Ep. 63: Tyrese Maxey Deserves All the Shine! - 01/30/25

Sean Barnard and Sean Brace give Tyrese Maxey his flowers.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you can wager on it, We're talking about it.
It's the Gambler, the Fox Sports Radio, The Gamblerambler. Fox
Sports Radio in Philly is the Gambler. The Gambler, Philly's
home for all things sports, gambling, picks and roll, handicapping

(00:20):
the hardwood with Sixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean Brace bring.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
It on in a maybe yeah, it might be our
first edition of Tony twenty five. It's been a little
while since Sham Barnard and I have sat down and
talked a little picks and roll here as we're going
to this afternoon, Sean Brace, Sean Bernard, Shan Bnard covers
all things Sixers in the NBA for us here on
the Gambler, among other things, is a jack of all trades,

(00:46):
a lot like all of us here on the Gambler Gang.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Sean, good afternoon. How are you doing today, sir?

Speaker 4 (00:51):
Doing well?

Speaker 5 (00:52):
My spirits are hiring the Sixers world and then maybe
have been all season. So four in a row sounds
like Joel Embiid maybe coming back soon. Pretty tents warm
up from him yesterday, like seriously, the most intense that
I've seen during his entire tenure in Philadelphia, which was
encouraging for it. By my eyes, there, Tyrese Maxi back
to looking like Tyrese Maxi, the All Star caliber guard
that he is. Twelve consecutive games with twenty eight plus points,

(01:14):
six are taking down four straight solid opponents. Here the
Bulls kind of the bottom feeder is there, but a
team that they needed to beat as they're now locked
with the direct exact record for that last fight in
the playing tournament there. So the vibes are turning around
a little bit from the Sixers team and some good
hoops going on across the league. What thirty six games
left about that? That sounds right slightly under forty. They're

(01:37):
gonna bat. They're gonna strut backwards into this.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Bad boy, aren't they. Oh yeah, so we're gonna talk
about that.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Of course, the big big picture item for us is
definitely the seventy six ers and four in a row
and what we could take away from him and starting
with Tyrese Maxi, as you pointed out, trade deadline, we're
gonna hit on some of the NBA rumors that are
out there. We'll talk a little All Star Game as
well and see if we can find some winners and
definitely some things that are on the horizon.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
As far as the NBA is concerned.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
But I do want to start by saying this, Yeah,
there is a reason why we haven't recorded.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Two parts.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Number one, full disclosure, we've been busy as hell with football,
college football, NFL, you name it on.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
It six and I very appreciative of that as well
that the Eagles dominating the headlines.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
And number two would be that the seventy six ers
have not been living up to any of the hype
coming into the season.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
So let's get it started here.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Of course, we'll open up with what took place last night,
and you pointed it out, Tyra Smacksey.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Leading away yet again. The kid is an absolute studs.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm so happy to see him smiling out there, just
having you know, joy again taking the floor and of
course doing what Tyra Smacksy did all last year and
the year before and ultimately is going to find himself
in an All Star Game.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
I'm pretty sure that you would be in agreement with
me on that one.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
I'm a little nervous. I kind of don't think it's
gonna be the case.

Speaker 5 (03:04):
I think I'll put it this way, I think if
All Star voting was pushed back two weeks, I think
there'd be no doubt about it. I'm worried that his
slow start, and based on where the Sixers sit in
the standings, that he doesn't kind of back his way
into there. His play of late absolutely All Star caliber,
and again, I think if the timelines were slightly different,
there'd be no doubt about it.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
But I think it's gonna be a bit of a
toss up here.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Twelve games that goes back to how long three weeks?

Speaker 5 (03:29):
Yeah, but he he hit the slow start to the season,
really struggles shooting from the field, and I mean the
Sixers as a team. The record kind of speaks for
himself there. So there's a lot of talented guards. Kate
Conningham taking lya, Jalen Brunson, obviously, Tyrese Haliburton. There's a
lot of names.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
That have their case.

Speaker 5 (03:44):
LaMelo Ball certainly deserves a spot in my mind, So
I do hope Tyrese gets in no doubt in my mind,
but I'm not as confident as is I would.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Like to be.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Mellow Ball Huh, dude, the.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
Mellow Ball is an All Star, could.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Be he shoots a million times a game. His team
is terrible. He's not He's not a winning player. Is
he an All Star? What makes him an All Star?
Because he can score.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
He's averaging twenty eight point two points, seven point three rebounds,
five point or seven point three assists, five point three rebounds,
one point four steals per game, shooting thirty three point
seven percent from three. So not great efficiency, no doubt
about it. I would push back a little bit on
the him not a winning player. He's entertained winning player.
I mean, it has so selfish. Come on, I wouldn't selfish.

(04:32):
I don't think it's fair. He's a good playmaker. He's
a very good playmaker. He's a creative passer. I think
LaMelo ball, the perception of LaMelo ball is worse than
the reality.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Full disclosure. I'm not like racing home to fire on
a Charlotte Hornets game, so let's.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Just start there.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
But his coach is lost, he can't handle him. That
organization now they're dealing with some injuries. Of course, Brandon
Miller's done because he's done for season.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Right.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
I think there's chancy comes back this year, but it's
gonna beat months at the minimum.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
I'll tell you what I'm not going to do is
fight the fight for lamellow ball. So if you want
to knock yourself out, he's got a long way to go.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
It's early in his career. He's immature.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
You can agree with that, right sure, no doubt that
we just got hurt show Boat. And didn't he get
hurt Showbote.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Wasn't that you know?

Speaker 2 (05:21):
When they were down sixteen in the second quarter, he
hits a three pointer, he runs back. His coach says,
he runs back, he's getting back on defense. Now he
was showboating after hitting at three being down double digits. Alah,
Jayden Daniels, and then next thing you know, he's now hurt.
Look again, let's not get up.

Speaker 5 (05:43):
I don't want to get too carried away because I
haven't watched in great detail from Afar.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
This is what I see. But I will trust your
your judgment. You pay attention to the league a hell
of a lot closer than I do. So if you
tell me that you think that, you gotta admit, like again,
I have to admit this that he is young.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
He could grow into something.

Speaker 5 (06:04):
If he actually cares to win, he has to change
his way there's no way that's a winning style of basketball.
And I refuse to believe that even though Charlotte isn't
asking him to do X, Y and Z like you know,
still he can't get.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
The ball going a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
And the numbers are there from the assist standpoint, but
I need a little bit more from him if we're
going to talk about him as an All Star.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
That's all I hear you.

Speaker 5 (06:27):
I'll say this like, I don't think Charlotte has done
him any favors as far as the situation that he's
been put in and kind of the lack of structure,
He's basically been allowed to do whatever he's wanting. I
don't think that's the best I guess, you know, pathway
to put LaMelo Ball on. So I think like, when
we see the best version of LaMelo Ball, it's probably
not in a Charlotte Hornets uniform. That I think that
probably sometime in the future he finds his way to

(06:49):
a little bit more prestigious franchise and the success follows
as such.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
But I will not the wizard.

Speaker 5 (06:55):
I will I will continue to buy some LaMelo Ball stock.

Speaker 4 (06:58):
I'll put it that.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Way, Okay, will LaMelo ball ever win a championship.

Speaker 5 (07:04):
Definitely not on the Hornets. I would probably take the
under on that one.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
I'm for sure.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
All right, well let me this is LaMelo ball more
of an all starting Tyrese Maxie in your mind, U.

Speaker 4 (07:15):
I would say no to that.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
But again we got a factor in the voting started
a little bit and just going numbers like LaMelo averages
more point, rebounds and assists than Tyrese.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
Like the people are going to view that.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
The same people that have not tuned into a lot
of Hornets games are going to see that right there
and jump on it and like relative to expectations, Yes,
the Hornets are bad, but they were not. The Sixers
can very fairly be viewed as the biggest disappointment in
the entire NBA this season. And I think that gets
will get held about held against Maxi.

Speaker 4 (07:43):
Whether that is farophoul.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
He's shooting thirty three from downtown I don't know Maxi.

Speaker 5 (07:48):
No, I don't think Maxi's is much better. Maxie is
shooting thirty four percent from downtown ship.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
How many shots does LaMelo or does Maxi get up
per game.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
From the arc or overall?

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Give me overall?

Speaker 5 (08:03):
Overall a lot, He's averaging twenty one point five field
goal attempts nine point seven to three pointers.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
LaMelo twelve point three three pointers, twenty three point three
field goals.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
Yeah, so they're they're in the same tier. I would
say that, not as players, but based on production this year.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Okay, all right, that's a good discussion. Look, I didn't
think we were gonna get into that debate.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
But this is where we're at right now, this part
of the season.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
So back over to the seventy six or sean And
you know, the thing that was hitting me today getting
into this this hit with you here was that, you know,
bottom line is regardless of what I have said, regardless
of my stance and not changing anything, it's been so disappointing,
so disheartening, so frustrating. Look, these last four games, and

(08:47):
I think did Paul George play any of these four games?

Speaker 3 (08:49):
No, he's been out of he.

Speaker 5 (08:50):
Played well, yeah, in the first one is when he
heard his pinky, I'm pretty sure. But yeah, he played
the first half of that one correctly.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
Okay, yeah, all.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Right, so we'll it. But for the most part, it's
it's the young guns.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
It's it's yeah, I was selly out there, oubre it's
it's maxy, you know. And and like I'm watching this
game last night and I'm coming away going all right, boys,
like let's go.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Now.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Does that mean that this team is going to get
into the playoffs without Paul George and Joel Embiid and
make a damn difference. No, no, no, no, I'm not here
to sing that. So like that's where the that's where
the rub comes in. So like, as I sit here
right now, what let me ask you what your message
is to Sixers fans on January thirtieth, somebody like me
who's been pessimistic beyond belief, just blow it up, get

(09:37):
rid of Paul George.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
You're not gonna be able to move Embiid.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
So it is what it is almost to the point that,
like I realize, if he can come back and play,
that's a great thing. But to the point that I'm
like even saying to myself, sit em bead down for
the rest of the season, give him the year off.
Maybe it might be the best thing for him his body.
So when and so forth. Not a doctor, but I'll
play one here on the podcast, and I'm just asking, like,
what would be your message, right here right now, because

(10:02):
even if I want to believe, I still like have
that in the back of my mind, like Joelle embiid's
not gonna stay healthy. Jimmy Butler, he's got his mom
or not Jimmy Butler, sorry, Paul George has his moments.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
But like, you know, the pinky.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
You know we're missing games for a pinky, and I
know it was a bad injury. Still does he have
that dog in him? Is he able to stay healthy?

Speaker 3 (10:24):
So I almost feel like.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Here's the rake, I'm gonna step on it. It's gonna
smack me right in the face again. What's your message
to Sixers fans right now? Yeah, So for starters to
stick up for Paul George a little bit.

Speaker 5 (10:34):
It seems like it's a ligament issue and the pinky
that makes it hard to make a fist, which I
guess does change my perspective slightly on it that it
did to me when I saw it live. Look like
a jam finger and it's kind of one of those like,
come on, man, if you if you're struggling to make
a fist out of it, I can kind of hear
the case a little bit more, and that like obviously
does impact the way you dribble, the way you hold
a basketball, all those type of things there. So we'll

(10:54):
see how soon he's be back. It's gonna it wouldn't
surprise me if this like a week or two or
potentially even longer. And he I'm more optimistic of Joel
coming back. But as far as my message overall for
the Sixers team, to me, for the first time all season,
we're seeing them play with a desperation that I love
the quote from Kelly Ubre following that Lakers win that
basically asking what changed in the Sixers team, Like what
it does feel like there has been an attitude shift,

(11:16):
and he basically said, we're sick of getting beat like
we're sick of getting our butts kicked, and we're turning
things around.

Speaker 4 (11:21):
And that is the story of the season.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
That all these issues, Yes, injuries headline things, but for
the wider scale, they've been internal things. This team has
played sloppy basketball, they haven't competed hard enough, and it
has been different over this last four games. I get
that's an incredibly small stretch, but I give Nick Nurse
a lot of credit. I was pretty hard on him
at the start of the season. He directly called out
this team after that Nuggets game, which by my money's worth,
was probably the most embarrassing loss of the season. The

(11:45):
other one, the Pelicans loss, you have a case for
that as well, But as far as just not showing
up and looked like they did not care whatsoever, that
Nuggets game was the peak for me.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
And following that game, both in the.

Speaker 5 (11:54):
Locker room, we got reports of reporters overhearing him basically
cursing out the entire team, and then Nurse to the
podium and says those direct same things, saying the effort
was unacceptable. We looked like we didn't want to be
there today. There's gonna be games where that happens in
the NBA, but it is unacceptable for that to be
the case based on where we stand in the standings there.
And since that point, the team has responded that I

(12:15):
have seen a hunger from them, that these guys are
playing hard, they are playing connected, and you're not going
to reach your peak until you get all these pieces together.
Get you Well on the floor, get Paul George on
the floor. But it does feel like there's been a
bit of an attitude shift, and the team's responding to
Nick Nurse directly challenging them, which I will view as
optimistic there.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
All right, Yeah, look, seven straight losses and that last
one against Denver was you know, the one that the
straw that broke the Campbell's back. I guess you could
say it was a disaster and embarrassing to be a
Sixers fan.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
And I'm sure to be on that.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Bench, be associated with the franchise, and be the head
coach of that team putting that effort out. So maybe
that was the change that the Sixers needed at that
point in time. But let's just be realistic too about
their opponents. And I know Sacramento is a team Lakers
were coming up.

Speaker 4 (13:03):
Maybet did be Cleveland?

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Did be Cleveland? You're right about that, bulls.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I was working backwards, so I didn't get to Cleveland. Sorry,
So they deserve respect there, You're right. So I'm just
That's where I'm at right now. It's like, Okay, where
are we at in the as far as formula? If
you were to go ahead and tell me the ingredients,
like the success that this team is having right now,
will this be a continuing trend in your mind? Regardless

(13:29):
off embiid comes back regardless if if Paul George comes back,
which I'm sure Paul George, what is the latest with
him with that thom when do we expect him back?

Speaker 5 (13:37):
They haven't laid out a timeline. He was out there
shooting before the game yesterday. There was another rap on
the pinky and things like that, so I'm curious. I mean, again,
we know what it's like trying to get an injury
report from this six or team or a direct answer
on any of these things. Andre Drummond, I mean, hasn't
played in like thirteen games and all we've gotten is
injury management here, which like what are we even doing
for backup center? But the point being with Paul George specifically,

(13:58):
I think it's probably like a weaker too, and then
then he's back out their full strength again. I have
a little bit more sympathy with kind of a ligament
knowledge and that that is an issue there. You need
these guys out there there, there's no way around it.
But as far as like this team as a whole,
they can beat anyone on any given night. And I
think we're also seeing some of the vulnerabilities across the league.
Cleveland showing some signs of slipping of late. The Celtics

(14:18):
have not looked as dominant of late, Jalen Brown having
some struggles there. Each team's got weaknesses and the Sixers
team is still kind of scrapping out and finding a way.
So it hasn't been perfect, but I'm not ready to
This ship isn't sinking the way that it kind of
felt like a couple of weeks ago the.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Sixers making the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (14:33):
They went through six one through six, one through six,
so to kind of stain the play in is not
the playoffs, that's not the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
The playoffs is one through six.

Speaker 5 (14:43):
So for my TikTok bet for the clarification here, if
they get out of the play in and into the playoffs,
I still cash that.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
I'm not riding.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yes, that counts. You're right one hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (14:53):
But as far as them actually cracking the top six seed,
I don't think the chances are zero. I mean, there
are forty games out of that sixth seed right now.
The mad you currently hold that they're twenty four and
twenty four on the year Sixers in nineteen and twenty seven,
so obviously some ground to make up there. They're exactly
tied with the Bulls, who currently hold that ten seed.
Bulls have played a couple more games than the Sixers,
so they're below them in the standings, but tied for

(15:13):
that last last ten seed there and then four more
games and we're talking about being into the actual playoffs.
So it's all on this team to continue picking up
and fighting. But the chance the pathway is absolutely eh. Yeah,
like yeah, of course, I look at it.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
The heat, they're a disaster.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
The Pistons are playing, you know, poor basketball at this
point in time, they should be better.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
The Hawks.

Speaker 4 (15:37):
Jylen Johnson just got hurt.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
Yeah, you're right about that.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Bulls they beat them, they're twenty and twenty eighth, then
Egos Sixers and then it's just the rest of the league.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
So the Sixers should be better.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
I totally agree with you, but just something is not
connecting this year with this franchise.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
Now, was that a.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
First half deal, get to the All Star break, get
everybody back all of a sudden. Oh, but see, this
is the issue, and I'm not going to bite into this.
I'm not going to allow myself to take a piece,
a bite of that apple, a piece of the cookie
out of the cookie jar. Whatever you want to say,
I'm not going to do it because the weather Beat's

(16:14):
gonna come.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
Back and it's just gonna change everything.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
And when it does, he's not going to remain healthy
and the team's gonna be like, oh, he's back, and
it just changes the mentality of this franchise, top to bottom,
the players on the floor, and we're gonna be doing
it all over again.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
That is just one man's take.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
I totally allow anybody and everybody to dance on my
grave if I'm wrong.

Speaker 5 (16:35):
Good.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I haven't
been wrong quite just yet. They lost seven in a row,
they just won four straight. Great, I'm happy, it's fun,
it's entertaining. I could tune in and watch the damn
game and not be mad at every word that comes
out of Skate Scott's mouth. Understood, But I have to
be realistic and if not a part of sticking to
my guns.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
It's just what was hitting me in November. It's still
hit me right now in January thirtieth.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
Will change your mind when tomorrow Joel Embiid steps out
there and gives Nicole Yoki forty.

Speaker 4 (17:07):
Because I think the dude he's.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
Not playing against the Joker tomorrow, No way, no way.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Gad bet yeah, absolutely, Gatorade bet that he is not
playing tomorrow versus Joker at at home.

Speaker 3 (17:24):
Correct, that's the home game.

Speaker 4 (17:25):
I'm pretty confident he is.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
That would be great.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
But and you know what, it probably would be in
his best interest to not because he's not he's not
in shape. Come on, man, no way, he's not get ready.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
He's not gonna get in shape just sitting there.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
Yeah, well, who's the next opponent after that that doesn't
have Yeah, one of the I would rather him.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Go out there against Boston, even though the Nuggets are beatable.
Just lost a pretty good game last night to the Knicks.
We're gonna talk a lot about the next coming up
here in just a minute, but uh, you know, the
thing I would say is that you're gonna get a
hungry Joker.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
He's gonna raise his game up because of what just
took place last night.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
And oh, by the way, facing embiid all eyes on
that matchup as always.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
We'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Man.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
I you know, I've been poisoned this year and I'm
the negative Nancy.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
I get it. But you know it's just year in,
year out, same song and dance, and it's just it
gutted me. So here we are they can continue to win.
I hope they do. I'm pulling for this team.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
I love Tyrese MAXI let's focus on him here, Max,
he deserves all the shine as I slated here to
name the episode. What's been the difference for you over
these last twelve games with Tyree's massik Maxic? Is it
just a matter of hey man, these shots were eventually
gonna fall.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Are they running different sets? Has he been more aggressive?
I don't think he's been more aggressive? Has he?

Speaker 4 (18:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (18:48):
I think some of it's a little shooting variants, coming
back to the norm that he's just straight up a
better shooter than the numbers have indicated this year. There's
been a guy who's been top five and three point
percentage for two whole seasons of his career and was
shooting below thirty from three for a good part of
the season. So some of it is just coming back
to normalcy, And as dumb as it sounds, I think
a lot of it is just attitude that when you
think of Tyrese Maxy, you think of a smiling, happy

(19:10):
guy who's playing with joy.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
That really was not the case for a lot of
the season.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
There's been a whole lot of referee complaining, throwing the
hands up, frustrations being quite visible that out there on
the court.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
That has not been the case over these past four games.

Speaker 5 (19:22):
And to take it a step further than that, I've
been really impressed with his ability to like encourage teammates
and be a leader out on the floor. There were
multiple times yesterday where it really stood out to me
of him like clapping in his teammate's face, like uplifting guys.
And I think that he's kind of returned to a
little bit more of the true version of Tyreese Maxy
playing with joy, having a positive outview, and I think
that translates in his play. What I would kind of

(19:43):
point to is evidence of this is think about the
contrast of Jared McCain and how much his personality and
positive shine while he was on the court while playing
right next to Tyrese Maxy. That was kind of like
striking to me, And I think we're seeing Tyrese Maxi
return to being the guy that is that positive force,
that leader the franchise, the dude that they need to
follow this guy, and I think he settled back into that.

(20:04):
So I think the money and the pressure of not
having you know, his teammates around him with Paul George
Embiid kind of got to him to an extent and
then a lot of it was just the shots not falling.
But he's absolutely back to being the all star caliber
guard that we know.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
Him to be.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
He's aggressive getting to the rack. It's fun again.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
I didn't really see I saw him being aggressive earlier
in the year, but there was definitely a reluctancy two
as well. At times it was just only natural. But
he knows it's it's do or die time with him
out there. And yeah, and it's really easy to see that.

Speaker 3 (20:31):
With all love and respect.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Again, though they're winning these games, they deserve a lot
of credit right now for turning it around.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
We'll see if this could continue. I know Sean's Peyton a.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
Rosie Pitcher, and I appreciate that he's been very maybe
the most optimistic out of all of everybody in the
Gambler gang.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
The Sixers currently are nineteen and twenty seven. That's all
I'll say. That's all I'll say.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
Now help me on this one. Just jab me because
I do not want to get carried away with this
discussion because people are already.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
Turned off by it.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
But Jimmy, but and you know, we brought it up
the other day because of the story that was put
out there by Vincent Goodwill from Yahoo Sports. It wasn't
us throwing something up against the wall, like yeah, that's
been discussed, Jimmy, butther for Paul George straight up, like
as a hypothetical ballroom discussion.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
Fine, but this was actually a little substance, right. That
was just to say, hey, preliminary discussions.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
You immediately said there is ninety nine percent chance on
those lines that this is not happening.

Speaker 4 (21:26):
Good.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
We covered our bases.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
We got a lot of pushback though on that, which
was just crazy to me, And the big pushback was
the contract. So I just want to dip our toes
into the contract. The NBA contract waters. First of all,
when you when somebody says to the point that why
would the Miami Heat take on Paul George's contract. Now,

(21:48):
again we didn't say that they would, But is it
out of the realm of possibility that the Miami Heat
would take on Paul George's contract?

Speaker 3 (21:55):
I just say this. You tell me if I'm wrong
on this. My answer is, bro, It's called white flag. Now.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
I know pat Riley's pat Riley, but man, they just
got to be done with it. And if you're telling
me this is a team that they still think can
win and you could pull Paul George in and replace it, Like,
maybe there are people out there Saint Paul George is
as good as Jimmy.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
Butler went healthy.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Maybe there's people out there Saint Paul George is better
than Jimmy Butler win healthy playoffs? We understand, But what
do you say to that? Like, am I off base
to even suggest that the Miami Heat would would take
on that contract? And in part two of that shown
is this NBA contracts essentially don't mean a damn thing
at the end of the day. Man, I know they do.

(22:37):
Don't take that as literal, but we've seen some crazy
contracts and teams get out of them. Horford Simmons, the
hard and stuff. We were talking about it last night
text and you can't run up a couple of cases
your thoughts on that. As far as the Miami Heat
havn't any interest in taking on that Paul George contract.

Speaker 5 (22:53):
Yes, So I'll say contracts mean more now under this
new CBA than they ever really had before as far
as the restrictions that come with them. One of the key,
like I would guess, driving forces in this entire Jimmy
Butler conversation is obviously the Heat being unwilling to give
him an extension.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
Now, one of the foundational seeming beliefs of.

Speaker 5 (23:10):
Pat Riley is he's not going to give long term
money to guys over the age of thirty five, and
that is what is going on with Paul George. Paul,
I mean with Jimmy Butler down there. Paul George also
fits that category. If the Heat were to consider this,
it certainly comes from we're just done with the Jimmy
Butler business, that we just want to move on, and
Jimmy doing quite a good job of making sure that
that is the priority, to make sure that I want

(23:31):
no part of being here, and everybody knows that that
message has been loud and clear and received by everyone
in this entire earth. So if you're the Heat sitting
there and saying, we just want to wash our hands
of this dude, We're sick of everything that comes with
Jimmy Butler, which there's a lot behind the scenes, more
than even has been made public here. You can look
at it and say, we get Paul George, we get
the rest of this season and three years beyond this

(23:52):
to kind of recoup our investment. That that's then the
asset we're holding on to. I'm not gonna you can
have your preference for Paul George and Jimmy Butler. They're
very different players. As much as I don't know, you
can kind of wear that however you want. There the
point being, if you're the Heat, they're never going to
be interested in a full rebuild that they view themselves
as a destination franchise, and rightfully so. They're in Miami
and they've had success bring in these big ticket free agents.

(24:13):
You still got Tyler Hero, you still got bam Adebayo
khalil Ware playing incredible basketball right now. There's other talented
guys on that roster. Terry Rochier has underwhelmed, but a
guy that we know can play. So if you're talking
about still giving yourself kind of a chance this year,
Paul George still does that. So if you're the Heat,
that's how you're talking to yourself into it. Also another
thing I want to squash because I've seen plenty of
this in the comments and all of my platforms here.

(24:35):
Paul George does not have a no trade clause, and
I have no clue where that came from or why
people think that there are two no trade clauses in
the entire NBA. Those belong to Lebron James and Bradley Beal.
I don't know why people have that connected to Paul
George at all, but that has never been the case
or was ever really discussed, I think.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
And Steph Curry, How does Steph Curry have a no
trade clause?

Speaker 5 (24:54):
I mean, so the NBA, the collective Bargaining Agency, and
the Players Association, they don't want to go down that
path of trade of that being like a thing of
people having a new trade clause there. Bradley Beil a
pretty unique situation where sort of this dance with the
CBA that we've seen is this kind of battle between
the system is set up to players control their destiny

(25:15):
and free agency teams control their destiny when they're under contract.
So what has become kind of the theme is the
NBA has set it up to reward players for staying
with franchise. That's where you can sign these super max deals,
these extensions. You get more when you're a homegrown talent.
We've seen players kind of try and get both ends
of things here, where they opt into that contract, they
get their max money, and that's when they request the trade.

(25:37):
Now from the organizational standpoint, you can view that favorably
as well, because the guy's not just leaving.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
You're getting something in return.

Speaker 5 (25:44):
Even if it's not, you know, one for one value,
because of the situation you're in, you're at least bringing
something back. So with that has been a whole lot
of dances. The new CBA is going to change that
in its entirety as well. But the full kind of
answer there is the NBA does not want no trade
clauses to be a thing.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
And it's kind of a unique that these two have
got it.

Speaker 5 (26:01):
Lebron's obviously Lebron and bradbial benefited from getting every single
benefit of sticking with Washington as long as he did.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
Well said, I'm glad we got into that because at
the end of the day, like you know, I get it, man.
And this is kind of going back and what I
just said, But it is difficult to make trades in
the NBA due to the contract match and the dollars
for dollars and then these aprons.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
That's whole deal.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
But like I also said, too, man, this league, they
make it happen, just like in the NFL too training.
Uh what's the word, I'm looking for payroll when they got.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
The uh big salary cap.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Salary cap? Good crief. Sorry man, my brain my daughter's
down for the count.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Man, I've been all out of it this morning, so
I'm running around like a maniac.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
I apologize. But the salary cap.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
You know, they are shifting numbers all the time in
the NFL, so it's like, is it really that constant?

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Yes, But at the same time we do see teams make.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Moves and and something's happening. So something to keep our
eye on. Trade deadline coming up here. Of course, that
is a big topic for everybody in the NBA. Well
more as far as the NBA trade deadline, it's concerned
the Aaron Fox. I know you're a Fox guy. You
kind of pushed me a little bit more to being
on his side because I was disappointed with how this place,

(27:18):
how this all took place, and specifically from the King's
perspective where you fire Mike Brown and then now the
player still wants out, and that's you got it wrong,
Like you have to look yourself in the mirror and going, man,
we screwed up.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
D Aaron Fox, though, wants to go to San Antonio.
No surprise there. We knew that people will want to
go play for Wimby. Why not. The thing that I
have is like, wait a minute, he's a free agent
next year. So like if you have like this.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
List, if you're the Sacramento Kings and you want this player,
this play that player, No, the San Antonio Spurs cannot
do that. They cannot afford to do that. If you
were going to give him, you know, make the trade
and give him that new contract, which I'm sure.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
That would go and and no, no, no, no, no,
you can't lose Castle. He's the real deal. So where
do you stand on that conversation.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Do you think it's important for him to be with
the Spurs as soon as possible or do you think, hey, man, just.

Speaker 3 (28:11):
The playoff season out and get to free agency here?

Speaker 5 (28:14):
Yes, So, like, reflecting on the same conversation I had
about like the order of operations with free agency, and
trade request. Dan Fox has kind of gone about this
the right way that he's been with Sacramento for eight
years now that he's paid his dues there and he
has declined contract extensions. The way that he has phrased
it to this point is basically to see the game planner,
the plan of the organization moving forward. He's made it

(28:34):
crystal clear he wants to be on a contender, and
rightfully so. Who doesn't want to compete in these things?
And that's what Daron Fox is saying. I think it's
fair to assess, with eight years in Sacramento that I
don't really see a world in which they fully get
to that level that he seemingly desires to. Yes, they
traded for Sabonis. Yes, Malik Monk is a good player.
They've brought into Marduro's and they've done some things that
I like as an organization. When you look around the

(28:55):
Western Conference, man, you're never going to be as good
as the Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nugget, there's
a lot of very good teams that it's going to
be really difficult to reach that level. So I think
Fox sees the end in sight He's told the organization
that he doesn't plan on resigning, so if they want
to get something, they can trade him. He wants to
be out of there, and I understand it from all
parties there as much as like, I think Fox is

(29:16):
a very special player and frankly a little underrated in
the conversation for how good that he is across the
hierarchy of the league. But he's not going to reach
his peak as a player with the King's jersey on,
and I understand it from all parties here. I think
it was a mistake firing Mike Brown, and I think
the Kings are going to have some tough decisions to
make moving forward.

Speaker 4 (29:31):
But I don't really fault Fox for this.

Speaker 5 (29:33):
I think this is the way it should go when
we are trying to make yourself out of it, get
yourself out of an organization.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
All right, great stuff, sean nice breakdown there.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
Anything else as far as the trade deadline is concern
Is there a name that we're not discussing. Is there
a player that you feel like will absolutely make a difference.
Savouch might be on the way out. I think he
would be a nice fit in Golden State. He's a
good player, no matter what, is there a player that
you think would be a big time difference maker for
a team if he lands there.

Speaker 5 (29:59):
Yeah, yeah, I mean Butler is gonna be the number
one domino that I would say falls that everyone seems
to be waiting on those big ticket things. I still
kind of lean toward it being unlikely the Aaron Fox
has traded could happen, and that very well could be
tied to the same deal and Bradley behal for the
same reason we're talking about. The no trade clause seems
pretty firm on that he's not moving off that, so
he's gonna get his money and continue playing for the

(30:19):
Phoenix Suns. If that is the case, there's nothing the
organization can do to supersede that or go around that
if he doesn't want to be moved, and that's why
they try hard to stop it. So I think we
still will see some movement across the board. I think
there's gonna be a lot of teams trying to get
under aprons, duck some tax save some money, and more particularly,
I think we're going to see some of the bottom feeders,
the teams like the Hornets and the Wizards facilitating these trades.

(30:40):
To help teams get off money and kind of stacking
up assets that way.

Speaker 4 (30:44):
So there will be some trades that go down.

Speaker 5 (30:46):
I would say probably a lot of head scratching trades
that pop up that you got to think, like, what
is the actual reason for that? And the answer is
probably gonna be money to some extent in every one
of those. So stay tuned for that. But I don't
think the six are gonna be heavily involved in too much.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
All I got you. We're another two more minutes here.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
First and foremost, we do have a little bit of
breaking news around Scary Terry Rosier, who is currently with
the Miami Heat, and I know he's with the cell Yes,
so he was with the Hornets from twenty to twenty four.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
He was with the Miami Heat last year. He got traded.
That's what it was. That's right, he got traded to
the Miami.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
And Kyle Lowry.

Speaker 5 (31:24):
The Sixer doble Kyle Lowry because he was a part
of that deal and then bought out very good.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
This is on to David Purdain covers sports gambling for
ESPN a Wall Street Journal article here. Federal prosecutors have
been investigating whether NBA player.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Scary Terry Rosier.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
I put the scary in there, manipulated his performance as
part of an illegal sports betting scheme. The inquiry is
part of a wider government investigation is already in snarred.
John tay Porter, how about that?

Speaker 4 (31:54):
So this is for this season?

Speaker 5 (31:55):
Last season, he's wearing a Hornets jersey in that pick,
So I assumed that that was a connecting deal there.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Unfortunately, I do not pay huh two dollars a.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Week to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, so I
can't read the article.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
I'm sure that we will get more information.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Over the next few hours about that, And yeah, that's
going to be talked about a lot on ESPN, and
that's definitely not good for the league.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
Again, man, you're going to get caught. And that's all
you gotta say is you're going to get caught, all right.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Once again, sham Bnard you can find him at DK
network over there. Great content across the board, including our
good friend Stevie Bukes.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
How to create the.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
WWE Royal Rumble pool sham Banard, We're gonna have our
Royal Rumble roundtable hosted by Nick Bacone, Jason Vanelli, vond
Johnson and John Janssen coming up on Friday evening as
we're getting ready for all things super Bowl coverage in
the next week.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
But we got Royal Rubble.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
It's going down on Saturday in Indianapolis, so check out
the content at the network.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Sean, Yep, Steve.

Speaker 4 (33:03):
I don't know how well you know him.

Speaker 5 (33:04):
I have never spoken to him outside of a slack
chat here, but if you do get a chance to
talk to him. At some point, there was a whisper
pass through the DraftKings group chat. But he has some
connection to professional dodgeball. I would love to hear what
exactly that means.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
It doesn't shine. He's a play by play guy.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
We're wrestling, Okay, he probably has something to do with that.
He probably calls like professional dodge dodgeball leagues.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
I don't all love and respect to Stevie Bukes. I
don't really see him playing dodgeball, but I could be
off on that. I'm not playing dodgeball, bro, I'll be
breaking my leg, snapping an acl whatever it is. So,
but God bless him if he is out there dodging balls. Hey,
if you could dodge a rench, you can dodge a ball.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
Sea Banhart give us one winner on the.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Way out here.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
We got five games in the NBA one, two, three,
four five. We got the Hawks and Calves.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Calves ten point favorites at home Lakers Wizards, Lakers eight
and a half point favorites. On the road still t
Woolves seven point favorite. It's on the road in Utah.
Rockets catching four and a half. On the road in Memphis,
that's the game of the night. In Orlando on the road,
still five and a half point favorites, taking on the
trail Blazers.

Speaker 5 (34:11):
If you want to decide, it would be Rockets plus
four and a half. But my best bat of the
day would be I'm and Thompson over seventeen and a
half points.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
Tonight, kids a stud, kids stud? So are you Shaman?

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Our great job across the board continued kick a button
taking names for all things DK.

Speaker 3 (34:26):
We'll catch up later this week.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Always a pleasure, As always, people, if you missed anything
at Fox Pho Gambler dot.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Spreads totals and all the prop that's in betweens. It's
the Gambler