that say whatever you want about like the prediction markets. Somebody text me one before we started

recording that John Morant's next team being Charlotte was like 45% That makes no sense And I was like, get out of business with the one guy And get into business with the other And sign Kobe White and then get No, I'm not giving that any breath. How about Jaylen Brown?

How about Jalen Brown? Them getting in the mix for that? I just don't understand who they trade for Jalen Brown salary-wise. Agreed. I mean, but this is, again, these are fluid situations is the point. Yes, I think that's very point. The theme of this podcast is a lot happened today and it was weird and a lot's going to happen to make it make sense over the course of free agents.

Well, and a massive trade that took place between two franchises and we look at their rosters and be like, all right, they're both obviously not done. This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over one billion probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out. Visitactivia. comia.ca for more details. Yes. Another one is Memphis acquiring these two. Okay. Before we speak

on it, I'm going to give you a second to speak on it, but I do want to say this. This is to me, from a Detroit standpoint, I know we're going to get the Memphis standpoint from you. From the Detroit standpoint, this looks like the Randall trade. It looks like we have to do this so we can then do that. Agreed. But I'd love to hear the grizzly side from you, Mr. Berne.

I would say of the transactions that I have seen the home team make that easily ranks in the top three

to five of my level of excitement. When that came across, I, outside of like star level players, this is a true thing. If you would have asked me, you can have any,

pick five role players in the NBA that you want. Hand on the Bible. Isaiah Stewart is at the top. He said literally, the top. This is what I covet. I want the toughest,

meanest. If a fight breaks out, it's 20,000 bloody carcasses and him, that's what I want. I crave that. I crave that. And the fact that the way that all played out was so crazy

because on Tuesday night, Memphis moves down from 16, and then they, and they pump fake like two different picks. First Oklahoma City, that's Bennett Sturts, and then they trade with Detroit. Then they moved down again.

What they trade with Detroit again? Detroit. What was the deal of? Three second round picks. Three second round picks. They just gave it right back. Well, but here was the wild thing. I then go on the air

the next day. And because I'm reading all the articles and it's like they've drafted Kareem Lopez. They've moved down to the draft. You know, they got three second round picks. Obviously those are assets. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm reading everybody and, you know,

the national pundits are all like, wow, this is unbelievable GMing. The Grizzlies moved down five picks and maybe still got the guy they wanted. And just the process of this, whatever. And so the celebrating of the process or whatever. And I have long bitched about this that we have gotten so many nerds that celebrate process over results that it's gotten tilted, right? And I am still always a results. That's what I'll celebrate.

I'll celebrate the results. There's no question it was a great process. But the results of this to be able to get those third round picks and then the next night flipped them for I'm. Trade them back to the source. Well, because you, there is no great. And I should have asked somebody today. There's no great explanation for this outside of what you want. Maybe in your press release is to say we moved up, you know, to 17 to get our guy.

Guy, right? You want him to feel good. Right. And we moved up. And so then the next day, it's like. Oh, and we traded us instead of, because that looks way better than saying we took a Buka from Stanford for Isaiah Stewart. That's pretty much what it was. It was.

It nets out at that. So I think the staggering of it might be like winning the press release. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, ah, what? Someone has beloved as Isaiah Stewart, but like I do want to remind you what happened in the playoffs last year when Paul Reed outplayed both Dern and Steele. Stuart. You can focus on the past all you want. All right.

This is a new era. And as a guy who got to go to an arena and root for the Tony Allen and the Marcosaws and the Zach Randolphs of the world and I watched teams. My favorite text last night,

he's not going to get mad that I told you this. But it was from our beloved boss, Bill Simmons. And he said, oh my God. He goes, you know, what do you say? Cam Boozer, Isaiah Stewart, Zach Edie, Cedric Coward,

he's like, that's unbelievable. He's like, come to Memphis, stay in a shitty hotel, and get your ass beat. Yeah, we'll also like, think about some of the lineups you watched last year. We're so bad. The end of the season, because you have to go to 41 home games and do studio show before

and after and half time. Some of the stuff you watch and some of the stuff you're going to be watching, I'm on board. Oh, my God. I mean, I can't, wait to go to the arena to just watch it. And it's like, Isaiah Stewart is everything that we wanted.

Everything. I would rather root for a guy like Isaiah Stewart that's like just like going out there. Like the game he had eight blocks and 17 minutes. It was game four. He was on his way to like six man of the year

defense, all defense, like all these things that all went off the rails with injuries and suspension. Well, there's also games where he goes like three for four from three. You're just like, wait, what? You're like, what do you mean the toughest guy in the league? The toughest guy in the league is shoot like 40% from three? Like, okay.

I wanted the toughest guy in the league wearing a Memphis jersey. You got them. It just feels right. It just feels right. It just feels right. It's like when Brad Pitt dates Angelina Jolie. You're like, yep, that works out. Yes.

They're meant for each other. He is meant to be a Memphis Grizzly. He is. He is. My level of excitement was, I mean, undefined, honestly. And you know what's crazy? I've got buddies in Detroit. And I started texting them, like, that work there.

And they're like, you're not going to, they're like, everybody in this building swears by him. He is the nicest guys. The nicest guy. And I was like, they're like, you're going to love this guy. He's the nicest guy ever off the court. And I was like, that is always how it is. I love the switch flippers. The switch flippers.

No, the toughest guys are always like the most charismatic, like happy, like fun-loving, nice guys. You're constantly talking about what a sweetheart Dylan Brooks is. He is. I don't believe it. And so are Zach Randolph and Tony Allen. These are the guys that actually you don't want to trifle with. It's the fake stuff guys that are the pricks because they live. They're living their whole life like they're something that they're not.

These guys are so secure in what they are. Just say his name. Who? I know who you're talking about. Who? Let's move on. We have more things on the rundown. Who am I talking about?

I know who you're talking about. I really didn't have a specific person in mind. Yes, you do. I say a Stewart is a Memphis Grizzly. It's great. It is so on. And if you're a Pistons fan, you're like, why did we do that? What's going on?

It's just like, just wait. It's basically like the. Randall trade. It's like we have to do this trade to do this. And they're going to end up with like a Tyler Hero Norm Powell, Trey Murphy, what they need.

Because that's what they need. It's totally true. They need another playmaker. And they drafted a guy, but the guy they drafted is like Dennis Jenkins 2.0. And look, that was a lot of the, you know that was a portion, if not most of the thinking regarding the

Mello deal. Like, we need somebody to, like, so that Anthony Edwards can't just be doubled up. Doesn't have to do everything. Because if he's doubled up and the guy in the middle can't catch the ball, how many times is he going to get hit in the head with the ball? Oh, my God.

And also, like, Anthony Edwards, there was just, he, Anthony Edwards would be doubled and he would be the top of the guy in the whiteboard and he is a superstar, so he would still succeed. And he would still get buckets and still take his team to victories. I just feel like there's a huge pressure relief. with LaMello there, but we've talked about that.

But I think this is a precursor to another move. If you're a piss and span, don't worry. Sit tight. Sit tight. So now the big name of LaMello came off the board this morning, and now we just wait because there are, the Jalen Brown thing was already out there. And I think the expectation is that Jalen Brown

will not be wearing a Celtics jersey next year. Okay. And that there is a beating war that is now going on behind the scenes for his services. I just Go ahead I I just want to push back on that a little bit

Like Oh no Are we sure Yes Are we sure I just feel like Yes Twitch stream comments

And like Fighting with Stephen A And that Like we've all like Used that And then deduced ourselves That that means He's going to be traded

No We deduced That they tried To trade him for Yannis but it didn't happen. Right. But it's still, bro. You're a golfer.

These guys all have egos, Jacoby. They all have ego. You were about to call me Jalen. You were about to call me Jalen. That's because we're talking about Jalen Brown. Is it? Yes, you're watching. People call me Jalen on the street all the time.

No, they don't. All the time. They thought that the names were reversed? No, they just associate me with Jalen, and they know his name. They're like, And I'm like, all right, dude, it happens all the time. All the time. I don't mind.

It doesn't bother me. That's better than every time I was in New York. It was just idiot. Get out of the way, idiot. I don't even know you. Anyway, back to what you were saying. Jaylen Brown's getting, Brad Stevens had every opportunity to say Jayla Brown is not getting traded and

did not do it. Fair. And every national reporter is telling you that this is going to happen. and they're a lot more plugged in than we are. I just feel it's a bit like, I thought Jalen Brown had the best year of his career last year. Is that fair to say? Of course.

Right? And then I'm looking at these potential trades. We all know the potentials. And like, I'm not a huge Mobley guy. I don't really see a package that I would trade Jalen Brown for out there. Hmm. Like, which one appeals to you of like what's being discussed? It will.

just pelicans, rockets, blazers, clippers and calves. What works? I do like Trey Murphy a great deal. I love him, but. I do like Trey Murphy a great deal. Okay, tell yourself this. Like, I love Trey Murphy too, but like, we're talking about Jalen Brown. Oh, I got it.

Baylor Shireman and Jordan Walsh to the two seats. Like, I got there. I got that. Like, I got that, but you also have to, look, this is one of the things you do have to take consideration. And I'm a big Jaila Brown fan as well. okay, but it's Jalen Brown $70 million. Like, that is part of this.

There's no question. It's like go look at his contract and look at how much he is getting paid and what it is going to be when it's time to re-up on said contract. I mean, he gets paid a fortune. And what are the Pelicans? You're like, Jalen Brown's going to make us, could leap us into contention. We need to win now move right now as a New Orleans Pelicans GM.

That doesn't make any sense either. That makes no sense. Right. Well, I mean, look, I think that we will not know what kind of trade for Jalen Brown makes sense until we see the trade that makes sense. And then we'll decide. I mean, I guess if you're the Pelicans, you're like, it was Jalen Brown and a bunch of dudes last year. And it worked out.

Maybe Jalen Brown and a bunch of dudes in New Orleans will work out. Like, that's the only way you can sort of irrationalize that. but I just I don't know man they won a championship like a couple of years ago right I don't know I think here's the thing I'm going to say which sort of like I do want to like end it on this we don't know the relationship between Jalen Brown his teammates and the organization in the front office we speculate about that and I think that is going to be the most influential variable in the equation of whether or not he gets moved. You know what I mean? We're not in those conversations.

I also that this is like, but there's always like the, uh, Jayla Brown could get moved for Kevin Durant or what about like, you know, there was always like rumors in the past or whatever, but they were always tamped down and they said, we were never moving this guy. We're not moving this guy. Like this was so out there. It got to the point where we're on it. It's like, hey, they're deciding on the heat deal or the. Celtics deal. They made an offer.

Everybody knew what they guess. They made an offer. And he's in it. And they didn't want to give up a cute. And you know what? We were willing to give up the guy. Do we know that? Yes.

We know that. We know that. We know that. Shireman in the deal. Hugo. Hugo. Yes. And like we're willing to give you the finals MVP,

the Easter conference finals MVP. But more picks or. Coming off his best year. He's playing better than he did when he was the finals. That's a bridge too far. No. We are not getting. I don't know, man.

I don't know. We're not in those conversations. I'm telling you both Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons say the exact same thing. And you trust Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons? Fair point. They have no connections to the Celtics organization. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update. Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg, a new fit that moves with you.

It's everything you want denim to feel like for summer. Easy, breathable, and effortlessly cool. With a fit that creates natural movement and a wide leg that feels modern, not overwhelming. Plus, that signature, wait, for this price, moment. Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg. I am one of Motenui. On July 10th.

Maui, you will board my boat and restore the heart of Tafiti. And here we go. The journey begins. See her light up the night. The ocean chose you. Let's go save the world. I got your back, chosen one. Disney's Moana.

Boots Nick. His name is Hay Hey. His name is Yum. When he goes in my tum-tum in theater's July 10th. Where did this Kawai stuff all come from today? I don't even understand it. I was already focused on the Jalen Brown stuff and obviously the Morant stuff. And it's like, you know, I mean, God bless.

Brian Winhorse is on ESPN's like, What did he say? He said some term that I've never heard in my life that I was honestly like, oh, this is, this is a, and I can't wait to use this. Let this be known, Wendy. I'm stealing this. He called John Morant

belacrantly available. That's like single dudes at the bar. at like three o'clock in the morning. Flagrantly available. And I was like, damn. That's a good one. Flagrantly available. Yeah, that's always a good way to drive up the market.

Amazing. That's like why the lamello deal happened. Like, Yonis is flagrantly available. Lamello is like, we're doing great right now. Why would we trade Lamello? It drives the price up. All right. Can we take a quick 20 second timeout just for me to tell you that,

Obviously, I've been in the midst of this for rant stuff for a long time now. It's caused the, you know, fans just fight every day. I mean, if I don't click from my 4U to the following tab, it's just all people fighting. The following. The following tab, the 4U tab is just like. Oh, chaos. It's like there's a room in the club. Yes.

There's no rules. Yes. So then I always have to like click over because I mean, and I tell you, it gets me. It's just going down. Oh, oh, and it's fighting about Morant because they know that's my alga. I get lots of duelipa in a bikini. It's lots of duelipa in a bikini because I always click on it. I wish we could trade algorithms.

Golly. Your sounds so much more fun than mine. Or that Stephanie Cunningham meme. I got that all day today. All day today. I was like, all right, none of this is really funny anymore. Yeah. The first three times this fight is like, guys, like, I get it.

Oh, your wife is bad. All right. I did get that one a lot. But anyways, my 22nd time out is this. Like, so obviously I've been in the midst of it, everybody's fighting about it, right? And like, there's always going to be a portion of the fan base. Like, you know, it's a front officer's fault. Then there's the force of the fan base that's Morant's fault.

Then there's the, they should just reconcile, you know, stay together for the kids. This team is now, you know what I mean? Good. Literally for the kids, for the children. my 22nd time out is just this. I look around the league and I see these teams like taking swings and whatever. I am, I got to be honest, I am surprised at the lack of market that for him. As someone who has watched him play his entire career and I know he has been tragically

unavailable over the course of three years, but even last year when he played in that Europe game and he comes out and he's dropped. in 24 and 30. He's on that floor against Orlando, and they've got Paolo, and they've got Farns, and they've got one, and he's the best player on the floor. I saw him in the game at home against Philly, where he dropped

40, and it's like, bro, this dude just took over the game. Like, he still is so talented that I would have thought somebody would take a swing on it and just be like, look, it's two more years, and if it hits, and he

falls in line, and is available, like, it's gone too far in terms of the, like, the basketball side of that, right? Like, I got it. I understand everything that's taken place and I understand why people would be wary of. But if your team ain't got nothing going on or you're trying to get to the next level, I am surprised that there's somebody not willing to take the risk because people take risks on talent all the time. All the time, it happens. and when it hit, like once upon a time, it was a massive risk for the New England Patriots

to attain Randy Moss. And then Tom Brady threw like 50 touchdowns, you know what? And he was like, but I mean, it was like negative value. They got him for like damn near nothing. Well, they also tried like Antonio Brown. You know what I mean? And I'm not telling you it's going to work.

I'm saying there's a chance. There's a chance. There's a lot of teams that need a point. point card. Right. You've talked about it all year long, Houston Rockets. Right. And also that might be that he's better than yours.

Like, I'm telling you, when he plays, he is better than your guy in most cases. And also, like, again, I am surprised at the situation that is there. And inevitably, I mean, look, when Brian Winhorse is on TV talking about, he's flagrantly available. And they've got an issue where unlike, say, like the Boston stuff's hanging out there, but like this is a franchise that's like turning a page, right? Like they've already, you know, Desmond Bates gone, Jared Jackson's gone. Yeah. They're turning a page.

They closed the book and opened a new one. But it is also hard when you announce, hey, here's our future. Here's Camboozer. Here's Isaiah Stewart. Here's Cedric Howard doing interviews. Here's all this stuff. Jaylin Wells. Oh, yeah.

We still got this thing. hanging out there that people are fighting about, right? And so, but I am surprised that, like, for all the talk, and it's, he's been available since February, that there's not somebody out there that hasn't taken a swing at it to try to, because the same way that Lamello is a risk, Marantz, I mean, if you want to, but also, I could, the difference between the two is that Lamello, like, played that thing out and increased his trade value. I mean, and it's wild to look back at that article.

You look back at that article, and Lamello's now playing alongside Anthony Edwards, and Trey Young got a $200 million contract. And Brian Winhorse is on TV saying John Morant is flagrly. And Moran's contract is 42.2 and then 44.9. That is tolerable. Yes. That's tolerable. In today's market?

I am surprised somebody has to take it a swing at it. It's just who's the dance department? Like, well, who? Right. I mean, I mean, like, look,

that Charlotte thing was crazy when that popped up from the prediction market. You know, Toronto, Chicago. Houston? Who knows?

Houston? There'll be somebody out there. There'll be somebody out there and it might surprise us, you know? But obviously, there was two that I had brought up where I was like,

if I were these GMs, what the hell? I'm not screwing anything up. Like, if I'm Brooklyn or if I'm, I'm Sacramento, but they took A-Cuff and McEl Brown. So they took their point guards of the future in those organizations. It's one year and he's $42 million, right?

Well, it's two. It's two. No, but then next year he's an expiring. Right. So if it goes to shit, it's like now he's expiring that also has value beyond the player's performance. Yeah, this whole. And they obviously are not going for attaching something to him.

If they wanted to attach something to him to move him, that would have been done forever ago. Like, they won a real trade. And it appears, like, I mean, look, we're already to June 25th. I thought this would have been done by now. What are the chances that keep him? Out of 100. Out of 100, I'd say 10th.

Seriously? Yeah, I just don't know. Sometimes I feel like with the Brown deal and the Morant deal, I understand that both these deals will probably happen. But sometimes I'm like, are we sure? Are we sure they can't just stay? Yeah, oh, trust me. Look, you know, look, you could go back to the first show

that me and you did in New York City. And that whole show, I'm sitting there going, like, just come together. Like, I said on that show, you'll both regret it. That's how I feel. You'll both regret it down the road. You'll wish you would have handled everything differently. And nobody listened to me. I mean, remember that game in L.A.

When he's, like, fighting with the coach or whatever, that's kind of like, all right, this ain't going on. You know what I mean? Well, the big, one of the big ones, I will tell you that there was a massive breaking point in, they played those two games in Europe. And he went to Europe and just bailed on the first game. Didn't play in it. And Adam Silver went and talked to him.

And he played in the second game. And was awesome. But just sat the first game. Yeah, that's not going to work. And it was just not. It's one of those things. It's like we can't. The organization had sent a million people over there.

It was such a big deal. Yeah, yeah. They were doing that instead of the Martin Luther King Day game, which has been a big show. Of course. It was, oh, no, it was national TV, the whole thing. And he just, and he sat. It's like, nah. And that, yeah.

And look, and again, that's the, that's the fight amongst the fan base. Like, nobody wants to realize that this all started by him not getting a contract extension. And so unless you think they should have given him. one. This was going to be untenable. Right? And so anyways, back to the Kauai Leonard thing. The Kauai Leonard thing, it's like, even today there was like that report, it's like, and there's a report that if he, if he did get traded to the spurs or the Raptors, he'd be willing to sign an extension.

I'm like, is this real? Like, what are we doing? I'd be willing to sign an extension if I was him too, but who's willing to give him an extension? Right. Well, and also the whole, yeah, because he's just trying to get. out of L.A. with the aspiration they've had to come down. Do you think if you've moved, you wear a different uniform, they won't recognize you? They're like, where's Quay Leonard? He's gone. He's wearing the glass. We looked in the

glass in the fake bus. We didn't find him there. Yeah. We finished our investigation. Where is? He's on the lamb. Can you imagine if we look up and we're talking about Kauai Leonard on a different team and J. LeBron on a different team and John Morant on a different team. I don't think you can trade for Kauai Leonard until you know what the punishment is. They're not going to punish him.

Whatever. I don't know. what's going to happen? What if his contract is voided? I don't know how this works. How long does this take to investigate? By the way. They're not going to lay it on him. They're going to lay it on the organization.

Oh, no, of course. Yeah. But just this and his name is being bandied about out there was interesting to me. Because I never even thought about it. I was like, I didn't figure you're just going to stay in L.A. And, you know, be a clipper. Well, I think that they've got a longer view than they used to when they had like the, you know, the Paul George, Russell, Westbroke,

while Leonard was very much like, we want to win the championship. I think now they're kind of like, all right, like, let's trade an old guy for a young guy. Let's keep our draft pick. Well, here's the reason it's so fascinating to me. Dude, he was awesome last year.

Oh, God. Oh, yeah. He had like a career year. Oh, did you came on this show with, yeah, all these stats about his peak and like how he's better than his peak. Yeah, you were just like, yeah. Yeah. It's an unbelievable season.

And, uh, all right, it follows. look, we already have a bunch of other transactions. So let's go quick. You were one that did not like the idea of Reeves getting a boatload of buddy in L.A. I hate this. I hate this. I don't understand why it's like, well, we got to pay him the max or let him walk out the door for nothing. I'm like, yeah, let him walk out the door for nothing. And guess what?

There's not a bunch of free agents this year. And you might be a little bit of a gap year or wasted year. But I don't think that Austin Reeves works with Luca Donchin. and you're paying him max money. There's only so many max bullets you can fire. I don't think this is smart. I do not. It's interesting because you wonder,

you know, this is the grand criticism of the Trey Young thing. It's like, okay, like life is leverage. Go out there and see. Like, you know what I mean? Like, see, what is the market? Like, what can you get? Is there somebody else that's going to give you $200 million?

Fine. Thank you so much for your services. Mr. Reeves. We appreciate you by. Same with Jaylen. Duren, same with Austin Reeves or whatever. And we also talk about like Reeves, we talk about this a lot

where it's like these guys that are that have not accomplished, they're not all-star players, they have not accomplished it yet. Right? We did this with Franz Wagner, but it's like, Desmond Bain, this is the price of doing business is that's what, and you figure

if you're not going to give it to them, somebody else will. Why don't you like it? You don't like the match with Luca as a. Yes. Really? Yes. I just, I think that How much of it is thinking

that this will call? It's the percentage of the salary cap. You know what I mean? Like you're devoting a large percentage of your salary cap to a player who is not a complimentary piece to Luca Donchich. And you can only do that so many times.

I agree. I disagree with that. How so? Explain it to me. I think it. He's Kyrie Irving? I mean, Bro.

The numbers are the numbers. You saw the playoffs, right? I got it. But, I mean, Austin Reeves is another playmaker that stretches the floor alongside Luca Donchich. And you are going to have to find those guys. Now, what you're going to also have to do is flight. Flank them with the defenders.

I got it. And defenders. Like, the problem is not we need a second creator, an on-ball drive guy that can shoot. which I'm not devaluing Austin Reeves as a player. I'm just saying like Luke Hontich is the number one priority, the number two priority, the number three priority, the number four priority for the Lakers,

and building, if you're going to dedicate this amount of money. Why is it not like Kyrie, which is a team that made it to the NBA final? I'm not going to allow you to compare Austin Reeves to Kyrie Irving. I'm not going to allow that to happen. I'm not. It's Kyrie Irving.

that's Austin Reeves. Who are you picking first and pick up? Okay. Well, we're not playing pickup. Whatever. You know what I mean. It's carrier, too. Like, come on.

Okay. I'm not saying Austin Reeves is not worth the money even. I'm saying if you are the Los Angeles Lakers, it just feels like, well, we had to do it because someone else was going to do it. And it's like, yeah, maybe you let him walk out the door. That's going to be bad for you this year. It's going to be bad for you this year. But listen, this is.

I don't know, man. Austin Reeves was going nuclear when LeBron was out. You saw it, I saw it. We all saw it. This is being recorded, right? In two years, they will regret this move. Okay. You don't like, I like this take that you have never been. You thought it was goofy that they would,

that they, that they, that they would tie Austin Reeves to a huge contract. I don't know. I just, I think it's stupid. I think it's really stupid. I mean. And then your front court. who's in the front court. I know they're going to make a move

and get somebody, be like, who are they to get? Here's the thing, Chicago. Here's what I will tell you, though. You do the deal. You sign him. And you can't. He is going to have massive trade value. Are you sure?

Yes. If it doesn't work, you can move it. You can't lose it for nothing. That's just stupid. Come on. I don't know. If this is the price, if this is the price,

I know I'm alone here. Sometimes I just don't understand where it's like, well, someone else is going to give him this money, so we have to give him this money. Or are we losing for nothing? I'm like, how about losing for nothing and not pay him this? Because he's not worth this.

This is not his value. That is the trade. No, that's the Tray Young argument. Someone else, they go. Buy, Tray Young. Appreciate your two months of service. Let someone else pay you $50 million. Yeah, you're not worth it.

And I know it's going to be bad because there's not, like there's a plethora of free agents available even like next year. It's not like you can just like replace them with someone else. Like we're going to use this $50 million or $40 million and just pay someone else with it. It's not like it's not that easy and I understand

that. But sometimes I just feel like making bad deals is bad business. Am I crazy? You also wonder if that is that it signals like all right, once they gave Reeves that money and the LeBron thing's hanging out

there, what does that mean towards whether or not LeBron James has played his last right? Are you just moving? Are you just moving on from the LeBron era in L.A. And we're building out

around. I've said this a million times, man. I don't know. I don't know where LeBron is going to get paid his value. Right. The problem with LeBron is like, he's worth a lot of money. You know what I mean? Right. It's like, look at him all.

the court. Look at his production. Just look at the numbers. Like, that's an expensive basketball player. And there's just not a lot of spots. And certainly, when you're paying Luca and you're paying Austin Reeves, price to do a business, like,

I don't know. I would, I just, listen, I know I'm alone here. And like, all the smart people I hear and be like, well, you have to, you have to sign Reeves. I'm just kind of like, I would just say, I just don't fall in line with the thinking of everybody else. I'm just kind of like, are we sure we have to? Are we sure we have to?

I would say What is the other option? I would say that I would run it back and if it, after I build out around this new Luca and Reeves and whatever else I've got,

and then if it doesn't work, I can still trade him because he's obviously got to market. And then I can move him. If I don't like the way it looks, you know, going forward. Or if it's not ideal. If it is what Jacoby says,

he's not, he's going to be like right in his prime years. And he's a good player, bro. Even if you don't love him. I'm not saying he's not a good player. I'm just saying I don't think he is worth four years and $185 million. Fair enough.

You know what? Isn't the last year a playing option or something? You know what? The way he reacted on that golf course, he may not think so. For an undrafted player, that's a big number. It's amazing. It's a big number.

All right. also had the Sun signing. They made the minor ones. Mark Williams, they gave a deal to. And then Gillespie and Goodwood both got, those are like really good contracts for guys. Those are great deals for those guys. Like that team was fun and really like, they went out and gave an honest effort every single night and we fairly, we really liked Colin Gillespie and they're fairly rewarded. And it sucked that Goodwin was out for the playoffs. Yeah, because he was so good. He was. Like those guys. He was so good for them. Goodwin was on the Lakers. Goodwin and Gillespie were both super

fun to watch and cool story. So I was glad they got their money. The Sun's team was like, is literally like the opposite of what they were the year before. Right. It is kind of interesting the Mark Williams thing because I mean like, again, I guess you fancy it's going to be Mark Williams and Malawak who they drafted what 10 last year.

So I mean, I didn't see. Nobody did. Right. And so anyways, like those deals, but obviously there's going to be a million transactions. that go on over the course of the next two weeks. We've got... Can I make a quick confession? Yeah, go ahead.

I don't talk about him that much because I'm not really sure how to say his last name. Malawatch or Malawak? I say Malawak. I've heard it both ways, so I can't confidently say it. It's fine. Who cares? If he didn't play.

If he played, the announcers would say his name and I would know it. If you confidently say it, no one knows the difference. Yeah, no one cares. Except the one guy on Twitter that's like, Hey, stupid, it's Och. Like Zubach. And Zoom, it's like, like Zubatch?

Zubatch? As I mentioned, the last thing we'll do is, we, we spoke after the first round. We did not speak after the second round. The prospector gave all manner of players to keep a lookout on the second round. Where were you when he was on the show? Oh, where was I?

Yeah, I thought it'd be the three of us. No, I went to the restroom. Oh, okay. And then he just popped. And then he popped on. I thought you were going to ask, I thought you were going to ask where I was last night. I was running around my neighborhood pantsless because Isaiah Stewart is a Memphis

Grizzly. That's where I was last night. But the second round was going on. There's nothing better than the shirt on without pants. There's no better look. The Winnie the Pooh. Yeah, exactly. So, look, the second round last night, the hat catastrophe that it was.

What a hat catastrophe. The hat-tastrophe, come on, let's clean the phrase. The hat-astrophe. The guys that the prospector mentioned, Isaiah Evans ended up going to Minnesota. Malik Thomas ended up going to Cleveland. Dylan Mitchell ended up going to Boston. Trayvon Brazil went to Denver.

Tyler Beeldoe went to Brooklyn. And then Ryan Conwell, who I the prospector mentioned that Ryan Conwell played in their tournament game after he had hurt his foot. Oh, yeah. He had written down the quote, I don't care how I feel.

I'm giving it everything I got. You'll never believe where Ryan Conwell ended up. The Miami Heat. Oh, of course. Heat culture. And they're going to make him a. I know. ...notation player,

they're going to trade him to some other team for an asset, and then he's going to be never seen again. The heater is so good at, like, taking a second round player,

making him look like a legit NBA rotation asset, trading him, and then they just completely disappear from the face of the planet. Look, the argument in 2018, I think it was,

18, 19? Yeah, 19. The argument, I remember, I covered the game, was who really should win rookie of the year. And this guy started yelling, John Morant won it, started yelling at John Morant.

I'm the rookie of the year. I'm the rookie of the year. And then the next day, it was like a news cycle. Like, is he really the rookie of the year? And it was Kendrick Nunn. Of course. That was one of the names of the top of it. When I was saying that, that was one of the names in my head.

Because I think he's playing in like Turkey A right now. Turkey? Is he really? No, we call it. Turkey A because the World Cup is happening. Oh, yeah. You watching World Cup games? I'm into the World Cup.

I like it. Bro, act like I'm not. I'm wearing the shirt. Well, then let's end the pod because the U.S. team is playing right now. It doesn't matter. This is an inconsequential game. No, every game has consequences because I have Fanduel. You want me tell you what the score is?

Yeah, 4-0 USA, right? Flo Balegan. It's actually 2-1 Turkey at halftime. Oh, God damn it! We got to make it come. back. Yeah, because we weren't supporting. I wasn't watching.

That's why. Yeah. We're trailing for the first time in the World Cup. Who would have thought? I think I put $15 on the U.S. being up the half. Well, get that half time line. Yeah. All right.

It's going to do it for our show. Thank you to Jesse Lopez. As always, we're producing the show. Thanks to Jeff and Steph. We will be back with you next week. Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if, like, what if it does

That doesn't hold up. That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home.