The Ringer NBA Show - Trade Deadline Spectacular! James Harden for Ben Simmons, Dinwiddie for Porzingis, and More. | Real Ones

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

Up top, Logan is joined by Rob Mahoney to talk about the trades that went down right before the deadline at noon PT, starting with the blockbuster trade sending James Harden to the 76ers and Ben Simmons to the Nets (1:15). Then they get into the trade that sent Spencer Dinwiddie to the Mavericks and Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards (amongst other moves the Wizards made) (24:00), what the Suns look like with Torrey Craig back on the roster (27:15), the Lakers staying put at the deadline (32:40), and whether Serge Ibaka can make a difference on the Bucks (34:50). Then Logan and Raja try to figure out what the plan is in the Sacramento Kings front office (36:40) and discuss the fallout from the CJ McCollum trade (52:00). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Rob Mahoney Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Benefer is back. Brad and Jen are friends again, and Paris Hilton is somehow still making headlines. 20 years later, we're living in the world that the 2000s tabloids created. On this series, I'm going to tell you the story of a decade of American life through the trash we love to consume. From Spotify and the Ringer podcast network, I'm Claire Malone, and this is just like us, the tabloids that changed America. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. What's popping? This is Logan Murdoch with a real ones. I just got an announcement for you. We have a 2022 trade deadline extravaganza.

Ba-ba-b-b-bav-bav-bav-bav-bav-wow. There's going to be a two-parter with Rob Mahoney. We have him on to talk about the deadline moves, the big James Hardin Trade for Ben Simmons. And then we have our part two, me and Raura, go at it and talk about the Kangs. We talk about the Indiana Pacers. we talk about the league. Tap in. What's popping?

Logan Murdoch. Rob Mahoney is here. Roger Bell in a minute in our second segment, but we are talking to you at noon-ish Pacific time. About a few hours after, James Hardin gets traded

to the Philadelphia 76ers, Rob Mahoney. For Ben Simmons, we'll talk about the other starts part of the trade. We'll talk about everything else in a second. But on the face value, those two guys. Who won that trade? Everybody wins, right?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I need a definitive answer. Who won the trade? I think the definitive winner is we win, because the saga is over. We can put our takes to bed on the Ben Simmons trade saga. For that, I am very grateful. What a beautiful day it has turned out to be. But I think the Sixers are better. I think the Nets are better. I think this is one of the Harding out what he wanted. Ben Simmons is probably going to get what he wanted in the sense that he's going to play for a very different

but still a very good team. I really like this for everybody, to be honest with you. How are you feeling about it? I still can't decide who won the trade yet because there's so many, there's so much variance on each side, right? Because I saw James Harden about a couple of weeks, a week and a half ago in San Francisco, and like you could tell he didn't give a fuck.

He didn't care about anything. He didn't care about playing. He didn't care about what the team was doing. There's always been, I'm sure you're in NBA cycles, and you've heard this rumbling about James Hardin wanting to go to Philly for a long time or be traded and being gone. It wasn't that much of a secret this season, right? And then I saw the body language. I see all these things happening.

You know, he's doing a thing where he gives up on a team. And I don't want to do the weight thing, but he just seemed a little out of shape. And then he just kind of sabotages his way out of a city. So I'm curious about the first thing that comes to mind is this, he just get right back in shape. and turn into an MVP candidate with with with joel and bade i don't know that's my biggest question with this and we both know this joel and bead has been playing like an MVP he's been playing on a mission and he's not going to take no shit from anyone including james hard and if james hard and if james hardin isn't in gear there's going to be problems this season so i'm just curious about the

first off about the fit about james hard and let's start with philly do you does this instantly make them even more of a title contender does this put this eclipse them over the bucks. What do you see on the Philly side of the trade? I think it gets them into the mix in a way that they just weren't before. They just didn't really have either the firepower or the defensive reliability

to be one of the elite teams in the East as they were built before. Now they at least have one of those things. This is weirdly a team that needed to improve defensively. They needed to get better in terms of their rebounding going into the deadline. They didn't really do either of those things. They just got James Harden, which is you're slamming a square peg into a round

hole in some way. but he's just flat out one of the most talented scores in the league, one of the most talented players in the league, and it's going to work on those merits alone. Now, is the fit going to be perfect all the time? Is the supporting cast going to be perfect all the time? Obviously not. But there's enough there between balancing and beat and hardened,

between finding, you know, guys like Matisse Thibel, for example, who can defend in ways that James can't. You know, there's just enough kind of give and take between this roster and this new superstar on it for it to make a good amount of sense, at least enough sense to get them, into the mix in a way that I think they would have really have been long pressed to do before. In a perfect world, if this is just, if this works out in the perfect way, I think the best

case scenario for this is a way, way, way, way, way better version of the 2014 Houston Rockets, where you have a guy like James Harden who can play in the pick and roll. He's a one-man offense, but he has the big man that can actually really offset his game. And you see, And I remember back in 2014 when Dwight Howard, he was just a pick and roll guy. He wanted to be the postman. He wanted to be all these things. He wanted to be Shaq sometimes. The other times he wanted to be a great version of Dwight Howard.

I can talk myself into this of all things go right because Embed is a dominant big man in the traditional sense and in the futuristic sense. He can shoot the three. He can also play the post game. I love Joelle Embed's game. But it's almost like the Kobe's. Shack in reverse. I think that's the worst case scenario. What's the reverse do you think?

Well, what was the biggest thing when Kobe and Shaq played with each other? Kobe was the hard worker, the hard-nosed guy, not going to take any shit. I'm going to play whereas Shaq was the Vives guy.

But when it was time to turn it on, he turned it on. It's kind of in reverse now. The guard now is the Vives guy that is, that'll play his way in the shape. And you have this center who has had an injury,

and had all these things. And he wants to win now. And he's already had a guy, whatever you would want to say in Ben Simmons, who wasn't there for him to start this season. However you want to call it, wasn't there for him. Wasn't there for him.

And so then you have this guy, James Hardin, who has pushed his way out of both scenarios. I don't know. I think it could go really, really good. It could also go really, really bad. And I can talk myself in either scenario.

First of all, before we even get into that, do you think bigs or guards are more conditioned to be vibes guys than the other? Where do the vibes come from on a prototypical NBA team, do you think? I think the vibes typically come from the guard. Yeah. I would say typically from the guard just because they're seeing more. They're kids like guards more than they like bigs. You know, they tend to have a bit more personality. Only big that consistently is just.

like all vibes but is also good on the court, I think would be Shaq and would be dwell and be ironically enough. But I do think that it, do you think this is this, I don't know. I don't know what's going to win out. What do you think would went out? Because you have all, you have, I just, James Hardin is a great basketball player, a generational basketball player. Yeah, inarguably. And arguably. But I don't know, these last few years has put a, bad taste in my mouth about James Harden. It's really just hard. It's hard to see ever since 2019.

I think it's totally understandable to feel that way. To see the way he's carried himself in these two exits with the nets, with the rockets, I think it's totally natural to come away with that kind of impression. What's going to be interesting about Philly is the dynamic you just zeroed in on. Joel Embed is not only the centerpiece of that team. He's the vocal leader of that team. He's the mouthpiece of that team. He's everything for that team.

Hardin had to, when he was, into Brooklyn, he had to lead vocally because Katie isn't always that guy, Kyrie was coming and going. He became a vocal presence, at least last season, in a way that he may not have even expected. I think he can roll in here now and just kind of be a little

more chill, a little more laid back, a little more fall into place in some ways. I think we get very caught up in the, oh, is this superstar A's team or superstar B's team? I think that can be a little reductive at times, but in terms of structure, in terms of form, this still feels like a Joe L&B team to me,

featuring now one of the great isolation scores we've ever seen, one of the great shooters that we've had in recent NBA history. That kind of thing has to work on some level. It will work on a championship level. That's where we get into the fine-tuning over these next couple months. The question is, can James Hardin be a number two for an extended stretch, right? Because there's arguably on the depth chart in Brooklyn. He was a number three guy.

I mean, I think talent-wise he's number two, and the hierarchy was Kevin. that the world rolled around Kyrie and then, you know, James could play. I do think so. I think so. I mean, I think that talent-wise, it was, I think talent-wise, it was and is KD, James, and Kyrie. But I think from, you know, the universe is that it, like, I think the biggest orbit there is Kevin, and we'll get to him in a second. And the second biggest was Kyrie in there, just from the vaccine stuff. Totally.

There was always something with Kyrie. to the point where it probably puts James out and you kind of forget how and by consequence you forget how good James is. But at the same token, James is unequivocally the number two guy in Philly. He just is. It doesn't matter about talent.

It doesn't matter about, you know, who can shift a game. That's Joellen Bede's town. And that's kind of what happens when, you know, you have a guy that's, you know, the only time I think there's anybody that's kind of took over a city like that, I guess was LeBron in Miami, but that was still Dwayne Wade's town.

That was still Wade County. How is James going to adjust with being, you know, he's not going to be the center of attention? You know, if it goes bad and he's out of shape or he, you know how those Philly fans are. I don't know how he's going to react if this goes bad. I don't know what, this is probably, this is his last shot at a title. It is. I wonder how he's going to deal with that and deal with that while being in number two, because it didn't work out in Brooklyn. It's a great question. And this is kind of the hidden personal

tax of this more mercenary mindset, right? Of I'm just kind of kind of go where the contention is, where I can win, where the rings are, where my friends are, where the other stars are. This is the cost of that. And we've seen it, I mean, Kevin Durant, case in point, when he was on the Warriors, I don't think he fully expected what it was going to mean personally in terms of reputation, in terms of just the dynamics of being in this area to be on Steph. team and kind of what that would shift on to him. How Hardin will deal with that with Embed is going to be fascinating. As you mentioned, a city with a history of animosity that will not hesitate to let you know

when you're not giving your effort, when you're not defending, when you're not performing the way they want you to, even if it's not really your fault, like they've been booed Tobias Harris for, as far as I can tell, being Tobias Harris. I guess that's a criminal offense in Philadelphia for some reason, but it's going to take a lot. He's going to have to be patient with. He's going to have to earn their trust. He's going to have to work his way into not just the mix of that team, but the mix of kind of the culture of the franchise and the community in a different way than in Brooklyn where he could just roll in to, again, a franchise that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had taken over in some ways, but had to fully established.

That is huge, but they don't care about the Brooklyn Nets. Anybody you ask locally, they don't care. Philly cares. If you, if you, if he shows up, it has the, the means. If he's meme-harden and has the little beer belly, it's not going to, he's not going to endear himself into that franchise. He has to work hard. He has to die for lose balls.

He has to care. And I think the biggest thing that you see at least, because I don't, you know, the body language of James Harden hasn't been great over the years, right? And I'm not going to say that he doesn't care about basketball because I absolutely believe he does. He wouldn't be the MVP candidate year and year out if he didn't care about the game. But there have been times, you know, when his demeanor. has just been kind of sulky, when he doesn't care,

he throws the ball at people's ankles, especially when he doesn't like a vibe. If that happens in Philly, it's not going to end well. It's not going to be good. Well, especially, you know, James Hardin is not a guy who historically has adapted his game all that much.

He came into a situation in Oklahoma City where he became more of a sixth man, but since then, he has been the guy with a ball in his hands. No matter who plays with him, no matter where he is, Even in Brooklyn, when those three guys were all healthy, honestly, it was Kyrie who was flexing and adapting and becoming more of an offball player.

James was running the second unit. He was still basically playing point guard for that team. He was still doing a lot in terms of what he usually does. Is he really willing to change this much to play off of not just a good big, as you were saying. Like, he's played with Dwight, he's played with Clint Capella. He's played with good bigs before. But not anyone who posts up this much and like this and who demands that much attention. Is he willing to be the guy on the weak side who's going to catch and shoot?

Historically, the answer to that question is very much no. He's just not that guy. If I'm Philly, I'm still scarred by that Jimmy Butler exit. And I think to go into that, you think about stars that have come to Philly and it not work out, he has an extension coming up. James does. And I think if whatever the extension is, the last year of that deal, if he finds a full max, all that thing, will be $60 million.

at 38 years old, right? Not bad. Not bad. I mean, shout out to James. We're getting to the bag. But do you give him that? Do you give him that extension? Do you just figure it out? Do you just say, oh, I'm going to do it? And like, I want to keep a James Hart. How do you, how does Dary navigate this thing? Is it a long-term marriage? Is it that when we've seen time and time again, if James isn't happy, he's going to sabotage the rest of the team?

That's just what it is. We've seen that time and time again. If James Harding gets what he wants, and by consequence, He will sulk. He will have performances like he did in Sacramento. We've seen this time and time again. How do the Sixers protect themselves from that happening? Well, so they have a little bit of a runway here because it was reported today that Hardin is opting in

to his player option for next season. That's $47.3 million. Again, great job, James Hardin. That gives you a playoff run together to really look at this thing and say, is this going to work or not? Is this something we need to invest in, as you're saying,

with that extension, with that longer term commitment. And I think that's a good amount of time because we've seen how much things can change for these franchises and for these stars in one playoff run. The Ben Simmons thing, you know, it was uncomfortable, it wasn't always perfect.

It flared up in one playoff run. Everything changed. All of a sudden, he's sitting out. He's totally gone, totally out of the picture. Even a worst case scenario for Hardin and the Sixers, I wouldn't anticipate something like that.

But a best case scenario, you get to the East Finals, you get to the finals, it makes it very easy to sign on that dotted line when extension time comes around. Yeah, man, I'm curious to see about that MB Harden relationship because MB is going to tell you exactly how he feels. Totally. If anything we've heard from Hardin, it's very, you know, it's fives, it's a little passive aggressive. You get the Instagram cap, you know, you don't really know what's going through his head. And that's going to be interesting if it goes bad, you know.

I would like to see we've seen how Harden plays alongside Alpha players. You know, we saw that with Chris Paul and it didn't really work out. We saw it. I think that's the biggest example with Chris Paul are not working out.

I'm curious to see how that relationship will go. But I do want to go quickly to, you brought up Ben Simmons. To see, it's one thing, and me and Roger talk about this all the time, it's one thing to play and work out. And I'm specifically talking from a basketball standpoint.

You know, the mental health stuff is the mental health stuff in all respect to that. From a basketball standpoint, getting in shape, playing at the highest level, and then getting acclimated into a win now situation in another city where you're in a new lifestyle, do you think that's going to work? Do you think that that's good? How does that work? I know from a basketball standpoint, he does fit, you know, when you talk about the

screening and the defense and all that. And also playing point-go- and can, and you can play a Kyrie off of him. You can play a KD off of him at times. I think he's a really good player, really, really good player, all-stall-level player. Does this unlock his game at all? Oh, it definitely unlocks his game.

I mean, the premise from the start with Ben Simmons is, you know, when he was with the Sixers, like, how do we get enough shooting around these guys? Well, now he's playing with, I don't know, four of the best shooters in NBA history. If Joe Harris comes back, you got Seth Curry now coming with him. You got Kyrie and Kevin Durant. Oh, and then you got Patty Mills, you know,

somewhere down the bench, he's slumming it, you know, shooting like 40% from three for his career. Having all that space is going to be great for Ben Simmons. But you're exactly right. Like how you ramp up a player like that, we just don't have a lot of precedent for that kind of thing in NBA history of a guy going from holding out for this long and then going into a role that's going to be this important for one of the biggest teams in the league, for one of the most important teams in the league. We were talking about this on group chat this week with the Russell Westbrook, John Wall, potential trade discussion. is it even fair to John Wall to throw him into that fire and ask him to ramp up to the level

that they would need him to after not playing? Simmons, although he's kind of sitting out willingly so it's a slightly different situation, a lot is going to be asked of him very quickly. And for a guy who, as you said, has claimed the reason he is sitting out is for mental health reasons, he's going to be put in the spotlight with the nets.

He's going to be put under the microscope. Every time, and especially given the last time we saw him was him passing up a shot and torpedoing, game seven, him not shooting. Every time he catches the ball at the perimeter and doesn't shoot

is going to go around social media. It's going to be all the same stuff, even though people don't care in New York about the Nets like they do in Philly about the Sixers. Ben Simmons is going to be a huge story. He's going to have to find a way to manage that if he's going to play at a high level. Well, fortunately, I think fortunately,

in Brooklyn, he's not going to be acts to shoot the game winning shot. No one cares if he has to. He could set a screen for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, are the best clutch players of all time. So I think he'll be fine on that front because he doesn't have to carry that offensive load and that whole team burden.

Philly had to, with the fan base that he really just, that he just didn't jog with. I don't know how else to put it. He just didn't. The interesting thing, though, is all these rows lead back to Kevin, you know. He's the one that, he's the one that rises ship. If you're Kevin Durant, how do you feel? right now. To start this season, you got Kyrie who's talking about, you know, I'm not going to get the vaccine. I'm not going to do it. Even in the face of him coming back, he's been asked to do it. It would make

everything, it would make everything go a lot smoother if he got it or if he could, just from a simple fact, we all know the science behind it, but from a teammate perspective and from a rhythm perspective, will help the team out if you do that. Has not gotten. Then you put Ben Simmons into it to that. that fold and have that trade. Then you have a guy like James Hardin who was your friend. I think Kirk, Kendrick Perkins talked about this on the broadcast. And I don't really, I really can't, I don't know it in Deb, but he was talking about how Hardin and Kevin weren't on speaking terms for a, for a long time. It came back to win a title together.

You know, they, they, they, and the relationship doesn't work, didn't work out. Kevin, by and large came to that organization to help out Kyrie and help James, and help James games get a title. Both of those guys have, I don't know what you want to put it because I haven't been in that locker room yet. I haven't been there yet, but have both, let's say, disappointed him or have been disappointments in that regard. If you're Kevin, how are you feeling at this moment? Are you feeling conflicted? Like, what is there to, how is there to feel? What is there to feel? I think you're probably glad that there's some resolution to the hardened thing just because it was so clear that he didn't want to be there anymore.

and you have to hope that Ben Simmons does. That Simmons is going to be relieved to be in a different situation too and he is going to put his best foot forward and he's going to do all the little things that they wanted to do because otherwise, if that doesn't happen, I mean, Kevin Durant might be like

the loneliest member of a super team we've ever seen, just totally isolated on one side as you're saying, I can't play home games who isn't willing to make this admittedly pretty small gesture in order to just be available for his team.

And on the other side, a guy who sat out this entire season on the principle as far as we can tell of mental health slash not being comfortable slash just wanting a different change of scenery. Hopefully that can work out. Hopefully, as you were saying, the basketball fit of all three of these guys comes to fruition and everything clicks because the talents are there. The personalities, though, if you're Kevin Durant, I mean, that's a lot. That's a lot to man.

It's just a lot to look around your locker room and say, these are the other principal stakeholders in this along with it. me. A lot is falling to him right now. I can't tell you what thing about Kyrie. I just, I don't know how this, this ends up happening. You know, he's, he's banking on, you know, New York changing its vaccine laws or maybe a plan. There's rumors of the plant-based vaccine. And, um, but the fact is, at this very moment, like, he would not be able to help them in a playoff series. So what does that leave you with? That leaves you with Kevin. That leaves you with Ben Simmons, who has had his postseason struggles, and that leaves you with Andre German and Seth Curry in a couple pieces, right?

A couple, you know, this has the, I think this has the potential to go really bad. I don't, I don't, I don't know if I have high hopes for this. I think that it'll, it'll work out. I'm just really skeptical in the fit. Am I wrong in that just being as skeptical as I am? I don't know if it works in Brooklyn. I think that it has a very, like, obviously this is always how it's been in Brooklyn. It's always been high highs and very low lows, but this has the opportunity to, be very and very bad. Well, I think the only way it gets real dark is if Kevin's injury persists, gets worse, if he has another injury, because when that guy's on the floor, it's hard to

go too low. You know, Kevin Durand is just an unbelievable player to the point where just having him and some guys is going to make you pretty good even against some of these other really tough Eastern Conference teams. So as long as he's out there and they're getting anything from Irving and Simmons, I think there's still going to be a pretty good team. And if they're getting great stuff from Simmons and to whatever extent Irving is available,

they're right there in the mix with everybody else. They're contending, they're punching their weight as a team that is incredibly talented, incredibly flexible, can play fast, can play slow, can play small now. I mean, they could even play a little bigger if they want, if you trust Andre Drummond in those situations, by all means. But I think they could have some options if those guys are out there.

Let's take a quick break. I want to talk about Washington. All right. So the Wizards made a lot of movies. just a flurry of moves in the last hour of the trade deadline. One of the being, you know, Perzingus going, getting traded from the Mabbs to the WIS. Does that help Bradley Bills stay? Because I don't think it does.

I don't think it matters either way. I have Perzingis talk about stock falling over the last few years. I remember it was him and Janus is like the two unicorns. That wasn't that long ago. And now he's just a guy that like, oh, you know, We needed to get it from a Maverick standpoint, oh, we need to get him out of town. Look, sometimes unicorns get hurt, too. Unicorns can have knee injuries.

It happens. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But does this, I look at the Wizards right now, and I think they're chasing ghosts with these, with these trades, right? It's one of those things. Like, I always think back to LeBron's last couple of years in Cleveland where the, the, the cows are just making deals just to say on paper, oh, this is what we did to help you.

And if I'm Bradley Bill, man, I don't know. I know that he wants to stay in the Wizards, but I just don't trust that. If I'm Bradley, I just don't trust that it's going to, that it's good, that these moves are going to help or that, that, I don't know if I trust his front office to build a contender, whether I know it's a relatively new, but still, like, I just don't do, I have, I'm in my late 20s. I want to win a title. I have a lot more prime years. I don't want to do that. I don't want to play those years in a rebuild. Does he stay for this?

Does Porzingis make Bradley Bill stay? I can't imagine it moves the needle that much for Bradfield, right? I mean, he's either going to sign this massive new contract or he's not, or he's going to sign it and then request a trade later. That seems totally in the cards too. But for Washington, I get to the point where I'm just like, what did this really cost you? You're giving up Spencer Dinwiddie,

who basically from the time he was signed has seemed kind of like a mistake, in terms of his impact on the courts has not been good, has not been good as a wizard. You're giving up Davos Bertans, who's probably one of the worst contracts in the league right now, a guy who has basically a one-dimensional player has not lived up to that one-dimension lately, which is a problem.

So you're flipping these guys for Chris Staps Porzingis, and as I'm going through that, I'm wondering, like, what is in this for the maths? Like, why are they taking part in this? Even though Chris Depps is injured, even though he has his own problems, To me, what this signals from a Dallas perspective is the Mavs were so much more concerned with availability than fit. They needed guys who are going to be there more so than Porcings is the most talented player in this trade, right?

Yeah. Not even a question, but I don't know. We actually won the trade on here. We actually won a trade between the Nets and the Sixers, and you said everyone. I don't think anyone. Did anyone win this trade? I don't know. I think that's a trade where it was just, it was just, it was just,

It was pointless in a lot of ways. What did you, what did you gain from this? I don't see this, but if I'm Brad, I just, I can't. We don't have to spend much time on. I just don't, I don't know what this does for them. I don't know. You wanted to talk about the Phoenix Suns. What do you like about what the Phoenix Suns did at the deadline?

Well, so the Suns were in a pretty low risk mode. You know, they don't want to mess too much with what may be the best team in the league right now. So what can you do? They needed to shore up their backup point guard spot. They picked up Aaron Holiday from the Wizards for cash, as far as I can tell, for reasons that I don't fully understand. I think Aaron Holiday could have helped this version of the Wizards. They're trading away guards.

They need to fill spots. Aaron Holliday is going to fit really nicely on Phoenix's bench. They bring back Tori Craig in a different trade with the Pacers for Jalen Smith. Jalen Smith, a big who they didn't really have that much use for is a little redundant to the roster. They chose not to pick up the option on. Let's bring back a good, valid, you know, bench wing to fill. fill out our ranks. I think if you're the best team in your conference and the best, maybe the best team in the league, this is the kind of deadline you want to have.

Low risk, potentially decent impact moves where like those guys could be a meaningful player for you in a spot playoff game or two, in a big moment. I think that's exactly what the Sun should have been gunning for and they found it. So where do you think of this? What do you think, I'm conflicted on how I feel about the Suns this year because on one hand, I think, man, this team is unstoppable. They're going to the finals. It is what it is. But then when I piece it back together, I

see Chris Paul, who's great. But typically, is a little older, but typically when he gets, his body breaks down, and we've seen that in the finals, we've seen that when he played with the Rockets, we've seen this time and time again. I really love that team. I don't trust them. Talk me

into the sons, the sons being the title contender because I keep hearing it. But I just really, I don't know if I can trust what I see in the regular season to get into the finals. Because I've already seen this, but I just, I'm concerned about their, I'm concerned about Chris Ball's health. I think that's the biggest thing that I'm concerned about. I do think that they're a great team. I do love Devin Booker.

I do love their front core presence. I do love what they have with Aiden. But I am scared. I am scared. And I'm the minority at the ringer right now. I already know this. I already know everyone has picked the sons to win the title, or at least represent the West.

But I'm skeptical. I don't know. But we just saw it. We just saw them get to the finals. Like, how skeptical could you reasonably be under those circumstances? That's a fair point. That is a fair point. I would say they're even better than they were last season.

I mean, clearly in terms of regular season basketball, your point about Chris Paul is totally fair. If he's not fully healthy, they're a different team. I think what we saw in last year's playoffs is even if he's not fully healthy, they can still beat people. They can still, you know, Chris Paul can't lift his arm above his shoulder. Chris Paul's dealing with some hand stuff, some other injuries. They still get all the way to the finals.

They go up two-oh against the bucks. If not for a clutch as hell play from Drew Holiday or Janus here or there, they might have been the champions. Yeah, that's true. No, it's true. I think that, and I know, and, you know, we're both in the bay. I do think that they're, that's just, I just really, want that Golden State Sun

series. And I think that that'll... That'd be awesome. I mean, it'll be a seven-game series. It will be, it'll have all the bells and whistles. I just think with Golda's say fully healthy, I think that they have a shot. I do think that they have more of a shot than people are giving them. Fully healthy is a big

statement for the Warriors right now. I mean, it's... And a lot of it comes down to Dremont. Like, back injuries are tough and persistent and hard to shed. If he can't get to the point where he can play big minutes and big minutes at center specifically. Yeah.

I think it's going to be really tough for them. No, I agree. I just, I think I'm, you know, you know how it is in the Bay. There's that Bay propaganda. There's always, they're, it's strong. Any, any, every time I walk out of the, on the streets, they're always, they're always talking. They're always, they're always talking.

And it, it almost makes you believe it, right? It almost makes you believe. They got Andrew Wiggins elected. They gerrymandered the vote and got Andrew Wiggins elected. Think about that. Yes. Yes. But, but I do, I do like the Sun's team. I do think they're a force.

I just, I really want Chris Paul to get his ring, and I'm just scared and won't have him because of his health. I just, I think that's where, really where I'm at with the Sons. And they're an interesting team because they're simultaneously building towards the future with, you know, they have Devin Booker and they have Aiden, and they have a relatively young roster, but they're also trying to, you know, balance that with Chris Paul. I love that team. I love, I love Michael Bridges.

I love everybody on that team. They're a really fun story. But I think I'm just, I'm really just skeptical about their health. Well, they'll have to prove you wrong in time. But it is interesting if we look up and down the West, not a lot of activity. You know, the Warriors, as we've been talking about, also a great team. They stayed Pat here. Memphis Grizzlies, they had an opportunity to make a big deal if they wanted to.

They were too good to mess with too much of anything. The Jazz already made their deal for Nikiel Alis. Alexander Walker trading Joe Ingle's contract doesn't really change a lot. I guess the Mavs are the most active team. The Clippers made some deals earlier. They're moving some stuff around. But otherwise, it's like a lot of Eastern teams making noise. And then some of the teams we might have expected out West,

teams like the Grizzlies, like the Jazz, like even the Lakers, they didn't do a lot today. Okay, so let's set this up. The Lakers are on their way to Napa Valley right now ahead of their their Saturday huge game against the Lakers. They're just chilling.

They're getting some wine. You know how the wine culture in the NBA, they're just chilling. LeBron is got a cabaret or Bordeaux. I don't know. You know, probably just chilling.

And, you know, just peeping the scenario. And then Russell Westbrook walks in after seeing trade rumors that there was a deal on the table for for John Wall right there on the table.

Does this reinfigurate Russ? Because we got, we got Sasha Mac on the call. You know, this is for Sasha Mac. Does it reinfigurate Russ? Or does it just send him back into this tailspin? Like, are the Lakers done? Because I don't know how they would have won this trade deadline in any sort of way. But what does this do for Russell Westbrook?

The rumors of potentially getting traded and then, not getting, does it help him out? Does it put a battery in his back? Is he going to shoot a lot of airballs? What do you think is going to happen with Russ? That's the funny thing about Russ is like, I'm not sure reinvigorating him is necessarily a good thing. Like putting a battery in his back is,

does that even help them? Which is part of the problem. Like, this is not an issue of James Harden not trying enough on defense and, you know, kind of dogged it. Like Russell Westbrook going hard does not help the Lakers. He has to, he has to change so much about who he is fundamentally as a player.

in ways that I just don't think are reasonable to expect them to do at this stage. So, yeah, I think the Lakers are done as a relevant team in the NBA landscape this season. They are not coming back from that. Now, could LeBron go superhuman for one series and win them, you know, win them some games?

Sure. I don't think if, you know, if they're going to be a play-in type team, a lower-seated team, I don't think they're beating the Warriors, the Sons, even the Grizzlies. Like, they don't have that gear in them. They don't have that collectively to pull off some.

like that. It's a shame, man. It's a shame. We were talking about the Abaka trade to Milwaukee. And I think about Milwaukee, and they're just slow and steady, man. They're just, it does. They're really low maintenance. They're really, really good. All we keep talking, and I know all they hear is that we keep talking about Brooklyn. We keep talking about the Sixers, and we do not talk about the Bucks, who, by the way, just put a beat down on the Lakers in front of a national TV audience. they're going to repeat, aren't they? They're really good. They're still my favorite to make it out of the east.

And so I honestly think we're going to get a repeat of Sun's bucks and how you want to suss that out, whether you think the Suns have changed enough to change the dynamic of that series, I think is an open question. I would pick the bucks to repeat for the simple reason that nobody has an answer for Janus, nobody has figured out how to guard him at this stage in his career.

And when their guys are healthy, they beat everybody. They win almost every game that Drew and Chris and Yannis. play together. And so this Abaka thing is interesting. You know, they gave up Dante DiVincenzo to do it, who that gave them like some perimeter flexibility, but they're getting another big in that mix. Hopefully Abaka can be good for them.

He's been a guy this season who sometimes he's healthy. Sometimes when he's healthy, he's sometimes good. It's tough for him right now to be like an every night player. But you don't have to be an every night player for the bucks. Yannis is going to play 50 minutes if he has to. And you just got to plug some gaps, hit some shots, block a couple things. I think Sergei Baca could be really good.

Honestly, he's perfect for a postseason run. He's perfect. What happened last year won the bucks? Brooke Lopez turned into 96 shack. You know, and you don't really need much. You just need a big that can, if he could just hit his jumper, make like eight points a game, he's fine. Yeah, they'll be fine.

Rob Mahoney, thank you so much for coming on, man. We've got to do this again sometime. Been a blast. Thanks, Logan. And we are back. Roger has his coffee. He has his energy. He has his tweet alerts.

He's ready to go. Right. How are you doing, man? No, I'm good, man. You know, I'm on this, I'm on this good, uh, Cafe Bustelo and, um, 36 straight on the grind, just tracking, you know, I'm here for the, the listeners. I want to be prepped. I want to be in the loop. Excuse me. You're on the, you're on the, you're on the, you're on the, you're on the, coffee, sir. It's cafe Bustello. Okay. You've been, you've been kicking it. Was, did you, did you, did you,

did you get on to that when you were with, um, when you were with, um, when you were Boooooo? Was that, was this when you were with, uh, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. That's, that's French, that's French, that's French, This is Latin American swag. This is the Miami Virgin Islands roots, right? This is, this is jet fuel coursing through your veins, bro. I'm in. Okay. Listen, I'm not used to that.

When I come down to Florida, I'm going to lock in with you. All right. I'm a lock in and get that. You know what I'm saying? I want to talk to you. This is being recorded at 9 a.m. Pacific time, right, three hours before the trade deadline. But I do want to recap some trades with Raja. And it just kind of makes sense of all these things.

I came in hot during the, you would appreciate this, Roger. I came in hot during the Green Room earlier with Kevin O'Connor, earlier in the week with Kevin O'Connor and Sir and Sohee. Just to talk about how the kings are just wilding right now, they're just, I don't know what they're doing. I wasn't as succinct there. I just was really yelling and just very mad who provides. But I want to go and talk through this trade and talk through some.

some other trades that happened earlier in the week with you. The first trade I really want to go into is this a bonus trade. The Pacers traded a sub bonus to the Kings. A lot of moving parts. I don't really care about that. They traded for essentially, they traded Subonis that Pacers did to the Kings for Tyrese Halliburton, some picks,

and Buddy healed. And I believe Tristan Thompson was that trade. And I just, I'm, I just, I have to go on a rant right now. I don't know what the hell the kings are doing. I have no idea what the hell the kings are doing as a front office staff record label and a motherfucking crew. We don't talk about the kings much. And when we do, Raja, it's usually not positive.

Okay. I don't know what the kings are doing. I don't know. They also traded for Dante Divenschenzo and I just don't, I don't know what their plan is, Raja. They say outwardly that their plan is to want to win now. but they might as well just ran it back. They might as just ran the whole thing back

and just said, hey, we're going to keep Buddy Heald. We're going to keep Harrison Barnes on the squad. We got our future here in Tyrese Halliburton. We already got Deering and Fox Davy on Mitch. I know they had to get rid of one of those two, but I just don't know what the fuck the king's plan is,

Raja. I don't know. I don't trust them. I don't think that they have a, I don't know. What's going on in Sacramento? I mean, you sound angry and,

and surprised. And so I guess I would counter with, why would you be surprised? This is, this was what they do, right? Like we talk about, or at least I talk about a lot, is having, having like a plan of where you're going. Give me a roadmap of how we're getting from here. What's your vision for us getting from point A

to ultimately point B, which is the playoffs, you're trying to win a championship or being a contending type of team? and I often feel like with Sacramento, it's either they don't have it or they're just not willing to let anyone in on that, right? And so, you know, or third is that they just bail on it too quick, right? Like they get halfway in and then they're like, ah, we don't have the patience to do it. We got to get out.

And so it keeps you in this perpetual state of whatever they have going on right now, which is kind of like dysfunctional. I just, in fairness to them, I don't, I haven't looked into the trade in terms of, and cents and whether it frees up and makes them flexible enough to really do something, you know, early in next year or in this off season, if their targets, they think they can acquire. And if that's the case, then I, you know, okay. But on face value, just piece for piece, did you get better? And are you doing what you say you're trying to do, which is win now and get in? Like the answer to that is I don't think you've got appreciably better.

I don't know that you've done that right now. I think your questions are valid in terms of the salary cap and what is that. How does that maybe help them get more flexibility and things like that? We're really not like into that on this podcast in general. But what I would say, we don't know what the next domino was going to fall. But on face value at this very moment, it doesn't look, I don't trust the Kings to do anything good at this point. Because it's because of their track record, Roger. They haven't been in a playoff since, I think.

think, oh six, they have constantly undermined themselves. They have constantly, even this season, right? You get a new general manager and you keep your coach Luke Walton, who was essentially a lame duck coach, right? And then you, instead of firing him over the off season, getting your, instead of firing him in the off season, you keep him on staff, then you hire Alvin Gentry to be his number two, which is obviously Alvin Gentry is a very experienced coach in this. league. So obviously, if you put him as your number two, you're going to be gunning and fighting for your job and it inherently misses up the trust within that locker room. Right. And now that Alvin Gentry is, um, is, uh, is an interim coach. Ra, I know this is all new news to you, but there's, there's, uh, rumors already in Sacramento that he's being undermined as a coach, you know, that the, um, that the owner of Vivek Rana Devei is, under. Is, um, that the, um, that the owner of Vivek Ranevaevae is undermining gentry and all of the turnover from the staff, all the staff that's in place right now, is scared that they won't even have a job in a few months. And also, they're, you know, every,

they think there's also a great example of this, you know, earlier in the, in the year, a guy by the name of Doug Christie, who is really good dude, really good dude. I've had great interactions with Doug. But I think when Alvin Gentry went down with COVID, Doug Christie went, was the interim, or was the coach on, was the coach leading the bench for that game. And just the sheer of that happening, the sheer sight of that happening just brought, you know, a lot of nervousness with that coach's down, just because Vivec Rana DiVey happens

to just love Doug Christie and love what he brings to the table. and despite him not having coach experiences and despite him not, you know, just because he likes him. And I say all that to say, that's just one example of the dysfunction that's in this organization. So you bring, do that, do all these things before this trade. You can't tell me that there's going to be a win now philosophy when all of this is going on when the house isn't, everything in your, everything in the house isn't taken care of. So you can't, I can't believe that you're going to do. good things when you're constantly, even in the coaching ranks are undermining all the progress that you've made.

You know, and we'll see what happens in the end. But like, you know, you draft a guy like Tyrese Halliburton. Then he shows great things from you, shows that he's done well, soles that he's a guy that you want to invest in, says he wants to be in Sacramento. And then you trade him away. I just, I don't see anything good out of this. That's why I don't see anything good on this deal. I mean, they don't deserve the benefit of.

vivid out, you are 1,000% correct. Like, they've done nothing to to give anyone their faith that they'll be able to execute if they do have a plan to get, you know, where they want to go. They've given you no reason to have confidence that they can execute that. You know, I say it all the time.

This isn't a player or coach issue. You know, it's one of the only sports, like, you know, with their drafts and stuff for one of the only, you know, areas in the, workforce world where you can be a great player, like top of your field. And while you're going to get rewarded financially for that, your reward is going to a probably shitty organization. You know? And like in any other field, like, you know, you come out of a warden business school or one of these great med school programs or law schools. Like, you get your choice of like the best law

firm or the best hospital to do your residency. And like, you get to pick that. You know what I mean? like you you come out and do everything you can be the best player in the country or one of the best players in the country and you've done all of this and now you're saddled with going to Sacramento and all of its dysfunction it's not a player problem

it's not a coach problem this is an organizational problem it's an institutional problem in Sacramento like this function starts at the top I don't know the people running it out there I just know the track record and I know if you bring 40 players through there in a five year span and it's always shitty that it ain't the player

I know that and so you know I feel bad I'm not even going to talk about the trade or does DeM Subonis Make them better, is he a better pairing with Swiper or are they going to get The third piece of the puzzle Because they've got flexibility

I'm not even getting all of that I know this When they told us the bonus he got flipped to Sacramento He probably broke his fucking phone Yeah There was a couple thug tears There were probably a couple thug tears Just

They're like shit You get a go from getting coached by Rick Carlisle and having it, you know, we know Indiana is a proud organization, bro. We already know that. And then you go to Sacramento where, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I know you're a little bit more removed from this, but Sacramento is still sack, you know, it's still, you know, it's still, you know, it's still the one of those teams where the organizationally is just not, it's where teams, you know, where players careers go to time. man, like it's still that. And then, you know, that happens. And they still have that rep.

And you know you're getting traded there. And he has, what? Two more years left on his deal? He's going to be a sack. He smashed something. Maybe it wasn't his phone. He kicked. He smashed something.

Oh, my goodness. I like sack as a town, man. And when we played, when I played there, when I was a maverick, when they had C, Beb, and Pesia and Bibb. and Bobby Jack and Christy. Like that thing was a phenomenal environment. One of my favorites of all time.

One of the best I ever played in. So absolutely no shade. But as an organization lately, it's been dysfunctional. And you've got to be salty if you're a player like Sabone is hoping, you know, even if you didn't want to be in Indiana, you know, like when you found out it was sack, you had to be like, damn. I'm just more, and I think I'm just more sad for that fan base, man, more than anything. You know, because, you know, I've spent a lot of time in Sacramento.

You know, you got peeps, you know, if you live in the Bay, you got peeps up in SAC and you just hear just, you know, a Kings fan is a rare breed, Roger. I'm not sure if you know this. I don't know that. It's the state capital. But it is not the, you know, it ain't the Bay. It ain't L.A. Right. It's not that.

And then, but it's a proud, proud fan base. One of the loudest, that old Arco was one of the loudest, most passionate fan bases. a playoff that I real talk ever been around and you and you know and they're just given stuff and they that's a fan base that talks themselves into a lot of shit raja like talks themselves into like hey we can make it happen we can make it work because they just love they just they all they do is just love they want to believe they want to believe and to see this just it's just like it's just another another time like they really love hollaburton they thought he was going to be that one. And then, you know, I don't know how they get rid of this, right? Because Deeran Fox,

he's unmovable now because of his big deal, you know, he's, he got an all-star contract, but he's not playing, he doesn't consistently play like an all-star. And then you got, you know, then you try to trade or try to draft his replacement in Davy on Mitchell all of a sudden, right? And then it's just, it's just, as you can see, we still go into these rabbit holes of dysfunction, man. And then, you know, we just don't. It's just really hard to watch that But I think my overall question is For a team like that

And I want to We're going to jump into because I do want to talk about the Pelicans move With getting CJ in a second But I think this correlates into that The kings are trying to be in a win now mode Right? And I see this in a lot of teams Especially with the advent of the playing tournament

How do you feel when teams just This is a bit of a phenomenon that's going on when teams just, they make a panic trade just to get into the playing game, just to get into the show, right, just for the chance to do that, because that's on face value what the Kings are doing. What does that do for the overall development of an organization? What do you think that's going to do? Does that help them getting into the playoffs?

Or should you just play the long game when you're a team like that? Or when you think you're a trade away, should you make that trade? Or should you just be like, hold on, we got to play the long game here? Well, if you think you're genuinely a trade away from being relevant, then you make the deal. There's a difference between being relevant and being in the ninth spot and the playoff game and the play in game. Do you know what I mean? If you're talking about a trade that you believe makes you a upper tier Western conference team and you're going to swing at that, then I can't fault you for that. But not trades that are going to make you three or four or five games better.

In that case scenario, the long game is what you got to play. You got to have some patience. Again, it's what I said about the three scenarios that I could envision being the case out there. And the third was that they may have this game plan or this roadmap, and they're just too impatient to let it materialize. But, you know, now you're stuck in this weird spot. And so I would never fall to team for saying, hey, in our mind as a collective, Logan Murdoch is the piece that we've been waiting for that we believe solidifies our future in the Western Conference.

We have a shot at it. We're doing it. All chips in. Hey, man, that's why they pay you to big bucks, do it. But to say, hey, man, we think Logan Murdoch will help us get into the playing game. It makes us a couple wins better. and we're going to, we're going to scrap. Come on, man.

I can't, I can't co-sign on that. I think we're starting to see that also in New Orleans right now, right? Because the New Orleans, they traded for C.J. McCollum, gave back Josh Hardin the deal. Portland is basically just rebuilding right now. We'll get to that in a second. But to get a guy like CJ on your roster, CJ wants to win now. There's a big contract. He doesn't have, you know, he's closed it to the end of his career to the beginning of his career.

He wants to win now. And we haven't heard anything about Zion, because that's where all of this starts with, Zion Williamson. We don't know if he's coming back. The pelicans have been really stealth with them. But the overall point is the pelicans want to get into the show. You know, the pelicans want to get into the playing. And even if they lose, they want to be, you know, relevant on a, on a bigger scale.

Does that even get them there? I don't even think that that were. I don't think that CJ necessarily helps them in the long time. term. What do you think about that deal when you hear something like that? I think CJ, if that roster is whole, Zion's back in the fold, you got BI. I think CJ is a good piece to have. I think he's a good piece to have. But right now, with the uncertainty surrounding Zion and what that's going to look like coming back, it's another player. And I'm looking at this through the players lens that upon trade news,

breaking would have to have said to himself, oh shit. Not New Orleans. No, man. Like, that's, and Griff's my dude. And, but it's just, it's, you know, like, that Zion domino and where he's going to

be in terms of his commitment to the Pelicans when he comes back, if he's bought in, like, that's a huge, huge unknown for a dude going there. I do think that if they were a solid squad, I think CJ fits there. I think CJ's a really good player. I've often said I didn't think him and Dame were the, while they were exciting,

I didn't know that that was a great pairing of talents. But I think CJ's a really, really good player and could be a really, really productive part of a team that was a really good team with the right pieces around him. He's a great locker room dude and the type of stabilizing vet that I think any organization would be

happy to have. Culture driving, you know, character guy. I just worry about, you know, CJ being there in a situation where that Zion thing

just gets messier over the next six to eight months. Yeah. And I feel bad. To go to New Orleans and it's seen, you know, we love grip, great friend of the show.

New Orleans is another city with a team that doesn't, we don't even know if basketball is going to be in New Orleans in the next decade, dude. Because it's,

it's just one. of those things where I don't even know if ownership there cares about the pelicans. I've been to New, I don't know how many times you've been to New Orleans when the pelicans are in, to go to a pelicans game. No one cares. No one cares about that organization and that city. And it's hard to build a team when that happens, right? There's no real excitement around there.

And there's like, the hope was Zion, but we already know the injury points of Zion. I don't know. If I'm CJ, I'd give it a year. Like, it'd be like, all right, cool. But like, get me on a team. like I would I would be I would hurt me yes that would hurt when CJ when CJ I'm leaving Portland you got me leaving Portland for for the pelicans now again and you're right you're right you're right there are places you go in the NBA like I just said how great sack was as a as a as a

fan base and a place to play as an opposing player even even when they're giving you shit and they're riding you and they're you know praying on you your downfall, all of that is. My son Ty likes to say, that's his new thing now. Shout out to Ty, man. Shout out to Ty. Does he listen to Ty? Does he listen to Ty?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't know what the hell he's listening to. But even when they're doing all that, still a phenomenal place to play. I cannot say the same for New Orleans. I'm sure they have some really passionate basketball fans. I know they have passionate football fans, but I never was there as an opponent in their building saying,

man, this is fantastic. This is dope. Like, this is a cool environment. It just never happened. And so, you know, it is tough. You are correct. It's tough to get people to want to play because most guys would probably echo my sentiments that have been there as players.

And that factors in when you're talking about being a free agent. You're like, I don't know, man. I don't know about that. But again, I would say this. If Zion is bought in and you had Zion, Valanchunis, Valentunis, C.J. Brandon Ingram. I could start to see the form that you're, that you're, that you're, that you're, that you're, that you're, that you're searching for. I'm starting to see a little bit of a picture. There's still a lot of work to do, but I could see those pieces fitting is what I'm saying. I just like, like, you don't know. You don't know what that that's going to look like with Zion. I could, I would be, I would be distraught. I want to look at the other side of this deal. And we haven't done this in a while, Roger, but I want to pour out a little liquor. Yeah, pour a little liquor for the dame CJ partnership, man. It was, it was a, it was a, we, we knew what it was a, it was a fun partner. It was a. It was a, it was a fun.

partnership while they were together. They had a ceiling, but they had some fun times together, man. It was great. It was awesome. Portland, also great place to play, great place to go and watch a basketball game. I love what. That's one of my favorite arenas of the Modus Center. But when you look back on that, and, you know, dames hurt, and we haven't gotten full

confirmation, but all signs point that he, the seek, he doesn't come back the rest of the season. There's no way. I don't think that he does. Maybe he does and wants to play a, play his winning. into the playing game. They're just a game out of the playing, you know, bracket. But what do you, what do you, what do you, when you go back and you, and you pour out your 40,

Roger, what do you think about with that partnership? What, what comes to mind? It was fun. I think that would be the word. It was fun to watch those two guards cook offensively. Like, I enjoyed the scoring exhibition that those guys could put on, like individually. I thought that was cool to watch. I never really, I never really thought they got the recipe right around them.

I don't know what the recipe is when you have, again, two small, non-defensive-minded guards, but they're great offensively. I mean, great offensively. And so, you know, I'll just remember watching them dudes and as a defender wondering which one of those suckers I would have to chase around all night, right? Because both of them equally impossible to guard.

Like, they both got bags. But, you know, I'm reluctant to say, like an opportunity missed because I don't know that they miss their opportunity to win a chip. Does that make sense? I don't think that when I look at with Portland, I don't think that they didn't do enough to put them in championship contending.

Right. I never saw them like that. They never did that. And I think that goes into, because when I think about what happened with Portland, I'm thinking about them rebuilding and I'm thinking about Dame, who listen, Doug, listen Dane, listen, listen, I don't know if you listen

to this pod. You know, you know, you know I'll rock with you. I need you to get up out of Portland, dog. I need you to just like, you deserve to get a title. You need to go somewhere else, man. You're not, it's, the window is, it's over. Like, you're not going there. I need you to go.

I need you to go. Right, now I got that out of the way. Can I make a case, though? Can I make a case? Sure. Can I make a case on the flip side of that? Like, just playing devil's advocate. Because you know I've been on a pod saying he needs to go too.

Like, he needs to get up out. But what if Portland is finally? they've said, okay, we got it. And as much as that's your man, like CJ's the piece that has to be moved for us to clean house and ultimately, like we're not trying to rebuild through the draft. We're going to shed enough salary

and get to a place where we can entice somebody's big dogs to come out here and pair with you. What if that's what needed to happen to get him the support that he needs? Like in that case, like, if you're Damon, you really love Portland, you're like, all right, well, let's get this shit right. Let's do it.

Now, I know I'm not signing up for a rebuild, but what if it's not a rebuild, and it's just a quick flip out for some bigger, better pieces? I just don't see it, man. I feel like it's run its course. You know, I just feel like it's, I feel like Dame, because no matter how long it's going to take,

I don't think the Portland Trailblazers are going to be a championship contender next season. You think they'll be a champ? Like, that's what we would want for Dame, right? Them to be a championship contender next season, right? Or get him on it to win at least, be contending. I mean, they better be, yeah,

next year you would need to be in the upper half of that Western Conference. Like, you've got to start, time is of the essence. Right? So, especially when you have, when you have Phoenix there,

you got Utah, you got Dallas, you got, you got Denver, you got, it's deep in the Western Conference. I don't, I just don't,

I don't know. But overall question, though, when you talk about these teams, and I want to get into, and I'm going to add Bradley Bill to this mix, because he's out for the rest of the season.

And I think him, and dame are in similar scenarios where you have teams that historically haven't put championship rosters around you and they're asking you, hey, trust me. Can you please trust me? We can figure it out. We can figure it out. At some point, it's time to go. I think that's a PSA right now. Bradley Beale, fuck up out of Washington. This is your chance. You gave them the extra year. You said, yo, hey, come back. We'll figure this out. You know, you trade for Kuzma. you trade for, you know, Montreux, Harrow, you do all these things. It's time to go, bro.

At what point is it time to go for all these guys? What time do you think, is it right now? Is it the, if you're Dame and you're Brad, do you, do you, is there a trade right now? Give me up out of here. I got to go. It's run its course. Yeah, that demanding of a trade is slippery slope, man. It's, it's, it is because, I mean, those are those, both of the guys you're talking about are stand-up dudes to all kind of fans.

you know like there's a respectable way to try to ask for a train no no no i i feel you i'm saying i i'm saying i'm with you i i'm on record having said both of them dudes need to get up out of dodge like now yesterday it was the last time we talked about it which was months ago they need to go um but i think the reservation with some of them is is is that right like the backlash that comes with saying yo i don't i'm out i there's no shame in that though like there's there's no There's no shame. Your career is, you know, got an expiration date on it. And, you know, both of those guys are probably closer to the end

than they are at a beginning for sure. And so, like, if a team hasn't figured it out yet, what gives you any hope that they will? And you could love the city, you could love the town, you could love the fan base and all of that. And you still owe it to yourself in your window of time to give yourself the best chance to get that championship. And I, you know, people have to respect that.

And so I agree with you. Like, I'm not trying to talk you out of that. I think Bradley Bill, I'll say it again. If there's any way or leverage that he has in there that could, they could, that he could use to push his way out and get himself to a more desirable destination. Like, do that. This is tough, man. It's tough. It's tough.

It's not tough. It is tough. It is not tough. Why is it not tough? Because they. It's not tough because, yo, I've been a good soldier. I've been here holding it down. I've been doing everything I can do.

I've given you my heart and soul. My appendages are about to fall off. I'm getting them reattached to like I need help and I can't get it here. And so I got to go. Okay. With that being said, let's get to ruin the week because this has just been a somber into the pod. I'm going to go first. We're heading into Super Bowl.

And this is actually going to a journalist. This is going to a fellow journalist. We're getting into the Super Bowl. That means Roger Goodell has his annual Super Bowl press conference. And I'm going to give a real one of the week to a long-time NFL network. So, you know, it was working at, he works at NFL Network now. It was a longtime Chargers B-Writer, San Diego. Jim Trotter, who just took Roger Goddell's feet, put him to the

liar. He asked one of those two-minute questions, you know, one of those two-minute questions where they're basically just getting shit off. He asked Roger Goodell about diversity and then brought up the lack of diversity in NFL media as a staff record label and a crew and just, just, just obiscerated to, uh, Roger Goodell to the point where Roger didn't have nothing to say. That's journalism right there. We need more of that in these streets. So I'm going to go with Jim Trotter. I think he's on an NFL network now, but he ruined it a week goes to him. Who's your role in the week? I'm going to go with the University of Iowa. Okay. Women's basketball.

Caitlin Clark. Who is out here as possibly the most exciting watch in basketball right now. I mean, the pull-up game from anywhere, I mean, she really reminds me of Steph, like, in terms of her ability to pull and then the off-balance, you know, contorted threes, the way she moves without the ball. It's just really fun to watch. And I caught her highlights.

And so I tuned in and saw her do work last night. So she's my real one of the week because she's putting up numbers. And it's not even about the numbers, but it's the, it's the entertainment value, right? Like, she's fun to watch. So real one of the week. Word. Who you got for the Super Bowl this year? I mean, this week.

Who you got? I got to go with the Rams, bro. I want to cheer for the Bengals just because I love the story. I like Joe Shistyy. Jamar Chase. Like I like those boys, but I think the Rams. I want to go with the Rams. I'm going to go with the Rams.

Joe Burroughs that dude, though. I just love the swagger. I just love. And I just, there's a world where I just want to see Joe Burrow win a title because I know he's going to have, he's going to, he's going to, he's going to, he's going to, he's going to go with the Bengals. Let me just go with the Bengals because I want to see Joe Burrow in that Cincinnati cold during the parade with nothing but a fucking fur on. And you know he's just going to wear the fur. Just the fur, no shirt on. It's just the fur.

He just come in. It's just like Pimsy. You know, I just want, I want to see that. So I'm just going to go with the Bengals. He's a bad man. I'm going to go with the Bengals.

That's been another edition of Rewan of the Week. That's been our Thursday. Trade deadline edition. Make sure you check us out every Monday and Thursday. But in the meantime, make sure you check out upside high with Jonathan Charks and J. Kyle, man. Tell them the real one sent you. Make sure you check out weekends with Waz.

Make sure you check out, Fall of Boy! With KOC. Make sure you check out. group chat. Make sure you check out the answer with Sirot Sohi and Chris Ryan. Make sure you check out. Let's get the propaganda going. R2C2 with who, Roger Bell. Vallejo legend. The C-C-2 with Sisi Sabathia. Also, season three coming soon. Make sure you check out Black Girl's songbook with who, Roger Bell? Town legend, Danielle Smith. We out of here. Hala.