WEBVTT - Are the Lakers a threat? No, really? 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:15.200 On this episode of the Eat check Man, Steph's injury 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:17.960 is a bigger deal than we thought. Oh, Warriors without 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.720 Steph certified buns like lottery cheeks. They lost a who 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:28.240 without who and who. Also, Lakers have a huge weekend 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.320 beat the Bucks going up and down with Dame Lillard 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.360 in their face, blocked him at the end of the game, 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:39.400 and then get into an ugly dogfight against the Timberwolves. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.320 Are the Lakers the most dangerous team from the six 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.000 seed down? We also get into a bunch of news, 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.000 some heartbreaking injury news from around the league. Lot to 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:52.720 get into Anthony big wins this weekend. Anthony drop that 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:54.240 motherfucking beat that. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:01:10.760 Should be rhon alert alert. 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:14.600 He starts to show with some injury news that came 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:16.360 during the slate. 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:18.360 Of the afternoon on Sunday. 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.080 Alprin Shangoon Aka I was part of the goon squad. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:27.760 He was having an incredible season, maybe most improved player 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.880 level season for the Houston Rockets, and he goes down 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:38.120 after awkwardly after challenging Domas Sabonis at the rim and folks, 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:43.319 we have as worst of an image as you can get. 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:48.160 The send them out in the wheelchair hands in the head, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.680 towel over the face while he was wheeled off, just 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:53.720 never a good sign. 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.160 The only like somewhat. 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.200 Strange thing that happened at the end was the towel 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.720 guy clearly just missed the moment, just threw the towel 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.480 right at Shangoon's lap. Just there you go. This fucking sucks, 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:10.320 though in general, right knee seemed to buckle. Currently undergoing 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:11.440 an MRI on his right. 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:12.240 Knee and ankle. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:16.840 Maybe, just maybe it's nothing. I looked. It looked really bad, 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:18.680 but we can always hope for the best. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:20.440 More on this than the next episode. 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.040 I am sure big news though, because the Houston Rockets 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.000 were breathing down the necks of the Warriors. So if 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.799 Shangoon goes down, then so do the Rockets. I have 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.440 been a Shangoon fan since well before the draft. He 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.359 was the youngest player to ever win the Basketball Super 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.640 League's Most Valuable Player award in twenty twenty one. He 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.720 was only eighteen years old. Huge upside for Shangoon. Hope 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.359 it's nothing serious. Hope he gets back to ballin' the 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.960 fuck out soon. All right, let's get in to some 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.520 stuff about the games. The late night game on Sunday 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:59.000 was the Timberwolves versus the Lakers. Timberwolves without Cat Kitty 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.560 Cat visiting the Lakers out west, and it reminded us. 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.959 It reminded me at least Anthony. Anthony, my producer, is 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.400 also massive Laker fan, also hosts the Lakers Lounge. Give 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:11.960 it a shout. 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:13.120 Don't give it too much. 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.480 Of a shout though, like cause like fuck the Lakers. Anyway, 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.720 they molly wopped the Wolves, which, to be fair, they 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.240 were missing like two fifths of their starting five. 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:23.960 Aunt Edwards was banged up. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:29.280 No Shlomo, no go Bear, just kind of a banged 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.320 up squad. It was a short handed team. But I 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:35.720 don't care. This Lakers team is a problem. Is a 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.320 problem also, So they were able to get go bumping 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.160 uglies with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a Sunday night, get 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.040 into a very low scoring game where Anthony Anthony Davis 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.600 Data Davis had the very first twenty five to twenty 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.800 five to five steals, five assists game. 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:52.520 In NBA history. 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:57.400 So congratulations for Anthony Davis waking the fuck up. Anyway, 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.600 So they go and do that on a Sunday and 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.720 what was it Friday? They beat the Bucks in an 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:04.880 up and down game where they had to have d 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.920 Lo hit a random step back shot in the paint 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.320 and then they block the shit out of Dame to 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.200 end the game. Like, this is a team that's finding 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:18.200 its style. Styles make fights, and we had Darvin Ham 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.520 try to do the like small ball thing. That shit 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:22.560 did not work. And now the bigger they go, the 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:23.840 more jumble they go, the more of. 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.039 A problem they are. 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.360 I don't know who in the West the Lakers can't 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:32.760 beat other than Denver, And I tell you what, the 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:37.440 Minnesota Timberwolves and most likely the Lakers are both going 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.599 to be fearing what happens with the top of the 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:42.680 West and the bottom of the West. Because if the 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.520 Minnesota Timberwolves somehow or two seed and the Lakers somehow 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.640 or seventh seed, I tell you what, one team is 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.640 happy about that, and the other team is the Minnesota Timberwolves. 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:57.000 So you have five teams that are pretty much locked 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:01.200 into the top five, and then you've got three teams Sons, Kings, 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.440 and Mavericks fighting for the six spot. I think that 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.840 the Kings probably get the six, which leaves just a 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.200 hellish just an absolute brutal play in tournament with the Suns, 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.600 the MAVs, the Lakers, and the Warriors, which are four 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.600 of the teams that, like listen, Adam Silver wants all 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.320 four of those in. If you could take one team out, 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:23.599 we know who it would be, wouldn't it. 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.520 It'd be ur Kangs, b r Kangs. They want them out. 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.400 They want to get the fuck out of here, you 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.080 small market Kings. You snuck in one year, not this year. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.479 You know, They're like, let's get Kevin durant In, Let's 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:41.000 get Luca In, Let's get step In, Let's get brawn In. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.440 Who cares about Deer and Fox and that European guy 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.320 that's putting up double doubles forty five straight games. Who 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:49.680 cares about him? 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:50.720 Anyway? 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.320 It's crazy, It's absolutely nuts. I think at this moment, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.440 the Lakers are the biggest problem in the play in. 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:01.800 Teams like the OKAC thunder do not want to play 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.480 a team like the Lakers. They and then the Lakers, 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.320 for their part, they are hoping upon hope that they 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.760 either sneak into a seven seed play in where they 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:13.320 could be the seven, or that the Nuggets aren't the 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.680 one seed. Because that's night Night's sleep mask for the Lakers. 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:22.000 But if they pull the Wolves, the Clippers, okay, see Minnesota, Like, 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.440 it's just crazy, any of them. 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.159 LA could be all of them. It would not surprise me. 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.200 So yeah, I think the Lakers are invested into the 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:34.000 one seed and who they are. So yeah, wins over 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.600 the Bucks, wins over the Wolves, all that just prepares 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.400 them for the plan. Their goal, of course, I think, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.520 is to be the seven seed, but that's not a given. 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.440 So yeah, the play in is gonna be absolutely hellish. 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.160 It's gonna be lit, it's gonna be exciting, and if 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.320 the Lakers come out of it, I would not be 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.200 surprised if they do something in this. 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:57.520 All right, let's move on. 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.000 Let's talk about our doves. Like long gups fan here 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:04.760 just to quick our Dubs, Dubs Nation, we have a problem. 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:09.120 I saw a tweet today from a friend of show 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:14.160 and commander of Dubs Nation, Sam Sfandiari, in response to 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.160 a tweet that read Steph going out like Dirk on 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.160 a sad and mediocre tanking team, which is just kind 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:25.840 of an unacceptable tweet, really disrespectful, will say Sam quote 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.040 tweeted the following, I hate that it does feel like 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:34.280 that Damn, damn Sam. Why'd you have to say the truth? 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.560 Why'd you have to put it on on Twitter? Whax? Well, 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.040 it's time for some therapy for Warriors fans dub Nation 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:44.840 because the numbers don't lie. 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:46.560 We know what it is. 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.080 When Steph's out there right, very healthy. He's been very 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.880 healthy in his ankle braces until turning the ankle against 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:54.720 the Bulls, an injury that's probably going to keep him 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.680 out a week or two, right, But when he's in 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:02.800 the game, the Warriors are as dangerous as anyone. This year, 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:07.000 Stef's missed four games four the Warriors are zero to 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:13.000 four without him, losses to Minnesota, OKC Milwaukee. And this 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.120 is the one where we knew. 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:16.320 That things were in real trouble. 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.280 So the Spurs said before the game two days before 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.760 Victor women Yama Wemby, Rookie of. 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:25.880 The Year, Defensive Player of the Year candidate. 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.120 He's not playing. He's ruled out. And then before the game, 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:32.400 right before the game, shockingly, Devin Vessel, one of their 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:36.680 best scorers, also out. So they're rolling out guys that 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.920 casual Dubbs fans have never heard of. Jeremy Sohan and 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:43.960 his one handed free throw shit that he does. Caldon Johnson, 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.800 Zach Collins, like, come on, that our dub should buzzsaw 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:54.200 through this middling not even middling would be an over exaggeration. 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.559 This team is like the worst in the West, Okay, 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.360 And what happened? They fucking won lost to the San 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:07.600 Antonio Spurs without Wemby and without the Cell. That might 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.040 be the worst loss of the entire year, which has 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:16.840 been sprinkled with very disappointing losses so far. And it's 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.040 not like they're sitting at the sixth seed and they're like, ah, 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.079 who cares bad loss? No, they are scraping and cwing 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.080 for their lives right now. You simply cannot lose to 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:27.839 a thirteen and Fiftiespurs team with forty percent of their 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:36.199 offense out starting Julian Champagne, Malachi Brannham. Not even the 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:41.240 Good Jones, the Trade Jones. Where is the pride at 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.280 Golden State, at the Chase Center? Where is it dub Nation? 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:52.640 Where's the sense of urgency? The Warriors were down nineteen 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:57.720 and a half. That's disgusting. The most impressive thing that 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.320 happened at Chase Center was that we found our else 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.840 a Steve kerdoppelganger. That's the only thing that I was 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:08.959 like impressed by. Gross Steph, who was cooking for most 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.720 of the year. He started to slow down after the 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.560 All Star break. Steve Kerr said exactly that, Listen, I'm 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.480 not just talking about those woeful four points against the Bulls, 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:20.640 zero for nine from. 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.200 Three in the first half. 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.880 In his last ten games before his ankle injury, he 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:26.960 was averaging. 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.160 Twenty one, twenty one, four and. 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.199 Five on just thirty three percent from three and thirty 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.120 seven percent from the field. People were trying to argue 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.720 with me and saying he wasn't in a little mini swamp, 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:38.640 And now they got the. 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:39.440 Stats for me. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:45.560 Now they got the stats. Uugh. Even his free throw 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.920 percentage has fallen to eighty six percent for the first 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:50.000 time in a decade. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.520 Steph has been carrying the. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.319 Load for way too long. And now after you carry 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.640 around these extra lard backpacks all day, to turn an 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:05.680 ankle and all of this obscures a larger issue. I 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.040 don't think this is true, but I have to pose it. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:09.800 I have to pose it. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.080 It's a possibility. I'm not saying it's what's happening, Okay, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:17.480 I don't want to get mis quoted. Are we seeing 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:23.640 the decline of one Stephan wardel Curry? Is the baby 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:28.480 face assassin turning into a baby face with an AARP card? 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:33.520 Is he headed for a Dirk Novisky like slot. Dirk 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.920 Novitski ever is twenty two, six and six and two, 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.800 twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, and then just five years later, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.840 slid all the way down to seven three and three, 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:48.240 unable to keep the sinking MAVs Titanic afloat Dallas went 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:49.199 from forty nine. 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:50.920 Wins to thirty three wins during that time. 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.839 Good thing though, because they did get Luca, So maybe 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.600 that's what the Golden State's hoping for. Last season they 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.480 were thirteen and twelve without Steph eight and ten. The 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:05.600 season be four, two and six, the pandemic year. That 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:10.280 is not true. Not to mention the not to be 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.560 confused with the pandemic year, even though it's very confusing. 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.800 The bubble year where we got COVID, where Steph was 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:17.800 out most of the year with the hand injury, and 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:19.480 they didn't even make the fucking bubble and then they 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:26.000 ended up getting Jamess wise man. Is the statement of fact. 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:27.760 This is not a very good team without Steph oh 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.400 and four this year without him, twenty three and thirty 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:35.120 two the last three years, four years without them, and 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.240 just twenty seven and twenty four with Steph in their 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:43.280 last fifty one games. Fam, it's not good for our dubs. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.760 Steph has two years left on his contract. Steve Kerr 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.280 has two years left on his contract. You guys better 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.959 get it together. Next year is where the rubber meets 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:56.600 the road. While I love cumbuckets and air pods, I 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.160 do love both those things independently of those being basketball. Know, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.520 we got a glimpse of what this team looks like 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:10.040 without Steph opening up the offense, and it's average with him. 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:15.040 I'm sorry that was nasty. As one Warriors fans tweeted, 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.079 the Warriors always seem to remind you that, no matter 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.439 how many good players they have, those players are good 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.520 largely because they share the floor with Steph Curry. So 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.040 what do you even have? What you have is a 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:35.120 bunch of like asparagus and mac and cheese and I 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.960 don't know, Brussels sprouts without the steak. You ain't got 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:43.000 shit right. The Doves are staring at not one, but 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.559 two road games in the play in just to make 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:47.520 the playoffs, and. 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:48.520 The road goes through. 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:54.400 It's not good Dallas, Phoenix and the Lakers as a 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.000 team a half a billion dollars into the luxury tax 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.840 and who make huge bank on home games. It's getting 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.760 scary hours in the Bay, tough sledding for a team 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.200 that's now going to try and bring Steph back from 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.640 injury and back into the flow by game time. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:10.079 Time to play in begins. 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.800 Don't remember, though, those folks, That's what happened last year. 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.360 Remember Steph came back from ankle injury last year and 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:16.000 guess what happens? 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.080 They did win the first round. They lost the Lakers. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.720 Anyway, more information to come on that. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:27.360 I am sure he will take the next up. 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:33.600 Sad news out of Indiana, unless you're a Toronto Raptors fan. 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:39.880 Benedict Mathren two ends, some people call him Maturin, is 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:44.080 gonna be maturing in street clothes. He is out for 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.520 the season with a torn labram and his undergoing shoulder surgery. 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:48.840 Torn labrams are so. 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.400 Fucked up to come back from that is a huge 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.280 loss for an Indiana Pacers team who is a shocking 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:56.760 thirty five and twenty nine there are teams that are 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.720 your favorite teams that don't have a record as good 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.560 as that, and they have pushed their sis into the 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.600 middle with a huge Pascal Siakam trade at the deadline, 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:11.200 Mathurin Mathrin started to play a lot better. Hit his 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.200 stride as of late eighteen five and three on forty 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.880 three percent from deep, nearly two steals and blocks per game. 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.080 In the last two weeks, he had a game like 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.440 thirty five the other day. His defense is what found 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.640 him on the bench earlier this year, but it has 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:26.600 definitely come around. 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.760 When he was at Arizona, he was an absolute monster 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:32.320 on ball defense. 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:36.680 His defensive rating on a team that actually has really 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.040 really bad defensive rating by the way, like Pacers are 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.960 one of the worst defensive rating one twenty one point 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:46.640 seven per game, the worst on the Pacers and one 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.360 of the worst of the league. Say it ain't so, Ben, 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.760 Say it ain't so. I know you're better than this. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.560 You're not Trey Young. His minutes will probably now go 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.680 to Aaron Nesmith, who has been actually pretty good too. 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.760 Thirty five plus minutes pre Ben Sheppard, the guy who 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.200 runs like he's swimming in water, standing up like doing 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:09.880 water aerobics. He should see a huge uptick in playing 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.320 time as well. News could not come at a time 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.360 that's worse for the Pacers as they sit a half 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.480 game out of the sixth spot, behind both the Sixers 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.400 and the surging Heat. Mattherin was a key coog in 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.000 this offense. He has led the team in scoring nine 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.720 times this year despite being a third option. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:29.800 So he will be missed. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.400 We will see how the Pacers respond and we will 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:33.880 see what pick goes to. 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.640 The Toronto Raptors. All right, moving on. 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.280 Lost in the flurry of mid trades at the trade 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:45.080 deadline was a silent swap a team that people are 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.280 very focused on trading with a team that no one 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:54.200 is focused on, the Boston Celtics and my Portland Trailblazers. 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.080 It was so under the radar. 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.040 I didn't even know how the man got on the. 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:01.760 Roster, Honestly, I had to do so some like forensic 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.360 accounting to find out at what point did he get here? 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.159 Like it was a trade that just no one. I 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.159 don't even think Sean's reported it, honestly, if I had 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.639 to guess, that's how like little anyone thought about it. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.680 And it is now giving us some impact. I thought 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:23.199 that this trade was tied into the Drew Holiday trade 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.439 for Malcolm Brogden and Rob Williams. No, no, this was 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:26.160 at the deadline. 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:26.520 Baby. 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:33.199 The Celtics traded Delano'banton, half Jamaican half Canadian player to 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:38.800 the Blazers at the deadline for a very heavily second 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.440 protected second round pick. Like how heavily like probably never 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.280 gonna convey heavily. Now, most people don't really understand how 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:47.760 the pick protections work because in some case cases the 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.560 pick never even conveys. In this case, the pick is 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:56.520 a twenty twenty seven top fifty five protected pick. Do 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.840 you know how many okay, top fifty five protected second 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.399 round pick? That would mean the Blazers would have to 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.800 be like the fifth best team in the league by 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:11.720 twenty twenty seven. God help us. I would love it 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.160 if this pick conveys. I'll just say that if this 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:20.200 pick conveys, things are all right on track, which means 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.359 that the Blazers got Delan o'banton, probably a man you've 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.800 never heard of, for free for free. In fact, actually 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.240 they got paid to take a more to that. In 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.840 a second, Banton came up with Toronto. I watched that 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.440 boy play a few times, showed a ton of flashes. 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.320 Nick Nurse wasn't given that man any playing time. Remember 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:40.800 he plays like five and a half. 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:41.760 Players in forty minutes. 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:46.360 Like his rotations are basically doc rivers. Right, young players, 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:48.880 you ain't getting any time. He was the first Canadian 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.080 player drafted by the franchise who can never crack the lineup. 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.760 So the Celtics landed him on a two year, four 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:59.480 point two million deal this summer before the jew Holiday trade. 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.960 Kind of made him my guess Perflus, he's a lot 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.080 bigger than Drews and he plays a different position. Once again, though, 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.400 Banton had the bad luck of playing on a team 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:11.159 where he could not crack the rotation. The Celtics they 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.879 don't have four point two million dollars to spend, they 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.240 don't have two dollars to spend. They gotta pay Drew 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.640 Holiday and they said, you know what, Banton dipset to you, 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:24.159 And just like that, the Blazers got a six to 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:28.760 nine point guard guard combo guard will call him, who 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:32.840 can hit the three pretty seamlessly off the dra like 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.000 off the dribble, pull ups and play defense. 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:40.159 He is six nine. Nice. 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:43.040 That's the kind of six nine we're talking about. A 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:48.120 guard with handles can shoot forty percent from three seven 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:53.040 foot wing span. We know it's like Joe Cronin got 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:57.639 a tight like he likes those long winged boys. He 0:19:57.800 --> 0:19:58.720 likes wingspan. 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.040 Me too, yoh, me too. I can't get enough. 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:05.560 What a theft? So if you're wondering, like Trista, why 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.320 you bringing this shit up? Like none of this matters, 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:11.720 He doesn't matter, Your team doesn't matter, Like do you 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:13.560 have nothing else to talk about? I just have to 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.760 say he's bawling. Since he got to Portland, he's put 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.479 up fourteen to five and three on thirty seven percent 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.240 from three. But recently, because Jeremy Grant has been dealing 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:26.600 with some injuries, they played him together in the game 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:29.159 against Okce that Portland was competing in pretty much the 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.439 entire game. Anyway, he's been balling out. In his last 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:37.280 four games. He's averaging twenty two point seven rebounds, five assists, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:41.120 forty percent from three nearly two offensive boards per game. 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:49.040 Brad Stevens must feel indebted to Joe Cronin for choosing 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:53.199 him in the jew Holiday sweepstakes instead of Miami or 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:57.639 Los Angeles, because there's no other reason that makes sense 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.560 for them to just hand over to Lato Banta for nothing. Well, actually, 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:05.040 like I said, not even for nothing. The Blazers also 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:08.879 got three million dollars in cash, Like, hey, let me 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.000 sign this over to you from the Celtics in the trade. 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.560 I'll take that. Like, you're just gonna give me a player, 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:17.320 six nine guards shooting forty percent from three and three 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:19.920 million dollars and a pit that, let's be honest, will 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:26.280 never convey to you. Wow. Well, the cat pit if 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:27.880 they would have kept them, would have been as high 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.480 as four to one on Banton's two point two million 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:32.200 dollar contracts. 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:33.760 So they're like, we're not paying them eight million, you 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:35.400 can have them. We'll give you three. 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.720 And Portland also inherited that two point two million dollar 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:42.120 team option on Bannon next year, so fam, we're keeping him. 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.680 He's ours now, he's only twenty four. This is a young, 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:48.840 rebuilding team. Don't let us fuck around and get good. 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:51.320 Don't let us fuck around and get good. You can 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:51.800 have that. 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:53.160 Twenty twenty seven. 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:58.000 Top fifty five protected pick. Joe Cronin quietly having himself 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.080 quite an interesting career. 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:01.600 There in Portland. 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:04.960 That's all the time that we have this episode of 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:07.240 the Heat Check. Come back Tuesday for the Rookie Report, 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:09.240 and check out the feed for past episodes and many 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.159 episodes which drop unexpectedly like a tech from someone you 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:16.680 have no interest in communicating with ever again, say sorry, buddy, Uh, 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:18.240 go follow the Heat Check if you want to hear 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.879 Trista's voice. Don't forget to follow the Heat Check as 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:22.520 we head down the stretch of the season into the 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.000 play and turn them into the playoffs. That means download, 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:26.040 that means subscribe. 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:26.639 And tell your. 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.800