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And now, The Low Post. Welcome to The Low Post podcast on a Monday afternoon. We are taping this before a slew, a proverbial slew of important Western Conference games tonight, headlined by Raptors-Suns, which is only half a Western Conference game. Could be a trade audition for any number of players involved. And I wanted to bounce around sort of Western Conference stuff as we head toward the trade deadline, because looking at the standings,
The Clippers are in fourth at 28 and 25, despite forfeiting another game last night in Cleveland. Go load management. Yay, load management. Another W last night for the Clips. And whether, by the way, who's making those load management decisions? Who knows in all these cases. But in any case, another victory for load management. Minnesota fifth.
25 losses, 27 and 25. They're surging. The Warriors hanging in 25 and 24. Dallas 26 and 25. New Orleans has fallen all the way to eighth or ninth or seventh, depending on who has the tiebreaker over who. And God knows I don't care. They're 26 and 25. The Fightin' Jazz are at 500, 26 and 26. The Thunder, 24 and 25. The Blazers...
Don't call them Wizards West, Tim McMahon. Don't do it. 23-26. And the Lakers fresh off yet another loss, proving that the NBA just does not want the Los Angeles Lakers to succeed in this world. The 17-time world champions with LeBron James. Fresh off a tough one in Boston. LeBron will be not playing tonight in Brooklyn. I'm going anyway. What a crowded landscape as we approach 10 days toward the trade deadline and our Western Conference guru, Tim McMahon. How are you?
Howdy, partners. Yeah, I'll tell you what, this conspiracy against the Lakers, NBA clearly doesn't want the Lakers on TV during the postseason. You know, how damaging would that be to the product? So can't believe that it's just such a blatant conspiracy to keep the Lakers out. I will say they've been on the wrong end of a number of tough calls. They've got hosed. Late in games. That was...
rarely does it get so bad and so high profile that the referees union has to release a statement as if, as if one of their officials killed somebody on national TV, like we really, really want to get everything right. But like everyone else, we fail sometimes or sincerest apologies. We'll be sending a fruit basket with some chocolates and popcorn, CC LeBron James. But they have been on the, the, the wrong end of a lot of calls. And, and,
it could end up impacting them. Now the Kings would say, Hey, you know, what about us? We got screwed a couple of times and the bulls would say, or the Kings might say, what about us? You know, back in, uh, what was it? Oh three or whatever it was. Oh two. Yeah. And, uh,
And the Bulls have had a couple late game controversies. And what people always fail to do is like, you know, that wasn't the only play that occurred in the game. It was a high leverage play, the highest leverage play. It probably almost certainly cost the Lakers a win.
but there were other calls all throughout the game that went this way and that way. And at the end of the season, these things don't quite even out like the Lakers, I think will be on the high end of the continuum of ref got screwed by refs. And there will be teams who got benefits from the rest, but it doesn't add up to all that much. And the bottom line is you just got to win more games by more points. And this won't happen to you. That's my, I have no other reaction other than, yeah, it sucks. It sucks. I do. I will say,
I was on a dinner date during that game and I was going to watch it the next morning. But of course, since I'm an addict, I was checking my phone and, you know, I'm checking my phone, trying to be involved in the dinner conversation. So half an eye on the phone, half a half a year on the conversation. I thought that the Patrick Beverly camera thing was photoshopped all night. I put my phone down and the next morning I was like, wait, he actually did that.
So I was actually covering the Luka-less Mavericks, trying and failing to make a comeback against the Utah Jazz at the time. But I had my phone propped up and was, you know, was watching, was keeping an eye on the end of Lakers-Celtics. Obviously, you know, that was a game that lived up to the hype of being the ABC host.
prime time game. And I got to tell you, I mean, listen, I get it's not funny for Lakers fans. I get it's definitely not funny for LeBron and AD and those guys who they deserve to pull off what would have been probably their best one in the season, beating the Celtics in Boston. But it was absolutely hilarious to watch LeBron through the
a temper tantrum that any toddler would struggle to top. I mean, this thing was phenomenal. Justified, you can say for sure. They didn't tee him up. But then when Pat Bev, who, by the way, where the hell did Pat Bev come up with a putback dunk before that? But when Pat Bev comes out with the camera, Eric Lewis was like,
Look, dude, I know, but that's too LeBron can jump up and down and collapse to the ground and cover his head in the middle of the floor. But you bring this camera out. That's enough. We got we got to put we got to draw the line somewhere. I have the opposite reaction of you. The LeBron one to me is an in the heat of the moment reaction and other, you know, that happens like, yeah, it was a little.
reminiscent of his reaction to winning the championship with Cleveland, but it was, it was in the moment in the heat of the moment frustration after a couple other games, including the Philly game where Russ drove on and beating didn't get a call and all that. Um, including the Dallas game where Christian would hack LeBron, uh, that's right. Blocked a shot, you know, that, that was a potential game winner. Um,
That that's the heat of the moment. One Patrick Beverly time passed and then he decided to do prop comedy at the expense of the referees. Like I would have thrown him right out. He deserved the tea. No doubt. I'm just saying they, they must've realized in the moment they blew it on the brawn because
You know, this whole respect for the game thing, like if you could wave your hand and get a tee, he did a lot more than wave his hand. Yeah.
I don't have any other Lakers analysis. We're going to, you, you do have to give them credit all year long. That team has played super, super hard. LeBron included, like even when it looked like their season was going down the toilet, they play hard every game and had Boston kind of on the ropes in that game, obviously in Boston found a way to gut it out with some help from the reps. The other big game of the weekend, obviously was Yoko versus Embiid. And, uh,
Jokic had 22 points and a whole bunch of turnovers late in the game. I think he had two points in the fourth quarter. Played the whole game, I thought, as if he just kind of wanted to be above the noise. Just, I'm going to play my normal game.
This isn't a duel. We're not gladiators going to pass and do my thing and we're going to win and it's going to be fine. And Joel can go off for 40 and dunk and yell and scream. And, and I'm just not going to get into it. And I'm watching the game and Joel is yelling and screaming and Duncan and hitting threes and scoring 47 points.
And Jokic can't figure out PJ Tucker, which was a great adjustment by Doc Rivers that no one was talking about after the game because it was Embiid versus Jokic, except Embiid didn't guard Jokic the entire second half of the game. And I wanted Jokic to be like, no, this is a duel now. I'm into this. I'm going to take some shots. I'm going to try to exercise my will on the game. And he didn't do it. And so my question to you, Tim McMahon, I don't know if you're an MVP voter this year or not. Should this voters will remember this?
A lot of voters are not watching the Nuggets more than, let's say, 10 to 15 times a year. Should this matter? I think it should matter, yes. I think that Embiid probably needed a performance like this to position himself to be a legitimate challenger. But I think Embiid is right back to being the primary challenger.
For Nikola Jokic, and for a while I thought it was Luka, the Mavericks aren't winning enough to give Luka a bona fide MVP case. You can't be floating around 500 and be an MVP. But yeah, this absolutely should matter. And it's not like it's just this.
The 76ers have been playing as well as anybody in the league for a little while now. Lo and behold, here they are. They're sitting number two in the East. They've won seven straight. You know, I think if you back it up over the last month, month and a half, whatever, you know, if they're not the best record in the league, they're right up at the top. So this is a continuation of the case that Embiid has been building. And look, we have a lot of season left to play. There's 30 some odd games left.
left to play. So it's not like, oh, 47 and 18 against Joker, this proves it. But it's definitely a bullet point in Embiid's case. Having said all that, right now, I would still lean Joker because we're evaluating the whole and not just this one moment, but hell of a moment for Embiid. Yeah. Yeah.
I bet people are going to say, here comes Mr. Big picture sample size analytics. Don't overreact to one game. Don't be a prisoner of the moment to pour cold water on all this. I agree with you. I think it should matter a little bit. It was a big game for both teams. Both teams are chasing the number one seeds in their conference. Both teams really cared about the game. Denver really cared about the game. I know I've talked to people within Denver. They really cared about the game and they cared how you'll get played in it.
Embiid outplayed him by a lot at the end, by a lot. And I'm not saying it should swing anyone's vote or be a tiebreaker, but I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, tsk, tsk, tsk to anybody reading into this. This should matter. It matters to me when you go against the guy at your position and you outplay him that dramatically, even if you don't guard him the entire second half of the game, PJ Tucker did. And they found a use for PJ Tucker, which they have not really been able to do for a lot of the year. And what
What really matters to your point is the Sixers are now one game out in the loss column from first in the East. Embiid is averaging 34 points per game. He is a way better defender than Jokic. We all know this.
the advance you will, you will never, it's going to be very hard to make it an all encompassing statistical case for anybody, but Jokic. If you look at all the advanced stats, he's ahead in almost all of them. And in some cases, Vorp and Bipum and all the ones that I look at on my spreadsheet, it's not close, but the overall gap is starting to shrink in estimated plus minus, which is a really, uh,
stat around the league. It's almost neck and neck in our adjusted plus minus our ESPN adjusted plus minus Embiid now leads him and on off. If you like that one, the Sixers are plus nine with Embiid on the floor minus one and a half with Embiid off the floor. That's a gargantuan gap and the Sixers are amazing and he's the one kind of amazing constant they've had. Although I think Harden has had a sneaky really good season for them. I keep beating the heart and needs to be in the all-star game drum and
which is not a drum I expected to have in my drum kit 10 games into the season. But it makes a funny sound. You hit the bam and I'm beating the drum. I think it's kind of got a little bass to it. If you've got some people capable, some personal trainers who might want to shake their booty a little bit, you can work it like that.
I think it's going to be a close race. And every day, I'm on NBA Today. If I'm not in LA, I'm on NBA twice a week, NBA Today, Tuesdays and Fridays. Every pre-production meeting,
They asked me, what do you want to talk about? I say, guys, I think we should kind of talk about the Sixers. And we never talk about the Sixers. The Sixers are having a really under the radar, amazing year. I've been saying it all year. They are loaded for bear. They have everything they need to win the title. Yeah. They'll look for an upgrade here and there. If they finish first or second in the East, and that's a Milwaukee, Philly, Boston, Brooklyn, Brooklyn. If Katie comes back in time, that's a real legit for some, if they're number two there after starting off the way they did,
And bead was my preseason MVP pick. I think if he gets the numbers close enough, he's already got this big head to head feather in his cap.
I think that then the three times in a row thing, it's got to be close for that to come into play for a lot of voters. I mean, look, Joker is the deserving two-time defending MVP and is having the best season of his career for a team that is leading the Western Conference. That's a hell of a case.
But you know what? Embiid's the two-time runner-up who's having the best season of his career, leading the league in scoring in a much tougher conference, has the Sixers positioned right near the top of things. And again, there's a lot of season left to play out. I do think at this point, those two guys have separated themselves. I know Tatum led the BS poll, the Bontemp straw poll,
I like that. I like that we've branded, re-branded it as that. What was it at the third point of the season or whatever? No disrespect to Tatum. He's in a different stratosphere superstar from these two guys. These guys are just at a different level than Tatum is. No disrespect to Giannis, fresh off of a 50-point performance himself.
I don't think he's got nearly the case that these two guys have this year at this point. And we'll see. And Philly is going to be a fascinating team, certainly for the rest of the season going into the playoffs, because I agree with you, they have.
a legitimate chance to win a championship. They also have, you know, history would tell you a legitimate chance to flame out in the second round or so. And if that happens, who knows what follows? I'm going to gently and politely disagree with you on the Tatum thing. Big guys always have the advantage of
They're going to have mega numbers in a second category of rebounds. They're all going to have like, oh my God, 31 and 10. And Tatum's actually averaging 8.7 rebounds a game. I just think 31, let's round, let's be nice. It's Monday. I'm in a good mood. Let's be nice. 31, nine and four on 47% shooting 35% from three 55% on two nine free throws a game. Given the position he plays, uh,
And the defensive level that he plays at across multiple positions. I don't think Tatum is in a different stratosphere than those two guys. I think he's in their stratosphere. But for MVP case, we're splitting hairs between guys who are putting up all of them.
historic numbers. And I agree with you. He's probably behind those two guys, but I don't, I don't think it's by that much. Um, the other big news of the week was, um, weekend rather was miles Turner renegotiated and extended on a two day extension is two years and 40 million. The renegotiation is the absolute most. I think they could have given him this year, another 17 million and change to bring him up to 35 million. It's people haven't seen the official contract yet. So we don't know these are estimates. Um,
And to be clear, I called some people who would know Bobby Marks called some people who would know communicated his information to the rest of us. Cause that's what Bobby Marks does. He's point guard, just distributing, doesn't care about his numbers. You know, um, first point guard, he's got Skiles out there. Just trying to break the assist record. Um, uh, Miles Turner to clear up some confusion is, is eligible to be traded now.
is eligible to be traded probably more importantly in June and July at the draft and free agency. The extend and trade six-month prohibition does not come into play here, it appears, because the raises, the actual raises in the extension, the big raise in this current year does not count for this purpose. The actual raises are lower than would trigger the
six month prohibition. The years are less than would trigger the six month prohibition. So Miles Turner can be traded right now today. I do not expect him to, because I think this is the Pacers making a good move. I think it's a fair value for a really, really good player. Who's only 26 years old. Not that far above their, their young guards headlined by Tyrese Halliburton, who should be in the all-star game. And I think, I think,
If Miles Turner had been traded as an unrestricted free agent,
He might have been able to sign a better deal than this because he would have had so much leverage over the team that traded whatever they traded to get him. So I think he signs this deal as a recognition that he's not likely to be traded. So my gut is he's staying put for now. But the June, July thing is in play. I like this deal for Indiana. I've always been a just sort of why not extend him? He's really good. And he's 26. To me, it's like and that leaves it takes Indiana to the salary floor.
or right thereabouts, leaving only one team below the salary floor, and that's the Spurs. So that's the other interesting twist here. Any thoughts on that? Yeah, I do think it's a good deal for the Pacers. They've obviously taken on water while Halliburton's been hurt, and so they've actually slipped out of the playing scenario at this point. Once he gets back, I expect them to kind of get back on the horse. It's always been understood Herb Simon is not interested in bottoming out.
Like he wanted last year to be an exception. And I do think that they not only got a team that can be competitive now, but they have a team that has upside. When you have Halliburton, who superstars probably a little bit premature, but certainly has that kind of potential. Matherin, I mean, you know, we might be two or three years away from saying, hey, that's the best backcourt in the league. So I just wish Matherin would pass once. That's all. Just like just throw a couple passes. That's all. Yeah.
Listen, he's a rookie gunner right now. They got him coming off the bench. Let the man get his buckets. Plus, they've got a guy who's right near the top of the league in assists. Let him be a finisher for right now. You know what, Tim McMahon? You're right. Why do I have to be such a negative Nelly about Benedict Matherin's negative assist to turnover ratio? Go to the rim and finish. I like it. I'm going to be happy. Knock down some threes. First team all-rookie, no Mariner.
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All right, let's go to the West and go rapid fire around some of the teams as we approach 10 days of the trade deadline. We've got new Intel Galore coming out today. You have just returned from some time in beautiful Salt Lake City.
uh with the utah jazz who as i mentioned are still 500 still in the play-in there would be in the play-in if the season ended today it does not however they have a whole pile of guys um with short years maybe only in some cases one year left on their current contracts malik beasley jared vanderbilt kelly olenek jordan clarkson and mike conley all of whom if the right deal were to emerge could net
the jazz, some version of a first round pick, not a golden chip first round pick, but something. But are the jazz going to be buyers or sellers? What did you learn in Salt Lake city, Utah? Well, the jazz will certainly be active and the jazz will,
They're not doing anything that is about, hey, we're 10 now. Can we get six? Can we get seven? Everything. This is year one of a rebuild. It's been a much more fun year one of a rebuild. It's been a much more competitive year fun of a rebuild than anybody, certainly outside of the organization, anticipated. But everything they do is going to be two, three, four years down the road focused on that. Now,
Could they they would love to be able to pull off the deal where they feel like, you know what, it helps us now and down the road. You know, that's why you hear them in in the discussions about a John Collins is why you're Dorian Finney Smith is on out there today. Are they interested in Dorian Finney Smith? Absolutely. Does anybody in Utah or Dallas think that there's a deal that's going to get done there? No.
No, I don't see a deal that makes sense for the Mavericks. I would be very surprised if Dorian Finney-Smith is traded before the deadline. But they are interested in guys like that who are players they like on long-term deals. But they also recognize, hey, this is a seller's market and there aren't very many sellers. And let me tell you, Danny Ainge, Justin Zanuck,
They are rubbing their hands together and they are excited about filling that void of sellers in the marketplace. And what I've heard about the jazz is they're, they're asking way too much. They're asking way too much. And I say, well, Danny Ainge tends to get way too much. Um,
Mike Procopio, a guy I know because he's a former Mavs player development coach. Sweet Chuck. Sweet Chuck. And Danny Ainge loves Sweet Chuck. They go back to the days of Boston. Procopio sent me a clip from the movie L.A. Story. Don't know if you're familiar with that. Steve Martin flick. Steve Martin. Classic Steve Martin. And there's a scene in there.
Where person after person after person goes up to the ATM and they're getting robbed, they're getting robbed, they're getting robbed. Old sweet Chuck said, this is Danny Ainge dealing with NBA GMs. And Danny Ainge has the ATM open right now, baby. There are three guys the Jazz are not willing to discuss. Lowry Mark and him.
Walker Kessler, and I struggle with the pronunciation of the other rookie's name, Ochai Agbaje. He's shown some flashes lately. He's shown some flashes lately. Untouchable is too strong of a word, but have certainly let teams know that
These guys we see as part of our future. Markkinen is going to be an all-star, deserves to be an all-star. I think he has shown he can be a go-to guy. Probably needs to be your second best player to be a championship contender. Maybe third. Maybe third. Maybe third. Well, I'll say this, and it ain't happening, but if you put Markkinen on the Mavericks, I think they'd be cooking.
They'd be cooking something tastier than they're cooking right now at 26 and 25. And Kessler is going to be a quality starting center for a dozen years. Anyway, those are the three. Other than that, they are absolutely open for business. And again, open for business focused on two or three years down the road. And maybe it might be stepping stone type of deals. Or hey, don't.
This is a deal that can help us get to the next deal. But I would be surprised if all that draft capital that they built over the summer, if that arsenal isn't added to before this trade deadline comes. I agree. And I've been saying it for weeks since their hot start ended. They're going to sell. And they are and they should posture. These are good players. These are good players. By the way, Kessler is awesome. Yeah.
Um, has supplanted Jared Vanderbilt in the starting five. I was waiting to see if that was official when Kelly Olenek got back from injury, because I thought maybe this is just a temporary thing. They're trying it out. No, he's now the starter. Jared Vanderbilt's coming off the bench. They can't play together because neither one could shoot Jared Vanderbilt's occasional corner corner three, notwithstanding. Um,
Clarkson has the buzz all year has been the ownership loves Clarkson. They're they're close. That would be the hardest one to get. I think all these guys are gettable and it's just a matter of what teams are
are willing to trade um listen ryan smith was you know he he thought he had a great relationship with donovan mitchell if if he can be talked into the decision to uh blow it up and and trade donovan mitchell and rudy gobert he can certainly be talked into jordan clarkson i sat down with brian smith danny ange and justin zanuck and basically
The way Ryan Smith explained it is he's more involved than most owners. He wants to understand everything that's going on, but he trusts those guys. And Danny Ainge, he doesn't get influenced by Hallmark cards when it comes to trade conversations. Warm, fuzzy feelings ain't going to influence him. And I asked Danny Ainge straight up, hey, the fact this team's been much more competitive than anticipated and you're sitting right there in the playing seat, does that influence your thought process?
And he basically was like, no, no, they've got a big picture plan. They're going to stick to it. Now they're respectful of the locker room. They were, you know, they're respectful that these guys have played well, played unselfishly. You know, they, they, they're not going to have a fire sale chasing ping pong balls. That's for sure.
Too late for that. Yeah, this is a dude who has shown over and over and over again that he can squeeze value out of the trade market and is in a prime position to try to pounce on that opportunity again. The line is going to be, what are the protections on these picks? Because one of the front office guys I talk to a lot has a sort of quadrants of first round picks. Unprotected, that's the best.
Good, which is kind of like that's what the Bulls traded to Orlando, like top five, top six, top four, top seven, maybe is the end of good. When people say protected first round pick, that's the third iteration.
people you this guy i like this definition top 10 or lottery protected that's what you mean and the line and then there's the fake ones that may never convey or their top 20 protected or whatever they are the line i would say the top four protected that houston knows okc is a pretty significant and that's a very good one if protection it's a very good one and one of the reasons why houston doing something that appears to be nutty this summer uh may not be so nutty um but that's a for a
I think the line for Utah is going to be that good versus protected. Like how, where are those protections going to fall? Cause they're not getting a golden chip for any of these guys and they don't want to trade them for a top 17 protected pick or something like that. So the line's going to be in the middle for them. I think so. It's just going to be case by case.
I think that depends on which player. Like, I think there's a, if you ask me who's most likely to get traded, I do think it's Jared Vanderbilt because like you said, it's not a fit with him and Kessler. Kessler needs to be starting. He needs to be playing 30 plus minutes per game now. And for the next dozen years, um,
I do think Vanderbilt is valued around the league. I'm not, I don't think he's valued at a first round pick type of level, but he very well, he very well could be packaged. Like, listen, you mentioned all the guys who were available. I
I'm not sure if you mentioned Beasley, Malik Beasley. I did. I did. I've been on the Get Malik Beasley somewhere that needs shooting. And I'm very interested to hear what you're going to say because I have a take on this too. So go ahead. Well, you hear in a lot of the discussions that you hear about with the Jazz, they're
Beasley and Vanderbilt are paired together, which makes sense because, you know, Vanderbilt's not a big salary. So, you know, that's interesting. You calmly to the Clippers. I can tell you that that one is, is,
I think unlikely to happen just because I don't know if the Clippers are willing to throw in that first round pick. If they are for a point guard, I think it's more likely Dan fleet than it is for Conley. I got agreed. Agreed. Agreed.
Right. I got the feeling. I talked to Conley, and Conley's perfectly happy in Utah, is having a lot of fun this season, feels refreshed, really likes being part of this team. I certainly got the feeling that if he were to be traded, that the Clippers were one situation that he would be A-OK with. OK. Sure. Listen, and you can understand –
Why, from his perspective, and you can understand why the Clippers would be interested. This is a veteran point guard who would bring some maturity to that team that can run an offense or play off the ball and say what you want about the Clippers. They've crept up to fourth in the West, and if they've got their two max dudes healthy, like they've got a chance, man. They're doing, I've been saying for months, the Clippers are doing something and they're going to do something aggressive, aggressive.
Maybe it's Conley. Maybe it's something more aggressive. The Van Vliet stuff. I've been talking about that, too. Like that's going to be out there as we hit the finish line here. And that's, you know, look, hovering over all this is the Raptors. Right. And one of the reasons I want to talk Western conferences, because we all know the Raptors are domino number one. Apologies to Rui Hachimura, who was really domino number one.
and that the Raptors appear to be waiting to see how they fare on this West Coast road trip, which has actually gone well for them so far, 2-1 going into Phoenix tonight. And lots and lots of teams are monitoring the OG and Anobi situation. I have mentioned on this podcast the Knicks, the Grizzlies, the Suns, and on and on and on. We'll see what happens there. But as far as Utah goes, I – so New Orleans –
without Zion and until a couple of games ago without BI has fallen out of the top eight after being the feel good story of the year. They're out of the top eight. They have been able to score.
And if you talk to people around the team, the needs, and this makes sense, because my thing at full health, they have a lot of guys. They have a lot of guys and they have a lot of guys at the wing positions where everybody needs players. They have point guards. They have centers. Got a lot of centers. Got Hayes and Nance and Willie Hernan Gomez, who all he does is not play for three weeks and then come in and play well. And JV. So it's not easy to play.
just add guys onto their rotation. I do think the needs are a little more shooting and someone who can block some shots. They just have no rim protection. JV is not a rim protector. Hernan Gomez. No, Nance is undersized Hayes. They don't trust JV.
And that's why you hit on it. Is there a Beasley and Vanderbilt package that can go to New Orleans? Because I've been beating the Beasley to New Orleans drum all year and Memphis to Memphis. We'll talk about later. Is there a deal where where we can make that happen? Both of them go there easily has a team option for next year. If you trade for Beasley, you're picking up that team. And if the Jazz don't trade for him, they're picking it up.
Well, one of the reasons that might be appealing is the Pelicans tax situation gets ugly next year when Zion's big deal kicks in. And so that's a variable you have to consider where you're just sort of throwing money onto the New Orleans Pelicans is like it starts to get a little ugly next year. I don't know. I like that idea. Well, Vanderbilt's certainly an energy guy. Shot blocker, you know, I don't know about that. You at least have to think about it. When he's at the rim, you at least have to be like, all right, this guy's here and he's going to jump.
And he's going to be in my way. And the Pelicans still, they, you know, still have an extra pick from the Lakers. I'm not sure if they have anything else at this point other than their own. But one of my points that I've been making is now that they're eighth,
Their pick has value that it did not look like it was going to have a month ago. Now they'd fight to protect it, this and that. But like all of a sudden their pick is a little interesting negotiating piece. Forget the Lakers pick. They're not going to trade that or the swaps and all that. But that's I don't know. Just I kind of think the Pelicans should do something because when they're healthy, I guess it cuts both ways. I know they have a lot of faith. Like when we're healthy, we can compete with anybody.
but they're never healthy and they need to start moving up in the standings again. Yeah, I think that's certainly one team that makes it. And look, Beasley is a guy, a lot of teams will call on him just because what do you always hear? You can never have enough shooting in the NBA. And he's a guy who,
He can get up eight, nine, 10 threes, and he's going to shoot a pretty good percentage on them. And he can get them a lot of different ways. Again, I, he's not, he's not going to be donated to another team. I do think you're going to have to come with a, with a first round pick or, or a player who makes sense for the jazz long-term. Pelicans have some guys like that. They're, they're going to be hesitant to trade.
of them, you know, you'd probably have to get down to like the Kyra Lewis level of their rotation or unless you really like Jackson Hayes, who's not a great fit with Kessler. Um, I almost said Kessler Edwards. It's Walker Kessler and Kessler Edwards made the same mistake. Let's talk about the team in your backyard, the Dallas Mavericks. You said the name Dorian Finney Smith earlier today. Please explain why you said that name. Well, and it's been reported that, that he's basically being shopped. Um,
I had heard that the Mavericks had at least dangled him in conversations. I checked in today and look, do the Mavericks want to upgrade? Yes, absolutely. Do they feel pressure to upgrade before the trade deadline? Yes. But they also understand succumbing to pressure and basically punting is
on an opportunity to make a bigger splash, whether that's this summer, next trade deadline. They understand how the clock's ticking with Luca. If they don't make the bigger splash, nothing they do before this deadline matters. And they're not trading Dorian Finney-Smith by himself.
If Dorian Finney-Smith gets traded, it's going to be Dorian Finney-Smith plus multiple picks. And they're not giving up Dorian Finney-Smith unless it is for the bona fide. This dude can be the co-star that Luka needs to compete for a championship. I doubt heavily that happens before this deadline, in part because they're handcuffed on picks.
But if you look at the Mavericks roster, you tell me, how many guys on that roster do you think teams are calling about? No, this is our chip version of trade talks. We recognize that we don't have picks, really. I mean, they have a pick, but they're a little handcuffed by the one they had in New York. A lot of our salary, nobody really wants. Or in the case of some of our lower salary contracts, like Kaliba and particularly Josh Green, we want. Those guys, we need them.
And so, well, by default... And Cleveland can't be traded before this deadline anyway because of his extension. There you go. But get on it. It's Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green, who's still on his rookie deal. I think he gets... He deserves an extension this summer. I think it would be wise for the Maddox to get that done. And then Jaden Hardy, you know, is a player who second-round pick, rookie, early...
early developmental stages i think certainly has shown he should have been a first round selection but those and then spencer did what he's kind of a net neutral like he's also a guy if they end up trading for a star and again i don't think that's right now i think that's it can't be too far down the road because you're running out of time but this summer next deadline i'm
Dinwiddie's contract is just fine, maybe even favorable for his production. Yeah. You said a good year. You better get back another creator because the Mavericks have...
two guys on this roster who Jason kid trusted dribble basketball. Yeah. I was going to say when I watch my daughter's basketball team scrimmage, it's just half, half the girls are just playing football. Like there's running backs with the ball traveling. Unless they change the rules to allow that in NBA basketball, the Mavericks need people who can dribble other than Luca. Um, and it's, and they can't have football players. They need basketball players. Um,
So when the Dorian Finney Smith stuff really started bubbling up this weekend and the days prior to that, you heard it, I heard it. My first thought was, okay,
I'm interested. My first thought was what you just said. They're fishing to see if they can aggregate their best role player with whatever other stuff they have to get a big, big name that answers this long-term question that you're talking about. And we can talk about who that might be. My second thought was,
Boy, it would actually be kind of smart and disciplined if after blowing the Brunson situation and having being over the tax anyway, if this were a case of can we take one step backward now to take three steps forward later? Like if we can somehow get
beat the market like put him on the market now ahead of toronto no one is selling everyone's in the play-in if we can get two first round picks let's say and you know i don't know that they're getting two golden first round picks but two like decent first round picks which robert covington not too long ago got two first round picks there you go um
And now we've stocked the kitty and we're a little bit worse this year. But realistically, are we like two wins worse the rest of the season? Now, Luka and Dorian are very close, correct? Yes, absolutely. That's a problem. He's probably Luka's favorite teammate, has been there since before Luka got there.
from the first time Luka came in playing pick a ball before his rookie training camp, they clicked. Luka loves the fact that the guy guards his ass off, is always going to take the toughest defensive assignment, has become a, this year's three-point percentage is down, but has proven himself and developed into a really good three-point shooter and never bitches and moans about how often he touches the ball. He's just happy to be
you know, that kind of unselfish role player that if you're playing with the most ball dominant dude in the league, you need guys like that. So that was my second thought was that would be the, the quote unquote smart thing to do. If you're going to do this one step back to take three steps forward, the worst thing they can do is a little incremental move, Dorian Finney Smith for something or a protected first round pick for,
for somebody on the jazz who makes Luca happy for the next 30 games. And they're like moderately better, but not actually better. And what we've all, we've really done is cannibalize our opportunity to make the big, big move down the line. That's what they cannot do. And if they do that, it's a problem. So my, I was told today, I'm sorry, go ahead. No, my suspicion is,
they end up doing nothing. If you told me to guess, I would say my prediction is they don't do anything with Finney-Smith because they don't find what they're looking for, and they sort of revisit in the summer in part because some of their potential targets for the big, big move may be a little more gettable in the summer than they are now because their teams, although they're disappointing, are still sitting there like, yeah, we're 10th, we're 9th, we're 11th. We're not ready to cut bait quite yet.
And the other thing is the Mavericks will pay off that Porzingis pick this year, and then they'll have their full compliments of picks to be able to put in the deals. But the goal, I was told this again today, and this is,
This is a continuation of what I heard. And I was thinking, is desperation setting in? You know, I know Luka definitely wants to get better, wants to upgrade. Are they feeling that pressure? I was told today the goal isn't to get marginally better this year. It's to put them in position to win a championship. And they understand that means they have to get a co-star. You can't – if that –
Did Finney Smith going to have to be probably in that kind of a trade and the whole thing of, you know, what you're saying of, hey, you give them up now to get that draft compensation value. You're taking a step back. Hey, a step back for this team. You're watching the lottery to see if you're actually giving up that pick to the Knicks or if you're choosing in the top 10.
Like, and good luck convincing Luca that taking a step back and sitting out of the playoffs is smart business. You don't want to have those conversations. No, you don't. Which is why one reason why I think stasis is,
Is the most likely. I still, I don't know what you've heard. I still, I've said before with you, I think a Christian Wood extension is a, there's a very low chance of that. It still hasn't happened. I still think that's the case. The longer it goes without happening, the less likely it is. Certainly the Mavericks have shown willingness to discuss, and we've talked about this before, a two-year deal. Yeah.
You know, if Christian Wood wants to test the market, I don't know that he's going to get more money on the market this summer. I talked to a lot of teams. I've yet to find one that's really eager to sign up for the Christian Wood experience. You know, maybe you've heard something I haven't.
I think if we're looking at Mavericks rotation players most likely to be traded before the deadline, it is Christian Wood. Having said that, I think that finding value for him is going to be challenging. I was talking to an executive with another team and kind of saying, what do you think the market is? And he says, I think they can get
basically what they gave up for him, I think they can get back. And he said, basically, I think they could probably get like a late first round pick if they're willing to take salary in the next season. Now, the way he's played,
That's a meaningful step back this season because he he's given some of it back on defense. And obviously there are trust issues there, but he's been a little bit, he's been dynamite on offense. It makes a lot of sense with Luca on that end. What you just said about the market for him and free agency, maybe being cooler than he anticipates. I think the same thinking may apply to Minnesota's approach with D'Angelo Russell, uh,
At the trade deadline. Now, D'Angelo Russell has been eligible for an extension. There hasn't been one. He's a free agent after this year. So he's been linked to all sorts of teams that may need a point guard now, in the future, just kind of want to swap deck chairs. Minnesota, is he the right fit in Minnesota? Does he want to be there? Minnesota is so disappointing, blah, blah, blah. Well, they're not disappointing anymore. They're 27 and 25. Considering Cat has missed, I don't know, 25, more than half the season. And the Gobert-
indoctrination period went poorly and continues to be scattershot. I think that actually kind of counts as a success for Minnesota that they've, and they've had injuries like other role players, but Jordan McLaughlin being out most of the season is a big deal to them. Slow-mo's missed games. Torian Prince, who teams are calling about a lot, has missed games. I think that counts as a success, especially considering Anthony Edwards is making the leap in real time. D'Angelo Russell's playing well for them. He's shooting 56%. I
I think on twos, like by far a career high, he's shooting well from three defensively. We know he's never going to be a plus to be kind. He's been a good offensive player for them. That noise to me is kind of quieted. I know there are deals out there they would do. I don't think any teams have met those, those deal points yet. And to go back to Dallas for a second,
I mean, I talked around it by saying, well, the target that they might have, their team's in 10th or 9th. The name every year at the trade deadline
There is a name who either gets traded or there are more serious talks and it comes out later that there are more serious talks. People say, whoa, that was on the table or I can't believe that happened. That came out of nowhere. And there are a few candidates for that this year based purely on common sense. I'm not saying reporting or whatever. And one of them is Zach Levine. And I think the Zach Levine situation is more likely a summer thing because it's just a huge contract. The Bulls are clinging to
to tenaciously to the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference to the play-in berth. They seem to figure it out for a week and then lose to bad teams in the next week, so God only knows what's happening there. But that's a name that if Dorian Finney-Smith is in trade talks and what they want is a guy, I couldn't think of really many other people who that would be now and maybe even in the summer. Well, and Levine is a guy that we've talked about here before. I do know that there are –
People who have some juice within the Mavericks organization who are Zach Levine fans. But there's all like...
That wouldn't be one thing they're doing backflips about because there would be concern about the durability. There would be concern about the defense, especially if you're giving up Dorian Finney-Smith in that deal and perhaps Josh Green. So you're giving up two of your four guys who actually can guard for somebody who doesn't. That would be concerning. Like I said, the durability, the defense, the dollars. It's a big, big contract. At a certain point, though...
The Mavericks might not be able to trade for the perfect co-star. You just have to get a co-star. And it's a tough position. It's really a tough position. But Zach Levine is definitely, at a certain point, you have to pounce on what might be available. And we'll see who else might be available later.
If he's the best in the marketplace, the Mavericks might eventually have to make your play there.
They are also on the long, long list of teams that are at least keeping tabs on Boyan Bogdanovich in Detroit. That would be kind of the half measure that I'm talking about that I think is dangerous for them. Not if the Pistons keep insisting on a first-round pick. Well, they're not just insisting on a first-round pick. They're insisting on a good to unprotected first-round pick, a real first-round pick. Now, unprotected is not realistic. People just don't trade those anymore unless it's a massive, massive deal. But like bulls to magic, good.
first round pick. And as the calendar turned from last Friday, Saturday, Sunday, now it's a week and change from trade deadline. Teams have been calling me, calling around being like, man, I think Detroit might just be serious about not trading these dudes. They may actually mean it when they say they want this crazy good first round pick for Alec Burks or Bojan Bogdanovic. And I think the simplest explanation is
Detroit, regardless of how they do in the lottery this year, is going to be under pressure to win games next season. There was like all this Detroit buzz coming to the year. Kate Cunningham finished strong that he has the shin thing. The whole season goes to the crapper. I think they're going to be under pressure to make a play and run next year. And they view Bogdanovich particularly as like kind of need that guy to do that. So it may be they may have been serious this whole time.
Yeah. And again, if you're looking at Bogdanovich as a fit with the Mavericks, I think that would be the epitome of the kind of deal that might make Luka happy now, certainly as a relationship with Bogdanovich. I think, you know, the guy obviously can shoot the ball, would give them some significant offensive punch. But that is a band-aid on something that needs stitches.
somewhat unexpected name, although not if you really had been thinking about it and beating the bushes like it's our job to do.
is Bones Highland in Denver. And I think this is a very similar to Dorian Finney-Smith case in that, well, we can't trade any picks. We don't really have any expendable salary that adds up to much that's going to get us anything good. If we're looking for like one last piece that really fits our scheme and our rotation and playing with Jokic,
what's going to get us that piece? And it's just sort of like, well, I think it's a little early for Christian Brown. Peyton Watson never plays. It's probably got to be Bones who's kind of this like intriguing. Some people really like him. When he scores, he really pops off the screen. He's telegenic. And it's now kind of coming out in the media that they're searching around for what they can get for Bones Highland. And I think that would surprise people.
I would, I'm not a huge bones Highland guy, like score first combo guards who play no defense and only shoot. So, so now he's shot well from three this year. They're not really my cup of tea, but you need, you just need bench creators and he's a bench creator. I would be a little nervous to trade him and I'm not sure they will, but
If only because he's on a rookie contract, they're already over the tax for next season. Bruce Brown should opt out of his $6 million contract for next season. They're not going to be able to retain him. You trade Bones, you lose Bruce Brown. Depending on what you get back, you're all of a sudden like, oh, geez, we're kind of thin at guard. Now, I know they have a seven-foot point guard who's arguably the best point guard in the NBA plus Jamal Murray.
That's true. I mean, so, so I guess you just come to like, if I can't take back a big long-term salary or even a medium long-term salary, cause it's, we're already in the tax and, but I need to get somebody useful. Cause Bones Highland's good and useful. Yeah.
And I'm already uncomfortable with, you know, these three guard lineups that we're playing. Like we're getting destroyed when Bones and Murray and Bruce Brown are on the floor at the same time. We want to get bigger. We want size. What's the what's who's the guy like? What's the guy? So and here's the like you said, it's kind of like the Dorian Finney Smith situation, except for the Mavericks will play Dorian Finney Smith. They feel like they can't take him off the floor in a playoff game.
I think the Nuggets feel like, man, we can't put Bones on the floor in a playoff game right now. He's an absolute neon bullseye on defense and talented but erratic right now offensively. And the simple fact is the Nuggets are – the Mavericks need a major piece to get into that championship picture.
the nuggets are looking for the final piece. And my understanding is they've been looking, they they're, they're looking for a big wing defender. Um, and again, I just, I think it's a deal where bones is timeline does not match up with a team that right now that championship window is wide open. You've got the two-time MVP. You've got, uh,
a legitimate co-star in Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon in his prime, having the best season of his career. I think you can even make an all-star argument for him. I did. He was on my all-star reserves. And not only because I want him to do the dunk contest again.
Yeah. He's blackmailing the coaches and the fans by proxy saying, I'm only doing the dunk contest if I get in the actual All-Star game. I like that. I don't blame him. But again, this championship window is wide open, and I don't think Bones Highland can contribute to a championship pursuit right now. So it absolutely makes sense to dangle him and to use him as bait to try to get another piece that can.
And maybe five, six years down the road, maybe he's become a bona fide 25-point-per-game type of star. But your chance to win with Jokic is now and for the next two or three years. So it's a little hitter. It's a little of both. I'm a little higher on bones than what you just said. Like, yes, if you end up playing a team like the Celtics, who's just big across the board, they're going to hunt him relentlessly on defense, and it's going to be ugly.
That's one playoff opponent. You got to beat four. And if you trade bones, you know, we're, we're trading this guy that yeah, maybe you're right. In some cases, Mike Malone is going to cut his minutes in, in, in worst case scenario, maybe he becomes a DNP CD for a couple of playoff games.
But you're also trading a holy shit. Bones just scored 16 points in the second quarter and got us back in the game in the second round against the Clippers or something like that. The Clippers maybe not be the best example because they can exploit the Bones is the world. But some team where it's a little safer to hide him on defense. You're trading some quarters like that in the first and second round. Tell me the team in the West where you can hide them. Tell me the team they're facing in the West where you can hide them.
I mean, I hide by hide. I just mean they're not going to play like predatory, get him switched on to Jason Tatum and Kawhi Leonard. So I think on Phoenix, I can hide him a little bit better. Good. Devin Booker is going to attack him. Yeah, that's going to be ugly. You know, it's but yes, the West is very competitive. I get your point. And I'm trading a guy who you said might be good in the future. I don't know who the guy is.
That helps me Can I interest both teams in a Because we were talking about the Pelicans before Now Bones is kind of He had some shooting He's more shot creator than shooter But he can shoot He's shooting 40% from three
Can I interest either team in a bones Highland for Najee Marshall challenge trade? Najee Marshall is a big wing kind of cuts and plays hard and has a good dribble handoff game. Defends across multiple positions is not going to expect to start is on a cheap contract for next year. Can I interest either team in that? I kind of like that one. I like that. And it's interesting because I do think you're going to have a lot of nuggets fans are like, what?
You know, this dude was on a two-way. I get a couple second-round picks, too. I'll get a couple seconds from the Pelicans. Right, but again, I think it comes down to you are definitely trading a guy who has more upside in Bones Highland for a guy who is ready to help win in a playoff run
right now. And I, my understanding is that as the nuggets have evaluated this roster, it's, they want to add another big wing defender. You know, Aaron Gordon certainly is, is a, uh, an outstanding defender. You know, the other, the other guys that they went and got, and you saw the, what they did this summer, it was about getting guys who can guard. Um, but Bruce Brown and Casey Peter, both a little bit on the smaller side to be able to add somebody, uh,
you know, a little bit stouter to that mix makes a lot of sense. And the other issue with trading bones is on that rookie deal as a late first round pick, it's not a big salary. So that it gets complicated as far as coming up with, with money matches, which Najee Marshall would be. Let me, let me be clear. I don't love that deal for Denver. I think I'm a little higher on bones than you and even the nuggets are, but if you're asking for like realistic deals, that's one of the only ones.
That's out there. Let's go to Phoenix. One of the true wild cards of the trade deadline in every possible sense. They are one game over 500. Chris Paul is starting to look like Chris Paul again. Booker will be back at some point. Cam Johnson's back. Other guys are back. A whole bunch of guys are back. We know that this team has a high ceiling. We've seen it.
Um, they have a new owner who reportedly, according to Woj and Baxter homes last week is going to assume control of all decision-making from Sarver before the trade deadline, which removes all these conditions where if you add X amount of money, Sarver has to approve it. Maybe he won't, even though he's about to make 10 times what he freaking paid for the team or his share of the team, uh, poor guy. Um,
They loom as the wild card to me because not only do they have all their picks to trade, all their swaps to trade, a bunch of good players, a high ceiling. They also have a couple of names where just common sense again, common sense, common sense only no reporting on this, that if you told me after the trade deadline, they are in the, Oh my God, that guy got traded or that guy was available category.
They would be in that category. And that's Deandre Ayton and me, maybe Chris Paul. I don't think so. If you're serious about winning now, I don't think you can trade Chris Paul because he's too good. And what you're going to get back in a lot of cases is too much of a step back.
But it just what they could go in any number of different directions. Nothing would surprise me. Uh, the J Crowder stuff is picking up steam. I mentioned Milwaukee for him before the season even started. The Milwaukee stuff is gaining steam. I love that fit. I don't know what the hell they'll get back in that trade. Um,
Any Phoenix stuff interesting to you? Well, DeAndre Ayton is certainly interesting and he can veto any trade this year because he signed that extension. I don't know that there's a very long list of places that he would veto. You know, I think that it's reasonable to assume based on the way things played out this summer, some of the comments he made that he might not see Phoenix as his long-term home. And certainly he wanted to go to Indiana. So, yeah,
Um, whether that happens now or not, I, I don't know. It is interesting. He's a name that I've heard, uh, around the Mavericks. And again, I think that would have to be a, a, a later than right now type of situation. Well, that's interesting. That's interesting. Yeah. And, and, and again, I think it gets down to this with going back to the Mavericks of, Hey, they need to get a co-star. So, um,
who might be available, and do we like him as a fit with Luka? You can argue about paying a center that much in today's NBA who's not a primary offensive option.
But he can certainly serve as the backbone of a defense. He's proven that. He is a skilled center who can, you know, he's not just a lob finisher. But again, I think that's more than likely a down-the-road conversation. They are both represented by Bill Duffy. I think he would certainly be happy to have those guys teamed up together. I think the other thing that's very interesting in Phoenix is with new ownership, there is natural pressure on that front office.
You know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that James Jones is GMing to save his job. But I think if you look at the trend of what happens when new ownership takes over an NBA franchise, there tends to be turnover in the front office. So I think there is pressure to try to capitalize. And there's pressure because of the age of Chris Paul anyway, right? Yeah.
This is your window. There's pressure to try to capitalize on that. I will say only this to your GMing comment just now. I think it is a very smart comment, a very, a very, a very smart comment. Sometimes smart people say things and I use them to try to look intelligent. I think James Jones is that said, I think James Jones is clearly, I mean, this team has had the level of success. It advanced, it advanced to a place it couldn't even get in the seven seconds or less era. Yeah.
And last year was the best team in the league for most of the season until they did whatever they did in the playoffs. Crowder is going to move at some point. I tried to play around with like a I tried for just no reason other than to do it.
to play around with trade construction, sending D'Angelo Russell to Phoenix and Chris Paul to Minnesota. And I just gave up because I just think everyone's unhappy across all of across, except maybe the wolves who are like, we have a, he, Chris Paul's just better than D'Angelo Russell. If I'm making that trade as Phoenix, I'm doing it solely because I'm giving up on this season. And I want to resign D'Lo pair him with his friend, Devin Booker go from one friend in the truck,
Troika? Why am I not able to say that word of the Bookertown's Russell trio, we'll just say, to the other. I just don't... I can't... I couldn't do it. Before discussing cat trade scenarios this summer... Let the wolves have one day of peace. I'm just asking if you are. I'm just trying to see how you're feeling about this. If they poop the bed...
and don't make the playoffs or barely get in and poop in the playoffs, then I think we're going to have some conversations to have. We're going to have some conversations to have. Very, very well put by a professional talker. The other fake trade I tried to do, this broke my brain too. I tried, I tried Anthony Simons and Yusuf Nurkic for Zach Levine. And then I was like, I just, it's almost a perfect salary match.
And I just think Portland is arriving at this crossroads of this is just what we are.
We're just a mediocre team. We're exciting. We're fun. We got good pieces. We're more athletic. We're, we're more defensively versatile on the wing and you're more 23 and 26. Like, this is just what we are. And the more I watch them, I talked about this last week. I'm not going to get into like their identity. I don't really know what their identity is on either end of the floor. The more I watched them, I'm like, like, so we're trying to maximize Dame Lillard's prime, right? That's the goal.
He's 10 toes in and $60 million times four in he's in as long as he wants to be in. He's in the blazers want him to be in this current group is not maximizing Damian Lillard's prime. It's just not, I don't think it has a pathway to unless Simons becomes like a superstar overnight. And the more I watched him, I'm like,
It's just another defensive pairing that does not work and will not work and cannot work unless the other three guys on the floor are like Draymond Iguodala and Sean Livingston from 2016. Like it's just, or Durant from 2018. It's just not going to work. And again, like if I were running the Blazers, I,
I would be sniffing around what I could get for Simons. If my goal is Dane, if my goal is I just got to maximize this window right now, I'd be sniffing around the unconventional stuff. What can I get for Simons? What can I get for Grant? Do I actually want to pay Grant all this money? I don't think they're doing that. Other teams that the Blazers have talked to have said they are posturing like they're buyers still. They want to get better. And I look at their roster. I'm like, what avenues –
What avenues do they have to get better? And I realized my fake
Simons and Nurkic for Levine, both teams are going to be unhappy. Both franchise. I say, no, we want the extra stuff. We want the extra stuff. Levine's a bad defensive player. I was going to say, if you're talking about defensive pairings, he's tall. At least he's tall. I mean, literally, literally like we've talked about it with Luca versus Trey. Like even when Luca is loafing on defense or having, let's say having his less spirited defensive performance, it's like hardened. At least they're big and strong.
Like that, that alone, you can hide them on multiple positions and they rebound like they have just more viability than guys like you can't put those guys anywhere else. Trey Young and Anthony Simons. I don't know what the Blazers are going to do, but if you told me a team comes out of left field with some unexpected deal, they would be also toward the top of my list. But but again, that goes counter to my reporting, which teams are saying they're just trying to get better, better, better.
Yeah, the Blazers, they're in a tough spot. They were better than I anticipated early this season, but they're right back to where I thought they would be, and that's a team that's stuck in the middle. I'm not going to sit here and criticize Damian Lillard for loyalty. That is uncommon in today's NBA. If he wants to be loyal and committed to spending his entire career in Portland, hey, he's
That's commendable. That's great. I just don't see a path to being a bona fide contender. I like the moves that they made this offseason, but they're still stuck hoping to get into the play-in scenario. So
You know, I mean, it's easy to say, hey, blow it all up, shop Dane. But, you know, you be the guy who decides when you've got a, you know, the best player arguably in franchise history willing to spend his whole career there, decides that you're going to say, no, we're blowing that up. It's a tough spot. And I can see them hating my stupid idea for many, many reasons. Number one, Simons is super young and he's the bridge to the post-Lillard era.
But if I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too and plan the post-Lillard era and it's not helping the current Lillard era, I might as well just get to the freaking post-Lillard era now. But also Levine makes twice as much as Simons, which is why I have to include Nurkic. So I hurt my depth. And if I pay Grant and Levine, I just have nothing left. I have no flexibility. So it doesn't really work for me. I'm just saying I would be looking at unconventional avenues in every direction. Well, you know how they can...
You know, just including if I could get like a massive amount of picks for Anthony Simons, I would even look at that and just sort of restart. I don't know. I would just look at everything. Well, would you look at trade and shade on sharp? That's how you make a big splash and upgrade the roster right now. I think it would be lunacy to trade a rookie who has that much potential. But if you're if your goal is to get better right now, that's how you would do it.
I would. He's not untouchable. Like, I'm not going to put him on the untouchable list. I'm going to have conversations about him. Sure. He does. Right now, he's a highlight machine, but he doesn't do anything to help me win games. No, he's a two or three year down the road. But he's a guy who he might play in a bunch of all star games. I mean, he has that kind of potential, but he's a rookie who didn't play college basketball and, you know, looks like a rookie who didn't play college basketball a lot of times. By the way, you know who would help the Bucs right now?
Dante DiVincenzo. Yeah. I hated that trade for them from the beginning. And I heard from so many Bucks fans who were like, you never watch us play. He stinks. He can't make a shot. I'm like, you guys seen the Clippers play? Like that dude, it's not going well. And DiVincenzo is like a perfect warrior. Perfect warrior. It's annoying how perfect he is. We'll see if they get it together. I talked a lot about the Warriors last week, so I don't have to overdo it now. Lastly, Memphis. Memphis.
Danny Green coming back this week, according to Danny Green on Inside the Green Room podcast. Had a whole story with Woj about it. They have high hopes for him as the 3 and D guy who could give them real minutes. And he's coming off an ACL tear, so we'll see. They also value him as a veteran presence in the locker room.
For a team that I don't know if maturity would be high on the list of attributes I would tout about the Grizzlies. You know, it's funny. I love the Grizzlies general approach to life, audacity, bravado, trash talking, all of it. I think it makes them who they are. Fearlessness. I think it makes them, it's part of what makes them good and ahead of the curve. I do get the sense that lately, and particularly when they're on losing streaks and they just snapped one right now,
It can kind of spin in the other direction of like, this is just dumb. And I'm not talking about the Shannon sharp stuff, which was just like, I can't believe this is the thing that's happening in an NBA game. Like even last night against Indiana, I was watching that game there.
They're losing in the first half by 15, 16. They are whining about every single call whining. Jaron Jackson's whining about every there. Moran's whining to the rest. The game's going on and they're yelling at the refs. And then of course, Josh dad gets into with Ned part. That's a whole separate job. Best friend got ejected from, from the game by Memphis security because James Johnson and him were going, I mean, it was a whole thing. First of all,
If there's any potential skirmish where James Johnson's on one side and Steven Adams is on the other side, don't get the middle. The bet. No, the best possible outcome for everyone within a mile of that venue is that nothing happens. There's just a total stare down stalemate because just nobody wants any, any, any smoke with either of those guys.
Are they just going to do nothing, Tim? I don't know. And here's the thing. If they want to do something, they are well positioned to do so. Like I said, they definitely value Danny Green, right? They don't just view him as an expiring contract. They view him as a great veteran presence who hopefully can give them that three and D can be a rotation guy. But again,
Listen, if they want to pounce and OGN and OB is the one who, to me, like if you're going to push chips in, that's the guy to do it for right to give them. Could you imagine a closing five with maybe the best offensive backcourt in the league? You know, John Morant would say definitely, you know, top two, not two, as he calls him himself and Desmond Bain.
And then you got a front court, Dylan Brooks, OG Ananobi and Jaron Jackson Jr. Like who's scoring? How about not Dylan Brooks? How about OG Ananobi, Jaron Jackson Jr. and Steven Adams or Brandon Clark?
Yeah, and listen, if you want to throw Dylan Brooks into that deal, but they have all of their picks. They have the Warriors 2024 picks. They have, you know, we can talk, they got a lot of young players. I don't know if the Raptors, do they like Zaire Williams? Do they like David Roddy, Jake LaRavia? You know, like if those two teams wanted to get together and discuss an OGN or Nobi deal, I think it could get done. And I think the Grizzlies are good enough
to where pushing chips in after being very kind of patient and deliberate about this homegrown development that honestly has gone much, you know, they went from rebuilding to contender. Seems like that, but it was a patient, deliberate process. It would make sense for me to push some chips in right now to try to get that last piece to a championship puzzle. And I think Ananobi would make sense.
Doesn't Jake Laravia sound like the third starter for the New York Mets? It's like, all right, Laravia is on the hill today. If he was the third starter for the Mets, he'd have a much better suntan than he does now. I don't know that he spends a lot of time outside. Oh, Laravia is warming up in the bullpen. Ananobi, I said this last week, because of Jaron Jackson Jr.'s declining contract, depending on what Bain's number ends up,
They do have the wherewithal to take on a fourth big salary in addition to Morant and Jackson and Bain and not go skyrocketing into the tax down the line. I initially kind of who pooed that scenario. And then after talking to some front office people looked at the money, I was like, Oh my God, they really can do it. But where do you think Bain ends up? I mean, to me, he ain't making less than Jordan pool. Oh, Bain's going to make a lot. Bain's Bain's Bain's better than Jordan pool. Um,
It might just be Max, rookie Max. Yeah, could be. So Anunobi would be the sort of, this is what we were saving our chips for kind of guy. If it's Anunobi or nothing for them or at this deadline, I think that's a mistake. And I've said that already many times before. I don't want to feud with my fellow NBA Zach, Zach Kleiman, but I will feud over this because there are seven guys on the team
That I know I trust in a playoff series right now, the starters and Brandon Clark and Tyus Jones. Now, after that, you can sell me on Danny green. I got to see it. Tillman always comes in and plays well, but he's your break in case of emergency guy. Right. Han char. I like John conchar. I trust. I trust him. I guess I'm just not that excited to play him as an eighth or ninth guy. Yeah. Roddy. I'll Dama.
the laravia zaire williams no i should mention aldama among their young guys who could be intriguing aldama's shooting well from three pumps and goes that's why i'm just they are regular season deep i don't think they're conference semi-finals deep and i think they think they're conference semi-finals deep and i think they're wrong and i think they should make a small deal and damn it tim mcmahon because go for it they couldn't ask you a question
Are you sure you trust Dylan Brooks in the playoffs? I know his teammates do. Are you sure? I trust him. I understand everyone. He's a polarizing player. I understand. Yes.
Do I trust him to make better decisions with the basketball, which is a nice way of saying shoot less when, when Moran Bain and Jackson are all on the floor, I'm starting to at least approach that level. And Bain and Jackson have played so, so few minutes together this season that we haven't seen a lot of that. I do feel like I've seen more games where,
Where his game is more correctly modulated and less just like how many 21 foot two point jump shots can I take it like I'm having my own personal contest. So, yes, I do. And I trust his defense more than anything else. Like I know that guy's defense to get through to get through all these playoff rounds. So I think I they have more faith in their depth. Certainly the regular season has mostly vindicated that faith in their depth.
And Danny Green is a playoff veteran, two-way player. We'll see how he looks coming off knee surgery. I think they're regular season deep and not conference semifinals deep, and they're one guy away from being conference semifinals deep. And I want them to get that guy. Listen, again, I think they are primed to pounce as buyers in this market. That hasn't been Zach Kleiman's M.O.,
We'll see what happens before the deadline. And by the way, I'm sitting here fake feuding with Zach Kleinman. That dude's track record speaks for itself. That guy forgot more about team building, sleeping last night than I know. So I'm not questioning. Again, he inherited a rebuilding team. And a few years later, they're bona fide contenders. Now we say all this and it's all true. The number one most important reason for that. Number one, above everything else, is that they entered the lottery number eight and ended the lottery number two.
in the year that Ja Morant was the number two pick. And then, oh, by the way, they also had a high lottery pick on the roster who has become...
I don't think Jaron Jackson Jr. is quite an all-star, but he is a franchise cornerstone, no question about it, and absolutely is a defensive player that you're front-running right now. Listen, how different do the Mavericks look if Dennis Smith Jr. ended up being a great fit next to Luka Doncic, right? When you draft your superstar and you've got a lottery pick who ends up being a stud already on the roster, it's a lot easier. Having said all that, you know what else makes it a lot easier?
when you find another potential all-star type of player with the last pick of the first round and trade up to get that pick like they did with Desmond Bain, that is absolutely the outstanding front office work. One hour and 15 minutes in, we did not address the Jaron Jackson Jr. X-Files episode that occurred over the weekend. Somebody sent me that Reddit thread. I'm like, TLDR. I got it from like five people and I'm,
It was Saturday. And so you're faced with two choices. Here's the choices I'm faced with. Choice one, after I get done with catching up from all the previous night's action and reading stuff and watching a game,
Go to as planned the museum of natural history with my wife and daughter for a fun family educational time and hit the planetarium and do that choice to honey. Honey, you're going to have to go on your own. Cause I have to watch every one of Jaron Jackson, juniors blocks and steals to determine if they're legitimate or not. Why? Well, there's this guy on Reddit who said this and like, there's maybe gambling stuff. And it was like, it's all. And so best case scenario, I choose a,
And then other people like Kevin O'Connor and Kurt Goldsberry. Yes, I was going to say that that's the benefit of working with a Kurt Goldsberry. You've mentioned the benefit of working with Bobby Marks. Well, here's Kurt Goldsberry. I might my option, too, was to head to the jazz facility. I had a delightful conversation during the time this is unfolding with Will Hardy, the 35 year old coach of the year. Can a coach win rookie of the year? If so, I'm going to throw Will Hardy's name in the mix for that as well.
Um, and is a, uh, quite a character. One of his, one of his, uh, great quotes that he had is just talking about how much he, you know, it's a stressful job, but how much he loves. He said, man, I get to wear sweatpants to work. I think that's a, that's a motto. More people in the NBA. You know why? You know why?
Because heroes, I'm not going to call myself a hero, Tim. I thought you were talking about Tyler. No, but heroes, maybe I'm a little bit of a hero for this. Heroes like me, and I'm trying to remember the coaches who are most aggressive in this
Led the charge in the Orlando bubble to make casual attire, the permanent attire for NBA coaches. Well, they didn't have to wear suits to practices because what, but now they can do it every day, every game. And because we finally realized 75 years into basketball history,
We're not courtroom lawyers. They don't need to dress like they're going to the freaking stock market. It's a sweaty gym with people shouting at you and beer spilling out of their glasses. And it's like this basketball, just wear regular clothes. The whole courthouse lawyers gets us right. That's full circle. We got right back to the Lakers refereeing controversies. They need some lawyers on that one. Tim McMahon, your intel is invaluable. Your reporting is invaluable. I can't wait to hear more from you in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy.
Mavericks Pistons tonight? It's icy here in Dallas. I'm a bit concerned about the roads, but I'm going to brave them and watch what should be an awfully good basketball game. A hootenanny between the Pistons and the Mavericks. Thank you, sir. Adios, amigos.