The Saturday Stein Line with Marc Stein (March 9, 2024) Full

The latest edition of The Saturday Stein Line presented by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles features a detailed examination of the Mavericks entering the stretch run from both Marc Stein and D Magazine contributor Iztok Franko ... plus a broader spin around the league with Spotrac's Keith Smith. 

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Saturday Steinline with MarkStein, presented by Panini Trading Cards and
Collectibles on ninety seven to one TheFreak, the official homes all Dallas Mavericks
Games, hosted by legendary NBA reporterand publisher of his substact, The Steinline.
Here's Mark Stein. Hey, everybody, welcome in to the Saturday Steinline

(00:28):
presented by Panini Trading Cards and Collectibles. Great to be with you. Second
straight Saturday that finds me on therun. I am checking in from Afar
since I've been on one of mywild yet rejuvenating soccer excursions that are meant

(00:52):
to recharge the batteries for the stretchrun, the playoffs, the draft,
free agency, the good news,the modern sports world smaller than ever.
So what that means is what's goingon in mads Land. Word filters to
me, wherever I am doesn't matter, and so, despite being well out

(01:14):
of studio range, the angst ofrecent days indeed tangible even where I am,
no matter the distance between us,and we will be getting into all
of it on today's show. Gottwo great guests for you lined up.
D Magazine correspondent is Tok Franco anexpert incidentally at keeping close tabs on Luka,

(01:38):
Doncic and the Mavericks, no matterhow far away he is in Europe.
We're also going to have salary capmaven, a tireless NBA correspondent,
the Orlando based Keith Smith. He'llalso be joining us in the third segment.
So we're gonna be covering lots ofground here today. As numerous teams

(02:01):
on the NBA map, including theMavericks, now down to fewer than twenty
regular season games. Crazy it getslate early around here, as Yogi Barrow
once memorably said, and so thesame goes for the race to try to

(02:23):
secure a top six seed in theWestern Conference that obviously brings the privilege of
automatic qualification for the playoffs. Youavoid the dreaded playing round, which is
reserved for the teams that land inthe seven to ten range in the standings.
That race only seems to get tighter, more frenzied, more stressful,

(02:46):
and on top of how crowded itis from number five to number ten in
the West, from the Pelicans tothe Lakers, this has been a week
of injuries in the NBA. Forthe purposes of this discussion because we're really
focused on the West. I thinkwe're gonna set aside the ankle injury that

(03:07):
has felled Cleveland's Evan Mobley. We'regonna set aside the news that Ben Simmons
has done for the season in Brooklyn. He appeared in only fifteen games for
the Nets because of his long standingback issues. We're gonna put that stuff
aside, focus on what's happening inthe West because the headline, of course,

(03:28):
the loudest headline is in Minnesota.Karl Anthony Towns will likely miss the
rest of the regular season with atorn meniscus. Friday night, Lebron James
had to sit out the Lakers gameagainst Milwaukee because of the ankle injury that
has been messing with Lebron since beforethe All Star Game. Golden State freshly

(03:53):
sweating over losing Stephan Curry to anankle injury, and although that doesn't appear
to be serious, let's get realthe Warriors about a roller coaster season.
Any injury to Stephan Curry is majornews and some level of concern in the
Bay Area, And in this case, I think, even though the injury

(04:15):
has been deemed not super serious,It certainly puts in jeopardy the likelihood of
seeing Stephan Curry playing Wednesday night inDallas against the Mavericks. And like Lebron
another injury that was before this week, Devin Booker still nursing his ankle injury

(04:38):
in Phoenix. So you've got allthese teams, Minnesota's at the top of
the West, but in that fiveto ten jumble, there are major fresh
injuries that are impacting the race.And it's a lot and it so often
happens this way in the NBA.These injuries, they infiltrate the playoff races,

(04:59):
make a made your impact on thelandscape. And this is where we
advise you to now look for thenearest block of wood to knock on,
because one source of promise for thelocal basketball squad. After a pretty bumpy
run here lately, the Mavericks appear, underline the word appear to be as

(05:20):
healthy as they've been for some time. Dante Exen was back Thursday night,
playing a pivotal role in the nationallytelevised win over Miami. The Mavericks were
desperate to win that game after aone to five funk that included three really
heavy losses two of them to thePacers, the route they suffered in Boston,

(05:45):
and of course the absolute root canaldagger of a loss in Cleveland on
the Max Strew sixty footer at thebuzzer. Officially, we should note Luca
is on the injury report with aright elbow. In my checking on the
matter at this point, early indicationsare I have not gotten a vibe that

(06:09):
it is anything serious or a sourceof deep concern. Again, those are
the initial signals I've received on thematter as of this noontime hour, roughly
six hours away from tip off,and the Mavericks naturally have to hope that

(06:30):
it is nothing serious because their hopesof doing anything in the playoffs obviously hinge
hugely on that being the case.Luca, as I'm sure you're aware,
has just strung together four straight tripledoubles with at least thirty five points.

(06:51):
Four straight thirty five point triple doubles. Kyrie Irving meanwhile still flirting with a
fifty to forty nine ninety season,and you put all that together and it's
still not enough to guarantee anything inthis crazy stacked West. So the Mavericks
have to hope that this right elbowsprain that landed Luca on the injury report

(07:15):
for this game. I don't needto tell you that the Mavericks desperately need
this to be nothing, because youknow, and this has been a subject
in the chat room on my substack as well this week. This show
yours, truly, I do notsubscribe to the theory that this Mavericks roster
is suddenly so good that they aregoing to roll into a top six seed

(07:44):
post trade deadline. The struggles thatwe've seen from the Mavericks on defense are
no accident. If you want toget real about this team, the defensive
issues are still very much there.This team still lacks a consistent third scorer.

(08:05):
The challenge defensively is building and sustaininga league average team defensive scheme around
Luka Datich and Kyrie Irving. Easiersaid than done. And look, we've
covered this ground before, but againI think it's worth repeating. Nothing slams
home the reality about the vulnerabilities ofthis roster, this team, even after

(08:31):
the acquisition of PJ. Washington andDaniel Gafford. Then seeing how vital the
likes of ExHAM and Derek Jones arewhen this team was put together, neither
was seen as a vital key cog. Remember, Jones was signed as a
free agent six weeks after free agencystarted. Exhem had been playing in Europe,

(08:56):
yes, in the EuroLeague with partisanbel grit, but still a long
way from the NBA. He hadtaken that step to try to resuscitate his
NBA career. They were not projectedto be major difference makers this season,
but here we are, and theMavericks are twenty one and fifteen this season

(09:22):
when both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irvingare in uniform together, much better than
last season's five and eleven when theywere thrown together after the trade deadline.
You, however, can do themath. That's only thirty six of Dallas's
sixty three games to date and continuity, forget about it. Entering the Miami

(09:43):
game, the must win Miami gameThursday night, which to their credit,
they did win, the mavericks mostused lineup this season had only two hundred
and nineteen possessions together, and thatlineup featured Grant Williams. The second most
used lineup this season also featured GrantWilliams and was in the one eighties.

(10:05):
Those stats courtesy of the aforementioned isTalk Franco, who will be joining us
in the next segment. Now,contrast that to Denver, Oklahoma City,
Minnesota, Milwaukee, Boston. PerIstak's research, all of those teams this
season have a most utilized lineup withat least eleven hundred possessions together. In

(10:31):
the case of Denver and Oklahoma Cityspecifically, both of those teams have a
preferred lineup that has been on thefloor for nearly fifteen hundred possessions this season.
The lineup with the most reps inthe Jason Kidd era only had seven

(10:54):
hundred dish possessions together. That wasduring the twenty one to twenty two season.
Here kids first season. So sincethat Cinderella run to the Western Conference
Finals two springs ago, it hasbeen nothing but constant change for the Mavericks.
Do they have enough time to findsomething resembling continuity here in the final

(11:16):
nineteen games of the regular season,Let's see, they obviously hope. So
all right, before we proceed,my pleas from last week they went unheeded.
Repeated invitations for me on Twitter viamy substack every Saturday on this show,

(11:37):
I've asked you make your voice heardon the Saturday Steinline. Click to
the iHeartRadio app. Go to theninety seven won the Freak page. There's
a microphone icon on the Freak's iHeartpage. Click it, record a message,
record a question. We might useit on the show. We want

(11:58):
it. Use it on the show. But these please that I keep registering.
They're clearly not working. I don'twant to give up yet, though
I'm going to keep trying. Ireally want to do. What I'd love
to do is I'd love to havea whole segment in which I answer several
listener questions. But I would settlefor one or two questions that I could

(12:22):
work into every show. But whatI need for that to happen. I
need your name and the city you'recalling in from. And if you don't
want to leave your whole name,please do leave your whole name and city
if you're comfortable, but at thevery least leave me a first name,
last initial, the city you're checkingin from the format we're going for.
This is Marcus from Dallas, orthis is Luca from Lubliana, or this

(12:45):
is Jim from Fort Worth. Youget the point. Click the microphone,
leave me a message, ask mea question. Two of the last three
submissions that did make it to usin the hopper, we wanted to use
them, but there was no name, so we didn't know who we were
hearing from. And again, ifI can get one good one on a

(13:07):
regular basis, I'll work that intothe third segment. But I would love
to do a whole segment fueled bylistener questions, a whole mailbag style segment.
Come on, guys, let's pulltogether, Let's make it happen.
All right, you have heard thatpitch enough for me? On with the
show is Talk. Franco d magazinecontributor Professor Franco joins me next right here

(13:33):
on ninety seven to one The Freak. This is the Saturday Steinline wuz mark
Stein presented by Benini Trading Cards andCollectibles on your official homes all Dallas,
Mavericks Games, ninety The Freak,the Saturday Steinline. We dribble on with
the considerable assistance of my good friendsat Panini Trading Cards and Collectible. By

(14:01):
the way, they had an absolutelymonster week Panini on Wednesday announcing the signing
of a certain Caitlin Clark, whois about to be the number one overall
pick in the WNBA draft by theIndiana Fever. The Iowa Star now officially
a Team Panini athlete. Maybe maybewith a little bit of luck, maybe

(14:28):
a lot of luck we need.Maybe that means at some point someday we'll
be able to have Caitlyn Clark onthe show, or at least get the
chance to lob a few questions ather and run that interview on the show.
That is the goal. Fingers crossedin the interim, Let's go all
the way to Lubiana for our firstguest this Saturday lunchtime. As we always

(14:56):
like to say, I stole Iblatantly stole this from ESPN Tim McMahon,
but I don't really care. Heis the second most beloved Slovenian in the
city of Dallas. We turned tohim now as always for some of the
best Mavericks analysis you can get outthere d Magazines is Talk. Franco joins
us now, doctor Franco, greatto be with you. I think the

(15:20):
panic has receded a little bit somewhatin the wake of Thursday Night's victory over
Miami, a strong close to thefourth quarter after, of course, first
the Mavericks surrendered their lead. Iknow you watched it. I doubt you
watched it live. I'm guessing youwatched it for Breakfast Friday. But tell

(15:41):
me give me your impressions of whatyou saw in the MAVs victory over the
Heat. Yeah, I mean,like you said, thanks for daylight again,
and like you said, it didn'tlook good. Yeah, so you
were. We were expecting them toturn it around, to start gaining with

(16:03):
urgency for last basically every game inthis let's say last four or five games
stretch. And this game they startedlike again very bad. Verse fifteen possessions.
I think it was like nine timeslayups, back door cuts. It
reminded me a little bit on whenI was thinking after the game on that
sund series. You know, twoyears ago in the playoffs after two zero

(16:25):
put down, everything looked really badand look what was bad on defense?
Team didn't compete. They just lookedover then. But then in the second
quarter, or let's especially in thefourth quarter, they started turning around.
What was astonishing is that despite Miamikept eating trees, so they I think

(16:48):
they ended up for the whole gameabout forty still won and they won with
hustle on rebounds, out rebounded moresecond chance and got better in transition.
So it was a good win.It wasn't like a lucky win. How
often do you actually stay up towatch it live or is it always I'm

(17:11):
going to go to bed and wakeup in the morning and watch it for
breakfast. Yeah, mostly they arelike late night. I would watch it
in the morning because it's like justtoo much hassle, but it's like late
afternoon game. Then I would watchit live. And this year and last
year we started at the end,and this year we already did two and
we will do it next weekend.For the Denver game, we are I'm

(17:36):
doing like three and post and halftimestudio with Lucas that for our local sports
TV. So we watch these gamestogether live, which is an experience.
Yeah, Sasha Doncic breaking news onyour broadcast the other day by revealing that
Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney is going tobe a part of the Slovenia coaching staff

(17:57):
this summer. So Sasha, nowyou know, as if I don't have
enough people to compete with for stories, now I got to worry about Sasha
breaking news. Yeah, that's true. And I must say I think it
was a good move. I mean, I like watching from Afar. I
really like Seawan Sweeney and what he'sdoing for Dallas for these three years since

(18:18):
he's been here. Now he isa very highly rated, on the rise
assistant coach in this league, andI think it obviously speaks to the relationship
he has with Luka Doncic. Idon't think the Slovenian Federation would be asking
him to join their coaching staff ifLuka Doncic wasn't totally on board with it.
So I think that kind of tellsyou how highly Luca himself thinks of

(18:42):
Seawan Sweeney is talk Franco, thed magazine correspondent. I hope you guys
are reading him. He had agreat piece earlier this week on PJ Washington,
So let's talk about that. You'vekind of identified PJ is maybe the
most important X factor for this teamgoing forward. What led you to that

(19:02):
conclusion? Yeah? What led methat is basically what we saw since the
trade. He's like the only guynext to Luk and Carried is averaging more
than thirty minutes. So everything elsebesides those three is kind of murky.
I use this as analogy. Ithink in the articles from pet Riley where
he says, I don't know rotateseven, play six, trust five in

(19:23):
the playoffs, it seems like JasonKeith, it's currently really trusting only three
guys, and PJ. Washington isone of them. I don't know how
that should make you feel, becausehe was coming on the bench for Charlotte,
which is the worst team in theNBA currently in point differential. But
he's a very intriguing guy. Ehso he has very intriguing skill sets.

(19:47):
He surprised me a lot on defense. I think he's much better with him.
It was never I think the questionof skills and let's say physical tools.
It was more about focus. Hebe locked in all the time on
defense, and I think defensively hasbeen very good for Dallas. But the
problem is the shots. So thethree point shots, because since I think

(20:11):
the first two years when he wasin the league, he shot really well,
and that's when he basically got onNBA's map as this stretch five or
let's say good four taken the ringprotector who can stretch the floor. But
since his second year, he's shootingfree point shooting hasn't been very good,
and he's also struggling from the prepoint line in Dallas. Yeah, I

(20:32):
know, it's interesting this team.I mean, you and I have been
talking about this since we were togetherin Spain for the Mavericks exhibition game at
Real Madrid. Who is going tobe the third best player on this team?
They're crying out for someone to reallyseize that status and make it their
own. Sixty plus games into theseason, we still don't have that answer.

(20:56):
The opportunity is there for PJ.Washington. We will set aside the
question of how far can you actuallygo if PJ Washington is your third best
player? But no question he hasdefensively, he has been a very solid
contributor to this point. I agreewith you. I think he has given

(21:17):
Dallas more on that end than probablywas forecasted. But consistent scoring outside of
Luca and Kyrie Irving, that issomething Dallas badly needs, and that is
something Dallas really hasn't gotten to thispoint of the season. But something else
I wanted to throw at you.You know, there's just so much talk

(21:40):
and so why don't the MAVs justdefend better? Why can't the coaches generate
more defense from this group, andI just think it's easier said than done.
Just give me your impression. Howchallenging is it to try to build
a quality defense around Luca and Kyrie. You're gonna be finishing games with two
guys who, let politely say it, are not known for their defense.

(22:04):
Yeah, very challenging. And it'snot only those two, but I think
in today's NBA, because there's somuch space, so much talent, so
much offense, to build a let'ssay average or good defense without elite defense,
it's difference makers like I don't knowthem, ad Rudy Gobert. It's
very difficult. And I think forthis you need in Merrick's case, you

(22:30):
need the three things you need,look and carry it to buy in.
And that hasn't been one hundred percentthe case in lasts, to be honest,
in last let's say a few games, or at least not for the
whole stretches of the games. Sothat was one of the problems, and
this is something that you highlighted.On the other hand, you need to
follow the templates that the Nuggets usedwhen they build around your kich. So

(22:52):
what they did they got athletes theygot defenders, and they got land around
your kitchen if you remember your kichhas. Some of the Murray had some
of the similar questions that Luca andTyrie had, so they surrounded them with
Eric Gordon, CACP, Michael ThortonJunior, who is long athlete, So
they did that. I think theRicks started now doing this. So they

(23:15):
added length and athleticism, but theylack one last thing I think which is
crucial for this to be better ondefense, and that's community and consistency construction.
No, it was a great pointyou made on Twitter that those top
teams, their most used lineups justhad it's so many more possessions, so
much more time on the court thanany of the mavericks most frequently used lineups.

(23:41):
And that's what they have to findhere over this last stretch of games.
Can they get a little bit ofcontinuity to have some sort of momentum
to take into the playoffs. Ourlast few moments here with the magazine contributor
is tok Franco direct from Slovenia.Let me ask you, since you brought
up Aaron Gordon, how realistic doyou see it that PJ. Washington can

(24:03):
be the Mavericks answer to Aaron Gordonbecause I think that's a pretty high bar
to set. But that's a comparisonthat gets thrown around a lot. How
realistic is it that PJ. Washingtoncan have that kind of role the Nuggets,
They've got Yokichen Murray, They've gota great home court advantage, and
as you kind of just went through, their role players fit around the stars

(24:26):
so well. If you ask PJ. Washington to be that, I think
it's too much Because PJ. WashingtonI like him a lot, but I
just don't think he's the athlete theAaron Gordon is. Aaron Gordon is top
ninety ninety five percent of NBA athlete. He's a great on ball defender.
For me, he is the differencemaker of difference. But I think that

(24:47):
ask is one other thing. Ithink they don't need PJ. Washington to
be Aaron Gordon. I think heneeds to be like cacp, you know,
who's like very solid defender but canfit his I think the best hope
for Dollars to build very good defenseis that Derek Clively becomes Derrick Gordon,
you know, because he has thatphysical tool. So I think this is

(25:10):
obviously it won't happen this year,and that's again part of the problem,
part of the reshuffling, because he'snot experienced, he doesn't have the strength
at But that I think on defense, Derrick Clevely needs to become our Aaron
Gordon equivalent for the Merricks going forward, and I think that's the best reason
for optimism that we all Merik fans, people who follow the team has for

(25:34):
this team is Todd Franco. Youcan read his work in the magazine and
you must follow him on Twitter.He posts a wonderful preview of every Mavericks
game and the morning after five observationsthat you know what I'm guessing most of
the listeners of this show are alreadyaware of the way you cover this team.

(25:59):
Even though you're thought thousands and thousandsof miles away, we know you
keep his close an eye on theMavericks as just about anyone. A pleasure
my friend to catch up as always, Thank you. There he goes is
Talk Franco of d Magazine. Stickaround. We've got more of the Saturday
steinline. Next, gonna broaden ourscope a bit, go national with my

(26:21):
pal Keith Smith. That's next hereon ninety seven one The Freak. This
is dirt Lewitsky and you're listening tothe Saturday Steinline. But my guys Steiny
on ninety seven to one The Freak, thanks for sticking with us here on
the Saturday Steinline presented by Panini TradingCards and Collectibles. A bit of a
tricky one to assemble. I'm morethan a few miles away from the studio

(26:45):
as we speak, on a weeklong soccer mission. So many, many
many thanks to Groobs, the glueguy, the glue Guy at ninety seven
to one The Freak even more thanthe usual. Thanks for helping me assemble
this show from Afar. As Imentioned just before we went to break,

(27:06):
I want to broaden our scope abit before we close out today and this
last segment, want to take awider look at the league at large.
Someone I lean on heavily. Itis a very grooves like reliance on his
salary cap knowledge. I'm pestering himnear daily with cap questions and other NBA

(27:29):
minutia questions because his bookkeeping on allthirty teams it is tremendous front office level
stuff. If you aren't following thisman on Twitter, you are making a
grave mistake. You must read hissub stack as well, the Basketball Bulletin
with Trevor Lane, read his workon spot track. I urge you to

(27:52):
follow him closely because his coverage ofthe league from a front office perspective incredibly
valuable. Orlando based Keith Smith atKeith Smith NBA joining US now, Professor
Smith. Welcome to the Saturday sTimeline. How are you, sir?
I'm doing well. Thank you forhaving me. So let's start with what

(28:15):
was the game of the week Thursdaynight? Among your many jobs over the
course of the past several years,you covered the Celtics closely. So actually
a rough week for Boston, acouple losses. That's unusual for them to
lose two games in a row.I didn't even mention. By the way,
he also has a daily YouTube show, the NBA Front Office Show with

(28:38):
Trevor Lane, so check that outas well. But you covered the Celtics
for many years. What were yourimpressions of what we saw in Denver?
A narrow loss and some rough crunchtime moments for Jason Tatum. What were
your main takeaways watching Boston go intoDenver and what a lot of us were
billing as an NBA five Finals preview. Yeah, that's the first thought I

(29:03):
have. I don't know if weget them, but I would happily take
seven games of those two teams inJune. I think that would be great
for anybody who just loves the gamelike we do, that that'd be fantastic
entertainment. I for the Celtics wasanother chance to really show, hey,
we can get this done against oneof the best teams in the league.

(29:23):
And they've done it sometimes, butthey've fallen short a lot of times.
And this was one another game againstDenver, much like their earlier matchup in
Boston. Went down to the clutchand Denver made plays. Jokic made plays,
and Jason Tatum and the Celtics didit. And it just shows for
my money, they're the two bestteams in the league, but so far,

(29:45):
when it counts, the title runsthrough the champs and there's still the
champs until somebody beats them. Yeah, that was you know. I wrote
a story earlier in the week that, just after the weekend, with what
the Celtics are doing, you haveto you have to give them faith in
the East status. I mean,they're not gonna win seventy three games.
They're probably not gonna win seventy games. But other than that, their regular

(30:07):
season resume has everything. It hasbeen a fantastic regular season. They deserve
favorites in the East. But Iagree with exactly how you just put it.
The road to the title still runsthrough Denver. The Nuggets have proven
it to us, Jokic, Murray, the supporting cast. Okay, maybe
they're not as deep as they werelast season, but this team knows its

(30:27):
identity, knows exactly who it is. And with Denver, you really don't
even worry about where they're seated.If it's first, second, third,
they're still going to be the Westfavorites for me. But then we move
to the MVP discussion, and Igotta say, you know, I don't
think Tatum lost it Thursday night.To me, the Celtics are too good.

(30:52):
I think that's what hurts Jason Tatum'sMVP case more than anything we've been
talking all season long. The Celticshave the best top in the league.
To me, that's what hurts JasonTatum's MVP candidacy because he has a lot
of very high level help. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I
have no problem with anyone who wantsto put Jason Tatum on their MVP ballot.

(31:15):
I think that's perfectly fair they wantto drop him into the fourth or
fifth spot. But for my money, it's it would have been Joel Embiid,
But obviously we know with the newrules he's not eligible, and probably
with the amount of time he's missed, wouldn't have gotten the votes anyway under
the old system. But in thenew world, I think it's Nikola Jokic
pretty far and away. Then I'vegot Jay Gillis, Alexander Janni, Sante

(31:41):
Kumpo one two order, and whateverorder you like and feel good about.
And then it's Luka Doncic and JasonTatum, and those ones I'm fine with
if if you want to say,Harry Tatum's team has the far better record,
so I'm gonna boost him a littlebit ahead, or if somebody wants
to say Doncicic's stats are so overwhelming, I'm gonna boost him ahead. But
yeah, I never understood the wholeidea of, well, this is this

(32:04):
game is going to go a longway towards deciding the MVP, because I
never felt like Jason Tatum was there, and full disclosure, it's you know,
that's my guy, Like he's oneof my favorite players in the league.
But I just I can't can't getthere with with Jason Tatum as an
MVP candidate this year because the numbersaren't there and the team record certainly is.
But that's a testament to the overallstrength and depth of the d team

(32:29):
versus him single handedly pushing them anddriving them there, because you could argue
he's only one of several driving forcesfor that team. Heith Smith, who
covers this league on more platforms thanI can count, joining us here on
the Saturday Steinline here on ninety sevenwon the Freak and as I mentioned before,

(32:49):
I probably asked Keith questions about thesalary cap roster spots in the league
rules. All I mean, Igo to him near daily, and I'm
really glad we had the chance tobring him on here, so you guys
can hear why and you can findout exactly why I'm going to him so
often for my answers. I wroteanother piece this week that I wanted to

(33:10):
get your perspective on every March whenthe NHL trade deadline surfaces and the NHL
trade deadline was Friday at three pmEastern, a full month after the NBA's
trade deadline, and of course,the NHL season starts two weeks earlier than

(33:32):
the NBA season. So just givenwhat a cap guy you are, what
is your reaction when you see howlate the NHL trade deadline is? Yeah,
it's interesting. When I read thatpiece, it wasn't something I'd given
a whole lot of thought to.I'm not a big hockey guy, full

(33:52):
disclosure, so it wasn't something Iwas even really aware of, and reading
the piece, it really did sparksome time, and I was kind of
of two minds. I was like, well, boy, it would be
really nice to have the whole extramonth of understanding where's our team at.
Like, like I look at theNew York Knicks or even the Philadelphia seventy

(34:14):
six ers. Would they have operateddifferently at the trade deadline if they had
known a month later? Or we'vegot all these injuries, we need to
do X, Y and Z withour team. You know, that's something
that might have happened. Then.On the flip side, I also look
at it though when I say day, like I said, I'm not hockey
guys. So I don't know howeasy it is to pull a player and
put them in a line and offyou go. But I think in the

(34:37):
NBA, I can only imagine acoach is like, wait, you're handing
me two, three, sometimes fournew players with a month to go in
this season and saying, hey,make this work into something really great before
the playoffs. Like that feels likeit's just such a short amount of time
in the NBA. And I thinkthey did good with moving it ahead of
the All Star break. I knowit takes some of the luster of the

(34:58):
reporting around every body gathering for AllStar and all that stuff out of it.
But debt DeMarcus Cousins situation where he'syou know, formed at the All
Star Game of hey you've been tradedlike that was such a you know,
weird and surreal and silly thing.So I kind of like that they they
moved it where they did, andthey've they've done. It's I'm okay with
the NBA's one, but there issomething to being said of like, well,

(35:21):
we have a lot better picture ofwhat kind of team we are if
it was pushed back a little bitlater. Yeah. I mean, look,
I think you can apply it tothe Mavericks situation here in Dallas,
or just imagine, you know,the Mavericks are wondering do they have enough
time to build some continuity before theplayoffs? And PJ. Washington and Daniel
Gafford have been in town for amonth. I mean, imagine if you

(35:43):
know, deadline day was Friday,and now the Mavericks are trying to get
this thing. They're trying to workthese guys in in a matter of days
as opposed to a month plus.To me, that just would have been
crazy. Getting your thoughts on theMavericks trade deadline business. I definitely want
to do that before we go,and Keith Smith is our guest here Orlando
based Keith Smith follow him on Twitterat Keith Smith NBA. Obviously, PJ.

(36:09):
Washington and Daniel Gafford address clear needsthis team had, but the trade
price that Dallas paid was substantial,So please give me I'd love to hear
your perspective on Dallas's moves and whatthey gave up to make those two trades.
It's that last part. It's thetrade price, because this was a

(36:30):
team that was already closing in andoperating from a deficit. As far as
tradeable assets go, because they'd useddraft picks to obviously acquire Kyrie Irving and
in other deals they're they're they're presumablythis year gonna finish out the obligation from
the Chris STAPs porzingis trade. Uh. But Dad was kind of hanging over

(36:50):
them as they they built out thisteam. So I think that's that's where
it got tough for me, wasit was a little bit of a steep
price to add Daniel Gafford, whoall the way up until Thursday night had
been the backup center. And Iknow Jason Kidd hinted at and then ultimately
made a lineup change on Thursday thatinserted Gafford into the starting five. So

(37:10):
giving up a first round pick,if you're thinking, all right, maybe
he'll be our starting center, orhe's at least going to be somebody who's
gonna play twenty five minutes a night, okay, I can maybe get there.
Like I think that's okay. ThePJ. Washington one, I don't
really have any kind of issue withthat one. I think Dallas did.
The Grant Williams signing wasn't working out. It just wasn't going anywhere. Good

(37:34):
for him for the Mavericks that thatseemed like that was going to turn into
one of those contracts where it's like, gosh, we gotta get get this
guy out of here. And theydid it early. And I think there's
something he said for front offices whenit is something is not working, not
just keep hammering that square peg intoa round hole, but saying it doesn't
work, Let's let's act. Let'slet's try to get to something else that's

(37:58):
workable. So I guess I'm kindof two minds that I liked the PJ.
Washington acquisition. The Daniel Gafford one, I'm a little bit more luke
warmon. I think it's a goodacquisition of a good player. I just
don't know that paying a first roundpick for a guy who, probably,
if everything goes right with Derek Lively, is a backup center. That's just
a little bit of a steep pricefor me. Last thing I'm going to

(38:20):
hit you with before we let yougo, As I mentioned, you're based
in Orlando. Jamal Moseley was anassistant in Dallas for a long time before
becoming the Magic's head coach. Avery well regarded and popular figure here in
Dallas. I mean, we've seenthe Magic up at number four this week
in the East. What do youthink of Jamal Moseley's chances in the Coach
of the Year race? Yeah,I think Coach of the Year tends to

(38:45):
go often in the voting to someonewho really exceeds expectations quite a bit.
So we could see in the WesternConference Chris Finch or Mark Deagnall, whose
teams are battling it out at thetop of the conference with the timberwo in
the Thunder, respectively, maybe theyget there. But in the East it
I think Jamal Mosley deserves as muchcredit as anybody in the Eastern Conference for

(39:08):
what he's done. He took ateam that if we go back to last
year, I know nobody loves splittingthe season into thirds more than you do.
I know you love the trimesters.So the first trimester for them,
they were five and twenty and absolutelybrutal and not playing good basketball at all.
Then they played five hundred ball forthe rest of the year, and
that first chunk of the year theydidn't have any healthy guards. They were

(39:31):
playing lineups literally, Apollo Banko andFranz Wagner, a rookie and a second
year guy who were both forwards inthe main ball handling positions. And then
when their guards get healthy, everythingstarted to make a lot more sense.
They played meaningful basketball into late Marchearly April, and they were right in
the mix for a playing spot.This year, they've taken a step forward.

(39:52):
Plus now they're battling. Like yousaid, they're fourth as you know
as of this week, and they'reright in the mix to maybe a team
that gets through into the actual topsix in the playoffs and doesn't even have
to deal with the playing tournament.Jamal Wilesley's been a huge part of that.
He preaches defense and playing together,and this team has really come together.

(40:14):
Well. Thank you for remembering myold trimester bit, which feels like
a century ago at ESPN when Iused to give my trimester awards and second
trimester awards before putting out my finalawards ballot. Keith Smith, A pleasure
to catch up with you on theSaturday. Thank you, my friend,

(40:34):
for doing it, and that isgoing to do it for this edition of
the Saturday Steinlight