I think the defensive line for the Seahawks is going to really challenge Drake May.
What are you eating there?
Blue chips. Blue chips.
Oh, for blue chip talent?
Yeah, thank God we bought the salsa.
Dude.
Because it would have been a bad day. Honestly, I would have been way more mad, but the chips and salsa are open. This is a pathetic day in franchise history. This is one of the darkest moments for professional basketball in Miami, Florida.
We're starting late because I was holding Zaz in my bosom and he was weeping, and I had to call security because Mike Ryan had to be restrained from running across the street and strangling Pat Reilly. Zaz, I heard pathetically while you were weeping into my bosom, the most pathetic lament I've ever heard from a heat fan, which was, well, Shams has been wrong sometimes.
It's true story.
Has he been? Because I don't think he's been wrong very often. You're hoping that the reporting is wrong on this, and in the next hour, there's some shift that involves the Greek freak, Yannis Antetokounmpo. I better learn that name. I thought it was going to have to learn that. No, you can forget about that name.
You're fine. That guy's a bomb.
Don't have to worry about that at all.
Hey, we dodged a bullet, right? His body's going to break down. There is going to be a team that regrets the quarter with that guy. Loser talk.
Look, I'm not mad. I'm mad at the whole scenario. I'm not necessarily mad at the heat, at least not yet. We have 50 minutes until the trade deadline. Who knows? Mike Ryan, you're calling it one of the darkest days in the history of the franchise. It was only a few hours ago where you said if they wind up getting John Marant as a consolation, that today would still be a great day. So we still have 50 minutes remaining. So I'm not mad at the organization yet. We have another 50 minutes. But what I will be mad about is if they decide we're not going to do anything significant today because we're going to run it back in in the summer and make another run at Giannis. When the reality of it is, all Giannis had to do was go to Milwaukee because the heat, apparently, were the last team standing. And apparently, Milwaukee did seriously consider the heat solver because it's a good offer. If Giannis would have went to them and said, I want you to trade me to Miami now, because as it looks now is Milwaukee is going to shut Giannis down for the remainder of the season.
So Giannis essentially would rather not play basketball the rest of this A year. How is that allowed? I don't know.
How is that allowed?
You want to fix tanking and you were going to let the best player go? Salt this Commissioner in Sports is going to allow a healthy superstar player to not play anymore this season because the team wants to tank. Okay, yeah. But I will be angry if the Heat decide to run it back with their attempt to get Yana.
The Los Angeles Clippers are trading Evika Zubats to the Indiana Pacers.
He's a great I really like him. Wow, Clippers really blowing it up, Dan. Zubats is your guy. I love that, dude. Per source, according to Barry Jackson, Heat was informed very late last night that the Bucks would likely not be trading Yannis today. Heat offer received consideration. Obviously, Bam was never part of the deal, but there wasn't something that the heat had that the Bucks asked for and the heat resisted that killed the deal. Miami was willing to do what it took. Bucks simply wanted to see if they can get more this summer. More reporting I have for you here. Jake Fischer reports they were never serious, according to one team executive who was discussing a Yannis onto Tacombo trade with Milwaukee. Shams on Yannis says, These teams engaged but never progressed even close to a deal over the last few days. Teams involved believe the Bucks feel they can build a contender around Giannis this summer and get him back on board to being there. Also from Jake Fisher, he says, As of last night, and this is going to make Mike even angrier, the heat have not been actively pursuing Ja Morant, to my knowledge.
Maybe now that they're out on Yannis, a Ja flip could happen. But all along, I've been told from people who would know the heat haven't been making aggressive offers for Ja Morant.
Jesus Christ.
I'm pissed. You should all be pissed, too. This is ridiculous. This is the longest stretch of not mattering this franchise has had under Pat Reilly.
They have gone from If they wind up doing nothing, again, 47 minutes, they have gone from the team, which I grew up with when Pat Reilly got here. I was a teenager, and then into probably the next 15 years or so after that. They were the team that was always the most aggressive. Always. If the team looked any middling, Pat Reilly will make the big trades the next day. They're the team that will make the moves and is not afraid to take swings. Now, they have gone from that reputation to the team that never does shit.
I don't think it's fair what Mike Ryan is saying when he says this is the longest stretch of being irrelevant. In that stretch, they've been to the finals two times.
No, you can't put the two finals appearances in my irrelevancy time period. You can't. They went to the finals last, what, in 2022? '23? Since then, and we called it out that very offseason that we maxed out, we need to do more to keep this thing rolling. They have struck out. Time and time again, they mismanaged their own assets with a Jimmy Butler thing. And I'm not one of these guys that's like, We dodged a bullet with Dame Lillard. No. This franchise remains aggressive, and I have never, as a fan, regrett it. We overpaid for Goran Drogic. And four hours later, Chris Bosh got blood clots. And I was like, Yeah, my team still did the thing.
Well, the mismanaged part, and this part I think should make the heat fan upset. We could be mad about Adam Silver having no spine and not doing anything about the Terry Rozier trade. But the fact of the matter is, even if Terry Rozier was in trouble with the FBI, that trade gets an F. It didn't work out. If the heat didn't make that trade, they would have four draft picks to be able to trade, including 2026 and 2028. I'm fairly confident if the Heat were able to offer the package of players they currently have and four first-round picks, they would have gotten the deal done. For a team that wants to always have the flexibility, always have the maneuverability, they screwed themselves with the Terry Rozier thing. Sure. Because I really do believe this would have gotten done.
Okay, Zaz, with one pick, do you think that one pick was going to change it when the Bucks were- Two.
It would have been two.
The Bucks were obviously running a dog and pony show the entire time. It was a complete farce.
I think if you have to... Because Milwaukee... Look, this isn't going to go away. Milwaukee is eventually going to trade him. Maybe it's a summer, I don't know. But if they wait till the summer because they think that they can get a better deal for him, there is no better deal to be had than all the young players that he were offering and the maximum four first-round picks. It would have gotten done. The heat made a massive error with the Terry Rozier trade.
Mike Ryan, for those who don't necessarily understand his anger, at the height of his anger is the fact that the one trade The Heat did make was for the player Mike Ryan dislikes the most and is in the fictional hypothetical, almost the worst trade they could have made for his emotions, given how little he likes Terry Rozier. So it's not just that they've swung and missed or failed in all of these turns to get the big superstar. They also did make a trade to acquire the player that he likes least in the entire league.
It's the only time I've openly campaigned against acquiring a player. I was begging Pat Reilly to not acquire Terry Rozier because that was rumored for a long time. Look, I even wrapped my head around the Kyle Lowry thing because I didn't like Kyle Lowry either. And the only Rosie side of getting Terry Rozier on the roster was that I'd get Kyle Lowry the hell off this roster. There's been a lot of bad acquisitions, non-impactful, and a lot of passing. We mentioned this on the main show earlier today. It's not just the superstars that they strike out on. It's guys that can really help, like Pascal C. Ockham and Ogie Ananobi, guys that could have, when added to this core, made a difference in the postseason, the way that those players ended up doing. And this is just really disappointing. This is starting to feel sad around this franchise, their inability to do what they made their names on. I know Pat Reilly came here with a ton of credentials, but with this franchise, it was always swinging the fences and occasionally connecting and not striking out the way they have.
It feels a little pathetic. As of right now, again, 42 minutes. But as of right now, there's only two teams in the Eastern Conference, Miami being one of them that has not made a trade yet. That's it.
All right. Let me bring in Amin Al-Hassan here from our New York studios to get his expertise on this and a bunch of other things that I've been wanting to talk to him about, because we're not just going to be doing Yannis for this hour. I want to do a reaction to whatever it is that happens in the league. But first, you've been listening here to what it is that's being said. What are your thoughts to what it is you've heard here? We can't hear him. Let's make sure to get him potted up so that we can hear him. To be honest, Dan, it's Jeremy's first time sitting in the captain's chair there. All right. We will try again here before I send Jeremy away because he's looking like I could not possibly have any less confidence in what Jeremy is presently doing. He's He just asked, Is it Zoom?
It says Zoom 1.
Hold on, Danny is here to fix it. Zoom 1? Yeah. Is that right? We got all the Danny's here to fix it.
Danny GQ just did the right thing.
We should kick him out.
I did the right thing, right?
I'm thinking about doing it. Let's see if-Yeah, I was right from the beginning. Mike is right there in the back row.
He's literally right there.
Amine, let's see if we can hear you and your thoughts on what it is that we said now.
How about now? Yes. That's for me now? Yeah.
Okay. Oh, he was holding the wrong mic.
No, I was holding the right mic, but I just unplug the different mic now. Yeah, you guys sound like whiny entitled babies. Mike says this is the worst stretch. Can I refer you back to when LeBron left?
Five years, three playoff miss. We had Josh coming back from the clots. We had Goran Dragge. We were a game away from the Easter Conference finals.
Five years, three playoff miss, one conference semifinal. Channels, one first-round exit. That's better than this stretch. Yeah, Hassan Whiteside and Deion Waiters and- Better than this stretch. Blood Sport.
Yeah, I hear you. That's better than this stretch? Yeah, you had three playoff appearances and one conference semi No, no, no.
You had three playoff misses and two playoff appearances.
That was pre-play-in, too, by the way. They would have gotten into the play-in.
Let's not even talk about the playoff appearance last year that ended up costing us Cooper Flag.
Any other thoughts that you have? Because I'm more aligned with you here than I am with Mike.
The whole thing, Dan, Oh, they didn't land the well. It takes two to tango, man. All the reporting is that Milwaukee was not serious. It was more of a fact-finding mission for them, which, of course, is still an improvement of where they were about a couple of months ago, where they're not even listening. Now it's like, okay, we'll hear pitches, and And the teams that threw in pitches figured this isn't going to happen, right? Or at least it's not going to happen now. So how is that Pat Reilly or Andy Ellesberg's fault? Well, I think the place- If Milwaukee is not intending on moving them.
Yeah, I think that's fair. But the heat's rivals, be it New York, Indiana, Boston, Milwaukee, every year, they're at Cleveland. Every year, they're able to make moves. Every Every year? Yeah, every year, some combination of them.
What the Knicks do this year?
No, not every one of those teams every year. Jose Alvarado. Every year, those teams make some combination make moves. I mean, heck, last year, the Knicks got towns. Every year, one, two, maybe even three of the heat's rivals, they always seem to make a move. The heat don't make any moves.
But I could take the same tack and take one team and say, Well, all they've done was that deal. And every year, everyone Anyone else is doing deals. You can't go against the field and say, How are you not beating a field on all these deals? It takes two to tangle. You need a willing trade partner, number one, and then you need to make it work under the cap and the CBA, which we know what Miami's pick situation is. It's awful, but it's also not ideal. When you are in this scenario, you can only do what you can do. You'll go and control what you control. Damian Lillard should have been a Miami Heat player. We dealt with a front officer that literally said, Anywhere and anything but them. How is that Miami's fault? I think you guys still think about it in a fantasy football way. Where it's like, If there's a deal to get done. I can get it done. And that's not how the real NBA works.
I think we covered where Miami misstepped in the dangerous suit. The drawing a line in the sand, the Rozier acquisition beforehand. But Miami did approach the Damian Lillard potential acquisition with a great deal of arrogance. And this show was guilty of pushing that propaganda.
They did it. They did exactly what you guys were asking for. Oh, we swing our dicks and we get shit done. That's what they did, and it backfired. So when you guys said, Oh, I got... We used to be aggressive, and we'd slap everybody across the face with our phallus. Why don't we do it anymore? Yeah, they did that two years ago, and it didn't work.
No, they didn't do what we asked for. They didn't get the guy. That's what we've been asking for. Get the guy. You're saying- Look, it's not just the role players either. It's the fact that Luca Luka Donchik gets traded in the middle of the night, and Miami has no idea that that trade is even going down.
Yeah, everyone knew except for Miami. It's crazy. Everyone had an opportunity to go get Luka Donchik. Don't tell me to come down. And Portrely was asleep. Come on, guy.
I don't want to hear this today. I don't want to hear more of the same. I cannot believe. You don't have to hear it.
You don't have to. You don't have to.
Mike- You don't have to hear the same stuff.
I'll be real with you. You don't have to hear it. But the people who listen to this show who are expecting sound basketball analysis are going to hear it. You don't have to. You can go to the kitchen and go have lunch. I have my lunch right here. I'd love to have lunch, too. But the reality is that Bucks were not going to deal this guy. That's what everyone said. They walked away saying, What the hell are we doing here? When Zaz is sitting there telling you, Oh, the wolves did the move. Before the move, I said, No, the wolves are trying to get under the luxury tax. That's what they did. They got under the tax. The Suns did a deal, got under the tax. The Raptors did a deal, got under the Everyone's just trying to save money. Before this week, the non-tax paying team, so the way it works with the tax, they take all that tax money, they divide it by 30. Then if you are a non-tax payer, you get a check in the mail. Before this week, the check was projected to be $14 million. As of right now, the check is going to be $5 million because so many less teams are paying the tax and there are more non-tax payers getting a share.
It is sinking everything. And so as you see here, why haven't we done anything? Who's done something? Did you want Anthony Davis? Do you want to Trey Young? Yeah, I wanted something.
I wanted to mix it up. I know that I'm not good enough, and I've known for three seasons that we're not good enough. In fact, three and a half. And I've seen them take a flamethrower to their own assets because they were stubborn. I saw their stubborn approach when it came to Damian Lillard, and you could play the result and say that didn't work out for them. I'd maintain that if Damian Lillard came to Miami, it might have gone different. But I just hate that we're doing the status quo, and I don't think we're in a position to.
So did we. You know who else? You know who else wanted to just mix things up? Nico Harrison. You want to mix things up?
Oh, that's not fair.
I'm just saying.
You got a Cooper flag, at least. I do think this part is fair, though.
That had nothing to do with what Nico Harrison- It was our pick.
Okay, there was a less than 1% chance of getting it. Who told you that, though? The fair criticism, I think, is they waited six for this moment, and the team that took Butler from them had more picks than them to offer in this scenario. They passed on moving Khalil Ware and Jovic for Durant and then didn't play Ware and bashed him in the press. I believe that's fair criticism, is it not?
I think so, Durant is an interesting thing because, again, we have to accept, A, how old Durant is, as great as he's playing, and B, is Durant plus this roster? Does that get it done? Probably not. But when Jimmy Butler's deal was done back in 2019, the idea was this guy is young enough for us to say this is a first step and we'll continue to develop other options around them, either by acquisition or through our farm system. They did that, and it went to the final slice or whatever. With Durant, he's so much older than Jimmy Butler was in 2019. The window that you open up is much to do that thing. To say, I'm going to give up these two really young assets who look like pretty good players, for a guy who's knocking on 40, that's not really sound as far as planning goes. I know as far as some sexy, we did something, yeah, but that's not how this organization runs itself, and that's not how a professional organization runs itself. Now, if you want to say the way they've handled where has been bad, that we can have a conversation about.
Just like we have a conversation that Terry Rozier was a bad deal. I'm going to fucking murder the factory, buddy. It was an aggressive deal.
This is stupid. This is stupid. Dan, we have the details of the Avica Zubats' trade, okay, to the Indiana Pacers. How about what the Pacers are giving up? The Pacers are also sending out Benedict Matherin, and two first-round pics to the Clippers. The first one is phony. It's a first-round pick this year in 2026, but only if it lands between numbers five through nine. The rest of the round not completely protected. And they also sent a 29 unprotected first round. That's interesting.
You know what I'm going to stop allowing? People to talk to me the way that Amine talked to me earlier. I am done being little brother I'm done being little brothered on my Miami heat takes when I've been right for three and a half years, when I have told you and forecasted every season for three and a half years, when I'm seemingly the only person in this goddamn room that's been keeping it real about this franchise for three and a half years, and I'm getting the same pats on my back telling me, No, they weren't serious. It's okay that they didn't acquire the superstar. If you guys want to support a team with those standards, go right ahead. I support the Miami heat.
My I want Yannis. They want Yannis. They weren't dealing them. What do you want? Do you want them to go and take a gun at John Horses?
It's not just by Yannis. This is about something that I've openly been complaining about for three and a half years, and Yannis is just the latest.
Mike, you have to have a partner. You can't just force your way in and say, Him, he's coming with us, and kidnap him. It's taken. There has to be a transaction to be made. Where's John Morant?
Where's Pascal Chiacom?
I like that way better.
John Morant, which- John Morant. Pat Reilly is supposed to have a particular set of skills.
You say it's not taken. He could take him. We're promised- He's that guy.
He's the guy who takes him.
That's what he does.
Let's get into a few other things, and we We still have a half hour of flimsy hope here to yell at each other. I enjoyed that back and forth. Amina Hassan. Amina Hassan. Can you please do me the favor of playing the Amine Nose Basketball song? I know This is a big ask for Jeremy's first time- Why you put him in this position? First time in the chair, but I'd like for you to find some things. I also want to see, can I see what it is that you guys have done to prepare for today's show? Because you put a bunch of blue chips in front of me because people want to get blue chip prospects. I also saw the poop emoji for some reason was around here. Why is the poop emoji? Is the poop emoji a reaction to criticism of Pat Reilly? Why is there some fake poop in the studio?
That poop right there with the money, that's our salary dump.
That's how we prepared for this?
Yeah, just in case. Also, I know it really can't happen. It's not going to happen much, but this is in case there's a sign in trade, this is our and trade sign.
Okay, so that's a sign and trade sign? Or that's... Okay, so a sign and trade sign would be redundant.
Yeah, in case there's a... Well, we couldn't find a VHS tape, so we had to use a book. But in case there's a blockbuster We have a Blockbuster VHS tape here.
That makes me nostalgic.
If we end up talking about bird rights at all, I'll clip this little bird right here. It's on my right shoulder.
All right, Jeremy, you're doing better work now. You've screwed up the thing with bird rights. Say, Pegluck. Now, fine for me- We don't say that anymore. Fine for me, the Amin Nose Basketball song because he does know basketball, and there are a number of different trades that I want to talk to him about. The Anthony Davis Trade to the Wizards. Tony and Mike were saying they love the Wizards' Young Corps. I think the Wizards are doomed for the entirety of my lifetime and any generations that- Hold on. I didn't say I love the Wizards' Young Corps. What I said is I like what the Wizards' front office is doing, making smart moves and getting distressed assets, and maybe in the next couple of years, be a good team.
Don't back down.
Keep exaggerating what they said.
Amin, your thoughts, please, on Anthony Davis to the Wizards. How did his mic go out again? Is this Jeremy's fault again? This is Jeremy's fault.
It looks like he's muted to me. There we go. Unmute yourself. You want to start talking again?
Yeah, that looked like operator error.
That's not operator error because I didn't mute myself. If we all want to throw people under the bus, I was told, Wait, we're testing someone else's mic. I mean, hold on here. And they hit my mute, and then that's when Dan says, I mean, what do you think? So maybe get on the same page, everybody. But I think what the Wizards have done is where Mike thinks the heat have actually been, which is they've been awful for so long, they're willing to try anything, including betting on two guys who have been hurt a lot. They said, We've been collecting assets for too long. It's time to cash it in. Now, they managed to do that, obviously, without giving up the real stuff, which is Alexander Saar and George and Trey Johnson and the guys that really like the young guys. But they've taken a gamble, particularly with Anthony Davis and really Trey Young as well, in that these are guys who want to get paid soon. Now you're going to have to commit fairly quickly to people who, again, have not shown the ability to stay healthy. Now, if they stay healthy, I heard what you guys say earlier, I agree.
I think this could be a playoff team. If you told me Trey Young and Anthony Davis are going to play 70 games, but I don't know if they're going to play 70 games. When you combine that with how much you have to pay them, and you combine that with how much they gave away in terms of draft capital, it's a very risky, risky move. But again, when you have been as bad, really bad, like the Washington Wizards have, these risks become more palatable as opposed to Miami, which has been a decent team.
When he talks about palatable, I I think there is something happening here that makes this extra nasty in taste for those of us who are not finding it palatable and don't have a lot of hope in the next 30 minutes that an Andrew Wiggins is going to be moved for something that moves the needle in the Eastern conference. But Windhorst has said, and we're going to talk to the kid, Morrow, about this in a second. But Windhorst has said the following, The Knicks are as strong and as good of a position as they've been in the last 30 years to win it. I don't actually believe that because I don't think that Jalen Brunson this year is going to make them better than the Pistons the way Jalen Brunson last year made them better than the Pistons. And I don't actually believe that as beloved and wonderful as Brunson is, and he's super easy to root for, it's hard to win a player, win with a player that size. Not many championships have been won when the player that size is your best player. But the thing that makes this extra not palatable for the heat is, Oh, the Knicks are better than you.
Oh, Boston, you were really close with them a few years ago, and you are not anymore. Boston has gotten a good deal better. Yes, I mean?
Yeah. Well, if you remember the year the heat went to the finals, 2023, in that conference finals, I said, Boston is way more talented. In order for the heat to be successful, they literally have to do everything right. They got to be an execution team. Whereas the Celtics are just more talented. They can roll out talent be successful more often than not. Everybody in Miami got so upset, right? Oh, they're so talented. Why are they down 3-0? I said, Look, I'm not saying it was a better team. I'm saying talent. But what you've seen there when you said, Well, we used to be neck and neck, and now look where they went and look where we went. That was the talent. That was, Hey, they had two guys who are under the age of 30 who are all NBA caliber players. You guys had one who was over the age of 30 and one who's maybe all I may, maybe not. That's the difference right there. The heat got away with, We have enough talent if we do everything right, if we execute. But as that talent began to deteriorate because Jimmy Butler is getting older, that's where your team went.
They had the young bucks, and the Young Bucks just got more wisened and better over time.
They also made the moves. They realized they weren't good enough, and they acquired a Drew holiday, somebody that the mind swung and missed on. And they acquired Chris Stapps' Porzings. These are not superstars These are moves. These are moves to improve your team as they stood idly by and watched the rest of the conference make them.
Yeah, and this is a team that went to the conference finals five years in a row. They were there. They were a Drew holiday away from being a champion. The heat were not. That's my point. I keep going back to, you're not that, and you're looking for that whale. But man, the whales don't come along all but so often. You don't have a birthright to it. I don't care what Pat taught you because when you were 10 years old, they went and got Alonso morning. I don't care what Pat taught you because when you were 15, they went and got Shaq. That's not a birthright move. That is a once in a million move, and the heat managed to do it three times. Say, Thank God for it. Don't say, Why does this happen every day?
I need to correct myself, though, Dan, real quick. Since the Indiana Pace has acquired Aviva Zubats, the Miami Heat are the only team in the Eastern Conference that has not made a trip.
I see on my screen someone who's radiant and smiling because he is enjoying drinking of these heat tears. The Knicks haven't felt this good. And the fact that the Knicks are this good while the heat are flailing and we're weeping makes the kid, Mero, happy. You can hear him, Hot 97 Mornings with Mero, weekday 6: 00 to 10: 00 AM. Host of victory like with the Kid Mero from iHeartRadio. New episodes twice a week wherever you get your podcast. And he's got his YouTube channel as well at According to the Kid. Why are you radiant? Am I reading your face correctly right now? And as an added bonus. Coño, Alvarado, really, we're doing this. We're going to be Hispanic. The Knicks are going to be Carl Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado. Are you shitting me? Come on.
Listen, this is what I was trying to tell you all. This is why I'm beaming. It's because the New York Knicks have a Puerto Rican and a Dominican on the team.
That is New York City. Handling the ball. They're controlling the ball.
And let me tell you something else. Not just the Puerto Rican, a Brooklyn Puerto Rican, okay? Which is a different breed of Puerto Rican. It's a different... The New Yorkians, okay? They're different. This is a guy who went...
Remember when he went viral?
Because I forgot somebody was defending him and was like, Yo, can he shoot? And he was like, Excuse me, can I shoot? And they shot it and made it and they ran down the court. The hang time on the cornrows is tremendous. You know what I mean? Bro, he's out here, man. He looks like a Puerto Rican stud. You know what I mean? And that's That's what we need on this team, is aggression.
That game last night was fun. Brunson goes for 42. You beat the nuggets in double overtime. You stayed up, right? Even though you got a morning show. Eight in a row? Even though you got a morning show, you stayed up or did you go to sleep? I don't sleep.
I don't sleep, Dan. I don't do that. I'm a father of four. I'm a Knicks fan, and I got a lot on my plate. You know what I'm saying? So I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Did you enjoy that one last night, though? Of course. Because the nuggets are really good. Murray and Jokić were terrible from three. I think they were like, I don't even know. Last I checked, they were like five of 30 or something. Jokić was one for 13. They were terrible from three. But Murray hit you with his best shot in the first quarter. He had 20 points in the first quarter, and you still take out the Nuggets who can beat anybody.
That's what I'm saying. So now, using the transitive property, the Knicks can beat anybody. You know what I'm saying? And I don't see them losing to anybody in the East. I don't care what anybody says.
It is just inevitable, okay?
Because people keep saying, I heard you say the thing about Jalen Brunson, you can't win a player with a player that size. Becky Hammond said the same thing, bro, and she became a mean. For saying that. And this is what I'm saying. We're going to go deep into the playoffs, and Kat is going to do his thing. Jalen Brunson is going to do his thing. We have a complete team, and we're actually touching The 10, 11, 12 guys. You're going to see Diawara Minutes. Hey, yo, come on.
Hey, that was crazy.
Yeah, that was crazy. My fault. Pardon. You're going to see Diawara Minutes in the playoffs, though. That's what I'm talking about. That was the knock on Tibbs that was adjusted with Mike Brown. We had a little spiral for a minute. Then they had the players only meeting, and now we're undefeated. So I think we're just going to roll right into the playoffs and continue on this successful mission, bro. That's just it.
I mean, I want ask you about what he's saying, but first, give him his intro music..
Expert in basketball.
Do you believe, Amine, that New York can take down Detroit? They barely did last year, and this Detroit team is a good deal better than last year's Detroit team.
Then they went in five. I don't know if you could say barely. It was a good series.
No, wait. All of the games were super close. It was a good series.
It was a good series. But barely is stretching the meaning of the word barely there. Look, Detroit has question marks, right? Number one is, are they experienced enough? They went to the playoff last year. They had a hard-fought first-round series. Is that enough to carry you deep in the playoff? Number two, the shooting. Now, they made some moves to address that, to get better by adding Kevin Herder, Kevin Herder at the same time, not shooting great this year from three. It'll be interesting to see if they get guys who can consistently make shots, because I saw the pistons like two weeks ago, and that pain is clogged, man. It's clogged. Right now, the main guy that you have to worry about from three, you guys might have heard of him. His name is Duncan Robinson.
He can shoot threes. You don't trust him?
Yes, he can. But you also remember how many times you're like, Duncan Robinson is wide open for three. Here we go. Like, oh, shit.
Mero, you told us the last time we did a livestream, even as you lost to the Pacers, you told us, Yeah, Detroit's better than the Pacers. I don't fear the Pacers. I fear Detroit.
Because of the physicality, the way that they were playing, to a means point, that was a hard for a series. Even though the Knicks went in five, every game was physical and scrappy. So that was a problem last year because we were only playing six guys. You know what I mean? So if one of them gets hurt or it tweaks an ankle or something like that, now you're asked out. Now we're playing 12 guys, 13 guys. So if somebody goes down, it's next man up. And even if it's Jalen Brunson, Something could happen. Deuce could have a crazy game. Tyler Kholik, bro.
Tyler Kholik? Challenging Timothée Chalamey for white boy of the year?
Come on.
That's a line I ain't going to cross. That's the one where Tyler Kolic, I'm like, is he... Part of getting Alvarado is because now you don't have to pay Tyler Kholik. That's part of that. It's like, okay, this guy actually defends and he makes shots as opposed to Kholik. I like him. He's a nice young player, but I don't know if I want to trust him in a playoff series, having to deal with A, being pressured up the court, and then B, having to guard somebody. When you already got Brunson, who doesn't? Go ahead.
Jeremy, get your shit together.
Tyas Jones, sources say, was traded.
I would hope so.
Leaking confidence.
The Charlotte Hornets to drink Tias Jones to the Dallas Mavericks.
Was he drunk there? What was that? Slurring. I hesitate to do this because I need him to sit in that chair. Minor penalty, two minutes for leaking confidence.
You want me to go up to Dan Cunk of the deck, come for the walk? No.
Look, Rachel Nichols is joining us now, too. We'll get her sound right in a second as we continue to rotate people. But can you tell me, Amine, before, what it is that I was saying before about as wonderful as Brunson is, unless you're Isaiah Thomas, a player that size never wins the Championship as the best player on a team. Does that change with the idea that now we're playing so much from three that maybe that's no longer something that's relevant in basketball the way it's played today?
Yeah, I think it's changed in the sense of the style of play. There was a time when they said you couldn't win a championship with a perimeter player of any sort until Michael Jordan, and they're like, Okay, maybe you can build around a shooting guard. It all determined by the style of play. The other thing I would say also is Tony Parker was Finals MVP on that Spurs team that won in 2007. He was the guy, really. Tim Duncan had taken a smaller role by that point. So you could argue that it has happened before. The bigger thing for me is not Jalen Brunson being their best player, not their best player, is can the Knicks have enough defenders on the floor to make up for his lacking. So that's the part where Towns' defense really becomes very central, because obviously, his offense is incredible. But if he can defend, and he's defended well this year, if he can defend well enough to make for Brunson, then I think the Knicks will be fine. But again, it's hard, man. There are other teams trying to do this shit, too.
Listen, I think Kat, that's the take, right? That's the correct take. Kat's defense has to improve. It has to make up for the other shortcomings, no pun intended. You know what I mean? That Jalen Brunson has. But at the same time, I think he just needs a foot reduction because he has a size 28 foot. And I think that's what's making him have stupid fouls is that he's doofy with his feet. You know what I So if we reduce them to maybe a size 16, you know what I mean? He'll be more mobile, have better footwork, he'll be able to adjust.
That cannot be right. That cannot be accurate. Size 28 is simply not accurate. That's not a thing.
It's a real thing.
That can't be a real thing. It's metric. No, there's no way that what you're seeing is accurate. Shaq was- It's facts. No, Shaq is like 23. He wears a 20. Kat wears a 20.
A 20, and it's snug.
Rachel, appreciate it. No, you're very busy. Appreciate your expertise. Are you here to also give Mero hope to this is the closest thing that the Knicks have had to real Championship hope in 30 years? Is this team more capable of beating Detroit than last year's team? Which I mean, I need to correct you, that was six games, Pistons and Knicks, and the last one took a Brunson shot to beat them. Otherwise, it would have gone seven. Thank you for joining us, Rachel. I know you're very busy. What are your thoughts there? Do you give Mero hope today?
I always give Meryl hope. I'll say this. I agree it is one of the best teams to have a shot at getting to the finals, maybe winning. But it did get harder today. I'm sure you guys have been talking about it. It got harder today. I think in the East, there's this feeling that the Cavs, they're not going to really be in it when it counts. I think they're more dangerous now. Boston got more dangerous in the last day or two. We still don't know what's going on with Jason Tatum, but even if he doesn't come back, they're more dangerous. So the road to the finals is going to be more difficult. I do I think this Knicks team is more equipped to go down that road than they have been in the past.
Let me ask you this, Rachel, because the Knicks absolutely match up before against Cleveland in a way that slaughtered Cleveland. The Knicks have no fear of Cleveland in its previous form. They have playoff issues that have now added a player in James Harden who has playoff issues. So you think what of what Cleveland did there and the match of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden both needing the ball so much?
Well, James Harden's playoff history is a little complicated, right? You can't really put it all under one umbrella because he's had some pretty phenomenal playoff performances. The problem is he can get tired, and at the end of series, when it really counts, he's not there. And a lot of those times that you're thinking of, as I say that, that I'm talking about, are times when he has had an injured costar. So we think about his last playoff series with Philadelphia. He was phenomenal in game five, kept them afloat, did things that nobody expected of him. And yet in game six and seven, it looked like he was out to lunch. Joel Embiid wasn't there. Chris Paul got hurt. Then we looked at James Harden, and we were like, what are you doing, man? Kevin Durant got hurt. Kyrie Irving, in and out of the lineup. Those kinds of things definitely have effect on James Harden, because while he is out on the court, he's a bull out there. He's a much bigger guy. Everybody here, I know Miro, I know Amin, we've all spent time with him in person. But On TV, he doesn't look quite as big as he is.
When you are with standing out on the court, he's a large guy, plays physical, puts a lot of energy into what he does. And man, he's out there every night. We talk about some of these guys, you can barely know whether they're going to play or not. James Harden is going to play. He likes playing ball, and he is reliable and consistent. So he plays most, if not all, games some seasons. And that is why we see him tire out at the end of playoffs. If Donovan Mitchell stays He's healthy, and I'm going to knock on everything because that kid has had just an on fire season this year, James Harden, I don't expect to disappear at the end of playoff series in the same way because the load on him is just going to be completely different. I think that's the gamble that Cleveland is taking right now.
I mean, were you trying to get in here?
Yeah, it's exactly what Rachel just said. He's a guy that in Houston, 78 games played, 73, 81, 82, 81, 72, 78. Then the minutes per game, 36 plus that entire time. For his career, he's a 35-minute per game player. He plays games. He plays most of the games. Like Rachel said, it's not like he's out on the perimeter catching and swinging. He's got the ball in his hands. He's creating contact. He's taking contact. He plays a very physically taxing style of basketball in an era where everybody is trying to manage down that load. He is accepting. And so part of his foibles in the playoffs, like Rachel said, is running out of gas. Part of it also is we remember the really bad moments, we don't remember the great moments. So all of those things factor in. Now you get to Cleveland, it's like, Hey, I don't have to be the second best player. I could be the third best player if Evan Mobley takes that leap forward. So now you're saying, Okay, I get to pick and choose. I get to conserve. And most importantly, I play in a team defense that's really good on its own.
He gets to fit in and maybe rationize his energy a little bit better.
Hey, Rachel. So speaking Speaking of Harden and the Clippers also a little while ago traded Zubots to Indiana, why are the Clippers holding on to Kauai?
You want my real reason, my fun speculation reason? Do you want my... What do we want?
All of them.
Yeah, all of them. Wait, I'm not going to say it because it's going to get aggregated in a weird way. So I'm going to let Amine say it because people will know the... I mean, what am I talking about?
I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know why I'm in New York right now.
I think you're doing me now, Hassan.
I have no idea why I'm in New York. I just thought it was going to be warmer. Holy shit.
Look, first of all, I don't know who is... I'm sure they're taking calls on Kawhi. I'm sure people are calling right now because between Harden and Zubatch, it's very easy to see where they're going, the direction they're going in right now. I don't know if there's going to be an offer for Kawhi that's going to actually reflect his value. And I don't know if the Clippers are going to want to part with Kawhi Leonard in the middle of this whole aspiration investigation.
Mero has to get out of here, but Hot 97 Mornings with Mero, weekday 6: 00 to 10: 00 AM. Host of victory light with the kid Mero from iHeartRadio. Let me hold a dollar. New episodes twice a week wherever you get your podcast. You don't have a flag there for your country there. You don't have anything. You usually carry a flag everywhere.
He's corporate now. The money got to him.
I'm in my studio. This is victory light studios, and I have the bodega gambling machine right here. I also have a various accoutchoumant. You know what I mean? I got the TV over there, and I got a cigarette machine over there.
Oh, it's got a sick machine? I love that sick machine.
Old school. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I got bodega flavors around me.
Before we let you go, I said this to somebody the other day. I love that the last time you and I were walking down the streets of New York, you stopped, you took a highlighter out of your pocket, and you graffiti-signed your name on a garbage can because you're still leaving your imprint all over New York. I love that, buddy.
I have to do it. I have to do it. I'm the son of New York.
See you later. Congratulations on everything your nicks are doing. It's totally infuriating. Get him out of here. Thank you. Yeah, Boston. He's alive.
Thank you, Rachel.
See you later. Boston and New York getting better as the heat fade. We've got seven minutes here left for the heat to acquire a superstar. Rachel, over In the last few days of trades, who do you think got better best?
I mean, we were just talking about Cleveland. I think they really changed their fortune, right? Nobody, including people in that locker room, felt like, Man, we have a chance to win it all in the East. I'm not saying not everyone in that locker room, but there were feelings around the organization that a change needed to happen. I think that they are going to now go at the playouts with a pretty renewed energy and renewed in different chances. So that's pretty significant to me. I think that Boston really upped itself. It's funny. The East is, quote, wide open, except everybody was in an arms race again. I mean, we've seen this happen in the East much more than the West in different years. One makes a trade and the other ones are like, well, I better make a trade. Well, I better make a trade. The next It obviously didn't feel that way because they really weren't in those ganas conversations in the end. And they think that staying pat with what they got. I think that's where you have to look, is that clump at the top of the East as where the biggest impact was made.
I don't know. What do you think?
Dan, this is such an embarrassment. We're five minutes away from the trade deadline. They've done nothing. He had done nothing. It's embarrassing.
Rachel, what criticism is fair of Pat Reilly? Mike Ryan back there is furious. He's enraged that the front office has not been very good the last five years.
Well, what would you have liked to see them do?
Anything.
Yeah, anything.
They don't have an answer, Rachel. They just want something new and shiny.
Don't listen to him. I literally said anything.
They traded nothing for Norm Powell, by the way.
And that satiated me for a little bit. That was a pretty good acquisition.
Yeah, they're 500 team.
When they get in the mix, they're seven and nine in their last 16, and they're 17th in the league in offensive rating after a good start.
Rachel highlighted the reason for my frustration. And again, I'm not in a losing position here. You guys have to convince the nation. I've been right. Every single time the East is getting better, they need to do something, they don't do anything, they get lapped. That's my frustration here. I thought it would come to an end. And it's not just Yann. It's okay. You want to tell me that Milwaukee wasn't serious? Fine. You want to tell me that the narrative got out there, that the league just wasn't going to allow Damian Lillard to go to Miami? Fine. We struck out on Kevin Durant three times. We didn't make any of the other ancillary moves to get somebody next to Jimmy Butler that could make a difference. Since dating back to the finals of 2023, it has been evident to everybody, obvious to every single person that follows this league, that Miami needed to do stuff to improve the roster, and they just didn't. They just failed. I'm not used to this franchise, and that executive in particular, failing as much as he has recently.
I mean, Rachel, all I need to do is I should have won Powerball, and I didn't. I should have won Mega Millions, and I didn't. That's on me. I've let myself down. As I see other people doing much better in life and making more money, the opportunity for me was there just to go out and win Mega Millions and win Powerball, and then I could have been the rich guy.
What criticism is fair, Rachel?
I mean, it's not wrong. But also, look, there's a question with a front office that has been intact for, is it 20 something? How long has that core front office.
The heat?
Thirty-one years. Thirty.
Thirty-one years. Thirty-heures.
Thirty-heures. Thirty-heures. Thirty-heures. Thirty-heures.
I was going to say 26, 27 years, but yes, 30 years. Are they bringing enough new voices? There was a moment where Pat Riley really felt was gambling and trading for now because he was, I think, even said it at one point, right? Like, I'm not going to be around forever. So the time is now, that thing. And they did make some bold moves. But in terms of what opportunity they had in this particular trade deadline to do something that made fans feel like, Man, we now have a chance to contend. I don't know if they were there. I didn't hear about any. And the Giannis play was obviously would have been huge for them. But In the end, the Bucks just weren't going to deal.
Well, do you think they were serious at all, Rachel, Milwaukee? The Bucks? Yeah.
Yeah, I do. I think it's been confusing. I think it's hard. I think it's hard to know what to do in this situation. And Giannis has complicated feelings, and he's talked about those complicated feelings so much that it makes it a little bit harder. Yannis, what he's actually said in interviews the past few days is, I love Milwaukee. I wish I could stay here. I want to retire as a buck. But he says, I also only want to do that if I can play for a championship. And he's challenging interviewers, do you think that we can play for a championship here? And that thing. The problem is that headline that makes it to Bucks fans is, I want to stay a buck for the rest of my life. That's all people hear in Milwaukee. And so it makes it difficult for the front office to really know what Yannis wants. He said at different times, hey, I want... What was the phrasing? I'm ready to leave, right? Ready for a new home. For a trade. I'm ready for a new home. So wait, you want to deal him. On the other hand, do you want to wait till the summer where Yannis will have a little bit more agency of where he goes because he He only have that one year left on his deal, so he'll get to call the shots a little bit more.
But also, teams will have a lot more assets once draft date comes to deliver and trade because contracts will be up, because they get more pics, refresh on draft day, that thing. So it could be more advantageous for them if they are going to deal to do it in the summer. And then what is Yannis saying to Bucks fans at that point also? It is a complicated situation because I think Yannis is being honest when he says he doesn't really want to leave, but he also really, really wants a title, and he is prioritizing that more. Another title. He is prioritizing that more, and it just makes it complicated. I think they were genuine in having the discussions and seeing what they could get. I'm not surprised that they are keeping him for down.
Also complicated. Chris Haynes is now reporting that Kawhi is not going to be moved. I saw that. You tell me what you think is going to happen with Kawhi and Adam Silver, because a whole lot of people I hear saying around here, nothing's going to happen. And I simply can't believe, Rachel, given how thorough the reporting has been on this by Pablo Tori, that nothing's going to happen. I don't believe that's possible at all.
I couldn't tell you because I don't know what the investigators are going to say. It's too hard to sit here and predict. They have a different standard of evidence. It's not a more stringent, it's just different. And I don't know what they are going to come up with, how clear any smoking gun is going to feel to them. Adam said something when this was all top of mind in news conferences. He said that a smoking gun doesn't have to be tangible. This is the email where we said, We are circumventing the cap. It doesn't have to be that. There can be circumstantial evidence that leads to a smoking gun. But I don't know what they're going to say reaches that level. Until we know what their standard is, until we know what they find, I just think anyone who's predicting is just guessing, is my opinion.
Rachel, thank you. I know you're very busy, and this is a obviously busy time. Thank you for making the time for us on short notice. Always appreciate it.
Happy draft day, gentlemen. Or not draft day. Draft day is next. Happy Trade Day.
Unhappy Trade Day.
Why didn't Ja Morant get moved? I thought that that one was definitely going to happen at some point.
I can answer that one.
Yeah, Can you?
Yeah. Nobody around the league... Okay, I'm going to be careful. Not nobody. Who wants him? This is a little bit like your- Not even Sacramento? This is like your Miami question in reverse. Memphis wants to trade Ja Morant And the way that you know that nobody wants him on their team is that he's not on another team right now. This is not speculation on my part. This is nobody wants him, and the price for him has actually gone down. Since they have made other trades, what they need for John Marant is actually less because now they have picks from the Jaron Jackson deal. Now they have their young core. So they are able to move forward and get less for John Marant, and He's still not on another team.
Well, let me ask you this. That is the answer to your question. Okay. Even though I said goodbye, let me ask you this question, and I'll put it to a mean after you're gone. But Jaron Jackson is a two-time All-Star, a rim protector, a defensive player of the year, okay? Yes. So A, what the hell is Memphis doing? And B, give me the historical precedent for what you just said on Ja Moran, guy who was being talked about for face of the league a couple of years ago, dumpster discount value a couple of years later. You tell me when that's ever happened in all your years covering the sport. We talk about a guy, face of the league, and a couple of years later, he has no value.
I don't feel like that's as rare as you're saying. I don't know. I'm not having the perfect guy spring to mind. I mean, maybe you can help me. But guys, there's definitely the NBA is full of guys who we thought were very promising and beyond promising. We were like, Oh, man, he's ready to do it. And then they shoot themselves in the foot. We've seen it. I think that with the Memphis and what they're doing overall, they clearly understand that what they've had the past couple of years isn't working. And Zack Kleiman in the front office said it. He's like, we're not in the mix. He's like, it's not like we're close, and we just need to get through that hump. He said, we're not. So they're clearly signaled when they got a great offer for Desmond Bain, okay, we're going to rebuild. And they were waiting to see if that was enough, if the team could still operate the way that they wanted it to. At that point, they still thought John Marant was in their plans and that he was going to be able to come back and be the superstar we all expected him to be.
And it was very obvious in the first half of this season that that was just not going to happen. He threw another series of temper tantrums. There was another set of problems. It was another coach he had a problem with, and they just decided that's it. And he has been available for trade for a long time, guys, for a long time. There are a lot of people who had the opportunity to go in and get him. And again, the way you know that nobody else wanted him is that he is still in a Memphis Grizzly's uniform.
This time I say goodbye, and I mean it, and I say thank you again, and I meant that each time that I said it. Thank you. Bye, guys. I mean, your thoughts on what Memphis is doing because they were real close a couple of years ago. It felt like we were talking about that team as clearly an ascending team that was going to be around for the next five years.
It was them and the Timberwolves, Dan. Those were the two teams that were rising, young players, a new generation. They're taking their franchises somewhere, and they played against each other in the playoffs, actually. Memphis actually ended up winning by making two less turnovers than the Timberwolves did because that series was one of the worst basketball playoff series I've ever seen in my life. But the reality is life came at them fast from three different angles. Angle one, health. They had a lot of injuries over that period of time, particularly also to jaw. Angle number 2, Jaws off the court issues. That hurt. And angle number three, Ja's game did not develop the way it needed to. At some point, the league has a book on you. We're going to guard you like this. That's when you develop counters to get around us, guarding you like this. Michael Jordan was really great, and then the Pistons beat his ass. So he said, Okay, I got to get in the weight room, and I got to get stronger. He countered that. Then he's like, I got to take less high-flying acrobatic plays at the rim. I got to do more mid-range.
He got better at that. That's how the progression goes. John never progressed. He stayed the same type of player. Does that mean he'll never progress from here on out? No, he's still a young guy. But when you have all three of these factors, him not getting better as a player, him not getting healthy, and him not taking that shit seriously as far as how to comport himself and what his life should be about, those things all conspire to bring the grizzlies to where we are now. But you keep I can't believe Jaron Jackson for that little. I'm like, They got three first rounders for him.
Oh, no, I didn't mean that little. I just meant that they're blowing it up and starting over and doing maybe what it is that the heat should have been doing, given that they're just tearing it all down. I'm not saying for so little. I'm saying that they're getting rid of him at all. He's a good player.
He is a good player. But I heard David Samson talk about this earlier about winning 100 or losing 100. I saw him today and I said, The only part I would disagree with there are some stops along the way to winning 100. It's not either 100 right now or nothing. There are some stops along the way. But for Memphis, once they began to realize this guy, isn't the guy, now you got to take a step back. Can we take multiple massive steps back and help ourselves out by moving off of Jaron Jackson? They ultimately said yes, and they knew it. But again, before Mike says, That's what I want Miami to do, the biggest comparison here is Memphis has been terrible. They have been bad with their guys. Miami has never hit that word terrible. I'm sick and tired of being terrible. They're just not progressing to that next step because, again, getting these superstars are hard. And by the way, lest you believe, let me just get a zillion pics, and then I'll get them in the draft. Look at what Philadelphia went through, through that whole process before they got Joel Embiid and then before Joel Embiid was healthy enough to play.
It takes a while. Even that's not a surefire strategy. You just have to figure out one way or another, how do I acquire that whale?
I can feel Zaz's despondence on me. I can feel because we're seven minutes now past the deadline and some things trickle in late. But are we really in a position where the only team that didn't make a trade of any kind is the heat? Why are you holding your head?
Doomsday. Is it because Kam Thomas randomly got waived just now? I don't get that at all.
That's crazy.
He's a good scorer.
That's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy. He's a good scorer.
Yeah, but he's a rationally confident guy who might be a trouble in that locker room. You don't know.
I would say no, Dan. It's not that he's a trouble in the locker room. Obviously, they tried to trade him. The hard part about trading him this year is he has a no-trade clause. So he could have cock-blocked any number of deals that they may have had on the table for him for good value. My thing is, hey, I would have held on to him and then try to do a sign and trade in the offseason. The idea of just waving him is pretty staggering.
But the reason it's probably unfair for me to go straight to he's a problem in the locker room, but waving him and not getting any value for that suggests to me that there's something that they just wanted out of their facility.
Yeah, I mean, I get it. Even if I told him to stay at home, I still would have held on. I don't think I would have done that. I'm eager to hear what the reporting about why they decided to wave him, just straight up waive him. I mean, if he was that much of a jerk, to be honest with you, let me put on my David Samson hat and say, I would especially not have waived him. I would just said, Hey, here's your paycheck, stay at home, and then good luck in free agency.
I want to bounce around the league just a little bit with you here as we wait to see if there's any news that ends up trickling in. But your thoughts on what happened with the Warriors?
The Warriors, I actually was texting with Jeremy about this earlier. The Warriors hit that level where the Timberwolves hit, which is these guys aren't serious. If you're not serious about trading Giannis right now, then I need to do what I need to do to get rid of Kaminga and get value on that. This is, I think, more commissary with what Mike wants. The Warriors rolled the dice big time because they said, I'm going to take Buddy Hield, who has been a good role player for us. I'm going to take Jonathan Kaminga, who, depending on who you ask, has varying levels of value around the league. I'm going to go get a guy who might be the most sick player in NBA history. I've never seen somebody miss more games due to illness than Chris Soutsport-Zingas. Again, if he's healthy, then he's an actually really good addition for them because he's a good defensive player. He's a good three-point shooter. You can't single guard him in the post, all those things. That's great. Champion pedigree, obviously. But the guy hasn't been able to stay out of the doctor's office for at least three years now, since the Championship.
Even then, he was dealing with stuff. That's a gamble to me. They tell me that's the best deal they had on the table for Kominga. I say, Really? And then I say, Maybe.
Maybe that was the going price. I think all the teams that ended up being interested in Giannis and being close, had offers on the table, ended up either late last night or earlier this morning making moves. They planned Bs. Yeah, they did. And Miami appears to have not, which is truly shocking. If there was one team that reputationally there was a ton of pressure to actually make a move this season, it was the Miami Heed inside the East, and they didn't.
If I could say real quick, obviously, you're right. When you say it takes two to Tango and Milwaukee, they didn't make them available. They wouldn't trade them. The heat's planned then, putting all their eggs in a basket to acquire a player who is literally unattainable. That's a bad plan.
I would say this, Zaz, the absence of proof is not the proof of absence. The absence of proof is not the proof of absence. Just because a plan B did not materialize does not mean a plan B or a plan C or a plan D or a plan E wasn't in place. It just means that they were not be able to execute them for whatever reason. What if plan B was, okay, I'm going to take Simone Fantechio, and I'm going to flip him for something of value? Every Fantecchio deal that they had or trade partner they had was like, You got to throw in a We still have Yana's plans for June and July. Until he signs an extension, we are still going to be holding out. We don't want to be that team that took ourselves off the table because we traded Simone Fantechio for Luke Cunard or something like that.
Well, they did that when they traded for Terry Rozier was actually when they took themselves off the table.
That's assuming that first-round pick would have got the deal done. You're making vast assumptions.
Well, it would have been two first-round picks.
Yeah, you're making vast assumptions that That was the difference in between Milwaukee and where we are today. Without that, your guys are going off your assumptions because the deal wasn't done. That means they had no plan B. Well, that's not true at all. There could have been, like I said, plan Z. But if every one of those plans, every one of those partners is trying to screw you over and you know, Wait, I still have to have enough available to make a concerted run at this dude in three months or four or five months, then the best plan is to not do that. The best plan is to sit it out.
With the heat and with the warriors, we were expecting to see more salary dumps, which we have right here. But Dan, it's because you don't want your team to get to the first apron or the second apron, and we have that going up right behind you. They're hanging the first apron right now.
That's what they're doing. They're getting me under the apron.
Yeah, you're right under the apron. There's three Danies in that studio.
I think we're It's clear. I mean, yes, in a vacuum, I don't even totally disagree. It's just I've heard that for three seasons now, and that's where I've reached a breaking point. Also, my Uber's here.
Well, let me see if Amine has an opinion on, should the heat have moved Wiggins or Powell, or if they could have even moved Rozier, is that what they could have done for assets?
Then the boring answer is, you need to tell me what they were going to move them for. If you tell me, Yo, they had a deal for Norm Powell for three first-round pics from Utah. Then I say, Yeah, Norm, sorry. Hey, have fun in Salt Lake City. But you guys are assuming that these deals were available and the heat said, No, not for me. I like my team. No, man. Every front office in the league, Oklahoma City did a deal. Every front office in the league is trying to get something done.
But you don't think there was a first rounder for Wiggins or for Powell so that you can sweeten the offer and just go ahead and dump the season?
Are you saying to sweeten the offer for Giannis right now? Yes.
Well, they're going to be competing with 20 other teams for Giannis in the offseason. So wouldn't you get yourself in a better position now to have more picks in the offseason so that you can make the best offer?
If it's for the offseason, sure. But then if you trade Wiggins, now you've lost what could have been one of the pieces that you would use to build up salary. Because remember, Terry Rozier is a free agent at the end of the year. So his availability of his contract as a piece that you can make a deal for, it ended right now, it ended 15 minutes ago. That's the key piece here. So now you got to say, Okay, well, how do I add up to $50 million, which is what Yannis makes, in order to be able to acquire him? I can't just give out, Oh, now I got the pick. Well, how do you make the salaries work? These things all happen within a bigger context. In fact, in a vacuum. You guys keep thinking about in a vacuum. Jeremy asked me yesterday, or Zaz asked me yesterday, How does that work? I think I could trade so and so for a first-round pick. Then I said to you Zaz, that's not how it works. How it works is like, what gets the deal done? Three first, get it done? Then if you say four, I'll say, Okay, I'll go get that fourth one.
That's how that works. But if they're saying to you, if they're playing coy, or they're saying seven first gets it done, or whatever tactic that they're using, you're So quickly you realize, Right now, I ain't going to get it. And trading Wiggins for one more first-round pick, how about now? It's probably still not good enough. That's why I keep saying, You guys keep assuming the absence of proof is the proof of absence. Meaning you assume because they didn't get Are you honest? That means they didn't come correct on their offer. Or because they didn't trade one of these other guys for something, that means they didn't have a plan to try to do that. No, it means the plan didn't work.
Zaz, it's an XL.
You guys want to get out of here? Should we finish the whole thing? You want to give us some more thoughts on the Lakers? I wanted to bounce around the league, but I think everybody wants to get out of here.
I'll bounce with you. You got that black?
I got that black. I only do Uber black.
All right, I got it.
Do you guys think it's over? There's not going to be any more announcements. The heat are going to be a team that does nothing. They're going to be the only team that does nothing.
I cannot believe I have to hear those words. This is so painful. They stood pat. I can't believe it.
A lot of these teams, Dan, again, I told you guys this earlier, we went from You were supposed to get a $14 million disbursement to five as a non-tax payer. A lot of these deals that seem like, Oh, my God, they did the move before. It's just team saying, I don't want to pay my taxes. I want to be under. I cannot justify to my ownership group that, Hey, we paid this much. We missed out on this check to get to the second round. What's happening right now?
What's happening on the screen? Why do you guys keep doing this to me? Why does this keep happening? The Bulls, I mean, your thoughts on what the Bulls did.
The Bulls did a shitty version of what most teams, I guess, what Mike wants, which is just trade the guys and get assets. Problem is, they didn't really get assets. You got nick Richard, you got a couple of guys, but you didn't come home with the draft Not the picking- Nine second-round picks.
Nine.
That's above 6'9.
It's a currency. It is a currency. It's not as good a currency as the first-round pick.
How many first-round picks is nine second-rounders equivalent to? One?
It depends on what second-round pick it is, right? If it's, for instance, Washington's second-round pick off the top of my head, sure. Or Sacramento's, that's the 31st pick in the draft. 32nd, it's damn near first-round pick. If it's Oklahoma City's, yeah, that's one of the worst picks. You might as well just… At that point, there's a stage in the second round where I'd rather not draft you. I'd rather sign you as an undrafted free agent because then I have a lot more flexibility with how I can word the contract.
What are you giggling about? The fat me? What? Now they're making me-Oh, he's moving. No, you can't. All All right. You know what? I'm going to end this now. It moves. I'm going to end this now because I don't like what they're doing.
What about Dallas? Let me do my Dallas victory lap, which is early in the season, I said, Dallas controls its 2026 first-round pick. After 2026, they don't control shit. If there was ever a window, I don't advocate tanking, but if there ever was a window to tank, right now was it. You move all those bets, you get out of there, and you build everything Cooper flag moving forward. They did that by moving Anthony Davis. They didn't get to move Gaffard or P. J. Washington or Najee Marshall, who all I think should have commanded good gets on the market. Apparently not because they didn't move, but they did move Anthony Davis. They did the right thing. I think Dallas is actually way, way more well set up moving forward, even though it doesn't make up for the Luka deal.
Quickly, you mentioned that you're anti-tanking. A news item was that Milwaukee intends on shutting Giannis down if they to not move him. How is this not against tanking rules?
I would say good luck with that because I don't think Giannis is going to get shut down. He's going to rehab, and when he's ready to play, even if there are 30 games under 500, he's going to play.
I want to get all of Amine's thoughts on all the things, and I really don't know, actually, as we move along here, I don't know if anything 20 minutes after the deadline can trickle in. I don't want to wander out of here and have something happen in the next seven minutes. But I am as frustrated as any of you are with the fact that the Miami Heat Basketball Organization, which has been the shining example of sports excellence in our community for 30 years, has taken this market from the football team and turned into one of the majestic things I've ever seen in the history of sports down here, I can imagine, Zazlo, that you are wildly wounded right now, that we're leaving here- I'm disappointed. And there's nothing, that it's just the same stuff they're going to be playing for the Chicago's and the Atlanta's and the Orlando's.
The Diamondbacks and Orials are in agreement on a trade with infielders Another Blaze Alexander going to the Orioles.
I'm wounded. I'm tired. I'm sad. I speak for the group You know what? I'm not doing this with you guys. You can't keep putting that fat thing up there. And it moves now.
It looks like you're speaking right now.
You know what? Just have it replace me. I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave. And I mean, I want all your thoughts on what the Lakers are doing. I can't get enough basketball thoughts from you. The King is doing nothing. But I'm not doing this with you guys anymore.
Well, let's start with the Lakers because I really thought they did a good job of improving along the margins. They sent out Gabe Vincent who they signed a couple of years ago, thinking they were going to get Gabe Vincent from that 2023 playoff run in Miami. Instead, they got the Gabe Vincent from that 2023 Miami regular season where he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. But they managed to point him off alongside a second-round pick for Luke Canard, who's an excellent three-point shooter and an underrated creator off the dribble in some secondary pick and roll action. He also leads the league in three-point percentage. I just learned that right now. He's damn near 50% from three this year. Meanwhile, the Suns, like I said, one of those teams, get under the tax. What are we doing? We're barely a million dollars over the tax. They did a deal. They sent out nick Richard, who really was the odd man out in their center rotation behind, of course, Mark Williams and, of course, Iso Igudarro. But they didn't address needing a power forward. It's going to be interesting to see what they do in free agency, which is what's going to heat up right now instantly.
We start with the Kam Thomas waiver. Who are the guys that are going to get waived and end up helping a team that is play off bound? Jeremy, I heard you ask about the Kings not doing anything. Demar DeRosen is one of those names that we expect to hit the waiver wire at some point here. Remember, these guys have to sign with their new team before early March because to the early March deadline, they're not going to be eligible for playoff play. So that's one thing to keep an eye on. I really also enjoyed the Utah Jazz doing something. I don't know, right? The Utah Jazz, obviously, their pick is top eight protected. It's hard to get. If it doesn't convey, then they keep it if they're one of the eight worst teams. The problem is you went out and got Jaron Jackson Jr. Now, remember, the Utah Jazz as a team had the worst defense in NBA history three straight years in a row. That is a crazy, crazy record I think it will never get touched. But now when you add Jaron Jackson Jr, does that streak end? Do they bring it back down?
Now they become from one of the worst defense in NBA history to just merely one of the worst defenses in NBA history. Either way, we'll figure out what happens with that pick as we move on. What else is happening? Oh, that's right. The Pacers adding too much. We didn't talk about this at all. Who is sick himself up for a '26, '27 season better than the Indiana Pacers?
I'm not really into Indiana Pacers' basketball..
"I WANT THEM DO SOMETHING!"
*deep sigh*
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