Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Trista.
Speaker 2: Click on this episode of the Heat Check. We have
Speaker 2: a special bonus episode featuring Reed Wallick, Brooklyn Nets insider.
Speaker 3: He is here to break down all of the blowback
Speaker 3: ramifications of the Kyrie Urbing trade to the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 3: Very insightful interview. It was recorded on a recent episode
Speaker 3: of bit MGM the night right after the trade went down.
Speaker 3: I was joined by my co hosts Ron Horbat and
Speaker 3: Nick Ashu. Kyrie basically froze the league, So let's get
Speaker 3: into this discussion quick and drop that generic ass beat.
Speaker 3: Of course, we had to start off the interview by
Speaker 3: asking Reid Hollie was feeling now that Kyrie was out
Speaker 3: of Brooklyn, and he gave a very thoughtful.
Speaker 4: Answer, Yeah, maybe it's the kopium I'm taking, But I
Speaker 4: think I'm okay.
Speaker 1: I think that, uh, you know, we're gonna be okay.
Speaker 4: And I think today showed that the Nets are still
Speaker 4: going to be aggressive at the trade deadline. I'm not
Speaker 4: at this time afraid that Kevin Durant is going to
Speaker 4: request out by the trade deadline. So I think the
Speaker 4: Nets have bought themselves some times here getting Dory and
Speaker 4: Finney Smith and Spencer Dimwiddie. You're seeing the idea of
Speaker 4: what the Nets want to do here. They want to
Speaker 4: get bigger.
Speaker 1: They want to.
Speaker 4: Put switchable wings wings sized players around Durant. That could
Speaker 4: still be a contender. And you know, I thought for
Speaker 4: a minute there when the trade wasn't a finalized talking
Speaker 4: to Toronto, maybe it's Pascal Siakam the Nets are targeting
Speaker 4: and that they're trying to bring into Brooklyn, which to
Speaker 4: me that is that's the home run, that's you know,
Speaker 4: that's a number two level that in my opinions, probably
Speaker 4: more of a championship level mover than Kyrie Irving was.
Speaker 4: So you know, the Nets are thinking big. Still, it
Speaker 4: seems like it didn't get done. You know, it's obvious
Speaker 4: hill all to playing because I got a little excited
Speaker 4: this afternoon, but still a few days before the deadline Thursday,
Speaker 4: So we'll see where this. We'll see where Dust settles
Speaker 4: by Thursday. But ultimately Kyrie great player, but he had
Speaker 4: to go. I mean, you know, this was just the
Speaker 4: end time that he sabotaged a season with the Nets,
Speaker 4: and ultimately, you know, it sucks by it didn't work out.
Speaker 1: And you know have fun on Dallas.
Speaker 3: Do you feel like read that you look at some
Speaker 3: of the other players here that requested out right, you
Speaker 3: know you or or got traded. You have Rudy Gobert
Speaker 3: and all of the picks that you know it took
Speaker 3: to get him, you know, Donovan Mitchell all the picks
Speaker 3: that it took to get him, even do Jonte Murray,
Speaker 3: who's not even close to the same caliber of player
Speaker 3: as Kyrie Irving, all the picks that it takes to
Speaker 3: get him, and some of the young players attached that
Speaker 3: make that deal get done right when you're like looking
Speaker 3: at it from this a higher level versus just we
Speaker 3: needed to unload Kyrie versus you know what maybe you
Speaker 3: could have gotten with a player of caliber of Kyrie's caliber? Like,
Speaker 3: how do you how do you feel about just the
Speaker 3: Nets front office right now and the moves that they're making.
Speaker 4: I think for the Kyrie situation, all parties deserve blame
Speaker 4: for how that was handled. How you want to, you know,
Speaker 4: slice up the pie is up to you and for
Speaker 4: your interpretation. But to me, everyone was saying that no
Speaker 4: one's gonna trade for Kyrie, no one's gonna touch Kyrie.
Speaker 4: He's radioactive, and it's gonna be the Lakers for Russen
Speaker 4: two first or one first or whatever.
Speaker 1: And that's made up pretty goodyear. They got two quality
Speaker 1: players Dorrian Phinney Smith regard as.
Speaker 4: One of the best wing defenders in the league in
Speaker 4: my eyes, Claxton Durant and Dorian Finney Smith, that's the
Speaker 4: best front court defense you have in the NBA right now.
Speaker 1: So they got that. Got Spencer Dimwoodie, who has played
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn.
Speaker 4: We're familiar with him, you know, personality off putting to some,
Speaker 4: but guys a bucket getter, shooting over forty percent from
Speaker 4: three last year and was unbelievable in the playoffs last
Speaker 4: year in Dallas. So the Nets, you know, you lose
Speaker 4: an unreal talent and Kyrie Irving, but let's think about
Speaker 4: what they can be. I still think they're a playoff team,
Speaker 4: probably second round ceiling. You know, if Kevin Durant is
Speaker 4: going to buy into this. But I think the net
Speaker 4: that's made out pretty well for a team that apparently
Speaker 4: had no options.
Speaker 1: With Kyrie, you know, it seemed like he was going
Speaker 1: to hold out. I think they did alright here. They
Speaker 1: got two quality players back end this twenty twenty twenty
Speaker 1: nine first round pick. I don't even know. It's the
Speaker 1: kid's probably like thirteen years old. That's going to be
Speaker 1: worth the pick.
Speaker 4: But Luca Doncic might not be on the Mavericks when
Speaker 4: that pick comes through. I think that's a you know,
Speaker 4: it's speculative, but if that pick is going to hit
Speaker 4: the market, the Nets in we're flush with assets and
Speaker 4: that Dallas unprotected. First, looking at where this situation go
Speaker 4: with Dallas, they made a very big gamble on Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 4: If they're not going to commit a full max contract
Speaker 4: to him, you know, maybe he leaves for a discount
Speaker 4: with the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Then what does Dallas do?
Speaker 4: They just blew through all their assets again and you're
Speaker 4: left with Luca alone. So maybe Luca's out on that
Speaker 4: trade chip again, very impactful for the Nets. So there's
Speaker 4: a vision here where I could see the Nets still
Speaker 4: being a contender this year. But we gott to see
Speaker 4: where the dust settles come Thursday. But right now I
Speaker 4: could see why, like there's pause, but I think there's
Speaker 4: still some dominoes.
Speaker 3: To fall with Kyrie no on the MAVs. I was
Speaker 3: interested to hear Read's opinion on what Dallas's ceiling is
Speaker 3: now with Luca and Kyrie. Hint uh, he's not too
Speaker 3: excited about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think the reaction to Dallas in the futures market
Speaker 4: is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I think it's out of control. Just you know, you
Speaker 1: see where this is going to go.
Speaker 4: Listen, They're all they're gonna be a really fun watch
Speaker 4: because there's not gonna be any stops whatsoever.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, Lucas amazing.
Speaker 4: Kyrie is an unbelievable talent, but you know he's still undersized.
Speaker 4: The Mavericks just gave up their best defensive player. They
Speaker 4: gave up another. You know, you upgrade Dimwitty to Kyrie.
Speaker 4: That's a great upgrade. But again, your defense is gonna
Speaker 4: fall off a cliff here. So when it comes to
Speaker 4: the playoffs, I'm not going to get any stops, and
Speaker 4: I don't really see them as a contender in the West.
Speaker 4: I mean, it is wide open, so maybe a few
Speaker 4: injuries break their way and stuff, But I'm skeptical that
Speaker 4: this is going to work out. I think that this
Speaker 4: is a real gamble by Dallas, and I don't think
Speaker 4: it's gonna pay off for them. I could you could
Speaker 4: feel the desperation, you know, I know the Nets are
Speaker 4: the desperate ones that get rid of Kyrie. But Dallas,
Speaker 4: I think I won't say Fleet or anything like that
Speaker 4: because I could see what they were trying to do.
Speaker 4: But if you like Kyrie Walk, you don't have max cats.
Speaker 1: Basically, they only have like.
Speaker 4: In the twenties that it's a big, big gamble by
Speaker 4: the Mavericks to make this move, and I really don't
Speaker 4: think they raise their sealing all that much anyway. Kyrie Irv,
Speaker 4: I mean I watched it in Brooklyn. He he's not
Speaker 4: His talent doesn't equal what he is as a foundational
Speaker 4: player when you're building a roster, like we were just
Speaker 4: talking about Pascal Siakam, when you're building a championship roster,
Speaker 4: Pascal Siakam is more of a foundational piece than Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 4: Kyrie Irving is a luxury add on who's a devastating
Speaker 4: scorer that could take you over the top, but he's
Speaker 4: not someone you want to build your roster out.
Speaker 3: Had to ask Greed as well with his final thoughts
Speaker 3: on the Big Three era in Brooklyn. Now is given
Speaker 3: that two thirds of him are actually on.
Speaker 4: Other teams, traumatizing is probably the word I would use.
Speaker 4: It's been very stressful, and you know, obviously, listen, they
Speaker 4: were so close. James Harden doesn't pull a handy in
Speaker 4: Game one of the Bucks series, Kevin Durant's shoe size
Speaker 4: as half as I mean, I could go through all
Speaker 4: the what ifs with this team, and it's obviously crushing
Speaker 4: as like such a big Nets fan, one of the
Speaker 4: few out there that really wanted to see this team thrive,
Speaker 4: and I really thought we were gonna get there to
Speaker 4: watch just like Murphy's Law, like what could go wrong
Speaker 4: did go wrong? Like literally at every turn there was
Speaker 4: another thing and another thing, and you know, who knows
Speaker 4: what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: And Durant, I think they had at least this year
Speaker 1: to make something happen and maybe make.
Speaker 4: The moves that would make him happy, because I don't
Speaker 4: think in this case Durant was as tied to Kyrie
Speaker 4: as it was over the summer, or it appeared over
Speaker 4: the summer. So I think they have a chance to
Speaker 4: give to give Durant the team he wants to see.
Speaker 4: But it's just it's really sad that you know they
Speaker 4: get these all world talents and they'll never get someone
Speaker 4: better than Kevin Durant. I'm pretty certain of that. So
Speaker 4: it's crushing to see that. You know, they fumbled this
Speaker 4: whole thing and it's been just a hilarious string of
Speaker 4: errors here.
Speaker 1: But you know, keep the faith.
Speaker 4: We got a the Clippers game coming up in you know,
Speaker 4: ten to fifteen minutes, and you know, we stay on
Speaker 4: the horse.
Speaker 1: That's why we're fans of these basketball teams.
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this read in terms of a hypothetical,
Speaker 3: because this trade has been thrown out there and you're
Speaker 3: seeing the woes of the world talk about this potential.
Speaker 3: Would you want Jalen Brown in a trade like, would
Speaker 3: you take Jalen Brown for the Nets over Kevin Durant. No.
Speaker 4: I am team keep Kevin Durant as long as humanly possible.
Speaker 4: I want Kevin Durant to retire as a Net if
Speaker 4: it were up to me. So that's where my head's at.
Speaker 1: I also just I would be shocked if that happened.
Speaker 1: I really find that hard to believe that the.
Speaker 4: Best team in the league, the clear best team in
Speaker 4: the league, would trade their number two guy to get
Speaker 4: Kevin Durant mid season In pursuit of a title.
Speaker 1: I just I find that hard to believe.
Speaker 4: I really think given the time frame here, I just
Speaker 4: don't think that Kevin Durant trade is going to materialize
Speaker 4: that fast, especially considering they.
Speaker 1: Made a move to get win now players and it.
Speaker 4: Seems like they're in the mix of Toronto where they're
Speaker 4: gonna try and get more win now players and try
Speaker 4: and you know, woo Kevin Durant one more time. So
Speaker 4: I think, you know, maybe the offseason, if the Celtic
Speaker 4: explain out early or something, maybe that comes back up.
Speaker 4: But for now, I just I don't see a Kevin
Speaker 4: Durant trade materializing, And honestly, I would that would be
Speaker 4: the final blow for me if they give up on
Speaker 4: Durant too.
Speaker 1: So let's hope that they could keep this together for
Speaker 1: a little bit longer.
Speaker 3: And this clip was really interesting to see who redhead
Speaker 3: coming out of the East. His answer did not disappoint.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I still think Boston is the best team, clear
Speaker 1: best team. You know.
Speaker 4: I want to see where these deadline moves go because
Speaker 4: to me, the East is the far and away best
Speaker 4: conference or the better conference, I should say, than the
Speaker 4: Western Conference. So those are going to be the teams
Speaker 4: maybe a little bit more aggressive, trying to you know,
Speaker 4: get into an arms race here and again the nets
Speaker 4: are you know, I'll keep being in the nets. Horn
Speaker 4: three first rounders tradeable a very very.
Speaker 1: Valuable one in my eyes.
Speaker 4: You know this Finny Smith, Dimwitdy Windows probably close. But
Speaker 4: you know, the nets are going to be big game
Speaker 4: hunting too. They're not out of the they don't think
Speaker 4: they're out of the hunt just yet. So maybe they
Speaker 4: stay aggressive and they again, like if they get Pascal Siakam,
Speaker 4: that is, they're right there and they could defend the
Speaker 4: ball and Celtics.
Speaker 1: So I wouldn't roll out the nets just yet.
Speaker 4: Obviously right now it's tough to talk about that pick
Speaker 4: and talk up the nets. But let's see where the
Speaker 4: dust settles. But to me, it's Boston pretty clear in
Speaker 4: front of everyone. I still think Philly and Milwaukee have
Speaker 4: some serious concerns. Philly kind of their style of play
Speaker 4: I'm very concerned about, and also Milwaukee just a ball
Speaker 4: handler short.
Speaker 3: Finally, we asked what team is he actually having confidence
Speaker 3: in the West. His answer not surprising.
Speaker 1: It's tough to see. It's tough to see what I mean.
Speaker 4: I was talking long shots last week, and I thought
Speaker 4: Dallas actually with Luca and you know Phinney Smith and
Speaker 4: the defensive prowess that they could put together, you know,
Speaker 4: the style they play so slow and stuff, maybe they
Speaker 4: could be a nice long shot. I don't really see
Speaker 4: it now. I'm all from because they got Kyrie and
Speaker 4: gave up Phinney Smith in the process.
Speaker 1: New Orleans.
Speaker 4: Are they gonna be aggressive at the deadline because if
Speaker 4: they are adding and Zion comes back healthy, that seem
Speaker 4: to figure it out. And the real concerning thing is
Speaker 4: Golden State and now without Curry for a month, that's
Speaker 4: gonna be like another I think I counted to twelve
Speaker 4: fifteen games around a month.
Speaker 1: Timeline like that is.
Speaker 4: They are starting to play with some serious fire there,
Speaker 4: not to mention the Mileageer're gonna put on everybody else
Speaker 4: around Staph, you know, off the finals run.
Speaker 1: Can they keep it up? I don't trust Memphis half
Speaker 1: court offense.
Speaker 4: Maybe it's just Denver, you know, their defensively concerned, but
Speaker 4: they have in my eyes the MVP once again. Jamal
Speaker 4: Murray looks much better of late. His last few weeks
Speaker 4: have been fantastic. Maybe it's just Denver I don't think
Speaker 4: it's that exciting.
Speaker 1: But I as you hear my dog barking, maybe hopefully
Speaker 1: in agreement about Denver, but early agrees. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's.
Speaker 4: Denver so or maybe he's pissed that I was talking
Speaker 4: poorly about Memphis, But I think Denver they just have
Speaker 4: the least amount of holes in my opinion.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's keep up, keep over in the West. Is
Speaker 3: there any sleeper team that you like, because I feel like,
Speaker 3: you know, the New Orleans Pelicans has been have been
Speaker 3: everybody's darling all year, and obviously Brandon Ingram goes down
Speaker 3: with the injuries, Zion goes down with an injury. B
Speaker 3: I is back now playing better basketball. Like, how do
Speaker 3: you feel about their upside?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: To me, it's the Pelicans are probably still my like
Speaker 4: dark horse team, just because we saw the ceiling of
Speaker 4: what they could be earlier this season with Zion and
Speaker 4: Brandon Ingram healthy, they were competing for a one seed,
Speaker 4: and you know, Memphis now in a downswing. I'm really
Speaker 4: concerned about, you know, Dallas, I just kind of talked
Speaker 4: about with their defensive issues, the Pelicans could get healthy,
Speaker 4: they could go on another run where they go fifteen
Speaker 4: and five, and in the Western Conference, that's all you
Speaker 4: need to get back into the top three. I mean
Speaker 4: everyone struggles on the road, everyone's a mess. It feels
Speaker 4: like there's issues every which way. So why not the
Speaker 4: Pelicans still? I mean their price is falling way off,
Speaker 4: probably a little too far off for what we've seen
Speaker 4: with this upside zions do back.
Speaker 1: I think I saw he's running now.
Speaker 4: He's practicing maybe like a week, you know, maybe after
Speaker 4: the All Star break, but you know, we're right there
Speaker 4: where I think New Orleans this is the bottom point
Speaker 4: for them, and why can't they make a run in
Speaker 4: this wide open Western Conference.
Speaker 3: That's all the time that we have the heat Check.
Speaker 3: Thanks to read Wallet for catching up. Catch us on
Speaker 3: BETMG in the night seven to eleven Eastern, on Twitch,
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Speaker 3: Come on back tomorrow for an all new episode as
Speaker 3: we prepp you for the trade deadline, and then of
Speaker 3: course we'll dissect the entire thing on Friday's episode. Don't
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