Ep. 64: Luka to the Lakers... What Are The Mavs Thinking!? - 02/02/25

Sean Brace and Sean Barnard talk about the biggest trade in #NBA history that went down at the stroke of midnight - #Mavericks sending Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the #Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a LAL first-round pick. It was a three-team trade that included the Utah Jazz, who get Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second-round pick from the Lakers, and also a 2025 second-round pick from the Mavericks.

WHAT ARE THE MAVS THINKING?

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 Gambler. Fox
Sports Radio in Philly is The Gambler. The Gambler, Philly's
home for all things sports, gambling, picks and roll, handicapping

(00:21):
the Hardwood with Sixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean Brace.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Special edition rising up on an off day.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Still we thought, of course, Super Bowl fifty nine is
one week from today. However, the business rolls on, and
that's the business of sports, and that's what we do
on The Gambler. We give it to you with everything
college football, NFL, Major League Baseball, hockey, EPL and of course,

(00:51):
over on the hard Wall we do pretty damn good
job over there. Sean Binard covers the seventy six ers
in the NBA. And look, people are just waking up
to this right now. There are plenty of people out
there going same reaction that we had at midnight, so
let's get right to it. Of course, Luka Doncicic is
now a Los Angeles Laker. It's real, happened seven hours ago,

(01:13):
eight hours ago now, and we're gonna talk about it
from every end.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
For me, Sean.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Let's start with the reactions. I will just tell you
last night. I literally was on the move all day yesterday.
I bright and early in the morning, workout, then did
a DJ party down on Main Street.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Was there for five hours.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Came home, squeezed in a twenty minute nap before I
went to the Wings game. Got to the Wings game,
powered up a red bull, fired through, had a great
game whatever, got home one eye open. I ate, I'm
eating something and I see the Lakers and Lebron James
do his triple double at MSG. I'm like, that's great.
We're texting the group talking about Reddick and that was it.

(01:53):
I was done. I was toast to crash app and
I was ready to pass out. And then all of
a sudden, I get a text message from you. I
mean it was still late, but I get a text
mesone from you. You go, do you want to record
in the morning? And I'm like, dude, I haven't. I
didn't even write this, but I'm thinking to myself, like, dude,
I didn't watch any hoops last night, like, all right,

(02:13):
Sixers are playing cool.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I could see you up on that.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
But and I said, I was ready to text you,
like I'm in, but this is just so, you know,
like I got to catch up.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
What are we talking about?

Speaker 3 (02:22):
And then I see like the gambler chat and then
I'm I'm like, wait a minute, this trade took place,
Like this is real.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
The reactions are pretty much, you know, the same from
a lot of people that were recording videos, like no
one could believe that this is really the case.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
So Sean, your reaction, the hell were you doing?

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah? I was personally.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
I had got home, has spent a long day at
our very own radio station that I did, uh the
you know, the shift in the morning for the sports here,
there and everywhere. It did me a mark show for
the Tough cover, and then was crank out articles for
DraftKings until eight. Headed home, watched the end of the
Lakers game here the Lakers next, and then I was
getting ready to fall asleep myself, scrolling through my phone
and all of a sudden we get a tweet notification

(03:02):
from Shan Sharania here, and I think it is quite
telling for what nidiotic move this is based on the
immediate reaction regarding one of the most legitimized reporters across
all of sports, the Universal reaction was this guy must
have been hacked and that was not the case. That
Luka Doncic is officially heading to Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
I still feel like.

Speaker 5 (03:20):
There's some part of the puzzle that we're missing that
there feels like there has to be more to the
story than we know at this current point. But the
reality of it is, it does feel like the Mavericks
just kind of got sick of some of the conditioning
issues with Luka Doncic, some concerns with how serious he
is taking things.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
I think that's insane. I get it.

Speaker 5 (03:36):
I understand Luca is not perfect, but what he is
is a top five player in the NBA at twenty
five years old. This is gonna be a dude that
is gonna be in the running for MVP on an
every year basis for the remainder of his career. And
you gave up on this guy in a quote unquote
win now move for probably the third most injury prone
big man in the NBA who is playing great basketball.
But it's kind of unbelievable to buy in that this

(03:58):
is built to last. While again, like Andy Davis has
had an incredible year, and really the past few years
has been excellent.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
He's a great basketball player.

Speaker 5 (04:05):
He's not Luka Doncic, and he's not gonna be cauntying
yourself into the next decade the way Doncic. Well, so
I can't believe that it had happened. There's a lot
of angles we can go with this, but certainly pure
shock was my immediate reaction.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, and a lot of people are checking in love
to get you involved.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
This isn't for the radio station. This is for us
right here, right now.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
And we will talk a little bit about the Sixers
at the end, we'll tee that up. But man, this
is all about Luca going to the LA Lakers are
twenty five years old.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
It's still just does not seem real.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
I clicked on it and saw like the of the
the profile picture that it's now on ESPN dot com.
I sent it on like that he's an LA Laker.
Yeah for me, Sean, it starts and ends for the
people like look, like I said, everyone's going to dissect
that however they want. But if you're talking about anything
other than the Dallas Mavericks and Luca, then I don't
think you're fully grasping what it is.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Like.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
This has nothing to do with Anthony Davis. This has
nothing to do with you know, Lebron James. This has
nothing to do with the Lakers. This is all about
the Dallas Mavericks and what the hell did they just do?

Speaker 2 (05:09):
You know, from a seventy six ers fan perspective, You're you're.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Talking about Luca in a lingering calf issue, a back issue,
conditioning issue. Just went to the NBA Finals last year.
It just dropped seventeen year last year year. Like you
know this, this super I can't wait, Like when I
when I was looking forward to sitting down with you.
You you know the exes and o's, You know the

(05:33):
details about these contracts better than most, so I really
can't wait to pick your brain. We're not going to
get into that now, but the super Max, that whole deal,
Like over the next five years, if you had Luca,
you're not debating whether or not you can win an
NBA championship. You're probably asking yourself, can we get multiple
If you got Luca for the next five years, you're
probably saying that he is going to be an MVP

(05:55):
of the league multiple times. Like this is just madness
to the point that almost like does the commissioner.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Have anything like this doesn't connect. It just doesn't connect.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
And and from the Mavericks perspective, I just have to ask, like.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
What are they thinking, Shun? What are they thinking? This is?

Speaker 3 (06:15):
This is a such a fireball offense because you didn't
open it up, if you like, at the very least,
if you want.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
To get rid of Luca, how do you not open
it up getting war?

Speaker 4 (06:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (06:27):
How do how does Rudy Gobert af fetch what he fetches?
How do these contracts happen with these draft picks for
number one picks? Like, how how do you not open
it up for Luca?

Speaker 2 (06:39):
Dude? That's a fireable offense right then and there.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
The word that we're again is that like this happen,
This had to happen really fast because it didn't seep out.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't know what your take.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Is on that, but you know, like the owners of
the Dallas Mavericks need to sign off on this.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
How do they allow this to happen? Shun?

Speaker 4 (06:59):
Yeah, it seems like it happen been super quick.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
And to your point here, like I'm not diminishing what
the outlook for the Lakers is for this season, but
this is absolutely the mindset of we've got the next
generation of a Lakers superstar. This is the next face
of the franchise, and he's every bit of that talent.
But from a Mavericks perspective here, my brain certainly went
when this first came out to Luka Dancich must have
requested at trade. What I think is probably the reality,
and it's been quite reported. Mark Stein was the first

(07:23):
to it to say that he did not request the trade.
He's a surprise about this as anyone. I think there
had to be some probably, you know, he's eligible for
a super Max the summer, whether it was the organization
being shy about giving that to him, whether it was
some hesitancy on Luca's part to accept that. I feel
like there had to be some difficult conversations there. But
it does seem like most of the reports are indicating
that that was heading in the right direction, that they

(07:43):
were heading down that path there. So I truly can't
really grasp why that would be the case. To your point,
I do think in general, it's easier when you're making
this caliber of move for it to be a quick
and seamless process that it's not drawn out or not
having the Jimmy Butler conversations or guys like that that
lingers on forever. But Luca the Hunches is not Jimmy
Butler man like, this is a completely different caliber of

(08:05):
talent when having this, So I think they went with
the get this done seamlessly, kind of save ourselves pr
wise that this doesn't drag out and kind of seep
into the organization.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
But you're absolutely right.

Speaker 5 (08:14):
But if you'd open this up to a bidding war,
I have no clue how high the target could be made,
Like how high that price point could reach. Like for example,
here Bill Simmons did his trade value rankings as far
as he goes down the league, BA takes into account
the contract, their age, all those type of things. Luka
Dannci finished fourth on his list in the completely untouchable category.
Obviously not the case because he's now moving, But I

(08:35):
do think that goes to show as far as what
the perception of Luke is and what the reality is
for what he is as a player. So it makes
zero sense to me from the Mavericks perspective. I saw
the quote from Miko Harrison their GM about how defense
wins championships, and that's the way that they want to play,
they're buying into that. I think that's a very unnecessary
shot and really just a bad look all around, to
be perfectly honest. So if you're a Mavericks fan waking

(08:56):
up today, I have no clue how you can even
like really continue with rooting with this.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Team Sga, Wimby and who's the third but untouchable?

Speaker 5 (09:07):
Actually that's a good question, I forget off the top
of my head. I'll pull that up, all right. Yeah, Well,
who am I missing? It's you know, look, we're all
focused on this.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
It's obviously I don't know, man, Luca got moved, so
maybe you gotta remove him from that list. I just
you know, we're going to hear until we get exactly
from the word of mouth of Luca, what is going on,
What was happening behind the scenes. And I know he's
been injured. He had a little bit of a calf,
a little bit of a back issue.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
If I'm not mistaken, he was reportedly to return yesterday,
So that kind of opened my eyes a little bit.
Maybe this was happening in the last seventy two plus hours. Again,
there's no way this would have been taken any more
than that because it would have seeped out and Joki
was the third one. Okay, there you go, Yeah that
makes sense. All I know is that what's being put

(09:58):
out there now. Again it's from the seventy six ers
perspective in me, but like, let's just take it a
step further from the standpoint of around the league and
franchises that have never had a player of Lucas caliber
and in their existence. And he's twenty five years old, Sean,

(10:18):
and you would have him, Like I don't care if
he rolls in and Luca is weighing three hundred pounds,
I don't care if he comes to the training facility
with the twelve pack of PIRONI I don't care. And
I mean this, we're all friends here, Like he could

(10:40):
have got a sex change.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
I don't care, like you don't.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Again, from the seventy six ers perspective, we have dealt
with so much with Joelle Embiid and like, you hang.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
On to these guys. You do everything you possibly can
to build around these guys.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
You can't allow these generational players to leave and then
to get what you got back for crying out loud.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
The Lakers had two first round picks. They didn't even
get both of them. Yea, how how do you not
even get both of those first picks?

Speaker 3 (11:14):
I just am losing my mind from the Mavericks standpoint,
and then to trade them.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
To the Lakers, to trade them to the Lakers of
all places?

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Dude, what are we doing here? That's what I'm saying. Like,
am I wrong to think like a commissioner? I never
thought a commissioner should get involved like that, but you
know they do, and they did with Chris Paul? So
how do you not get involved with this deal?

Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (11:35):
I mean brace if this had happened in one of
our fantasy leagues, I think it gets vetoed straight up.
And this is the real MVA that we're talking about
right here, So I can't believe that, like it is
the case. And I'm seeing a couple of the comments
shot at to Jay talking about comparing it to embiid.
I don't think it's the same thing, because while Luca
absolutely has his bumps and bruises, the dude has been available.

Speaker 4 (11:54):
Like looking at the games played, he.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
Goes seventy two games, sixty one, sixty six, sixty five,
sixty six, so this morning, Yeah, like it's not like
and I gets he's only played twenty two this year.
It does sound like he's ramping up. I'm gonna be
back in like the short term. He's dealt with that
CAF issue. He did that on Christmas, obviously, and that's
been something that they battled for the large part of
the season. So he's not a model of availability. But
it's not like this is a guy who isn't around.

(12:16):
The fewest amount of games he played in his career
is sixty one in a season, which is perfectly acceptable
for a superstar, to be honest, and like. He led
the league in scoring last year thirty three point nine
per points per game. He took this team to the
NBA Finals. He's led the league in scoring in the
playoffs in two separate seasons already, in twenty twenty twenty
one with thirty five point seven points per game and
then twenty one twenty two with thirty one point seven

(12:37):
points per game. He truly is one of the greatest
offensive talents in the sport. I understand that he leaves
something to be desired on the defensive end, but that's
the sacrifice you make for a start that like you
can find guys to fit around it, and Dallas has like.

Speaker 4 (12:50):
Let's not act like he's been impossible to play with.

Speaker 5 (12:52):
They have had guys that fit perfectly with Luca, Dorian Fitti.
Smith maybe like the biggest winner of all this on
the Lakers now because he's purely like a one and
three catch and shoot guy and he's not gonna play
next to the two greatest like corner three creators. I
guess James Harden in the same category, but with Lebron
and Luca there, like Dori and Fitney, Smith is absolutely
gonna go.

Speaker 4 (13:10):
He's gonna be eating in this offense here.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
So I do think there's more movement coming because both
these rosters look a little incomplete based on how significant
the shakeup is. A ton of front court down down
down in Dallas with the Daniel Gaffords, the Derek Livelies
guys like that, and when you look at the Lakers
leave a lot to be desired at the front court
spot now with no Anthony Davis, Ruy, Hachi Moore is
likely gonna, I guess, be their short term starting center.

Speaker 4 (13:32):
They might even go with Jackson Hayes in that spot.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
The point being here that I think this is the
start for both teams that you got to do some
pretty rapid roster construction. There's a lot that still has
to go down. But I really can't believe that this happened.
This is I would say, by far, the largest mid
season acquisition ever in NBA history. I even might go
as far as saying the largest overall acquisition. It's certainly
the most shocking.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
In my opinion, it's the craziest trade I've ever seen.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Again, it's it's it's absurd, and it's so fascinating on
so many levels.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
I just it's shocking.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
And you know, from the standpoint like from two seventy,
which is the Mavericks fat shaming Luca, trying to make
you know, defense wins championships whatever they want to say, Like,
this is just absurd on.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
So many levels. He's six foot seven sean. He's a
big dude, right, like bigger than that.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, So I I just think, Okay, to Mark Henry
Junior's point on a Gambler, Chatty said, there's something else
that has to be happening, And that's what I was
saying last night.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
I was, you know, scrolling one eye open at.

Speaker 3 (14:34):
One o'clock in the morning, something else had to happen
and I and you know it doesn't do us any
you know, or we shouldn't sit here.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
And guess at what that possibly could be.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
But you know, again, like I just look at from
a from a you know, a general manager's perspective, an
ownership group, a coach's perspective, Kyrie Irving's perspective, Like, dude,
you can't.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Move this guy. That's how crazy of a talent he is.
And if he's two seventy and say he's got a
drinking problem because you know, the general manager went over
there and took the beer out of his hand. Whatever,
and there's the picture of him on and off day.
It's like whatever, dude, Like like, you.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Got to hang with this guy and work with him
and give him that MAX deal and do not allow
him to leave. And again, I don't want to be
throwing things out there. I'm just you know, having some
fun with that. But regardless, unless somebody kidnaps somebody's family,
I just don't see from the Mavericks perspective this being
the right way to go about it.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
Yeah, I'm in agreement with you.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
I think like he's the caliber of talent that you
put up with basically whatever baggage is there, and as
far as what has become public, it doesn't seem like
any sort of baggage that I feel is legitimate, Like,
sure that he's been banged up a little bit, Sure
there are some conditioning issues, Like you look at him,
he's pretty night and day different from a body perspective
from when he first came to the NBA. But who
is it from when they were, you know, nineteen years
old to twenty five that things changed with that?

Speaker 4 (15:58):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (15:59):
I've the other point that I would kind of bring
up in this and like I if you're a Mavericks
fan right now and you're kind of selling yourself on
like this is our win, now go in move. I
don't see any like debate in which moving on from
Luka Doncic helps that. Like, yes, Anthony Davis is good,
Yes he provides another element, but you're talking about giving
up a guy that at worst is one of the

(16:19):
top six talents in basketball. So it does feel like
there has to be more to the story than this.
But you only go off what has been told publicly,
and it seems like Lucas pretty much at the top
of the list for being stunned about this.

Speaker 4 (16:30):
So I cannot believe this happened.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
He really is like one of those guys that I
pictured playing in Dallas for the entirety of his career.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
I'll never forget.

Speaker 5 (16:38):
Like, obviously there was the Dirk Devitzki era in Dallas
who was there for the entirety, and then there was
that one year of overlap in which they played together.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
And I remember when Luca.

Speaker 5 (16:46):
The first time I watched Luca like get cooking, my
brain was just like, Wow, the Mavericks got another one,
Like this is their Dirk Novitsky of this era.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
He's gonna be there forever. And obviously that's not gonna
be the case.

Speaker 5 (16:56):
So I'm pretty stunned all around, still feeling that is
my immediate reaction.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
And now the Lake get there and we'll get into
the Lakers again. I just I can't even talk about
the Lakers at this point in time because it's maddening.
It's fascinating, you know, like I am a Lebron James guy,
but here we go for that organization yet again they
got shack.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
You know.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
We can go down the history of the changes that
this team has been able to make they got Lebron
and it's just like it constantly happens.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
For the LA Lakers. Like I said, look around the league,
how many teams out there have never had a star
a star? And the Dallas Mavericks just said, you know what, we're.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Good because we are twenty eight and twenty three at
the eight seed. We went to the finals last year
with Luca and would not have sniffed the NBA Finals
without him.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
But we're good. We need to win now.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
And Anthony Davis, who has been playing better as missed
as a miss games last year, because it really yeah
he is currently out, yeah yeah, yeah, but last year
look at you know, look he came back. He's no
he he You can no longer call him street closed Davis, right.

Speaker 4 (18:02):
Sure, I agree with that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
Luca though, is just the story, and it's the Dallas
Mavericks and what they're doing and what could be said
to Cushion.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
To blow here. But at the age of twenty five,
the things that you were reading about this guy right now,
it's like, really is that true? Five time All Star,
five time first team All NBA Rookie of the Year.

Speaker 4 (18:24):
We know that third.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
All time and points per game Sean third all time.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
He is behind Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan twenty eight
point six, four hundred and twenty two games. You know
who's fourth on that list, Joel Embiid Jowell Embiid at
twenty seven point eight.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Incredible stuff there, unbelievable like it.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
Just if I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan, I'm demanding answers.
I wake up and I am so just beyond reasonable that,
like you need to be at a podium at noon today,
hell eleven eleven cent I need to hear from you
right here, right now, and you better not hesitate with
any of the details if you're upset with Luca, because

(19:07):
somebody pointed out that the Mavericks had to hate Luca
to move him.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Oh yeah, yeah, they hate him so much that they
shipped them off to La. Sure, almost to the point
probably to say, you know, do what you need and
we know that you're.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
Going to be a disaster out there with the La nightlife.
That's a part of me, either that or Miami. But like,
I need details, you cannot hold anything back. I want
to know what he did if he showed up, If
you guys weren't going to sign that deal if he
demanded a trade request.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
What do you want to hear the first time that
we hear from the Mavericks Bress.

Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah, well for what I want and how I would
handle it as an organization, as I would not be
doing those things. I think the quoteback defensive first is like.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
You're a sixter guy.

Speaker 5 (19:45):
Well, I think think about if you're think about from
another NBA player perspective, if you're a potential star shopping
your next locations, and you watch just what happened and
what my kind of expectation is. We probably see some
of these mudslinging stories leak out the reporters and we
start to get some hart stories about Luka Doncic behind
the scenes.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
I think that probably happens from here.

Speaker 5 (20:03):
But to take a step back and say you're just
you're say, I don't know, pick a random star. You're
Kevin Durant right now saying things aren't working out in Phoenix,
I need to find a new location.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
What's appealing.

Speaker 5 (20:13):
Look what just happened in Dallas, Man, This guy was drafted, homegrown,
has been everything the organization could have hoped for and
more been a guy who on that same pathway to
spend his entire career there and is holding up his
end of the bargain as far as production. Sure, you
can critique little things here and there, he's an incredible
basketball player, and then you just ship him off really
for no explanation and then take some shots on him

(20:34):
at the door on his way going out, Like, I
don't think talking about how, you know, defense wins championships
and things like that, like that's a slap in the
face to me.

Speaker 4 (20:42):
To Luka Doncic.

Speaker 5 (20:43):
Sure, he's not gonna be winning any All NBA team
or All defensive teams. He's never gonna be in the
running for those type of things. But I do think
it comes off like a little ungrateful and kind of
underappreciative of what that guy brought to that organization. So
I think it's a bad look from a Dallas Mavericks perspective,
both the decision making process and the way they're handling himself.
So I would tread very carefully at that podium if
I'm Nico Harrison and having those conversations. I do think

(21:05):
we start to hear some of these horror stories behind
the scenes that they come out pretty quickly, especially if
it's in a safe face effort, which may be necessary
at this point.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Good answer. No, you're you're right about that. Good answer.
I'm letting a little bit of the aggravation kick in.
And if you're a Mavericks front office member, general manager,
whatever it may be, you're right, that's that's the way
you need to handle this. Again, I don't want to
move off to Dallas Mavericks until we cover everything. Dallas
Mavericks Luca Maxi, kleeber Marky Morris to the Lakers for

(21:36):
Anthony Davis Max Christi twenty twenty nine first round pick
three team deal that includes Utah. What else from the
Mavericks perspective, What else from Nico GM's perspective? What else
from Luca that we haven't hit here?

Speaker 5 (21:52):
Yeah, I'm curious, Like I don't quite see It feels
like they have to be a guy that they have
waiting in the wing that they think can be that
next year.

Speaker 4 (21:58):
I don't know if Jayden Hardy is the that they
have circled.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
Olivia Maxim's prosper has been solid in recent weeks, but
really I don't see like a next generation of young
talent that there could potentially build around this is like
a very win now move. And don't get me wrong,
there's still gonna be a very good basketball team with
Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis is kind of your headliners there.
They do have other talent on that roster, so they'll
be in the mix. But again, like I just don't
think you get better moving on from Luca don Chichen

(22:22):
as great as Davis is, Like, I think we kind
of saw the transition to Los Angeles when Anthony Davis
was sent out there, that the game plan was essentially
for him to take the baton from Lebron James and
be really that guy in the organization. And while Davis
has been very good overall, I don't think he's been
quite that. I don't think he's been a one A
on that team, the bus driver, as that phrase has

(22:44):
been thrown around. It's still been Lebron more so than not.
And even with statistically Davis kind of surpassing him this
season a lot of games, and still feel like Lebron
is the complete engine of that team. So I don't
think I think it's gonna be the same story out
there in Dallas that Like, while Davis is an incredible talent,
a guy who's already get basketball player. I don't think
he quite cracks that short list of can be the
best player on a championship team, and I think Dallas

(23:06):
is gonna find that out. So again, I do think
that there's gonna be more shakeups because of this. Neither
roster really makes sense me, like even just looking at
like the Dallas roster, Like now we're talking about Anthony Davis, PJ. Washington,
Daniel Gafford, and Derek Lively all being like guys that
deserve legitimate minutes at the front court spot. So I
feel like at least one, possibly two of them are
traded away for wings or guards as they try and

(23:27):
make this kind of puzzle put together. In the short term,
I would be very interested in any of those names
if they shake free.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
If I'm another team. PJ. Washington, that thing's a winner.

Speaker 5 (23:35):
Daniel Gafford one of the best backup centers in the NBA,
A guy that I would have my eyes on from
a six Ers perspective. If that's a conversation that comes on.
So I don't I still don't fully get it, still
not fully wrapping my head around it. But for me,
I again I think it does have to come down
with they did not believe in the long term that
Luka Doncic was the guy to get you over the top,
and I think that's a pretty crazy calculation.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, I'm right there with you. There's definitely something else
that has to be taking place before trade deadline coming
up here on the sixth, Any shot Paul George winds
up in Dallas.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yeah, I don't think so for that one.

Speaker 5 (24:07):
I am shocked, Like it felt like there's been all
these you know, moving parts behind the scenes in the NBA.
I'm shocked this didn't like impact any of like the
Diaron Fox, the Jimmy Butler, the Bradley Beal, all those
whispers that it feels like it's been waiting on this
massive deal. I'm surprised this didn't bleed into that and
become sort of one of these massive league altering deals.
It still is from a two team perspective here, and

(24:28):
the Jazz obviously getting in the mix to make it happen.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
But I kind of I think we are due for
there will be at least.

Speaker 5 (24:34):
One more massive blow up around the league with some
of the more I guess front facing disgruntled names being
in mind there.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah, man, And even if you do believe in Kyrie,
and I love Kyrie, he's thirty two, Anthony Davis thirty one, right, Like,
we think of these guys as young bucks, and they are,
you know, as I'm an older gentleman here, but they've
been in the league for a long damn time.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
And you just moved a twenty five year old who,
like I said, with that super Max steel, was gonna
be under your you know, your roof for the next
five years, probably more. And there's a good chance that
you're flirting with another NBA finals, a great chance that
you can win a championship.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
You know, I get it.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
If Lucas said, hey, don't sign me, don't sign me,
don't sign me, I'm not signing.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
I just did not see that happening. We never heard that.
Could that have.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Been the case behind the scenes, We'll find out. I
highly doubt it, because that's a question I would have
for you. The Supermax that he was going to sign
in this offseason with the Dallas Mavericks three.

Speaker 4 (25:36):
Point fifty yeah, yeah, right there.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
And then if he doesn't sign that deal, what how
does that play out?

Speaker 3 (25:44):
Because this is this is a good and if you don't know,
that's I'm sorry, I'm pressing you here. But so if
he says he's not up for a new contract point
blank this offseason, correct.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
It's just an extension. He's still under contract for another year.

Speaker 5 (25:58):
Yeah, so he has he's on the boat for forty
three million this year and then forty five point nine
or forty six million next year. So he's had two
years under contract and then a player option to the
twenty six twenty seven season that would be for forty
eight point nine million dollars. So still under contract for
those the supermax that they're discussing. And we kind of
talked about this with the Jimmy Butler Bradley Beal stuff.
Is the NBA heavily like leans into rewarding players to

(26:20):
stick with their original franchise.

Speaker 4 (26:22):
This is one of their ways they want to.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
Keep continuity, have guys, you know, a little reward for
sticking with that, so he can sign a higher value
deal if he were to stick with the Mavericks, just
stick with that organization. That would mean for that process
to go down, you opt out of the player option,
which is the same process that Joel did with the
summer with the six years. Essentially it becomes instead of
being on the books for two years, it becomes five years.
It's essentially that you sign, you know, you chop the

(26:45):
player option, add three more on top of it, and
that is the Supermax there. That's what Luke would be
looking down the barrel of. But for the time being
that he still has two years in a player option
under contract. I would be shocked if there is a
you know, too rapid of a process for that super
Max and LA unless they just want to roll out
the red car but right away, which I would get
that angle as well. I don't think Los Angeles could
be shy to pay him this money, and nor should they,
so uh yeah, that's kind of the story of it here.

(27:08):
But as things currently stand, he's stillunder contract for two
years in a player option. If he does sign an extension,
this likely turn into a five year contract with that
player option chopped.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
A lot of money, and I just don't see him
saying with the success that they have had, the moves
that they have made, excuse me that Luca would say
I'm out, like, don't re sign me, trade me. I
don't know, we'll find out. I just don't think that
that was in the cards. This is like if.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
You could give me your and we're gonna move to
the Lakers in just a second here, but give me
your Like you know, I got one eye open, I'm
looking at this. I got the magnifying glass like I'm
trying to figure it out. You're you're right now.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Your gut reaction on why this has taking place mine
is that this general manager is is had enough of Luca.
The conversations have been there. You know, he won't take
it serious and it's almost like a power play like
I'm the man.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'm the man here, I run this place. I just
traded you.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
That's the ego. I think this is an ego more
than anything. And that's that sucks to say from Dallas
Mavericks fans perspective.

Speaker 5 (28:21):
And to be completely fair to Nico Harrison here, like
you watch a Mavericks game, like you can see kind
of what he means. Like you see Luca don constantly
complaining to referees, not getting back on defense. There's like
there's and like the injury concerns him being banged up.
You can see like him kind of hobbling around the
court often. I get where he's coming from I just
think that there's too much talent there not to overlook
those kind of things, is how I sit on that.

(28:42):
So I think the reality is in his like deep
down in his heart why he's doing this is he
believes in like setting the culture and having guys having
like the right outlook, right habits is more important. I personally,
philosophically disagree with that. You just can't teach talent in
the way or the caliber that Luka Doncic is and
like he's not gonna be the model for what you
want a player to be on every single night basis.

(29:05):
I think it's enough to just overlook, keep grinding with
it and just I mean again, they.

Speaker 4 (29:09):
Went to the finals last year.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
Man, Like this team is not far off, So I
think there was something to having the Luca and Kyrie backcourt.
I think they were getting a lot of successful play
from their front court guys, the Gafford, the livelies that
all connected with this team.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
PJ. Washington difference maker.

Speaker 5 (29:25):
I did not feel that this Dallas team was that
far off, And even with them not being as high
in the standings as a lot of us hope, it's
very clearly due to injuries with both Kyrie and Luca
missing time there.

Speaker 4 (29:34):
So I don't know.

Speaker 5 (29:35):
I think they pulled the plug on this entire government
way too early. Again, one of the most shocking moves
I can ever remember in all professional sports. But yeah,
I think he probably just got too sick with all
the antics of Doncic when I feel they are well
worth putting up.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
With it twenty five years old, all those accolades, and
I just again seventy six or fair perspective, think about
Alan Iverson, yeah, and Luca James allms. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (30:02):
Another clear example like James Harden when you think about
his prime Houston days, like this dude was out in
the club to one am, taking private jets, and you
know what, when he's winning MVP and leading your team
to sixty wins in the season.

Speaker 4 (30:14):
You kind of just gotta live with that.

Speaker 5 (30:16):
That's kind of the other situation that we're looking at
here in Philadelphia is the Sixers certainly put up with
plenty with Joel Embiid, Like you are as important as
your talent is, and when you can do things that
other players cannot, you can get away with other with
things that other players cannot, Like for Joel specifically, that's
sort of the pushback we're seeing the season is it's
one thing to overlook you being late for meetings or
missing practice or things like that when you're scoring seventy

(30:38):
points and being an MVP of the league. It's another
thing when you're playing thirteen of a possible forty eight games,
which has been the case this season for Joel. So
like there there's always this give and take when there
are these elite talents, and that's not just basketball, that's
really life like like you look at you.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
And your workplace.

Speaker 5 (30:54):
People that get away with things because they're excellent their
job or have been around forever. That's just how things work.
It's not fair, it's how life works. Before Luca Doccia specifically, like,
I don't he is that caliber of talent that you
just deal with whatever this baggage is or whatever the
complaints are. Obviously Dallas does not view that the same way.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
First time in NBA history two reigning All NBA players
have been traded for each other mid season. That tells
you how big this deal is. Yeah, and I think.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
We're all we're all in agreement. There.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
The shock value, like the reactions we talked about at
the beginning, people that were actually live.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
I watched this locked onn podcast that the Nuggets.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
I think it's one of the the analytics guy, the
HP guy, and he's like.

Speaker 4 (31:36):
That's that's hacked.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
That's zero point zero percent chance that happen, and then like,
oh my god, like yeah, yeah it happened.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Man, it happened. Again. I didn't think it was real either,
But it's like, it's the league, it's the NBA.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
And this is when we talked about Jimmy Butler for
Paul George. Dude, if it could happen, it's the NBA,
it would happen there. But we're putting that discussion to
this side for now. All right, let's get over to
the Lakers side. I guess the question would be from
the inside out again. Polinka gets the phone call and

(32:12):
he's just like, is this real? Like Luka Doncics could
be available, Sure you want Anthony Davis. Oh, I don't
have to trade you Lebron, I don't have to give
you a boat, Like yeah, okay, it's not even a question, right,
Like it's not even a question to the point that
like normally you would probably send over your security sniff

(32:34):
around here. Questions are like you, you don't even waste
time with that, You say, YO, send over the deal, right.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
My guess with the conversation would be something along the
lines if Dallas calls say, hey, we're interested in Anthony Davis,
Planka says he's completely untouchable, get out of here. Dallas says,
we'll send you Luka doncic at Planka goes, Yep, he'll
be there by the morning. He's kind of my guess
how that trade went there. So I would guess like
they probably have a pretty high bar for Anthony Davis
and wanted to keep him. But Luka Doncic is one
of those guys where you get an opportunity yet you

(33:03):
jump at it.

Speaker 4 (33:04):
So that's kind of my pike there.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Lebron James didn't know Lebron knew as soon as Polinka
figured that this was real.

Speaker 5 (33:13):
I want to hear more about that because I am
buying that this was a pretty what came together incredibly quick.
So I'm those interviews, the Luca interview, the Lebron interview,
and the Anthony Davis interviewer. I'm honestly more interested to
hear their perspective.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
On it than I am either the GMS. I want
to hear what went through their brain.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
Could you trade Anthony Davis even for Luca without telling
Lebron James? Again, I think that this took place in
forty eight hours tops, forty eight hours tops. This was Yeah,
this was before the matters, before the next game at
Madison Square, Guard and Polink. Obviously, I had that conversation
probably the day before, the night before, whatever it may be.

Speaker 3 (33:54):
And did he ask Lebron? Did he say something Lebron
before the game? I just find it hard to believe
that you could even make that move without saying something Lebron.
But regardless, I'm not trying to get caught up in that.
Who cares, like it's the NBA anything as possible, I
think Lebron would say, yeah, it's Luca.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (34:15):
My guess would be they've had conversations like behind the
scenes throughout the years as far as like, like, I right,
how do you feel about Anthony Davis? Is he truly
like the guy? Is there any players that we would
look to potentially upgrade with? I would be kind of
surprised if in last night's specific situation there was directly
as was reported Lebron at dinner with family, if there
was the call saying like, hey, cool if we do this,

(34:36):
And to be honest, like, while Lebron is still very
clearly the face of the Lakers, I don't think decisions
are fully being made as far as what is best
for him in the same way has always been the case. Now,
granted they drafted his song, they brought in JJ Reddick,
there's plenty of other situations where like you can see
the evidence there, but I think we're starting to see
and I think the same thing's happening in Golden State,
where the organizations are having that look in the mirror

(34:56):
of like, this guy's not gonna be forever, Like we
have to think about us just as much we're thinking about,
you know, doing what's best for them, or we're doing
right by them. So this is absolutely the right move
from a Lakers perspective to add a twenty five year
old superstar, a guy that's gonna be a perennial MVP candidate.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
You can't say no to that.

Speaker 5 (35:12):
So even if that meant, like if Lebron was a
little upset by it, which I think is probably unlikely anyway,
and we haven't heard from him yet, Like you just
do it, You rip the band aid off and then
you deal with it later. You ask for forgiveness, not
permission in this case from the Lakers organization, and I
think it's a slam dunk for them.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 3 (35:30):
I saw people talking about anything and everything you know,
from Lebron and the Lake, and it's just like, guys,
this isn't even a second thought.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
It's like, yeah, send over to contract. I'll sign it
on immediately.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
If you haven't been paying attention, Lakers had a big
time win on the road at MSG. Lebron drops a
triple double without Anthony Davis last night. They're twenty eight
and nineteen, currently in the five spot. The Dallas Mavericks
are holding the eight seed twenty six and twenty three.
Disappointing start, but again, it's not even the All Star break,
not even the trade deadline. Plenty of basketball to be

(36:02):
played and to make up that ground. You know, how
far could they have went, don't know, but regardless, the
trade has been made. So here we are from the
Lakers' perspective. Sean, you say you get Luca back, we're again.
The rumors were out there that he was going to
join the team last night in Dallas. Say you get
Luca back by trade deadline? What are we talking about

(36:23):
with this Lakers team? They got to get the chemistry going,
They got to get the vibes going. Of course, take
a little bit of hit on the defensive side. Are
they a better team? Just JJ Reddick now just absolutely like,
look at this is this is an incredible opportunity to
go win it all. Like where are you at right
now with this Lakers dynamic with the addition of Luca

(36:46):
and again he's healthy, Let's just have the hypothetical discussion.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
He joins the team later this week.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
Yeah, I mean in the long run, I think they
absolutely got better. I do think it's gonna be a
tough second half of the season for making this work.
From here basketball fit perspective, it isn't the cleanest with Luka,
DONC and Lebron James that both these guys are more
comfortable with the ball in their hands. Both guys are incredible,
incredibly creative and excellent creating looks for others as well
as for themselves and attacking Neither one of them or

(37:12):
I guess particularly effective off ball movers. And I would
put Luca right at the bottom of that list when
kind of ranking things out there. So there's gonna be
some growing pains as far as making things worse work.
I was actually watching Front Office Sports shout out to
Keith Smith who was doing a breakdown of this last night,
and he said he texted with one of the NBA
gms when this happened, and the reply was like, there
are some concerns about the duo of Luka donc Lebron

(37:35):
James working, but if it's Luka Doncic, you figure it out.
And I do think that is like the correct mindset there.
So I think for this season, probably my optimism for
this Lakers team probably shrinks a little bit. Although I
think Luca is a brilliant basketball player and Lebron obviously
is so like maybe they can get it work at
a quicker rate that I'm expecting there will be some
growing pains with making this work. And again, I think
they have to finish out the roster that, as is

(37:56):
currently the case, is not good enough to compete or
is not well round enough to compete. That there are
some holes at the front quarter spot, and they got
to make a couple of shakeups to make it work.
But the bottom line is Luca Dodgers Lebron James sharing
the floor together.

Speaker 4 (38:08):
They're gonna do something pretty special and figure it out,
all right.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
Western Conference odds right now DraftKings Sportsbook thunder plus one
fifteen to win the West, Nuggets plus six fifty Lakers
plus nine to fifty Grizzlies ten to one. Shame on
May because I did not know the number. Do you
know the number off top of your head?

Speaker 2 (38:24):
Did? Do we have any shift of the odds off
to look that up? But I did.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
I didn't know the number coming in as we were
about to go live at nine o'clock. So I would
love to know what happened to the odds there from
the standpoint of any movement. Joe Tansey checking in though,
via the Gambler Chat, and I'm wondering whether or not.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
Today the MAVs are a auto fade in Cleveland. They're
catching thirteen. What do you say to that, Sean at
three forty today?

Speaker 4 (38:50):
Yeah, I do think. I'm I think the Calves are
the move there.

Speaker 5 (38:55):
As far as DraftKings Sportsbook odds, the Lakers are now
plus two thousand to win a chanceampionship. I'm seeing there
plus thirty five hundred before this, so kind of surprised
at that. Who yeah, assuming that is from Evan Sidery
on Twitter here. Wow, yeah, so there it looks like
they're behind the Thunder, Celtics, Knicks, Cavaliers, Nuggets and then Lakers,

(39:17):
so claim climb to six there.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
Hey you know what, pump the breaks people, pump breaks
in public? Yeah no, hell.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
No, hell no again, like we've been here and done this.
When you put these dream teams together, it takes time.
It takes time. And and Luca.

Speaker 3 (39:33):
Coming up with that injury out in La his head
spin and I do not as much whatever the number is.
When he goes back to Dallas, I'll take the over
that I do know.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
He might that I do know, and Lebron's going to
continue to just feed him. He will be unstoppable in
that game. But regardless, all.

Speaker 3 (39:52):
Right, it's crazy because last night when we were in
the chat, like we were singing praises for JJ Reddick,
JJ has been He's coached really well this year.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
I gotta give him credit. It seems like he's getting
this message across, trying to build culture again. It takes time,
and I feel like he's done very well with the
short time that we've had so far, and now this
changes things up. What's JJ Reddick saying this morning.

Speaker 5 (40:17):
I guess my job, save for a little bit, is
probably my outlook there. I still feel I think JJ
has cemented my belief that he's going to be a
good NBA head coach and he absolutely is ready for
this type of challenge. But as far as the situation
as a whole, I felt kind of the same as
I did coming into the season, that they tried to
do a band aid fix to a roster that needed
more help to this just by changing coaches and to

(40:37):
be the root of the struggles or the concerns with
this Lakers team was well below coaching. Like flashback the
last season, Darvinham was a problem with this Lakers team,
but he was not the problem. And I think Reddick
deserves a lot of credit for getting the Lakers where
they are. I mean, just looking at them right now.
They're in fifth place in the West with a twenty
eight nineteen record. That is pretty good compared to how
deep the West is, how many teams like think about

(40:58):
teams like the Clippers, Timberwolf, the Mavericks, the Suns, the Warriors,
all below them in the rankings there from a record
and standing standpoint, so I think from the long run,
Redick's gonna have his hands full trying to figure out
how to make all this work for this season. It's
going to be a bit of a grind trying to,
you know, jam it in and make things work in
an accelerated rate. I think that in the overall theme
of this, my concern for them not having enough top

(41:21):
end talent or being a championship caliber roster from that
standpoint has been addressed. That you now found a way
to move upward with that. But it's this is Luke
Dantich is not a guy that you can just plug
and play into a team. He changes everything. He is
the system, as the phrase would go there, So there
are gonna be some notable changes. Reddick's gonna have his
hands full moving forward. But he's done an excellent job
to this point.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
I didn't see this. Excuse me, but apparently Ramona shove
or and said two point thirty this morning. Kyrie Irving
was also stunned by the trade.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
I'm told he was doing a training session in Cleveland
when he saw the news come across from Shams.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
It's a pretty late training session.

Speaker 3 (41:56):
But who am I to judge When you're a professional athlete,
your hours are not the same. Uh, but still okay,
so that is intriguing there, And again I can't wait
to get all these reactions.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Speaking of reactions, it was pretty crazy to see the teams.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
On the on the floor of what was it, the
Trailblazers and the Suns, and they're passing around the phone
and of course Durant, Yeah, Durant's the one with his
phone of all people, and he had some comments and
he's like saying that, you know, it just shows you that,
you know, the players are held to a different standard.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Yeah, like teams are going to do teams. Without teams,
the league doesn't exist. I get it. Players are the
almighty be all here, no doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
But like the teams are the league. The league is
based off of the team. So yeah, they're going to
have the upper hand no matter what.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
Loyalty Like, okay, dude, it's it's not No one ever
said there was loyalty. I get it. Yeah, it's business, right.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
And then he also did have some things said that
in a paraphrasing here of course, that he said, well,
it just makes it poss just the biggest trade he's
ever been involved in since the league, or he's seen
since he's been in the league, and that he thinks
that it might push some teams out there to say,
you know what, screw it, let's go we don't have
what it takes to win it.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
Let's get rid of these pieces, let's make some moves.
So maybe we'll see a little bit more fire coming
up here on February six for the trade deadline. Do
you think we'll see some more trades, some crazy trades,
not like on this caliber, do you? But do you
think it's going to be an aggressive trade deadline here?

Speaker 4 (43:27):
I do? I do.

Speaker 5 (43:27):
I think we'll see some sort of Jimmy Butler shake
up that I can't imagine this drags on at the
spot that we're currently out with that I think it's
more likely than not that dearon Fox has moved, and
there's gonna be a lot of teams that need to
help facilitate that and obviously be the You know, it
takes two or usually three to tango these days for
a trade to actually go down, So I do think
there'll be some fairly seismic moves around the league. From

(43:48):
a Sixers perspective, I don't have his high hopes there
that I think it'll probably be a couple smaller moves.
But as a whole, this does feel like the first Domino.
We were waiting on Jimmy Butler to really start up
the trade pot. Well the Lakers in Madvericks did it
himselves and got the ball roll in there, So I
do you think they were in for an exciting week
across the association in.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
And out, Burger tweeting out welcome to California, Luca and
the Great Stephanie Smallest like man getting traded in the
NBA is the easiest thing. All you got to do
is get fat. And again he's six seven. Yeah, he's
six foot seven plus to seventy.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
I get it. Maybe that's not ideal.

Speaker 3 (44:25):
I don't know what ideal weight would be for him,
but like what a talent he is, and I just
I refuse to believe that that's the end all be all,
that we got to move Luke at the age of
twenty five because my man ballooned up to two seventy
since he's been off since Christmas.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
I just I'm not going to buy that.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
I think that There's been plenty of other things taking
place behind the scenes, butting of the heads frustration probably
some things said. And you just have a general manager
in Dallas that's saying I'm bigger than you and I'm
going to build it my way, and I just think
then it's not going to work out. From I guess

(45:06):
we didn't even get into that, Sean, Yeah, we did.
Actually we talked a little bit about the future for
the Dallas Mavericks this year, but from the odds perspective,
where they're at, any idea what their number did since
the trade there and for the conference. Currently, the Dallas
Mavericks are fifteen to one to win the West, to

(45:26):
win it all. The Dallas Mavericks are holding study at
thirty five to one, you know, like we went over
they're in the eight seed right now. But is there
you know, from the Mavericks perspective, are they somebody that
we should look at and possibly say that, you know what,
like this was a team that actually beat Yoklahoma City

(45:48):
Thunder a few times this year.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
This was supposed to be the team that was going
to give the Thunder the biggest run for their money
if they matched up in the playoffs, and now you
just took the biggest piece away from that team. So
we're still looking at the Dallas Mavericks in the same light.

Speaker 4 (46:04):
Yeah, clearly not.

Speaker 5 (46:06):
The odds would suggest not as the moving the exact
operation exact opposite direction here, going from plus eighteen hundred
before the trade to plus four thousand as far as
the championship odds go, that's a steep falloff, and one
that if you're a general manager, I get that you're
not making decisions based on betting odds, but that kind
of tells the story there of looking yourself in the mirror. Again,
I think it's really telling that the initial reaction from

(46:27):
just about everyone is that Shams must have gotten hacked here.
This can't be a real trade. I have a hard
time matching if you're Dallas Mavericks fan, like how you
can get up and be excited about this team moving forward,
because I do feel like this is one of those
trades that has the potential of derail franchise. Now, granted,
if they're competitive, if Kyrie and Anthony Davis can click
in the short term and you get a little spark,
maybe you can talk yourself into that when you look

(46:49):
towards the future. With Anthony Davis being thirty one, Kyrie
being thirty two, not a lot of draft capital moving forward.
I know the thunder have their twenty twenty six pick.
I believe they have a couple other picks traded out
past that point. There's just not that much room for hope.
I feel Luca is one of those guys that gives
you a chance every single year. The Maverick's gonna have
to find another one once once that this era of

(47:09):
you know, Kyrie and Anthony Davis ends, they're gonna have
to find another face to the franchise because they just
gave their as way.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
Lebron James man, he's he's had an incredible career, and
last night he said this simply.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
It's not the end. We knew that, and if somebody
deserves a swan song, it's him.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
The Final Tour, damn it. If Lebron James doesn't get
a Final Tour, then the Final Tours needs to stop
an all leagues point blank. So I didn't think he
was going to retire this year. Anyways, last night after
the game, I thought was a great question, great answer.
He opened up very cool again, got a triple double
at the age of forty.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
He's just insane.

Speaker 3 (47:49):
So you knew Lebron was coming back next year, but
this move, Lebron might play till he's forty four forty three,
Like this is still really still play.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
So yeah, it's up to him on that.

Speaker 5 (48:02):
And if the time happens really fast, sure, But I mean,
you watch him last night, man, he was He's looking
pretty terrific to me. Still fastball every night the way
he once did. But like, like he was the best
player on the floor last night in that Knickson Lakers game,
like very clearly much better than anyone on the Knicks
and really carrying that Lakers team, like triple double and

(48:24):
Madison Square guard had thirty three points.

Speaker 4 (48:26):
He was awesome last night.

Speaker 5 (48:27):
So it's like I get it, Like sure, obviously the
story has to end at some point, and you know,
father time catch up to anyone. I just really do
not see it with Lebron right now, Like he looks
like he can still play. I do wonder how much
this this carries out or how much this impacts the calculation.

Speaker 4 (48:42):
You also could make the.

Speaker 5 (48:43):
Case like now there's someone to very clearly pass the
baton two, So maybe he can rest easier about that
or wherever the case may be. But I mean, if
Lebron wants to keep playing, he absolutely will. And if
I know anything about Lebron James through the time that
he's been in the NBA, he will not retire without
there being that swan song or final dance, you know,
receiving his flowers from every organization. So I'd be pretty

(49:04):
shocked if this is his last year playing basketball for
those specific reasons.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
Mahomes is a Dallas Maverick fan, isn't he. I believe, so, Yeah,
he's there, he's from Yeah, he's from there. He tweeted out,
you know something along the lines of Kyrie and Ad
gonna be nice though, all right, Like it's it's not
about that, and the odds perspective is everything. Like you
just said, it's that that's really bad for for the

(49:29):
odds to sink like they did.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
And for this general manager to think that that's the
right move. Again, we will hold and uh wait till
all the details are released and then we can unleash
fury at the direction of Nico and the people who
signed off that for the Dallas Mavericks. But right here,
right now, uh this is a one sided deal, and
the Lakers ended up getting another superstar. And this might

(49:55):
be like Lebron was a little bit late and it
was late in his career. Shaq was the next. Yeah,
Shaq was prime. Shaq was prime, So there's no argue
in that. But this is just, you know, another chapter
in the Lakers book that is just incredible. And I
get it's la.

Speaker 3 (50:13):
They've built up such an unbelievable franchise out there, and
it's a great place to live, and I get all that,
but man, you look around the league and somebody's franchises.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
I've just never had a player on any of that caliber,
any of those caliber. And here we are with the
Lakers getting Lebron and Luca together. We'll see how that
one plays out, all right.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
We'll both right now.

Speaker 5 (50:34):
I would say if we were to flash forward or
fast forward to the end of Luca Doncer's career, I
think there's a real chance we're having discussions of this
guy as like a top ten player of all time,
or when you look at what his accolades are going
to be, think about how accomplished he is at twenty
five years old that you mentioned for all the same
reasons that he's a five time All Star, has won
the scoring title, already been a Western Conference MVP, five

(50:56):
time All NBA player, and now he gets to put
on the purple and gold stripes that help with all
of your you know, media, you know, the way you're
talked about, I guess is the perception of that there
he is that caliber of talent. He's gonna have every
platform to show this now. I think, like I'm not
gonna say he was underrated because everyone knows who Luka
Doanchi is at this point, but now being played for
like one of those franchises where you're gonna be viewed

(51:17):
as a prime time option on every night basis on TV,
I think Luka Dodge is gonna be thrown in some
pretty lofty conversations in the not too far future, and
his best days of basketball could very well still be
ahead of a bunch of the scary car.

Speaker 3 (51:28):
Yeah, like Sean, this is probably the best thing for him.

Speaker 4 (51:32):
Yeah goody mean.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
We don't know what took place behind the scenes, right,
but like if you are moving him, something was happening
there and because you just don't trade that guy, and
now you're going to send him to La, and it
could go either way because La nightlife, You're you're gonna
be able to find whatever you want.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
You are the eyes, You're a focal point. The Dodgers
are really good. Other than that, it's the Lakers.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
But man, if you're Luca, they just shipped your ass out,
And yeah, that's got a register.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
It has to register in some way.

Speaker 3 (52:03):
If it doesn't, the shame on him because he has
such an unbelievable talent.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
But he's twenty five. Like, dude, your body isn't gonna break.

Speaker 3 (52:12):
That, Like what is he doing, Like what's he doing
behind the scenes for you to be like, you know what,
his body's.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Gonna break down in the next three years.

Speaker 4 (52:20):
No, it's not.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
This dude's gonna be able to play for the next
ten plus seasons. Yeah, just insane that the Mavericks traded him.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
Insane.

Speaker 5 (52:30):
I can't believe it, And I guess, like the only
other thing I'll throw in is like I'm trying to
be fair to the Mavericks, even like I just outwardly
disagree with just about the entire like thought process that
led to this. Like Luka is a guy who's been
playing professional basketball since I believe he was fourteen at
least sixteen that he won an MVP in the overseason
playing for one of the better leagues in the world.
So like, the wear and tear is slightly different, and

(52:51):
I would say, you know, your average twenty five year old.
With that being said, like, I still think that's an
insane reason to give up on him based on the
level that he is performing when he is on the floor.

Speaker 4 (53:00):
So I don't know.

Speaker 5 (53:01):
I do think we're gonna hear some horror stories leak out,
a little bit of a saving face type storylines that
are breaking out of here. But one of the craziest
trades in all of sports history, and I think that
Dallas is going to be reaping the results of this
for a long time to come.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
Fun hour here, Sean great Stuff. Can't thank you enough.
Let's go. We got a busy, busy week with everything
at the super Bowl and of course the trade deadline,
so we're gonna be after it this week on the Gambler.
Looking forward to covering all of that with you. Once again,
you can find Sean Bnard, Shawn Underscore. Bernard One does
a great job with the folks over at a DraftKings.

(53:37):
To be sure, to check out all of his content
at dknetwork dot com is I will as well, And
just a programming note if you're watching right now, I'll
be joining Tim Murray on Vsin coming up at eleven fifteen.
He just tweeted out the rolodex for his show coming
up here. He's got great Jonathan von Tobo off the
jump here at ten to fifteen. JVT knows a lot
about hoops, so look forward to catching that. I'll be

(53:59):
joining him at eleven at fifteen. And then the have
the little headline it says, will Saquon run over the
Chiefs defense?

Speaker 4 (54:06):
I like it?

Speaker 2 (54:07):
What do you? What do you say to that? Seun?

Speaker 4 (54:09):
I think absolutely.

Speaker 5 (54:10):
I was saying this with Mark Henry Junior yesterday, this streak,
this stat running around about the Chiefs not allowing one
hundred yard rusher since twenty eighteen in the playoffs. That
goes down that this super Bowl, that Saquon is absolutely
going to snap that. I think you can basically pencil
him in for one hundred and a weekly basis at
this point, that is a low bar. His prop is
I want to say fifteen yards higher than that. I
think one fifteen and a half was the last team

(54:31):
I checked that, So I think that that streak goes
to die and that the Saquon is the different a
large part of the difference maker for this Eagles team
compared to the last go round against this Chiefs team. Yes,
they're good against stopping the run, but I don't think
the Eagle is gonna be shy about putting the putting
the ball in his hands there. So I do think
Saquon does break that record and his key part of
the Seaguals victory.

Speaker 3 (54:49):
Yeah right there with you. More and more as len
as closer. The bravado is starting to come out of me.
And it might be wrong at the end, but I
do love the fact that this team they're they're going
to win the Super Bowl. Those are winning on February night.
Love it all right, Sean can't wait?

Speaker 2 (55:04):
Man? Uh Frank checking in.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
I would trade him be plus for Luca, Yeah, Frank
so and I.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
But the crazy part about it is like I think
every team kind of feels that way, Like if they
were to actually hit the open market and say we're
thinking about trading Luka Doncic, that at minimum you would
get an offer far better of what you just accepted.
I get the Nay Davis is a difference maker, but
we're talking about like Mikal Bridges got five first round
picks this summer, and you're telling me for Luka Doncic,

(55:30):
this is what you walked away with. So I do
think like I understand trying to keep it under raps,
keep this process smooth. But if they had actually gone
to the full scale, like send us your best offer,
they could have fetched far more than what the offer
that was accepted there. So Dulla's gonna have to look
themselves in the mirror on that one.

Speaker 3 (55:47):
Rudy Gobert, Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverly, Leonard, Leandro Balmarro, Walker Kessler,
who's the twenty two pick in the draft, Jared Vander
twenty twenty three first round pick, twenty twenty five, first
round pick, twenty twenty six pick swap, twenty twenty seven
first round pick, twenty twenty nine first round pick.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
It starts and ends there. That's it's where we start it.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
So, Frank Case, I think we're all in the same
page with you, and we just did a full hour.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
I invite you to go back.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
Great stuff from Shan Benard's perspective and my passion was there,
so it's a well worth your time to go back
and watch Sean great stuff. I'll catch up with you
a little bit later. Always a pleasure, sir, Absolutely all right.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
Once again, if you miss anything at Foxpeachew.

Speaker 3 (56:35):
Gambler dot com spreads total and all the prop that's
in the tweens.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
It's the Gambler.