WEBVTT - Rich Hofmann Joins The Heat Check! 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:06.480 Break was breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines. So 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.319 the Heat Check, The Heat Check, it's just a crack 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:13.200 the best podcast covering all the drama around the association. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.840 All right, let's move on to this interview. Let's do it. Please, 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.760 Welcome to the Heat Check our special guest, Rich Hoffman 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.560 one F friend of the show, former writer at The 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:27.320 Athletic and all Things Philly. He lives and breathes Philadelphia sports. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.520 He also has a daily newsletter, the pH l Y 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.120 Philly Daily Newsletter. He also has a great podcast on 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.720 the same site. Check out his Twitter, Rich Underscore Hoffman 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.519 h O F M A N N one A F 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.960 two ends very confusing, Keep on up with all of 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.440 his doings. Rich is great, he gets it. Conversation was awesome, 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.199 really broke down the hardened situation to a t. So 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.120 let's jump into it. All right, let's welcome to the show, 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.440 Rich Hoffman. It has been a minute. The last time 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.000 I talked to Rich, it was still We're still firmly 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:03.960 embedded in the Simmons era. Rich Hoffman with one F 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:08.240 go find him on his Twitter, Rich Underscore Hoffman one F. 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.800 He also has a newsletter, pH l Y Daily newsletter. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.120 Also there's podcast, so go check it out to find him. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.800 Philadelphia seventy six Ers, but also all Things Philadelphia will 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.400 call that the team de joor is the Sixers. Thank 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:25.839 you so much and welcome to the show. 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:27.119 Good to be with you, Trista. 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:31.040 Guess it was another crisis we were dealing with whenever. 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:32.200 That was a couple of years ago. 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:34.520 I'm curious. That was the first thing that I thought 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:36.600 of when I knew you were going to come on, 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.680 was how does that era, in terms of how the 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.480 fan base felt, how the people around the team felt, compare, 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.640 because it was obviously very toxic situation with Ben and 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.960 the way that it ended, How does that compare to 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.960 the way that things flamed out in the Harden era? 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.640 I think it was. It was pretty different, honestly, Like 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.720 I think, like you said, toxic is a good word. 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.320 I think there was a lot of emotion on both sides, 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.360 you know. I think with the way Ben and Clutch 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.040 were kind of handling themselves that year where he clearly 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.240 didn't want to play, so that was obviously different with 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:11.800 James James. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:12.880 I don't think James wanted to. 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.040 Play either, but there was the actual threat of him 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.760 playing like he could play. I'm not sure Ben in 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.040 retrospect was even ready to play at that point. But yeah, 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:25.480 like I think, you know, Philadelphia, very big sports city, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.040 very passionate, all those things. I think Ben elicited a 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.120 lot of those passions because let's be real, like he 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.240 was a fan favorite at times, like they drafted him 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.440 number one overall, he was a flawed but very good 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:39.280 player for a couple of years, played his butt off 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.760 every game. Obviously shooting thing, we can leave that to 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:42.160 the side. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:43.280 But I don't know. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.200 James Harden, I think in retrospect was kind of a 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.480 mercenary for these guys, right, And I think the more 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.640 you look at James Harden's career, it's a little bit sad, 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.520 Like what fan base is going in to bat for 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.600 him after this is all over, you know what, Like 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:00.320 what is the group of fans besides like his own 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.400 personal fans, which I've encountered a bunch of them online 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.840 over the years, but like, is it Houston? I guess 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.480 it must be. But he kind of left them for 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.000 you know, he left them for dead, and it wasn't 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.920 a great like spot to be in. That was not 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.640 a great ending, how he handled himself there. So I 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:19.480 guess my point is like there was a little bit 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.639 of apathy in Philadelphia for this, Like, yes, people were 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.400 sick of James Harden. Yes, people just wanted him to go, 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.160 but it was different this time. It was like, you know, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.160 I don't think when James Harden comes back, he'll get booed, 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.000 but I don't think the same level of vitriol will 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.080 be there like we saw with Ben Simmons. And I 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.000 think that's almost a negative. Like I think the fact 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.360 that that happened for Ben was more like, Okay, we 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.920 used to love you, and I think in retrospect, James 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.480 Harden felt like a hired gun and yeah, you know, 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:49.480 obviously this is the third time he's done it in 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.560 four years, and it was just kind of a you know, 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:54.960 like a joyless like few months here where it was like, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:55.360 all right. 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:56.880 Can we just get home with this because we don't 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:58.040 want to deal with this guy anymore. 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.440 It's funny too, because the worst thing you can be 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.600 as a Philadelphia sports fan, I'm sure, right, is dispassionate, 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:08.560 is like love him or hate him, but like to 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.400 have no opinion and just be like mah, I'm kind 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.000 of ready for this to be over. Feels like probably 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.760 the worst place that a fan base can be that's 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:23.359 as excitable, and we'll call it like deeply connected to 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.840 the team as Sixers fans are. 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:27.560 Yeah, yeah, and that's what it was. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.680 And you know, I think James is kind of he's 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.000 a little bit of a dispassionate guy in general too, 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.120 Like he clearly had his moments where he doesn't quite 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:39.960 play as hard. I mean I thought, like, you know, 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:43.600 it's funny, like there was some commentary in recent weeks 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.840 months like this guy isn't even any good anymore. I'm like, well, okay, 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:48.760 we can pump the brakes on that. He's pretty damn 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:51.720 good last year. I get it, the end of the 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.160 Boston series. Not great, that's the story of his career, 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:58.520 but like, pretty darn good player last year. But yeah, 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.760 he just didn't quite connec with the fan base the 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.960 same way. And I think you're absolutely right, Like in Philadelphia, 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.680 like the worst thing to be is apathetic, and when 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.880 people are just kind of you know, I've been around 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.760 this my whole life, Like I've lived here my whole life. 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.800 These are my friends, my family, all of these people. 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.960 If they're just kind of very quickly calling you a 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.000 loser and just saying get out of here, like I 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.560 feel like we usually can do better, and that is 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:25.520 a sign that maybe the good times were not quite 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:27.920 as good as they were with Ben Simmons, because I 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.599 think the other thing with Ben too is like when 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.480 he was good here, like the Sixers had a lot 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:34.560 of hope, right they had foults, they had all these 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.000 draft picks, they had these assets, all of these things 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.240 that they've completely blown by now, but there was like 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.039 a hope that they could be the team for the 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:42.800 next five or six years. And he was a part 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.800 of that. But James not exactly the same type of thing. 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.200 So we get to the point where, you know, people 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.520 are just happy that Daryl Morey has kind of moved 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:52.640 on it. It kind of was like a great trade. 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.520 Who'd we get kind of thing, I feel like from 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:56.040 a lot of people. I didn't view it that way, 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.640 but that's kind of how people felt here. 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:00.520 We'll table that for a second. I do want to 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.240 get your opinion on the trade. You know, I heard 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.320 this not long ago, was but last year and maybe 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.760 March or April, and they said, Trista, you know that 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.520 like whenever the Sixers aren't playing, Like when it's not 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:18.240 game day, if James can be in Houston, he is 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:23.240 in Houston as we speak. Was that known? And that's insane, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.200 Like that's insane for a player to never be in 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.839 the city that they played for, Like either they're either 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:32.440 on the road, they're at practice, or they're back in 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.320 the city that they you know, are connected to. Like 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.760 that's crazy to me. Was that something that was public 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.440 or like insider knowledge that oh, yeah, this guy's just 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:44.560 because that to me was a telltale sign that this 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:46.360 guy's just not connected to the city at all. 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:48.880 Yeah, and that's also part of it too. Yeah, I 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.679 think his his off court habits have been made public 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.919 and in some sorts, and yeah, that was part of 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.800 the deal with the team, right like where he you know, 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.280 Darryl moriy is kind of known what James hard is 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.680 like now. I guess the difference is when he first 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.120 had him, he was actually in Houston, So okay, yeah, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:06.320 he might be going to the club at night, but 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.480 at least he's still in the city. Yeah, if you 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:10.160 and you know, when you're on the beat, there are 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.360 kind of different tricks where you know, there are some 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.600 different Instagram accounts you can follow and kind of see 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.600 some of his friends and be like, oh, okay, that's 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:19.840 where he is tonight, Like in general like that, those 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.760 type of things. Yeah, that happened a lot, and uh yeah, 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:25.960 I think that's the that's always going to be the 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:27.840 case with James Harden. The Clippers are going to have 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.320 to deal with that to a degree as well. And 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.480 I think for the most part, the Sixers were happy. 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.239 They were like, look, like the Bensimon's thing was crazy. 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.680 We needed a good player and we're going to deal 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.480 with this guy like warts and all. And I think 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.320 on the court it was it was pretty good. It 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:44.200 wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good for a lot 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:46.760 of the time. But yeah, it was knowledge. Yeah, within 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:49.440 the team. I think even in the public it seeped 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.040 out a little bit. Yeah, Yeah, people knew that. You know, 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.040 he would go back to Houston a lot, he would 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.280 party a lot, those type of things, like but that's 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:57.800 that's just who James Harden is. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:57.920 You know. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.600 Yeah, and that's that goes with the territory. I think 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.120 for la there's probably a little bit of solace in 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:05.560 knowing that that's the place that he's from, right and 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.720 so he'll probably stick around in La more given that 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.120 it's a homecoming for him. And it's insane to me. 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.640 I was thinking about this today. Insane that Kawhi, PG, Harden, 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:22.000 and Russ all Los Angeles legends, all playing probably for 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.040 the team that they didn't grow up rooting for, but 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.560 still still fucking awesome when you think about it from 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.440 like a human perspective. 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.800 Totally like complete hotbed of talent in southern California, Like 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.360 just great high school hoops over there, and yeah, pretty 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.160 much all those guys around the same age just getting 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.360 to play together. Yeah, playing for the Clippers, which is funny. 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.880 I'm sure they probably didn't think about that as kids. 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.520 And yeah, maybe maybe James does stay around there. But 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.720 I guess my thing with him is, again, I still 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.320 think he's very good. I think he's probably not like 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:55.520 as good as he thinks he is to pull this 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.800 whole thing, like I felt like he was kind of 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.520 putting his foot down like it was twenty twenty, like 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.959 he was MVP level Harden, I don't think he's at 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.280 that level, but he clearly got his way here. I 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:09.320 just wonder like if he does keep doing this, like 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.920 is there a point where like he falls off a cliff, like, 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:14.319 you know, is there is there? 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.160 I think it's now. I think it's now. 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.520 We'll see, you know, we'll see. I don't know it's 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:21.600 you know. It's funny. 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.120 In the past couple of months, my favorite player of 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.040 all time just just because of where I grew up, 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:28.280 and you know, the team I rooted for growing up 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:33.920 was Alan Iverson and obviously very flawed player in some respects, 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:35.959 certainly like to get after it off the court a 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.360 little bit. But there was a time when Alan Iverson 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.800 was like, you know, almost leading the league in scoring 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:42.800 in Denver and then like two years later out of 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.080 the league, like just just completely gone. And I do think, 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.800 like James Harden, he's ahead of where Iverson is at 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:51.319 that point, just because I think he's such a good 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.240 passer and that has kind of aged a little bit 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.440 better than AI. But but I do hope he realizes, like, hey, man, 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:59.680 like there was one team that was going to trade 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.840 for you, just one Like I really if he did 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.080 not accept that that player option this year and he 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:07.679 just went out in a free agency, I would have 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.480 been really curious to see, like somebody would have picked 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.000 him up. Obviously, like he's too good not to get 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.000 picked up by somebody, But like, I think that market 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.000 is so much narrower for a million reasons, some of 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.320 them not his fault, but a lot of them. Yeah, 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.480 his fault like that that he has not made himself 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.520 kind of a more willing role player on and off 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.599 the court, those type of things. So we'll see. This 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.920 feels like his last chance, though, like to make something happen, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.520 to play on a team this good and potentially to 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:35.920 get paid. 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:37.480 We'll see what Bomber does in the off season. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.040 Yeah, So when the trade came down, I was super surprised. 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:43.880 It came down super late at night too. The reporting 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:49.600 is that Darryl Moury was sort of circumvented by Josh Harris, 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.480 owner of the Sixers, and Steve Baumer. I don't know 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.040 if you have other insight into that, but just kind 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.240 of wanted to get your thoughts on just that, your 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.800 general tenor from Philadelphia's perspective on that. 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.480 Yeah, as far as the ownership, I mean, owners are 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:05.800 involved in everything, so like there is a degree of 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.120 that in pretty much any transaction you make. Now, how 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:11.880 much were they involved here, I don't exactly know, like 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.240 different people will tell you different things. I think some 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.400 people would point to, okay, like where did that report 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.440 come from? Like where are those places? 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:21.640 Maybe it's James. 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.960 Harden leaking that to try and make Daryl Morey. 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:24.760 Look a little bit worse. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.320 I will tell you though, just looking at what that 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.760 trade package is, and I don't think it's terrible by 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.440 any means, Like I don't think it's awful. But I 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.040 am a little surprised that Daryl Morey didn't hold out 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.640 because I covered this team two years ago when Joel 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.240 Embiid was, you know, playing at an MVP pace and 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.280 literally everybody was screaming after every forty ball he would 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.520 throw up, can you trade Ben Simmons? 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:47.840 Please? 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.600 Can you not waste a year of this guy's prime? 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.600 So I was a little surprised that, you know, in 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.640 week two of the season, like, okay, this is when 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:58.840 the trade got made. And look, it makes sense from 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.320 the Clippers standpoint, if they were gonna do it, you 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.120 gotta do it early in the year. Like I saw 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.480 James Harden get integrated into a team later in the year. 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:07.240 That that doesn't work. 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:08.079 You need a full. 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:09.920 Year to like figure out how to play together or 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.160 what rotations those type of things. So I get that, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.080 and I get it from the Sixers standpoint, because like 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.600 they didn't want James Harden to play for them. Like 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:19.960 they're actually playing okay at the beginning of the year. 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.520 They have this new coach, new system, Tyreese is playing great, 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.160 all those things, and James Harden, like, was he gonna 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.839 just do the end of the rockets and nets thing 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.680 where he you know, he runs up and down the 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.320 court and he plays like absolutely zero defense and he's 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.800 basically just tanking on the court. I mean, that would 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.280 have been it would have been interesting to watch for 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.880 sure for me, But I guess if you're like in 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.199 the Sixers organization, that's probably something you don't want to 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.439 see happen. So I was a little bit surprised though, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:50.240 that Maury kind of quote unquote settled for this. And 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.880 you know what, maybe and I think he'd probably tell 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.200 you this, Maybe he got to the point where he's like, look, man, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.800 we're dealing with one team. Like at some point, I 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:00.720 think you do kind of just have to settle for 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:02.960 the type of trade because as much leverage as we 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.520 have on them that they want to make James a 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:07.200 part of their team and figure out what works and 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.240 what doesn't. Like, we have one team we're dealing with, 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.920 Like they if they leave, we are completely. 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:12.320 Stuck with this guy. 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.800 So that's ultimately what I think happened. I mean, obviously 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:17.880 he didn't get Terrence Man, he didn't get that other 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.200 second round pick or that second first round pick. He 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.120 was looking for the twenty thirty one. You know, he 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.040 got some decent stuff in there, and obviously they have 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.240 this flexibility to make some moves, whether it's this season 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.040 or in the offseason when when all of these contracts. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:34.400 Expire or whatever. 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:36.880 But yeah, like I was a little surprised because it 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.880 was not like when you looked at the trade package, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.319 it felt like something he might have been willing to 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:44.960 hold out for more. But maybe it was just a 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.920 different situation than the Ben Simmons thing, you know. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:52.160 Yeah, and it's interesting it felt like there was less stubbornness, 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.600 I guess on Darryl Moury's part, because you know, Ben 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.560 Simmons and Daryl really aren't connected in any emotional way. 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.719 There is no goodwill there. The way that Ben kind 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.880 of sold it on the season and how aggressive he 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.000 was felt like maybe that was gonna and probably worth 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:14.720 more money, right, like just longer team control, younger, higher upside, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:18.120 more teams that could potentially take a swing on him. 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.720 I'm curious though, because it seemed like Daryl Mourray was 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.000 in the same camp about Ben, which is, we need 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.720 to get better. We need to get pieces that get 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.120 us a high level star to pair with our young 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.080 guys in Joel. Who is that now? Given what they 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.880 got in this trade. And I like Nick Batuma a 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.520 lot right, good point of attack, defender, can shoot, can 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:40.760 play small ball, five, play the four, play the three. 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.440 You know, very underrated, little old But what do they 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.000 have now outside of cap space to really make a 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:52.360 move this year to add to this team being a 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.520 legit threat to Milwaukee or Boston. 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.760 So I agree with you and that that's kind of 0:14:57.480 --> 0:14:59.320 I think the way you have to view this trade 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:01.640 was like the way I looked at it initially, when 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.240 you just look at the pieces they got, the players, 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.080 the draft picks, I was like, that's a cold B 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.880 B minus something like that, like that's not bad, like 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.680 and maybe credit to Daryl for settling for that, because 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.000 maybe it wasn't gonna get better. But the way it's viewed, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.360 and Daryl said this yesterday at a press conference, is like, 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.160 this is a two part trade, Like this is the 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.520 first part of it, and you really can't judge what 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.400 happens until you see what we do with all this stuff. 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.240 That said, I am like a little bit skeptical just 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.800 because I like it's publicly available information. You could just 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.040 google it, like it'll be on hoops Hype or whatever, 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.840 like twenty twenty four free agents, Like, look at that class. 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.160 It's not the you know, it's not the Lebron Dwayne Wade, 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:45.840 Chris Bosh twenty ten class. 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:47.360 Like, it's not. You can look at the names. 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.440 It's like Pascal Siakam, it's the two Clippers guys who 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.240 I think they're gonna resign. But that's like the players 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.240 on the list, you know, it's like, yeah, it's like 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.640 the Raptors guys. It's like og and and all of 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.520 these kuys. So it's not a very inspiring crop. Unfortunately 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.440 for the Sixers. Tobias Harris is like way higher on 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.320 that list than he probably should be. Like, it's not 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.640 a very strong class. So I think what the Sixers 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.120 would say is they can do two things here. They 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.760 can go into the offseason and they can have like 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.720 fifty five million dollars worth of cap space. They they 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.080 did not extend Tyres Maxy this past offseason, keeping his 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.560 cap hold low. He's gonna make a boatload of money 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.080 next year. But they can at least like pay the 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:29.960 other guys first and then pay him on top and 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:31.760 be over the cap just because he was such a 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:33.280 late pick four years ago. 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:34.840 They could do that. 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.280 Or they can go into this season and say, look, 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.200 we have a bunch of these expiring contracts, and they're 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.560 like you said, it's like baitoom, it's Roco, It's it's 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.600 Marcus Morris. Let's say even two of the three of 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.640 those guys are somewhat playable for a team. But the 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.080 good news for the team that would trade for them 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.280 is like, look, they're off your books after this year, 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.120 like they're expiring, so they're not gonna be like an 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.920 anchor on your books for three four years down the road. Plus, 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.119 the Sixers have three tradeable first round picks now, and 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.200 I think the one thing Daryl can at least, I 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:09.800 think take a little bit of a victory lap on 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.119 like that twenty twenty eight Clippers pick that could be 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:15.320 a pretty valuable trade ship. Now, I don't think the 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.880 Sixers want to make that pick obviously, because they want 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.320 to trade it to get somebody for Embiid. But like 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.920 you look, look at the ages of all those guys 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.240 on the Clippers, like and so they're going to resign 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.520 Kawhi pg Russ Harden. 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.240 Those guys are going to be forty years old. 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.399 At that point, and they don't have really any picks 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.560 to trade. On top of that, I know Steve Bomber 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.000 is a great owner in terms of just he's willing 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.199 to spend anything. He's richest guy in the NBA, all 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.000 those things. At some point, you don't have stuff that 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.960 other teams want, though, So I think that pick does 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.480 have some value, and then the Sixers have I think 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.159 it's like a twenty thirty pick of theirs, which I 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.560 think if you're another team, you big, oh yeah, I'd 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.879 love to short that team. Like, look, the Sixers, if 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.560 we're patient, either use that pick when Embiid is super old, 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.240 or you know, maybe we could trade that to another team. 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.919 So I think they would use those expiring contracts and 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.480 then their their picks to try and acquire a player 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.320 this year. I think that is ideally what they'd like 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.239 to do, because Joel Embiid, I think, is sitting there like, hey, 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.080 can we at least try to win something this year? 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:20.639 Like you know this idea that we are, you know, 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.520