Welcome in to the newest edition of the Justin
Townsports podcast. I am your owner and host,
Justin Jackson. In this week's episode, we'll
be talking about the NBA as we are ramping up
into the offseason. We will also be talking about
some of the new contracts players have signed.
We'll also touch on the NBA draft day one as
well. Now, as always, don't forget to like, rate,
and subscribe to the Justin Townsports podcast
on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your
podcasts. And as always, don't forget to follow
the social media handle at JTimeSports. I repeat,
at JTimeSports for all of your breaking news
and updates. Now, as always, don't forget to
sit back and get ready to learn something. We'll
be right back. We'll be right back. his opinion
from the heart he can never show you fake if
you winning or you losing he gonna tell it to
you straight this is just in time sports come
and get your whoopie takes he gonna tell it to
you straight welcome into the show This is one
of my favorite style of shows, the Insta release
shows. Also, these shows are great for me because
I don't get to talk much pure basketball, right?
And football is my number one sport. You guys
know I'm a football coach. So football is my
number one sport. But I do enjoy basketball.
I like the machinations of basketball. I like
the moves, the drama, the... kind of the roster
control that a basketball player has, so on and
so forth. So I do enjoy good basketball topics.
I do enjoy good basketball discussion. However,
I don't get a chance to talk much pure basketball
pretty much at any point. And this is a show
post -NBA finals. We're kind of moved away from
the finals now. Oklahoma City had their parade
yesterday, so we're officially putting a nice
little string and bow. On the 2024 -2025 season,
we're officially moving into the 2025 -2026 season.
Before I go too further, remember, if you heard
an intro, in case you skipped it and skipped
that amazing song by B -Roy, remember to like,
rate, and subscribe to the podcast, wherever
you get your podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, whatever.
And make sure that you follow the social media
handle at JTimeSports. I repeat, at JTimeSports.
Follow your breaking news, updates, and coverage.
But... let's get into it so we're going to break
down the beginning of the 2025 -2026 season in
three sections so first we're going to talk about
trades and if those trades have already kind
of finished um and by the way i finished so somebody
traded let's say like for instance we got to
talk about kd so kd to houston involved the 10th
overall pick That pick's already been drafted,
so we're going to mention that player's name,
what that pick turned into. And there's a couple
other trades that have happened that the picks
have already been kind of cashed in on. So we
will talk about that as well. And then we'll
go to our new deal. So some players have opted
in, opted out, and signed new contracts. And
then we'll discuss NBA draft first round reactions
as well. This will not be a multi -segment show,
so we're going to just go from topic to topic.
However, today's episode is brought to you by
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to go so let's get into it we are starting off
with the trades so kevin durant as we discussed
on last episode quickly we didn't really get
into it but we've got to do a little bit but
you know That trade is now effectively done,
in my opinion. So, Kevin Durant was traded to
the Houston Rockets in exchange for Dylan Brooks,
Jalen Green, the 10th overall pick that became
Kamon Malic. Excuse me if I mispronounced that
incorrectly. The big center out of Duke. And
five second round picks. So, five second round
picks, of course, are going to stretch out over
multiple years. We'll look back in, you know,
years time and wonder if, you know. One of those
picks becomes Nikola Jokic. Then we'll discuss
those five seconds. Otherwise, over the course
of human history, those picks will probably get
faded off. Probably get faded off the discussion
point. It'll probably end up being Dylan Brooks,
Jalen Green. Second, the 10th overall pick. Again,
that became the big center out of Duke. And then
no one would discuss the five seconds ever again.
And then, you know, just kind of seeing reactions
over the past few days, that trade has been deemed
of either kind of bold by Houston. not gotten
enough by Phoenix, or Kevin Durant kind of trying
to get a ring one last time. I think KD looked
around his options, and I think he believes,
well, he knows. I mean, he's staying in the West,
but he's looking at, it's hard in Minnesota.
Like, that's interesting. Ownership's changing,
and Minneapolis is in the world's best city.
It's cold. He's been in warm weather every stop
except for Brooklyn. Because he got drafted to
Seattle, but he's only in Seattle for a year.
Then they go to Oklahoma City. And then in Oklahoma
City, that's relatively warm. I mean, that gets
hot in the summer. And then it's Golden State
in California, San Francisco, California. Then
it's Brooklyn. That's cold. And especially because
the NBA is a, you know, it's a cold league. It's
a winter league. Yes, it finishes in the summer,
but it starts around October. And you play a
lot of November, December, January, February,
March kind of games. And in places like New York,
March is still chilly. Like, it's cold. You have
your heater on from October through March in
certain parts of the NBA country, especially
when you get into your Torontos and your Michigans
and your, you know, your Milwaukees and your
Minnesotas. Like, when you play in those places,
it's cold from October to March. And it gets
cold everywhere, but New Orleans winter is like
four and a half weeks. You get a couple of false
winters, we get cold spells, but we don't get
snow like that in Louisiana. We don't get arctic
blast like that in Louisiana. If it snows in
Louisiana, you're off. That's it. The planes
aren't flying, the roads aren't accessible, that's
it. In Minnesota, it's like, oh, it snowed today?
Cool, the snowplow came before. Put salt on your
tires or put chains on you and go to work. Like,
it's a different vibe. It's a different environment
in those places. And ultimately, Kevin Durant
chose to go to Texas. No state tax. He loves
Emea Doka. Him and Emea Doka have developed a
great relationship over the years. He loves Emea
Doka, which for KD is huge, so on and so forth.
If you're Phoenix, you kind of didn't solve your
problems through this trade directly. Jalen Green's
not a point guard. He didn't have a center. Now
you added a center and a big kid from Duke. He's
a developmental guy, but his upside is insane.
He's a 7 '1", 7 '2", like a 7 '7 wingspan. He's
got decent touch on his jumper. People have seen
his jump shot. He was a dunker at Duke. He was
71 % from the field. He was like second in the
country in dunks. He was a dunker at Duke, and
he's an elite run protector potentially. Good
move by Houston to get Kevin Durant. Because
you don't need Kevin Durant to be great 48 minutes.
You need Kevin Durant to avoid five. Remember
those slumps that they would go in the Golden
State Series? And I'd be like, you know, they'd
be like, man, Houston hadn't scored in four and
a half minutes. And they've only, you know, they
went from a two -point lead to now they're down
two. Yeah, I mean, for those four and a half
minutes, that team only scored four. Houston
just has to avoid that, where instead of that
four and a half minutes being zero to four in
favor of the other team, it's eight to four in
favor of Houston. So now they've grinded you
for six minutes or four, four and a half minutes.
And then by the time, you know, you're just like
worn down and went off and kick back up again.
Now they're still in front of you. You need Kevin
Durant to avoid those droughts. And you need
Kevin Durant three minutes left in the game up,
you know, three minutes left in the game down
one or down four. that ball gets swung to Kevin
Durant and you get us out of here. I think Eme
Adoka is going to be great for him as far as
his coaching. Eme Adoka is a coaching center.
KD doesn't have to be a leader of a team. Eme
Adoka is there for that. That's going to be great
for Kevin Durant as far as his career, in my
opinion. The Boston Celtics were under mandate
to get out of contractual hell. They were staring
at a $500 million payroll, including salaries
plus luxury tax, with Jason Tatum having a torn
Achilles, and I think missing the entire next
season. If he doesn't miss the entire next season,
he's going to miss a vast majority of it. You're
not going to be in title contention. So, what
do the Boston Celtics do? They do a couple of
trades. First trade they pull off is Drew Holiday
sending him back to Portland. Thinking in your
head, Drew Holiday never played for Portland.
You would be exactly correct. The last time Drew
Holiday played with a Portland Trailblazers,
he was there for about a week. He never went
to a facility. He wasn't even there for a week.
It was part of the Milwaukee deal. They were
shedding salaries. Drew Holiday ended up being
one of those sheds. They trade Drew Holiday from
Milwaukee to Portland. Portland redirects Drew
Holiday to Boston. Championship later, Boston
is now sending Drew Holiday back to Portland.
In exchange, Portland sends Anthony Simons on
an expiring contract and two second round picks.
This doesn't do anything for any winning, but
he immediately say Boston a lot of money. For
Portland, you get a veteran in the room. You
get a decent defender in the room. You get somebody
that Chauncey Billups wants. This could be the
vet that kind of Chauncey Billups would know
about. So being him, Ime Adoka, JJ Redick, trying
to think of some other former player coaches.
Those guys were in the league when the vet. still
exists, where he may not be nearly the height
of his powers, if he ever had powers, you know,
but he's not, he's nowhere near his prime, however,
he is still, he may not give you anything, remember
Udonis Haslam for the heat, like by the time
that second era of the heat happened with the
big three, Udonis Haslam was just there, he was
the tough guy on the locker room to make sure
things went smooth. Like, he was just there.
He was the fowler. Like, if somebody hard -filed
LeBron or D -Wade, Jonathan Hatton was checking
in. He was putting somebody on the floor. Like,
you know what I'm saying? Like, that was his
job, right? I don't think Drew Holiday is going
to be the enforcer, but I think he will be the
leader. I think, and, you know, he's got a lot
of money left on his desk. He's got about three
years, $100 million left on his contract. It's
a pretty bad contract for most teams. However,
for Portland, if you're Darcy Billups, a lot
of my team is young. So having a guy like Drew
Holiday, Family man, good man. He's constantly
giving in the community he plays in. He's constantly
being a role model. You never hear him about
him in trouble. You never hear him about him
in a bad light, so on and so forth. That is worth
the money to just have him teach and coach. He's
still going to give you 20 minutes a night, 22
minutes a night, you know, 12, 4, and 3, two
good steals, and, like, that's going to be his
job. At the end of the game, the close game.
He's going to be on the floor because he can
still play. It's just with Boston. If Tatum was
healthy, he's still in Boston. I firmly believe
that. But because Boston needed to shed salaries,
they dumped him. And they also dumped Christas
Porzingis. And a three -team deal with the Atlanta
Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets. So Christas Porzingis.
Christas Porzingis and a second -round pick to
the Atlanta Hawks. Terrence Mann in a 22nd overall
pick, which ended up becoming Drake Powell out
of North Carolina, goes to Brooklyn. And George
Niang in a second round pick ends up in Boston.
So, again, a purely salary cap move. was, it's
three parts. So for Brooklyn, you picked up an
asset, you ended up drafting a player with a
great, perfect find, right? Beautiful, right?
Good job, Brooklyn. Okay, so that's pretty much
it on the Brooklyn side. For the Atlanta Hawks
side, this was a strategic maneuver as well.
And why is it a maneuver of, they had a 20 -something
million dollar, 25 million dollar, I believe,
trade exception 25 .9 million dollar trade exception
um from the djante murray trade christoph's porzingis
salary is more than that trade exception so they
can't use the trade exception on christoph's
porzingis which means they still have said trade
exception so and they're 30 million under the
tax I mean, honestly, that is impressive GMing
by the Atlanta Hawks. And they had another good
move that, you know, the Atlanta Hawks is also
getting credit for that we'll discuss later.
But impressive GMing by the Atlanta Hawks. Did
you still have your fat trade exception? Plus,
you still have $30 million under the tax to maneuver.
And then George Niang in a second round pick
ends up in Boston. George Niang is a relevant
human walk. I'm talking trade exception. What
the Boston Celtics did do was shed their salary
cap ridiculous as far as what they were able
to accomplish. There was a purely a salary cap
dump. Everybody in America, everybody in the
world knew it, that the Boston Celtics were dumping
salary. Plain and simple, they were dumping salary.
So they end up shedding. thanks to the two deals
they end up shedding over 210 million dollars
in luxury tax bonus they shedded nearly a quarter
billion dollars in in luxury tax penalty instead
of going from five to over 500 for their um total
bill they were around 280 something um as far
as what they were having to pay now to deal with
um i mean having to pay down with their roster
now again Jason Tatum's probably out for the
year. Not going to have Jason Tatum. Let's just
start off with that, right? So doing that, knowing
that, and still being able to make these maneuvers,
it's quite an impressive GM. Shout out Brad Stevens.
So that's because Boston. And the last pre -draft
trade didn't involve picks. We can talk about
it quickly. My New Orleans Pelicans traded C
.J. McCollum, Kelly O 'Lennon, and a future second
-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Jordan
Poole, Sadiq Bae, and a number 40 overall pick
in tonight's second round of the NBA draft. I
like the trade. I don't love it. Now, I like
the trade by itself. I don't love it by itself.
Now, considering what we did later in the night,
I love the trade because it kind of makes more
sense. However, Jordan Poole, to me, is going
to be a candidate for 6th man of the year. I
don't think he starts in New Orleans. I think
he has the potential to finish. So, I think that
that two -guard spot in New Orleans, and we'll
talk about it a little bit more, but that two
-guard spot in New Orleans is going to be a starter,
not a finisher. Andre Robeson for the Thunder.
Think whoever started in front of Mondo Ginobili
for the Spurs. That person would start the game,
but he wouldn't finish it. I think that piece
is going to be rotational. Again, we'll get into
their rotations later. For the Washington Wizards,
I don't know what you're doing. It's like they
went super vet. Because now they have C .J. McCollum.
He's expiring. Marcus Smart, I think, is also
expiring. And they have Chris Middleton. who's
expiring. So they have three veteran expiring
contracts. They're set up for $100 million in
cap space. That's a lot of money. Now, granted,
you have to convince somebody to go to Washington,
D .C., which, if you guys know anything about
LeBron trying to get people to go to Cleveland,
that's harder to do than just saying, oh, it's
NBA 2K. I got $100 ,000 in cap space. I'm just
going to sign a tattoo for agents. Nope. No,
no, no. That's harder to do than it is on NBA
2K. I assure you. I promise you. But the Washington
Wizards now have a good, solid core of young
guys. Zachary Reza -Sher, they ended up in the
draft picking up Trey Johnson out of Texas. So
they have a decent core of young players, and
they're also adding, they have a lot of veteran
experience with your C .J. McCollum, Chris Middleton,
and Marcus Smarts. trying to hope to keep those
blowouts away. Like, even if you start the young
guys and you say, okay, you know, Marcus, Marcia,
McCullough, and Chris Moses on the floor together,
that's going to be, they're going to hold your
second unit down. They may not explode your second
unit, but they're going to keep two good defenders
or one and a half good defenders, one good shooter,
one good ball hand. Like, they're spread out
as far as their vets where they can really handle
a situation in Washington. And then our draft
day trade. Or one we're going to discuss here
that involves a player. It is Mark Williams to
the Phoenix Suns. Mark Williams, yes, same Mark
Williams that the Los Angeles Lakers said no
to on the physical. He is now traded. He is traded
to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for the 29th
pick that became Liam McNeely. That became Liam
McNeely, guard out of Connecticut. He's going
to Charlotte in a lightly protected first -round
pick. So that first -round pick is lightly protected.
I think it's protected picks one through five,
and it is the least favorable out of several
teams. So it's weird in the NBA you can trade,
like, least favorable picks or most favorable
picks. And, again, that comes up later. But it
is the least favorable 2029 first -round pick
of the Cavs, Jazz, and Timberwolves. Yep, a little
bit of contract news. Austin Reeves, the Lakers
are offering him the max they can offer him,
four years, $90 million. He declined it. He goes
to true free agency. He's not held by his draft
status as far as money he can make. Shout out
to Austin Reeves. He deserves more than that.
The Lakers are going to pay him more than that.
They still have the ability to add the fifth
year since he's going to go in for agency. And
I think they might be able to go up to like $150
for him. So kudos to Austin Reeves. Get your
money. Get your money, fella. But again, Mark
Williams is headed to Phoenix. Now, that gives
Phoenix two centers acquired in the last 12 hours,
24 hours. Again, the center from Duke and then
Mark Williams both are headed to Phoenix to try
and fix their center problem. Now we're going
to transition into the NBA deals. Quickly, we're
going to go through them, and then we'll get
to the draft reaction to close this thing out.
But our deals that have happened is Chris Middleton
picked up his $33 .3 million player option. I
am sure, and I almost mean 10 ,000 % sure, that
the Wizards would have not wanted him to do that.
I think they would have given him $33 million
just to spread it over two years. Something like
what Fred VanVleet ended up doing. We'll talk
about him as well. But if you were to say, okay,
I set up $33 million for one, I'll take $40 million
for two or something just to spread the money
out and eat less of it. But also, Washington's
in a position where they – I'm saying that for
financial reasons, but Washington's not trying
to win this year. Not really. So, truly, they
don't care if they give him a bunch of money
to Chris Middleton this year because they come
off of him entirely next season. So, maybe ultimately
Chris Middleton picking up the option may have
been best for both sides. He gets a bunch of
money in one year. They come off his contract
next year. Sort of like whenever NFL players
with a franchise tag, like, I don't necessarily
like the franchise tag because you can do it
more than once, but it gives you a whole bunch
of money at one time. Right? And players don't
like the franchise tag. Three for 27 on one for
27. He's still 27. He's got all of it at one
time. You know, like, so I think that's, you
know, definitely something to look at in Washington
as Chris Miller is picking up his option. Daniel
Gafford agreed to a new three -year $54 million
plus contract with the Dallas Mavericks. He has
a couple of incentives, I think, that can raise
the value to $60 million. But he's going to go
three -year, $54 million -plus contract with
the Dallas Mavericks. Matisse Theibel picked
up his player option with the Portland Trailblazers,
worth $11 .5 million. This is the contract he
signed in Philly before getting moved, if I remember
correctly. Kyrie Irving declined his $43 million
player option and re -ups with the team. for
three years 119 million dollars now he could
have gotten a bigger contract as far as a max
i think he did what he did in order to give the
team the most amount of flexibility because by
going to that number it allows team to hold their
exceptions that they don't burn off uh player
exceptions and mid levels and whatever they had
exception wise by going three years 119 he still
gets a very he gets he gets his last big deal
in the nba and he was able to um give the team
some flexibility, especially because he's going
to be out for a while. They can possibly use
that $5 .7 million exception for a Chris Paul,
for a D 'Angelo Russell, for a Dennis Schroeder,
somebody, a veteran point guard that can hold
it down and that wouldn't have an issue that
once Kyrie comes back and is healthy, sliding
and running that second unit. uh fred van vliet
referenced him a few minutes ago he had a 43
million dollar team option that was declined
and he said they agreed on a two -year 50 million
dollar contract with a player option on the second
year kairi has a player option in the third year
of his deal but a three two -year 50 million
dollar contract with a player option uh for year
two they basically for cap reasons took his 43
and divided it by two and added and added a little
kicker You know, he still gets his money. It's
just divided over two years. And, again, he gets
a little baby bump kicker of $6 million for his
troubles of having to divide his money over two
years. And then John Collins, with a lot of uncertainty
happening in Utah with his future, picks up his
$26 .5 million player option that he got from
Atlanta when he was in Atlanta before ultimately
being traded to Utah. And now we're going to
move into the NBA draft. um the top of the draft
relatively boring what i mean by that is the
first two picks were pretty much as we expected
cooper flag went number one dylan harper went
number two now the interesting part about the
draft started at number three now i will say
before i get into that this is the first draft
with multiple i remember like top 18 year olds
because jeremiah fears and cooper flag both reclassified
in up a year and like cooper flag just turned
18. Cooper Flagg and Jeremiah Fierce will barely
be 19 when the NBA season starts. They were both
supposed to be high school class of 2025, not
first round pick class of 2025. They both came
up one year to play in college basketball early
to get to the NBA even faster. So shout out to
them for being able to do it. But the top of
the draft was relatively, 22, relatively quiet.
V .J. Edgecombe, number three to Philadelphia.
I think that was Ace Bailey. And I think Ace
Bailey, if he doesn't cancel his workout in Philly,
I think he ends up there. Khan Naiple ends up
at Charlotte from Duke. So Duke has two of the
top four. The second Rutgers star, Ace Bailey,
comes in at number five to Utah. His reaction
to the draft, I mean, he looked like somebody.
He just stared at the crowd. Like, there was
no smile. There was no excitement. Reportedly,
he wanted Washington, New Orleans, or Brooklyn.
That is where he wanted to go. And he knew he
was going to go. And those teams pick 7, 8, 9.
He knew he was going to end up at 6, 7, 8. I'm
sorry. He knew he was going to end up at one
of those spots. He just knew it. And he wanted
to go to Washington, Brooklyn, or New Orleans.
I mean, it was wide. Now, New Orleans doesn't
necessarily fit in that trend. Like, Washington's
a big city. It's Washington, D .C. It's a big
market. Also, a lot of opportunities there. New
Orleans, fun city. Not the world's biggest market,
however, but a fun city. Brooklyn's a huge media
market. So, I'm sure for me, you know, and he
went to College Basketball at Rutgers in New
Jersey. So, he's used to being up there. I don't
know why New Orleans was on his list. I would
have loved to hear him explain it. One of those
things we'll never get to know now. Ultimately,
he ends up going fifth to Utah. So Winston Washington
goes Trey Johnson, guard out of Texas. My New
Orleans Pelicans go Jeremiah Fields out of Oklahoma.
Brooklyn at eight picks their first of four guards.
Igor Dimon, guard out of BYU. Colin Murray -Boyles
out of South Carolina, out of SC, rather, forward.
He goes to Toronto. And then the big fella out
of Duke, Kaiman Malic, goes to the Houston Rockets
from Duke. He was not happy. So, the other person
was not happy about their pick. The guy, Colin
Murray -Boyles, Toronto picked him. He says the
F word before hugging his parents. Like, he didn't
want to go to Toronto. It's these young guys,
man, and it's not a bad thing. These guys, first
of all, are financially liberated. They are not
dependent on the NBA for their money. As far
as, like, you know, Vijay Edgecombe is different,
but I'm sure he had a pretty decent, a pretty
trace mama. So he told the story after the draft
that for seven years of his life, he lived on
a generator with no electricity. Like, his mom
had to do all kinds of stuff to feed them. When
he got to Baylor, she wasn't living off a generator,
right? But, you know, if they gave him $200 ,000,
he could have stayed at her apartment or something.
You know what I'm saying? Like, whatever. But
there's less and less of those. Like, Cooper
Flagg had money. Right? Like, some of these guys
had families had money. But, like, it's less
and less of the LeBrons who he said, like, if
I was going to college, I was going for free
because my mama wasn't going to be on Sex and
the Housing no more. You know what I'm saying?
Stuff like that. Like, there's less. and less
of those i had to make it to get my family out
stories juxtaposed to just they're really talented
basketball players bae also these guys are making
a lot of money in college and living in a place
of their choosing for a coach of their choosing
as the best player on the court a lot of the
times so it you know colin murray boils f bombed
it we got people out toronto Ace Bailey looked
like somebody stole his best friend when he was
picked by Utah. It's a different level. It's
a different prospect we're dealing with. Gone
are the days of the grateful player. Unless you're
like a 50. If you're a top NBA pick, you're probably
a top high school player. So you've been making
money for a year or so. You've got money. You're
not grateful in the NBA anymore. You're excited,
but you're not, thank you for picking me and
saving me. I probably didn't pick and save in
college. Now I'm past that point, right? But
I want – well, I'll talk about Brooklyn. Brooklyn
had an interesting night that apparently a lot
of people laughed at because they had five picks
in the first round. This first round, which in
football, my God, you're like winning. You're
beyond winning the draft. You have five first
-round picks in – football you're expected to
drive five starters like you're gonna get a even
if you even though picks are like playoff picks
that's a receiver that's a lineman that's an
edge that's a corner like when you picked up
five firsts like no you're gm 11 gm legend level
with five firsts in the nfl the nba logically
people thought they were gonna trade package
those pixie to come up or package those picks
for a player. Like, you're not going to pick
five people. The Brooklyn Nets picked five players.
Four of them was guards. The best player on your
team, in my opinion, in Brooklyn is Cam Thomas.
Who's the guard? So you loaded up your guard
room. I don't know what Brooklyn was doing. I
have no idea what Brooklyn was doing. To me,
Common Malich would have been great there. You
got Nick Claston, but Nick Claston's been a heavy
target of trade rumors. To me, that would have
been a good spot for Common. I mean, you know,
just looking at it, Derrick Queen, again, another
big, a lot of centers went. They stuck and picked,
and they picked five guards. Many people laughed
at them. But the most controversial trade of
the night was my New Orleans Pelicans. At the
time when the trade immediately happened, I still
think it's a good trade. We'll talk about it.
By the time it happened, I went, oh, wow, New
Orleans has flown up. So the trade was they traded
a 2026 unprotected first round pick to be the
best of the Milwaukee or New Orleans pick in
2026. And something else. In order to get. They
traded the 23rd pick, which ended up becoming
Asanoah, forward out of Georgia. They traded
the number 23 pick, Asanoah, and a 2026 unprotected
first -round pick, the best pick of either Milwaukee
or New Orleans, to come up from 23 to 13 to draft
Derrick Queen, the center out of Maryland. Now,
here's where... Here's where a lot of the discourse
came. A lot of the discourse came. Nick Wright
called it one of the worst trades in the last
five years. Bill Simmons said one of the worst
trades in the last decade. I mean, people are
literally like, what the fuck is New Orleans
doing? The ESPN article spoke about it as well.
Like, New Orleans, I mean, they potentially traded
a top three pick to come up from the middle of
the non -lottery to at the edge of the lottery.
to get their player now here's what i'm willing
to say i'm willing to take this twofold before
i get into my opinion the trade is successful
if that pick is worse it's ten or worse let's
be honest also we have been dealing with david
griffin david griffin is a war chest gm what
i mean by war chest gm is he stockpiles assets
he stockpiles pieces he stockpiles picks etc
builds the war chest to either make a big splash
move or saying one of these war chest items are
going to hit on their own. That's what a war
chest GM is. Joe Dumars is an aggressive GM.
He's an empty the coffer GM. He's a guy that
says, okay, or president of basketball operations,
if I am going to run this team, I'm going to
run it for today and this year, not for two years
later. So Derrick Queen was a lottery pick. He
was a, you know, eight, nine overall kind of
guy. Same thing with Jeremiah Fields. Fierce.
Most people thought that the New Orleans pick
was going to come down to either Jeremiah Fierce
or Derrick Queen at 7. So when it got to 7, that's
exactly what the choice was. They may end up
driving Jeremiah Fierce. So they ended up working
out a deal, and according to Dumars, they started
calling teams at 8, trying to make the deal.
It was like, we're going to come right back up
because we identified Derrick Queen as our guy.
So they were trying to, every time somebody got
on the clock, New Orleans called. Trying to make
a deal, trying to make a deal. Finally, they
made a deal with Atlanta, and they trade, like
I said, the 2026 unprotected first. And number
23, again, became Asa Newell for the rights to
Dairy Queen, basically. Here's what I'm going
to say. I think it was a good idea. I think it
was a good trade. There's only three ways that
next season goes for the Bucs and the Pelicans.
And two of them are net positives for New Orleans.
Option number one for the way this season can
go is both teams make the playoffs. Both the
Bucs and the Pelicans make the playoffs. I kind
of... For the East is weak. Yes, he doesn't have
Dame Lillard, but the East is weak. When I broke
down the Pelicans, the West, Oklahoma City, Denver,
Lakers, Houston, and Spurs, and the Timberwolves
are the lock teams to me. Those six are getting
in. I think the play -in is going to feature
some combination of Clippers, Dallas. Dallas
is health -dependent because Kyrie's off a good
chunk of the season. If AD goes down, that's
a bad basketball team. The Clippers have a James
Harden problem they have to figure out. And then
the Warriors, they're one more year older, they're
one more, you know, whatever. So those to me
are the, you know, let's call it seven to eight
teams that are playoff playing in the West. That
leaves New Orleans, Portland, Phoenix, Utah,
Sacramento, Memphis. I, in order for New Orleans
to be a playoff team, They just have to be better
than Portland, who's bad, Phoenix, awful, Utah,
trying to lose, Sacramento, LOL, Memphis, who
dumped Devin Bain and did nothing else. So those
teams, all New Orleans has to be better than
those teams. And they're the eighth seed, and
this trade is irrelevant because then Milwaukee
gets in and that's, you know, it becomes the...
16th, 17th, 18th pick and, you know, it's whatever.
Both teams are bad is the second option. And
so, that would be a situation where instead of
the number two overall pick, let's say both teams
are awful and Milwaukee's pick ends up two and
New Orleans ends up four. No harm, no foul. You
still pick at four. You just don't pick at two.
No harm, no foul. You know, and, Honestly, at
the moment, there's no real standout number one.
So, even if it's one in five, yeah, you don't
have the number one pick, but I'm pretty sure
Milwaukee, unless you're trading Giannis, isn't
going to pick a number one. Now, you would hold
as a big ass A and control who gets it. So, true,
but, and ultimately, it doesn't help either franchise
to pick a number one. No harm, no foul, right?
If both teams are bad, both teams have been in
the top five, no harm, no foul. The only way
it becomes a problem is if one of the teams are
bad. So let's say, especially if it's New Orleans.
So let's just say worst case scenario, Milwaukee
goes out, they sneak into the playoffs, you know,
because Giannis is Giannis and they get the 17,
right? They're in the playoffs. So their pick
is 17, 18. And then New Orleans is horrible.
Zion is injured again. Trey Murphy finally gets
an injury bug. Herb doesn't come back right.
DeJounte just doesn't really mess with the team.
Willie Green gets fired. And they are 30 and
52. And that pick ends up six. And now instead
you're picking 18. And you would have had the
rights to six. That's when it looks bad. But
unless, like I said, but there's three scenarios.
Two of them are net positives. Either both of
you guys made the playoffs. Who cares about that
pick? Both of you guys are bad. You're in the
range of the early pick. Or both teams have got
awful. One team's got awful, which you could
have had that pick, but instead you're stuck
with the lower pick. Especially if your pick
is the pick that's a bad pick. So there is, you
know. There was a lot of discourse. People are
laughing at the Pelicans. People are slandering
them, saying, oh, of course it is. It's Joe Dumars.
Our guy, old Joe Dumars, he's always doing something.
That's what's happening in New Orleans. And I
think it was a good move. I think that it's a
move. We will know the ramifications of in 12
months. I think it's a little bit hard to rule
that right this second. It's a bad trade or it's
a good trade or whatever. I think that's hard
to do because we won't know for another 12 months.
We won't know whether the trade was a good trade
or a bad trade for another 12 months because
the team has to play. Obviously, this wasn't
a championship move. This wasn't like we traded
that pick and ended up with Trey Younger. It
wasn't a championship -level move. However, it
was a move that gives us two guys who identify
as lottery picks. I also think Joe Dumars kind
of said it best in his thing. Let's say in his
interview, let's say Derrick Queen comes out
and balls out. He's first -team -all rookie.
He's clearly one of the best four or five rookies
in the class, but we get hit with an injury bug.
And now we pick seven. Well, guess what? Derrick
Queen's one of the top five rookies in the class.
So he's really effectively top five pick. Derrick
Queen's a baller. He ends up, you know, right
in that rookie of the year race or in the area
of. And it doesn't matter if you trade another
good rookie. You already got your good rookie.
You already drafted him a year early. um so you
know so there's a lot of ways to look at it i
still think it was a good deal it's gonna age
either really really well or really really poorly
depending on those things performance next year
but i think it was a good one i definitely think
it was laughable i definitely don't think we
should be getting slandered all over national
media for you know being dummies and having joe
dumars and other world the pelicans are the pelicans
and what are they doing and no it doesn't take
all that right like at no point let's take all
that but It definitely, it's a calculated risk
of a trade. Because if he's wrong, and let's
say Derrick Queen is not all that great, and
that pick becomes like number two, and you got
a pick in the 20s. Okay, now it's a bad move.
If both those picks are in the 20s, who cares?
If both those picks are top five, top seven,
who cares? There's a massive gap, and you could
really use that pick, and it goes to Atlanta
instead. That's the only thing. But that is all
I have for you guys today. Absolutely great basketball
show. Great NBA season. But, of course, in this
business, you don't last very long as far as
being the key topic of discussion. Don't forget
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as always this is your host justin jackson signing
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