Speaker 1: On this episode of The Heat Check.
Speaker 2: We're a little late to talk about this Donovan Mitchell trade,
Speaker 2: but I did have some other pressing business which we
Speaker 2: will get to where I actually broke the donovand Mitchell
Speaker 2: trade to the City of New York live on their
Speaker 2: air before anyone else. So if there was an awesome
Speaker 2: time to be on w f A N that was it.
Speaker 2: Two straight hours of angry New York fans. We look
Speaker 2: at the aftermath of the trade. We also get into
Speaker 2: this new Patrick Beverly.
Speaker 3: We'll call it a development.
Speaker 2: He's stern shit up in la already, folks. He is
Speaker 2: now working to change the cold. And we also discussed
Speaker 2: the latest news from the EuroBasket twenty twenty two. An
Speaker 2: amazing tournament. This is not getting enough love and enough shine,
Speaker 2: so do me a favor. Training camp coming so fast,
Speaker 2: let's drop that beat. It's a bit late, but unless
Speaker 2: you've been living under a rock, you are aware now
Speaker 2: that Donovan Mitchell has been traded. But he's been traded
Speaker 2: out of nowhere to the Cleveland Cavaliers after months of
Speaker 2: speculation saying it was a done deal that he'd end
Speaker 2: up a nick no sir. At the very last minute
Speaker 2: left at the altar once again, and the Knicks, according
Speaker 2: to a ton of sources.
Speaker 3: Still in shock. They are shook it. So you already
Speaker 3: know the details.
Speaker 2: The Knicks creating a fake deadline, which we talked about
Speaker 2: last week, signed R. J. Barrett to a one hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty million dollars four year extension, and the next
Speaker 2: day two three days later, I guess Colin Sexton, Lori
Speaker 2: Markenen three unprotected firsts pick swaps to Utah for Donovan
Speaker 2: Mitchell and now they have one of the best starting
Speaker 2: fives in the league, just.
Speaker 1: Like that.
Speaker 2: And the Knicks, let me tell you this, they are
Speaker 2: facing a very divided fan base, a very divided for
Speaker 2: an office, and accusations that they're just continuing to be
Speaker 2: the Knicks, just NIXT doing nixt thing. Jeff Van Gundy
Speaker 2: basically summed it up when he told The New York Post,
Speaker 2: the Knicks have good players, but if you line it
Speaker 2: up against the competition in the East, this roster is
Speaker 2: not on the same level. They could shock the world
Speaker 2: and be a playoff team, But I look at the
Speaker 2: East and I have to say eight to thirteen is
Speaker 2: where they should be predicted to go. Eight to thirteen.
Speaker 2: They're not even close to a lock for the play
Speaker 2: in a lot has to go, right. I think that's
Speaker 2: probably right. I think that's probably true. But I also
Speaker 2: have a unique perspective. I think on this trade, I
Speaker 2: just so happen to be filling in on wfa in
Speaker 2: for Carton and Roberts during drive time, the number one
Speaker 2: show for sports talk radio in New York City, heart
Speaker 2: and lifeblood of New York Sports, the largest sports radio
Speaker 2: station in the world. Right as the Donovan Mitchell trade broke,
Speaker 2: and were not even at a break, not even at
Speaker 2: a commercial, no time for the news update. Guy no no,
Speaker 2: our producer slacks us Donovan Mitchell just traded to the
Speaker 2: Calves go and it was like, Hey, sorry, uh Giuseppi
Speaker 2: from the Bronx, we gotta let you go. I know
Speaker 2: what you think is really important about the Mets, but
Speaker 2: we've got some breaking.
Speaker 3: News shit going on right now. Donovan Mitchell's not coming
Speaker 3: to the Knicks.
Speaker 2: Literally, while we were on the biggest Knicks news of
Speaker 2: the year, and me and my co host had to
Speaker 2: break it to a very excited and then let down
Speaker 2: fan base.
Speaker 3: Two hours of calls, ring ring, ring, ring, lots.
Speaker 2: Of people wanted to give their perspective, and the entire
Speaker 2: calls were essentially this spectrum of what the trade meant. Surprisingly,
Speaker 2: though I thought a lot more people would be mad.
Speaker 2: I mean people were mad, but I thought more people
Speaker 2: would be mad. It was pretty much fifty to fifty
Speaker 2: down in the middle half. The callers were irate, saying,
Speaker 2: this is the Knicks continuing to do what the Knicks do.
Speaker 2: We're never gonna get a star. This is why we
Speaker 2: can't watch this team. What's wrong with us? Basically the
Speaker 2: argument that the Knicks are doomed, right, They're always gonna
Speaker 2: be terrible. They go into the spiral, they talk about Dolan, who,
Speaker 2: by the way, for the record, I love very musical,
Speaker 2: very dynamic team owner. And the other half they're fans
Speaker 2: of RJ. Barrett, They're fans of Quentin Grimes and the
Speaker 2: other young players. Plus they just thought three first round
Speaker 2: picks was too much to give up for Donovan Mitchell,
Speaker 2: an undersized point guard or shooting guard to go along
Speaker 2: with their undersized point guard.
Speaker 1: Fair and I.
Speaker 2: Think there's also what has gotten missed a little bit
Speaker 2: is that there's a group of Knicks fans that are
Speaker 2: like I'm tired of us just going out and trying
Speaker 2: to get stars.
Speaker 3: I just don't think it works for us.
Speaker 2: We've done it, it's never ended up having some positive effect,
Speaker 2: maybe hype, but we've never won a title from it.
Speaker 2: We want to build through the draft, we want to
Speaker 2: build up young players. We want to get good organically
Speaker 2: and then maybe, just maybe will support this squad. And
Speaker 2: now they have that for the first time in ages,
Speaker 2: they've got the ability to grow a young core. Only
Speaker 2: because the Mitchell trade blew up, and mostly now people
Speaker 2: are dissecting the trade, trying to figure out why the
Speaker 2: deal fell through, why Donovan ended up in Cleveland. So
Speaker 2: much conspiracy theories amok. Some people say that Danny Ainge
Speaker 2: was just so petty. He told Donovan Mitchell, I'm not
Speaker 2: sending you where you want to go. You've been on
Speaker 2: this little New York City like policy tour. You've been
Speaker 2: kissing babies from the Bronx to Brooklyn to Long Islands.
Speaker 2: You've been at every Knicks. You've been at Mets games
Speaker 2: and Yankee games and Islanders games and Rangers games. You
Speaker 2: know what, Donovan, fuck you enjoy Cleveland? Go to a
Speaker 2: Guardian's game? How about that. I don't know if that's true,
Speaker 2: but it's an amazingly a testament to how amazingly petty
Speaker 2: the uh danny aingels. The origins may go back, though,
Speaker 2: in terms of the bad blood, to the first round
Speaker 2: of the playoffs. Why you say, well, Knicks executives decided
Speaker 2: they were gonna put their their shoes on the on
Speaker 2: the hardwood at a playoff game that they had no
Speaker 2: staking their team had been eliminated. But yet we see
Speaker 2: Knicks executives court side for a playoff game.
Speaker 3: Quart side.
Speaker 2: Won't even sit just in the in the nosebleeds in
Speaker 2: a box in the suite. No, no, in the area
Speaker 2: that the scouts sit. No, no court side.
Speaker 3: So you see us and we see you.
Speaker 2: Why because they were simultaneously courting Jalen Brunson chitching and
Speaker 2: Donovan Mitchell chit ching at once. Dallas Mavericks played the
Speaker 2: Utah Jazz in the first round, and old boy were
Speaker 2: the Utah Jazz. Mad Zach Low said this on his podcast.
Speaker 2: I've seen some reports that say, well, the Jazz were upset,
Speaker 2: Donovan Mitchell maybe wasn't all in forever with the Utah
Speaker 2: and as punishment, will send him to a place he
Speaker 2: doesn't want to go.
Speaker 3: Were the Jazz mad? Yes?
Speaker 2: Was it that the reason that they traded him to Cleveland?
Speaker 2: Probably not the only reason, but it's a phenomenal, nice
Speaker 2: little cherry on top and as an interesting aside to
Speaker 2: how the deal went down. Gerson Roses you may know
Speaker 2: the name, you may not, ancillary player in the NBA space,
Speaker 2: but recently fired from the Timberwolves as a GM for
Speaker 2: an extramarritoral affair with someone inside the organization, also accusations
Speaker 2: of contributing to a toxic work environment. He was the
Speaker 2: one responsible for the day to day talks of the
Speaker 2: Nicks and the Jazz. Why you ask, well, Leon Rose
Speaker 2: likes him. He's hired Gerson Roses as a consultant. Apparently
Speaker 2: Knicks fan's not too happy about that, I would imagine,
Speaker 2: but he does have a good relationship with the jazz.
Speaker 2: But the problem is there's just too many people who
Speaker 2: have too many cooks in the kitchen. You've got Leon Rose,
Speaker 2: You've got world Wide West.
Speaker 3: Where is he? We don't know.
Speaker 2: By the way, an amazing side road I heard the
Speaker 2: world Wide West. If you meet him and he's like, hey.
Speaker 3: Do you know.
Speaker 2: Fat Joe and you're like, yeah, I know Fat Joe.
Speaker 2: Fat Joe met at a party and he'd go okay
Speaker 2: really and you're like, yes, really, And then he'll go
Speaker 2: ring ring, ring, ring, and FaceTime Fat Joe. Fat Joe
Speaker 2: will answer upon the first ring because he's fucking Worldwide West.
Speaker 2: How he's so powerful? I need to take a deeper dive,
Speaker 2: and he'll say what's up Fat Joe, and Fat Joe
Speaker 2: will probably say what's up my guy? And he'll say, hey,
Speaker 2: do you know this guy right here? And presumably hopefully
Speaker 2: for you, Then Fat Joe will say yes, and then
Speaker 2: he'll say what's this guy? Like?
Speaker 3: Are they legit? Is he legit?
Speaker 2: Is he?
Speaker 1: Is she?
Speaker 2: Not legit? Oh? Okay, thanks guy, and then.
Speaker 1: Just hang up.
Speaker 2: Is that not the craziest receipt pulling that you've ever seen?
Speaker 2: And he does that like with everyone I've never heard
Speaker 2: of something.
Speaker 3: Back to the story.
Speaker 2: So you've got Leon Rose, you've got Worldwide West the
Speaker 2: receipt puller. You've got Tom Thibodeau in the mix. You've
Speaker 2: got Scott Perry, who I don't know if anyone still
Speaker 2: realizes he's there in a GM capacity, but he is.
Speaker 3: I saw him at summer league. What does he do?
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Does anyone know, cap expert? Not sure, but he is
Speaker 2: still there. And now you've got on top of all
Speaker 2: of those guys and the owner who knows so much
Speaker 2: about basketball that he likes to get involved sometimes as well.
Speaker 2: Now you've got a consultant, Gerson Roses, not a GM,
Speaker 2: not an assistant GM, not a scout, nothing, a consultant
Speaker 2: handling the nitty gritty of maybe one of the most
Speaker 2: important trades in the last I don't know, twenty five
Speaker 2: years of Nick's basketball history. What's that saying about too
Speaker 2: many chefs in the kitchen? M I've been watching the
Speaker 2: bear by the way. Phenomenal, phenomenal chef's kiss, they say.
Speaker 2: Not surprisingly, there was some disagreement with the Nick C
Speaker 2: squeet over Donovan Mitchell. Some people all in AKA Worldwide
Speaker 2: West and Fat Joe by the way, there's Fat Joe
Speaker 2: contingent as well. Others clearly valued the other assets. Somehow
Speaker 2: someway Quentin Grimes being untouchable. Not Grimes, the singer, Quinton
Speaker 2: Grimes untouchable, second ear Quinton Grimes. He's six y six,
Speaker 2: he can play some defense, but untouchable in the dawno
Speaker 2: of Mitchell trade, Sir some valued RJ. Barrett very highly.
Speaker 2: They didn't see value in giving up Barrett and the
Speaker 2: rest of the young guns and three protected unprotected.
Speaker 3: First said of them bridge too.
Speaker 2: Far, throwing trader Danny the guy that we know likes
Speaker 2: to fuck every other trade partner and that's just his
Speaker 2: m O. That's not my opinion, that is fact. Well,
Speaker 2: what you get is a complete puff piece where in
Speaker 2: the Boston Globe about this deal. Some when I said,
Speaker 2: I pulled my Brian Windhort's glasses on when I saw that,
Speaker 2: I said, why would the Boston Globe do that?
Speaker 3: Why would they do that?
Speaker 2: Well, Danny Ainge and his roots to Boston doesn't have
Speaker 2: a lot of roots with Utah. Also, whatever sort of
Speaker 2: bargain basement newspaper that they have there in Salt Lake,
Speaker 2: that's not moving anyone but the Boston Globe writing a
Speaker 2: full on, in depth article about what went down and
Speaker 2: how the Knicks missed out on Donovan Mitchell and how
Speaker 2: it's not Danny Ainge's fault. Come on with one of
Speaker 2: the greatest shill journalists in life, Gary Washburn. No way,
Speaker 2: Danny Ainge was responsible for the Knicks talks breaking down.
Speaker 2: I was like, hmm, interesting Danny Inge leveraging old relationships
Speaker 2: to spin a narrative to make himself look better in
Speaker 2: terms of Cleveland, Cause that matters as well. Talk about
Speaker 2: nuts on the table, talk about big swinging Dick Kobe Altman.
Speaker 2: Holy fuck, I didn't know he headed in him. I
Speaker 2: didn't know he had laid around in the weeds waiting
Speaker 2: for the Knicks to do nixt things get too arrogant.
Speaker 2: Danny Ainge continue to push back randoms involved in the
Speaker 2: trade discussions.
Speaker 3: They say, you know what, we're out as soon as RJ.
Speaker 2: Barrett gets his extension, we're back in. Actually, we'd like
Speaker 2: to offer you Lori Markenen, Colin Sexton and a boatload
Speaker 2: of picks. How's that work done done? What a dynamic
Speaker 2: team they were last year? They had Ricky Ricky Rubio again.
Speaker 2: They've got a healthy Colin Sexton. Ideally they don't have
Speaker 2: to pay Colin Sexton very much. They've got a bunch
Speaker 2: of guys who've made the All Star Game recently, as
Speaker 2: recently as last year. And they said, you know what,
Speaker 2: East is too stacked. We gotta make a move. We
Speaker 2: got to make a move. I think this makes them
Speaker 2: a player. I think this makes them in my opinion,
Speaker 2: considering that they were somewhere between three and five last
Speaker 2: year all year until Rubio went down with an acl
Speaker 2: and then Jared Allen went down with a finger injury.
Speaker 2: Before that, they were rolling number one defensive team in
Speaker 2: the league. And now you add a guy who can
Speaker 2: get you a bucket when things get ugly, You've got him,
Speaker 2: You've got Garland. I think this makes him better than Philly,
Speaker 2: not saying a lot because Philly added PJ.
Speaker 3: Tucker.
Speaker 2: They added some dogs on this team. And I do
Speaker 2: like Embiid more than pretty much every other center in
Speaker 2: the league. But goddamn, this Cleveland team with multiple All
Speaker 2: Stars and youth, they really could finish four in the
Speaker 2: East for in the East. And I think this also
Speaker 2: puts us in a different discussion with Kobe Altman, Like
Speaker 2: this seriously puts you in a new conversation when you
Speaker 2: come out of the woodwork and you are Cleveland, Ohio
Speaker 2: and you find a way to get a star from
Speaker 2: New York who wants to go to New York, who's
Speaker 2: been on a summer tour inside of New York with
Speaker 2: the shirt off, with a Mets hat on everything, and
Speaker 2: you find a way to steal him away from a
Speaker 2: team who is desperate to get him. That gives a
Speaker 2: whole new level of respect to you. And people are
Speaker 2: already saying, which I think as actually might be true,
Speaker 2: is that Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are a top
Speaker 2: five backcourt in the NBA. Now my top five Chris
Speaker 2: Paul and Booker until Chris Paul is dead probably soon,
Speaker 2: Klay Thompson and Steph until Clay Thompson is dead, which
Speaker 2: is probably soon, John Morant and Desmond Bain.
Speaker 3: Very underrated backcourt.
Speaker 2: Desmond Bain, I don't need to tell you, but if
Speaker 2: you forgot, he's one of the best three point shooters
Speaker 2: in the league. Even with his little alligator arms, he
Speaker 2: can still play defense.
Speaker 3: He's number three. They're number three.
Speaker 2: Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland I think are number four and
Speaker 2: young and de Jon Tamurray.
Speaker 3: Two all stars along with an All.
Speaker 2: Star center, probably the best rookie in the draft last
Speaker 2: year outside of Scottie Barnes. But people are very hot
Speaker 2: high on what Evan Mobley can do. Then you add
Speaker 2: in Kevin Love, one of the best role players in
Speaker 2: the league right now, alongside Ricky Rubio, the heart and
Speaker 2: soul of this team.
Speaker 3: Holy shit.
Speaker 1: As for the.
Speaker 2: Knicks, this is now an exploring year.
Speaker 3: What do you have? Who is Obie Toppin? Who is
Speaker 3: Quentin Grimes? Are Barrett RJ?
Speaker 2: Barrett Good?
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Is Jalen Brunson gonna get you the forty one point
Speaker 2: type of performances that he did when Luca was off
Speaker 2: the floor or is he close to the guy we
Speaker 2: saw a Villanova somewhere in between. And we know that
Speaker 2: Tibbs hates the kids. That's what he does. He hates kids.
Speaker 2: But he might not have a choice. You might have
Speaker 2: the screws put on you and say, listen, TIBs, it's
Speaker 2: time for you to play the young guns, and to
Speaker 2: play them from game one to see what we have.
Speaker 2: But I do know they're not done.
Speaker 3: I know that they are sick.
Speaker 2: I ran in funnily enough, I ran into Gerson Roses
Speaker 2: and Tom Thibodeaux at Summer League. Gerson Roses very friendly,
Speaker 2: not surprising, awesome. Guy knew him back in Minnesota. So
Speaker 2: I asked him what it was up to and he
Speaker 2: said what am I up to getting TIBs some more talent?
Speaker 3: Boy? Did I not?
Speaker 2: I had no idea When he said that, he really
Speaker 2: meant it. But I tell you what, the priority to
Speaker 2: get Tibbs more talent was paramount, and this was after
Speaker 2: the Jalen Brunson deal.
Speaker 3: So who have they added since Crickets? No one? Nobody?
Speaker 3: Am I missing anyone? Nobody? They've extended RJ. Barrett, So
Speaker 3: it doesn't look like they're.
Speaker 2: Going to get more talent in the aftermath of messing
Speaker 2: out on Donovan Mitchell. We'll see how these youngsters develop,
Speaker 2: whether Tips plays them together, whether Leon Rose and Worldwide West,
Speaker 2: who's face timing everyone is facetiming another star who might
Speaker 2: be disgruntled. Maybe there's trays up their sleeves in February,
Speaker 2: But if that was their goal, then I'm pretty confident
Speaker 2: it's still the case now. So we'll have to see
Speaker 2: what they end up with closer to February.