February 3, 2025 • 42 mins
On today’s episode, Jason discusses the blockbuster trade that saw Luka Doncic land with the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis wind up with the Dallas Mavericks. During the conversation, J-Mac tells us how the arrival of Doncic impacts LeBron James' future with the Lakers, the over/under on championships won by Luka in LA, the next potential superstar that is most likely to team up with Luka in Los Angeles and the narrative that the Mavs could have gotten a better deal had they shopped Doncic around the NBA. Finally, Jason closes the show by sharing his thoughts on the mini-blockbuster deal that took place on Sunday night that saw Zach LaVine wind up in Sacramento and De'Aaron Fox in Sacramento alongside Victor Wembanyama.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up? Straight Fire? Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre,
Straight Fire for Monday, Febuary third.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's Super Bowl week, ladies and gentlemen, and all anybody's
talking about is the NBA, because holy cow, what a
weekend in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And I'll talk about games. We're back on that you know,
mid twenty teen stuff where players are moving hot and
heavy and folks, I have to be honest with you.
I was the wife was out of town this weekend,
so I'm watching movies with the kids. We're watching this
movie called air Bud from like I don't know, before
Rob was even born, probably, and you know, it's a
(00:54):
dog that ends up playing sports and it's a whatever movie.
But I didn't have my phone. I wasn't looking at
it wasn't lit up, and at one point, you know,
the kid had to go to the bathroom or something.
So I just take a glance at the phone and
I see all these texts. I'm like, what the And
the first one I saw is a buddy of mine
who is a great basketball player, and he's like a
coach and a rat. He's just an awesome guy. And
(01:15):
he goes, I normally wouldn't ask you this, but I
gotta say, is this true? Did we? And that's how
everybody out here refers to laters? Did we just get Luca?
And I was like, come on, no way. So I
go on the other text message and all it is
is exclamation mark and I'm just telling you this is
a touring Saturday. And I'm like, holy god, guys, guys,
(01:36):
stop tell my kids. I'm like, stop, top top paw.
We're not going back to the movie. And it was
just utter chaos and like disbelief, like I was in
a trance for a couple moments. They're like, there's no
way this is real. It actually you know how people
are like, oh it felt like a dream. It did
feel like a dream, Like oh my gosh, how what No, No,
it's impossible. And then you start to put everything together
(01:58):
and you read these reports trickling out of Dallas and unbelievable.
So then I go to coach my kids Sunday in
hoops and you know, you walk into the gym and
I wore la This sounds so illusory. I wore a
Lakers T shirt and a Laker sweatshirt. So I take
off the Lakers sweatshirt. I got the T shirt, and
everybody's like, g back, Oh my god, we got Luca. Folks,
if I talk to fifty people and I coach back
(02:19):
to back games, you know I'm a nerd and I
care about this stuff. I'm let's say I said hi
to fifty people, I would say, you know, thirty of
them asked about Luca. One hundred percent of them are
absolutely stoked that the Lakers got who I believe is
the best player in the NBA. And I've said this
for a while. Yes, Jokic is dominant and he's awesome.
(02:41):
Given Lucas hurt, Yokis probably right now is the best
play in league. But I've been saying this for years,
dating back to when I would co host undisputed Lucas
the best player in the league. I'm sorry. It ain't
Lebron anymore. It's not Jokic, it's not Sga or Embiid.
It's Luca. And I believe this for the longest time.
And for the Lakers to get a twenty five year old,
utterly dominant player in his prime who just took the
(03:05):
MAVs to the finals, it feels like the biggest heist
in NBA history, and we've seen some other crazy trades.
This is, by the way, totally different than when Kevin
Durant picked the Warriors. That's Kevin Durant picking the Warriors. Okay,
Lebron picking the heat I'm taking my talents to South Beach.
That's free agency. This is the Dallas Mavericks who just
(03:29):
went to the finals, willingly saying, yeah, we love Luca,
but we're worried about his conditioning and you know, the
looming Supermax. It's gonna be tough to win with him
on this and to use that as oh, we could
trade Luca and then we bring in one of the
best defenders in the league, top three defender in Anthony
(03:51):
Davis defense wins championship said they're GM for now. Nico
Harrison and I don't know if you guys saw the
press conference, but like Nico Harrison is sitting there next
to Jason Kid, Jason Kidd looks like he's seen a ghost,
and at one point he because like, yeah, Jay Kid,
he didn't even know, like nobody seemed to know. And
I'm not going to do a TikTok at this point
(04:11):
of how it went down. But the best intel I
can find is this dates back to a January seventh
MAVs Lakers game where you know, Luca had been hurt
on the twenty fifth of December Christmas Day. He had
the calf strain and he was in you know, one
(04:31):
of those like scooters or whatever, and it was like,
oh jeez, a calf strain. He's on a scooter. This
is not good. Oh my gosh. And you know, he
looked like he gained a couple of pounds. And Luca
is one of these yo yo guys with his weight.
He looks heavy, he's not. And one wonders did they
see eating habits of Luca post Christmas? They know him
(04:53):
better than anybody. I don't want anybody out here saying that,
like the Dallas Mavericks see this guy in and out
of the all the time. Okay, they know him better
than us, and they were willing to move off of
him because of diet concerns. Folks, that is one of
the most chicken shit laughable excuses I've ever heard. I
(05:15):
instantly went to the default of, oh my gosh, did
that Did Lucas sleep with somebody?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Owners?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
What? Like?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
What happened? Here, how do you do that? And you,
guys know I'm a Luca fanboy. I'm over the moon.
I mean, think about it like this. I don't even
care if the Lakers win a title this year or not. Okay,
it doesn't really matter. They are now set for the
next seven to ten years, at least with Luka Dancic
(05:42):
and yes, Lebron, who had a phenomenal game Saturday night
at the Garden. I think it was like thirty three,
twelve and eleven. He was spectacular, no Ad and Lebron
cooks and Lakers at a billion threes and beat the
Knicks and you're like, oh, Lebron, he can still do it.
You know, I can't do it much longer. If this
is Ron's final year in La now, I don't think
it will be. I'm gonna go ahead and assume he's
(06:05):
gonna want some kind of send off if this is
his final year, though, oh my gosh. If you're the Lakers,
you now have your new build around piece. You couldn't
build around Anthony Davis. Guys, he's i would say, at
the tail end of his prime at thirty one, and yeah, yeah,
he could be good for a couple of Warriors. You
can't build around Anthony Davis if you're the Lakers after Lebron.
(06:26):
I know, Rob Polink is the most much maligned GM
in the league. He takes more shrapnel from Laker fans
than anybody. And by the way, I find it interesting
that Anthony Davis has been chirping and complaining for the
last few weeks. Oh out replay center, we need another
big It's very interesting that Ad felt so emboldened to do.
(06:49):
I think Rob can check me on this. I think
he did a sit down interview with ESPN where he
complained about not having a babe next to him, and
it's like, man, I know he's with Claude and Clutches,
Lebron and Lebron and there's all this rumors that they
run the Lakers, folks. Anthony Davis just really popped off
(07:09):
and he got shipped. He got shipped FedEx to Dallas. Now, like,
in the short term, I believe Dallas could be good.
I think dallasa win the title this year, assuming everybody's healthy.
They're in greg shape. You know, I know they lost
by seventy five points or whatever the number was on Sunday,
where the team, you know, sat a lot of guys,
but they they look like a team that was shell
(07:30):
shocked and oh, my gosh, we traded Luca. What like
the videos I don't know if you guys saw these
around the league of players reacting. I saw one on
the bench. Somebody handed Kevin Durant a tablet and him
and Bradley Biler are looking and they're like what They're
just looking around like the no, no, no, Like the
look is one of these like holy cow? And I
(07:50):
think that's the general consensus around the league is that,
my gosh, what did the Mavericks do? Now? If we're
doing a who won the trade? I think in the
very s your term this season, the Mavericks could end
up looking better. And you know, everybody's a hot take artist,
and oh my gosh, that the MAVs go to the
Western Conference finals. They want the trade. Folks think about
(08:12):
the big picture. The Lakers for whatever reason, And I
had some dopes texting me, Oh, I'm not texting dming me.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Oh, Lakers league is rigged.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Why did the Lakers always get the best players? I
mean they did pull off I mean Magic Johnson in
the draft after they had already been good to get
Magic Johnson. Was sheer luck for them to land James
Worthy in the draft out of unc where he was awesome,
was sheer luck for them? Now Shaq picked them, so
that's not a big deal. But for them to land Kobe,
(08:44):
Kobe kind of threatened I'm not going to go to Charlotte.
You guys can remember that. For them to steal Pauga
sol and now this it definitely I'm not saying rigged
or any of that. It definitely feels like Rob Polinka
here may have pulled off greatest trade in the NBA
this century. I mean, I don't know that. Maybe two
(09:04):
incendiary Rob, But when you really look at the Lakers
and what they're set up for, like you got nothing
to worry about now, Okay, the wasteland of the ending
Kobe years and the up and down Lebron years, they're
gonna be Lakers, gonna be fine with Luca they are
now building around him, is gonna be fun and that'll
be you know, exciting. What are we gonna do? Who
are we gonna get? But you know, as of right now,
(09:26):
it's Monday, February third, you're looking at because Lucas still
out Austin Reeves Dalton connect because what's his name? Max
Christy got shipped Ruy Lebron and Jackson Hayes. You've got
guys like Shake, Milton Gabe, Vincent DFS, Van Do there's
probably another trade coming and you know, we'll get to
(09:46):
that a little later on the pod. But Rob, before I,
you know, ask you your thoughts. I just I want
to go back to one day and that was and
I have it here in my notes. May thirty first,
twenty twenty four. You guys can look this up. The
MAVs had an amazing postseason win. I think they wrapped
up the series against OKAC, and Luca was in the
(10:08):
hallway drinking a beer. And you guys can look this
video up. It's been out there. It was joked about
at the time, and now it doesn't look as funny.
And he's drinking a beer talking to someone who might
have been his dad, I don't know, and Michael Finley,
who I believe is the assistant GM at the MAVs,
comes up to Luca and takes the beer out of
his hand. Now they had just won, so Luca was
(10:30):
more like what you know, smiling and laughing about it,
like okay, but you have to wonder were the MAVs
so concerned about Luca that after a win he could
not consume an alcoholic beverage. Now, I'm sure Michael Finley
will say, oh, we didn't want the cameras catching him drinking. Guys,
there's locker rooms with champagne spraying left and right in
every sport. Baseball does that every round stop.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 2 (11:05):
I get the sense that the MAVs thought they couldn't
control Luca, his diet, his conditioning, everything, and they wanted
to sew badly, but couldn't that. They just said, let's
get him out of town. Let's make him someone else's problem.
And wrapping up, Luca's dad gave an interview over the
weekend and Araschmarkazi put the whole thing on social media
(11:28):
and they ended up getting the conversion in language. Luca's
dad said, I know people say he doesn't play a
lot of regular season games. Last season, Luca played seventy
regular season games, averaging thirty five minutes and remember he's
running the offense, points, rebounds, as syst he's run the show.
(11:49):
Then he played twenty two playoff games forty minutes a game,
carrying this team. That's ninety two games got them to
the finals, and they still were unhappy with him enough
to ship him. I don't want to hear the super
max excuse, like, figure it out. That's your job as
a front office. Like, if I'm a Dallas Mavericks fans,
(12:10):
I'm rate. If I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan, I'm irate
that you just shipped off a generational talent, a guy
who and you, guys can deny me all you want.
He's gonna end up being a top ten player in
the history of the sport, assuming he doesn't miss, you know,
five seasons because of injury. He's on track to be
a top ten player all time in the NBA. And
(12:31):
for the MAVs to ship him, I saw hilarious. One
of these memes have been really, really good. The NBA
fans are just so on it. It was the words
were generational fumble and it was a picture of Jalen
Brunson in the MAVs jersey and Luca in his MAVs Jersey.
I guess their their first year and the MAVs had
(12:53):
those two that right now is two of the ten
best players in the league and they're both gone.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah. I mean, this is a lot to digest. And
you know, I know we're probably what twenty four hours
since this happened or less than that forty eight hours.
This is a trade that people are gonna be talking
about for years and decades to come. Everyone's gonna remember
where they were when this trade came down. Not just
because it's the Lakers, which is usually kind of the
(13:22):
thing that happens. It's because the Lakers got another in
your prime all world player for what people think is nothing,
even though I think that's kind of true. Truck with
Anthony Davis, that's a different conversation. Yes, Luka, Doncic is pudgy.
You know who else's pudgy, Nikola jokicch Jokich, Yeah, you
know who else's pudgy? Patrick Mahomes. So that tells me,
(13:47):
in order if you want to be an all time great,
you got to be a little overweight. That's what it
tells me. Okay, even with all of his yo yoing weight,
and you know, concerns about his health and his eating happen,
whatever they're trying to spin out of Dallas at the
age of twenty five, five time All Star, five time
First Team All NBA Rookie of the Year, second all
time in playoff points per game, sixth all time playoff
(14:09):
triple doubles, seventh all time in career triple doubles, and
since he's been in the league, this is my favorite
stat twenty nine to nine and eight, first in the
NBA points per game, second in the NBA in assists
per game. If that's what an out of shape Luka
Doncic looks like, I'm scared to imagine what a healthy
(14:29):
Luka Doncic looks like. The Lakers, as much as I'm excited,
you know, the hashtag future, they came true again, by
the way, because I had this back in twenty twenty.
Don't want to pat myself on the back, but I
did have this shots as excited as Amabel Luka Doncic,
and you pointed this out. In the short term, this
is probably not an improvement this season because until we
(14:53):
find out what's gonna happen here in the next three
or four days, the Lakers might have the worst center
situation in the NBA. And if they're gonna start Austin
reason Luka Doncics, as long as they might have the
worst defensive backcourt in the NBA. Hey, Austin Reeves can
lock some people up, Okay, So in the short term,
that's a problem. This trade, though, is not made with
(15:14):
a short term in mind. This trade was made for
the first time in about five or six years with
the post Lebron James era in mind. Now, when you
look at the Lakers, and the Lakers brand already sells
itself for the most part, you are gonna have a
smack dab in the middle of his prime, top three
(15:35):
at worst NBA player Luka Doncic as your face of
the franchise. And if they play their cards right in
twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven, when Lebron is retired,
they are gonna have enough cap space for at least
one other MAX player, if not two.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, it's too early to speculate who that could be.
But Rob, do you remember last week when you and
I did I forget what day it was, and we
were like, I feel like something's brewing. Yes, in the NBA,
and reporters that alluded to something cooking, and my guest
was Kevin Durant. Remember that, Yep, nobody could have guessed Luca.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Nobody, no, and even I said, I said, the only
other name that would kind of make sense for twenty
six would be Luca, but that would need something. We
have to go completely sideways for it to happen. I
did not imagine sideways being a rogue general manager. This
was my favorite clip that was circulating on Sunday morning.
You're in the West Coast, okay, Nico Harrison to the
(16:32):
media said out loud, like whoever's working MAVs PR had
to be fuming because he There's so many ways you
could have spun this. You could have been like, hey,
Luca alluded to the idea that he wasn't gonna resign.
We want to get ahead of this. Luca, you know,
has been hurt a lot, and this is something we
wanted to get ahead of because we're worried about his
long term health with the franchise and if we're gonna
(16:53):
give him super Max, you know, we don't want that
kind of situation overheads. He said this with a straight
face to the media, with microphones and cameras pointed at him.
Number one, when he asked Rob Polinka about the idea
of trading for Luka Doncic, Polinka initially thought he was
messing with him. Okay. Number two, when he floated the
idea of trading Luka Doncic up the flagpole to MAVs ownership,
(17:16):
the owner laughed at him. First. Number three, At no point,
according to Nico Harrison, MAVs GM the guy who made
this move happen seemingly out of nowhere. Luca never suggested
that he wanted out of Dallas or gave any indication
that he wasn't going to sign the Supermax. And last,
(17:36):
but not least, he closes his media availability by saying,
I'm not too concerned about ten years from now because
I'll probably be gone anyways.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Bro, that's a bad, bad look.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Like And again this a lot is being made that
they got the Lakers got Luca for a bag of
potato chips.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
But no, stop, that's not accurate, right, Come on, Max.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Chrispy is a legitimate up and coming three and D player,
and Anthony Davis at right now is a top ten
player no matter which way.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
But what's the problem with that is they have Anthony Davis,
Lively and Gafford. Are you really gonna play a d
and one of those two bigs at the same time.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
That's what ad wants. He wants another center, but he
wants that.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Fine, give it to him, go for it.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
But it's like you didn't get nothing in this deal.
That's that's so disrespectful to Anthony Davis to and sing you.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But they lost so much. But let me let me ask,
let me add this rock. So all these people out there,
these reporters, are saying, how could the MAVs not open
up a bidding war. If you were gonna trade Luca,
you could get every You could get way more than this.
That is just such an athetic and embarrassing way to
look at it. If you're being real, remember Luca would
(18:46):
have to sign an extension after next season. I hate
to report this to you guys, but you can instantly
wipe out twenty five teams Luka and sign him with
long term I'm sorry, he's not going to the Sacramento Kings. Yeah,
we'll get there. The Deer and Fox getting shipped and
getting Levine shortly. Luca's not going to the Detroit Pistons.
He's not going to the Brooklyn. He's just not doing that, Okay,
(19:10):
So you instantly I narrowed it down, Rob, and I
came up with this list of teams that Luca probably
would have signed with long term if the Maps had
to open it up. I would say the Celtics, right,
Celtics are awesome golfront franchise, a lot of good players.
I would say the Knicks Marquee market. You know, I
(19:30):
think that could have worked. I think the Miami Heat
would certainly be in Luke in the Lucas Weepstakes.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
No, no, he can't handle he culture. You just said
he's out of shape, like they have a rule that's
got to be under like.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And the final one. And I'm only putting this out
there because it's Los Angeles and that's the paper clips. Now,
I don't even know if they would have been in
the mix because historically they're just so well well, poorly
run and there's the curse. So now it's like basically
like what you know, if if you want to say, Jason,
what about Denver? He would love to play with the
o K Just stop, Who on earth would the MAVs
(20:02):
want in return? Which is why this makes it so difficult.
The Lakers had someone that the MAVs wanted ad a
top ten player in the league, top fifteen, I'll go
top fifteen maybe this season, but the injuries, he's been
top ten injuries to other guys. But like, I don't
think the return was awful. The problem is you're just
losing a generational talent and like, oh, you could say, well,
(20:24):
what about one big y'all, but Luca would play with him? Okay,
who the hell do the Spurs have outside of Wemby
that the MAVs would want And the answer is nothing.
So it's like, you know, there's just not a lot
of options for a deal like this. Now, did they
pull the trigger too early? I would say yes. That
(20:45):
being said, you know, Rob, if we're being one hundred
percent honest, you and I are both Laker fans. I
think in the back of your mind there has to
be some level of concern about Luca's conditioning. Not a
significant one, certainly, not enough to deter me from pulling
the trigger on the deal, but yeah, mild concerned. I mean,
this calf strain that's obviously not great, and he hasn't
(21:08):
been back. They were saying maybe by the All Star break.
No rush on my end there. Hell, I would just
hold him out until he's one hundred thousand percent ready.
And Rob, we know anytime Lebron gets with somebody, he
gets him in the gym and Lebron, I know, there's
a heat culture, there's a Lebron culture. You better work
your ass off. And I don't see Luca just like
(21:30):
being slack and not giving the effort with the Lakers because, oh,
by the way, he's a little motivated that the MAVs
cost him one hundred million dollars with that Supermax that
he's no longer eligible for because he's been traded. So
I think Luca a motivated Luca is probably the scariest
player in the NBA.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Oh, he's certainly up there. And just to go back
to the point about the Lakers and the trade, because
I was listening to another podcast where they were saying,
if you're gonna trade a guy who's a top five player,
which Luca obviously is, you either got to do one
of two things. Number One, you got to bottom out
and just get all the draft picks, which the MAVs
obviously you are not gonna do because they just signed
(22:08):
Klay Thompson, they got Kyrie Irvy. The rest of the
roster is too good for you to completely bought him out.
So that's number one. Number two. If you're not gonna
get that, you want to get somebody or a collection
of guys that are right in that tier below and
Anthony Davis. Anyway, whether you have him at ten or fifteen,
however you have him, we can all concede that if
he's not one of the five best players in the NBA,
(22:29):
he's somewhere in that next group, somewhere in there.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You have him five.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
No he's not, but I'm saying like that. That's so
it would make sense why you would go for that.
The issue that I have though, again, if I'm playing
Devil's advocate for Dallas, is ad is six years older
with a checkered injury history. So not only do I
need Anthony Davis in that trade, I'm gonna need both
of those first round picks, not just one. And I'm
probably gonna need Austin Reeves just to get the conversation going.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, I'm surprised they they said, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So that's why it felt like they over that they
that they did not get as much as they potentially
could in that situation.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, do you think the Lakers just were like, hey,
Austin Reeves is a non starter, Like, I why wouldn't
you go for Reeves?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Honestly, I don't.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
He's great.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
When this trade first came out, and and you know,
no one believed it right because they thought it was
everyone thought it was a fake Seaman's he got hacked whatever. Yeah. Yeah,
when I saw the terms, I'm like, that sounds like
what I would first counter with if I'm the Lakers, Like, okay,
I will give you Anthony Davis, like what you want back,
And it seemed to be like that was the guy
they targeted this entire process, and I will take MAXI
(23:39):
Kleeber's terrible contract, but I'm not going to give you
Austin Reeves. I'll give you Max Christy instead. And instead
of like countering again, it seemed like he goes, all right, deal,
we got our guy, we got eight That's what we
really wanted. And so it's just a weird situation. As
far as like the Luca is out of shape, that's
definitely a thing. But the way he plays, he's never
(24:04):
been reliant on being in shape to begin with. Honestly,
I could argue that him putting on those extra ten
to fifteen pounds that he did over the last two
or three years has made him a better player because
it made it impossible for any guards to guard him.
You have to have a three, four, even a five
man check him, and he's too creative for most of
those guys to stay in front of him. Like you
(24:26):
can't have a you know, a Drew Holiday type. You
can't have a bad exapt bat BEV type guard him
because he's too big. He's just too It's just not
gonna work. Like guarding him with Lebron James, it's not
gonna work. You've got to put some size on him,
and he's too crafty for most of the guys who
were his size.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
It's tough. I did. I tried not to read a
lot because on you know, opinions on this trade because
I want my I don't want mine to be colored
by that. But I did see a guy named Kevin
Pelton grades the trades every single trade in the NBA.
He graded the Lakers in a Maverick's got an.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
F which mean is a little harsh, but let's be real.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
You know, in the short term, I do love it.
I just I don't know about the long term. I
do want to add I was a little off on
the one hundred million dollars so Luca the super Max
would have paid him five years, three hundred and forty
five mil. The Lakers can sign him for two hundred
and twenty nine mil, so it's actually more than one
hundred mili. It's one hundred and sixteen million. Now. According
(25:30):
to some of these cap guys, Luca can opt out
after next season, and according to the story, several teams,
including the Miami Heat rob are expected to make a
maximum offer to Luca and others. There's no way the
Lakers are letting him go that now, that would Rob
Alink would be really, really in a bad spot. But
(25:54):
let me ask this one. This is kind of a
tough angle because what do you do you think Lebron
is hurt or happy by this? And I asked that
because he and A D were boys, he brought a
D to the Lakers, and by all intents, he was
not roped in on this deal. And I know people
are like, no way Lebron sold everything. I'm sorry, I'm
(26:16):
gonna go ahead and believe Lebron was not in the
know here, and I'll back it up with this. The
Lakers were on the road, so it's not like he
was in the facility. Okay. Lebron was playing great. The
Lakers had a great win over the Knicks. AD's been hurt,
so he hasn't. I don't think he traveled with the team.
Did he was he there? I don't think he was
at MSc okay, So like Lebron being away from it, like,
(26:38):
I don't think they Maybe they called him and gave
him a heads up, like five minutes before it was
leaked to the media, but I don't think they were like, hey, Lebron,
what do you think about this deal? I don't think
that happened, do you what do you think?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
My first reaction is no, No, it's that he didn't know, okay,
And it's for two reasons. Number One, Rich Paul, as
much as we say that he's Lebron's guy, he also
represents like twenty five percent of the NBA and a
lot of the max players. If Rich Paul was really
that deep in Lebron's pockets and ensuring that all things
(27:13):
led through Lebron, then we want to get this Zach
Levine would not end up in Sacramento, you know what
I mean, Like, that's not the kind of stuff that
would happen, you know. So, And number two, this is
probably the biggest one, and he alluded to it in
the opening of the podcast. In the short term, this
is a hit to the Lakers. This is not aball hit. Yeah,
bro saying like this roster as it stands, like they
(27:36):
got to make deals in the next couple of days,
does not make sense because you cannot play Lebron, Austin
Reeves and Luka Doncic and defend anybody in the NBA
with Jackson Hayes as your last line of defense. Like,
it doesn't work right. So, and as as I mentioned earlier,
when you acquire Luka Doncic, you give up Anthony Davis.
(27:57):
This is a trade made for the post Lebron era.
When has Lebron ever given a flying fuck about the
post Lebron era at any one of his stops? Right?
If he knew about this, I'm assuming he'd be the
kind of guy who's like, hey, give him all the picks,
give them Austin Reeves, give him pick swaps whatever me
Luca a D that's the three and minimum guy, Like,
(28:19):
that's the kind of thing Lebron wi wish for. I
don't think you would push to get their only big
and best, the best player for that regard traded for
Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
I have a question. So Luca's twenty five turns twenty
six this month, we're gonna go ahead and assume he's
going to sign the extension with the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
I think you get there. It's the smart people are
saying two plus one so that he can re up
again when he's a ten year VET and he gets
the maximum maximum.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Bottom line, I don't see him leaving the Lakers anytime soon.
People don't really leave the Lakers willingly.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Ok Right, Howard only one? Is that?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
What?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I don't remember that?
Speaker 4 (28:54):
To Houston?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Remember, Okay only he was still pretty good.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Over under one and a half titles for Luca with
the Lakers. Oh gosh, remember he's gonna be twenty six
in February let's assume they don't win it this year.
But I'll be honest, I'm not ruling that out because
they might make another trade next Maybe they ship Ruy
and Reeves and get Miles Turner, whatever. I don't know,
but there's a world where healthy Luca, healthy Lebron. It's
(29:35):
a pretty nasty offense. Okay, over under one and a half.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
I'm gonna take the under. I think he gets at
least one. So much of it, though, is gonna depend
on who he gets the second guy, because you know,
as we mentioned a minute ago, dearon Fox, say what
you want is now with Victor Wimbanyama is here and
he's coming, and so all roads are gonna lead through
him in the next fifteen years, right, Luca, h Nikola,
(30:03):
jokicch is still here, Giannis is still here. And until
we know otherwise, we're assuming Lebron is gonna retire in
the next year or two, you're gonna have Luka, Doncic
and Cap Space. I'm sure gonna get somebody, but until
we know who that is, it's hard for me to
say you're definitely gonnaet ATLEASTW championships.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, now I know some Laker fans are concerned about that.
But let's let's kind of be real. You know, everybody
doubted Lebron when he got to the Lakers. They were
like a a not quite a tear down house. But
remember remember they had like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Angulius Randall, it was Josh Hart.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I'll say this Polinka, Now you can say it was Lebron.
But Pelinka remade this roster and they won a title
in the COVID year and they were competitive again that
they just ran into Jokic a couple of times. I
I'm not ruling out any I would go over one
and a half for Lebron. Let me quickly. I'm looking
at the two Huh for Luca. You said for Luca,
(31:01):
Yes for this, over one and a half for Luca.
I'm looking at the twenty twenty six free agents. Okay,
I'll read them off. Dame Lillard probably gonna be too old,
Bradley bioh. I mean, if he wants to come Chase
Chase Ring Chase, you know, I think the Lakers would
take him a heartbeat. Jimmy Butler. These are all guys
in like their mid to late thirties. KD. Trey Young
(31:24):
is a young guy, but then then not bringing on Tredy.
He can't Tray can't play with Luca zach Lavine who
just got shipped to sack Town. Fred van Vliet, don't
need him, Kyrie Irving, James Harden. There's a billion free
agents in twenty twenty six. Dearon Fox DeAndre Ayton, who
if he's willing to take a bay cut and like
actually win playoff games, then yeah, go play with Luca
(31:45):
for Zingis Middleton, Randall Hartenstein. I just the combination of hey,
do you want to come play for the Lakers and oh,
by the way, they've got Luka Doncic. It's just like
say that out loud and you're just like wow. I mean,
and you know, twenty twenty six, I think Reddick's gonna
be there. I don't know about Bronnie and Bronnie and Lebron.
(32:06):
You know, I think Runce Lebron's gone. I don't I
don't know that Bronni's gonna have a roster spot. Although
you know, it might be tough to just say, oh,
your dad's gone and you're gone to that could be hard, man.
It's just it's a good time to be a Lakers fan.
I'll tell you, well, ask where were you when you
heard the news?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Rob, I was putting my infant daughter to sleep, and
I'm getting all these text message alerts and I'm like,
it's just real, it's just real, and I'm like, of
course it's not real, like it's it's no, this doesn't
And then of course I'm like, you know, if Sham's
gonna put it out, he always has a graphic to
go with it, like this is always premeditated. And then
you know, five minutes later it's like, no, this is
(32:44):
real from Shaan's like that's exactly what a hacker would say. Yes,
this is Shams. This is what I'm like. I no,
I didn't believe it, but that's where I was. It
was dark in my house and I wanted to scream.
And on my phone people who I who don't I
don't normally talk to were calling me to be like
you believe we got Luka Dancic. I'm like, what's up, dude,
Like good to hear from you. But you mentioned the
(33:05):
free agent class right twenty six is outside of Luca
twenty twenty seven. You want to get the little tingle
in your loins right now. J Mac Oh, wait wait,
let's see, don't say Devin Booker. No, I don't know
that he would play with Luca anyway, given their history.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Cooper Flagnog just kidding, go for.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
It, Okay, this is in the ascending order. Number three,
Donovan Mitchell, oh oh, number two, This one I don't
think is very likely.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
But Nikola Jokic, Yeah, unlikely.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
And number one with a bullet because I think this
is going to fail spectacularly over the next two or
three years. Jannis. I think the goopbo oh, the hashtag
future Laker for Jian has already exists. You can check
my Twitter at the producer argy and I'm hitting about
seventy five percent from the field. I'm just saying twenty
(33:59):
twenty seven the triumvirate of Luca ar and Giannis Aar I.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
I love me some Austin Reeves. I don't know if
they're gonna end up keeping him. By the way, all
this Miles Turner stuff, the Pacers are fourth in the East.
Why are they giving up a Miles Turner again?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Streets are saying because they can't afford to pay him
after the season. They got like ninety million tied up
in Siakam and Halliburton and apparently their ownership has never
gone over the luxury tax once.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So they have Thomas Bryant, Obi Toppin. I mean, you know,
would need some help, I think to win the East
this year. But they did push the Celtics. They did
eliminate the Knicks. I know the Knicks had a bunch
of injuries. The Sixers are I don't know if they're cooked,
but I mean there's Tyrese Max, He's trying to turn
things around. I don't think the Pacers are scared of
(34:53):
the Cabs, That's the thing. Are the Are they gonna
trade Miles Turner when they're top four in the East
to like does hell?
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Like?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Does Halliburton and Reeves even fit? They've got nem Hard
Ben Matherin's having a good season. Nie smit. They got
a lot of guards. I don't I just I don't
see that happening. But so I don't know where the
big is that the Lakers get Rob You're all over
the Lakers message boards. Who else is there?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well?
Speaker 4 (35:22):
The pie and this guy of course is Myles Turner
because he's the guy who would just fit beautifully.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Oh gosh, he can hit threes too.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
The other two names that keep being mentioned the most
that are names you can like Robert Williams because he's
always hurt. People don't get too excited about it. In Portland.
Number one Clint Capella. He's readily available if you want
him very much. He's in Atlanta right now, you know,
lob threat. But the thing is like he doesn't do
anything but that, and he's he's as far as centers go,
(35:51):
if you're gonna go through yok. I think he's like
two hundred and twenty pounds. Yeah, like you know, it's
not really gonna work out for you. The other one,
who's even skinnier, but apparently he's the guy that you
can get had if you want him, because they're trying
to tank. They're trying to capture the flag as they say.
Uh in Brooklyn, Nick Claxton, Oh yeah, no, I would
take him in a heartbeat. Yeah, So you know, he
(36:12):
is similar.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Though to the skinny guy you just mentioned. Yeah, they're
both kind of on the thin side. Capella and but
it's it's an upgrade from Jackson Hayes, which.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Is right, Jackson Hayes and uh, Maxie Kleeber right now
are the Lakers center.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I like Maxie as a small ball five. I like him.
Markith Morris could be your you know thug to protect
Lebron and Luca. All right, let's we'll say the Chip
Kelly gr Raiders for tomorrow, but u or later in
the week. But let's just quickly hammer this out. Dearon
Fox is going to the San Antonio Spurs, as everybody predicted,
(36:46):
because that's what his agent, Rich Paul wanted. Deeron Fox
will play with Wemby in San Antonio and in a
three team deal. My man Zach Lavine, who I am
a huge fan of, you guys know this, also a
guy on my Men'sleague trains him and says, like just
Zaclovine's like the nicest dude. He's just not you know,
a lot of these NBA players, NFL players, baseball player's bricks,
(37:08):
rich guys not friendly Zaqulvine's not in that category. And
he will reunite with DeMar DeRozan in San in Sacramento
as the Kings try to make a push here to
get in the playoffs. I actually, I know this is
gonna sound crazy. I don't hate their roster, Malik Bunk,
Levine DeRozan. I like Devin Carter, Kean Ellis has shown
(37:31):
some things. Keegan Murray, I like Sabonis like I think
they're gonna be good. I think they're a playoff to you,
I don't know if they're gonna I don't know if
there are a like a win around in playoffs, but
I think they'll definitely. Currently, as of this moment, Sacramento
is tied with Golden State ten and eleven. Spurs are
(37:52):
at twelve, and Rob, I will say this, Dallas, they're
kind of cratering their ninth. And I know we both
said in the short term this is this AD thing
is a win, but listen, there's not a lot of
room for error. If something happens to say, Kyrie irving
for two weeks and I don't know when AD's coming back.
Maybe he's gonna have a bruised digo and have to
miss a couple more games, and Klay Thompson has his
(38:15):
ups and downs. I don't, Rob, I don't think it's
a lock that the MAVs make the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Wow, I mean, you know February twenty fifth, Lakers host
the MAVs. You know here at the crypt I'm expecting
Ad to play. I expecting him like a thirty eight,
eighteen and six type game against US, like that's will
will Lucall be back? He should be. I mean all
indications where he was gonna come back before the trade
deadline for Dallas, but we'll see. As far as this
this Sacramento, chicag I mean, obviously clear win for the Spurs.
(38:42):
You know, you got the second guy now to go
with wenby By. They're gonna fit together beautifully. That's perfect
for the Kings. I like zach Lavine like you do.
But the three first round picks, they got a Charlotte
pick which will not convey this year, a twenty twenty
seven San Antonio Spurs first, which is if Wemby's here
(39:03):
late first round, and a twenty thirty one Minnesota pick
that is so far out we don't know. But even
still they have a what not even in his prime,
Anthony Edwards chilling.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
And they got three second round picks too.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
Yeah, and they got second round picks, But the one
that that is crazy Chicago. I saw this that a
Bulls Beat writer put out late Sunday night in the
last calendar year the Bulls have traded away Zach Lavine
and Alice Caruso. They have acquired in those separate trades
(39:34):
zero additional picks from what they had moving forward, because
the only pick they got back in this Levine deal
is one the Spurs gave back to them from a
previous I think Demarta Rosen trade. What are they doing
in Chicago?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Who's it? I don't even know who the GM there
isn't a European guy.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Think, I don't know who it is? But can we
just buy out Lonzo Ball? Let them come home. For
the Lakers, just let him shoot him over.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Oh I see Kevin Herder aka Red Velvet was in
that deal. There was a moment in Atlanta where he
was like a thing.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
And it's just fallen off precipitously.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Yeah, it's twenty six, marilynd kid.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Anyways, I don't know. I would not be shocked if
the Maxi miss the playoffs because Rob, there's just not
a lot of roote, Like who's their creator? If something
happens to Kyrie for two weeks, like they don't have
to Yeah, I don't know what they have hm And
And for the Lakers, that's that's the one thing. Rob.
It's like, let's say, you know, Lakers don't get back
(40:32):
Luca back anytime soon, and they and they lose in
the play in, it doesn't even matter. This is a
long term deal. This is like a buy and hold
stock yep, except it's one of the best players in
the league. I don't know. I just love this for
the Lakers, and.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Man, can I just slide in one thing before we
wrap this up? Please do so? Late Sunday night lost
in all this Luca trade A d Levigne, Dan Anon Fox,
all this stuff is happening. Friend of the Show Brian
Wenthorse tweets out that talks between the Heat and the
Warriors involving Jimmy Butler have ended for now because Jimmy
(41:11):
Butler is indicating he's unwilling to sign an extension with
Golden State. Who's advising my guy playoff? Jimmy, where does
he want to go? He wants to go to Phoenix,
but nobody wants. Bradley beal like likes like you're trying
to make fetch happen. It's not gonna happen, Jimmy. I mean,
I don't know, man. This might be some of the worst.
I thought Nico Harrison at bad PR. Jimmy Butler might
(41:34):
have the worst PR team in the history of the NBA.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Just didn't want to sign an extension. He just wants
everything that's not great. All right, listen, Rob, exciting stuff.
I know everybody's nervous about the NFL season ending, and ah,
what are they going to talk about? Well, I think
we're good now for a little bit. And that doesn't
even include Jimmy Butler, the return of Luca, the return
of ad Oh, the NBA never a dull moment. We're
back tomorrow.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up? Straight Fire? Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre,
Straight Fire for Monday, Febuary third.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's Super Bowl week, ladies and gentlemen, and all anybody's
talking about is the NBA, because holy cow, what a
weekend in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And I'll talk about games. We're back on that you know,
mid twenty teen stuff where players are moving hot and
heavy and folks, I have to be honest with you.
I was the wife was out of town this weekend,
so I'm watching movies with the kids. We're watching this
movie called air Bud from like I don't know, before
Rob was even born, probably, and you know, it's a
(00:54):
dog that ends up playing sports and it's a whatever movie.
But I didn't have my phone. I wasn't looking at
it wasn't lit up, and at one point, you know,
the kid had to go to the bathroom or something.
So I just take a glance at the phone and
I see all these texts. I'm like, what the And
the first one I saw is a buddy of mine
who is a great basketball player, and he's like a
coach and a rat. He's just an awesome guy. And
(01:15):
he goes, I normally wouldn't ask you this, but I
gotta say, is this true? Did we? And that's how
everybody out here refers to laters? Did we just get Luca?
And I was like, come on, no way. So I
go on the other text message and all it is
is exclamation mark and I'm just telling you this is
a touring Saturday. And I'm like, holy god, guys, guys,
(01:36):
stop tell my kids. I'm like, stop, top top paw.
We're not going back to the movie. And it was
just utter chaos and like disbelief, like I was in
a trance for a couple moments. They're like, there's no
way this is real. It actually you know how people
are like, oh it felt like a dream. It did
feel like a dream, Like oh my gosh, how what No, No,
it's impossible. And then you start to put everything together
(01:58):
and you read these reports trickling out of Dallas and unbelievable.
So then I go to coach my kids Sunday in
hoops and you know, you walk into the gym and
I wore la This sounds so illusory. I wore a
Lakers T shirt and a Laker sweatshirt. So I take
off the Lakers sweatshirt. I got the T shirt, and
everybody's like, g back, Oh my god, we got Luca. Folks,
if I talk to fifty people and I coach back
(02:19):
to back games, you know I'm a nerd and I
care about this stuff. I'm let's say I said hi
to fifty people, I would say, you know, thirty of
them asked about Luca. One hundred percent of them are
absolutely stoked that the Lakers got who I believe is
the best player in the NBA. And I've said this
for a while. Yes, Jokic is dominant and he's awesome.
(02:41):
Given Lucas hurt, Yokis probably right now is the best
play in league. But I've been saying this for years,
dating back to when I would co host undisputed Lucas
the best player in the league. I'm sorry. It ain't
Lebron anymore. It's not Jokic, it's not Sga or Embiid.
It's Luca. And I believe this for the longest time.
And for the Lakers to get a twenty five year old,
utterly dominant player in his prime who just took the
(03:05):
MAVs to the finals, it feels like the biggest heist
in NBA history, and we've seen some other crazy trades.
This is, by the way, totally different than when Kevin
Durant picked the Warriors. That's Kevin Durant picking the Warriors. Okay,
Lebron picking the heat I'm taking my talents to South Beach.
That's free agency. This is the Dallas Mavericks who just
(03:29):
went to the finals, willingly saying, yeah, we love Luca,
but we're worried about his conditioning and you know, the
looming Supermax. It's gonna be tough to win with him
on this and to use that as oh, we could
trade Luca and then we bring in one of the
best defenders in the league, top three defender in Anthony
(03:51):
Davis defense wins championship said they're GM for now. Nico
Harrison and I don't know if you guys saw the
press conference, but like Nico Harrison is sitting there next
to Jason Kid, Jason Kidd looks like he's seen a ghost,
and at one point he because like, yeah, Jay Kid,
he didn't even know, like nobody seemed to know. And
I'm not going to do a TikTok at this point
(04:11):
of how it went down. But the best intel I
can find is this dates back to a January seventh
MAVs Lakers game where you know, Luca had been hurt
on the twenty fifth of December Christmas Day. He had
the calf strain and he was in you know, one
(04:31):
of those like scooters or whatever, and it was like,
oh jeez, a calf strain. He's on a scooter. This
is not good. Oh my gosh. And you know, he
looked like he gained a couple of pounds. And Luca
is one of these yo yo guys with his weight.
He looks heavy, he's not. And one wonders did they
see eating habits of Luca post Christmas? They know him
(04:53):
better than anybody. I don't want anybody out here saying that,
like the Dallas Mavericks see this guy in and out
of the all the time. Okay, they know him better
than us, and they were willing to move off of
him because of diet concerns. Folks, that is one of
the most chicken shit laughable excuses I've ever heard. I
(05:15):
instantly went to the default of, oh my gosh, did
that Did Lucas sleep with somebody?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Owners?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
What? Like?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
What happened? Here, how do you do that? And you,
guys know I'm a Luca fanboy. I'm over the moon.
I mean, think about it like this. I don't even
care if the Lakers win a title this year or not. Okay,
it doesn't really matter. They are now set for the
next seven to ten years, at least with Luka Dancic
(05:42):
and yes, Lebron, who had a phenomenal game Saturday night
at the Garden. I think it was like thirty three,
twelve and eleven. He was spectacular, no Ad and Lebron
cooks and Lakers at a billion threes and beat the
Knicks and you're like, oh, Lebron, he can still do it.
You know, I can't do it much longer. If this
is Ron's final year in La now, I don't think
it will be. I'm gonna go ahead and assume he's
(06:05):
gonna want some kind of send off if this is
his final year, though, oh my gosh. If you're the Lakers,
you now have your new build around piece. You couldn't
build around Anthony Davis. Guys, he's i would say, at
the tail end of his prime at thirty one, and yeah, yeah,
he could be good for a couple of Warriors. You
can't build around Anthony Davis if you're the Lakers after Lebron.
(06:26):
I know, Rob Polink is the most much maligned GM
in the league. He takes more shrapnel from Laker fans
than anybody. And by the way, I find it interesting
that Anthony Davis has been chirping and complaining for the
last few weeks. Oh out replay center, we need another
big It's very interesting that Ad felt so emboldened to do.
(06:49):
I think Rob can check me on this. I think
he did a sit down interview with ESPN where he
complained about not having a babe next to him, and
it's like, man, I know he's with Claude and Clutches,
Lebron and Lebron and there's all this rumors that they
run the Lakers, folks. Anthony Davis just really popped off
(07:09):
and he got shipped. He got shipped FedEx to Dallas. Now, like,
in the short term, I believe Dallas could be good.
I think dallasa win the title this year, assuming everybody's healthy.
They're in greg shape. You know, I know they lost
by seventy five points or whatever the number was on Sunday,
where the team, you know, sat a lot of guys,
but they they look like a team that was shell
(07:30):
shocked and oh, my gosh, we traded Luca. What like
the videos I don't know if you guys saw these
around the league of players reacting. I saw one on
the bench. Somebody handed Kevin Durant a tablet and him
and Bradley Biler are looking and they're like what They're
just looking around like the no, no, no, Like the
look is one of these like holy cow? And I
(07:50):
think that's the general consensus around the league is that,
my gosh, what did the Mavericks do? Now? If we're
doing a who won the trade? I think in the
very s your term this season, the Mavericks could end
up looking better. And you know, everybody's a hot take artist,
and oh my gosh, that the MAVs go to the
Western Conference finals. They want the trade. Folks think about
(08:12):
the big picture. The Lakers for whatever reason, And I
had some dopes texting me, Oh, I'm not texting dming me.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Oh, Lakers league is rigged.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Why did the Lakers always get the best players? I
mean they did pull off I mean Magic Johnson in
the draft after they had already been good to get
Magic Johnson. Was sheer luck for them to land James
Worthy in the draft out of unc where he was awesome,
was sheer luck for them? Now Shaq picked them, so
that's not a big deal. But for them to land Kobe,
(08:44):
Kobe kind of threatened I'm not going to go to Charlotte.
You guys can remember that. For them to steal Pauga
sol and now this it definitely I'm not saying rigged
or any of that. It definitely feels like Rob Polinka
here may have pulled off greatest trade in the NBA
this century. I mean, I don't know that. Maybe two
(09:04):
incendiary Rob, But when you really look at the Lakers
and what they're set up for, like you got nothing
to worry about now, Okay, the wasteland of the ending
Kobe years and the up and down Lebron years, they're
gonna be Lakers, gonna be fine with Luca they are
now building around him, is gonna be fun and that'll
be you know, exciting. What are we gonna do? Who
are we gonna get? But you know, as of right now,
(09:26):
it's Monday, February third, you're looking at because Lucas still
out Austin Reeves Dalton connect because what's his name? Max
Christy got shipped Ruy Lebron and Jackson Hayes. You've got
guys like Shake, Milton Gabe, Vincent DFS, Van Do there's
probably another trade coming and you know, we'll get to
(09:46):
that a little later on the pod. But Rob, before I,
you know, ask you your thoughts. I just I want
to go back to one day and that was and
I have it here in my notes. May thirty first,
twenty twenty four. You guys can look this up. The
MAVs had an amazing postseason win. I think they wrapped
up the series against OKAC, and Luca was in the
(10:08):
hallway drinking a beer. And you guys can look this
video up. It's been out there. It was joked about
at the time, and now it doesn't look as funny.
And he's drinking a beer talking to someone who might
have been his dad, I don't know, and Michael Finley,
who I believe is the assistant GM at the MAVs,
comes up to Luca and takes the beer out of
his hand. Now they had just won, so Luca was
(10:30):
more like what you know, smiling and laughing about it,
like okay, but you have to wonder were the MAVs
so concerned about Luca that after a win he could
not consume an alcoholic beverage. Now, I'm sure Michael Finley
will say, oh, we didn't want the cameras catching him drinking. Guys,
there's locker rooms with champagne spraying left and right in
every sport. Baseball does that every round stop.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 2 (11:05):
I get the sense that the MAVs thought they couldn't
control Luca, his diet, his conditioning, everything, and they wanted
to sew badly, but couldn't that. They just said, let's
get him out of town. Let's make him someone else's problem.
And wrapping up, Luca's dad gave an interview over the
weekend and Araschmarkazi put the whole thing on social media
(11:28):
and they ended up getting the conversion in language. Luca's
dad said, I know people say he doesn't play a
lot of regular season games. Last season, Luca played seventy
regular season games, averaging thirty five minutes and remember he's
running the offense, points, rebounds, as syst he's run the show.
(11:49):
Then he played twenty two playoff games forty minutes a game,
carrying this team. That's ninety two games got them to
the finals, and they still were unhappy with him enough
to ship him. I don't want to hear the super
max excuse, like, figure it out. That's your job as
a front office. Like, if I'm a Dallas Mavericks fans,
(12:10):
I'm rate. If I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan, I'm irate
that you just shipped off a generational talent, a guy
who and you, guys can deny me all you want.
He's gonna end up being a top ten player in
the history of the sport, assuming he doesn't miss, you know,
five seasons because of injury. He's on track to be
a top ten player all time in the NBA. And
(12:31):
for the MAVs to ship him, I saw hilarious. One
of these memes have been really, really good. The NBA
fans are just so on it. It was the words
were generational fumble and it was a picture of Jalen
Brunson in the MAVs jersey and Luca in his MAVs Jersey.
I guess their their first year and the MAVs had
(12:53):
those two that right now is two of the ten
best players in the league and they're both gone.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah. I mean, this is a lot to digest. And
you know, I know we're probably what twenty four hours
since this happened or less than that forty eight hours.
This is a trade that people are gonna be talking
about for years and decades to come. Everyone's gonna remember
where they were when this trade came down. Not just
because it's the Lakers, which is usually kind of the
(13:22):
thing that happens. It's because the Lakers got another in
your prime all world player for what people think is nothing,
even though I think that's kind of true. Truck with
Anthony Davis, that's a different conversation. Yes, Luka, Doncic is pudgy.
You know who else's pudgy, Nikola jokicch Jokich, Yeah, you
know who else's pudgy? Patrick Mahomes. So that tells me,
(13:47):
in order if you want to be an all time great,
you got to be a little overweight. That's what it
tells me. Okay, even with all of his yo yoing weight,
and you know, concerns about his health and his eating happen,
whatever they're trying to spin out of Dallas at the
age of twenty five, five time All Star, five time
First Team All NBA Rookie of the Year, second all
time in playoff points per game, sixth all time playoff
(14:09):
triple doubles, seventh all time in career triple doubles, and
since he's been in the league, this is my favorite
stat twenty nine to nine and eight, first in the
NBA points per game, second in the NBA in assists
per game. If that's what an out of shape Luka
Doncic looks like, I'm scared to imagine what a healthy
(14:29):
Luka Doncic looks like. The Lakers, as much as I'm excited,
you know, the hashtag future, they came true again, by
the way, because I had this back in twenty twenty.
Don't want to pat myself on the back, but I
did have this shots as excited as Amabel Luka Doncic,
and you pointed this out. In the short term, this
is probably not an improvement this season because until we
(14:53):
find out what's gonna happen here in the next three
or four days, the Lakers might have the worst center
situation in the NBA. And if they're gonna start Austin
reason Luka Doncics, as long as they might have the
worst defensive backcourt in the NBA. Hey, Austin Reeves can
lock some people up, Okay, So in the short term,
that's a problem. This trade, though, is not made with
(15:14):
a short term in mind. This trade was made for
the first time in about five or six years with
the post Lebron James era in mind. Now, when you
look at the Lakers, and the Lakers brand already sells
itself for the most part, you are gonna have a
smack dab in the middle of his prime, top three
(15:35):
at worst NBA player Luka Doncic as your face of
the franchise. And if they play their cards right in
twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven, when Lebron is retired,
they are gonna have enough cap space for at least
one other MAX player, if not two.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, it's too early to speculate who that could be.
But Rob, do you remember last week when you and
I did I forget what day it was, and we
were like, I feel like something's brewing. Yes, in the NBA,
and reporters that alluded to something cooking, and my guest
was Kevin Durant. Remember that, Yep, nobody could have guessed Luca.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Nobody, no, and even I said, I said, the only
other name that would kind of make sense for twenty
six would be Luca, but that would need something. We
have to go completely sideways for it to happen. I
did not imagine sideways being a rogue general manager. This
was my favorite clip that was circulating on Sunday morning.
You're in the West Coast, okay, Nico Harrison to the
(16:32):
media said out loud, like whoever's working MAVs PR had
to be fuming because he There's so many ways you
could have spun this. You could have been like, hey,
Luca alluded to the idea that he wasn't gonna resign.
We want to get ahead of this. Luca, you know,
has been hurt a lot, and this is something we
wanted to get ahead of because we're worried about his
long term health with the franchise and if we're gonna
(16:53):
give him super Max, you know, we don't want that
kind of situation overheads. He said this with a straight
face to the media, with microphones and cameras pointed at him.
Number one, when he asked Rob Polinka about the idea
of trading for Luka Doncic, Polinka initially thought he was
messing with him. Okay. Number two, when he floated the
idea of trading Luka Doncic up the flagpole to MAVs ownership,
(17:16):
the owner laughed at him. First. Number three, At no point,
according to Nico Harrison, MAVs GM the guy who made
this move happen seemingly out of nowhere. Luca never suggested
that he wanted out of Dallas or gave any indication
that he wasn't going to sign the Supermax. And last,
(17:36):
but not least, he closes his media availability by saying,
I'm not too concerned about ten years from now because
I'll probably be gone anyways.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Bro, that's a bad, bad look.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Like And again this a lot is being made that
they got the Lakers got Luca for a bag of
potato chips.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
But no, stop, that's not accurate, right, Come on, Max.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Chrispy is a legitimate up and coming three and D player,
and Anthony Davis at right now is a top ten
player no matter which way.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
But what's the problem with that is they have Anthony Davis,
Lively and Gafford. Are you really gonna play a d
and one of those two bigs at the same time.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
That's what ad wants. He wants another center, but he
wants that.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Fine, give it to him, go for it.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
But it's like you didn't get nothing in this deal.
That's that's so disrespectful to Anthony Davis to and sing you.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But they lost so much. But let me let me ask,
let me add this rock. So all these people out there,
these reporters, are saying, how could the MAVs not open
up a bidding war. If you were gonna trade Luca,
you could get every You could get way more than this.
That is just such an athetic and embarrassing way to
look at it. If you're being real, remember Luca would
(18:46):
have to sign an extension after next season. I hate
to report this to you guys, but you can instantly
wipe out twenty five teams Luka and sign him with
long term I'm sorry, he's not going to the Sacramento Kings. Yeah,
we'll get there. The Deer and Fox getting shipped and
getting Levine shortly. Luca's not going to the Detroit Pistons.
He's not going to the Brooklyn. He's just not doing that, Okay,
(19:10):
So you instantly I narrowed it down, Rob, and I
came up with this list of teams that Luca probably
would have signed with long term if the Maps had
to open it up. I would say the Celtics, right,
Celtics are awesome golfront franchise, a lot of good players.
I would say the Knicks Marquee market. You know, I
(19:30):
think that could have worked. I think the Miami Heat
would certainly be in Luke in the Lucas Weepstakes.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
No, no, he can't handle he culture. You just said
he's out of shape, like they have a rule that's
got to be under like.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And the final one. And I'm only putting this out
there because it's Los Angeles and that's the paper clips. Now,
I don't even know if they would have been in
the mix because historically they're just so well well, poorly
run and there's the curse. So now it's like basically
like what you know, if if you want to say, Jason,
what about Denver? He would love to play with the
o K Just stop, Who on earth would the MAVs
(20:02):
want in return? Which is why this makes it so difficult.
The Lakers had someone that the MAVs wanted ad a
top ten player in the league, top fifteen, I'll go
top fifteen maybe this season, but the injuries, he's been
top ten injuries to other guys. But like, I don't
think the return was awful. The problem is you're just
losing a generational talent and like, oh, you could say, well,
(20:24):
what about one big y'all, but Luca would play with him? Okay,
who the hell do the Spurs have outside of Wemby
that the MAVs would want And the answer is nothing.
So it's like, you know, there's just not a lot
of options for a deal like this. Now, did they
pull the trigger too early? I would say yes. That
(20:45):
being said, you know, Rob, if we're being one hundred
percent honest, you and I are both Laker fans. I
think in the back of your mind there has to
be some level of concern about Luca's conditioning. Not a
significant one, certainly, not enough to deter me from pulling
the trigger on the deal, but yeah, mild concerned. I mean,
this calf strain that's obviously not great, and he hasn't
(21:08):
been back. They were saying maybe by the All Star break.
No rush on my end there. Hell, I would just
hold him out until he's one hundred thousand percent ready.
And Rob, we know anytime Lebron gets with somebody, he
gets him in the gym and Lebron, I know, there's
a heat culture, there's a Lebron culture. You better work
your ass off. And I don't see Luca just like
(21:30):
being slack and not giving the effort with the Lakers because, oh,
by the way, he's a little motivated that the MAVs
cost him one hundred million dollars with that Supermax that
he's no longer eligible for because he's been traded. So
I think Luca a motivated Luca is probably the scariest
player in the NBA.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
Oh, he's certainly up there. And just to go back
to the point about the Lakers and the trade, because
I was listening to another podcast where they were saying,
if you're gonna trade a guy who's a top five player,
which Luca obviously is, you either got to do one
of two things. Number One, you got to bottom out
and just get all the draft picks, which the MAVs
obviously you are not gonna do because they just signed
(22:08):
Klay Thompson, they got Kyrie Irvy. The rest of the
roster is too good for you to completely bought him out.
So that's number one. Number two. If you're not gonna
get that, you want to get somebody or a collection
of guys that are right in that tier below and
Anthony Davis. Anyway, whether you have him at ten or fifteen,
however you have him, we can all concede that if
he's not one of the five best players in the NBA,
(22:29):
he's somewhere in that next group, somewhere in there.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You have him five.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
No he's not, but I'm saying like that. That's so
it would make sense why you would go for that.
The issue that I have though, again, if I'm playing
Devil's advocate for Dallas, is ad is six years older
with a checkered injury history. So not only do I
need Anthony Davis in that trade, I'm gonna need both
of those first round picks, not just one. And I'm
probably gonna need Austin Reeves just to get the conversation going.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, I'm surprised they they said, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So that's why it felt like they over that they
that they did not get as much as they potentially
could in that situation.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, do you think the Lakers just were like, hey,
Austin Reeves is a non starter, Like, I why wouldn't
you go for Reeves?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Honestly, I don't.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
He's great.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
When this trade first came out, and and you know,
no one believed it right because they thought it was
everyone thought it was a fake Seaman's he got hacked whatever. Yeah. Yeah,
when I saw the terms, I'm like, that sounds like
what I would first counter with if I'm the Lakers, Like, okay,
I will give you Anthony Davis, like what you want back,
And it seemed to be like that was the guy
they targeted this entire process, and I will take MAXI
(23:39):
Kleeber's terrible contract, but I'm not going to give you
Austin Reeves. I'll give you Max Christy instead. And instead
of like countering again, it seemed like he goes, all right, deal,
we got our guy, we got eight That's what we
really wanted. And so it's just a weird situation. As
far as like the Luca is out of shape, that's
definitely a thing. But the way he plays, he's never
(24:04):
been reliant on being in shape to begin with. Honestly,
I could argue that him putting on those extra ten
to fifteen pounds that he did over the last two
or three years has made him a better player because
it made it impossible for any guards to guard him.
You have to have a three, four, even a five
man check him, and he's too creative for most of
those guys to stay in front of him. Like you
(24:26):
can't have a you know, a Drew Holiday type. You
can't have a bad exapt bat BEV type guard him
because he's too big. He's just too It's just not
gonna work. Like guarding him with Lebron James, it's not
gonna work. You've got to put some size on him,
and he's too crafty for most of the guys who
were his size.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
It's tough. I did. I tried not to read a
lot because on you know, opinions on this trade because
I want my I don't want mine to be colored
by that. But I did see a guy named Kevin
Pelton grades the trades every single trade in the NBA.
He graded the Lakers in a Maverick's got an.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
F which mean is a little harsh, but let's be real.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
You know, in the short term, I do love it.
I just I don't know about the long term. I
do want to add I was a little off on
the one hundred million dollars so Luca the super Max
would have paid him five years, three hundred and forty
five mil. The Lakers can sign him for two hundred
and twenty nine mil, so it's actually more than one
hundred mili. It's one hundred and sixteen million. Now. According
(25:30):
to some of these cap guys, Luca can opt out
after next season, and according to the story, several teams,
including the Miami Heat rob are expected to make a
maximum offer to Luca and others. There's no way the
Lakers are letting him go that now, that would Rob
Alink would be really, really in a bad spot. But
(25:54):
let me ask this one. This is kind of a
tough angle because what do you do you think Lebron
is hurt or happy by this? And I asked that
because he and A D were boys, he brought a
D to the Lakers, and by all intents, he was
not roped in on this deal. And I know people
are like, no way Lebron sold everything. I'm sorry, I'm
(26:16):
gonna go ahead and believe Lebron was not in the
know here, and I'll back it up with this. The
Lakers were on the road, so it's not like he
was in the facility. Okay. Lebron was playing great. The
Lakers had a great win over the Knicks. AD's been hurt,
so he hasn't. I don't think he traveled with the team.
Did he was he there? I don't think he was
at MSc okay, So like Lebron being away from it, like,
(26:38):
I don't think they Maybe they called him and gave
him a heads up, like five minutes before it was
leaked to the media, but I don't think they were like, hey, Lebron,
what do you think about this deal? I don't think
that happened, do you what do you think?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
My first reaction is no, No, it's that he didn't know, okay,
And it's for two reasons. Number One, Rich Paul, as
much as we say that he's Lebron's guy, he also
represents like twenty five percent of the NBA and a
lot of the max players. If Rich Paul was really
that deep in Lebron's pockets and ensuring that all things
(27:13):
led through Lebron, then we want to get this Zach
Levine would not end up in Sacramento, you know what
I mean, Like, that's not the kind of stuff that
would happen, you know. So, And number two, this is
probably the biggest one, and he alluded to it in
the opening of the podcast. In the short term, this
is a hit to the Lakers. This is not aball hit. Yeah,
bro saying like this roster as it stands, like they
(27:36):
got to make deals in the next couple of days,
does not make sense because you cannot play Lebron, Austin
Reeves and Luka Doncic and defend anybody in the NBA
with Jackson Hayes as your last line of defense. Like,
it doesn't work right. So, and as as I mentioned earlier,
when you acquire Luka Doncic, you give up Anthony Davis.
(27:57):
This is a trade made for the post Lebron era.
When has Lebron ever given a flying fuck about the
post Lebron era at any one of his stops? Right?
If he knew about this, I'm assuming he'd be the
kind of guy who's like, hey, give him all the picks,
give them Austin Reeves, give him pick swaps whatever me
Luca a D that's the three and minimum guy, Like,
(28:19):
that's the kind of thing Lebron wi wish for. I
don't think you would push to get their only big
and best, the best player for that regard traded for
Luka Doncic.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
I have a question. So Luca's twenty five turns twenty
six this month, we're gonna go ahead and assume he's
going to sign the extension with the Lakers.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
I think you get there. It's the smart people are
saying two plus one so that he can re up
again when he's a ten year VET and he gets
the maximum maximum.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Bottom line, I don't see him leaving the Lakers anytime soon.
People don't really leave the Lakers willingly.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Ok Right, Howard only one? Is that?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
What?
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I don't remember that?
Speaker 4 (28:54):
To Houston?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Remember, Okay only he was still pretty good.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Over under one and a half titles for Luca with
the Lakers. Oh gosh, remember he's gonna be twenty six
in February let's assume they don't win it this year.
But I'll be honest, I'm not ruling that out because
they might make another trade next Maybe they ship Ruy
and Reeves and get Miles Turner, whatever. I don't know,
but there's a world where healthy Luca, healthy Lebron. It's
(29:35):
a pretty nasty offense. Okay, over under one and a half.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
I'm gonna take the under. I think he gets at
least one. So much of it, though, is gonna depend
on who he gets the second guy, because you know,
as we mentioned a minute ago, dearon Fox, say what
you want is now with Victor Wimbanyama is here and
he's coming, and so all roads are gonna lead through
him in the next fifteen years, right, Luca, h Nikola,
(30:03):
jokicch is still here, Giannis is still here. And until
we know otherwise, we're assuming Lebron is gonna retire in
the next year or two, you're gonna have Luka, Doncic
and Cap Space. I'm sure gonna get somebody, but until
we know who that is, it's hard for me to
say you're definitely gonnaet ATLEASTW championships.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, now I know some Laker fans are concerned about that.
But let's let's kind of be real. You know, everybody
doubted Lebron when he got to the Lakers. They were
like a a not quite a tear down house. But
remember remember they had like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Angulius Randall, it was Josh Hart.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I'll say this Polinka, Now you can say it was Lebron.
But Pelinka remade this roster and they won a title
in the COVID year and they were competitive again that
they just ran into Jokic a couple of times. I
I'm not ruling out any I would go over one
and a half for Lebron. Let me quickly. I'm looking
at the two Huh for Luca. You said for Luca,
(31:01):
Yes for this, over one and a half for Luca.
I'm looking at the twenty twenty six free agents. Okay,
I'll read them off. Dame Lillard probably gonna be too old,
Bradley bioh. I mean, if he wants to come Chase
Chase Ring Chase, you know, I think the Lakers would
take him a heartbeat. Jimmy Butler. These are all guys
in like their mid to late thirties. KD. Trey Young
(31:24):
is a young guy, but then then not bringing on Tredy.
He can't Tray can't play with Luca zach Lavine who
just got shipped to sack Town. Fred van Vliet, don't
need him, Kyrie Irving, James Harden. There's a billion free
agents in twenty twenty six. Dearon Fox DeAndre Ayton, who
if he's willing to take a bay cut and like
actually win playoff games, then yeah, go play with Luca
(31:45):
for Zingis Middleton, Randall Hartenstein. I just the combination of hey,
do you want to come play for the Lakers and oh,
by the way, they've got Luka Doncic. It's just like
say that out loud and you're just like wow. I mean,
and you know, twenty twenty six, I think Reddick's gonna
be there. I don't know about Bronnie and Bronnie and Lebron.
(32:06):
You know, I think Runce Lebron's gone. I don't I
don't know that Bronni's gonna have a roster spot. Although
you know, it might be tough to just say, oh,
your dad's gone and you're gone to that could be hard, man.
It's just it's a good time to be a Lakers fan.
I'll tell you, well, ask where were you when you
heard the news?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Rob, I was putting my infant daughter to sleep, and
I'm getting all these text message alerts and I'm like,
it's just real, it's just real, and I'm like, of
course it's not real, like it's it's no, this doesn't
And then of course I'm like, you know, if Sham's
gonna put it out, he always has a graphic to
go with it, like this is always premeditated. And then
you know, five minutes later it's like, no, this is
(32:44):
real from Shaan's like that's exactly what a hacker would say. Yes,
this is Shams. This is what I'm like. I no,
I didn't believe it, but that's where I was. It
was dark in my house and I wanted to scream.
And on my phone people who I who don't I
don't normally talk to were calling me to be like
you believe we got Luka Dancic. I'm like, what's up, dude,
Like good to hear from you. But you mentioned the
(33:05):
free agent class right twenty six is outside of Luca
twenty twenty seven. You want to get the little tingle
in your loins right now. J Mac Oh, wait wait,
let's see, don't say Devin Booker. No, I don't know
that he would play with Luca anyway, given their history.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Cooper Flagnog just kidding, go for.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
It, Okay, this is in the ascending order. Number three,
Donovan Mitchell, oh oh, number two, This one I don't
think is very likely.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
But Nikola Jokic, Yeah, unlikely.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
And number one with a bullet because I think this
is going to fail spectacularly over the next two or
three years. Jannis. I think the goopbo oh, the hashtag
future Laker for Jian has already exists. You can check
my Twitter at the producer argy and I'm hitting about
seventy five percent from the field. I'm just saying twenty
(33:59):
twenty seven the triumvirate of Luca ar and Giannis Aar I.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
I love me some Austin Reeves. I don't know if
they're gonna end up keeping him. By the way, all
this Miles Turner stuff, the Pacers are fourth in the East.
Why are they giving up a Miles Turner again?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Streets are saying because they can't afford to pay him
after the season. They got like ninety million tied up
in Siakam and Halliburton and apparently their ownership has never
gone over the luxury tax once.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So they have Thomas Bryant, Obi Toppin. I mean, you know,
would need some help, I think to win the East
this year. But they did push the Celtics. They did
eliminate the Knicks. I know the Knicks had a bunch
of injuries. The Sixers are I don't know if they're cooked,
but I mean there's Tyrese Max, He's trying to turn
things around. I don't think the Pacers are scared of
(34:53):
the Cabs, That's the thing. Are the Are they gonna
trade Miles Turner when they're top four in the East
to like does hell?
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Like?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Does Halliburton and Reeves even fit? They've got nem Hard
Ben Matherin's having a good season. Nie smit. They got
a lot of guards. I don't I just I don't
see that happening. But so I don't know where the
big is that the Lakers get Rob You're all over
the Lakers message boards. Who else is there?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well?
Speaker 4 (35:22):
The pie and this guy of course is Myles Turner
because he's the guy who would just fit beautifully.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Oh gosh, he can hit threes too.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
The other two names that keep being mentioned the most
that are names you can like Robert Williams because he's
always hurt. People don't get too excited about it. In Portland.
Number one Clint Capella. He's readily available if you want
him very much. He's in Atlanta right now, you know,
lob threat. But the thing is like he doesn't do
anything but that, and he's he's as far as centers go,
(35:51):
if you're gonna go through yok. I think he's like
two hundred and twenty pounds. Yeah, like you know, it's
not really gonna work out for you. The other one,
who's even skinnier, but apparently he's the guy that you
can get had if you want him, because they're trying
to tank. They're trying to capture the flag as they say.
Uh in Brooklyn, Nick Claxton, Oh yeah, no, I would
take him in a heartbeat. Yeah, So you know, he
(36:12):
is similar.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Though to the skinny guy you just mentioned. Yeah, they're
both kind of on the thin side. Capella and but
it's it's an upgrade from Jackson Hayes, which.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Is right, Jackson Hayes and uh, Maxie Kleeber right now
are the Lakers center.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I like Maxie as a small ball five. I like him.
Markith Morris could be your you know thug to protect
Lebron and Luca. All right, let's we'll say the Chip
Kelly gr Raiders for tomorrow, but u or later in
the week. But let's just quickly hammer this out. Dearon
Fox is going to the San Antonio Spurs, as everybody predicted,
(36:46):
because that's what his agent, Rich Paul wanted. Deeron Fox
will play with Wemby in San Antonio and in a
three team deal. My man Zach Lavine, who I am
a huge fan of, you guys know this, also a
guy on my Men'sleague trains him and says, like just
Zaclovine's like the nicest dude. He's just not you know,
a lot of these NBA players, NFL players, baseball player's bricks,
(37:08):
rich guys not friendly Zaqulvine's not in that category. And
he will reunite with DeMar DeRozan in San in Sacramento
as the Kings try to make a push here to
get in the playoffs. I actually, I know this is
gonna sound crazy. I don't hate their roster, Malik Bunk,
Levine DeRozan. I like Devin Carter, Kean Ellis has shown
(37:31):
some things. Keegan Murray, I like Sabonis like I think
they're gonna be good. I think they're a playoff to you,
I don't know if they're gonna I don't know if
there are a like a win around in playoffs, but
I think they'll definitely. Currently, as of this moment, Sacramento
is tied with Golden State ten and eleven. Spurs are
(37:52):
at twelve, and Rob, I will say this, Dallas, they're
kind of cratering their ninth. And I know we both
said in the short term this is this AD thing
is a win, but listen, there's not a lot of
room for error. If something happens to say, Kyrie irving
for two weeks and I don't know when AD's coming back.
Maybe he's gonna have a bruised digo and have to
miss a couple more games, and Klay Thompson has his
(38:15):
ups and downs. I don't, Rob, I don't think it's
a lock that the MAVs make the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Wow, I mean, you know February twenty fifth, Lakers host
the MAVs. You know here at the crypt I'm expecting
Ad to play. I expecting him like a thirty eight,
eighteen and six type game against US, like that's will
will Lucall be back? He should be. I mean all
indications where he was gonna come back before the trade
deadline for Dallas, but we'll see. As far as this
this Sacramento, chicag I mean, obviously clear win for the Spurs.
(38:42):
You know, you got the second guy now to go
with wenby By. They're gonna fit together beautifully. That's perfect
for the Kings. I like zach Lavine like you do.
But the three first round picks, they got a Charlotte
pick which will not convey this year, a twenty twenty
seven San Antonio Spurs first, which is if Wemby's here
(39:03):
late first round, and a twenty thirty one Minnesota pick
that is so far out we don't know. But even
still they have a what not even in his prime,
Anthony Edwards chilling.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
And they got three second round picks too.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
Yeah, and they got second round picks, But the one
that that is crazy Chicago. I saw this that a
Bulls Beat writer put out late Sunday night in the
last calendar year the Bulls have traded away Zach Lavine
and Alice Caruso. They have acquired in those separate trades
(39:34):
zero additional picks from what they had moving forward, because
the only pick they got back in this Levine deal
is one the Spurs gave back to them from a
previous I think Demarta Rosen trade. What are they doing
in Chicago?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Who's it? I don't even know who the GM there
isn't a European guy.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Think, I don't know who it is? But can we
just buy out Lonzo Ball? Let them come home. For
the Lakers, just let him shoot him over.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Oh I see Kevin Herder aka Red Velvet was in
that deal. There was a moment in Atlanta where he
was like a thing.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
And it's just fallen off precipitously.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Yeah, it's twenty six, marilynd kid.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Anyways, I don't know. I would not be shocked if
the Maxi miss the playoffs because Rob, there's just not
a lot of roote, Like who's their creator? If something
happens to Kyrie for two weeks, like they don't have
to Yeah, I don't know what they have hm And
And for the Lakers, that's that's the one thing. Rob.
It's like, let's say, you know, Lakers don't get back
(40:32):
Luca back anytime soon, and they and they lose in
the play in, it doesn't even matter. This is a
long term deal. This is like a buy and hold
stock yep, except it's one of the best players in
the league. I don't know. I just love this for
the Lakers, and.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Man, can I just slide in one thing before we
wrap this up? Please do so? Late Sunday night lost
in all this Luca trade A d Levigne, Dan Anon Fox,
all this stuff is happening. Friend of the Show Brian
Wenthorse tweets out that talks between the Heat and the
Warriors involving Jimmy Butler have ended for now because Jimmy
(41:11):
Butler is indicating he's unwilling to sign an extension with
Golden State. Who's advising my guy playoff? Jimmy, where does
he want to go? He wants to go to Phoenix,
but nobody wants. Bradley beal like likes like you're trying
to make fetch happen. It's not gonna happen, Jimmy. I mean,
I don't know, man. This might be some of the worst.
I thought Nico Harrison at bad PR. Jimmy Butler might
(41:34):
have the worst PR team in the history of the NBA.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Just didn't want to sign an extension. He just wants
everything that's not great. All right, listen, Rob, exciting stuff.
I know everybody's nervous about the NFL season ending, and ah,
what are they going to talk about? Well, I think
we're good now for a little bit. And that doesn't
even include Jimmy Butler, the return of Luca, the return
of ad Oh, the NBA never a dull moment. We're
back tomorrow.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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