The Ringer NBA Show - NBA Trade Deadline Instant Reactions | Real Ones

Episode Date: March 25, 2021

Logan is joined by real one Chris Ryan to react to all the trades and transactions, or lack thereof, after the deadline, including the Raptors holding onto Kyle Lowry (0:30), the Rockets trading Victor Oladipo to the Heat (8:56), whether Aaron Gordon can bring the Nuggets to title-contention level (13:34), the Lakers holding off on making moves (27:20), what the Clippers gain by trading Lou Williams to the Hawks for Rajon Rondo (35:02), and more! Hosts: Logan Murdock and Chris Ryan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twice a week, Van Lathen and Rachel Lindsay dissect the biggest topics in black culture, politics, and sports on their show, Higher Learning. They discuss the most important and timely conversations while also frequently inviting guests on the podcast and occasionally debating each other. Check out Higher Learning on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. What's popping, man, Real Ones. Logan Murdoch here. No Roger Bell today on this trade deadline edition of Real One. So we got Chris Ryan, who is, um, is. on the back end of one of the biggest pump fakes of the season, Kyle Lowry is staying put in Toronto for the time being.

And that means that he is not going to the hometown Sixers, where you guys both share a hometown. How do you feel right now that Kyle Lowry is staying put and all that stuff that we heard that the Sixers were going to go after him, the Lakers were going after him, Miami, it was in the mix. There was so many teams in the mix for Kyle Lowry. What do you feel that he is not going to your hometown? We also got Kyle Lowry crying on camera last night,

waving goodbye to Toronto, aka Tampa. So this is just a very strange story. They orchestrated this whole thing to make you feel like this was an inevitability. I was never really that confident that we were going to get Lowry, that the Sixers were going to get Lowry for as much as I would love to see him return. Nova graduate, Philly High School basketball legend. You know, I think that the Sixers window is being compressed. a little bit by the media.

Not to blame the media for anything of which we are a part of, but I do think that the six or seven... Are you blaming the media on the Real Ones podcast right now? I'm not. After everything that we have gone through right now, are you... I'm not.

All I'm saying is that, like, it doesn't all have to happen today. And I think what the move that they did make by acquiring George Hill for basically, for Tony Bradley and like some, some add-ons, is like exactly the move that they needed to make

if they weren't going to get Lowry. They got some outside shooting. They got somebody who could probably close games with the Seth Curry, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Joel, and Bid lineup, assuming everybody is healthy. Here's the thing, Logan. Everybody in Sixersland is feeling really good about the Sixers right now. Sixers are out here beating up the West Coast without Embed. So I'm not that upset about it. Yeah, I think the biggest thing with Lowry, and we talked about this prior to the pod, with the Sixers and even with the Lakers and all these teams involved, right?

we've heard some things about that Kyle Lowry wants an extension wherever he goes. Sure. This is his free agency. That's what we're in horse to say. Right. This is, or as, you know, someone close to all of us calls the pre-agency, right? But the biggest thing is, if he goes to the Lakers, they're not going to give him an extension. They can't do that.

Or that wouldn't be wise. I don't think they give Kyle Lowry an extension because I don't feel like he would be in their long-term plans. Same with the Sixers. Do you imagine them giving Lowry a long-term deal with his considering his age and is he in their long-term plans or is he a rental, right? Or with Miami, same deal. So I think that's the tricky part is that he wants to get paid long-term for whatever team he goes to. And with his age and kind of his abilities right now, you don't necessarily, I don't think you would want to do that. Do you think that played a part into this, Chris?

Yeah, I think that probably it was the dual factor of what Toronto's asking price was, which sounded like at various points was rumored to be. maxi and thiable from the sixers as well as draft picks um that's pretty rich and then you have to add on you're giving a guy in his mid 30s an extension or or redoing his deal and you're pretty much locked in then to embed harris lowry simmons and whatever scrap you can get off the out of the draft or in the buyouts and that's that that's you're just your handcuffed to that so i don't know i mean like personally i think mori probably likes the flexibility of what he's got going into next season. What you do is you go into this playoffs with an MVP favorite

before you got hurt. You go in with Tobias Harris playing out of his mind. You add a shooter in George Hill. You get Seth Curry back. And then if things fall apart in the playoffs, you go back to the well on training Simmons and rebuild the team. My thing from a Toronto side

is Lowry is he's looking for an extension of the last year of his deal, right? So like I think that... Yeah, this is the last. This was Toronto's opportunity to get something back for him if he wasn't going to stay with them. Right. So what do you, it's always tricky for me when teams are in this situation when they do have the last, a guy in the last year of his deal and they're trying to trade

for the guy in the last year of his deal. Do you just get what you can get for him? Or do you say, no, I don't want to do this because I feel like with the Toronto Raptors, if you say that you're going to, you're going to trade a guy who's on the last end of his deal, you might as well just get what you can get because this is the last time you can get anything for him because he can walk or you're going to have to sign him long term. I just think that the Raptor should have traded him. Why not? Because you're not going to get anything for him in the free agency market. So this is where we get into a really complicated zone with this because trade deadline and all of this transactional stuff, which is essentially like become as big as the games in the NBA, like thinking

about transactions, thinking about what teams are doing team building wise. has become as much of an industry into itself, aside from watching the actual basketball games. Some might argue that it's become even a bigger entertainment business than the actual basketball games. We don't actually know what Messiah is asking for. We don't actually know what the Sixers were offering. We're never going to know.

Like, it's nobody's... You're never truly going to know. So this is essentially like watching, like being a fan of a sport, but never getting to watch what actually happens. And then somebody comes out of a gym and is like, I heard so and so went six for ten from the field today. And you're like, well, now I'm assuming that this person shoot 60%.

So I have no idea what was actually offered for Kyle Lowry. What the narrative around this was, was that the Raptors as sort of a gold watch for his service to the Toronto organization was like, choose your spot. Choose your spot and we will make a deal that suits you. And obviously, that wasn't the case because if Kyle Lauer was like, send me to Miami and then the offer, was something similar to what Miami gave for Depot. Personally, I don't think that would have been enough for Toronto. But if that was it, if it was just about setting up Kyle Lowry for this postseason, there were suitors out there.

Obviously, they've either decided to stick with him or, I mean, I can't imagine they're going to buy Lowry out, right? I don't think so. I couldn't imagine that. But aside, no, before we get to that, we absolutely need a, and I saw this from Miles Brown on Twitter, we absolutely need. like a huge paywall for these negotiations, right? Just to see these negotiations live.

Like an HBO or something. We just need to get this, man. I know there's a lot of sensitivity to that, but in my perfect world, we need that. They've, you know, we've been looking for something to rival the last dance in terms of popularity and importance. If they did Formula One Drive to Survive about GMs during the deadline, that would literally be like bigger than the lost finale.

Like, I can't imagine. The ratings would be ridiculous. on that. Just, like, forget the, all due respect, forget the live shows, the live trade shows on ESPN or any of these other networks. Just give me a live look at everyone's negotiation. Put a camera in the way you do the draft, but just unfilter that, all of that, right? I think that would be dope.

To get back to your original question, though, you were like, am I sweating the fact that the Sixers didn't get Lowry and do I think that they're going to regret it now that the heat got depo, that the nets have? have Blake Griffin, they'll probably be players in the buyout market. You know, I think that I have no kind of doubt that Darrell Mori is going to be an active participant in trade deadlines to come. It's not like a Danny Age thing where I'm worried like Darryl Morrie is going to be sitting on something for like eight years and never actually make something happen.

Like I think he'll make it happen. I think that the, I think that like, I think that that Simmons for Hardin deal was real. and the Rockets just chose not to do business but Darryl Morin, so be it. But I'm not worried because I think that Darryl Moran knows more about me and the average Sixers fan than how to build the Sixers.

Yeah, yeah. I think ultimately your Sixers will be fine. This would have just been just being assholes and just getting another guy because you could, I feel like. Yeah. But one of those teams that were trying to get Lauer was the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat traded for Victor Oladipo. And also, Mark Stein tweeted out that he, that, that, that, that, uh, Lamarcus Aldridge is a front runner to go to Miami. Now for a team that struggled mightily to start the season, this is a good get. I don't think it makes them a championship contender by any means, but it could, they could make some noise in the postseason. What do you think about what Miami is doing right now if they can, you know, they get Oladipo, but they can also get a guy like

Lamarcus Aldrich. What do you think about that? Who did they wind up actually dealing for Oladipo? Avery Bradley, Kelly Olinick, and a 22 pick swap. So that's, first of all, Pat Riley wins again. That's just like, you kept Hero and you kept Duncan Robinson. Now you didn't get Lowry, but like, you know, Oladipo who was expressed, unofficially expressed interest in playing for Miami in the first place.

So maybe this was one of those situations where Victor Depos can't let it be known. Like, Victor's going to Miami next season. So we can, you guys can trade for him if you want, but it's a three-month rental. The thing that interests me about this is that Miami team that made the bubble run last season had such a interesting and to me, cool identity, you know?

Love that team. And obviously that this is a team that's got ravaged by COVID this year. Just real stop start with like their player availability stuff. and a bunch of cold shooters who are red hot in the bubble. So it's going to be a different team if it's Depot, Jimmy, Dragach, you know, the Hero Robinson squad,

bam, and then you add in Lamarcus. But I do think that this is a team that will be able to throw a couple of different looks at people in the postseason. So I'm just, they're one of those squads that you just do not want to see. You do not want to see them. I think of what I've always respected

about Miami, and I think you do too, Chris, is that they never concede. They never say, okay, we're going to just punt this year. We're going to, we're going to, we're going to just build through the draft. They're one of those teams where if we do end up having a lottery pick, so be it, but it wasn't because we didn't try not to. And I love that about this team, and I love this about that organization where, you know, man, we're going to get a Victor Oladipo to pair with Jimmy Butler. And we're going to trust our system and it's going to work. And we don't care what anyone thinks. And we're also going to get Lamarcas Aldridge.

And we're going to just fight. We're going to figure it out and we're going to fight to be an outside chance to the conference finals, maybe a finals appearance again. We'll see. But I do respect that. I wish more teams did this. That's how I think we think sports should work is just like a constant shark feeding frenzy of trying to get into the finals, like to try to be a finals team and just constantly

being competitive. And I think that I have, I obviously cheer for a team that went through one of the great tanking experiments in professional sports. But our minds are kind of twisted now where you're just like, I mean, look, man, the team that you spent so much time covering the warriors are pretty clearly tanking now. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like that's the Golden State Warriors with Steph Curry are tanking. And I think it's a shame that we didn't see like Golden State, for instance, who are going to get Steph back from this tailbone. presumably in a week or two,

not be in the market for an Aaron Gordon, not be in the market for Alonzo Ball, not trying to do some creative stuff to make their team, like, why not try and go Steph, Draymond, and see if you can get a first round playoff victory? I don't know. So yeah,

credit to Miami for just never letting, never letting go. And I feel like there's only a few teams that do this. There was, it's Miami for one. I think San Antonio you can put in another. That always just tries as much to stay relevant because we're going to play and we're going to win. We're going to try to win.

Houston used to be that. I don't know if Houston is still that. It remains to be seen, but Houston was always one of those teams that figured out. Houston's not that anymore. That's not Houston, man. Yeah. But I just, I respect those types of teams so much, man. And I remember even, you know, rooting for the Lakers and being like, why not?

Why not try to figure this out? why waste Kobe's last few years and not try to at least go for it. So I respect that about Miami. All right, let's take a quick break. Another deal that really that I am curious about is Aaron Gordon to Denver. And what that does for that team, because we always talk about, you know, the Western Conference is a two-team race between the two L.A. teams. And then no matter what happens.

and then the hierarchy goes down to the Utah Jazz. And then Denver Nuggets are right there with the Utah Jazz as a really good team, but we haven't really seen anything from them just yet to say, oh, they're a title contender right now. Where we can just say they're a bona fide title contender. I don't know if this Aaron Gordon trade necessarily makes them a title contender, but I'm intrigued. I think that they're in the Miami category of like,

I don't know what dangerous. I don't know what this team is, but I wouldn't be surprised that they figured out a way to get to the finals at the very least the conference finals. Do you think that, am I wrong for filling this way, Chris? It's a great trade for them. It's a bunch of pieces that they probably didn't have either room or use for. RJ Hampton, Gary Harris,

what, and like some picks, right? To get Aaron Gordon, who's definitely going to immediately be a starter and make them like a kind of, pairs with Michael Porter Jr. to have like a very, very long athletic wings. I'm not so sure,

you know, the MPJ defense question is going to be, pressing, but if you get Aaron Gordon to buy into playing Stretch 4, and then you unlock all of his cutting, all of his physicality with Yokic's passing, I don't know, I mean,

I love this deal for them. And I think the thing with Gordon is this is the deal that the other teams are going to be kicking themselves for not making. This is the deal that Portland's going to kick themselves for not making, that Boston's going to kick. Golden State is too, honestly. When you said that, because I think that one

of those things that you said, and I want to get back to what it means for Denver, but you brought up a great point with the Warriors. Everything I've ever said about the Warriors after this dynasty is the thing that's missing from them, from the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs dynasty, is that they haven't reinvented themselves yet. They haven't actually done it. They've been like, okay, we're going to wait and see. We're going to, and this has been a criticism from their fan base is we are not, we are always stuck in those glory days and we are not reinventing ourselves

to make more glory days. And I think Aaron Gordon would have been a great piece for that at least showing that, I don't know if it would have made, it's probably not going to make you a championship contender, but at least show that you're trying. And I think that to your point about getting Aaron Gordon going to Denver,

that absolutely shows that Denver is trying to take that next step. Yeah. And the thing with Denver is, they're a team that it's almost like they did too good of a job with the front office. Like they have just such a embarrassment of riches in how they drafted to the point where all these guys aren't going to be on the team when it's all set and done. The final form of this team, all the people that they drafted are not going to be there because there's just not enough roles. They're too good to just stay in these roles.

Right. So I'm curious to see how this works out with Aaron Gordon. You're right. I mean, they've had to get like they've done too good of a job building that. roster. I think I would be curious to know whether they would take the Jeremy Grant situation back. I know the Jeremy Grant also wanted to go somewhere where he would be the focal point of a of a team, like in Detroit. But Gary Harris is a perfectly good example of like a guy who I thought was incredible useful for the first few years of his career coming out of Michigan State. And at times

I was like pretty, I was like, man, that guy would like look really good wearing a Sixers uniform. And, you know, now he gets to be, uh, now he gets to like good going. And I think, maybe get a fresh start in Orlando, but as far as Gordon goes, like, was Gordon's best ability, his availability at this trade deadline? Like, do you think he got overrated slightly just because he was one of the bigger names being thrown out there? Maybe, but I think that also this gives him an opportunity to play with. Really show who he is, right?

Really show who he is, right? Because maybe he's not a franchise guy, like a franchise cornerstone, and that's okay. I think that a lot of times when we go into the draft, we see a guy that's a top 15 pick and we're like, yo, he's a franchise. He's got to be the face of our franchise. And Aaron Gordon, he's a Bay dude. He's from San Jose. I got love for Aaron Gordon. He's just not a, I don't think he's, he's not a franchise altering guy. He just showed that. But he's a really, really, really good player. Some of the Andrew Iguodala, when, you know, when you were playing with, when he played for the Sixers, right? He was thought of as this

franchise dude, and he just wasn't necessarily that. He finally got to see his, his worth with the Golden State Warriors and some with the Denver Nuggets. But I think that Aaron Gordon is in that same kind of sphere of really, really, really good, maybe an overqualified role player that can really help a team. Another thing that I'm curious about is when you have these guys like a Jeremy Grant and Gary Harris who think that they've outplayed their role, and then I think the downside to that is that they go to, you know, Jeremy Grant goes to a Detroit. And he is the guy, but he's not necessarily the guy.

He's not the franchise guy. he just got paid and he got the chance to maybe show that he can be the franchise guy. He's not necessarily that. At what point do players have to just have a little bit more self-awareness to say, yo, I'm just, this Denver situation might just be the best situation for me right now. And I can win ships right here or I can try to prove myself that I'm the franchise guy for a losing team. That's a great question. I mean, your fourth contract?

for Jeremy Graeme got paid to go to Detroit where he will put up geeked out numbers and then he will get another great deal off of this, right? Or Detroit, if he gets bored of losing and getting 20 and 10, Detroit can trade him for a boatload of picks to somebody. You know what I mean? So or they can trade. Get your bread.

Yeah, exactly. So I think like once you, it's like the Jay Crowders of the world can worry about their roles. But Jeremy Grant is like, he's going to be like, I'm going to make an all-star team as a Detroit Piston, and we might suck, but like I'll get paid,

and then once it gets to that point, I can always move on to go back to a contender. So I want to talk about the other side of this, this Aaron Gordon, Denver trade. What do you see? What's what's with the Orlando Magic, man? Because they're a team that historically has had, they've had two great players,

two Hall of Fame players. Shaquille O'Neill and Dwight Howard. You can put Penny in there, but Penny got injured. I'm talking about two prime guys that puts them on the map. But they have failed to kind of find an identity in between those times. And I think Aaron Gordon is a big symbol of that. For sure.

To where, you know, they're trying to get this franchise guy. They're trying to be relevant, but they just haven't been able to do so. Where do they go from here? Where does Orlando go from? This is the tear down. Because they also, we haven't said his name yet, but they traded Nicole Vucciwitch too.

So the magic, who I have to admit, I make a point of never watching. I'm like never like I'm trying to watch the magic tonight. I mean, I watch it a little bit for faults, but like I mean, I just had a curiosity. One of the most boring games I've ever been to in person was the last, the quarantine season was the Golden State Warriors with none of their stars.

And it was a matinee game in Orlando. It was, like, it was like a pickup game would have been more enjoyable than what I had to watch. That's probably what it felt like, yeah. The thing I would say in the Magic's defense is that they do the one thing that no other franchise in the NBA seems to be able to do with the exception of maybe like the Pacers,

which is actually just like believing the guys that they've drafted and keep running them out there and seeing if they get any better. Like they literally did just say like, you know what? We picked all these dudes and we just like our team. And maybe I don't know whether or not there's like an issue with like guys not wanting to go play in Orlando or they don't they they they overvalue their their players so they can't make any kind of big time trades but they i feel like i've been watching fornier terence ross vuch and gordon for like most of my adult life i know it hasn't been that long but it definitely

just feels like that where you're like damn that show is still on the air they're still making they're still making chicago pd huh yeah they're still making brooklyn nine nine no um what i don't get it seems like a farm system sometimes for other teams, right? Because Victor El L.Odebo went through Orlando, Aaron Gordon now. Like a farm system to develop role players for other successful teams, it seems like, right now. And I kind of, in a weird way, I just feel for them. I want them to be relevant. I want Orlando to be relevant in this league.

And it just seems like they always have a lot of start and stops. And some of that isn't their fault. You know, they didn't foresee Dwight Howard leaving the way he left. right? They didn't, you know, a lot of things didn't go their way, especially, you know, shack leaving was just catastrophic. And then they finally recovered, become a factor again. And then this happened. So I don't know, man. I think that I think we'll look back and just really think about the Isaac and Bomba picks. Because, you know, the Isaac pick leaving, you know, Mitchell and out of bio and other guys on the, on the board there. And, you know, I just think that

they've drafted poorly over the last few years and it's more than almost any other team it seems like it's really come back to bite them. Yeah, definitely. And they haven't had that, they haven't hit on like the Lamello guy where you're like,

damn, this just absolves us of all our past sins. Yeah. Yeah. I want to get, since we're talking about Denver, I want to get to the Western Conference in general. Yeah, let's do it.

So. Let's talk Norm, man. Let's talk to his norm tick trade. Go ahead. Set it up. So I love that the Blazers are just, like let's be Blazers.

Let's just like, let's be legends. What do we need? We need all sorts of this stuff. We need like interior defense. We need help on the boards. Zach Collins always hurt, NERCs always get these catastrophic injuries. You know what we need?

Norman, yeah. So now, but I already had like a pretty good, so my NBA watching habits on a nightly basis, usually check Sixers playing, watch Sixers at four around here on the West Coast. And then whoever,

and then I just basically watch a Blazers Warriors or Lakers game. You know, like whoever's got the best match. That's West Coast basketball living in general. Yeah, right. And kings are, kings might get in there for a little bit. Phoenix might get in there a little bit every once in a while. I don't mind watching Phoenix,

but like, Phoenix just always wins. So I'm like, these aren't going to be competitive games. But like the Blazers games have just been so entertaining this year with the day, with the legend of daytime. Yeah.

But this is not who they needed, but it definitely makes, them even more entertaining. Like, these dudes are going to be putting up, like, 55-3s a night now. I'm happy for that, bro, but like, I want them, I want Dame to get a title, man. I don't want to, I don't care.

I don't care about them being fun. I would care about them actually, like, two years ago, they go to the conference finals. No one, no one cared that they went to the conference finals, and no one expected them to really even, outside of Portland, nobody expected them really to even get to the finals after that, right? There doesn't seem like a legitimate chance

for Dame to get a, a chip and that that's disheartening. You want you want him to find a trade that's going to actually get Portland in a real contending space. And I just don't see that with this move and that's frustrating.

I agree with you. They're in like a similar but in some ways tougher bind than Philly where they have obviously got their identity wrapped up in these two players, Dame and CJ. They cannot really appreciably get better

unless they hit a home run on a late draft pick or trade one of their best two players and hopefully get something in return that actually takes them over the home. Let's be real. They would have to trade CJ. They would definitely have to trade CJ and probably Zach Collins for like whatever they,

like whether it's Beal or whatever. But that's always been the case though and I feel like it's been the case for years of that and they have keep just, there hasn't been any reinvention in them, right? There was just a steady incline for the Portland Trailblazers and now I just think they're just going through a straight line and you know, Dan's putting up great numbers but I don't see

Portland is in the mix. Yeah. And now that they're also, they're in hell too because LeBron's in the West. So it's just like whatever like daylight there was for Damien like a couple years ago when they made the Western Conference finals like I just think that the West is just too stacked. On the Eastern Conference like you'd probably have them third, fourth? Yeah. Right? For sure.

Maybe not that much better than they're doing right now, but still, like, I don't think they would have to also deal with the Utah's and the Denver's, which is what they have to deal with. So anyway, I am like as a neutral Blazers appreciator, I wish they had kind of, there was another deal out there for them to really, like you're saying, put Dame in a spot where he could legitimately go for a title. But I, for the entertainment value, I'm all for the norm ball. This is going to be fun, man.

I was going to be a league pass special for sure, but I just, and that's, I don't know. I just, sice. I don't know. All right, let's take a quick break. Staying in the Western Conference, though. I do want to talk about. Sasha just,

Sasha just on the chat, sly slandered the Blazers with her Lakers exceptionalism. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. We're going to get to the Lakers right about now. So we're talking about why the Lakers didn't do with, didn't do a deal to get Lauer. And I get it, right? And I get why you wouldn't want to, especially you want flexibility. And Kyle Lauerie is not the type of, he will not give you the flexibility that you want.

Like if Paul Rowery was 27, yes, bring him to the Lakers for sure and sign him to an extension. But he's not 27 years old. But the biggest hiccup on a lot of trades is like they, Tht is untouchable. And I know Jomey and I know Sasha, they are in love with Thty and they love him. I get that. However,

THT and the Lakers' insistence on not dealing him has a lot of like 2007 Andrew Bayam vibes where the guy has had a great, like a few great moments in the playoffs in particular, had some great preseason moments, had some great regular season moments.

However, I don't see him yet as a guy. that is a franchise pillar. Dude. The way that that's happening, right? We got to get some responses from whatever are the real ones audience needs to reach out and tell us

who is your team's THT? Who is the inexplicably untouchable player that only you guys are reading at this height. When I drafted THT and fantasy this year, three of the Lakers dudes in my league were like, yo, yo, that's like, you should make him your keeper instead of Zion. Like, guys were losing their minds about THT.

You know who used to be that and it worked out? It was Kauai Leonard for a long time with the San Antonio Spurs. And it worked out. So, like, I'm not saying there's not presidents for it and this type of thing not working out. But I just, if anything that we've learned in this time is you have to go in for the now and not the future. Forget the future, man. Forget that. In the words of the late great Kobe Bryant, ship is at.

off if the deal is right. You know, I think you need to work in the now. And if there's a deal, maybe there wasn't a deal because like you said before this, there's a deal to take THT and trade him, trade him. Because you have LeBron James year 18 right now. He is showing a lot of wear and tear. Shams just said that LeBron from the point of when he went down,

it's apparently four to six weeks. So that's like that they're kind of skitting a little bit more specific about his time off. Okay. So that's basically the rest of the season. That's basically the rest season. And that's something that we've known. Regular season.

We've already kind of known that anyway when you talk about a high ankle sprain. That's also what Roger told us on earlier this. No, he didn't tell us that, but he alluded to the fact that those injuries are very tough. But I say all to say, LeBron isn't getting any younger. You want somebody right now. So if T.HT means that you get a chip,

or you get a real piece right at this very moment, you go do that. And I just feel like, I don't know, it's very much inflated value on THC right now. I see it from both sides. I see that the Lakers just lost Anthony Davis,

LeBron James, and to some extent Markisole and like successive, to successive injuries. And at the same time, all of their guards seem to have forgotten how to shoot. So it's like you're judging, you're like looking for a roster help

for a team that actually, is probably in much better shape provided that they are healthy. Like that's fair. That's fair. The weird like the like the house is on fire attitude with the Lakers right now. It's like look like get Kyle Lowry or keep KCP or do whatever you got to do. It's not going to matter if Davis and LeBron are back.

Right. But the thing is the thing is though, and I push back on that because they could go to four to six weeks isn't a lot of time but it is a lot of time when you talk about this Western conference. Playing game, no doubt. Like, they might be in trouble. Yeah. That's why Anthony Davis got to come back.

That's why Anthony Davis has to come back to at least write the ship right now. But I say all I have to say is every game is very important. And so if you can get a guy right now to make sure, because you're not playing for three years from now, you're playing for right now. So if you can get a guy right now to get you to at least get you afloat, to keep you afloat by the time AD comes and then by the time LeBron comes, and then by the time LeBron comes,

and even if you don't sign them over the summer, like you need somebody right now with this type of roster. Mm-hmm. I mean, so. I would have to, I would be curious actually what Sasha thinks. I mean,

THHT feels, it's just, Sasha, you want to come on, Sasha, too, where it's just like, okay,

you guys kept your music. Sasha, come on. I don't, I just want to say, I feel like I'm being misrepresented on my, on this THT business. Like,

I don't think he's like untouchable or anything. Like, he's just like, Sasha, Answer it. Why won't you trade THT for Duret? What's going on? I don't think this was the deal personally,

partially because you'd have to resign Kyle Lowry and like we're already going to have trouble resigning the guys that we have. Like, how are we going to resign Truder and Caruso and TJ? Like, we're going to have to pay these guys at some point. I don't think that Kyle Lowry was the deal. It does feel a little bit like, you know, it's that classic like win now or develop.

like we're about to send off three really young guys for one old guy who like maybe you'll win, but also if LeBron and AD are not healthy, that it doesn't matter anyway. So I get it. I don't think this is the deal. I don't think this is a deal. But if you can find the right deal to DLTHT, like, and then we're actually going to be able to, what makes it risky is that we don't know if LeBron and AD are going to be healthy and we

don't know if we can win this year anyway. So why deal Thth when you're not sure if it's a possibility? why give him up for someone who you're not going to be able to sign anyway or you wouldn't want to because it's just too much much. That's fair. So I can't speak for Jomi. And I personally think that Jomey is on the don't trade, T.HD right of the way that he's untouchable train,

although I don't want to speak for him. But for me, like, I don't find him to be exactly that way for me. Like, he's not untouchable, but I don't think this is it's good. This is classic Lakers deflection. This is good. You know, like, I get it. All right.

Yes. Now, I do feel that. T.HT shouldn't be untouchable in my eyes. And I think that's the point I'm trying to make. Now, let's go on to the... I wonder whether this is just a big sigh-up by Messiah jiri

to just make all these other GMs look like dorks for not, like, making some great package for Lowry when he had no intention of trading Lowry in the first place. Like, how many... He was like, hey, Kyle, I'm going to need you to just cry. He's got like Lawrence, Frank, Daryl Morey, Rob Polico, all walking into brick walls because they're like, uh,

like I didn't really think I was going to be able to recite this guy anyway. Yeah. Yeah. I don't. This was funny. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't. It's going to be weird, man.

And also, like, it would have been weird to like Kyle Lowry not, it's probably not going to get the right type of send off from Toronto because they're in Tampa. So that sucks. But I want to. I want to get back to, I want to get to the Clippers real quick before we get out of here, man. Yeah. Rondo to the Clippers. Does it make a difference?

For Lou Will, who is going home, it's probably going to get his jersey retired, his Atlanta Hawks jersey retired in Magic City. But what do you think about this for the Clippers? Do you think this does anything? Does it really matter at this point? I feel like I'm going to put a target on my back by saying this because L.A. is not going to like this. But I think that there's two things here.

Lou Will gets hunted in pick and roll. I mean like Lou Will is a defensive liability in the playoffs, I feel like, for one thing. And for another, are we sure that whatever the chemistry issues that have sort of plagued the Clippers

over the last two seasons don't have something to do with him? Lou Williams? Not that he's a bad dude, but just like, I'm trying to figure out like the Clippers essentially like broke down in the playoffs, right? Well, for whatever,

what everything like, what everything that we've read and been reported, it was PG was the source of all of that. Yeah, and they obviously didn't, didn't, like, they were fine seeing Tres leave. Like, I don't know. I mean, there's something about this that's like, this is a very strange trade to make.

What does Rondo give them? Like, he, there's no shooting there, but Rondo doesn't stay healthy. Like, I guess he's like a locker room guy, coach from the, coaches the floor, but like, what do you think that the point of this trade is? To switch things up,

there was a thing where, you know, there's always been reports out there. The Clippers just are stale and stagnant and things like that. And this is something to switch things up. Lou Woz been a long time. I just Clippers guy, but an L.A. guy in general. But this just shakes up the roster in a way. And we've seen this before, just a different personality in the room.

Right. And I think that that's more of what this is right now. I don't necessarily think it will make a huge difference because... So why do it? Like I said, to... Just to shake it up. Just to shake it up. Just to shake it up.

I think this is what that is because I think that that's why. And also postseason Rondo, thank you, Sasha. Postseason Rondo is a thing, you know, as we've seen with the Lakers. But I think it's bigger in terms of because it's a big name going to a big name team. I think that's all that is. Okay. But I don't see it as like a big deal because everything that we've heard and everything that's been reported is the problem lies with the stars and not the rest of the guys right now. in L.A.

And so, you know, we'll see, man. And I just, I don't know if I feel for the Clippers, but everything that the Clippers have done ultimately hasn't mattered, right? They get Kauai and they have the biggest, one of the biggest collapses in NBA history. They get Chris Paul, who at that time was the biggest free agent

on the market at that time, and you pair him, and it just doesn't, nobody in L.A. cares. It doesn't really do anything for ratings. He gets booed at Dodgers games. Like, I just trying to figure out what would it take for the clippers to be relevant and loved in their home

in their home city? I just don't see it. And it just, short of them going to San Diego, but I don't think that that works either. Like, I just, I just, I just, I just see what they're in the abyss. I moved here for the last days of, of the, the, Kobe era in the Lakers,

and the, I was here, I was at Greatland for, like, the height of Lob City. Like, when they were, they were really just killing it. Yeah. And I thought, like, oh, like, there is actually a debate in this town as to like who LA belongs to and like and like the clippers are really like an ascendance and I don't think I had any idea what this town looks like when it's a Lakers town when the Lakers are good you know what I mean totally different man it's as soon

as LeBron hit here and especially as soon as AD came that last season I was like damn like I feel like I'm in Boston on Red Sox games day like this is just crazy this is a Laker city no matter what it is it is it is so I don't know I mean, Lou Will just to me is like he was as like integral to the Clippers as like as anything. So I'm just kind of surprised that this is like this sort of like tossed off move unless there's something

else coming in the buyout market. Maybe I just, I just feel like whatever they do, it just doesn't matter. Like even if they win a title, does it really matter? Does it do? And you know, we've all gone to Lakers and Clippers games at Staples. Like it's totally different. Like maybe there's some funer moments about Clippers games,

but you know when you go to a Laker game, even when they suck, even when they're bad, it is a moment when you go there. And I just, I feel like I just feel for them on that level right now. I just feel for like, it doesn't really matter, no matter what you guys do.

So, I don't know. And I think this is just another example of that. So is there anybody else in these deals? Like we didn't really talk about Vouch. We didn't really talk about, gosh, I mean, like,

obviously a lot of like these little Dilan Wright type deals. But like, I guess the Bulls kind of like the Bulls I would sort of say what they are doing is like getting rid of the vestiges of the last administration in Chicago and are trying to bring in

A guys to compete now with Levine who's obviously kind of moved into another echelon as a player this season so they bring in Vooch I thought that they they would be a great landing spot for Lanzo but like obviously New Orleans You know it's funny? Yeah

every time I play 2K and I'm in a in a franchise mode, Lonzo always ends up on the Bulls, no matter what, always ends up on the Bulls playing alongside Levine, and they're the hardest team to play. They're like, like one of those tricky teams to play

whenever I do a franchise mode, no matter who I'm playing with on the franchise mode. So I think if 2K is as any example, I mean, I think it's absolutely an indicator of what the universe wants you. Exactly, every single time. But, yeah, like Chicago, I thought that they were going to make a pig

but I don't know if that really makes a difference. Chicago is one of those cities where with the Bulls, they are just a star away from similar to what the Lakers, right? When you say like a Chicago, a L.A. town is a Lakers town. Sleeping Giant. It's always a sleeping giant.

If they get like a, when they got Derek Rose and when they got these pieces, Chicago was so ready to root for the Bulls. And I think if they do this right, they will figure something out. And Chicago will be a town to be reckoned with whenever

the Bulls get good again. So one other thing I wanted to ask you, those are like, there's not that many more other deals worth really, like, remarking upon. But I think the thing that we'll probably be talking about for the weeks after this deadline is the deals that didn't get made are the teams that didn't do anything. So Boston got Fournier,

but essentially stood Pat. They also traded Daniel Tice for Mo Wagner. So how you feel doing about your Celtics? My Celtics. I don't know, man. The Celtics are one of those teams.

Currently eighth. With, yeah. Thank you, Sasha. Also have like some, some locker room about them, you know. Celtics are always interesting because, you know,

with, Danny never makes a trade, you know, and they always pump up that we have all these assets, but you don't, never do anything with them. And what you did do with them, you get Kyrie and he bounces, right? You do all that for Kyrie. You draft pretty well because you draft a franchise guy in Jason Tatum and maybe a franchise guy or just below franchise guy in Jalen Brown. But I just don't see it,

man. They always seem to be one of those tough out teams that you think is going to be good, and I'm not sure what it is. Another team that I feel like that I kind of wanted to make a move in hindsight and just didn't is the Golden State Warriors. You know, you told all this stuff out that you want to put, you know, when you put Steph on a championship team, but even if you do have Clayback and Draymond and you bring the band back together, I don't see like a championship team there on that roster. That would just, that would, for them to be a championship team in my eyes, it would be Wiseman has to have a historic leap that we haven't seen from a big band in years. Mm-hmm. Right. I just don't see it right now.

And I just kind of wish that Golden State was a bit more aggressive. What's your feeling on all this stuff coming out about like, you know, they're going to start Wiseman for the rest of the season and it being like more of a developmental thing than? I mean, is it just them being like, look, like Clay's not coming back.

So like what are we talking about here? I don't think when you have Steph Curry on the roster, you can't really punt a season. But I think it's more so who the hell else are they going to try out there from Center? You're going to try out Kavanaugh, who I love and respect and who's done really well. you're going to trot out

some igeech as your starting center in the NBA like who else are you going to start trot out this is the same I think they should have just started wiseman throughout the whole season because you don't really have any better options as a starting center but that's the tricky thing that the Golden State Warriors are in right now because you're trying to

serve two goals you're trying to serve making sure that you're developing for the long term while trying to get a championship roster together and that's why I always say that this rests on the shoulders of James Wiseman right now. He has to ball out.

He has to be a Hall of Fame level get, especially when you see all these. He doesn't have to be Tim Duncan, but he is their Tim Duncan pick. He is the Tim Duncan coming in when Robinson's still there. Exactly, except Tim Duncan right out the gate was ridiculous. So he has to be next year.

Tim Duncan was also a God at Wake Forest. James Weissman played like 20 minutes in Memphis, you know? And he has to be. 1999 Tim Duncan for them to be a championship contender next year. And I just wish that, I just kind of wish that the warriors were a bit more aggressive right now because, listen, Steph hasn't made any indications that he would leave, but he does have the leverage of saying, I ain't going to sign this. I'm not going to, I didn't sign this extension. And I can't get more money in the free agency market, but like I have you guys right now. You guys need to make a move.

He has that in his back pocket. Now, whether he chooses to use that or not, that's up to Steph. But he has that. And I have never seen Steph Curry this frustrated before in covering him and being around him and things like that. I haven't seen him pop off the way he's popped off and yelling on sidelines like that. He usually is chilling and vibing and bawling. And that's something to look for is all I'll say. It's been a long couple years for him, man.

A long two years. A long couple years, man. So, yeah, that was a special edition of the real anything you want to get out before we, before we wrap this up? I got the answer tomorrow morning. So we'll probably do the unanswered questions of who you got on in tomorrow. Varyer and Mahoney are coming on.

So we're going to just, we're just going to chop it up and talk a little bit about, like, what are the lingering questions that didn't get answered by the trade deadline? Okay, cool. So make sure you check out the answer every Friday. Make sure you check out R2C2 with Vallejo legend C-C-Sabia. Make sure that you check out a Black Girl's songbook with Daniel

Smith, make sure you check out all the pods we have on the ringer NBA fee, including group chat and mismatch. And we will see you guys again Monday. Thanks for coming on, Chris. My pleasure. I love when we have these little one-offs, man. Come on anytime. Okay. All right, man. We'll see you guys on Monday. This has been the real ones.