January 14, 2024 • 43 mins
Marc Stein reviews a week full of significant NBA headlines, takes stock of all the latest trade chatter in advance of the Feb. 8 trade deadline (much of it featuring Toronto's Pascal Siakam) and sits down for a chat with Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Panini Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes Well Dallas Nevericks
Games hosted by legendary NBA reporter andpublisher of his substack, the Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. Welcome in everyoneto what I gotta say right off the
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bat is a potentially distracted edition ofthe Saturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. The cards we havebeen dealt my beloved Manchester City playing live
(00:52):
as we speak. I'm in theplush ninety seven to one the Freak Studios.
I've got the game on and we'llsee how this goes. Thankfully,
Bernardo Silva just call my nerves withan absolutely ridiculous, cheeky, right footed
no look finish. If you're asoccer fan, find the clip, watch
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it. It is a special goal, even if you do not like my
team, which I realize some ofyou listening do not. But all right,
we were going to get right tothe basketball now. I will try
not to lose my train of thoughtany further because the midpoint of the twenty
twenty three NBA Regular season essentially uponus. The trade deadline February eighth just
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a few weeks away now, andthe stream of headlines in hashtag this League
this week just one thing after anothermassive contract extension for Heat coach Eric Spolstra
eight years and one hundred and twentymillion, slamming home the point of how
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highly the Heat think of Spolsterra.We'll never forget it was his first season
when Lebron James in Dallas bumped Spoeon the way to the bench at a
time out, the Heat fell tonine to eight, had a long team
meeting here in Dallas at the AAC, and all these years later, Eric
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Spolsterra has the longest and among themost lucrative contracts for coaches anywhere in North
American sport. He's the inevitable successorto Pat Riley as team president in Miami
as well as being their coach.NBA coaching salaries they just keep rising.
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Manti Williams in Detroit, Greg Popovichand San Antonio naturally makes you wonder,
after this Spolster deal, what isin the future for Steve Kerr in Golden
State, Tylu with the Clippers.Speaking of the Clippers, a three year
extension seemingly out of nowhere for KawhiLeonard, announced in absolutely fitting Kawhi Leonard
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fashion, just an email drops fromthe Clippers in the middle of the week
without warning. Three year deal morethan one hundred and fifty million. It
only adds two years of what youwould call new money for Kawhi Leonard because
he did have a player option fornext season that's replaced by this new three
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year deal. But what it obviouslytells you there's going to be an extension
forthcoming for James Harden and likely forPaul George sooner rather than later. And
the Paul George deal, I don'tthink anybody really thought that Kawhi Leonard was
going to be in play as afree agent this coming summer. And again
James Harden has a limited market.He's going to resign with the Clippers because
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I mean, that's his team atthis point, and the way Harden has
played since the trade, I thinkit won't surprise anyone when the Clippers do
a new deal with Harden in thesummer. They can't do an extension with
him in season, they have towait until the off season. But Paul
George, I think was going tobe a free agent who would have been
pursued by Philadelphia if the Sixers areable to maintain their salary cap space into
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the off season. Indiana. Therehave been rumblings about are we going to
maybe see a storybook return to Indianafor Paul George? But no, I
think the fact that Kawhi has donethis deal tells you that a deal is
probably forthcoming for Paul George sooner ratherthan later. And Newcastle at home just
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equalized. So now I am definitelydistracted and upset, but I'm going to
try to carry on here and notdwell on it too much. Sorry,
had to had to regain my composureafter that goal. Other headlines of note
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Utah suddenly twenty and twenty after aseven and sixteen start, which means we've
got twelve teams in the Western Conference, twelve vying for playoff spots. Everyone
around the league thought the Jazz wouldfor sure be a selling team at this
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trade deadline. How is this surgethirteen and four serge from Utah? How
is that going to affect their tradedeadline business? It remains to be seen.
Will Utah indeed be the seller thatthey were anticipated? To be,
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and you know there's still a decentchance of it because with Trader Danny Ainge,
I think with the Jazz you alwaysexpect more action than less. But
we got to keep our eye onthat as well. I wrote a piece
on my substack earlier this week aboutthe historically bad basketball we've been seeing at
the bottom of the standings, withfour teams four losing by an average of
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ten plus points per game before thisseason. In league history research courtesy of
my friend Justin Kubatko, there wereonly nineteen teams in league history that went
through a whole season losing by anaverage of ten plus points, and never
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more than one per season in thehistory of the league. This season we
were on course for a quartet andthen Victor Wenmanyama and the Spurs just beat
two other teams in that club nobodywants to be a part of. They
just beat Detroit and Charlotte by acombined fifty eight points, and I can't
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believe. I just keep talking andNewcastle just keeps scoring. Newcastle has scored
a second at home at Saint James'sPark, Newcastle two City one. I'm
in shambles. Those two wins bythe Spurs. They took San Antonio's average
point differential for the season from aminus eleven point four, worse than even
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Detroit's, down to a minus ninepoint two. That leaves the Pistons,
Hornets, and Washington Wizards with averagenightly point differentials of minus ten or worse.
Except now Portland is threatening to replacethe Spurs and make it a foursome
again with the help of a ghastlydid you guys see this score? On
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Thursday night, Portland lost to OklahomaCity by sixty two points. Man Portland
came to Dallas to start a sevengame road trip. They lost back to
back games twenty nine and thirty sixto the MAVs. You thought that would
be the worst of it. Theymanaged to win in Brooklyn, but then
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the Blazers and the trip twenty threepoint hammering in Minnesota after the sixty two
point schalacking in ok see amazing lastnight. When I started planning for this
show and started thinking about all thestuff that's happened since we were last together,
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I mean, you had Memphis.This was another completely unforeseen bulletin.
On Monday night, just without warning, the Grizzlies put out a press release
almost ten pm Eastern that Jahn Morantneeded Jahn Morant needs season ending shoulder surgery.
John Morant's season in the end,it spans only nine games, and
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you'll recall how the Mavericks thought itwould be such a break that three of
their first twenty three of three oftheir four meetings with Memphis were scheduled to
fall as part they were scheduled tofall during John Morant's twenty five game suspension
to start the season. Well becauseof the shoulder surgery, the MAVs ended
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up playing Memphis all four times.No John Morant and Dallas could only imagine.
Dallas could only manage a two andtwo record in those four games.
Also this week, we had CarmeloAnthony attacking the Denver Nuggets for letting Nikolay
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Jokic wear number fifteen, suggesting thatthere were all kinds of sinister motives at
play here. And look, Iam normally a mellow guy. I've said
this many times in the past.He's always been my favorite star from the
top of the two thousand and threedraft class. Always had great chats and
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interactions with him. But listen,mellow. First of all, Carmelo Anthony
forced a trade out of Denver.It was a very very messy divorce,
and so you can't expect after aseparation like that that the team is just
going to protect and or retire yourjersey. Now, maybe it does happen
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down the road. We saw Orlandojust announce that they're going to retire Shack's
jersey, and Shaq was only inOrlando for four seasons after an even messier
divorce. But also remember, Jokiis a big man from Europe. Number
fifteen that is a frequently assigned numberto European big men. It stems from
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the old uniform system in international basketball, where players could only choose something from
four through fifteen, and always thebig men were taking fourteen and fifteen.
MAVs fans will recall that when DirkNavitski came to Dallas, he wanted number
fourteen. Fourteen was always his uniformnumber in Germany for the national team,
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his club teams, but the veteranguard Robert Pak had fourteen. That's how
forty one was worn. Dirk hadto invert those numbers and create a new
number for himself. Nikolay Jokic hadevery right to wear number fifteen when he
got to the Nuggets, And didthe Nuggets really know what they had with
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Jokic when they drafted him. Hewas drafted forty one overall in twenty fourteen.
I don't think the Nuggets had somegrandiose plan that they were going to
hand Yokic number fifteen and watch himbecome a Hall of Famer. Who now
you after the Nuggets will have toretire number fifteen for Jokic before they do
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for Carmelo Anthony. Speaking of lastnight as I was getting ready for today's
proceedings, another story to leave youspeechless. Bulls fans, not all of
them, but a very loud contingentof Bulls fans booing the mention of Jerry
Krause last night at a ceremony tohonor the championship teams of the Michael Jordan
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Eira. Krause's widow, Thelma onthe floor, and she had to bear
the brunt of that. It wasreally hard to watch. Not even sure
I have the words for how offsidethat was. So listen, if you
want to react to any of thosethings with an opinion of your own,
If you want to ask me aquestion about the on rushing NBA trade deadline,
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and I suspect that you do.Because Atlanta's Dejonte Murray now ranking is
the most decorated former All Star likelyto be moved in the next few weeks.
I think Murray it's safe to sayhe's moved ahead of both Toronto's Pascal
Siakam and Chicago's Zach Levine on themost likely former All Star to be traded
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list. You are invited as alwaysif you want to register questions about the
trade deadline, anything else NBA wise, or just make a comment, hit
us up via the Steinlin text linetwo one four seven, eight seven one
nine seven or eight one seven seven, eight seven one nine seven to one.
(13:39):
But this is also just as important. You can leave us an audio
message, which I really encourage youto do. It's a feature that I
want to make much greater use ofin twenty twenty four. If you listen
to us or just make use ofthe iHeartRadio app. There's a microphone icon
on the page bottom right corner.If you're using the iHeart app, you
(14:05):
need the iHeart app to do it, but it's easy to do. Sources
say leave us a message sound offon whatever is on your mind. Ask
me about Siakam. I'll explain againas I've been reporting and saying that the
Mavericks are not mounting an all outtrade charge for Siakam. We'll get into
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that more as this show continues,because I want to bring in more of
your voices onto the show as wemove forward in twenty twenty four, our
second six month run now underway.I want to make this more of a
community thing like I do on mysub stack, and there will be numerous
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other voices to be heard on thisedition of the Saturday Steinline. We've got
a visit in the next segment withMavericks card Tim Hardaway Junior as he continues
his bid for a sixth Man ofthe Year trophy. Kyrie Irving was obviously
next level Thursday Night against the Knicksforty four points and ten assist. It
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was just the second forty and tengame of Kyrie's career, his first as
a Maverick. If you're keeping scoreat home, Luka Dancic has seventeen forty
and ten games regular season playoffs.Shout out Bally Sports Southwest Statistician Extraordinary Brian
Sperry for that Jim All that said, you cannot forget the difference making thirty
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two points Tim Hardaway scored against hisold team from MSG. That game became
super close thanks to a furious Knicksrally. Dallas does not win it without
Tim Hardaway Juniors offense. And wehad our sit down with THHJ before that
game, and I think you'll enjoyhearing what he has to say. We
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covered a lot of and that chatwith Tim Hardaway Junior you'll hear it next
here on ninety seven won the Freak. This is the Saturday Steinline with Mark
Stein, presented by Panini Trading Cardsand Collectibles on your official homes to all
Dallas Mavericks games. The Freak TheSaturday Steinline dribbles on, presented as always
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by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles.Nearing halftime at Saint James's Park, Newcastle
two, Manchester City one. That'sall I'm going to say about that.
No Luka doncic tonight for the Mavericksin the first of their two games against
New Orleans. This seven game homestandfor the MAVs started with a baseball series
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against Portland. As mentioned, theMavericks absolutely rolled the young and injury hit
Blazers wins by twenty nine and thirtysix. I would not expect the same
in this Saturday Monday baseball series againstthe Pelicans. Although man New Orleans with
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some brutal travel, New Orleans playedFriday night last night in Denver, didn't
get to their hotel tonight in Dallasthis morning. Rather, they didn't get
the They didn't get to the hoteluntil about four thirty, and tip off
tonight at seven thirty. And Monday'sgame is an early start on Doctor Martin
Luther King Day, as the NBAhonors Doctor King with games all over the
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league early start times that at MAVsPelicans game tips off at one thirty Monday.
New Orleans has been really good sincethe forty four point pounding that the
Pelicans absorbed from the Lakers on Decemberseventh in the semifinals of the n Season
Tournament, I mean a month andchange later before the Denver loss last night,
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Pelicans just went to Sacramento and GoldenState and won those two road games
by a combined sixty nine points.Thirty three point win in Sacramento thirty six
point win in San Francisco. Theywere up by more than forty against the
Warriors. Without Kyle, without LukaDoncic, of course, the Mavericks will
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be relying heavily again on Kyrie Irvingand Tim Hardaway Junior to shoulder the offensive
load. Kyrie man majestic Thursday nightagainst the Knicks forty four points tennisists,
surely his best game as a Maverick, and Kyrie this month missed. Remember
in December he missed thirteen games dueto injury. This month in the new
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year, he's averaging nearly thirty points, eight rebounds, six assists per game.
Kyrie Irving shooting nearly forty three percentfrom the three point line for the
season. I mean the issue notjust with Kyrie. It's been health,
Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, DerekLively the second. They've only played in
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sixteen games together, Dallas eleven andfive in those games, and tonight is
game number forty for the Mavericks.Let's bring this back to Hardaway, though,
thirty two points in Thursday Night's winover the Knicks, the team that
drafted him. Dallas is three andone this season. When Hardaway cracks the
thirty point mark, he's taking morethrees than ever, nearly nine a game.
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He's essentially a thirty six percent shooterfrom deep. His volume went up
in December and his conversion rate dipped. He didn't shoot the ball great in
December, but he's been a veryproductive player for the Mavericks this season,
clearly one of the top six menin the league. Tim Hardaway Junior,
he joined me for a visit Thursdaynight. We spoke before the Knicks game,
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talked about his move to a sixman role. We talked about the
looming trade deadline. I joked withhim after that, hey man, we
may maybe we need to schedule moreof these pregame visits with ninety seven to
one the freak, given how wellthe game went. After we spoke,
all right, let's throw it nowto the conversation my visit with Tim Hardaway
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Junior. It begins with an evaluationof this twenty three and sixteen team for
both shooter and the team closing inon halfway through the season, how would
you evaluate both the team and yourself? I'm thinking for myself, thank you
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know, just for health. Happyto be able to come into a season
where I am healthy, I amone hundred percent, and especially with the
previous years just being in and outlineup and having surgeries here and there.
So I'm just very grateful for that, and I think also just me that
six man role coming into games,trying to be that spark plug for my
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team and do what I can getthe fans and my team energy. That's
that's what I love to do.So I'm happy to be a part of
that role and embrace that role.And I think for the team, I
mean, I think a lot ofpeople would would have probably count us out
with a lot of injuries that we'vehad midway through this season, but you
know, I think we held ourown, especially with kaybe and out a
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couple a lot of majority of thegames in December and Luke out here and
there. But you know, Ithink we were still competing on both ends
of the floor and we just gotto keep on rolling with the punches.
Yeah. It was actually a weekbefore the season that Jay Kid came on
my show, and that's I thinkthe first time he said that it was
his hope that you would embrace thesix man role and make a run at
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six Man of the Year, andyou're obviously doing that. You're in the
mix for that award. How doyou approach being the six man? Yeah,
I think well, first you gotta, like I said, embrace that
role first and foremost. And second, you know, you just got to
see how the game is flowing.There's times while I'm out there with the
guys that are role players and theguys that don't start, and I know
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that's my time, you know,to be a little bit more aggressive,
especially you know, when we're upor down. Just just my job,
you know, to be able togive that spark plug to come in the
game. And that's what I tryto do best and try to focus in
on in the game with Kai andLuca and some of the starters. You
know, I back off a littlebit, pick and choose my spots wisely
be able to knock down that wideopen shot and try to get easy baskets.
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I mean, there's a lot ofguys walked down in Bogdanovich in Atlantam,
a League Monk in Sacramento, AustinReeves with the Lakers, Bobby Porters
in Milwaukee. We can go onand on and on. So there's a
lot of good six men. Howmuch attention are you paying to what some
of those other guys are doing andthen compare it to yourself obvious sitting here
in line to you to say Iwasn't paying attention to them. You know,
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I watched them every single day andtime we have an opportunity to watch
games on our off days or whatever. And you know they do their thing.
You know they're doing their thing fortheir team, helping their team win,
and I just try to pick andchoose little things from their game as
well to see what I can doto help my team out. So most
importantly, just like I said,embrace the role and being that spark plug.
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Tim Hardaway, junior from the Mavericksjoining us here on ninety seven,
won the Freak. We're actually tapingthis before the Mavericks next game. You've
been a Nick twice, but you'veactually been here almost twice as long now.
How does that sound to you?And to think about how long you've
actually been a Mav at this point, it is an honor and a privilege,
you know, to be here.I remember being here and living here
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when I was in fourth grade whenmy dad played it in two thousand with
the coach being Don Nelson. Soembracing that, you know, family dynamic
and being able to follow my father'sfootsteps. Playing with one of the franchises
that he played with while he wasin the league is definitely a dream come
true. And you know, that'sone thing I really cherish. I was
happy. I was very happy,excited for the opportunity. Hard pilled a
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swallow. You know, I reallywanted to go back to New York and
help that franchise and get to theplayoffs and make a name for myself out
there, especially coming up in afamily where my dad was the rival.
You're one of the vets on thisteam. You've been around the block.
You know what time of year itis. I think even you yourself said
in training camp you weren't sure thatyou would still be here. How do
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you cope with trade deadline season andthe noise that's out there? I mean,
being a part of that back intwenty nineteen, I mean it was
weird, especially in the midway throughthe season. So at the end of
the day, you're going control whatyou can control out there, and that's
me doing what I love, playingthe game of basketball. I mean,
you worked your tail off to getto this point, so that right there
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should just be just like a mindfree type zone to just go out there
and hoop and do your thing,and whatever happens happens for me personally.
You know, I love you here. I want to play here for as
long as I can help this team, and I love it here. Our
last few moments here with Tim HardawayJunior on ninety seven won the Freak on
the Saturday Steinline presented by Trading Cardsand Collectibles. I think you're taking more
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threes a game than you ever have, almost nine a game. How much
do you dig into your stats duringthe season, percentages, attempts, all
those things I tried to hear intheir you know, analytics obviously plays a
big role in the game today.So probably tapping in with them here and
there, not all the time,because at the end, they used to
have to be a hooper. Youstill got to be a ballplayer. That's
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what got you here, and that'swhat I believe. And so I mean,
I'll tap into the percentages here andthere, pick and choose my spots
wisely for the most part, notreally not really looking into that as much.
You know, I just want tobe mind freeze, go out there,
play basketball, and I'll worry aboutit. Probably midway through the season
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and see how things are going.We haven't seen it. Much. Like
you said, when this team isfully healthy, when you guys have your
best squad available to play, whatis a realistic ceiling for this team?
Oh? Finals, That's what Ifeel. Finals. I don't see this
team being no different than the teamthat we had when we went to the
West Conference finals a couple of yearsago. I mean, we lost some
pieces, but we do have alot of those guys that do have that
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that's nasty, that hunger, thatfight to go out there and do the
things that that team did a coupleof years ago. So to me,
it's the finals and it's on usto get there. Wishing you great luck
for the rest of the season.Thanks mil for joining us, Thank you,
thanks starving me. Tim Hardaway knowsthe score. He turns to thirty
two in March. It's his eleventhseason in the league. He's been traded
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before, once on Draft night,going from the Knicks to the Hawks,
once at midseason, when, ofcourse he went from the Knicks to the
Mavericks as part of the Chris stopsPorzingis deal, And I think deep down
he surely understands the reality If theMavericks do make a trade before the February
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eighth deadline, Hardaway would almost certainlyhave to be a part of it.
He's well aware where he was partof trade discussions both last season before the
deadline again at the June draft.His contract features a descending salary. It's
very important to remember that the originalfour year, seventy five million dollar deal
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he signed, it started at twentyone plus million. Now in year three,
it's a shade under eighteen million.Next season, in year four,
it drops to sixteen million. Sowe're in this zone now. Team building
has become very, very complicated beyonda team's two MAX players, and there's
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been an increasing amount of chatter latelyaround the league that it's players in that
fifteen to twenty million range, andyou know, Dejonte Murray's not that far
off it with the contract extension hesigned in Atlanta. The players who are
really players who are really productive inthat salary range, they're the players you
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need to succeed win. There arethe players who are increasingly considered the most
attractive on the trade market. Andwhen you when you start trying to list
shooters making sixteen to eighteen million.I mean, my suspicion is external interest
in Tim Hardaway Junior. Given whathe's providing, it's going to go in
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the opposite direction of that descending salary, whether we're talking this trade deadline or
the draft again in June. Butwhen you listen to him speak there,
I think you pick up on itvery quickly and clearly. He's really hoping
to stay with the Mavericks. Heis very happy here, he loves it
here. The difficult reality again forDallas with only one future first round pick
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available for trades, I mean,their ability to get anything done trade wise,
it's just hard to see them doingit without interest and their corresponding willingness
to trade a Jaden Hardy, aJosh Green or Tim Hardaway Junior. Difficult
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situation to manage. All Right,We've covered lots of ground here and as
promised, more fresh voices coming intothe next segment. We're gonna hear a
little bit from the Hall of FamerMike bringing in alongside our own Chuck Cooperstein
radio Voice of the MAVs, andwe're gonna hear as well from the listening
(29:27):
public via that iHeart app feature.We've been discussing all that is next here
on ninety seven won the Freak.This is dartn Lwitzky and you're listening to
the Saturday Steinline with my guys.Steiny on ninety seven won the Freak.
Thanks for sticking with us here onthe Saturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards
(29:52):
and Collectibles. Gonna jump around abit in our remaining time left here in
the Saturday Lunch hour. Try somenew things I mentioned last week and also
earlier today. I really want tomake more use of the very handy feature
available to all of us on theiHeartRadio app. If you listen to the
(30:14):
show via the iHeart App, oryou just want to click to the iHeart
Radio app, click on the microphoneicon. Sources say it is found at
the bottom right of the screen.If you click the microphone, that enables
you to leave a thirty second messageor ask a question, which I know
(30:41):
lots of you would like to do. As the NBA trade deadline approaches on
February eighth, with Matty g Nowsteering the ship, first person in show
history who actually has the ability toretrieve these messages, screen them, help
me get them on the ape anyonelisting has surely deduced By now, I
(31:03):
have zero clue on how to doany of that, So we're gonna test
it out our first burst of listeneraudio in the brief but proud history of
this show, and we're gonna goall the way to the shores of Lake
Erie for this history making submission.Maddie, please roll the tape, Yo
(31:30):
Stani, this is Jude from Cleveland, Ohio, and my question for you
is what's gonna happen with Donothan Mitchellat the end of the season. Could
you see the Cat trading him atthe deadline or in the off season or
will they write him out until hiscontract expires after the twenty twenty five season.
Thank you very much. What Iliked so much there, Jude stated
(31:52):
clearly where he's from. I alwayslove hearing that, especially when it's people
from further afield then our local area. Love to see that this show has
that kind of reach. If youwould like to share your full name with
us, please do, but atleast give me your first name, leave
a last name initial, tell usthe city where you're checking in from.
(32:16):
All that helps, okay, DonovanMitchell. The Cavaliers continue to send out
very strong signals to anyone interested.Don't even bother calling us we are not
trading Donovan Mitchell in season. Andwhat backs that up that the Calves are
not joking about that stance. Youcontinue to hear that the Cavaliers actually would
(32:40):
like to make an addition. They'dlike to bring in a three and D
wing if they can to fortify theteam they have that's done very well dealing
with the long term injuries to bothDarius Garland and Evan Mobley. You actually
hear the name Dorian Finney Smith,well known to all our listeners. Brooklyn
(33:02):
is listening to trade offers on DorianFinney Smith and Cleveland is a team that
has come up. Whether they canmeet the nets price, we'll see.
But obviously Cleveland and Brooklyn are teamsthat have done different that have done business
together in the past, so wewill have to keep our eye on that
one. And since that is atrade question. I mentioned this briefly at
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the end of the first segment.We'll expound on it a bit here now.
The Mavericks. I reported on Januaryfirst that the Mavericks would love to
upgrade in the front court, andthat makes a lot of sense. You
have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving asyour backcourt. You have Derek Lively as
not only the center of the future, but the center of the present.
(33:50):
A fore man, is really whatthe Mavericks, you know, that's the
clear place to point to for anupgrade ad But Toronto's Pascal Siakam Portland's Jeremy
Grant. First of all, it'snot even clear whether Portland is willing to
trade Jeremy Grant at this trade deadline. But look the issue in both of
(34:12):
these cases, the Mavericks are not, based on everything I've been told,
not making all out pushes for eitherguy, because in both cases these are
very pricey contractual situations. Jeremy Grant'sin the first year of a five year,
one hundred and sixty million dollar deal. Siakam is headed to free agency
in the summer, no matter whereToronto might trade him, and he's going
(34:37):
to be seeking max dollars. Andremember, as we move into this new
second Apron world in the NBA,which really takes hold this offseason, it
puts all sorts of team building restrictionson teams that have three highly paid players
and the Mavericks really have to keepthat in mind with whatever they do when
(34:57):
they're thinking about adding a third starto Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. If
that player is too expensive, itlimits your ability to trade, limits your
draft optionality, that prevents you fromsigning players in the buyout market. And
those are all factors that the Mavericksare gonna have to consider, beyond the
fact that it's not even clear ifthey have a trade package that would interest
(35:23):
Toronto or Portland, Okay. Onanother subject, the Hall of Famer Mike
Breen. You know him as ESPNABC's main play by play voice on the
NBA, but Mike Breen is firstand foremost the Knicks play by play voice,
alongside the one and only Walt ClydeFraser. The Knicks were here in
(35:46):
town Thursday night. Injury intervened yetagain, this time on the Maverick side,
preventing a Luka Doncic Jalen Brunson reunionwith the two All Star point guards
on opposite side. And yes,I am taking the liberty and the premature
leap to declare Jalen Brunson an AllStar before he is actually named one.
(36:08):
You can book it, write itin very permanent ink. Jalen Brunson will
be selected to the All Star Gamefor the first time when Eastern Conference coaches
make their reserve votes in a matterof weeks. Our own Chuck Cooperstein radio
voice of the Mavericks right here onninety seven to one The Freak. Chuck
(36:31):
had a chat with Mike Breen beforetip off of that NIX Mavericks game on
Thursday night, and Chuck had achance to ask him about the two Knick
stars with local ties. Julius Randall, former local high school star at Prestonwood
Christian Academy. Jalen Brunson. Weconsider him a local after he spent his
(36:54):
first four NBA seasons as a Maverickand he remains a fan favorite. You
heard the ovation he got Thursday night. Let's hear it. Now. Let's
go to Mike Breen talking to Chuckabout both Randall and Brunson and how well
these guys are playing this season inGotham. Julius Randalls, a Dallas kid,
(37:17):
always plays great here. Jalen Brunsonis going to play his first game
here since he left the Mavericks.Didn't play last year in the Lucas sixty
twenty one to ten game, makingbeautiful music together too. It seems forget
about the numbers, because the numbersare impressive just by the eye test watching
the team perform. They're both playingthe best basketball of their careers. And
(37:37):
you know, if Jaylen Brunson isit's so much fun to watch because he's
special in that he does all thesethings individually for his numbers. But it's
all about the team, and it'sall about what can I do to help
my team win that night? Andyou saw that first half with Julius Randall.
He's always had good numbers, He'snever been this sufficient, he's never
(38:00):
been this connected to his team.And here's a guy that's made All NBA
twice two of the last three years. And it's contagious. And you've watched
that so many times here in Dallas. When it's it's playing for each other,
it's so contagious. It just makeseverybody better. You guys, regular
(38:21):
listeners might have already heard me makethis painful admission in the past, either
on a previous show or writing aboutit. Julius Randall I really blew it.
When he was a high school starhere one of my most regrettable basketball
fails. I used to live prettypretty close to Preston Wood Christian Academy,
(38:46):
and I never made it there whenhe was a high school star clearly going
places, and I guess I justgot you know, I just get so
wrapped up in the day to dayand the all encompassing nature of the NBA,
and I really need to do abetter job of that in the future,
(39:07):
seeing some of these some of thesefuture NBA stars when they're still in
high school, because man Dallas producesa lot of NBA talent, and huge
mistake on my part that I didn'tdo that. But interestingly, Chris Haynes
(39:28):
and I, you know, wehave a twice a week podcast, This
League Uncut, produced by iHeart.We have an interview coming with Julius Randall
that we're going to drop on Monday. And I was able to talk about
that basketball fail with Julius, andwe also talked about his all lefty team
(39:52):
selections and we got into a lotof good stuff. So that's going to
drop on Monday. So look forwardto that more with for the for the
Julius Randall fans out there, sinceof course he has you know he is
a he is a proud former Dallasresident now playing for the Knicks, so
(40:12):
I'm sure there's gonna be interest inthat. And yeah, we really do.
We really do have a lot ofNBA talent that is coming out of
this area. And it still bothersme that I I didn't capitalize on seeing
him before he went to Kentucky andthen obviously he's not now gone on to
(40:36):
become an NBA All Star. Quickupdate on tonight's Mavericks game. While we've
been on the air, it wasannounced that Zion Williamson will not play for
the Pelicans on the second night ofa back to back. It will be
only, I believe, the eighthgame missed this season for Zion Williamson.
(40:58):
And that's been one of the hugeelements of New Orleans really strong play here
in the first half of the season, especially lately, especially since the nd
season tournament. You know, cominginto the season, Zion Williamson brandon ingram
CJ. McCollum, they hadn't evenplayed three minutes, they hadn't even played
(41:21):
two hundred minutes together as a trio, and they've already surpassed their total as
a trio this season, and that'swith CJ. McCollum missing a lot of
time with that collapsed lung. Sothe Pelicans have made the decision again with
this really tough turnaround. They gotin around four point thirty this morning,
(41:43):
so only about fifteen hours before tipoff. The Pelicans have made the decision
that Zion Williamson will rest on thesecond night of this back to back.
The Pels are expected to have brandonIngram, CJ. McCollum, Trey Murphy
the third all expected to play.The Mavericks have also upgraded Maxi Kliba to
probable. We haven't seen Maxi Klibain ages due to his right toe dislocation,
(42:09):
but it looks like Maxi Kliba isgonna play. I'm getting now.
Derek Lively's listed as doubtful still,so that appears to be a change in
his status. He was questionable yesterday. So lots to keep an eye on
with the Mavericks, Cummings and Goingswho will actually be playing in this game?
(42:30):
These are? You know, theMAVs injury list is so long.
I tweeted it out yesterday. Imean there were eight players on that list.
Crazy, all right? That isgoing to do it for this edition
of the Saturday Steinleine. Thanks somuch to Maddie for her work producing behind
(42:52):
the glass. Thanks so much tothe station's glue guy Groubs for his work
in getting all the sound ready,all the show elements complete Tonight, of
course, MAVs pregame show at sevenwith Kevin Gray Junior, Chuck Cooperstein and
(43:12):
Brad Davis on the call at sevenpoint forty. Last two games of this
very long Mavericks homestand let's see youknow that it's It's not often that the
Mavericks have had a rest advantage againsttheir opponent. They will have the rest
advantage tonight with the Pelicans coming inhere on the second half of a tough
(43:37):
back to back
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Panini Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes Well Dallas Nevericks
Games hosted by legendary NBA reporter andpublisher of his substack, the Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. Welcome in everyoneto what I gotta say right off the
(00:30):
bat is a potentially distracted edition ofthe Saturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. The cards we havebeen dealt my beloved Manchester City playing live
(00:52):
as we speak. I'm in theplush ninety seven to one the Freak Studios.
I've got the game on and we'llsee how this goes. Thankfully,
Bernardo Silva just call my nerves withan absolutely ridiculous, cheeky, right footed
no look finish. If you're asoccer fan, find the clip, watch
(01:17):
it. It is a special goal, even if you do not like my
team, which I realize some ofyou listening do not. But all right,
we were going to get right tothe basketball now. I will try
not to lose my train of thoughtany further because the midpoint of the twenty
twenty three NBA Regular season essentially uponus. The trade deadline February eighth just
(01:44):
a few weeks away now, andthe stream of headlines in hashtag this League
this week just one thing after anothermassive contract extension for Heat coach Eric Spolstra
eight years and one hundred and twentymillion, slamming home the point of how
(02:09):
highly the Heat think of Spolsterra.We'll never forget it was his first season
when Lebron James in Dallas bumped Spoeon the way to the bench at a
time out, the Heat fell tonine to eight, had a long team
meeting here in Dallas at the AAC, and all these years later, Eric
(02:35):
Spolsterra has the longest and among themost lucrative contracts for coaches anywhere in North
American sport. He's the inevitable successorto Pat Riley as team president in Miami
as well as being their coach.NBA coaching salaries they just keep rising.
(02:58):
Manti Williams in Detroit, Greg Popovichand San Antonio naturally makes you wonder,
after this Spolster deal, what isin the future for Steve Kerr in Golden
State, Tylu with the Clippers.Speaking of the Clippers, a three year
extension seemingly out of nowhere for KawhiLeonard, announced in absolutely fitting Kawhi Leonard
(03:23):
fashion, just an email drops fromthe Clippers in the middle of the week
without warning. Three year deal morethan one hundred and fifty million. It
only adds two years of what youwould call new money for Kawhi Leonard because
he did have a player option fornext season that's replaced by this new three
(03:43):
year deal. But what it obviouslytells you there's going to be an extension
forthcoming for James Harden and likely forPaul George sooner rather than later. And
the Paul George deal, I don'tthink anybody really thought that Kawhi Leonard was
going to be in play as afree agent this coming summer. And again
James Harden has a limited market.He's going to resign with the Clippers because
(04:06):
I mean, that's his team atthis point, and the way Harden has
played since the trade, I thinkit won't surprise anyone when the Clippers do
a new deal with Harden in thesummer. They can't do an extension with
him in season, they have towait until the off season. But Paul
George, I think was going tobe a free agent who would have been
pursued by Philadelphia if the Sixers areable to maintain their salary cap space into
(04:30):
the off season. Indiana. Therehave been rumblings about are we going to
maybe see a storybook return to Indianafor Paul George? But no, I
think the fact that Kawhi has donethis deal tells you that a deal is
probably forthcoming for Paul George sooner ratherthan later. And Newcastle at home just
(04:51):
equalized. So now I am definitelydistracted and upset, but I'm going to
try to carry on here and notdwell on it too much. Sorry,
had to had to regain my composureafter that goal. Other headlines of note
(05:15):
Utah suddenly twenty and twenty after aseven and sixteen start, which means we've
got twelve teams in the Western Conference, twelve vying for playoff spots. Everyone
around the league thought the Jazz wouldfor sure be a selling team at this
(05:36):
trade deadline. How is this surgethirteen and four serge from Utah? How
is that going to affect their tradedeadline business? It remains to be seen.
Will Utah indeed be the seller thatthey were anticipated? To be,
(06:00):
and you know there's still a decentchance of it because with Trader Danny Ainge,
I think with the Jazz you alwaysexpect more action than less. But
we got to keep our eye onthat as well. I wrote a piece
on my substack earlier this week aboutthe historically bad basketball we've been seeing at
the bottom of the standings, withfour teams four losing by an average of
(06:26):
ten plus points per game before thisseason. In league history research courtesy of
my friend Justin Kubatko, there wereonly nineteen teams in league history that went
through a whole season losing by anaverage of ten plus points, and never
(06:46):
more than one per season in thehistory of the league. This season we
were on course for a quartet andthen Victor Wenmanyama and the Spurs just beat
two other teams in that club nobodywants to be a part of. They
just beat Detroit and Charlotte by acombined fifty eight points, and I can't
(07:08):
believe. I just keep talking andNewcastle just keeps scoring. Newcastle has scored
a second at home at Saint James'sPark, Newcastle two City one. I'm
in shambles. Those two wins bythe Spurs. They took San Antonio's average
point differential for the season from aminus eleven point four, worse than even
(07:32):
Detroit's, down to a minus ninepoint two. That leaves the Pistons,
Hornets, and Washington Wizards with averagenightly point differentials of minus ten or worse.
Except now Portland is threatening to replacethe Spurs and make it a foursome
again with the help of a ghastlydid you guys see this score? On
(07:57):
Thursday night, Portland lost to OklahomaCity by sixty two points. Man Portland
came to Dallas to start a sevengame road trip. They lost back to
back games twenty nine and thirty sixto the MAVs. You thought that would
be the worst of it. Theymanaged to win in Brooklyn, but then
(08:20):
the Blazers and the trip twenty threepoint hammering in Minnesota after the sixty two
point schalacking in ok see amazing lastnight. When I started planning for this
show and started thinking about all thestuff that's happened since we were last together,
(08:41):
I mean, you had Memphis.This was another completely unforeseen bulletin.
On Monday night, just without warning, the Grizzlies put out a press release
almost ten pm Eastern that Jahn Morantneeded Jahn Morant needs season ending shoulder surgery.
John Morant's season in the end,it spans only nine games, and
(09:03):
you'll recall how the Mavericks thought itwould be such a break that three of
their first twenty three of three oftheir four meetings with Memphis were scheduled to
fall as part they were scheduled tofall during John Morant's twenty five game suspension
to start the season. Well becauseof the shoulder surgery, the MAVs ended
(09:26):
up playing Memphis all four times.No John Morant and Dallas could only imagine.
Dallas could only manage a two andtwo record in those four games.
Also this week, we had CarmeloAnthony attacking the Denver Nuggets for letting Nikolay
(09:46):
Jokic wear number fifteen, suggesting thatthere were all kinds of sinister motives at
play here. And look, Iam normally a mellow guy. I've said
this many times in the past.He's always been my favorite star from the
top of the two thousand and threedraft class. Always had great chats and
(10:11):
interactions with him. But listen,mellow. First of all, Carmelo Anthony
forced a trade out of Denver.It was a very very messy divorce,
and so you can't expect after aseparation like that that the team is just
going to protect and or retire yourjersey. Now, maybe it does happen
(10:37):
down the road. We saw Orlandojust announce that they're going to retire Shack's
jersey, and Shaq was only inOrlando for four seasons after an even messier
divorce. But also remember, Jokiis a big man from Europe. Number
fifteen that is a frequently assigned numberto European big men. It stems from
(10:58):
the old uniform system in international basketball, where players could only choose something from
four through fifteen, and always thebig men were taking fourteen and fifteen.
MAVs fans will recall that when DirkNavitski came to Dallas, he wanted number
fourteen. Fourteen was always his uniformnumber in Germany for the national team,
(11:22):
his club teams, but the veteranguard Robert Pak had fourteen. That's how
forty one was worn. Dirk hadto invert those numbers and create a new
number for himself. Nikolay Jokic hadevery right to wear number fifteen when he
got to the Nuggets, And didthe Nuggets really know what they had with
(11:43):
Jokic when they drafted him. Hewas drafted forty one overall in twenty fourteen.
I don't think the Nuggets had somegrandiose plan that they were going to
hand Yokic number fifteen and watch himbecome a Hall of Famer. Who now
you after the Nuggets will have toretire number fifteen for Jokic before they do
(12:05):
for Carmelo Anthony. Speaking of lastnight as I was getting ready for today's
proceedings, another story to leave youspeechless. Bulls fans, not all of
them, but a very loud contingentof Bulls fans booing the mention of Jerry
Krause last night at a ceremony tohonor the championship teams of the Michael Jordan
(12:28):
Eira. Krause's widow, Thelma onthe floor, and she had to bear
the brunt of that. It wasreally hard to watch. Not even sure
I have the words for how offsidethat was. So listen, if you
want to react to any of thosethings with an opinion of your own,
If you want to ask me aquestion about the on rushing NBA trade deadline,
(12:50):
and I suspect that you do.Because Atlanta's Dejonte Murray now ranking is
the most decorated former All Star likelyto be moved in the next few weeks.
I think Murray it's safe to sayhe's moved ahead of both Toronto's Pascal
Siakam and Chicago's Zach Levine on themost likely former All Star to be traded
(13:16):
list. You are invited as alwaysif you want to register questions about the
trade deadline, anything else NBA wise, or just make a comment, hit
us up via the Steinlin text linetwo one four seven, eight seven one
nine seven or eight one seven seven, eight seven one nine seven to one.
(13:39):
But this is also just as important. You can leave us an audio
message, which I really encourage youto do. It's a feature that I
want to make much greater use ofin twenty twenty four. If you listen
to us or just make use ofthe iHeartRadio app. There's a microphone icon
on the page bottom right corner.If you're using the iHeart app, you
(14:05):
need the iHeart app to do it, but it's easy to do. Sources
say leave us a message sound offon whatever is on your mind. Ask
me about Siakam. I'll explain againas I've been reporting and saying that the
Mavericks are not mounting an all outtrade charge for Siakam. We'll get into
(14:26):
that more as this show continues,because I want to bring in more of
your voices onto the show as wemove forward in twenty twenty four, our
second six month run now underway.I want to make this more of a
community thing like I do on mysub stack, and there will be numerous
(14:48):
other voices to be heard on thisedition of the Saturday Steinline. We've got
a visit in the next segment withMavericks card Tim Hardaway Junior as he continues
his bid for a sixth Man ofthe Year trophy. Kyrie Irving was obviously
next level Thursday Night against the Knicksforty four points and ten assist. It
(15:11):
was just the second forty and tengame of Kyrie's career, his first as
a Maverick. If you're keeping scoreat home, Luka Dancic has seventeen forty
and ten games regular season playoffs.Shout out Bally Sports Southwest Statistician Extraordinary Brian
Sperry for that Jim All that said, you cannot forget the difference making thirty
(15:35):
two points Tim Hardaway scored against hisold team from MSG. That game became
super close thanks to a furious Knicksrally. Dallas does not win it without
Tim Hardaway Juniors offense. And wehad our sit down with THHJ before that
game, and I think you'll enjoyhearing what he has to say. We
(15:58):
covered a lot of and that chatwith Tim Hardaway Junior you'll hear it next
here on ninety seven won the Freak. This is the Saturday Steinline with Mark
Stein, presented by Panini Trading Cardsand Collectibles on your official homes to all
Dallas Mavericks games. The Freak TheSaturday Steinline dribbles on, presented as always
(16:26):
by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles.Nearing halftime at Saint James's Park, Newcastle
two, Manchester City one. That'sall I'm going to say about that.
No Luka doncic tonight for the Mavericksin the first of their two games against
New Orleans. This seven game homestandfor the MAVs started with a baseball series
(16:48):
against Portland. As mentioned, theMavericks absolutely rolled the young and injury hit
Blazers wins by twenty nine and thirtysix. I would not expect the same
in this Saturday Monday baseball series againstthe Pelicans. Although man New Orleans with
(17:11):
some brutal travel, New Orleans playedFriday night last night in Denver, didn't
get to their hotel tonight in Dallasthis morning. Rather, they didn't get
the They didn't get to the hoteluntil about four thirty, and tip off
tonight at seven thirty. And Monday'sgame is an early start on Doctor Martin
Luther King Day, as the NBAhonors Doctor King with games all over the
(17:36):
league early start times that at MAVsPelicans game tips off at one thirty Monday.
New Orleans has been really good sincethe forty four point pounding that the
Pelicans absorbed from the Lakers on Decemberseventh in the semifinals of the n Season
Tournament, I mean a month andchange later before the Denver loss last night,
(17:59):
Pelicans just went to Sacramento and GoldenState and won those two road games
by a combined sixty nine points.Thirty three point win in Sacramento thirty six
point win in San Francisco. Theywere up by more than forty against the
Warriors. Without Kyle, without LukaDoncic, of course, the Mavericks will
(18:25):
be relying heavily again on Kyrie Irvingand Tim Hardaway Junior to shoulder the offensive
load. Kyrie man majestic Thursday nightagainst the Knicks forty four points tennisists,
surely his best game as a Maverick, and Kyrie this month missed. Remember
in December he missed thirteen games dueto injury. This month in the new
(18:49):
year, he's averaging nearly thirty points, eight rebounds, six assists per game.
Kyrie Irving shooting nearly forty three percentfrom the three point line for the
season. I mean the issue notjust with Kyrie. It's been health,
Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, DerekLively the second. They've only played in
(19:11):
sixteen games together, Dallas eleven andfive in those games, and tonight is
game number forty for the Mavericks.Let's bring this back to Hardaway, though,
thirty two points in Thursday Night's winover the Knicks, the team that
drafted him. Dallas is three andone this season. When Hardaway cracks the
thirty point mark, he's taking morethrees than ever, nearly nine a game.
(19:36):
He's essentially a thirty six percent shooterfrom deep. His volume went up
in December and his conversion rate dipped. He didn't shoot the ball great in
December, but he's been a veryproductive player for the Mavericks this season,
clearly one of the top six menin the league. Tim Hardaway Junior,
he joined me for a visit Thursdaynight. We spoke before the Knicks game,
(20:00):
talked about his move to a sixman role. We talked about the
looming trade deadline. I joked withhim after that, hey man, we
may maybe we need to schedule moreof these pregame visits with ninety seven to
one the freak, given how wellthe game went. After we spoke,
all right, let's throw it nowto the conversation my visit with Tim Hardaway
(20:21):
Junior. It begins with an evaluationof this twenty three and sixteen team for
both shooter and the team closing inon halfway through the season, how would
you evaluate both the team and yourself? I'm thinking for myself, thank you
(20:42):
know, just for health. Happyto be able to come into a season
where I am healthy, I amone hundred percent, and especially with the
previous years just being in and outlineup and having surgeries here and there.
So I'm just very grateful for that, and I think also just me that
six man role coming into games,trying to be that spark plug for my
(21:03):
team and do what I can getthe fans and my team energy. That's
that's what I love to do.So I'm happy to be a part of
that role and embrace that role.And I think for the team, I
mean, I think a lot ofpeople would would have probably count us out
with a lot of injuries that we'vehad midway through this season, but you
know, I think we held ourown, especially with kaybe and out a
(21:25):
couple a lot of majority of thegames in December and Luke out here and
there. But you know, Ithink we were still competing on both ends
of the floor and we just gotto keep on rolling with the punches.
Yeah. It was actually a weekbefore the season that Jay Kid came on
my show, and that's I thinkthe first time he said that it was
his hope that you would embrace thesix man role and make a run at
(21:45):
six Man of the Year, andyou're obviously doing that. You're in the
mix for that award. How doyou approach being the six man? Yeah,
I think well, first you gotta, like I said, embrace that
role first and foremost. And second, you know, you just got to
see how the game is flowing.There's times while I'm out there with the
guys that are role players and theguys that don't start, and I know
(22:06):
that's my time, you know,to be a little bit more aggressive,
especially you know, when we're upor down. Just just my job,
you know, to be able togive that spark plug to come in the
game. And that's what I tryto do best and try to focus in
on in the game with Kai andLuca and some of the starters. You
know, I back off a littlebit, pick and choose my spots wisely
be able to knock down that wideopen shot and try to get easy baskets.
(22:27):
I mean, there's a lot ofguys walked down in Bogdanovich in Atlantam,
a League Monk in Sacramento, AustinReeves with the Lakers, Bobby Porters
in Milwaukee. We can go onand on and on. So there's a
lot of good six men. Howmuch attention are you paying to what some
of those other guys are doing andthen compare it to yourself obvious sitting here
in line to you to say Iwasn't paying attention to them. You know,
(22:49):
I watched them every single day andtime we have an opportunity to watch
games on our off days or whatever. And you know they do their thing.
You know they're doing their thing fortheir team, helping their team win,
and I just try to pick andchoose little things from their game as
well to see what I can doto help my team out. So most
importantly, just like I said,embrace the role and being that spark plug.
(23:11):
Tim Hardaway, junior from the Mavericksjoining us here on ninety seven,
won the Freak. We're actually tapingthis before the Mavericks next game. You've
been a Nick twice, but you'veactually been here almost twice as long now.
How does that sound to you?And to think about how long you've
actually been a Mav at this point, it is an honor and a privilege,
you know, to be here.I remember being here and living here
(23:33):
when I was in fourth grade whenmy dad played it in two thousand with
the coach being Don Nelson. Soembracing that, you know, family dynamic
and being able to follow my father'sfootsteps. Playing with one of the franchises
that he played with while he wasin the league is definitely a dream come
true. And you know, that'sone thing I really cherish. I was
happy. I was very happy,excited for the opportunity. Hard pilled a
(23:55):
swallow. You know, I reallywanted to go back to New York and
help that franchise and get to theplayoffs and make a name for myself out
there, especially coming up in afamily where my dad was the rival.
You're one of the vets on thisteam. You've been around the block.
You know what time of year itis. I think even you yourself said
in training camp you weren't sure thatyou would still be here. How do
(24:17):
you cope with trade deadline season andthe noise that's out there? I mean,
being a part of that back intwenty nineteen, I mean it was
weird, especially in the midway throughthe season. So at the end of
the day, you're going control whatyou can control out there, and that's
me doing what I love, playingthe game of basketball. I mean,
you worked your tail off to getto this point, so that right there
(24:38):
should just be just like a mindfree type zone to just go out there
and hoop and do your thing,and whatever happens happens for me personally.
You know, I love you here. I want to play here for as
long as I can help this team, and I love it here. Our
last few moments here with Tim HardawayJunior on ninety seven won the Freak on
the Saturday Steinline presented by Trading Cardsand Collectibles. I think you're taking more
(25:03):
threes a game than you ever have, almost nine a game. How much
do you dig into your stats duringthe season, percentages, attempts, all
those things I tried to hear intheir you know, analytics obviously plays a
big role in the game today.So probably tapping in with them here and
there, not all the time,because at the end, they used to
have to be a hooper. Youstill got to be a ballplayer. That's
(25:23):
what got you here, and that'swhat I believe. And so I mean,
I'll tap into the percentages here andthere, pick and choose my spots
wisely for the most part, notreally not really looking into that as much.
You know, I just want tobe mind freeze, go out there,
play basketball, and I'll worry aboutit. Probably midway through the season
(25:44):
and see how things are going.We haven't seen it. Much. Like
you said, when this team isfully healthy, when you guys have your
best squad available to play, whatis a realistic ceiling for this team?
Oh? Finals, That's what Ifeel. Finals. I don't see this
team being no different than the teamthat we had when we went to the
West Conference finals a couple of yearsago. I mean, we lost some
pieces, but we do have alot of those guys that do have that
(26:07):
that's nasty, that hunger, thatfight to go out there and do the
things that that team did a coupleof years ago. So to me,
it's the finals and it's on usto get there. Wishing you great luck
for the rest of the season.Thanks mil for joining us, Thank you,
thanks starving me. Tim Hardaway knowsthe score. He turns to thirty
two in March. It's his eleventhseason in the league. He's been traded
(26:32):
before, once on Draft night,going from the Knicks to the Hawks,
once at midseason, when, ofcourse he went from the Knicks to the
Mavericks as part of the Chris stopsPorzingis deal, And I think deep down
he surely understands the reality If theMavericks do make a trade before the February
(26:53):
eighth deadline, Hardaway would almost certainlyhave to be a part of it.
He's well aware where he was partof trade discussions both last season before the
deadline again at the June draft.His contract features a descending salary. It's
very important to remember that the originalfour year, seventy five million dollar deal
(27:14):
he signed, it started at twentyone plus million. Now in year three,
it's a shade under eighteen million.Next season, in year four,
it drops to sixteen million. Sowe're in this zone now. Team building
has become very, very complicated beyonda team's two MAX players, and there's
(27:34):
been an increasing amount of chatter latelyaround the league that it's players in that
fifteen to twenty million range, andyou know, Dejonte Murray's not that far
off it with the contract extension hesigned in Atlanta. The players who are
really players who are really productive inthat salary range, they're the players you
(27:59):
need to succeed win. There arethe players who are increasingly considered the most
attractive on the trade market. Andwhen you when you start trying to list
shooters making sixteen to eighteen million.I mean, my suspicion is external interest
in Tim Hardaway Junior. Given whathe's providing, it's going to go in
(28:22):
the opposite direction of that descending salary, whether we're talking this trade deadline or
the draft again in June. Butwhen you listen to him speak there,
I think you pick up on itvery quickly and clearly. He's really hoping
to stay with the Mavericks. Heis very happy here, he loves it
here. The difficult reality again forDallas with only one future first round pick
(28:45):
available for trades, I mean,their ability to get anything done trade wise,
it's just hard to see them doingit without interest and their corresponding willingness
to trade a Jaden Hardy, aJosh Green or Tim Hardaway Junior. Difficult
(29:07):
situation to manage. All Right,We've covered lots of ground here and as
promised, more fresh voices coming intothe next segment. We're gonna hear a
little bit from the Hall of FamerMike bringing in alongside our own Chuck Cooperstein
radio Voice of the MAVs, andwe're gonna hear as well from the listening
(29:27):
public via that iHeart app feature.We've been discussing all that is next here
on ninety seven won the Freak.This is dartn Lwitzky and you're listening to
the Saturday Steinline with my guys.Steiny on ninety seven won the Freak.
Thanks for sticking with us here onthe Saturday Steinline presented by Panini Trading Cards
(29:52):
and Collectibles. Gonna jump around abit in our remaining time left here in
the Saturday Lunch hour. Try somenew things I mentioned last week and also
earlier today. I really want tomake more use of the very handy feature
available to all of us on theiHeartRadio app. If you listen to the
(30:14):
show via the iHeart App, oryou just want to click to the iHeart
Radio app, click on the microphoneicon. Sources say it is found at
the bottom right of the screen.If you click the microphone, that enables
you to leave a thirty second messageor ask a question, which I know
(30:41):
lots of you would like to do. As the NBA trade deadline approaches on
February eighth, with Matty g Nowsteering the ship, first person in show
history who actually has the ability toretrieve these messages, screen them, help
me get them on the ape anyonelisting has surely deduced By now, I
(31:03):
have zero clue on how to doany of that, So we're gonna test
it out our first burst of listeneraudio in the brief but proud history of
this show, and we're gonna goall the way to the shores of Lake
Erie for this history making submission.Maddie, please roll the tape, Yo
(31:30):
Stani, this is Jude from Cleveland, Ohio, and my question for you
is what's gonna happen with Donothan Mitchellat the end of the season. Could
you see the Cat trading him atthe deadline or in the off season or
will they write him out until hiscontract expires after the twenty twenty five season.
Thank you very much. What Iliked so much there, Jude stated
(31:52):
clearly where he's from. I alwayslove hearing that, especially when it's people
from further afield then our local area. Love to see that this show has
that kind of reach. If youwould like to share your full name with
us, please do, but atleast give me your first name, leave
a last name initial, tell usthe city where you're checking in from.
(32:16):
All that helps, okay, DonovanMitchell. The Cavaliers continue to send out
very strong signals to anyone interested.Don't even bother calling us we are not
trading Donovan Mitchell in season. Andwhat backs that up that the Calves are
not joking about that stance. Youcontinue to hear that the Cavaliers actually would
(32:40):
like to make an addition. They'dlike to bring in a three and D
wing if they can to fortify theteam they have that's done very well dealing
with the long term injuries to bothDarius Garland and Evan Mobley. You actually
hear the name Dorian Finney Smith,well known to all our listeners. Brooklyn
(33:02):
is listening to trade offers on DorianFinney Smith and Cleveland is a team that
has come up. Whether they canmeet the nets price, we'll see.
But obviously Cleveland and Brooklyn are teamsthat have done different that have done business
together in the past, so wewill have to keep our eye on that
one. And since that is atrade question. I mentioned this briefly at
(33:28):
the end of the first segment.We'll expound on it a bit here now.
The Mavericks. I reported on Januaryfirst that the Mavericks would love to
upgrade in the front court, andthat makes a lot of sense. You
have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving asyour backcourt. You have Derek Lively as
not only the center of the future, but the center of the present.
(33:50):
A fore man, is really whatthe Mavericks, you know, that's the
clear place to point to for anupgrade ad But Toronto's Pascal Siakam Portland's Jeremy
Grant. First of all, it'snot even clear whether Portland is willing to
trade Jeremy Grant at this trade deadline. But look the issue in both of
(34:12):
these cases, the Mavericks are not, based on everything I've been told,
not making all out pushes for eitherguy, because in both cases these are
very pricey contractual situations. Jeremy Grant'sin the first year of a five year,
one hundred and sixty million dollar deal. Siakam is headed to free agency
in the summer, no matter whereToronto might trade him, and he's going
(34:37):
to be seeking max dollars. Andremember, as we move into this new
second Apron world in the NBA,which really takes hold this offseason, it
puts all sorts of team building restrictionson teams that have three highly paid players
and the Mavericks really have to keepthat in mind with whatever they do when
(34:57):
they're thinking about adding a third starto Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. If
that player is too expensive, itlimits your ability to trade, limits your
draft optionality, that prevents you fromsigning players in the buyout market. And
those are all factors that the Mavericksare gonna have to consider, beyond the
fact that it's not even clear ifthey have a trade package that would interest
(35:23):
Toronto or Portland, Okay. Onanother subject, the Hall of Famer Mike
Breen. You know him as ESPNABC's main play by play voice on the
NBA, but Mike Breen is firstand foremost the Knicks play by play voice,
alongside the one and only Walt ClydeFraser. The Knicks were here in
(35:46):
town Thursday night. Injury intervened yetagain, this time on the Maverick side,
preventing a Luka Doncic Jalen Brunson reunionwith the two All Star point guards
on opposite side. And yes,I am taking the liberty and the premature
leap to declare Jalen Brunson an AllStar before he is actually named one.
(36:08):
You can book it, write itin very permanent ink. Jalen Brunson will
be selected to the All Star Gamefor the first time when Eastern Conference coaches
make their reserve votes in a matterof weeks. Our own Chuck Cooperstein radio
voice of the Mavericks right here onninety seven to one The Freak. Chuck
(36:31):
had a chat with Mike Breen beforetip off of that NIX Mavericks game on
Thursday night, and Chuck had achance to ask him about the two Knick
stars with local ties. Julius Randall, former local high school star at Prestonwood
Christian Academy. Jalen Brunson. Weconsider him a local after he spent his
(36:54):
first four NBA seasons as a Maverickand he remains a fan favorite. You
heard the ovation he got Thursday night. Let's hear it. Now. Let's
go to Mike Breen talking to Chuckabout both Randall and Brunson and how well
these guys are playing this season inGotham. Julius Randalls, a Dallas kid,
(37:17):
always plays great here. Jalen Brunsonis going to play his first game
here since he left the Mavericks.Didn't play last year in the Lucas sixty
twenty one to ten game, makingbeautiful music together too. It seems forget
about the numbers, because the numbersare impressive just by the eye test watching
the team perform. They're both playingthe best basketball of their careers. And
(37:37):
you know, if Jaylen Brunson isit's so much fun to watch because he's
special in that he does all thesethings individually for his numbers. But it's
all about the team, and it'sall about what can I do to help
my team win that night? Andyou saw that first half with Julius Randall.
He's always had good numbers, He'snever been this sufficient, he's never
(38:00):
been this connected to his team.And here's a guy that's made All NBA
twice two of the last three years. And it's contagious. And you've watched
that so many times here in Dallas. When it's it's playing for each other,
it's so contagious. It just makeseverybody better. You guys, regular
(38:21):
listeners might have already heard me makethis painful admission in the past, either
on a previous show or writing aboutit. Julius Randall I really blew it.
When he was a high school starhere one of my most regrettable basketball
fails. I used to live prettypretty close to Preston Wood Christian Academy,
(38:46):
and I never made it there whenhe was a high school star clearly going
places, and I guess I justgot you know, I just get so
wrapped up in the day to dayand the all encompassing nature of the NBA,
and I really need to do abetter job of that in the future,
(39:07):
seeing some of these some of thesefuture NBA stars when they're still in
high school, because man Dallas producesa lot of NBA talent, and huge
mistake on my part that I didn'tdo that. But interestingly, Chris Haynes
(39:28):
and I, you know, wehave a twice a week podcast, This
League Uncut, produced by iHeart.We have an interview coming with Julius Randall
that we're going to drop on Monday. And I was able to talk about
that basketball fail with Julius, andwe also talked about his all lefty team
(39:52):
selections and we got into a lotof good stuff. So that's going to
drop on Monday. So look forwardto that more with for the for the
Julius Randall fans out there, sinceof course he has you know he is
a he is a proud former Dallasresident now playing for the Knicks, so
(40:12):
I'm sure there's gonna be interest inthat. And yeah, we really do.
We really do have a lot ofNBA talent that is coming out of
this area. And it still bothersme that I I didn't capitalize on seeing
him before he went to Kentucky andthen obviously he's not now gone on to
(40:36):
become an NBA All Star. Quickupdate on tonight's Mavericks game. While we've
been on the air, it wasannounced that Zion Williamson will not play for
the Pelicans on the second night ofa back to back. It will be
only, I believe, the eighthgame missed this season for Zion Williamson.
(40:58):
And that's been one of the hugeelements of New Orleans really strong play here
in the first half of the season, especially lately, especially since the nd
season tournament. You know, cominginto the season, Zion Williamson brandon ingram
CJ. McCollum, they hadn't evenplayed three minutes, they hadn't even played
(41:21):
two hundred minutes together as a trio, and they've already surpassed their total as
a trio this season, and that'swith CJ. McCollum missing a lot of
time with that collapsed lung. Sothe Pelicans have made the decision again with
this really tough turnaround. They gotin around four point thirty this morning,
(41:43):
so only about fifteen hours before tipoff. The Pelicans have made the decision
that Zion Williamson will rest on thesecond night of this back to back.
The Pels are expected to have brandonIngram, CJ. McCollum, Trey Murphy
the third all expected to play.The Mavericks have also upgraded Maxi Kliba to
probable. We haven't seen Maxi Klibain ages due to his right toe dislocation,
(42:09):
but it looks like Maxi Kliba isgonna play. I'm getting now.
Derek Lively's listed as doubtful still,so that appears to be a change in
his status. He was questionable yesterday. So lots to keep an eye on
with the Mavericks, Cummings and Goingswho will actually be playing in this game?
(42:30):
These are? You know, theMAVs injury list is so long.
I tweeted it out yesterday. Imean there were eight players on that list.
Crazy, all right? That isgoing to do it for this edition
of the Saturday Steinleine. Thanks somuch to Maddie for her work producing behind
(42:52):
the glass. Thanks so much tothe station's glue guy Groubs for his work
in getting all the sound ready,all the show elements complete Tonight, of
course, MAVs pregame show at sevenwith Kevin Gray Junior, Chuck Cooperstein and
(43:12):
Brad Davis on the call at sevenpoint forty. Last two games of this
very long Mavericks homestand let's see youknow that it's It's not often that the
Mavericks have had a rest advantage againsttheir opponent. They will have the rest
advantage tonight with the Pelicans coming inhere on the second half of a tough
(43:37):
back to back
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