WEBVTT - Darvin Ham Fired, 76ers & Bucks Eliminated 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.040 Welcome to this league. I'm cutting in the rule of 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:09.680 twenty four hour NBA news. This's you, Chris Haynes. It's 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:18.079 so time, work's time, It's so time. This league uncut 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:25.280 is underway and on fire. This should be a good one. Hey, everyone, 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.880 welcome in to the latest addition of this league uncut. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:37.920 An instant reaction addition to some breaking news in hashtag 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:42.320 this league. Because the Lakers on Friday, they have made 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:49.479 the expected official formally parting ways with their coach, Darvin Ham. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:54.280 I am coming to you in solo audio dispatch form 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:59.240 in the wake of Ham's dismissal Friday, because Chris Haynes 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.640 and I we've both been running around all over the 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:06.039 place on playoff assignments. Chris has been working the Eastern 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:10.000 Conference in Round one. I've been going back and forth 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:14.520 between Dallas and LA covering the Mavericks Clippers series, so 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:20.759 between travel, time zone clashes, we just haven't been able 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:25.520 to connect since we recorded Monday's pod the way we 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.520 had hoped. We will rectify that. I promise you we 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:34.160 will fix that asap. But in today's pod, doing it 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.240 this way, solo essay style, hopefully we can catch you 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:41.920 up on everything happening, starting of course, with the Lakers 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.840 firing of Ham, and the signs were building that this 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.520 is where it was heading, given the Lakers inability to 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.680 get out of the first round, given the Lakers inability 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.600 to hold several leads in the Denver Series, even after 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.520 a trip to the Western Conference Finals last season, winning 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:08.239 the n Season Tournament as recently as December, pressure had 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:12.680 been mounting on him four weeks now. He certainly had 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:19.240 no shortage of detractors this season regarding lineups, rotations, and 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.520 more recently, how he was connecting with Anthony Davis given 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.560 some of the stuff that we heard a d say. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:33.760 But look, the Lakers, not unlike Phoenix. They've got roster 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.280 issues to address, not as many as Phoenix maybe, But 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.520 a coaching change is only going to fix so much here. 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:47.880 And that's especially true because the list of established championship 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:52.000 coaches out there available to the Lakers, it's very, very short. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:56.280 You're already hearing tons of talk about ty Lou as 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.959 a potential Lakers coaching candidate. Tylu is still under contract 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.280 to the Clippers. No matter what happens later tonight in Dallas, 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.639 Tylu is not available to the Lakers as we speak, 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.040 and don't forget that the Lakers passed on the chance 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.720 to hire Taran Lou in the first place, back when 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.960 they ended up hiring Frank Vogel, offered the job to 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.600 ty Lou, couldn't come to terms with Tylo, and Tylu 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:26.560 ended up coaching the Clippers. Mike Budenholzer, three years removed 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.640 from steering the Bucks to a championship, he is available, 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.200 and what the Lakers will ultimately have to decide here 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:38.480 is do they narrow their focus to coaches who have 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:47.880 not just experience but title experience like Budenholzer, or would 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:54.520 the Lakers Fresh off these last two seasons with Darvin Ham, 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:58.160 are the Lakers prepared to seriously consider another first time 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:05.000 coach like JJ Reddick. The ESPN broadcaster Lebron James podcast partner, 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:09.880 I've been writing about JJ Reddick's potential candidacy in Lakerland 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.640 since Tuesday, but again, we don't know yet whether the 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.560 Lakers would be willing to hire another first time coach 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.400 after moving away from Darvin Ham so quickly, even a 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.359 first time coach like Reddick, who, obviously, by virtue of 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.560 their new podcast, he's already got a working relationship with 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:39.640 Lebron James and wherever and however this thing goes. The 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:44.400 NBA off season coaching carousel just got its first significant nudge. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.160 The pre existing openings before this one, we know Brooklyn 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:52.440 has already hired Jordi Fernandez from Sacramento staff to be 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.360 the next new coach. So the only other openings at 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.000 the moment are Charlotte and Washington. Those teams, of course, 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:03.120 at the bottom of the East standings much lower profile 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.040 jobs than the Laker job. And when we talk about 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.960 the Laker job, we are talking about one of the 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.480 hottest seats in professional sports. You heard Darvin Ham the 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:17.800 other day, right after the Lakers were eliminated with a 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:22.200 game five loss in Denver. Two straight seasons the Lakers 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.520 are knocked out of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets. 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.000 You heard Darvin Ham say that his two years in 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.200 that seat had been quote a hell of a time. 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.520 He was already speaking like a coach, like a man 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:42.599 who knew what was coming. And Ham's dismissal it's just 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.039 the start of what I expect is going to be 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.320 a pretty frenzied off season because we had so many 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.800 teams We're going to talk about this next. So many 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.320 teams came into the season with big expectations and lost early. 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:03.360 And just think about what we've already seen here as 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.960 the first round of these playoffs dribbled to a close. 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:13.760 Let's go through it. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Clay Thompson 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:18.520 and the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:23.839 Beal and the Phoenix Suns, Lebron James, Anthony Davis and 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:29.400 the aforementioned Lakers, Jimmy Butler, bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat, 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:35.160 Janna Santetokumpo, Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks, and finally, 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:40.760 last night, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia seventy 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.920 six ers. Now, you guys know, I am no Vegas expert, 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.520 so I'm not quite sure how to calculate this, but 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.560 just imagine the odds you could have gotten in Vegas, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:56.719 Let's say around Halloween if you had made a six 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.839 way bet, assuming that's even league. I really don't know 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.479 if it is, but let's assume that you made a 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:08.320 six way bet. Did I get that right? One? Two, three, four, five, 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:13.440 six teams that none of those Star Layden six teams, 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.680 not a single one of those six teams would reach 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.040 the second round of the NBA playoffs. That's where we 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.480 are in this league. After a pretty chaotic Thursday night, 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:31.480 you had Milwaukee and Philly the latest marquee teams to 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:37.320 be ushered straight into an early offseason. And yeah, it's 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:42.480 going to be wild, stressful, complicated when you look at 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:47.400 all those teams and the difficult pathways almost all of 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:53.880 them face to really improving their rosters. I really should 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:58.040 include New Orleans in this conversation. After Pelicans GM David Griffin, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:03.000 he came out after the Oklahoma City inflicted sweep of 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:08.080 the Zion Williamson lists Pels. David Griffin all but promised 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.200 that the Pelicans are going to be very active in 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:15.400 the trade market this offseason, so that instantly as you 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:19.760 start asking questions about who is likely to be moved 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.720 there brandon Ingram, is that a trade scenario that the 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.840 Pelicans are going to look into. There are so many 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:33.200 significant and tricky decisions that will have to be made 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:37.439 by all of these teams leaving the playoffs early. And look, 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.120 we cannot forget and we shouldn't forget, we should never 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:45.200 put this to the side. Injuries have absolutely overwhelmed the 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:50.040 whole league in the first round of these playoffs. You know, 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:54.120 I mentioned Zion there not being available for New Orleans, 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:58.160 and we know what's happened in Milwaukee. Game was able 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.880 to play in Game six, but Ya was not for 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:05.360 the Bucks. And we can go on and on and 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:11.360 on because there are that many injuries and they're really 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.840 you struggle to find a first round series or any 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.960 team in the postseason that has gone unscathed here. I mean, 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:23.280 not even coaches are safe right now. I am absolutely 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:28.880 sick for Minnesota's Chris Finch about the knee injury he 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:34.160 sustained when everyone's favorite Timberwolf, the newly minted the NBA's 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:38.800 newly minted teammate of the Year, Mike Conley, plowed into 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:43.480 Fitch on the sideline in the wolves sweep clinching win 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.040 over Phoenix, and it inflicted a serious knee injury that 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:53.559 required surgery. It will absolutely suck if Finch's ability to 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:59.640 coach against the Nuggets in the Tim Connolly Bowl is 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.760 comp and it almost surely has to be given how 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:08.280 serious this injury was. It is so brutal and unfair 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:13.280 to Finch and look cruel as this is. We will 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.160 have time to come back to that series to laser 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.240 in on the second round and discuss the Wolves matchup 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.040 with the defending champions from Denver that is to come. 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.480 The immediate focus this week is what's been happening with 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.400 all these headliner teams that have been ousted. And we 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.600 got our answer in terms of Darvin Ham in Lakerland. 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:48.840 But again, I'm not sure that a coaching change is 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:55.840 going to drastically alter and raise the Lakers overall ceiling 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:02.640 Lebron James is affected at this point. All the signals 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:05.840 suggest that he will stay with the Lakers. We don't 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.400 know yet what the contract structure will be. But the 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:13.559 real curiosity, yes, the Lakers have a coaching search to 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.080 conduct right now, but the real curiosity what kind of 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:21.760 trade can the Lakers make to upgrade their roster. Remember 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.040 they didn't do a deal at the trade deadline in 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.640 February with the one first round pick they had available 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.440 to move at that time. But I thought that was 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.559 the right call, and we're seeing exactly why now because 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.079 they have to do something significant now and now they 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:40.440 will have three first round picks at their disposal to 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.360 make a significant trade at the June draft or is 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.360 it early July. Atlanta's Trey Young. We've been talking about 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:52.400 him as a potential Lakers trade target since February. But 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.720 will that list expand I suspect that it will. I 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.560 think it's too early in the postseason for the trade 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.640 market to really have crystallized in terms of potential players 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.080 the Lakers can go after. I think in the next 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.840 four to six weeks there will be another name or 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:14.480 two or three who emerges as a potential Lakers trade target. 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.440 So and honestly, we could have started this rundown this 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:24.080 portion of the discussion with Phoenix because Frank Vogel is 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:29.320 under no shortage of pressure in terms of his job 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:33.840 security in Phoenix. And that's because, unlike the Lakers, the 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:41.160 Suns don't have easy pathways to improving their team. And 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:46.839 that's why there's been so much talk already about Frank 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:50.800 Vogel after a forty nine and thirty three season in 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:54.800 which he only had his three star players Booker, Durant 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.040 and Beale. They only played together in forty one of 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.000 the eighty two games. That's why you're hearing so much 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:09.040 about Frank Vogel's job status because meaningfully changing this underachieving 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:14.240 roster is going to be incredibly difficult for the Suns 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:19.000 because of all the restrictions they face as a second 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:23.720 apron luxury tax team. With apologies, of course, to Sons 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.160 owner Matt Ishbia, who had the temerity to proclaim the 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.599 following at a news conference Wednesday. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.439 Oh, it's extremely fixable. I mean, let's just be real. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:36.400 Although this isn't a cool narrative and the national media 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:37.920 really won't want to play it out there, but like 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.480 ask the other twenty nine gms, twenty six of them 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:43.600 would trade their whole team for our whole team, and 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:45.600 our whole in our draft picks and everything as it is, Like, 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:47.680 the house is not on fire. We're in great position. 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:49.960 It's not hard to fix it. It's not like we're like, hey, 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:51.679 we don't have enough talent to win a champion. We 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.040 have enough talent to win a championship, right, Do we 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.199 have enough continuity? We have time together, Like, there's a 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:57.679 lot of things we can look at. Do we have 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:59.400 like the right leadership in place? Do we have to 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:01.840 add some pieces around? It's not like we don't have 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.360 people that can score the Babel not that play defense 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.559 and have one chance, like we have all the things, 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.240 and so how fixable is it? And I mean, if 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.440 I read the media, I would think we have a 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.320 lot of problems. But luckily I get to spend time 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.200 with you know, the best players in the world. In 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.480 my opinion, the best coach is GMS see all these people, 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:21.120 and I get to spend time with our people and say, 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.080 we're in really great shape. And I wouldn't trade our 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.000 team or our situation for anyone else's except for I'd 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:28.800 like to be playing right now. But besides that, for like, 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:30.920 how going into the offseason, I feel great about it. 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:32.440 It's not like there's a lot of other teams that 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.960 have good players that have to resign them or they're 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:36.960 going to lose them, or that they might they're unrestrict 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:38.600 your free agents. Like our starting five's coming back. 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.200 I feel very good about it. Some truly impressive and 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:47.400 fascinating defiance there from matt Ishbia, But no, dare I 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.200 say that twenty six of twenty nine teams would not 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.440 trade situations with the Phoenix Suns, And no, the Sons 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.680 of Phoenix are not regarded to be in a great position, 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.800 as he also claimed there, and I would also suspect 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.880 that Ishbia will soon be able to confirm all of 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.680 this for himself once this offseason gets going in earnest 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.640 and the Sons try to make roster changes if they 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:20.000 don't want to trade Kevin Durant or Devin Booker, and 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.760 I strongly doubt they want to do either. Can they 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.200 trade use of Nurkic? Can they trade Grayson Allen after 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.960 they just extended him? That couldn't even happen until October. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.800 Grayson Allen is not trade eligible until next season starts, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:40.360 So just very limited options for the Suns going forward 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:45.840 roster wise. Miami, the Heat's response to an early exit 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:52.320 will start with extending Jimmy Butler's contract or not extending 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.920 Jimmy Butler's contract after a season in which, yes, Butler 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.920 only appeared in sixty regular season games, but he all 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:06.120 so performed absolutely heroically in the play in Tournament. Remember, 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.320 he played out the opening game of the play in 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:14.400 Tournament against Philly on a badly spraying knee, and he 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:18.040 nearly led Heat culture to a win over Philly in 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.520 that one. The Heat don't have to extend Butler. He 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.960 turns thirty five in September, But what will it do 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:29.640 to the relationship if they don't extend him after For 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:34.920 so long now, Butler has been the central figure of 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:40.720 the whole heat culture movement post Dwayne Wade the Bucks. 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.600 I am absolutely relieved for them that Jannis Antetokumpo did 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.920 not try to play in Game six. Hearing Yannis speak 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.680 to reporters in Milwaukee on Friday on the day after 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:59.360 the Bucks elimination, he really didn't sound close, But I 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.160 have to say I was also I was flat out 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:09.760 frightened for Milwaukee that Chris's guy, Damian Lillard did insist 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.199 on playing in Game six with a less than pristine achilles. 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.080 I'm super relieved for Dame on the Bucks that there 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:22.960 was no apparent further damage. And I mean, look, I 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.480 understand they had a shot to if they could have 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.760 won Game six in Indianapolis. This thing is now a 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.760 Game seven decider in Milwaukee, but man, that I felt 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.560 like they were risking a lot just to have Dame 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.280 on the floor. And now that it's over, this was 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:44.960 an absolutely nightmarish season in Brewtown. It began with such 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.479 promise no, there will be no comeback from three to 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:52.880 one down for Doc Rivers. And now that they're heading 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.720 into the offseason, I wrote about this as well earlier 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:02.520 in the week, teams are already hope, crossing their fingers 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:08.080 tightly wishing, praying that Yannis is moved to rethink his 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.800 future as a Milwaukee Buck, even though it was just 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:17.840 last October that the Yanas response to the Damian Lillard 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.800 trade acquisition was to immediately sign a three year max 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:29.360 extension with Milwaukee. But that's not gonna stop potential Yannis 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:35.080 trade suitors from lusting after the idea that he is 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:46.760 somehow unsettled. There anew and then the Sixers. I mean, 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:50.399 it's been more than twenty seasons now since we've seen 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:55.360 Philadelphia in the Conference finals. This time they didn't even 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:58.840 get the chance to slam into their usual second round wall, 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:04.960 losing to the Knicks in six games. But when we 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.800 look at Philly, first of all, this does not have 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:12.679 the feel of another playoff face plant, a feeling that 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:16.360 the Sixers and their fans know all too well. I mean, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.600 this time Philly lost a series filled with haymakers and 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.119 bonkers endings. Okay, they lost it to the Knicks, but 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:28.200 they did so with Joel Embiid rushing back from a 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.959 knee injury, probably faster than he should have, and that 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.639 knee injury it dropped Philly from second to seventh in 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:40.400 the East. And unlike pretty much every other team we've 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.480 talked about here so far, the Sixers really do have 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:47.960 some tangible hope for the future because they're gonna have 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.600 more than fifty million in cap space this summer to 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:56.159 try to find that third star to pair with Embiid 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.560 and the rising Tyrese Maxey. And look, the free agent 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:05.119 market is not teaming with wonderful options. But when you 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.400 have cap space, you can also make trades. You can 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.760 trade players into cap space. And I think we know 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.520 that Darryl Morey loves to make a trade or two 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.920 when he has the chance. And so I think all 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.400 of Philadelphia right now is trying to work out how 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:27.760 Tobias Harris could go scoreless in twenty nine minutes, everyone 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:31.439 naturally concluding that this will be the last time we 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:36.639 see Tobias Harris in a Philly uniform. But look, the 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.760 Sixers as we speak, Yes, their season is over, but 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:47.199 they are seen as the foremost threat on the NBA 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:53.720 map to swipe Paul George away from the Clippers. The 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.639 Orlando Magic also have to be in that conversation, but 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.480 it's the Sixers who have the clip most concerned here, 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.240 and I'm talking about long term concerns, of course, the 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:10.439 immediate concern for the Clippers. Just in a few hours 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:14.399 after I finish recording this, I am headed straight to 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:19.240 the American Airline Center for Game six in Dallas Friday night. 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:23.480 The Mavericks will have another opportunity just hours after this 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:27.600 episode drops to bring the Clippers season to an end 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:33.359 and finally avenge those first round playoff losses to Kawhi 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.320 Leonard and Paul George and the Clippers in both twenty 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:38.920 twenty and twenty twenty one. And I have to say 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:41.880 it is this is such a wild night in Dallas 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:45.960 because Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are in town 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:53.240 for Caitlin Clark's first WNBA exhibition game. That's happening here 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:58.600 in town or in the Greater DFW area same night 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:03.479 as the Maverick's chance to close out a playoff series 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.359 at home for the first time in twenty eleven. Unfortunately, 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.960 these two massive games are in completely different places. It 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.160 would have been wonderful if somehow this could have been 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:22.840 a doubleheader at the AAC with Caitlin Clark playing in 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:28.560 her first exhibition game in the WNBA, followed by mas 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:31.199 Clippers game six. How amazing would that have been to 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.040 have both of these games in the same place. There's 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:37.840 no way to be in the same place. And I 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:42.440 will be at the playoff game again as the Mavericks 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:46.679 try to close out a playoff opponent at home for 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:51.280 the first time since they're run to a championship in 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:55.920 twenty eleven, and if it happens tonight, then the Clippers 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:59.399 concerns they immediately shift fully to trying to hang on 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:02.720 to join Origin free agency and trying to do a 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:07.880 new deal with Tron Lou because they need to extend Tylu. 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:11.240 Tylu should not be in the last year of his deal, 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:15.480 and Kawhi Leonard he was only healthy enough to play 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:20.600 in two games of this series. This is the Clippers 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:23.879 third series against the Mavericks in the space of five years, 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:28.480 and Kawhi is the only member of that Clippers corps 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:32.919 who is signed for the long term. Paul George, James Harden, 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:39.120 Tylu all of them need new deals as LA's other 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:43.520 team prepares to relocate to Inglewood. Of course, next season 0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:45.320 they'll be playing in the new and two at Dome. 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:51.240 And basically now Orlando has to win a Game six 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.160 at home against Cleveland, or the Clippers have to find 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:56.840 a way to steal another win in Dallas without Kawhi. 0:23:57.080 --> 0:23:58.920 That's the only way we're going to get a Game 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:03.639 seven in this first round. It did look like the 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:07.280 Knicks and Sixers might be heading to go the distance 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:10.679 after Maxie and Philly found a way to steal that 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:16.480 crazy Game five at the Garden. But now we're just 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:21.159 down to two outstanding series. Calves lead the Magic three 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:24.960 to two, Mavericks lead the Clippers three two. Those series 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:29.480 could be wrapped up by end of business tonight, and look, 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:35.720 soon enough, Round two will be here the Tim Connelly Bowl. 0:24:35.760 --> 0:24:39.879 We will be talking about that a lot Timberwolves Nuggets 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:42.960 in the second round. We know we're getting Nicks Pacers 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:45.919 in the East second round, and that one, of course 0:24:45.960 --> 0:24:50.199 serves up a delicious subplot of Jalen Brunson. Remember he 0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:55.480 only played ten minutes in a Game seven in the 0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:59.000 last game he ever played with Rick Carlyle as his 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:02.920 coach in Dallas, and now Jalen Brunson will be leading 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:05.879 the Knicks, although they are still the banged up Knicks. 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:09.800 He will be leading the Knicks against the Carlisle led 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:13.240 Pacers in round two, the Thunder and the Celtics. They 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:17.960 still await the identities of their second round opponents. But 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:20.359 before we go, we do need to point out that 0:25:20.440 --> 0:25:26.280 the Celtics, after months and months and months of anticipation 0:25:27.280 --> 0:25:31.919 that Boston would potentially reunite with Milwaukee or Philadelphia, or 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:35.320 maybe even both in the playoffs, the Celtics now have 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:38.840 to beat neither to get to the NBA Finals again, 0:25:39.480 --> 0:25:45.400 which is probably a good thing given that Christops Porzingis 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:48.880 is now out indefinitely with a calf strain, because of course, 0:25:48.880 --> 0:25:52.399 we needed yet another injury. I do think the Celtics 0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:54.639 can win two more rounds and get back to the 0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:59.679 finals without Porzingis, so they can play it safe and 0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:03.480 give him as much time as possible to recover, because 0:26:03.520 --> 0:26:08.320 they do need something close to a full steam poor 0:26:08.440 --> 0:26:13.639 Zingis if they're matching up with Denver in the NBA Finals, 0:26:13.720 --> 0:26:15.840 or even if Minnesota gets there with all of its 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:22.000 size in the NBA Finals. Boston's gonna need Porzingis and 0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:26.800 the length and versatility he brings both to their offense 0:26:28.000 --> 0:26:33.399 and their defense. All Right, I think that will pretty 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:37.000 much get us caught up for the week that was 0:26:37.359 --> 0:26:42.480 heading into Friday nights games. As I mentioned, been kind 0:26:42.480 --> 0:26:45.920 of a whirlwind for Chris and I. He's been traveling. 0:26:45.960 --> 0:26:50.639 I've been traveling. But Sunday night or Monday night at 0:26:50.640 --> 0:26:54.879 the latest, we will reconnect and we will dive further 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:58.280 into all of this. The coaching carousel, the offseason chatter 0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:02.160 about potential player moves. You watch, this stuff is going 0:27:02.200 --> 0:27:05.359 to start to really spark up now that so many 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:08.639 of these teams that were expected to do big things 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:11.760 this season, now that so many of them have been 0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:15.680 sent home. And I mentioned the Warriors in there. We 0:27:15.720 --> 0:27:17.639 didn't even get a chance really to touch on the 0:27:17.680 --> 0:27:21.600 complicated decisions they face when it comes to trying to 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:24.400 enhance their roster. Let alone, the Kings and the Bulls 0:27:24.440 --> 0:27:28.560 and the Hawks, the other three teams that exited this postseason. 0:27:28.760 --> 0:27:32.280 In the Play and Round, it's about to really start 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:36.840 getting busy again on the transactional front. And I know 0:27:36.880 --> 0:27:41.600 you guys love hearing that the draft lottery is fast approaching. 0:27:43.000 --> 0:27:46.120 We know six first round losers, many of them prominent. 0:27:46.240 --> 0:27:50.320 They have to start plotting their next moves immediately because 0:27:50.320 --> 0:27:55.560 of what happened this week. And you're gonna want to 0:27:55.600 --> 0:27:57.840 stay dialed in with us to stay on top of 0:27:57.880 --> 0:28:01.439 all the activity that's going to take place over the 0:28:01.480 --> 0:28:05.320 next two months and change. The Darvin Ham dismissal is 0:28:05.359 --> 0:28:07.520 only the start of it. That is going to do 0:28:07.640 --> 0:28:12.200 it for this edition of This League Uncut. As always, 0:28:12.320 --> 0:28:17.200 please follow the show via Apple or Spotify or wherever 0:28:17.240 --> 0:28:20.439 you get your podcasts. Please rate the show, review the 0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:24.760