The Pacers, Jazz, and Wizards Make Trades for Their Future. Plus, Ja and Giannis Stay Put.

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Varnin and joining me to see us every week from TheRinger.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby! So it's Thursday night. The trade deadline has technically passed, but I'm really glad we're doing this now. because we don't have to go through the details of the minutia of all of the trades. And also a 20, 32 second rounder, which is conditional. If it's in 35 to 47, like we can take the big picture takeaways because the news is broken. The first wave of analysis has come out and you come to the mismatch to get that second wave of analysis. So as you are going to be listening to this, we are obviously not going to be talking about the Thursday night games, which are being played, because the big story of the day is how the league changed. And I think the first big takeaway from the trade deadline was that this was not a trade deadline that drastically changed the season, which we are playing now. But rather a look towards what is 2027 going to look like after this trade deadline? It's oftentimes during the deadline, sometimes everything happens, sometimes nothing happens. But more often than not, you're like, I can't wait to see what Team X looks like. Or Team X is really shoring up themselves for a run at the Larry O'Brien title this season. And we didn't really get that. A lot of title contending teams got better, but marginally better. You know, eighth, ninth guy in the rotation kind of better. But there are a lot of teams where you're like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Like, are the Wizards trying to win basketball games? Right. Like, there's a lot of it because of Giannis not going, which was the big dominoes we discussed. It sort of moves all the moves with an eye towards 2027, not 2026. What was interesting, well, one thing that was interesting was on the show we did on Tuesday, one of the questions that we discussed was, who's that team that will make a move for the future? We broached this exact subject, and that's when I told you, I said, you know, it's usually like one of those like middle of the pack. So do they swing something that this year is not going to be their year, but they look at next year and go, that's the one where we can take the big leap because of the age of our players, because of the assets that we have and what we can flip it for now. And I told you Portland, right? They're kind of in that mix. They're in the play-in mix right now. This isn't the year. But next year could be the year that they take the big leap. And maybe they don't just stand pat or maybe they could do something. So that was one of the teams that I kind of looked at. You know, last year in that exact situation, it was Fox, right? Like San Antonio wasn't doing anything last year, but they acquired De'Aaron Fox. And you went, well, next year, that's something we've got to really evaluate and really think about. So Portland kind of fell in that. And it was teams well below Portland. It was Indiana. It was the worst records in the league. Pacers, Jazz, Wizards. Those three all made moves with an eye towards next year. Not the rest of this season, but rather what their team is going to look like for the 26-27 season. And oddly, all teams, they're incentivized to have a losing record to get a higher draft pick this year, but now have rosters on paper that improved over the last 24 hours. So the Pacers, their swing was a huge one because they went for Ivaka Zubat. And I thought when I saw that deal, I will be honest with you, And I've read, you know, there's some Pacers fans that are in favor of this. You know, they want the center. They know that they can, you know, compete again next year. This was a team that was right there on the cusp, obviously in the game seven of the finals last year. So this is kind of a gap year and they can get right back to it. And Zubats is a perfect fit with Halliburton. Zubats is on an unbelievable contract. But if I'm being honest, my immediate reaction was, what the hell? because that's fair reaction it was ben matherin that's fine if you want to get something for matherin because you know when you and you're not going to pay him in the offseason but the two first round picks and most importantly this particular year's pick which is a loaded draft and that it is protected one through four and then 10 through 30 and so i immediately go to tank-a-thon and i'm like so what's the chance they get a top four pick and it says 52 percent and i'm like man i mean this is one of those we're gonna have to evaluate we'll evaluate the result but the process of it still like if that's the fifth pick in the draft and i just gave up That's a tough beat for them. That's a tough beat. This is a calculated risk by a smart organization, and I think they're saying this could really break our way where we – because, listen, we can do our draft analysis, but there are – depending on how you want to calculate it, there's at least three guys that can change a franchise, and some would even argue there could be six guys that can change a franchise, right? So I think they're saying if this breaks a certain way, we've got like a Halliburton running the show. We've got the people that we had around him outside of miles Turner that went to the finals. And we've got a brand new sort of like Cooper flag level stud on our team to run with. And we have a replacement for Turner that isn't exactly in line with our sort of pace. You know what I mean? I can't imagine Zubac kind of like running the break and catching alley-oops in transition. But he's a defensive stalwart that can do a lot of things that Miles Turner couldn't. It can also help with offensive rebounding and rear protection and just being a big. And a pick-and-roll partner for Halliburton. Halliburton, yeah. Right? And a great screener as well, right? Yes. A great screener. So that helps your guard. The other thing I will say, the devil's advocate is... I could make the argument that somebody like Zubat is actually, in this day and age in the NBA, is actually infinitely more valuable to have on the roster than most guys of his ilk or of his caliber. I don't want to interrupt. Let me just say one thing. Okay. There are two. there's multiple Evita Zubach's because last season was this sort of like revelation year for him where he was all of a sudden like top six big in the league and his numbers were crazy on both ends of the floor and very quietly amidst all of the losing and the drama and Kawhi and, and planting trees and Pablo Torre and Chris Paul, no one really noticed that like Zubach wasn't really injured, but he wasn't nearly as effective as he was last year. That's fair. I'll just say this, that I've thought about this a lot, that like it is very hard. The reason that draft picks are so important now more than in the past is because they're almost the last thing left that you actually get that like can wildly outperform their contracts. That's what has changed in the NBA. When you have non-All-Stars routinely signing for $180 million and $120 million and $200 million and on and on, those guys, as soon as you get somebody good, even if they're, like, really good but not, like, perennial All-Star level, you're paying them a fortune, so it has to be good enough, right? Like, obviously, you know, I've been covering a team locally that they had the guys and it wasn't good enough. But then you get into the pickle, right? Because it's like Jaron Jackson Jr. is going to get $50 million a year. And Desmond Payne is going to sign for. He's getting it from somebody. So you're paying him that. And then you end up moving on to go a different direction. And so what you hope is not only do you get the high picks, but they're the right ones. And those are because they're the only ones you can pay. And then there's very few guys throughout the NBA that then can truly outperform their contracts. You you almost never see somebody take a discount except for your guy Brunson, which is going to help your team, you know, going forward. And so don't look into that, Pablo. Do not look into that. When even the good players are getting that kind of money, I say all that to say, you go look at Zubats' contract. It's 18, 19.5, and 20.9. That's what he was worth when he signed it. He played last year like a $50 million player. I'm saying that is amazing. These guys just don't exist. You don't get guys like him making that kind of money is what I'm saying. So his value, my devil's advocate would be his value is actually infinitely greater because of where he can fit in on your payroll versus what he gives you. He is the rare I can actually wildly outperform this contract because I'm going to bring more to the table than a lot of guys that are making literally double and triple my salary. and so you know i still hate giving up that pick with those protections i do i don't mind the protections because you hate giving up the pick if it becomes a one through four pick but i think you can stomach the the five through ten but the five through nine i guess is what it's unprotected yeah but you also gave up matherin though and matherin's a guy that like he went to the finals last year and you barely used him i mean he still had 30 in some of those games well i mean they're going to get to 110 somehow you know what i mean i got you uh so they all right so that's what they did you had the wizards which were the absolute shocker just explain this to me just explain it to me okay so we're on a group text with a bunch of guys and i think the beginning of the group text was kind of like a consoling of joe house and as i'm reading it because i don't see it until later i'm reading And I'm like, wait, what? They've got Trey Young and they've got Anthony Davis and they've given up nothing, literally nothing. None of their own picks. None of these young players they've drafted. What have they given up? They haven't given up anything. And they've got Trey Young and Anthony Davis, which at minimum is an amazing NBA jam team, right? Trey Young and Anthony Davis is an amazing champion. Like, that is what that game was made for. The small and the big. The guy that shoots threes. You got Brunson Towns. You got Harden Mobley. Yes. And they suck. It's not like they gave up Alex Sarr. It's not like they gave up Trey Johnson. I love Alex Sarr. I got this. It's like, Alex Sarr, we want to turn you into Anthony Davis, It's not have you like play alongside Anthony Davis. I don't know. I just look at it and go, what am I screwing up? The long plan. They have not won 50 games since Wes unselled. So at least they have good players now. Like these guys are guys that have made a lot of all-star teams. And I would look at it and go, both of them want contracts. Well, like if you're ever going to be healthy and on best behavior, I've actually got them the time that they would be. So you could, I just want to know what the plan is, because is the plan to like, you know, in Halloween next season, it's like Anthony Davis and Trey young in uniform, like with extensions. Is that the plan? Sure. Why not? It's weird. Okay. Why not though? It's better than whatever the other plan was. What free agent are you doing? You could end up paying $58 million to a guy that plays 19 games. You know what I mean? Could. That could very well be the case. Do you really want to offer an extension to Anthony Davis right now? Well, and also they may ask out before it ever gets to anything. That's another thing. Does Anthony Davis play for the Wizards? I mean, I hope so. I hope so too. I'll tell you this. That'll be the first time I've tuned into the wizard since young wall and Beal. And they just did a damn ceremony for John wall. So it's been a while. I, I just, I want to know. I'm with it. I like it. They gave up nothing, nothing. CJ McCollum and Kispert. Who cares? who cares I just don't know if the plan is to extend these guys and build around them and be like our time is now or is it like oh we'll probably flip them into something else later we're just sort of a holding zone for Anthony Davis I'm telling you I hope they do look no Young's gonna be there yes it does feel like Young's the guy's in the front office is the guy that moved heaven and earth to get him in Atlanta and moved off of Luca at the time. So he obviously targeted him. You only need one huge believer, and that guy's career has been tied to him for the longest. So he's staying. It's only a matter of what happens with Davis. And I'll just say this. I hope it does come to fruition because they become fun to watch. Absolutely. They become fun to watch. If they're on the court, available, playing hard, all that stuff, right? But like, I would tune that in. I would tune it in. It's interesting. It's interesting. Trey Young is always fun to watch. Yes. Offensively, he's just fun to watch. The Mismatch is brought to you by FanDuel. And with FanDuel, your Friday nights just got a little louder. Let me tell you why. Every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern, FanDuel's got limited time specials to pregame the weekend. Boosts, bonuses, surprises, all live in the app. I could not be more excited for a matchup this Friday that involves the New York Knickerbockers against the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons and the Knicks had an extremely close playoff series last year that seemed like every game went down to the last possession. The last time the Knicks played the Pistons, the Pistons absolutely dominated them. And now the Knicks coming in with an eight game win streak and maybe red velvet will be available for the Pistons. 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And then the other bad team that made a next year we need to be good move was the Utah Jazz. And I'll be damned if this did not happen a couple hours after we recorded Tuesday's show, which had a clip of me saying, I can't lose both of them. I selfishly do not want to lose Jaron Jackson Jr. because that's my daughter's favorite player. And then by the time we get to the trade deadline, I did not lose both of them. I only lost her favorite player, which, by the way, the first day I get in the car, I pick her up from carpool that day. People wanted to know what happened. Picked her up from the carpool, and I swear to you, so she is upset. I could see it on her face as she's getting in the car. It's her daughter, you know, yeah. No, no, she knows, though. No, I'm saying you know when your daughter is upset. Yeah, but she's never. She is the most joyous kid in the world, but she is frowning. I'm like, she knows. It's Memphis. Everybody knows. The teacher told her. she's been in school though but the teacher told her this is carpool yeah yeah but she had found out she gets in the car and i was like hey and she looks at me this is the saddest thing you're gonna hear all week she goes he signed a contract he signed a contract and i said i know sweetie I was like and now I'm attempting to explain how professional sports works right she like he signed a contract and she goes why tell me why And I like I trying to explain it And needless to say does not want the explanation She's not going to accept anything I say. Well, Walter Clayton Jr. No, try me, dude. Hey, so she's so upset. A 2032 first round pick. She's so upset about the whole thing. This has been a bad, bad week, right? So you'll love this. We're going to get back to the Jackson trade a second. Don't worry. But I pick her up today from school, and she gets in the car. I said, how was school? She was like, eh. I was like, the social studies test. She's like, it was hard. And I said, they didn't trade Ja. Bro, this is how down she is. She looks at me. She goes, he never plays anyway. I was like, I thought she was going to be. I thought I was like going to quell some of it. Right. Because she likes him, too. No. She's so mad about the Jared thing that now it's like it doesn't matter. I heard reports that that's also what other GMs were saying when they were asked about their interest. It's 100 percent what they said. anyway evidently they're like anything will you give us anything they're like no dude a first round pick in 2064 dude when they when tim mcmahon put out a tweet saying that a team interested in moran is asking the grizzlies to attach a pick to him i was like what are we talking about when you keep they did there have been so many times where players are on just at the precipice of being traded, don't get traded, and end up having very successful runs in that town. And it could happen here. So here is the Jaron Jackson Jr. deal. It's Jaron Jackson Jr., John Conchar, Vince Williams, and Jock Landau for George Niang, who's already been waived, Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Walter Clayton Jr., and three first-round picks. Also, also a very important, a twenty to twenty eight million dollar trade exception, which is the biggest in NBA history, which then that is obviously used as give us your crap attached to a pick. And so then at the end, you can say here was the final haul for the Jaron Jackson Jr. trade, and it will include inevitably more picks included because you've used that to trade into. Right. you've used that money to trade into. And the first round picks are like, you know, there's a Phoenix 2031. There's a Lakers pick and another one. And all I'll just say is on the picks thing, there are some that you can always be certain are probably going to be pretty good because they're from rad organizations. So you figure. But you really never know. Like if I would have told you this year's Indiana pick is going to be amazing, You'd have been like, what? They're in the finals, right? I'm saying this time last year. Or look at what we're doing with this year's Clippers pick going to the Thunder. Or this year, how about this one? The Desmond Bain trade that Memphis made to Orlando, the best asset in most everybody's mind that was returned in that deal was this season's Phoenix first rounder. And at the time, you're thinking, are we going to get Boozer, DeBanza, or Peterson? All right, how about this? What kind of odds could you have gotten on this? So that pick is the best of Orlando or Phoenix, and that is by a six-game margin Orlando's pick now. It's the – Well, depending – No, no, no. I'm saying Orlando has like 25 wins and Phoenix has like 31. Yeah. Right. And so what kind of odds could you have gotten that the Grizzlies would be getting Orlando's pick in that deal because they would have a worse record than Phoenix? We had Orlando coming out of the East at that point. They were playing the Thunder in the finals. Especially after they acquired Desmond Bay. Yeah, that's exactly what they needed. So you never know what these trades are going to be. Especially when they get more than two years away, you just don't know. Right. You just don't know. So it's Jaron Jackson Jr., John Koch, our Vince Williams, Jock Landau. By the way, already got text tonight as we're recording this. Jack Landell was then traded for nothing, cash considerations, to the Atlanta Hawks. They played Jack Landell in Atlanta tonight. In the first half, he had 17 points on six of eight shooting and four of six from three. Oh, my God. Unbelievable. Six from three is wild for Jack Landell. Jack Landell. He's going crazy. He had a game like that earlier this season, though, didn't he? He's had a bunch of them. Like a 35er or something. He's been great. He's been great for Memphis this year. But hilariously, he was part of that Utah deal. They moved him for nothing to Atlanta. And now he's like at a 17-point first half for the Hawks tonight. My phone started exploding. They're like, Landau is going crazy. Let's just squeeze all the juice out of the Memphis Orange. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're already there. All right. As someone who's more locked into Memphis Grizzlies basketball than anybody I know and more than anybody on the planet, a handful of people, how do you feel about how this played out with Ja? It is. It's one of those moments where I told you from the very beginning. And in fact, when we recorded our show in New York, I said to you at that point, you get that. I know you're going to say. Where I was like, I told you that. They're not going to take a bad deal. All the reported return was terrible. Yes. You told me that they're not going to make a bad deal. So just get it out of your head. He's traded. They're not going to make a bad deal. And that never changed. It never changed. Like that is. I will say this. That takes an immense amount of discipline. Because at some point there was probably somebody being like, yo, we just got to do this. Just make it happen. And. I have absolutely no idea which way this goes now. I really don't. I don't know if he's like, you know, he's hurt right now. But does he play at the end of the year? Is he sitting the rest of the year? Like, how does it work? Like, he looks around, and if his – he – there's got to – No, no, no, no, Verna, Verna. I think the plan stays the same for him. What are the two things that are best for him? You say it every pod. awesome and be available yes those are still the best two things for him but you in memphis or outside of memphis but you also come to realize like there has to if there was ever a moment to have some self-awareness it's when nobody literally wants to trade for you nobody is willing to give up anything that the grizzlies will take back and there is a report that people are saying we'll take him if you'll attach a pick like if there was ever a time to get humbled about like your plight i would think that would be the time like because he doesn't strike me as the type and you know way better than i do so i'm asking this question he does not strike me as the type to have a real moment of self-reflection self-reflection and humility and that he is really his self-value has gone down and he's questioning his basketball abilities i don't think that is I don't believe I don't think questioning his basketball abilities. I think you have to be honest with yourself and say they were going to trade me, but there's nothing out there for him. And and, you know, he got scared about Sacramento because there was a report that came out from Yahoo. And it was like Morant has made it clear he doesn't want to. It's the same thing. You remember when Jimmy Butler did it last year? And like out of nowhere, Jimmy Butler was running to every writer and microphone available telling them I didn't want to go to Memphis. And it's like, why would that even like what? Unless that was brought to the table. And so I think once Sacramento became a very real possibility, then they tried to put out like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, don't trade for him because he ain't re-signing there. And, you know, I mean, you're just doing this. You're making a mistake because that's not where he wants to be or whatever. Like the same way you would always do it. But so I'm saying. It was 4 o'clock Eastern today. Sabonis, Levine, and DeRozan were all like, wait, wait, wait. We didn't get traded? I know. Like, you know, they were all calling their agent being like, maybe it's just not processed through yet. I'm sorry. And the other thing we got to think about is if you're Morant and you were sore about not getting extensions, right? Like you looked up and Desmond Vane got taken care of full boat. Jaron Jackson got took a full boat. And then I didn't get, but I didn't get my money, even though, and you, and you have brainwashed yourself into forgetting that you aren't available regularly. Right. But even if that was like, as I told you a long time ago, like your best chance at getting that contract would be to be awesome in the place that actually has some stock in you. and has a fan base for you, right, that still loves you. And it's like this whole charade has been goofy as hell, and now he's still on the team, but he's still going to want the contract, but they're going to take it into the offseason, and what does the offseason hold? Does that change? Does his value go up dramatically over the next three months of basketball? I don't know. Maybe. Well, also in a rebuild when you're trying to lose, is he playing for you? That's not a good sign. I don't know. You know what I mean? If he's not playing for you, the market that didn't exist in February doesn't magically go up. And here's what's crazy, Jacoby. This is when you know how low his value is. There was a report saying they have lowered their threshold. for what they will take back. Right. And it still wasn't met. Also, we got that Giannis news early in the morning. So anybody that wasn't, it was out of the honest race and just said, all right, well that's getting taken into the off season. Those teams. I mean, I don't know. It's Miami. If Miami is basically being like, we want to be in the Giannis race this off season. So why would we trade for Morant now? Right. Right. That's the problem. It's like, because Giannis didn't move, it didn't make it more likely for Morant to move. It oddly made it less likely for Morant to move. Yeah. Because if Giannis goes to, we'll call it the Timberwolves, the Warriors or whatever, then the Heat are evaluating their future in a Giannis-less world and saying maybe bringing Morant here is the right thing to do. Buy low on him. Let's go. Well, and the other thing is you never know. Sometimes the offseason is much easier to make a move anyway, just because teams then have a – Their team has flamed out in the first round of the playoffs. Of course. Or they've gotten mowed down in the second round. And so then they're like, yeah. Like, look, that is exactly why. Let's talk about the Knicks. Let's talk about the Knicks. They win eight in a row. Right. And raise the trade deadline. It's like, well, guess what? Let's just see how this plays out. If we lose in game seven of the finals in overtime, maybe we don't have to make any big changes. But we get beat by, you know, whoever in the first round. Let's start putting a package together for Giannis. You know where else that happened? Charlotte. There was, I saw a Chris Haynes report this evening saying that Minnesota called Jeff Peterson and Charlotte to inquire about Lamella. And they were told, yo, we want to see this through. Our guys have got something going. They're really gelled together. Don't you take all of the post deadline, here's the things that didn't happen, reports with a little bit of a grain of salt. I actually buy that one. No, I buy it. But like, how close did they get? How earnest was it? Did they just throw in some low ball offer that like maybe that? No, no, no. I think it was a check in. You know what I mean? And I think that because, look, everybody's got access to all the same reports. And guess who was all? Look, three guys were in all of those posts every day on Instagram and all of those articles. Trae Young, John Morant, Lamella Ball. Three disappointing point guards that teams need to move. Three completely different stories right now. Just could not be more different of what happened to the fates of those three players. Couldn't be different, right? Could not be more different. One of them got on a team. One of his team is the hottest team in the league. One of them got moved for C.J. McAuliffe and Corey Kispert. And one of them couldn't even get traded. on the block. It's wild. You cannot get LaMelo. You cannot put enough first rounders together to get LaMelo, and you can't get one first rounder for John Moran. Right. In fact, they want you to give them a first rounder to take him. Just to take on John Moran. Right. This is wild. Briefly, since you brought him up, let's just have the quick Hornets conversation. Our favorite team, obviously. First of all, shout to the Hornets for featuring the one and only Verno. in their hype video about the Hornets now. That was amazing. That was amazing. I did make their hype video talking about how much I enjoyed watching them and how they are. Those are the most fun teams to root for are the young team that seemingly all likes each other and also shares the ball and is awesome on offense and flies up and down the court. Like, it's what you want. It seems like they're having a lot of fun playing basketball. And it's the first time through also, right? Like the expectations are none. Yeah. And so like when you're winning every night and scoring 140, that's the coolest thing ever. I think Con Knipple's so good. I don't even think Con Knipple expected to be this good. I mean. Honestly. Like he's like, he's unstoppable sometimes. That lineup is fun. I mean, they got a good thing going. But anyway. What do you think about, because they, because I watch a lot of Hornets games they do this thing with Lamello in the fourth quarter where like most sort of like most point guards go to point guards like a Brunson type it's like alright you sit out until like eight minutes left in the fourth and then you play the rest of the fourth quarter but the Hornets sometimes they don't play ball the fourth but on this win streak they kind of like stagger him and Sexton and like Sexton will play like minutes like eight through four and then they'll throw in Lamello to like finish it. It's really weird the way they use Sexton. Like they're very different teams with Sexton and LaMelo. And I love that they had that option, like a curve ball and a fastball on a pitcher. And I think Kobe white will provide a scoring punch that Sexton doesn't, but I just find it. I find it interesting that they've made this move because I kind of liked Sexton on that team. I did too. He's unrestricted. So it was a name that we did brought up, but just so was Kobe white, right? He's going into free agency as well. So the first thing was I'm on year seven of wishing Colin Sexton could end up on a good team. Like I want to see him in a playoff basketball game because I've always been a fan of his. But he moves to another team that's not a playoff team like it. It's been his whole career. It's just that he went from Cleveland when they sucked to Utah when they sucked to Charlotte. Then Charlotte gets good. And now it's gone. But also then you bring in Tyus Jones. This is your guy. but it's kind of like no he's already gone oh he's gone again they moved him to mcdallas that makes sense because i was like what is what is happening here yeah yeah you got a great point guard and then you had a thing working with sex and so you're bringing kobe white you're bringing jones i was like this doesn't make any sense i'm gonna tell you i'm gonna tell you a weird one there's a guy a weird angle to this there's a guy that i'm oh and they got malachi branham all right Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a guy that I'm friends with that I follow on Instagram. Target guy? No, not him. But a guy that I follow on Instagram who used to live in Memphis and he now lives in Charlotte where he moved back home. He was from Charlotte originally. Anyways, the point of this is I didn't even think about this at the time, but I was like scrolling through Instagram. And he did this whole like welcome home, Kobe, all this stuff. And I was like, huh? And then I was like, oh, yeah, he played in North Carolina, right? But what I did not realize, Kobe White is the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina state history. Seriously? He is. He 3,573 points. In four years? He broke James On Curry's record. What a name from the past, James On Curry. His senior year, he averaged 31-10-8. So he was the greatest high school scoring player in North Carolina history. And then, of course, played in Chapel Hill for North Carolina his one year before he ended up going to the NBA. But I didn't even realize that. It was this whole, like, I was clicking through, and this guy did this whole welcome home thing. it's unbelievable to have you love it when hometown players return to their it was kind of love it i did not know that i i knew that he went to north carolina i did not know his high school exploits in a state that is basketball so basketball obsessed state to become the highest is the highest point total in high school in history dude 3 500 it's crazy thousand is a lot It's like a milestone to hit. Also, not a bad state to have that record in. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, loaded. Yeah, he didn't do it in Alaska. Right Loaded So yeah Kobe White So he have already have already a built in massive fandom in Charlotte which is I did not realize right I mean I knew that there'd be Carolina fans that like him, but I mean, the guy's got like real North Carolina history, Kobe White. But yeah, like I don't think, I don't think that changes them very, very much. No, no, no, no, no. And, and maybe they'll resign him in the off season. if that was obviously not in their plans to resign Colin Sexton. I don't know. I could see Kobe White. Maybe. A rental? Yeah, I could see it happening. Maybe. He doesn't seem to fit the profile of what they're trying to do in their quote-unquote timelines. Yeah, but they might get him on a bargain, and they ain't got a lot of guys that make crazy money. You know what I mean? No. They got guys on rookie contracts, though. Yeah, and Bridges. Bridges is kind of like their only second job. The Warriors. So we finally get done talking about Kaminga, at least, though, right? That happens. Kaminga ended up going to Atlanta, and obviously, along with Buddy Heald and Chris Abbs, poor Zingas. You like it? I'm hesitant to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. this feels like they're fumbling the the like twilight years of steph curry's career because you remember they're putting together a deal they put together this big deal for butler and they went on a great regular season finish steph gets hurt but then it was like low remarketing is gonna come oh he'd be such a good fit and and then it's not low remarketing oh it's yannis and takumpo but then we put yannis and lebron comes in the offseason look at that and then it's Or we're going to get Jaron Jackson Jr. And then you end up with Chris Daps Porzingis. Like, Chris Daps, Draymond, Steph. No, look, this is a take it into the offseason. What's going to happen in the offseason? Well, his money's going to fall off the books, and they have, you know. But there's not crazy, like, free agents this offseason. I mean, you try to make a trade, right? you try to trade into and so i hope so for for warriors fans for steph curry just for the whole thing like i don't want to see steph curry like in the plan for the next couple years scoring 30 i mean and that's that's the point it didn't it didn't change anything this year that's for sure we don't think it was a world i was looking at like four first round picks pods kaminga then you bring in Giannis and you work a little magic in the offseason the next thing you know you've got like Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer that's fun the East is a four team race and it's close that's what you have on here why you gotta say it like that though that's not selling your co-host that's not true Well then, don't say it like that I just said it like that I said the East is a four-team race No, you said it like you just took a sip of milk and the expiration date was two months ago That's how you said it That sounds goofy to me The East is a four-team race that's not even close No, it says it is close It's closer than you think To me, after this trade deadline... Who are the four? Who do you think? The Raptors aren't in there. The Magic aren't in there. It's the Knicks, the Celtics, the Cavs, and the Pistons. All of those teams got marginally better. Philly would like a word. Philly? Philly would like a word. Philly would like a word. Okay. Philly would like a word. All right. This Philly run is fun, and I'm rooting for them. Okay? I'm rooting for them. This is fun. But, like, let me see Joel Embiid be healthy from now until the playoffs, scoring the way he is now before they start entering this conversation. The only other ones are Toronto. No. Miami. So how is this not a four-team race? Orlando. Because I'm putting Philly in it. No, you're not. Yes, I am. putting Philly in it. Yes, I am. Really? Is Tatum coming back? I think so. I mean... I like Vucevic for the Celtics. I love that. I mean, I don't think... I don't view Boston and Philly massively different. I don't. In terms of their opportunity in the playoffs. Again, we have to assume health on this stuff. But why? If you're assuming health, then like... Because he's been playing a lot and he's been awesome. Right now. Yeah, I got it. I got it. But, I mean, he's also been laboring for, like, the last couple of years. And he's looked way better than he has. You have to admit that. He doesn't look prime Joel Embiid. I mean, come on. He's never – let's stop acting like he was ever Usain Bolt. No, but he looks very vulnerable in a playoff scenario when it's like everyone gets a microscope on him in a defensive end. The only team that made a big win-now move? Cavs. Was the Cavs. I said the Celtics. You put the Celtics in that. They moved out with the Vucevic thing? Well, they had a dramatic glaring hole in their roster that, you know, Keita was doing everything he could to fill. But, like, they needed to shore up that five spot, and they did. But Simons is a loss. Yes. He was a huge scoring punch off the bench. And he started to play so well in the last couple months that he started wondering if they would even move him. Yeah. Simons is a loss. So that's – I'm not sure that that is – That's a net positive. Yeah, whereas with Cleveland, I thought this was fascinating when I was reading about it. It said that Darius Garland, DeAndre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball were the three worst net rating players on the Cavs that had played 500 minutes. They had actually not won the minutes on average that those guys were on the court, and they replaced those three. Not together, but individually. Individually. They replaced Garland Hunter and ball with Harden Ellis and Dennis Schroeder. I mean, I love it. It's for sure an upgrade right now. The question is the next 10 years. Does the Garland thing come back? It's a bet against Garland is what it is, because when Garland's right, right? Like he hasn't been right this entire season when he is right, right? Like you have to wonder if he is better than Donovan Mitchell. You know what I mean? Well, and it's also the conversations you're having. And it's also one of those where you're sitting there going, we got to win this. We got to make a run now. Otherwise, Garland's going to be the one that, you know, Pat Riley's after next. Right? Like, I mean, you get to these points where you start making deals, the win now deals, because of the age of your best player. And so you're like, all right. Like, if we don't think this is good enough, but, you know, the Garland thing could come back. It could come back to home. It could. It could. But, like, I understand. I mean, if you look up in three years, and Darius Garland's one of the best point guards in the NBA, and Donovan Pinchel's playing for the Heat, like. Maybe that wasn't a great decision. And you lost in the second round because James Harden was two for nine in game seven. And you're paying James Harden $40 million in these 400 pounds. Right. Like, again, that's all. It could be bad, but that's a risk. They assessed the risk. And they said, we need to win now. They have famously flamed out in the playoffs the last three years. And a lot of the times because there's guys in street clothes, they're like, are we really going to do this again? And say what you want about James Harden's checkered playoff success or lack thereof, but he's available. James Harden plays. That guy plays. The one of those. So, all right, let's just go through those. Detroit, I didn't like – you know I love Detroit. And you also love Jaden Ivey. But I didn't like this. I didn't – yeah, I didn't like this. I already have a white guy that shoots that gets attacked on defense. Okay? We got Duncan Robinson. I don't – Herger has a little more offensive versatility. No, no, no. He can be a little slashing. Like a second side swing, swing, close out attack kind of a guy. This is a – and we'll talk about some of these other guys. Like we already talked about Ben Matherin, right, who's now going to have to go somewhere to get whatever contract he's going to get. We'll see what L.A. gives him. Okay? We talked about – or we have not talked about, but Cam Thomas, who we were on the show and I told you, bro, take the money. Take the money. Take the money. He did this one-year $6 million deal. Now he's just been waived. And now he's going to go have to try to track down a team and then a contract in the offseason. But anyway, I'm wrapping this back to Detroit. The best bet on yourself one was the guy that said, no, I don't want the contract. I'll play it out. You mean when Malik Beasley bet on himself allegedly? No. He's the greatest. I had to. I'm sorry. He's the greatest bet on yourself player. I'm sorry. I had to. I apologize to Malik. Allegedly. It's alleged. I had to. It was just right there. He is amongst the bet on yourself players. Yes, yes. Him and Porter Jr.'s brother are at the top. That may be Terry. Allegedly. It's all over. Allegedly. All right. Duren is the greatest because Duren's going to get a freaking max now, right? He just made the all. Yes, I'm saying. So there were some that went like, no, I don't want your money. I'll play this year, and then I'll take it to restricted free agency. And then there's some like a dirt. So now you look up and you go, well, shit, we got to pay dirt, a fortune this offseason. We ain't going to have money for Jaden Ivey. So let's just go ahead and move off that now. Bro, no. You have a chance at doing something this year with this Detroit team That's why I don't like it. I would have kept all my athletes. If I lose Ivy in the offseason, I lose them in the offseason. But I'm talking about the best version of my team this year, and I think they did not make their team better. That's my opinion, right? I think it's strictly saying our offense is Cade Cunningham making decisions, and we have another player outside the three-point line in the corner that he can reliably make a decision and throw to when he gets doubled or when he gets past somebody. I got it. And they'll say we're flanked with so many awesome defenders that even if he gets targeted, it's okay. Yeah, I think that's a front office having a long, difficult conversation and saying, Ivy is probably a better basketball player. But for this team and this year and this situation, our team is better with Kevin Herter. I'm going to say that's the conversation they had. I'm not saying it's right. But they had that long, difficult conversation that came to that conclusion. And I understand the thinking. And that's what I don't agree with. I just don't. I didn't like that. New York, I love the acquisition of Alvarado. You didn't give up anything. And Alvarado fits in anywhere. Don't forget this, Verno. Verno, you don't forget this. Oh, I know. And no, Bad Bunny this Sunday, too. And Alvarado's Puerto Rican. and Bad Bunny. And he's already Knicks fans' favorite. Last Friday night, Memphis played at New Orleans in front of probably 600 people. And at the end of the third quarter, Alvarado goes on this absolute heater to the point where he hits a three at the end of the third quarter and he turns and he's looking at the crowd and he's pumping his fist. I'm like, this dude is about to pull out his cock. Like, that's about to happen, right? Like, he is literally a breath away from swinging, like, helicoptering this at the Grizzlies. Like, he was lit. Absolutely lit. Oh, my God, Madison Square. And that was in front of 600 people in New Orleans. Wait till he does this crap at the Garden. Oh, my God. The guy might as well. He's just a human manifestation of a Timberland boot. That's what he is. Oh, I know. That is what he is. He's a human manifestation of a Timberland boot. Like, all of my Nick's accounts and Nick's chats are just full of all these Alvarado in high school footage. Oh, yeah. Alvarado at the Puerto Rican Day parade. Like, you would think that Alvarado was like the mayor, the chief of police. You would think that he was the Statue of Liberty right now. He is just so celebrated in New York like no one else. Like no one else right now. I like it. Can I say this, though? Yeah, yeah. Deuce is out right now, so it's good timing. But like Brunson, Colick, Deuce, Alvarado. Dude. That seems like. Just figure it out. You got 15 spots. I got it. You got four guys. It's the same thing. I'm saying 10 minutes of Alvarado heat is all you need. Just let him come in and muck stuff up for 10 minutes and he'll win the crowd. Boston, we'll see. That's a wait and see, right? The Vucci thing. I like it. Vucci's going to work there. It's going to work. But I'm saying the loss of Simons, does it outweigh the loss of Simons? I think we're not taking into account defense, too. I mean, Simons is exactly a defensive stopper. He is not. No. No, he's not either, but he's a body in the middle. He's at least got size, and it's not like they've got, you know, you've put a lot on. It's not like Luka Garza is Bill Russell either. No, no, no. Right? Then you have Philadelphia, which kind of just stayed pat, right? They didn't really make a move. And so those are the teams in contention. And then none of those other ones really made, you know, Toronto, Miami, Orlando, nothing of huge significance that would have changed their play. Toronto got Trace Jackson Davis or whatever. A lot of those teams, everybody in the East did something, but a lot of it is like ninth, tenth guy in the rotation type of stuff. I listed a couple of days ago when I was talking to you, when we were going through our second tier guys, and I said Moran. So he's got the notebook. This is why he has the spiral notebook. That's why I have it. He's going back to previous show notes. It was guys that could swing things, And if I'm not mistaken, none of them got moved. And we talked about Sabonis, Morant, Porter Jr. Yep. And was there a fourth outside of Giannis? It's a spiral notebook. I can't recall if there was a fourth. Those are sort of the big ticket guys. Anthony Davis, I think, was part of it. Oh, Anthony Davis, maybe? That was before Davis got traded, yeah. Okay. So that was another one that we mentioned. Because, like, we had Kaminga and some of those other ones that were mentioned. But yeah, not none of those ended up getting moved, which is interesting because we talked for a long time about Porter Jr. and Sabonis. And like these are like and honestly, I remember early in an episode this season, I said the king, I listed them as one of my things. It was like, man, the king's got all these guys like you could see a scenario where Levine swings something or DeRozan goes to a winning team. or if Sabonis goes to, you know, I like that Toronto idea with Sabonis, with that group. And, yeah, and then just none of them got moved. I don't know what's going on with the Kings. I mean, it's fascinating. Usually franchises behave this way for like four or five years, and someone comes in and they're like, all right, we have adults in the room now. Yeah. Yeah. Let me just say one that I did love that took place on the trade deadline. Oh, I like this. This is new. I love IO. Oh, I love that too. Oh, yeah. They need it. I just saw them in person and watch them and thought, boy, they need an organizer too. Right. Especially, you know, they just moved off of Conley. Conley. No, no, no. But he can bring the ball up the court and then throw it to somebody that gets the offense going this is yeah and this is exactly like i could not believe houston went through this and then i watched rafael stone's thing and he's like we like our team and whatever and i'm like bro are you just gonna tell me you're gonna go to the the the trash heap and pick up like lonzo or a chris paul or somebody somebody yeah like your your turnover percentage is so high now because you can't reliably get into offense and you've lost the massive possession advantage you had because Adams is out now. And he kind of, I will say at the end, he did kind of, he did kind of say like he was asked about Van Vliet and a possible return. And he was like, look, if Fred can play, Fred will play. that's a big thing because I also work on the Max and Rich's show game over and this whole season Max Rich calls Van Vliet on the show Van Vliet picks up this is months ago too this wasn't like yesterday months ago and he's like oh what's going on Fred like Max says you're not playing this year and what are you up to obviously he's not going to be he's not going to sit there on the phone on a podcast and be like yeah I'm coming back but he's been working out hard like it's not it's not off the table so maybe so maybe he does end up coming back but to your point You're going to have Van Vliet coming off of a big injury, working himself back at the end of a regular season for a playoff run. You're probably better off bringing someone in healthy that's available. And I just like that. So I like the Desunmu one because you got those big wings in Ant and McDaniels And now Desumu is a real dog now Defender Yeah He like so you got some feisty stuff going on on that perimeter And then you've got obviously Gobert in the back. Like that is, I, I like that. It evens that out and it gets me to, now I'm bringing Dante off the bench in the best role to me. Well, well, I also look at it like it's just sort of, In a playoff game, right? We always said it's going to be the X factors. It's the role players at home and blah, blah, blah. McDaniels, DiVincenzo, Desumu, they're all sort of like live bets to get you 25 points. Could be. And go four for six from three and have their day where, you know, in the summer, you're like, do you remember that game four in Minnesota with Dante had 30? Like, you've got more guys now that have a high ceiling offensively than you had before. I just find, maybe I'm just too high on him, but I've always liked him. It's like the same way I've liked Sexton, where it's like these mega competitive, feisty guys that I do think have a profound impact. And like now I get to see him on a winning situation. The same way I was talking about Sexton earlier. Do you know who's who I put in that category? Who? Who? Same thing. These guys don't take seconds off on defensive possessions. They turn the ball handler three times before they get to half court. And you can feel the frustration from the point guard being like, leave me alone, dude. You're not going to get the ball. You're just making this annoying. And I think that that does have a profound effect on your teammates as well when you play like that. And now you're in a winning situation. You know what I'm saying? To tie it back to something you said about the Rockets, I'm watching the Pacers Rockets. They had a tight game a couple nights ago. And Thompson just can't, he can't do anything with Neesmith. You know what I mean? So he can't even coordinate the offense because he's just trying to keep the ball A, and then he gets a shoulder pass, and all of a sudden it turns into a man Thompson driving and creating, whereas if there was a true point guard, it would be let's work together and get some movements and some screens and make something happen. Yeah, you know I always say that. I can't stand the teams that try to do it without a point guard. Yeah, but back to – I always like – I love those guys too. I love the guys that put real effort in on defense. Yeah, I like that move. I like that move a lot. I actually think, like, that is one of the small ones that does change my opinion about a team. I like the Timberwolves. It's just a weird Nas Reed year, you know? It is a weird year. It's been a weird Nas Reed year. They're still like, this is one of those teams, though. They've been to these Western Conference Finals. They're going to be a tough one when it comes. And you didn't have the other ones. You know, those ones at the top that we've talked about all year, the Thunder, the Spurs, the Nuggets, nothing of count, really. Nothing that would alter opinions on what they are capable of. They're sticking with what they got, and they're going to see this through. For good reason. And for good reason. They're fantastic teams, right? The Thunder got what they got. They waved Plumlee. they did something else that was like tiny but they didn't really do anything of real significance but and I'm not going to act like the Dasunmuk thing changes my opinion massively of what Minnesota is capable of leapfrog them to like second in the west well you would say the only one that made is this fair as we wrap this up the only one that made moves during this trade deadline that could alter the playoffs significantly is Cleveland, if it takes. Yes, but I say that the word significantly is doing a lot of work there because, as I mentioned before, there's the Io DeSumo game where he scores 25 and swings a series. You know what I mean? Fair. And in the East, there's the Vucevic, hits three threes and changes the way you play defense against the Celtics, and now there's lanes for Jalen Brown to drive. Like, I would say alter significantly. Yeah, but in fairness, if I would have said, if you would have said, who do you like in the Western Conference Finals, and I would have said Minnesota, even before today, I could have made a legitimate case that would make sense. And I don't know if that would have been true. I'll take it one step further, Verno. If last week this day, Thursday, I said, take out your spiral notebook and write down in order one through five in the east and one through five in the west. not where they are in the standings, how you perceive them as title contenders. I do not think those lists changed. Maybe the Cavs like jumped a spot. The Cavs jumped a spot with Harden, I would say. But I don't think that those, that list of sort of your perception of where the teams stack up at the top of both conferences dramatically changed. I honestly think this broke well for your team. The Knickerbockers? I do. Oh, it's fantastic for the Knicks. I'll tell you why. I think the way this broke was great because the Giannis thing is taken into the offseason. And so you don't have to make the decision now. It's such a strange decision. You're winning a ton of games. The vibes are good. Why would you bring in someone who's not going to play for four to six weeks? Nobody else changes their trajectory greatly. Exactly. And then all of a sudden, if things don't work out, you lose to whoever. Pistons in the second round. All right. let's start let's call john horse on the phone and i and one thing that we didn't mention which i think is worth mentioning which could affect the power rankings i might just go against the statement i just made quietly reigning mbp mbp favorite sga now has like a abdominal strain same thing that aj mitchell has and there's the thunder have been so good this year and they've dealt with so many injuries and at some point it's going to catch up it just has to well i mean and now you know they played they never had final scoring 40 point jaylen williams this year like that version of jaylen williams has not existed for them this year and it's one of those things that like obviously they fancy themselves as a team that could compete for a second consecutive championship. And if that's one of those, you know, they did it last year. Chet missed damn near the whole year. No, but he missed a big chunk in the beginning, played two months of regular season, got ready for the playoffs. But don't you think they'll just kind of ease into this and be like, you know, what matters is that we are fully healthy by May and June. I'm not saying, you know, the Thunder are the fourth in the power rankings, but it's like that's a significant amount of time for their offensive engine and they've missed so many guys for so long and i was watching the knicks in double overtime beat the nuggets shots the knicks and oh look it's christian brown you know oh right christian brown they're kind of like aaron gordon away from being right now you know what i mean so it's you know that whole like we don't have yokage we don't have brown we don't have gordon but we're still kind of winning this is a good story like the nuggets are kind of getting healthy now and if they can get that momentum going for the regular season you know it'd be good to have that kind of continuity because the thunder every single thunder game i've watched and obviously like uh topich and sorber i'm not going to count but every game i've watched there had they've been missing rotation players not even just one like every game i watch and and like there's only that at some point that's going to catch up to them and who knows of these teams you know as we talked about as we uh as we wrap this up, the very beginning of this, we talked about how it's more about 2027. Clearly the honest thing's getting taken into 2027, but we've got the Clippers who have like recalibrated now. And now we'll look different. I guess it'll be Garland and Matherin or whatever iteration of it. And, you know what I mean? Along the oldest team. They have the Brooke Lopez. I know. Kawhi and Harden. They're all in their forties. And Chris, a bunch of guys in their forties. Now they've kind of got this like new timeline. Oh yeah. And then obviously the Jazz and the Wizards, other teams that now, like, now we'll be looking at them much differently for 2027, but it didn't alter anything dramatically for 2028. Oh, one last thing before we get out of here. We did not mention the massive Lakers move to its choir, Luke Kennard. Oh, yeah. Because from what I was told is LeBron, his last wish playing his last year with the Lakers was, is there any way it can be me and 10 white guys? And they're close. They're close. I don't think they have Kinect anymore, though. Yes, they do. He's a man to trade. And LaRavia. He's a man to trade. And LaRavia, by the way, and LaRavia and Kennard and Luca and Maxi Kleba and Drew Timmy. Right. Oh, yeah. And LeBron said, I need a white coach, too. Yes. That's what happened. That's how he wanted to go out. Just me and a bunch of white guys. Yeah, that's it. That's it. We throw it at the Luke. Luke Kennard. Some of the LeBron reports are absolutely insane to me. like i don't i don't put any stock in it was like sources say lebron james is is going to finish the year with the lakers that was an actual headline at like a reputable place you know what he's got a no trade clause you know what's crazy is uh it was saying i was reading something earlier that said like a third of the teams in the league had caps face but now because you know some of these teams engage in what's called pre-agency right that's what they say at the trade deadline pre-agency, which means I'm trading for the guy that I'm going to pay in the offseason. Right. It said a third of the teams had cap space, but now it'll be Brooklyn. The Bulls, the Lakers and the Grizzlies will have space with the maps to the maps. The maps got a bunch of space because of their moves. Yeah, those will be the teams with cap space, though. Huh. Interesting. Interesting. Maybe we'll talk about basketball next episode. Maybe. I think so. Quick, quick. I think we will. Quick Super Bowl. What do you got? What's your vibes? Can I just say something? It's objectively boring Super Bowl. Boring Super Bowl. Oh, that's not a – that is the most lukewarm take in the world. So here's something I've been asking myself and others. I'm asking you, who's the biggest star playing in the game on Sunday? you know we had this discussion on my show the other day i always talk about it through the prism of our moms our wives and kids is there anybody in this game that they would know oh no absolutely not oh no not even the coaches nobody absolutely not and no no my wife knows stefan digs because he's dating Cardi B. You think so? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Cardi? Yeah. Or a big Cardi B house. Big Cardi B house. Okay, you think she knows Stefan Diggs only because of that relationship? More because he's had babies with other women while he's been with Cardi B. That's fair. But the name does ring in my wife's head. Yes. Yeah, I don't think there's anybody on either of those teams that would it's the first time in a long time that crosses over at all that's what i'm saying yeah you got to be a real football fan like i mean i look here's the deal with this super bowl i will watch for the event of it and as i as i always do and first of all you're gonna watch the super bowl the hot take but what about the gambling no no and my bets my bets yes yes that's i mean i that's how i will make this entertaining i'll be in a squares thing i'll bet a ton of props i'll bet a i'll bet a ton of props and then that'll be that'll be what i root for do you know what i do because i love immediate return on my bets i do a lot of drive bets result of this drive oh you're that's that's like crack oh it's great it makes it so much fun it makes it so much fun yeah i do that with the golf holes oh i do that with the golf holes the only way to watch golf the golf holes is the only way to watch that's the only way to watch that's a i'm going i'm going i'm going i don't think i'm gonna do i'm gonna bet the under for sure because i think i think yeah i think i think this is a defensive matchup i think it's gonna be like i think it's gonna kind of be like that uh rams patriots one which is mcveigh belichick was like 13 to 10 you know it's gonna be like that i think it's just gonna be like unless there's interceptions that flip the field where the offense gets the ball in like the 25th the 25 yard line or whatever but i think it's gonna be a big defensive game i have a weird one because i don't really have some kind of strong rooting interest and i also it's i don't know this is it it is a weird year weird it's a weird year i haven't even like heard about the commercials there's also like the only juice has been tom brady saying he didn't have a rooting for the patriots which makes it's insane to me that's insane to me that isn't said he wouldn't root for the patriots but like normally by now isn't there like oh guess what they're gonna do like an an ai george washington's gonna do a budweiser commercial or something like usually you hear buzz about the commercials by now you're like not even that yeah the tom brady i don't have a dog in the fight that would that would if i were a patriots fan that would drive me crazy oh oh i mean that would be like if if the grizzlies ever made the nba finals and zebo was like i don't care his number is in the raft they're like what do you forget that's zebo dude i know and this guy was 20 years of six titles it's crazy it's crazy i mean there's a statue outside dude michael urban played for miami 50 years ago and was on all fours barking like a dog during the national championship he literally was the dog in the fight and and tom brady's like yeah i don't really have a dog in the fight like what what this dude played college football there and wore number 47 in 1988 you know and he's losing his mind like frothing at the mouth on the sideline and you're like yeah whoever wins wins yeah What? And when you go to watch The Mismatch on Netflix, you can see his podcast right next to ours in the sports podcast column. Oh, the White House. Yeah. Yeah. With Michael Beasley. It's unbelievable. Michael Beasley's on there. Every show? You didn't see that? No. Michael Beasley went viral last week for saying he was like, John Moran's got an immature dad. did a whole John Moran's got an immature dad rant and that's the reason how do I say this I'm trying to choose my words I don't know if Michael Beasley is the appropriate person to evaluate maturity levels in other human beings that's all I'm going to say me and you, we agree well I'm going to go back to covering my team with a disgruntled guy that didn't get traded. If he plays great, it's like bad for the team somehow. And my daughter's favorite player got traded. Unbelievable. Just throw feces at my head. Seriously. Are we rebuilding or no or what? Are we losing? Are we winning? Do we want John to play well? Do we don't want him to play at all? What is the plan? Do I want Cam Boeser? Do I cheer for the team? If they score three, do I clap or not? If John dunks, am I cool with that? Oh, no, I hate these seasons because I'm walking out of the arena. People will be like, I mean, look, it was a fun game, but it hurt our draft pick. It's worse in football, to be honest. It's way worse in football. In football, it's way worse. Like, at the end of the season, it's like you get an overtime win. It's like, well, there goes our chances for the next five years. Oh man, unbelievable. All right. Big shout out to Brian and Jeff for helping us navigate this week. You are out in LA. Los Angeles, baby. Is it nice out there? Yeah, it's always nice out here. I had sugar fish for lunch, really health light sushi. And I was riding one of those weird rental bikes back. And right after I had a nice healthy lunch, I saw Pink's hot dog stand. I went straight for a chili dog. I love it out here. I had an orange dreamsicle latte yesterday. I had a Yemeni latte this morning. I had a smoothie. You know what? I'm going to Erewhon. You know what? I'm going to learn how to surf. I'm going to get some tattoos. I'm changing. I'm not even going to. I'm going to wear flip flops. I'm going to wear flip flops. That's what I'm going to do. Next time I'm wearing flip flops. I'm not even going to recognize you anymore. I'm wearing flip flops and board shorts. One week in LA and he's just going to change. Yeah, but thanks to Brian and Jeff for helping us navigate this entire thing. Jacoby, I will talk to you next week. Remember, you must be 21 and over and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and over and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambler problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Or you can call 1-888-79-7777. Or you can visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Or you can visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. 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