February 3, 2023 • 16 mins
Sarah talks with NBA.com Senior writer Shaun Powell about LeBron chasing the scoring title, what LeBron showed in his first NBA game that informs his entire career, and why his record may never be broken. We also talk All-Star Reserves, who was a surprise and who got left out. As well as who are the Buyers and Sellers at the Trade Deadline.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome into NBA Pulse, the production of I Heart Radio
and the NBA. I'm Saracustack, NBA analysts for the S Network,
and today is Friday, February three, and from our extraordinary
core group of NBA dot Com writers, I am joined
by senior writer Sean pal And Sean, there's a lot
going on start of February and moving pieces, moving parts. Um.
(00:24):
We are going to get to the all star reserves
that were just announced last night. The trade deadline approaching
on February nine. However, Lebron the the watches on as
he approaches Kareem's all time scoring record. He is now
sixty three points away. After the Lakers uh narrowly beat
(00:44):
the Indiana Pacers in Indiana on eleven win. Lebron had
twenty six points, seven rebounds, seven assists. Sean, We've talked
a bit about Lebron, Um, but I think the interesting
thing that you have always brought up in in the
time that you've spent ring him watching him the other
night at the garden Um. You know, we're talking about
the points that he's been scoring, but he also had
(01:06):
passed Mark Jackson for fifth on the all time assist lists.
Also that same night passed Steve Nash for fourth on
the all time assist list. His his game is a
complete game, and often you don't think of him immediately
as a score. You think about him as a player,
a winner. Uh, when you're talking Lebron. What jumps out
to you as you continue to note and watch him
(01:28):
inch up in this scoring record in the points that
he's putting up. Well, I go back to his very
first game in the NBA. UH played in Sacramento, UM,
making his debut eighteen year old with it with the
Burgundy head band with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his first
contribution to the box score wasn't assists and ally lob
(01:51):
to Ricky Davis, this is his best parts game and
there's his first assist, and it's a beauty. And that's
what makes him so good. And that's where his skill
are really gonna blossom, because now he's able to throw
those passes two players that are gonna finish. So it's
interesting how a guy who's going to be the all
time score that would be the first thing he would do. Uh.
(02:11):
And then his first basket in that game was sort
of like just an ordinary pull up twelve ft jump shot.
Lebron James first shot is good, and that's good to
see it because during the preseason he would be able
to hit those kind of jumpers. And for him to
be able to assist who hit the jumper, it's gonna
allow him to be able to have the defensive guy
come up on to him so he can use the
strength and drive by it. So that brings two things
(02:32):
to mind. Number One, the guy who's going to set
the all time UH scoring record had just an ordinary
shooting game. Didn't have like a shot he could fall
back on, didn't have a security blanket shot. Uh, you know,
sky hook like Cremal Bho jabbar um kar Malone would
run down court for all those fast break layups passes
(02:53):
from John Stockton. If you look down the list of
the great scoring news they had just something I go
to to move an emergency shot, and Lebron really never
had that. Lebron's game really evolved over time. Uh. At first,
he was a very weak post up player. And you
look at Lebron, you know, the physical freak of nature. No, No,
Lebron didn't post anybody up. If you remember the twenty
(03:14):
eleven NBA Finals, them. Dallas Mavericks put jj barea on
him because it exposed his weakness. Of course, Lebron since
then was embarrassed by that, and he worked on this
post up game, so he evolved. The other thing, Lebron
was not a very good three point shooting starting out.
The only average like two three point shots a game
bat in eleven. I wasn't that long ago. And now
(03:38):
he goes up to like six and seven at uh
at three point attempts, So that also helped. He's not
a great three point shooter, but he's more conscious three
point shooter. You look at the number. We keep talking
about how many points he is away. Do you think
anyone so Lebron will be and keep pounting, keep counting,
however much longer he plays. Um? Do you think anyone
(03:59):
could and will break Lebron's eventual record? You know, I
never say never, um, because you know, even beyond our lifetime,
you'll probably live a lot longer, longer than I worth Sarah.
So maybe I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes I
get up in the morning and I feeled it now,
but uh, maybe not in our lifetime. But so I
(04:22):
never say never. But here's what it will take obviously
a very talented player, of course, obviously somebody who can score.
Of course, obviously somebody who's gonna play at least two
decades in the NBA, of course, And I think somebody
just as talented will come along. I think somebody who
can can score will come along. I just I'm just
(04:44):
not sure somebody will play twenty plus years in the NBA.
And the reason why I say that, Uh, you really
have to have a love for the game. If you're
going to be at Lebron's level, and you see where
the salaries are going in the n b A and
at the next TV contract, you know, I mean, superstars
might get paid sixty million dollars a year. Who wants
(05:04):
to stick around at that? At that point, after fifteen
years the NBA, you're worth maybe a billion dollars. You're like,
I don't know if I'm gonna keep playing out, you know.
So it would take someone with a true love for
the game. Obviously, you gotta take care of your body. Obviously,
you gotta have the talent, but the true love for
the game to stick around. When financial you have no
(05:25):
financial worries at all. Your great great, great, great great
great great great grand children are taken care of while
are you still playing ball? So it has to be
somebody with a true love for basketball to stick around
that long to get this record, the love of the game,
the love of the game. Sean, all right, well, we'll
continue to be uh watching that. The Lakers are at
(05:48):
New Orleans on Saturday, but then I think the likely
games for it to happen next Tuesday in Los Angeles
the Lakers host Oklahoma City Thunder and then on Thursday
they host the Milwaukee Bucks in l A. As well.
All Star picks the reserves are announced last night, we
knew the starters for the West. It was Paul George
(06:09):
as the reserves Paul George, Shay Guiltis, Alexander Jaren Jackson Jr.
Damian Lillard, Laurie marken In, John Morant, and Demontes Sabonis.
And the East, the reserves announced war bamat to bio Uh,
Jalen Brown, Demard de Rosen, Joel embiid Uh. It's Tyrese Haliburton,
Drew Holiday, Julius Randall. So let's start in the East, Shawn,
(06:34):
what's picks? Uh? Selections by the coaches the NBA coaches
made these selections. What what picks in the East surprised
you to see on that list. Look, I mean we
can sit here and say, you know who was borderline
this snap. But when we say that, we have to say, okay,
who would you put in? And you know, I don't know.
(06:54):
Trey Young went average twenty seven and ten twenty seven points.
Tennis says he's not in. By the way, this is
the second time in his career he had his twenty
seven and ten didn't didn't make the team. But you know,
I wonder if coaches might have penalized him for you know,
maybe some issues. I don't know. I mean, Jimmy Butler
didn't get in. Uh, you know obviously Jacob Bronson. But
(07:16):
where the coaches Julius Randall, Jalen Bronson. Yeah, you think
it was a a one or one of the other. Yeah,
exactly exactly. Although I would argue that Jayden Brounson probably
has meant more to the next this year than Julius
Randall because Jadome Bronson, I think actually helped Julius Randall
get back to the level he was a couple of
(07:37):
years ago by taking the ball handling responsibilities away from
Julia Julius random makes a lot of mistakes when he's
trying to create shots. So now he's more of a
finisher this year than started because Jadoen Bronson has ball
he's looking for. So I would argue that Jacob Bronson
is probably a little bit more deserving, um. But again,
you know, look, we can play. James Harden had a
(07:58):
streak of tention. Just say what James hard especially how
Philly has been playing there sitting third in the East.
But you know what's the scariest thing, um about James
Harden is you know sometimes for players who have made
the All Star Game almost every year and that one
year they don't make it, you wonder, is this where
the slide begins? Is this where all of a sudden
(08:19):
he's not a superstar anymore. He goes down a couple
of rounds, and then you talk about who I might
be a little surprising maker Drew Holiday. Now if you
look where the bucks are, you know Jana's obviously you know,
make the teams started all that, and so you're saying, well,
then maybe they deserve to have a second player, Uh,
Drew Holiday for trivia thing for you the last time
(08:41):
and the only other time he made the All Star
Game when he was in Philadelphia, that was as a
ten year stretch. I'm not making the All Star Game.
That's the longest in the NBA history ten years, ten years.
So that was a little bit of a surprise as
much as I the coaches and maybe the fans of
(09:02):
both fans and players don't and immediately don't vote for
the reserve, but I think the coaches probably, you know,
he was more of an afterthought, you know, after not
being in a game for so long. So you're saying, mom,
Drew Young of a tray young, I mean, Drew Holiday
of a trade, Drew Holiday over Jimmy Butler, you know,
(09:22):
Drew Holiday the big one over Jagen Bronson. But again,
you know, coaches are different. They see the game different
than we see the game. So who's a savor wrong?
I mean, who's a savor right? Who's say they're wrong?
I mean it's one of the things Sarah about they
All Star Game. And we'll get into this when we
talk about the West games missed games missed? Should players
(09:43):
be penalized or not? And we'll talk about that when
we talk about the words. Yeah, So so let's go
to the west um into that point. And it's sometimes
tough to gauge what you're putting more weight on if
you're deciding between players, whether it's the game's played, games miss,
where the team is at, and the standings. Uh. As
I mentioned Paul George, Shay, Gil Just Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr.
(10:04):
Dame Lillard, Laurie Mrkin, and John Morant Demonas Sabonis. What
stands out to you about who was in and or
who was left out of that list? Well, I go back.
I was watching the t n T telcastman opening up
the envelopes and looking at it. And we opened up
the envelope and they said, oh, it's Jared Jackson Jr.
And it was like a pause, like you could tell
these guys are like huh huh. I mean, look, Jared Jackson,
(10:28):
the solid player, good defender, good defender, rim protector, solid
number two. You look at were memphisis and standings, you
can say, okay, just justified they can have a second player.
But people were surprised by that. But let me go
to the game's miss Paul George Okay, uh miss a
few games you might say, uh, and you know he
gets it over, say, uh, Anthony Edwards who plays every game. Yeah,
(10:51):
and you wonder whether or not you know those games
mission come in to play. I have my own personal
philosophy on that the All Star Game is for the fans.
And if a guy likes Zion Williams and mrs you know,
of the games, the fans want to see Zion and
the All Star and game. Right. And it's not like
when he was playing he wasn't deserving he had. He's
(11:11):
had a very good season when he's healthy. Uh. I
put less of a premium on game Smiths, but the
All Star Game, which is a showcase for basketball, okay,
so celebration of basketball. I put a little bit more
emphasis on Game Smith for the All NBA teams and
all those other season ending awards because now we're not
penalizing the fans. Okay, we're not depriving the fans when
(11:34):
we're voting for those awards. So for example, Kawhi Leonard,
he could have a good season, he's not making my
All NBA team first, second, and third because he's missed
too many games. You know, probably the same for for
Anthony Davis missed too many games, you know, I mean
for you to be eligible for m v P, you
gotta show up and play, Sarah, you gotta show up
(11:55):
and play, all right, So for these prestigious awards, I'm
gonna probably the penalize you a lot more than I
would for the All Star uh for the All Star Game.
But again, you know you look out West. Aaron Gordon
didn't make it. I thought he had. He had a
pretty good season so far for Denver. But the Devin
Booker missed too many games. He didn't make it. Uh
(12:16):
So I mean, look again, we can put all our
own philosophies and who should make the All Star team
who shouldn't. But when I look at the West, and
one surprise I would probably say was Jared Jackson. Alright,
that All Star Game February in Salt Lake City. Another
date approaching, February nine, the trade deadline. It's upon us.
(12:39):
After the break, we're going to get into some of
the rumblings and the news that Shahn's here. Welcome back
to and be a pulse Saracoustack joined by Sean Powell
and Sean trade deadline. This is gonna be an interesting
one to me. It feels just because of how many
(13:00):
teams seem to be in the mix the direction. Uh.
Many organizations are trying to figure out how and where
they are headed. Uh at this point, now we're just
a couple of days away here at February three. That
is a date, right, February three, Yeah, six six days away. Uh?
What do you what are you hearing? What? What teams? Um?
Are you kind of just starting to keep an eye
(13:21):
on players? You're you're keep an eye on I'm gonna
look at the big picture first there. You know, what
complicates the situation is that in both conferences you have
a lot of teams munched together. And so for some
teams that might be sitting in ninth and tenth place,
they look at but wait a minute, we're only two
games away from sitting in sixth place, you know, so
maybe there's nothing wrong with our team to get on
(13:41):
winning street. Bam, we're there. Uh. And so all of
a sudden, you're not sure if those teams are gonna
be buyers and sellers. You know. Now, a team that's
basically a definition of the seller is a team that's like, hey,
we're done, we need to reset this ding and whatever.
But it's a smaller number than you think so. I
think some teams are really caught in a buying right now,
(14:04):
whether to define himselves as buyers or sellers. I do think, however,
the Toronto Raptors will be sellers. I think this this
has going on too long, and I think I think
they want to reset. Obviously, the name that's out there
is O g and and Nobi. Uh. Not that Toronto
(14:26):
is in a hurry to get rid of him, not
that he's had a disappointing year, is that. I just
think he has so much value around the leak and
I think Toronto feels that, you know what, we can
use him this asset we have and as a springboard
to the next season and beyond, get a combination of
number one picks that might be pretty high, and maybe
another young player too, and let's try to reset this
(14:49):
thing a little bit better. Uh. Fred van Blee obviously
is another player. Uh maybe they don't want to pay
his his contract comes up, he can opt out this
summer his contract comes up, Maybe doesn't want to invest
as much money in him. And maybe another team feels said, hey,
we get Fred and you know we've got stability and guard.
He can put us over the top. So I think
(15:10):
I think Toronto route the bat. And then another team
is Detroit. Obviously this is team is going to be
a seller. They're down at the bottom. They're thinking number
one pick, you know, or at least number two pick,
top three pick, or whatever it might be. And you know,
they have Boyan Bogdanovitch, who really is for this season.
He's no good for them. He can't do anything for
them to bring him over the top. And a lot
(15:31):
of teams would love to have a shooter like that.
So I think if you're Detroit, you're like, you know,
you have to really measure you know, look at your
your team where it's going this year, which is really
now place special, and really start for next season. And
I think trading Boyon Bogdanovitch could help you in that
reguard because it could give you maybe another young player
to add to that very impressive young player mix. They
(15:53):
have their Detroit and maybe some draft capital as well.
So those two teams, I think, more than any other
teams should have some sort of activity, but the trade deatnot.
It's gonna be fun interesting to watch, and as you mentioned,
I think just through the rest of the season, a
lot of teams that feel like they can make some runs. Sean,
thanks so much for being here with us, joining us.
(16:15):
Safe travels for you next week is as you continue
to be feed on the ground on this Lebron James
uh scoring scoring watch. I appreciate you. Sarah all right.
We will be back again on Monday when John Schuman
joins me with his new power rankings and be a
Pulse with Saraku. Stock is a production of the NBA
(16:35):
and I Heart Radio. Please rate, review, and subscribe on
the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Welcome into NBA Pulse, the production of I Heart Radio
and the NBA. I'm Saracustack, NBA analysts for the S Network,
and today is Friday, February three, and from our extraordinary
core group of NBA dot Com writers, I am joined
by senior writer Sean pal And Sean, there's a lot
going on start of February and moving pieces, moving parts. Um.
(00:24):
We are going to get to the all star reserves
that were just announced last night. The trade deadline approaching
on February nine. However, Lebron the the watches on as
he approaches Kareem's all time scoring record. He is now
sixty three points away. After the Lakers uh narrowly beat
(00:44):
the Indiana Pacers in Indiana on eleven win. Lebron had
twenty six points, seven rebounds, seven assists. Sean, We've talked
a bit about Lebron, Um, but I think the interesting
thing that you have always brought up in in the
time that you've spent ring him watching him the other
night at the garden Um. You know, we're talking about
the points that he's been scoring, but he also had
(01:06):
passed Mark Jackson for fifth on the all time assist lists.
Also that same night passed Steve Nash for fourth on
the all time assist list. His his game is a
complete game, and often you don't think of him immediately
as a score. You think about him as a player,
a winner. Uh, when you're talking Lebron. What jumps out
to you as you continue to note and watch him
(01:28):
inch up in this scoring record in the points that
he's putting up. Well, I go back to his very
first game in the NBA. UH played in Sacramento, UM,
making his debut eighteen year old with it with the
Burgundy head band with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his first
contribution to the box score wasn't assists and ally lob
(01:51):
to Ricky Davis, this is his best parts game and
there's his first assist, and it's a beauty. And that's
what makes him so good. And that's where his skill
are really gonna blossom, because now he's able to throw
those passes two players that are gonna finish. So it's
interesting how a guy who's going to be the all
time score that would be the first thing he would do. Uh.
(02:11):
And then his first basket in that game was sort
of like just an ordinary pull up twelve ft jump shot.
Lebron James first shot is good, and that's good to
see it because during the preseason he would be able
to hit those kind of jumpers. And for him to
be able to assist who hit the jumper, it's gonna
allow him to be able to have the defensive guy
come up on to him so he can use the
strength and drive by it. So that brings two things
(02:32):
to mind. Number One, the guy who's going to set
the all time UH scoring record had just an ordinary
shooting game. Didn't have like a shot he could fall
back on, didn't have a security blanket shot. Uh, you know,
sky hook like Cremal Bho jabbar um kar Malone would
run down court for all those fast break layups passes
(02:53):
from John Stockton. If you look down the list of
the great scoring news they had just something I go
to to move an emergency shot, and Lebron really never
had that. Lebron's game really evolved over time. Uh. At first,
he was a very weak post up player. And you
look at Lebron, you know, the physical freak of nature. No, No,
Lebron didn't post anybody up. If you remember the twenty
(03:14):
eleven NBA Finals, them. Dallas Mavericks put jj barea on
him because it exposed his weakness. Of course, Lebron since
then was embarrassed by that, and he worked on this
post up game, so he evolved. The other thing, Lebron
was not a very good three point shooting starting out.
The only average like two three point shots a game
bat in eleven. I wasn't that long ago. And now
(03:38):
he goes up to like six and seven at uh
at three point attempts, So that also helped. He's not
a great three point shooter, but he's more conscious three
point shooter. You look at the number. We keep talking
about how many points he is away. Do you think
anyone so Lebron will be and keep pounting, keep counting,
however much longer he plays. Um? Do you think anyone
(03:59):
could and will break Lebron's eventual record? You know, I
never say never, um, because you know, even beyond our lifetime,
you'll probably live a lot longer, longer than I worth Sarah.
So maybe I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes I
get up in the morning and I feeled it now,
but uh, maybe not in our lifetime. But so I
(04:22):
never say never. But here's what it will take obviously
a very talented player, of course, obviously somebody who can score.
Of course, obviously somebody who's gonna play at least two
decades in the NBA, of course, And I think somebody
just as talented will come along. I think somebody who
can can score will come along. I just I'm just
(04:44):
not sure somebody will play twenty plus years in the NBA.
And the reason why I say that, Uh, you really
have to have a love for the game. If you're
going to be at Lebron's level, and you see where
the salaries are going in the n b A and
at the next TV contract, you know, I mean, superstars
might get paid sixty million dollars a year. Who wants
(05:04):
to stick around at that? At that point, after fifteen
years the NBA, you're worth maybe a billion dollars. You're like,
I don't know if I'm gonna keep playing out, you know.
So it would take someone with a true love for
the game. Obviously, you gotta take care of your body. Obviously,
you gotta have the talent, but the true love for
the game to stick around. When financial you have no
(05:25):
financial worries at all. Your great great, great, great great
great great great grand children are taken care of while
are you still playing ball? So it has to be
somebody with a true love for basketball to stick around
that long to get this record, the love of the game,
the love of the game. Sean, all right, well, we'll
continue to be uh watching that. The Lakers are at
(05:48):
New Orleans on Saturday, but then I think the likely
games for it to happen next Tuesday in Los Angeles
the Lakers host Oklahoma City Thunder and then on Thursday
they host the Milwaukee Bucks in l A. As well.
All Star picks the reserves are announced last night, we
knew the starters for the West. It was Paul George
(06:09):
as the reserves Paul George, Shay Guiltis, Alexander Jaren Jackson Jr.
Damian Lillard, Laurie marken In, John Morant, and Demontes Sabonis.
And the East, the reserves announced war bamat to bio Uh,
Jalen Brown, Demard de Rosen, Joel embiid Uh. It's Tyrese Haliburton,
Drew Holiday, Julius Randall. So let's start in the East, Shawn,
(06:34):
what's picks? Uh? Selections by the coaches the NBA coaches
made these selections. What what picks in the East surprised
you to see on that list. Look, I mean we
can sit here and say, you know who was borderline
this snap. But when we say that, we have to say, okay,
who would you put in? And you know, I don't know.
(06:54):
Trey Young went average twenty seven and ten twenty seven points.
Tennis says he's not in. By the way, this is
the second time in his career he had his twenty
seven and ten didn't didn't make the team. But you know,
I wonder if coaches might have penalized him for you know,
maybe some issues. I don't know. I mean, Jimmy Butler
didn't get in. Uh, you know obviously Jacob Bronson. But
(07:16):
where the coaches Julius Randall, Jalen Bronson. Yeah, you think
it was a a one or one of the other. Yeah,
exactly exactly. Although I would argue that Jayden Brounson probably
has meant more to the next this year than Julius
Randall because Jadome Bronson, I think actually helped Julius Randall
get back to the level he was a couple of
(07:37):
years ago by taking the ball handling responsibilities away from
Julia Julius random makes a lot of mistakes when he's
trying to create shots. So now he's more of a
finisher this year than started because Jadoen Bronson has ball
he's looking for. So I would argue that Jacob Bronson
is probably a little bit more deserving, um. But again,
you know, look, we can play. James Harden had a
(07:58):
streak of tention. Just say what James hard especially how
Philly has been playing there sitting third in the East.
But you know what's the scariest thing, um about James
Harden is you know sometimes for players who have made
the All Star Game almost every year and that one
year they don't make it, you wonder, is this where
the slide begins? Is this where all of a sudden
(08:19):
he's not a superstar anymore. He goes down a couple
of rounds, and then you talk about who I might
be a little surprising maker Drew Holiday. Now if you
look where the bucks are, you know Jana's obviously you know,
make the teams started all that, and so you're saying, well,
then maybe they deserve to have a second player, Uh,
Drew Holiday for trivia thing for you the last time
(08:41):
and the only other time he made the All Star
Game when he was in Philadelphia, that was as a
ten year stretch. I'm not making the All Star Game.
That's the longest in the NBA history ten years, ten years.
So that was a little bit of a surprise as
much as I the coaches and maybe the fans of
(09:02):
both fans and players don't and immediately don't vote for
the reserve, but I think the coaches probably, you know,
he was more of an afterthought, you know, after not
being in a game for so long. So you're saying, mom,
Drew Young of a tray young, I mean, Drew Holiday
of a trade, Drew Holiday over Jimmy Butler, you know,
(09:22):
Drew Holiday the big one over Jagen Bronson. But again,
you know, coaches are different. They see the game different
than we see the game. So who's a savor wrong?
I mean, who's a savor right? Who's say they're wrong?
I mean it's one of the things Sarah about they
All Star Game. And we'll get into this when we
talk about the West games missed games missed? Should players
(09:43):
be penalized or not? And we'll talk about that when
we talk about the words. Yeah, So so let's go
to the west um into that point. And it's sometimes
tough to gauge what you're putting more weight on if
you're deciding between players, whether it's the game's played, games miss,
where the team is at, and the standings. Uh. As
I mentioned Paul George, Shay, Gil Just Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr.
(10:04):
Dame Lillard, Laurie Mrkin, and John Morant Demonas Sabonis. What
stands out to you about who was in and or
who was left out of that list? Well, I go back.
I was watching the t n T telcastman opening up
the envelopes and looking at it. And we opened up
the envelope and they said, oh, it's Jared Jackson Jr.
And it was like a pause, like you could tell
these guys are like huh huh. I mean, look, Jared Jackson,
(10:28):
the solid player, good defender, good defender, rim protector, solid
number two. You look at were memphisis and standings, you
can say, okay, just justified they can have a second player.
But people were surprised by that. But let me go
to the game's miss Paul George Okay, uh miss a
few games you might say, uh, and you know he
gets it over, say, uh, Anthony Edwards who plays every game. Yeah,
(10:51):
and you wonder whether or not you know those games
mission come in to play. I have my own personal
philosophy on that the All Star Game is for the fans.
And if a guy likes Zion Williams and mrs you know,
of the games, the fans want to see Zion and
the All Star and game. Right. And it's not like
when he was playing he wasn't deserving he had. He's
(11:11):
had a very good season when he's healthy. Uh. I
put less of a premium on game Smiths, but the
All Star Game, which is a showcase for basketball, okay,
so celebration of basketball. I put a little bit more
emphasis on Game Smith for the All NBA teams and
all those other season ending awards because now we're not
penalizing the fans. Okay, we're not depriving the fans when
(11:34):
we're voting for those awards. So for example, Kawhi Leonard,
he could have a good season, he's not making my
All NBA team first, second, and third because he's missed
too many games. You know, probably the same for for
Anthony Davis missed too many games, you know, I mean
for you to be eligible for m v P, you
gotta show up and play, Sarah, you gotta show up
(11:55):
and play, all right, So for these prestigious awards, I'm
gonna probably the penalize you a lot more than I
would for the All Star uh for the All Star Game.
But again, you know you look out West. Aaron Gordon
didn't make it. I thought he had. He had a
pretty good season so far for Denver. But the Devin
Booker missed too many games. He didn't make it. Uh
(12:16):
So I mean, look again, we can put all our
own philosophies and who should make the All Star team
who shouldn't. But when I look at the West, and
one surprise I would probably say was Jared Jackson. Alright,
that All Star Game February in Salt Lake City. Another
date approaching, February nine, the trade deadline. It's upon us.
(12:39):
After the break, we're going to get into some of
the rumblings and the news that Shahn's here. Welcome back
to and be a pulse Saracoustack joined by Sean Powell
and Sean trade deadline. This is gonna be an interesting
one to me. It feels just because of how many
(13:00):
teams seem to be in the mix the direction. Uh.
Many organizations are trying to figure out how and where
they are headed. Uh at this point, now we're just
a couple of days away here at February three. That
is a date, right, February three, Yeah, six six days away. Uh?
What do you what are you hearing? What? What teams? Um?
Are you kind of just starting to keep an eye
(13:21):
on players? You're you're keep an eye on I'm gonna
look at the big picture first there. You know, what
complicates the situation is that in both conferences you have
a lot of teams munched together. And so for some
teams that might be sitting in ninth and tenth place,
they look at but wait a minute, we're only two
games away from sitting in sixth place, you know, so
maybe there's nothing wrong with our team to get on
(13:41):
winning street. Bam, we're there. Uh. And so all of
a sudden, you're not sure if those teams are gonna
be buyers and sellers. You know. Now, a team that's
basically a definition of the seller is a team that's like, hey,
we're done, we need to reset this ding and whatever.
But it's a smaller number than you think so. I
think some teams are really caught in a buying right now,
(14:04):
whether to define himselves as buyers or sellers. I do think, however,
the Toronto Raptors will be sellers. I think this this
has going on too long, and I think I think
they want to reset. Obviously, the name that's out there
is O g and and Nobi. Uh. Not that Toronto
(14:26):
is in a hurry to get rid of him, not
that he's had a disappointing year, is that. I just
think he has so much value around the leak and
I think Toronto feels that, you know what, we can
use him this asset we have and as a springboard
to the next season and beyond, get a combination of
number one picks that might be pretty high, and maybe
another young player too, and let's try to reset this
(14:49):
thing a little bit better. Uh. Fred van Blee obviously
is another player. Uh maybe they don't want to pay
his his contract comes up, he can opt out this
summer his contract comes up, Maybe doesn't want to invest
as much money in him. And maybe another team feels said, hey,
we get Fred and you know we've got stability and guard.
He can put us over the top. So I think
(15:10):
I think Toronto route the bat. And then another team
is Detroit. Obviously this is team is going to be
a seller. They're down at the bottom. They're thinking number
one pick, you know, or at least number two pick,
top three pick, or whatever it might be. And you know,
they have Boyan Bogdanovitch, who really is for this season.
He's no good for them. He can't do anything for
them to bring him over the top. And a lot
(15:31):
of teams would love to have a shooter like that.
So I think if you're Detroit, you're like, you know,
you have to really measure you know, look at your
your team where it's going this year, which is really
now place special, and really start for next season. And
I think trading Boyon Bogdanovitch could help you in that
reguard because it could give you maybe another young player
to add to that very impressive young player mix. They
(15:53):
have their Detroit and maybe some draft capital as well.
So those two teams, I think, more than any other
teams should have some sort of activity, but the trade deatnot.
It's gonna be fun interesting to watch, and as you mentioned,
I think just through the rest of the season, a
lot of teams that feel like they can make some runs. Sean,
thanks so much for being here with us, joining us.
(16:15):
Safe travels for you next week is as you continue
to be feed on the ground on this Lebron James
uh scoring scoring watch. I appreciate you. Sarah all right.
We will be back again on Monday when John Schuman
joins me with his new power rankings and be a
Pulse with Saraku. Stock is a production of the NBA
(16:35):
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