Daily Ticket w/ Brace & Barnard: LUKA VS THE MAVS! - 02/25/25

Sean Brace and Sean Barnard talk Luka Dončić facing off against the #Mavericks for the first time since the trade to the #Lakers, Tuesday's #NBA slate, Joel Embiid's future, and more.

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Acting in the mix. Here we go. It's a daily
ticket with you on a I believe it's a Tuesday.
It feels like a Friday, could be a Sunday. I'm
still all over the place. But it's day one. Back
in the mix. It's a daily ticket and crazy stuff
at the household. This week. My mother is going to
a little bit of a major operation, get a new hip, Shampanard.

(01:23):
I look forward to those days. Yeah, so your boy
will be hanging at the studio for the next couple
of days here recording a bunch with the Gambler gang
and Individual Number one stepping up to help me out
here Sham Benard and the crime scene report, and I
can't thank him enough. Of course, I feel like I

(01:46):
feel like it's a crime scene when we tune in
for the seventy six ers all season long, but specifically
last night, fifty points to the Chicago Bulls, like it's
just absurd right now, it's it's on a level that
nobody saw this was going to be at, and it's
about as ugly as it's ever been in my mind.
But before we dive into the seventy six ers, how

(02:06):
you doing, How was your weekend? Sir?

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yeah, I can't complain here.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
Not as eventful as or fun as going down to
Disney as yourself did there.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
But life is good. Been locked into the basketball world.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
It does feel like it's kind of hitting that stride
of the season where every game means a little more.
Unfortunately not for our Philadelphia seventy six ers. I do
think they've been as lifeless and as embarrassing as my
entire lifetime. That including the process here is right there.
So it's tough right now, but from a full full
scale basketball perspective, it is good times right now.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, No, you're right, And of course leading the way
is Luca versus the Dallas Mavericks Round one, which would
be really fun. We talked a little bit about that
last week. What's the number that you'd be willing to
jump at with a picks and roll? Myself, you and
Sam Austrey, who's out on the scene these days, and

(02:55):
we threw out the number, I think thirty one and
a half and spot on. There we are right now
this DraftKings sports book is rolling out a thirty one
and a half for Luka doncits tonight versus the Dallas
Mavericks game being played in La Lucas average in twenty
six point seven this season per game, of course, has
been dinged up finding his stride a little bit. Big

(03:16):
win by the Lakers against the Nuggets the other night,
Gotta give them credit on that one. Still not buying
what's being sold to me, But Sean Binard, we will
definitely discuss that game at length, and let's do it
right now because it is the number one topic as
far as all things sports happening on Tuesday to twenty
fifth Luca versus the Mavericks. Before we dive in and

(03:38):
take a look at the numbers and some of the
props that are from Lucas perspective for tonight, what's going
on with the Lakers in your mind? Where they surprising you?
Is this something that you know the league will figure
out eventually opponents? Or do we expect the Lakers to
continue to put together some big time wins and could
very well be a higher seed than when we imagined.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, it's still obviously a work in progress, so you
kind of get these guys on the same page figuring
out how to play with each other. But I will
say I'm incredibly encouraged by the last game I watched,
the Lakers versus the Denver Nuggets. There it was very
clear that JJ Reddick put in the homework, had a clear,
concrete game plan in place, and they executed to a
full tea.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
There.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
They were picking up Yokic ninety four feet, they were
doubling off ball, not allowing entry passes to him in
the post, a ton of advanced stuff that you typically
just don't see for your run of the mill regular
season game. And then finally Luka Doncic woke up to
the version of him that we know and expect to
this point. Also thought he was fairly bought in, defensively
walked away with three or four steals in that game.
Was quite proud talking about that post game, So shout

(04:37):
out to Luca for that. So I do think that
was a pretty telling performance from what the Lakers can
actually do. This is gonna be another measuring stick type
game today. I do think the Lakers are dangerous. I'm
still skeptical that they don't have a true big man,
and that's gonna be a tough hurdle to clear. Jackson
Hayes is who he is, Alex Linn is who he is.
But the reality is when matching up with a team
like Jokic over a seven game series, there are gonna

(04:58):
be some problems there. So while look good in that
one game sample size, I'm not all the way on
on this Lakers team, but that's as encouraging of a
performance as we've seen since Luka trade, and I do
think we could see something similar tonight.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Is there anything for people that might have missed that
game that stood out to you a little bit? From
Denver's perspective, Again, it was a big time win one
twenty three to one hundred. A lot was going into
I'd say it was more important for the Lakers than anyone,
but that's easy to say. As you said, defensively with Joker,
that's the first thing that you look at from the
box score perspective. He finished with twelve points two to

(05:29):
seven for shooting minus eleven on the on the day
Gordon went for twenty four. What else was the big
one in this was this Denver pressing or did the
Lakers just raise their game up because they knew how
important this game was.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, I definitely give the credit to JJ Redick and
the Lakers there that it's pretty rare that you see
Jokic with that amount of shot volume, and in fact,
I'm fact checking right now, he has had just seven
shot attempts one other time this season. This guy who
shoted shot the ball as many as thirty times times
thirty nine times in a game this season to yokichs
as far as an offensive engine, they really did not
allow that to be the case. I was pretty impressed

(06:05):
with just the commitment in that area, and the doubles
off balls were pretty advanced up. That's a difficult thing
to do when the ball is swinging around the perimeter.
That ruy Hachimour deserves some significant credit for that. Jad
Vanderbilt as well certainly played a part so a whole
team effort, and it is interesting we obviously get the
offensive ceiling that has brought on when you have Luka,
Doncic and Lebron James. J. J. Reddick has also been

(06:25):
pretty expressive about his belief indignant on the defensive end.
That's gonna be something to watch. We've seen the hurdles
for Luka Doncic on this end of the floor in
years past, and that's been referenced constantly as far as
a motivating factor for why they moved on for Doncic overall.
It certainly showed up in the NBA Finals last year
with Jyalen Brown kind of throwing Luca off his game,
and you know, making things difficult. Certainly has been targeted

(06:46):
for stretches, but I do think that there is a
little bit more potential there than maybe I initially did.
So to me, this is more about the Lakers being
successful than the Nuggets struggling. And we'll see what happens
from here.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Interesting, all right, Yeah, and over to the Lakers, as
you pointed out, uh, spread out. You know you got
Luca thirty two, Austin Reeves twenty three, Lebron twenty five,
Rui twenty one. So you know, getting the getting four
players and twenty plus points, that's always a good thing
and it's only gonna make life a little bit easier
on you there. What are they shooting from downtown? Because

(07:19):
you know that that's gonna continue to be something that might,
you know, frustrate a team down a stretch sixteen or
forty one in that one thirty nine percent with a
Denver shooting that one Denver shott. Yeah, same thing as well.
All right, heading into tonight's game, let's talk a little
bit about the Dallas Mavericks, winners of three straight and
then lost last time out against the Golden State Warriors

(07:42):
one twenty six to oneh two. Kyrie, you know, you're
not gonna get that much of a which is funny
to say that, but Kyrie is a straight shooter. He's
not something that's gonna make something big out of nothing.
Right when it comes to the game, the game of
basketball is a game of basketball. A bunch of players,
We're gonna go out there. You got some super stars.
I'm reading a couple of quotes from him at cbssports

(08:03):
dot Com didn't really give much into the game other
than the standpoint of course coming off a loss to
as well, so you're gonna be a little bit, a
little bit vague in the locker room following that type
of game. But it did say that he expects Luca
to have a lot of confidence. Translation Champanard, does that
mean a lot of points where you're going into this one.

(08:24):
First of all, your thoughts on the Dallas Mavericks. What
are they looking like coming into tonight's game.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
Yeah, I mean it obviously really sucks the way the
Anthony Davis stuff has panned out. That he looked absolutely
terrific in that first half of basketball when he did
make his debut there with the I'm here screaming to
the crowd, pumping guys up, being dominant on both ends
of the floor. And unfortunately they've learned the Anthony Davis
experience at an accelerated rate there that in the span
of one game you went from seeing what he's capable
of on the floor to also seeing him walk right

(08:49):
back to the locker room, which is unfortunately the theme
with him as well. So Davis still seeming like several
weeks from returning to the floor. So pretty much their
outlook is pretty uh, I guess not as optimist sick
until that is the case there. But they still play hard,
they still have talent and still batting a lot of injuries.
Still not gonna be Daniel Gafford on the floor tonight,
really limited at the big man position there, which obviously
the Lakers aren't gonna be a team that can overly

(09:11):
punish that. I still like what Max Christie's doing. He
had a little bit of a bad game, just two
point performance the last time he stepped on the floor,
but I'm still intrigued by what he can be. Kyrie
Irving is capable of going on a heater, but this
night is going to be about Luca man I do
think that there are gonna be some feelings be put
on display in this matchup. It's not these Mavericks teammates'
fault that he was ultimately traded, but he's got to
take it out on somebody, and unfortunately, I think that

(09:33):
they are next in line. So with Luka Danciic finally
showing to be the caliber of talent that he did
in the last game, breaking free for his first thirty
plus point game in a Lakers uniform, and now facing
the former teammates, I think he built right off that
and it is gonna be a strong performance tonight.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
All right, Yeah, you know, a couple games in the
Association seven to fill us up here, A lot of
good college hoops, of course, great games last night college
card front and center for us, but both Hardwood will
be on the television screens this evening, and that one's
the big one that's going off at ten o'clock tonight.

(10:08):
We've all had our eyes immediately focused on this matchup.
DraftKings Sportsbook showing a nine point spread Lakers favorite at home.
Two thirty three and a half is our total. Will
we be looking at this game any differently if it
was being played in Dallas?

Speaker 4 (10:23):
I think there'd be a different factor to it. Honestly,
what would be the most interesting to me if that
was the case, is really the crowd reaction there that
this certainly won't not be a case in which Luca
is going back to hostile territory or booed. In fact,
I think it's more likely that the Mavericks would be
booed more.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Than Luca would be.

Speaker 4 (10:38):
So it is kind of interesting That matchup will be
occurring a couple weeks from now, so that'll be something
to watch as well. Curious if there is any recognition
of Nico Harrisonterfrees even in the building for tonight. He
obviously was that the last game against the Warriors. DeAndre
Iguodala jersey retirement there so kind of a cool moment
that he was there, saw the picture of him rap Palenko,
which was pretty interesting. I'm speaking there. I don't think

(11:01):
it changes anything from an on court standpoint that Luca
has these feelings. There's this quote flying around that they've
awoken a beast after him being traded here, So I
think he's gonna be locked in regardless of where they're
playing or who he's playing against. This is just gonna
be one that he's certainly been waiting on since this
day game.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
With Andre Goodal's number going up to the raftors, why
was Nico there?

Speaker 3 (11:21):
He former agent of Viguidhala.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Really, Oh, I didn't even know that.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, Yeah, that's how he kind of worked his way
up the GM ladders. He does have some experience as
an agent. There's quite a few ties there, and with
Plinka directly that they had quite a strong relationship sort
of center around Kobe Bryant with some different angles representation there.
So that's how he kind of carved his path to
this point.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, I knew about the Kobe side of things. I
didn't know about the other players that he represented. Interesting
Igdahl's number to the rafts. I know there were some
people in Philadelphia floating the idea that maybe Iggy's numbers
should go up to the rafts. Had to be some
Iggy discussion on our timeline, right, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
I saw Jansen was tweeting about it, saying that he
thinks is wrong. It's not retired in a Sixers Oh for.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Crying out loud, John Janssen.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah, I don't feel that strongly about it, to be honest,
I think we saw who exactly what he was. You
definitely can make the case he had his best seasons
in a Sixers uniform, but the most effective or impactful
version of himself was certainly not being this number one
option that they really tried to make him here with
the Sixers. So shout out to him for making the
most beat out there in Golden State. He does have

(12:26):
a finals MVP to his name. We do know that
Max Kallerman will take him with the galaxy being pointed
at Earth, So igodall has made his impact known.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Cool moment for him for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, absolutely good for him. Yeah, and that's where he
had his most success. He was a good basketball player
with the seventy six ers. He was nowhere a great
basketball player. I was a good basketball player. Those teams
were good. They were never great. I mean we were
we were fanstatic because we won the second we made
the second round one season.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
Derek rose towards acl B, by the way, not because
they were better.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
And there was one other who else was the one
that the one series where everybody got hurt? Joke him,
Noah ended up getting hurt or was at the bulls. Yeah,
everyone got hurt. But again, regardless it was it was
a fun time and it was a fun run. But
you don't have to retire jerseys. Literally, what are we
talking about here. We're talking about putting numbers up to
the rafters for guys that won what that did? What here?

(13:26):
John Jansen, good Greek. I would imagine that he tweeted
that out while his face was stuffed in a large
bowl of popcorn at some movie. But God bless him.
I'll have to bring that one up tomorrow. I appreciate that.
I can't believe he was the one floating that out there,
that iggy iggy to the rafters for the seventy six ers. Mike,
all right, let's go ahead and get on over to

(13:48):
those seventy six ers. Let's talk about the present day
and WHOA tell you what following from Afar not very
all that detailed, But last night ended up getting in
around a seventh already popped on the television, or getting
home popped on the TV. And that game continued to
get worse and worse and worse, to the point that

(14:09):
I saw as I was, you know, unpacking, doing this,
getting ready, blah blah blah. Fifty points, fifty point lead
by the Chicago Bulls over these seventy six ers. And
I know Paul George had a lot to say afterwards,
essentially saying that, yeah, this team is not what anyone
is trying to make it out to be, which is good,

(14:30):
but everyone's got to look themselves in the mirror. And
I mean, yeah, everyone, everyone, this is front office, this
is ownership. This is a disaster. And I was talking,
I was, I was coming up with an idea of
what you can do, you know, post as far as

(14:52):
after the season is over. What changes do you make?
Do you have to make a change? You know, Darryl Moore,
we know what his deal is. He's the one that
ultimately signs his own contract. Would Josh Harris say, thanks,
but it's time to go on. We need a fresh
new energy could possibly be. I do think that that

(15:12):
is a possibility. I really do think that Josh Harris
could say that things have turned out so ugly that
we just need to start fresh from this point in time.
Maybe Morey walks away. I don't know, but I am
definitely under the impression that things are so bad that
there has to be a firing of Nick Nurse. There
are Morey steps away, and it can't be out in brand.

(15:35):
It just cannot. Things are that ugly. And I hope
nobody goes to a game from here on out because
that's how disgusting this team is at this point in time.
Fifty points to the Chicago Bulls at home. What's going
on here?

Speaker 4 (15:49):
The Chicago Bulls team without Nicol la Vucevich and with
Lonzo Ball leaving before halftime by the way, So just
add that to the list. But I mean, yeah, you're
absolutely right as far as when a season goes this
off the rails, when it is this disastrous with those
type of expectations coming into a year, there have to
be changes.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Now.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
The number one for me is I think it's pretty
written in stone that Nick Nurse will won't be back,
and I honestly think there's a chance that he just
straight up quits, that he really wants no part of
coming back.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
He looks miserable out there now.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
In fairness to Nick Nurse, he has not been the
biggest issue with the Sixers team. He's been dealt just
about as bad as a hand as he possibly can
get as a head coach. But he certainly hasn't been
a part of the solution either. And when you factor
in how bad they've been defensively or the lack of
connection that there is within this team we're talking about.
They allowed a season high to the Chicago Bulls that
was the most points they've scored in a game all season.
Last night, they allowed seventy five points before halftime. They

(16:38):
allowed thirty nine points in the first quarter, this coming
a game after they gave up forty points in the
first quarter to the Brooklyn Nets, who are also a
brutal basketball team. So it is some pretty embarrassing stuff
from some pure on court standpoint, and Nick Nurse has
to wear that honest sleeve to some extent here. I
understand that it's been challenging with the roster constrictions that
have been thrown his way. Joel Embiid headlining thing will

(16:59):
dive into him in a secon for the full outlook there.
But as far as Nurse specifically here, I do believe
a head coach can be good enough to win you
some random games throughout a year by the moves that
he makes, the rotations, the plays he calls. Nurse hasn't
done that whatsoever, so I do think he has to
wear that. And beyond all of that, I do think
there just needs to be a change up in voice.
That it does feel like his words are falling on

(17:19):
deaf ears to this point, and we've seen this time
and time again that sometimes there just needs to be
a new voice, new figure.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
That's what I expect from the head coaching decision.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
As far as the Daryl Mory conversation, I don't expect
him to be going anywhere. There are these constant whispers
and rumors and people sort of pushing the Bob Myers
being capable to step in that. He obviously is connected
with Josh Harris with a little bit of work within
the Commanders organization. I get that Bob Myers has the
rings on his fingers and the resume that you can
look at on a surface level and believe that he
would be an upgrade from Darryl Mory. I unfortunately just

(17:49):
don't think that's the case. I think Darryl is better
that at his job than Bob Myers is at the
same spot there as a general manager. And for I
get it, he's won championships, he's done all these things.
I pushback would be it's a pretty nice place to
start as a general manager when you walk into a
spot that already has Steph Curry. So I think that
made job his job a lot easier there. He certainly

(18:10):
has been successful as well. But I think when like
a signing blame for the season, Darryl did a lot
of the right things.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
It just has not worked out, and that's sort of
the story of the season.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, look, I think it would be. And again it
is Maury willing to step away. It's got to come
from Josh Harris. That's number one. Like, hey man, we
just need a complete we got to reevaluate things, and
this is a perfect time for you to say, you

(18:42):
know what, it's at my time, at the seventy six ers,
time to move on. Could that possibly be the case? Sure?
Does Maury step away? Probably not? I don't. I don't
think he's burned out a I'm sure he's frustrating, upset,
But at the end of the you know, at the
end of the season, immediate snapping of fingers. You got
NBA Draft, so these brains continue to go. Of course

(19:05):
they should have a high pick. Hopefully, Yeah, we'll see.
Hopefully it's top six. If it is, they get to pick.
If not seven through whatever, thirty, then it's going the
other way, so that could make life easier. I think
it's thirty six after that. I don't know. I just
think that this season has gone so sideways that there

(19:27):
were people talking about this team competing for a championship,
people at high levels, and you know, you go out
there and spend all this money and lock yourself into
two deals that are considered right now, two of the
worst contracts in professional sports, let alone NBA worst contracts
out there. I just I don't see this all coming

(19:50):
back now. Nick Nurse. Isn't a surprise because coaches get
fired all the time. But you're right, like, he's the
low man at the totem poll for this one. For me, yeah, yeah, this,
but Elton Brand would be the ultimate scapegoat. We know that,
but I just think you need to go ahead and
clean house because this is this is a bad franchise.
Disaster doesn't even describe it at this point in time,

(20:12):
because I just don't know what you're going to get
from Joel Embiid moving forward, how the approach is going
to work with that Paul George is literally not the
same player that he was even a year ago. Even
a year ago, you looked better, Like what's going on
right now? Is it? Is it just him mentally? This team,
Like I didn't think championship, but I thought roster wise,

(20:36):
I liked what I saw being put together. I didn't
think in any way we would be here on February
twenty fifth talking about you gotta fire everybody and shut
the season down. This is a disaster. And I'm being
kind by using that word.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
Yeah, I mean it absolutely is a disaster. That for
the Paul George stuff, I'm gonna view this like I
I this is optimistic, lens.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
I'll deposit with that.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
I do think he's more hurt than we know that,
Like these reports starting to come out of him receiving
injections just to have to be on the floor that
he's obviously had the two bone bruises in his knee,
He's had the growing issue. That pinky issue is still
kind of a factor here, and you can see his
hand still being taped up. I think he's probably battling
through it a little bit more than we publicly know.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
To this point. I definitely hope that is the case
for Paul George.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
The only thing that I really push back in all this,
I will stick up for Darryl in this case that
I have a hard time being overly critical when I
think he made a lot of the right moves, things
just haven't worked out, Like when you look at the
bottom of this roster, the way that he's drafted. He's
done a lot of good for this franchise, and what
exactly did he do wrong here? The biggest thing that
people are gonna hold over his head it is the
Joel Embiid extension. And for that specifically, I personally like,

(21:45):
I get it if you really want to nitpick and
say you should have made him played out his contract,
and you obviously always hold that trump card of we
can offer you more than any other team, so you're
gonna want to stay here. So I get you could
have pushed the timeline that. I also kind of think
Embiid earned it from these stans of like, you know,
what he's done to this point. He's the caliber of
talent that it's worth taking a risk on. And I
also think there's a lot of revisionist history kind of

(22:05):
going down about how quickly he's breaking down. Let's not
forget that one year ago, last year, before him getting injured,
Joel Embiid was in the midst of one of the
most impressive individual seasons we've seen an NBA history. That
last year in the playoffs, he was acting thirty three points,
eleven boards, and six assists, being the best player on
the floor against the New York Knicks.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
That stuff happened.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
That was not in theory. That is what happened last year.
So is it frustrating that this is a version of
him that is there. Yes, But I get the risk assessment.
I understand why he did it, and it just kind.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
Of sucks that this is the fallout.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
I look at this more of like an unfortunate break
than real a real miscalculation.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah, you know, the thing I would say is that
we always walt, We always watched Joelleenbid like you know,
like walking on eggshells. But again, you're not going to
be a general manager and not give him that deal
because of what if he gets hurt. No, I did
think that it was again I don't know the exacts,
act dates and versus what you could get, and I

(23:03):
did feel like it was soon. I didn't get their
right vibe like they're giving him a contract extension at
this point in time, Like what are those conversations being
taking place behind the scenes We're not privy to, right,
Like I never thought Joell Eenbiid was leaving, So did
you need to give it to him at this point
in time? And I think, dude, at this where he's

(23:24):
at in his career, you should probably be a little
cautious versus aggressive giving him that deal, Like I would
have to really sing my teeth into And I'm still
even with that, You're still going to end up giving
him the contract extension unless this season played out the
way it did, and then you would probably have to

(23:45):
look at it in a whole different light. But if
he comes back and he plays like he did last
year or the year before, whatever it may be, then
you're still gonna give him that deal. You don't want
him going. That's a man who's jersey will end up
in the rafters. He's the one that deserves being retired.
Even though he didn't win anything here, still we know
how great he was. He's a great basketball player. So

(24:08):
I don't know, I think I would have to push
back a little bit on that saying I don't think
that they didn't. It didn't occur to me that they
needed to give him the extension. He wasn't. There weren't
any rumors out there that he was like, I'm unhappy.
You know, I'm not making one thing about Joelle embiid.
I haven't heard too much about that. He's been He's
been dealt a great hand. Every single time that his

(24:30):
name has come up for contra new negotiations. He's always
got the money from the seventy six ers. So I
don't know. I think that there would definitely be some pushbacks,
some valid pushback on that one, But all in no,
I'm going to come back to the fact that you
are going to give that guy his his money, You're
going to keep him in a six ers you.

Speaker 4 (24:48):
To form And that's just kind of what I sit
on here is this is just like standard procedure for
a player of Joelle Embiid's caliber. That say what you
want about Joel Embiid, and obviously this has been by
far the worst year of his career, by far, the worst,
worst year, worst season four a team.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
Built around Joel Ebid of his entire career.

Speaker 4 (25:03):
And by the way, if they were to win every
single game for the rest of the season, they still
would have the worst record of the Embid era of
any season.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
That's how bad that they are right now.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
But as far as like the standard procedure for giving
it to it when you are that caliber of talent,
this is sort of just how things go. That shake
Gil just Alexander will never get to the point where
he's passed that window of possible extension.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
Nikolea.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Jokic will have that extension signed every time that he
gets in that window. Yiannest, we'll have that extension sign
every time that he's in the window. And one of
the things that I think particularly has Darryl Mory like
committed to the Joel Embiid experience here is you can't
say this about very few players, but throughout Jouell's career
and again this year is an exception regardless of the
four guys on the court around him, it's going to

(25:45):
be a winning team that you're going to be an
above five hundred playoff contender. That's who Joel Embiid is.
It's really hard to find guys like that, and it's
even harder to find guys who at their best you
have a case as the best player in the NBA.
That's who Joel embid is flashed to be throughout his career.
And when you have that, it's kind of worth living
with the risk there. Now we're seeing the downsides of this,
and we'll see what percentage of Joel Embiid can really

(26:07):
return to the floor. This is certainly the biggest crossroads
I say I'd say we'd ever face, and internally there
certainly seems to be I guess some tension within the
franchise between Embiid and the Sixers for how to handle this.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
So I'm very curious how these next couple weeks are.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Kyle Nubeck had a really interesting piece that I suggest
reading there that basically like the bare bones of what
the arguments are behind the scenes right now is the
Sixers have leaned into this more conservative approach of this
low risk treatments that they wanted to go through physical therapy,
give him injections, stuff like that, and he basically kind
of get used to the new knee. Joel himself was
more privy to let's try whatever surgery is necessary to

(26:43):
clean up the actual issue and then that can be
my new normal. Now the Sixers push back to that
is obviously, if that goes wrong, there isn't really a
window to change it, Versus if they go down this path,
which has been the case this year, then like, obviously
you have other options on the table. With that being said,
Like even the version of Joel Embiid that was seen
to the beginning of the year, that guy was moving
far better than the version of him we've seen these

(27:03):
past couple of games on the court. So if he
cannot move at the level of what it is required
to be an above average elite NBA basketball player, there
needs to be more action steps being taken place than
have been the case thus far.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
So we'll be interesting to see.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
I think this is by far, like I think he
shut down for the year, no doubt about it. We'll
see how much they do the dance, But it would
be a crime if he steps fut on the floor
again this year.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
Geez, Yeah, it should have happened a couple months ago.
He should be back underneath the knife and getting that done.
I am sensitive to the Sixers perspective because I do
believe that they are onto something. They're like, hey, man,
if we do go underneath the knife, it's essentially our
last stitch effort here, last stitch effort. So we'll see.

(27:45):
But yeah, there's no reason for him to be playing.
He should have been shut down a couple of weeks ago.
Should have been you know, getting the procedure done immediately,
because this is the future of the franchise. It revolves
around him. As far as winning a championship. Winning a championship,
you're not going to do it without Joel Embiid being
a part of the starting five. So whatever you need

(28:06):
to do to get him out there. And again, I
don't even think that he will return to the same
type of Joell Ebid that we've seen last year or
the years leading up. But seventy percent of Joel Embiid
is better than majority of sinners that are out there
in the league at this point in time. So anything
you could do to get him back in there, Maury,
I'm with you. The only reason why I just think

(28:30):
I just think it's disfranchise this ownership group. They don't
tend to do things correct when when they get in
these positions, right, like, they tend to flub some things
up from here and there. So I could see that. Yeah, look,
the easy way is to make Daryl Moury, see you,
you know, not so much escapegoat. But he's the one
that signed off on this vision for this year extension.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
Last summer, by the way to Morey did.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, he's the guy. Yeah, you know, like he's got
the keys to the franchise. Josh Harris is running the
DC Commanders, Darryl Mory is running the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
He is the guy, and I don't see him stepping
down because again, he's a basketball ahead. He's in a

(29:16):
great position, He's earned where he's at. He drafts well,
draft will be snapping the fingers be here summertime like,
there will be constantly something to evaluate, to move to
move on from the ugly season that was and to
start focusing on how you can get the seventy six
ers better for next year. And I think Darryl Moray
would would would would strive to do that now again,

(29:38):
I just think how bad this season is and whether
or not season ticket holders are gonna have a say
in this, and you know, those sort of things are
gonna come up, and if it affects the bottom line,
then Josh Harrison company, they're gonna have to make some
drastic decisions. Nick nurse out And will that be enough?
I don't think it will be, but we'll see. We'll

(29:58):
see again. Joel Embiid though, and I know that you
pointed out Kyle Nubeck write article. I need to read
up on that one over there at PHL Live Sports.
I just think that, you know, Joel Embiid should not
have been playing this whole damn time, and it's unfortunate
that we're here in February and he's still being ruled
out before the game. And it's just like, dude, like

(30:21):
we're not the only one saying it. The whole NBA
league is saying it shut him down. Enough is enough?

Speaker 4 (30:28):
And the only thing that I want to inject here
for like I think is important for the conversation. It's
not like as linear as like go get surgery or
don't like it's really an evaluation of, like, how can
we help this guy. This isn't just he tore his
meniscus again and it needs surgery on it. This is
now deep rooted chronic issues that you're trying to clean up.
Like this latest report, this is coming from Joel Embid's

(30:49):
favorite reporter at the Philadelphia Inquire saying Joel Embiid could
undergo a meniscus replacement procedure or a procedure where doctors
break a bone in the hip to realign the joint
and alleviate pressure. That's pretty harrowing and scary stuff when
really thinking about it. And then if we just want
to be realistic, like there's a non zero percent chance
that Joel Embiid never returns to the floor, or is

(31:10):
the one hundred percent version of himself ever again, even
the fifty percent version of himself, that's a reality that
is on the table here. If that is the case,
the extension has been signed, that that contract is on
the table, You're locked into Joel Embiid until twenty thirty
at this point. And guess what all these other teams
see the exact same thing going on. They see him
not playing games, they see him not looking like himself.

(31:30):
So who is going to be taken on that contract?
If the Sixers like actually want to get off Joel Embiid,
you're gonna have to pay to do it. And then
that makes zero sense from a roster construction standpoint if
you're trading away draft picks to get worse and get
rid of this guy as you kind of enter a
rebuild here. So while it's unfortunate, while it's not ideal,
the brutal reality that people need to accept is you're
still married to Joel Embiid. This is still your guy

(31:53):
that is going to be a part of this franchise,
whether you like it to be the case or not.
So I have a great deal of sympathy for the guy.
I feel bad from him human being level that you
can throw that he's made all this money blah blah
blah things that he hasn't done perfect all very fair,
but that's a pretty tough feeling when like your body
is not responding at a rate you may never be
the true version of yourself. The basic tasks on the

(32:14):
basketball floor look difficult for him these days, and that's
never been the case for Joel. So I think this
is gonna be really hard on him from a physical
and a mental standpoint, and the Sixers just basically got
to be a part of it through this whole process.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah. Look, you know, it's the Almighty Father Times undefeated,
and it's really easy for us to sit here and
say it. Lebron putting a hell of a fight, by
the way, I know, you know, but Lebron's never dealt
with injuries crazy, you know, and Joel Embiid has. So

(32:47):
should we have seen this coming from Afar? Should we
have just said, you know, like you're still gonna give
him that contract? You just are you are unless you
were able to get a whole new general manager, a
whole new way of thinking for this organization and just say,
you know what, we're cutthroat. And that wasn't what the
seventy six Ers wanted to do. Like immediately, when they

(33:08):
rewarded Dwell and Bee without playing a single minute of
play for two straight seasons, it was dude, this is
his franchise, and we are hooking ourselves to the back
of the Great Jewell Embiide and I have no issues,
no issues, no issues all the way up until here.
We are so like I can't now all of a
sudden change my tune because things are going completely sideways,

(33:32):
and you know, it's just where we're at. And I yeah, look, dude,
if I was dwell Embiid, I'm not breaking my hip
to get back out there on the floor. You're not
doing that. Nope, Sorry, that's not how it's going to be.
If this is the end of my career, this is
the end of my career. I gave it my all
and that's it. And I think Joell Embiid there were
probably a few times ro at the course of his
career that he could have went and played, probably could

(33:55):
have been a little bit more of a team player,
whatever it may be. But ninety five percent of the time,
ninety percent of the time, Joel Embiid went out there
and gave it his all. And that's all I could
ask for. Man Father Times Undefeated. This is a bad deal.
It's not the only time we've seen some great some players.
Now of Joelle's magnitude, we really have to go into

(34:17):
the history books and measure but there have been plenty
of players that have had some huge, you know, projections
behind them, belief that they were going to be some
Superstars and then just injuries derailed them and Joel Embiid
could never take that next step up. Well, we'll see,
you know, we'll see what happens with with with the
procedure this offseason. But I am hopeful that he can

(34:41):
at least get back out there on the floor and
be a seventy five eighty percent Joel Embiid, and then
you could add them to the roster of Jared McCain,
Tyree Smaxi, some other new names that are out there
that will be the front and center focal point of
this organization of this franchise for years to come. Paul
Well George, I'm still under the belief that you can

(35:02):
get rid of him. I do. I want to. I
just want to be done with this. You tried, you
had to do what you had to do. The vision
was there. There's no reason to keep Paul George on
this team moving forward after this year. If you can
get out of that deal. I don't even know if
he can.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah, I think it's certainly an easier deal to get
out of than Embiid. When kind of having those conversations
and all the factors that like Paul George still for
all his flaws. Is a very plug and play player
that you can throw on any NBA roster and he
can find a role there. I don't think they'll do
that this soon, with like the trade conversations and value
in that it only gets I guess he only gets
more valuable as this contract gets closer to ending, and

(35:40):
I think that they'll at least try and run it
back for one more season pretty much regardless here, So
I would expect Paul George continues his Sixers career next year.
But stranger things have happened, and I certainly have not
been blown away with the caliber of basketball that he's
put on the floor. And I did just want to
note real quick on the Joel Embiid conversation, like to
take off my media hat completely for a second and

(36:00):
just look at it from a Sixers fan perspective that
this is a guy that like grew up watching.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
We'll never forget that first.

Speaker 4 (36:06):
Basket he hit against the Oklahoma City Thunder where it's like, Okay,
this is our guy. And really reflecting on like this
whole journey with Joel that has been over a decade
to this point, if this is the end of Joel
Embiid if he is never back on.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
The floor or looking like the real version of himself ever.

Speaker 4 (36:22):
Again, I'm not gonna sit there and be super regretful
about it that I'm happy that we tried it as
long as we did, that they were married to this guy,
that he was the face of organization and more loyal
than is the norm in sports these days. And it
really had me thinking with this Luka dancicch trade like
that would have been, like if you trade Embiid like
after his MVP season, And I think about how furious
I would have been from a Sixers fan perspective if

(36:44):
they had done that. Now, seeing where we currently are,
that probably would have been the right call from like
a roster construction standpoint, from a team building standpoint of
actually actually maximizing your assets. But I think about, just
like from a pure like pure fan perspective, how angry
that would have made me. There the fact that we
did get the experience, like the full Joelle Embiid like
timeline here, I think it's cool.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
We'll see how it fully ends.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
And I'm not saying this book is like closed, but
I do think that there is something a little bit
more special about like one guy being loyal to a franchise,
the franchise continuing to try different routes to maximize him,
build around him, try different options, and even though it
didn't work, like the process, we lived through it, and
I think we're.

Speaker 3 (37:22):
Better for it. Is I guess what I would say.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
Yeah, you know, I would sit there and say, Joelle Embiid,
all in all, yes, like I'm with you, front and center,
riding with you on that one. But I do think
those are the tough decisions that separate the great franchises
from the teams that never really get over the hump. Now,
we'll see, we'll see. I Luca just twenty five. That's

(37:50):
just complete malpractice. Joel Embiid with with a big man legs.
I think that would have took some serious stones to say, hey,
you know what, we're gonna strike when the iron's hot,
and it's never gonna be hotter than right now. I
might might have been the right you know, probably was
the right move, and you could have made a little

(38:10):
bit more of a case for me at that point
in time versus the Luka deal. The Luka deal is
just completely ridiculous. Now I would not have been happy either, like,
because I remember that did come up and I argued
with people, and people all said it, Oh, he won
the MVP. It's never gonna be his value will never
be as high, and they were one hundred percent correct
when saying it. I said it like that day. Sure

(38:33):
you're tweeting this, No, you're right, You're right, But I'm
not trading Joel Embiid. He is the MVP. There's more
to this than just a championship. And even if you
do trade Joel Embiid, is it going to translate to
a championship. No. I enjoy watching Jojo play. I thought
that if you put the right team around him as
he gets a little bit older, like this is only

(38:53):
the dude's a beast, he's gonna be incredible down low.
He's gonna be tough to stop. I still will hold
on to that thought. But if his career comes to
an end and he can't play twenty five plus games
in the season, I'm not gonna be all that shocked either.
So yes, kind of where we're at.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
Right now, Yeah, I think it's fair, but I guess
if it is, like, you're never winning a championship either way,
and there's certainly well, where you trade you well and
beating your chances, there's there, like I would rather keep
trying it the way they went down. So it's unfortunate
to have this all has transpired. I think sometimes you
do have to chalk it up to it just didn't
work out, and that's sort of the boat they're in
right now.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
No, you're right. You look around the league and how
many teams make these moves. Look at the Knicks and
what they gave up, you know, and the Knicks, I like,
I think the Knicks are a good team. The Knicks
ain't winning the NBA championship now, you know. Like like,
but that's where the rub is for me personally as
a fan and putting the microphone to the side, like

(39:51):
that's where like we all need to just take a
step back and enjoy the regular season more than we do.
And it hit me two years you go, and that's
what mentally what I've been doing. Now this year, I
can't enjoy a damn thing. I haven't enjoyed one minute
of basketball from the seventy sixth perspective, very very few
minutes this season. But you know, like not every season

(40:14):
is going to translate to a Championship. Not every move
is going to be the right move, and you know,
you look at what somebody seems are doing right now,
and it's it's frustrating, it really is. But when it
comes back to the seventy six er standpoint, it's like, man,
I just feel like even if they were to make
that move and and get five draft picks and and
bring in this veteran, you know, and then like these

(40:38):
guys are all a lot of these names that are
moved are all in that same you know, Hopper, and
it's the James Harden and it's the Paul George. Just
the rumors, just those guys that are available, like Luca
is crazy. I still can't believe Luca was traded. Like,
if you tell me there was a chance that Luca
was available for the seventy six ers, then this goes
out the window.

Speaker 4 (40:58):
But regardless of high NBA, by the way, the entire
NBA would say that, and that like as much as
like I think we're starting to move past the initial
reactions of the Luca trade, you will never be able
to defend, in my mind, the process about the way
he went about that trade. If you would officially decided
we're out on the Lukadancic business. I like, open it up,
make it open season forbidding and get the max possible.

(41:20):
And by the way, for this talk about like that
ruins our leverage. It just doesn't. Like the bottom line
is you have Lukadancic and no other teams do so
regardless of who knows if you're shopping them, like, you
still have the ultimate card. You control this entire thing.
So I still like, even if the Mavericks win three
championships with Anthony Davis is the guy here, that will
always be indefensible to me.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Oh, I couldn't agree more with you in the fact,
like you know, that made his life so much easier. Like,
that's gotta be a difficult decision. Get You need to
be raked out. You gotta be just sweating out and like, oh,
getting those last second calls, Like your job is a
general manager needs to be so tough if you're making

(42:03):
that decision, and the fact that it was like, eh, no,
it's pretty easy, We're good to go, like tells you all.
You need to know that that was the wrong way
of going about it. But regardless, there's something going on there,
whether it's the ownership group didn't want to spend the money.
I don't know, I have I have zero idea of
why you would trade Luke at that age. What he's
already accomplished and what because he likes to have a

(42:26):
couple of beers during a season like and in this
day and age two with everything that happens and what
people get away with, like real deal stuff, like come on, man,
what are we talking about here?

Speaker 4 (42:37):
Yeah, all right, extension eligible by the way, so we'll
see how those pockets are or if this was a
personal thing this summer.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yeah, you're right, that's just crazy, you know, bringing it
back to Joel and b like Anthony Davis is hurt,
Like it's just so tough man. And the Sixers got
it right by drafting Joel Embiid. The Sixers got it
right by keeping him around the Sixers. Like you look
at what the Boston Celtics were able to do. It's Tatum,
it's Brown, right, Like those were the two pieces and

(43:09):
they put together a hell of a roster around them.
But it started and ended with Tatum and Brown. Joel
Embiid and Ben Simmons was supposed to be the Tatum
and Brown. It didn't work out Mark el Foltz and
Mark l Fults. But I still think Ben, Benn and
Jojo were just they were the pieces. They were the two.
What's Ben doing out there in La catch me up there?

Speaker 3 (43:30):
He had twenty seven points the other night? Somehow get
the hell lot of here. I'm pretty sure Simmons scored
twenty seven points? What and I'm officially fact checking myself. No,
he didn't.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
I got I got trolled online there, so they got
me wrong on that one. So still a twelve point
six assists, seven seven rebound performance closer to his triple single.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
But yeah, I guess I did. Got did like that
one on Twitter?

Speaker 2 (43:57):
Well, that was gonna make me lose my mind because
it is always a want like he has the ability
just mentally doesn't. He's not there mentally, but you know,
like he had that one forty point performance against the
Jazz That was always one that I pointed at against
Rudy Gobert. I used to go, dude, he scored forty.

(44:19):
What do you want from the guy? He can go
out there and give you forty if he needs and
then of course what everything else take place? Oh that's funny.
Are the Clippers going to do anything with him.

Speaker 3 (44:29):
Ah. I mean they're trying, man, They're working them in.

Speaker 4 (44:32):
There's not a lot of pressure on him for sort
of the role that they seem to have designed for him.

Speaker 3 (44:36):
They've been pretty beat up.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
Norman Pals missed the last two games, Kawhi Leonard having
a little bit of knee issues, so we haven't really
seen this team in its full completeness since Simmons and
lost story straight. Yeah, and again like they were without
Kawhi Leonard and Norman power for I believe all three
of those games, definitely the last two there. So those
are two of your top scorers there. James Harden still
kicking around doing his thing. So I'll put it this way.
They aren't losses that I'm grading them super hard on

(44:59):
or against them. Did watch one of those games there.
I don't think Simmons moves the needle. I think we
all know that to this point. I think it is
a little bit fitting for him to be out there
with the little brother of Los Angeles and like that
seems to be the proper way or proper step in
his career at this point.

Speaker 3 (45:13):
But I don't know.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
I don't have as much ill will for him as
I thought I still would at this point. I feel
kind of like sad watching him play basketball these days
more than anything.

Speaker 3 (45:21):
So we'll see how it shakes out.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
I'm not fully counting out this Clippers team, but it's
certainly my belief in them went down now that James
Harden and Ben Simmons, two of the biggest playoff fallers
we've ever seen, both on that same roster.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
See, I totally disagree with you and that I will
always hate Ben Simmons. He is the most despised athlete
in Philadelphia history for me, and I wish nothing but
the worse for him. Now I did. I gotta give
praise a little bit here because I did say he
wouldn't play in thirty games this season. He's well above that, right.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
Let's check the exact number on this season, thirty six totals.
So I wouldn't say well above. But he did do it.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Yeah he did. He played thirty plus games, so okay,
good work for him. He ended up getting out there
in LA as you pointed out, the little brother, Maybe
that means he ends up with the Lakers the big
brother next year. Don't know. Does seem like he will
end up on another NBA roster next season. I would
imagine that we would the cakes. As I said that,

(46:21):
he would have played thirty and his NBA career would
be over this year. So maybe I'd bit off a
little bit more than I could choo there. But still
nothing to write home about because he doesn't shoot. He's
completely flawed still, and he's a liability to be out
there on the floor, and especially in postseason time. He's
a liability when he should be one of the better

(46:41):
players with that size and speed and the arsenal that
he does have. But enough about Ben Simmons, all right,
Anything else from the world of the NBA before we
dive into tonight's games, just as far as catching us
up here again. Long weekend for me down in Orlando.
Anything else from the weekend that was in the NBA.

Speaker 4 (46:59):
Yeah, I say my attention has somehow shifted to watching
like the bottom of the NBA here, got a Wizard's
win last night, Marcus Smart doing his thing, still playing
out there, the Toronto Raptors showing a spark here, Emmanuel quickly,
what do you have for us here in Philadelphia? Change
up the lottery odds a little so I've been watching
some bad basketball across the NBA overall at the Miami

(47:19):
Heat struggling, I am. I will say Golden State Warriors,
the Jimmy Butler experience earlier return has been pretty impressive there,
so that is kind of a more noteworthy story. I
would say, I do see the vision, I see how
it fits in. The chemistry with Draymond is pretty impressive
this quickly there. So I'm giving Golden State a chance
in a way that I did not initially think.

Speaker 3 (47:36):
I would think this way.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
The alphas. I love Draymond when he was on the
panel for the All Star Games. Man, when you got Alphus.
You know, elphas don't have to tell other alphas how
they feel. It's like, all right, shut up, Hey, he's
gonna be fine. He is definitely one of those dudes
that's going to shake things up. That's fine. I'm with it.
But I don't need to hear from Draymond Green. Sure,

(48:02):
if Draymond Green didn't play from Golden State, what's his
career looking like? If he didn't play with Steph Curry,
what's his career looking like? Great question? Him and Iggy,
Him and Eiggy both need to just be giving over
portions of the money that they earned to Steph Curry
but regardless.

Speaker 4 (48:18):
And Oscar Robinson, by the way basically saying as such
on his radio show this week, talking about Draymond specifically
being like all I do when I watch the words,
I just get to watch you past to Steph Curry. Man,
So I thought that was some valid shots taken by
Big O.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
That's it. And Draymond serves a purpose. And there were
times early in his career that he surprised me triple
double like I was like, damn, Draymond is a little
bit better than what I thought. But he found himself
the ultimate place. And now we have allowed him to
just be this this boasterous like voice and like dude
when he's ripping the game in an All Star lead up,

(48:55):
And that irked the hell out of me because you
know how many people work hard behind the scenes, Like
you could sit there and say that I am unhappy
with the way that this is looking right now on television.
These rising stars don't deserve and that gripe is is real.
I'm with you, But do you know how many people
work on that telecast that work behind the scenes, that

(49:16):
have tried you know, and here you are just continuing
to just rip it through the shreds. And oh, by
the way, look yourself in the mirror, you and your players,
and how we ended up getting into this position. He
failed to bring that up a lot throughout the broadcast.
But that's Draymond. Draymond's gonna do what Draymond wants to do.
That's fine, all right. So you're right about the Warriors,

(49:37):
as they are winners of three straight. There to tonight's games.
Real quick, we got Celtics Raptors eleven points spread. Yeah,
hang on, pause, time out. We are now looking at
tank watch. So what's the important part here, sham Banard?
What do we It's been a little while since we've
been in these waters. Is it all about just finding

(49:58):
what the Wizards, the Hornets, the Raptors and the.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
Raptors is the number one right now?

Speaker 4 (50:05):
So to kind of lay out the standings, the six innings,
the six innings, the six innings, the six innings, the
six innings, the six innings, the six.

Speaker 3 (50:12):
In the year.

Speaker 4 (50:12):
Below them in thirteenth is the Raptors at eighteen and
thirty nine, so two games back of them. There they
are playing hard. They are showing life that there is
talent on this roster. They are capable of winning teams.
They winning games. They have two matchups against the Wizards,
which I cannot wait for. These have to be must wins,
and the Sixers got to lose out from here. If
they're able to drop below the Raptors, which would put
them at the fifth best lottery odds, that gives them

(50:34):
up to a sixty three percent chance of keeping their
draft pick. That's probably the best that they're gonna do.
When looking a little bit deeper, the Hornets are fourteen
and forty two, so they're still a five and a
half games back of the Sixers, and the Wizards are
ten games back of the Sixers.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
That's how bad they are there.

Speaker 4 (50:48):
So the Raptors is the number one team from a
Sixers fandom perspective that you should have your eyes on
and rooting for in the standings below, But it does
look like the ceiling will be a sixty three percent
chance and the Sixers keeping the pick.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
All right, So we're on tank. Don watch here, gotta
love it.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
I do to spin a day.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
Take a little simulation, Try what.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Are the chances they end up in the top six.

Speaker 3 (51:13):
Uh, let me pull up the exact currently.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
I'm just curious where you stand, like good in your
mind that this is a top six pick type team here,
or do you think like they're gonna be on the
outskirts and the lottery balls are probably gonna go against them.

Speaker 4 (51:29):
Yeah, I mean, I don't think they've done too much
to endear themselves to the basketball guys this season or
really the past decades. I don't have the most optimism
and even dating back to like the real tank days,
like they did not have the best lottery luck, like
walking away with one actual number one overall picked on
that stretch where they were so bad. Not a great
track record there. But I at the same time there,
I do kind of feel like the universe, oh was

(51:49):
the Sixers one? Based on how this season has gone
and some of the bad luck that they have gotten. So,
I mean, the chances their odds aren't gonna be as
ideal as you would like. Currently to lay it out
that they have a thirty seven point two percent chance
at a top four pick, a nine percent chance at
getting the number one overall pick, get Cooper flag there,
I believe the exact number is forty three for being

(52:10):
within the top six there, but I'll have to double
check that one they need to get below the Raptors
is really priority number one. It's all gonna be based
on the ping pong balls, so they're not gonna have
a clear cut chance. They're not gonna get that bad there.
But you're making the best of a bad situation, is
I guess?

Speaker 3 (52:23):
I look at it all right.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
Comical That's the word I have for this season. It
has been extremely comical. And when I saw that they
were losing by fifty five zero, the Chicago Bulls like,
what is what's going on here? All right? Quickly on
some other odds and end before we get out here?
Yeah yeah, yea yeah. Back over to the game tonight,
you go Raptors plus eleven tonight, Sure, Calves a magic

(52:47):
eight point spread. Calves favored at in Orlando two twenty
one and a half as are total there. We like
the Calves keep it rolling.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
I do like the Calves to keep it rolling.

Speaker 4 (52:56):
I think they're they're cooking, And I do some concerns
with this Orlando team. They just need more shooting man,
and like they really should have addressed that to a
fuller extent. I know, they went out and made some
adjustments here, but the worst three point shooting team in
the league, and I think that's really gonna hurt them
from a postseason perspective. So while I initially looked at
them as a team that could make some noise this year,
I don't quite see it as much as I did
early on. And I do think the Cavaliers are still

(53:17):
cooking with gas here. So I like the minus eight
in favor of the Calves. I think they take our
business pretty easily.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
What's going on with the Bucks to three and a
half point road favorites against the Rockets or road dogs
against the Rockets tonight?

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Yeah, I mean Houston's good. I think it's a little
bit of a respect line there. Janna still is exactly
who he is. Dame Liller been a little bit of
ups and downs lately. I still am optimistic about this
Bucks team. We had this conversation with Mark Henry Junior
on Saturday. If you were to pick one team to
win the East, not name the Boston Celtics, I think
the Bucks would still be my pick, just sort of
out of a respect for Gianni's and Kyle Kuzman, honestly

(53:50):
giving them a pretty positive signs of life there, a
little bit of an injection of energy. So I think
the Bucks are a live dog here. I do lean
towards the plus three and a half in favor of them.
I don't mind the plus one thirty on the money line.
I'm kind of it blows my mind, like this is
one where the stats and the results don't match up.
The Rockets have the most clutch wins of any team
this season. When he dive into the metrics of their
actual clutch numbers, they're very mediocre there. So I don't

(54:12):
know what exactly that says about the team, but my
eyes just watching is I don't really trust them in
those type of situations down the stretch here. I do
think there's more clean sets to lean on from Milwaukee's
perspective with Giannis and Dan there.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
I'm talking myself in Milwaukee. I think they get that
right win to it all.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Right, MAVs and Lakers nine point spread Luca over thirty
one and a half.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
Yeah, Luca over thirty one and a half.

Speaker 4 (54:35):
I do like the minus nine in favor of the
Lakers that I think that they're gonna this will be
a you know, step on the neck and rub it
in type of game if they get the opportunity to
do so.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
A couple other props that I will shout out here.

Speaker 4 (54:44):
Honestly my favorite, even beyond Luca, it goes to Dante
Exum fifteen plus points, rebounds and assists. They just desperately
need a guy to create off ball or create on
ball with, you know, take some pressure off Kyrie Irving.
He scored twenty seven points a couple games ago, right
before the the All Star Break was shut down. And
this guy that quietly has a larger role than I
think the props are giving him credit there.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
So I do like that for Exhum.

Speaker 4 (55:07):
Also think we get a little bit of a Max
Christie revenge effect tonight too. So his number don't see
it posted right now on DraftKings. We can't see it.
Nine and a half is his average. It looks like
you get twelve plus at minus one thirty five. I
think Christy is going to be in that fifteen to
sixteen point range, potentially even a little more.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
So I think he's a name to keep an eye
on as well.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
All right, and then last, but not least sixteen and
a half points spread Warriors favorite here is that too
many points. Should be looking at Hornets going into Golden
State and hanging a tight game here.

Speaker 4 (55:38):
Yeah, I mean Hornets, another team that is my root
for every night roll of decks. Now, with the sixers
and the standings here, I think sixteen and a half
does feel like a lot to me. I probably leaned
towards the plus sixteen and a half in favor of Charlotte,
but I mean Golden State is the better team and
have been playing some really good basketball.

Speaker 3 (55:54):
They're also on the second night of a back to back.

Speaker 4 (55:56):
They played the Trailblazers last night the Hornets did, so
I think that's a a bit of it as well.
If Lamela doesn't suit up, which is certainly possible, that
changes things. But the bottom line is I would stay
away from them. I do lean towards the plus sixteen
and a half for the Warriors for the Hornets, but
I do think the Warriors ultimately take care of business
and this never becomes a real game.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
All right. What's the number that Luca finishes with tonight.

Speaker 4 (56:18):
I've flirted with the idea of talking myself into forty
and that you can get plus three twenty for forty
plus points for Luka Doncic there, I think he definitely
clears to thirty one and a half. Let's not forget
this dude was averaging thirty three point eight per game
just last season in a Mavericks uniform. I think he
probably ends around thirty seven. Thirty eight is my honest
bet there. It wouldn't shock me if this he goes
nuclear though, Like we haven't really seen that outbreak of

(56:40):
Luka Doncic yet in the Lakers uniform. Thirty two his
current season high since he since the trade has occurred here,
So I do think it's gonna be a healthy game
for Luka Doncic. Maybe the Mavericks trying really disrupt things
getting the ball out of his hand, but he's gonna
take his chances whenever he gets it.

Speaker 3 (56:55):
I think that he fills it up quite heavily tonight.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
Yeah, that's that's the message, Lebron. Just get the battle, Luca,
Get the battle, Luca, get the hell out of the way.
Kyrie A twenty five and a half, he's gonna be
the only one that's really going to be able to
do something for them. It's good luck on that one.
Maybe look at Clay Over thirteen and a halfte Ax
I'm telling Dante Axam all right, yeah, all right, well

(57:17):
look that's from the NBA side, and again we will
continue to keep you up the date this week. Picks
and Roll will come your way on Thursday. We'll be
rolling out some new ideas this week as well, myself
sham Manard, Sam is across seas. Where's he is he
in Rome?

Speaker 3 (57:33):
I believe so?

Speaker 4 (57:34):
I saw he tweeted out this is where the first
Olympics took place. And honestly my brain didn't click into that,
so I as yeah, Grease, maybe something like that. I'm
not a hundred cent sure.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
The first Olympics games were in Athens, Greece in eighteen
ninety six. That's where he's at right now. Sam Austree,
We like that all right. Before you get out here, though, Shamnard,
a couple quick ones around the world of sports again.
Daily Ticket coming your way here on a Tuesday. Back
at it tomorrow myself and John Janssen in studio. But
other than that, to be a just a Hodgepodger shows

(58:09):
this week as we're dealing with some stuff here behind
the scenes. But let's go ahead and talk about Aaron
Rodgers potentially ending up at a new a new team
for this upcoming season. It is Combine week, so we're
getting all the dumb conversations coming away, including trying to
ban the tush push, which I don't want to see
them do. But I will come back to that in

(58:31):
just a second. Why I do believe it's going to
happen and therefore not specifically targeting the tush push. But yes,
I'll come back to that in a second. But Aaron
Rodgers next team over on dknation dot com, coworker of
Sean Binard, a good friend of the program, Stevie Bukes
making the case for the La Rams at plus one ninety,

(58:52):
who are leading the charge for the DraftKings, Aaron Rodgers
next team here. The thing I would say about that
is that means Stafford out. Yeah wow, And that means
Stafford ends up with the New York Giants. That's not good.
We don't want that. We don't want that from a
division standpoint, I don't want to see Stafford. I'm not

(59:14):
gonna sit here and say that that means that they're
better than the Eagles, but by no, no they're not.
But what it is is it actually makes them a
decent opponent instead of, you know, a team that will
be an utter disaster again next year with a rookie
quarterback or whatever, lack the mole veteran quarterback that they
want to go out there and get. Stafford's a legit

(59:36):
quarterback and should be their move if they can make
that happen. LA Rams don't need to move off of
Matthew Stafford. They need to lock into him and make him.
The guy's thirty seven years old for crying out loud
like they almost beat the Eagles. They gave the Eagles
their toughest run for their money in the playoffs. That
wasn't a fluke. There's a Rams team that's good. It's
a good team. Keep Stafford there. Do not go down

(59:58):
the path of Aaron regardless of what you get in return.
It's not worth it. But where we standing on that conversation,
Aaron Rodgers, next team, where are you at?

Speaker 3 (01:00:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:00:08):
Very much an agreement in the Stafford conversation. But as far
as Rogers overall, I honestly think we're at the stage
of Aaron Rodgers' career where the juice isn't quite worth
the squeeze here that I don't think he's capable of
elevating a roster. And even if we're gonna make that
exact same comparison, I don't think that if you plug
Aaron Rodgers on that same Rams team last year, that
they're as good straight up like take Even with all

(01:00:29):
that went wrong in New York and there was plenty,
it was a lengthy list there. Just looking at Rogers' play,
it was not good enough last year that he was
at least a part of the problem. And while I
understand he's done plenty of his career, the MVPs how
good that he's been overall, I there comes a point
where father time catches up to everyone, and I just
don't see it with Rogers at this point. So I
still expect a team to take a chance because he's

(01:00:50):
the sexy name and you know, brings a little bit
of notoriety there. But the bottom line is, I think
the days of Aaron Rodgers, like leading a top offense
in the NFL are probably past us.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Yeah, exactly. So the article over at DraftKings are DK
Nation right now. You got the Rams plus one ninety,
Raiders plus three fifty, which was my pick, Steelers plus
three fifty Colts five to one, Titans five to one,
Vikings plus five to fifty nine Ers plus seven fifty,
which would be an interesting name there. I could see
him going to the Niners in a backup spot. I

(01:01:20):
know everybody was all, hell, Ben Aaron Rodgers ain't going
anywhere unless he's a starter. I don't know how many
of those spots are available. I guess it would be
with the Steelers. I guess it would be with the Raiders,
So that's why I have them above all. But he's
not the starting quarterback in Indianapolis. He's not the starting
quarterback in Minnesota's Is he the starting quarterback in Tennessee? Sure?

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
Now?

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
Yeah, for now. But I could see him calling it
a career with Purdy as the starting quarterback. If he
gets hurt, he gets called upon and Shannan's's boy. I
think that that would be the right mix for Rogers
if he did want to play one more season. But again,
we'll see what happens as far as that is concerned
with the NFL combine conversation, and I think tomorrow is
kickers and punters and then we roll on, which is

(01:02:04):
an exciting time for a lot of people that do
cover the draft, Mark Henry Junior for us here on
the Gambler, of course, Joe Casher. We got a lot
of guys that do dial in all things in FL draft.
I am not one of those guys, but that's why
we have plenty of people on our roster to fill
in those spots. I am intrigued because it is a
time where you get the big conversations on the table,

(01:02:26):
and one of them, of course, is the rule changes
and what we're going to see. I hate the fact
that every year it seems like we're getting a new
rule change, but it's what they do with the committees, volunteer,
and you know, it's a democracy for the most part
in the NFL. If enough owners feels passionately, then it
comes to the table. The touch push has been one

(01:02:47):
of those plays where, of course the Eagles run it
better than everybody else, and it's now some sour grapes.
But this isn't the first time we've heard this about
this play. You know, when you do watch it from
a fans person, if it does seem kind of blant, again,
that's not a reason to change it. Here's where I'm at.
Where I'm at is in two thousand and five, it

(01:03:09):
was illegal for you to push an offensive player forward,
Like if you caught a pass as a wide receiver
coming down on the five yard line on a screen
boom and you got stopped, you could not run up
and shove those guys across the goal line. I like that.
I thought that that was the way it should have

(01:03:30):
been all along. They decided to change that because it
was hard to call. The referees were it was. That's
what that's why they made the change. Now, when they
made that change, then you could go ahead and shove
players from the back, and that's where we're at now
with the touch push, with the brotherly shove. So, like,
my point is this, if you remove that from football,

(01:03:52):
that's fine. That's gonna change the game completely across the
board for a lot of teams out there. You cannot
push the players forward, which we see happen all lot
in the NFL, and I think that's going to take
a toll a little bit unscoring, just a little bit,
and you don't want to see that happen. That's why
we change these rules to elevate points. So I think
that that's going to be an issue league wide. But

(01:04:13):
I also don't believe it stops the Eagles. I still
think they're going They're going to run that QB sneak
effective than other teams out there. So if you want
to change it, go right at I'm not saying change it.
I don't want to see to change, but if you
want to change it, that's where it's got to be.
It's got to be league wide. You cannot push a
player forward.

Speaker 4 (01:04:32):
Yeah, I'll start off with my initial position here is
I not only think it's ridiculous that we're even having
the conversation about banning the Toush push, but I look
down upon you as an NFL head coach if that
is your position that this needs to be banned, And
if that is the case, why are we stopping at
Toush push. Clearly the Eagles can do that at a
higher level than any other team, and that is an
unfair advantage. I think we need to ban Tyreek Hill

(01:04:53):
screen passes as well, and Dereck Henry halfback dives and
maybe Lamar Jackson run attempts, because no other team can,
you know, play at that same level as those guys can,
or do that play at the level that those players
are capable so if other teams can't have that, that
doesn't feel fair to me either. That is what this
feels like to me. It feels like when they banned
dunking from Wilt Chamberlain because he was the only guy
that could do it at such a high rate. Like

(01:05:15):
this feels like they're making rules because one team is
excellent at things that every other team can't. And to me,
that should be way more of an indictment on how
good the Eagles are at it. And you're right, if
it was just a QB sneak, guess what, maybe they go,
you know, ninety or eighty five percent of the time.
In said it set a ninety two percent, which they're
currently getting at this season. So I think the whole

(01:05:35):
conversation is ridiculous. I think it's laying that we have
to keep having it again. I look down upon an
NFL head coach if that is your honest position, that
we just can't stop this, so we're gonna complain about it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:44):
I don't think it's ultimately banned.

Speaker 4 (01:05:46):
I think this sticks forever, and I think the Eagles
should If this sticks, I think they should open the
season with a full drive of just push pushes just
three four yards at a time.

Speaker 3 (01:05:53):
See how many first downs you can pick up?

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
I like that. No, you're right, You're right. Bottom line
is is it sour grapes? Yeah, and these teams can't
stop them, no doubt about it. But like I said, man,
it used to be that way and then they changed it.
And they're constantly changing rules. So I could see them
doing something stupid here, But it is that time of
the season, time of the year where we get these

(01:06:17):
things front and center and we give it way too
much oxygen. But here we are. They will make a change,
There will be a rule change, whatever it may be.
It's what the committees do every single season. So we'll
see if the tush pushes the is victim number one
in the offseason here. NFL Draft, of course, a lot
to discuss this week there. We'll talk all things mock drafts,

(01:06:39):
Eagles of course, top five picks looks like looks like
Cam's gonna go ahead of Shador, which I was able
to get that number when we talked about that many
many weeks ago. Felt like that was the case. And
we'll see what happens as far as who's gonna go
number one overall. So We've got a lot to discuss
this week here on the Daily Ticket. Sewan, great stuff
as always, Shawn and scor our one where you can

(01:07:00):
find MDK nation dot com read all his content there.
Anything else to get off your chest before we get
out here today.

Speaker 3 (01:07:06):
Sir, Yeah, No, I think we hit on just about
everything here.

Speaker 4 (01:07:09):
I'm still gonna be buckled up in the weeds for
basketball season, so it's a little bit different, I guess
viewing experience than I expected the stage in the air.
But whatever, basketball still basketball, sports are still sports.

Speaker 3 (01:07:19):
I'm still locking.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Yeah. The only thing that I wanted to talk about
last week that I didn't get a chance to discuss
was that Carson Beck's cars got stolen, and I'm bringing
it up now is because the Cavender Twins are on
ESPN and did you see those cars get stolen? Did
you see that story?

Speaker 3 (01:07:40):
I didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
Actually, Carson Beck has a Lambeau and a Mercedes seven Series.
I want to say, I no, nice, Like wait, what
must be nice Carson Beck has? And I know it's yeah, wild,

(01:08:01):
absolutely wild? All right, Sean, great stuff, man, We'll catch
up later a little bit later this week. Always a
pleasure and uh everybody. If you missed anything, be sure
to check out all of our content over at FOXPHL.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Gambler dot com spreads, totals, and all the prop that's
in between. It's the Gambler