Speaker 1: The Super Bowl Reaction pod you didn't know you needed
Speaker 1: and that you didn't know you were getting, which also
Speaker 1: includes lots of NBA trade talk, Hawks, Lakers, Trey Young.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into all that, as well as some
Speaker 1: serious issues that I have with some of Chris Haynes's
Speaker 1: recent wardrobe choices. Stay tuned, because all that's next right here,
Speaker 1: only on this league.
Speaker 2: I'm cut.
Speaker 3: Welcome to this league. I'm cutting in rule of twenty
Speaker 3: four hour NBA news.
Speaker 2: This you'll.
Speaker 3: Chris Haynes. It's so time, work's time, It's so time.
Speaker 3: This league un Cut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 1: This should be a good one. Everyone, Welcome in to
Speaker 1: the latest edition of this League Uncut. Mark Stein here
Speaker 1: with Chris Haynes. I wish you could see this, America.
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes is still wearing Chiefs gear.
Speaker 2: There's a reason for that.
Speaker 1: And he is really this is the foremost most divisive
Speaker 1: wedge that he has ever brought into our relationship. I
Speaker 1: don't even want to talk about the Super Bowl. I
Speaker 1: didn't anticipate that we would be doing so, but Chris
Speaker 1: Haynes is forcing the issue. So before we get to
Speaker 1: trade deadline reaction, where the NBA season goes from here?
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes, why are you? Why have you landed on
Speaker 1: the Chiefs bandwagon? Did the Chiefs really need another fan,
Speaker 1: a Fresno born, Bay Area based fan? They really need
Speaker 1: you wearing their gear? Why is my son telling me? Hey, Dad,
Speaker 1: did you see that Chris posted on Instagram? He's wearing
Speaker 1: a Kelsey jersey? What the hell is going on around here? Why?
Speaker 1: Why yourself?
Speaker 2: I'm glad you asked. I'm very glad you asked. You know,
Speaker 2: it's really simple. I have nothing against Niner fans. I
Speaker 2: just found a lot of them really obnoxious. Let me
Speaker 2: give you the short story of why I chose to
Speaker 2: root for the Kansas City Chiefs. I have a real
Speaker 2: tight group of neighbors. It's about six different houses, and
Speaker 2: we're just tight on this block. You know. I live
Speaker 2: in Sacramento, and most of them, ninety of them are
Speaker 2: Niner fans. And we do everything together on this block. Steinle,
Speaker 2: I mean, we we do pot lux here, we play
Speaker 2: basketball together here, real tight group, about twenty of us. Right.
Speaker 2: So the NFC Championship game, one of our neighbors decided
Speaker 2: to have a Niners fan only party and didn't invite
Speaker 2: some of us to this party. We were not invited.
Speaker 2: The only way we were invited if we were to
Speaker 2: wear Niner gear. That was the only way we were were
Speaker 2: to be invited. I didn't take too kindly of that stun.
Speaker 2: I didn't go I'm like, hell Na, you ain't gonna
Speaker 2: force me to go pick somebody else just to show
Speaker 2: up in your house, hell Na. So one of our
Speaker 2: other neighbors hosted the super Bowl party, and he was like,
Speaker 2: everybody is invited. Anybody can come regardless. So I made
Speaker 2: sure the day before the super Bowl party with the
Speaker 2: Dick Sporting Good and I'm in Sacramento. It is very
Speaker 2: hard to find anything Kansas City related. I found a
Speaker 2: Kelsey Jersey slash shirt, bought it for fifty dollars, and
Speaker 2: I showed up at the super Bowl party when the
Speaker 2: Niners were up ten oh and I came back and
Speaker 2: shifted the momentum. And then when you saw what happened,
Speaker 2: kmsas City Chief came back won that thing and stein
Speaker 2: the way they won it to the last second, like
Speaker 2: they I was, I'm in I'm in nither territory in
Speaker 2: this house. They're going crazy. They're thinking they're about to
Speaker 2: win the Super Bowl, and the way my homes just
Speaker 2: snatched victory away from defeat like that and brought it home.
Speaker 2: And I posted a video of that moment here while
Speaker 2: I was in Niner Land at this house, and I
Speaker 2: went off on my neighbor who didn't invite us to
Speaker 2: the NFC championship party. So, in a long story short, Styn,
Speaker 2: that's why I'm wearing this Kansas City Chiefs jersey slash
Speaker 2: shirt today. I went to the gym this morning because
Speaker 2: there's a bunch of Niner fans that I played basketball more.
Speaker 2: You know what, I wore that shirt and you know what, Stein,
Speaker 2: they didn't show up. They didn't show up. So I'll
Speaker 2: be wearing a shirt again tomorrow morning because they're going
Speaker 2: to see this. I'm gonna get all my use from
Speaker 2: buying this shirt. There, you have it, all right.
Speaker 1: So first of all, let me correct myself. Bay area
Speaker 1: based is poor terminology for me. You are Sacramento based.
Speaker 1: You are nine to one six based.
Speaker 2: It's not a territory. That's not a territory.
Speaker 1: Let's let's clarify that. Point two tomorrow's tweets today, I
Speaker 1: can already see it Tuesday when this episode drops, I'm
Speaker 1: waiting for the aggregation from the Dunk Central. Haines takes
Speaker 1: credit for Chiefs overtime rally. Haines, not Mahomes, propels Chiefs
Speaker 1: to second straight Super Bowl title, and.
Speaker 2: You know what, that would be accurate again, I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I showed up at the Super Bowl party late because
Speaker 2: my daughter had a volleyball tournament and those things last
Speaker 2: from morning till four thirty five thirty. So I got
Speaker 2: home and the Niners were up tn O and I'm
Speaker 2: dreading Stein. I'm dreading going to this super Bowl party.
Speaker 2: I'm like, man, heyll no, they up ten. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm already feeling some type of way about them not
Speaker 2: inviting us to the NFC party. But you know what,
Speaker 2: I showed up anyway, and when I showed up, the
Speaker 2: Chiefs showed up, and they showed out, and the rest
Speaker 2: is history.
Speaker 1: I assume you watched the NFL as as a young
Speaker 1: lad in Fresno. What was your favorite team as a kid?
Speaker 2: You know what? And the reason I could do this
Speaker 2: flip flopping. I don't have an NFL team. I don't
Speaker 2: I root for players. I don't have an NFL team
Speaker 2: but growing up, growing up, my favorite player was Jerry Rice.
Speaker 2: Then it was Terrell Owens, and that was it. Those
Speaker 2: were my two favorite players growing up.
Speaker 1: Well, look, I'm already dreading. You know, this is a
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bill household, and so my ability to stomach anything
Speaker 1: about the Chiefs is pretty much extinguished. To complicate my
Speaker 1: own personal situation further, Patrick Mahomes is a Mavericks fan.
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes and Luca are super tight. So I know
Speaker 1: that I am mere weeks, maybe even mere days away
Speaker 1: from Mahomes showing up to a Mavericks game triumphantly being
Speaker 1: courtside hugging Luca. I'm gonna have to watch them walk
Speaker 1: down the hallway together, and it's going to be it's
Speaker 1: going to be incredibly painful. I will say this though,
Speaker 1: the only thing, and we're gonna end the NFL talk
Speaker 1: and move on to the matters that we are more
Speaker 1: qualified to discuss. But the Chiefs this much, I know
Speaker 1: you can't win three Super Bowls in a row. So
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills are the favorites to win the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five Super Bowl based on the exclusive handicapping of
Speaker 1: this league. Uncut heard it here first, right, now Bills
Speaker 1: beat the Lions in Super Bowl fifty nine, two incredibly
Speaker 1: long suffering franchises, and the Bills are finally going to
Speaker 1: have their moment, the coronation of Josh Allen and the
Speaker 1: lifting of a curse as painful and as long as
Speaker 1: what Lebron James did for the Cavs in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: That is coming in February of twenty twenty five. So
Speaker 1: just there you go.
Speaker 2: Well, hold on, since you're going that far, who's going
Speaker 2: to Who's gonna Who's going to be the Super Bowl performer,
Speaker 2: halftime perform.
Speaker 1: I don't have that. I don't have I don't have
Speaker 1: that kind of intel. Were you? Were you happy with
Speaker 1: the Usher performance?
Speaker 2: That that editing nuts ten out of ten, ten out
Speaker 2: of ten, he killed it. I mean, it's one of
Speaker 2: those performances where it's like, if you got your woman
Speaker 2: by your side, your wife or your significant other, you
Speaker 2: gotta let her. Just let her have it, let her dream,
Speaker 2: let her have it. Usher takes everybody's woman for that
Speaker 2: ten fifteen minutes of time days performing And that's why
Speaker 2: I didn't let my wife go to his performance in
Speaker 2: Vegas when he had to stay there. But yeah, he
Speaker 2: killed it. He absolutely destroyed it.
Speaker 1: So that might make it tough on them. I mean,
Speaker 1: who wants to follow that. I mean, that's a tough
Speaker 1: act to follow, apparently.
Speaker 2: You know what, It's always a tough act to follow.
Speaker 2: But you know what, if you're a competitor, you go
Speaker 2: for it. Period you're a comparitor, you go for it.
Speaker 2: I was talking to about my daughter stein volleyball. She
Speaker 2: had the volleyball tournament. They went two and two yesterday,
Speaker 2: and me, I don't hide my frustration or my disdain
Speaker 2: for a lack of performance or a lack of hustle.
Speaker 2: So she sees it. Her ankle is bothering her. She
Speaker 2: puts an ankle brace on in the second game, and
Speaker 2: it's bothering her. You could see it in her face.
Speaker 2: And I pulled her to the side doing one of
Speaker 2: the timeouts. I said, believe it or not, nobody cares
Speaker 2: if your ankle is hurt. I said, you're either playing
Speaker 2: or you're not. That's it. If you're too hurt, sit down.
Speaker 2: Daddy will understand. But if you're in there, I don't.
Speaker 2: You can't let them know that you're hurt. You gotta
Speaker 2: go have a poker face. Nobody cares. It's one of
Speaker 2: those things. They don't care. All they're gonna do because
Speaker 2: she was playing against a high school teammate as well.
Speaker 2: This is club volleyball here, So I said, listen, you
Speaker 2: got that. That's your high school teammate right there. If
Speaker 2: she beats you, she's gonna talk. She's gonna talk. She
Speaker 2: don't care if you hurt or not. She's gonna talk.
Speaker 2: So you better get it. My daughter went and got it.
Speaker 2: So if you a competitor, star, it don't matter if
Speaker 2: us should followed Prince, followed Michael Jackson, the Beatles. You
Speaker 2: go out there if they called me to, if they
Speaker 2: called me and won't us to come do our podcast?
Speaker 2: This league gun cut for the Super Bowl half. That's
Speaker 2: what we're doing, Stan, I don't care if Prince was
Speaker 2: there last year. We're doing it me and you.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think we're going to get that invite.
Speaker 1: But I have to say, remember when you late last
Speaker 1: year you issued the mandate that producer Ryan Music must
Speaker 1: now keep his camera on so we can see him
Speaker 1: during the recording of these podcasts. We haven't said a
Speaker 1: word about the NBA yet. I have never seen him
Speaker 1: so happy. Like he is enjoying this NFL coverage in
Speaker 1: these life lessons far more than anything we say about
Speaker 1: the NBA. So I'm a little bit worried because I've
Speaker 1: never seen him this dialed into what we're talking about.
Speaker 2: Stein Ryan is from the Colin Cowherd tree. He's from
Speaker 2: the branch the tree of cow Herd. That's NFL talk.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they don't even like the NBA. I asked him.
Speaker 1: I asked him before we came on, how much NBA
Speaker 1: was on today's show. I knew the answer was absolutely zero.
Speaker 1: Maybe in April they'll start paying attention to the NBA.
Speaker 1: All Right, we've talked about enough extra curricular activities. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the NBA. Because before we get into some
Speaker 1: of the trade deadline minutia, I have to say. I
Speaker 1: have to get this off my chest. And our good
Speaker 1: friend Bill Simmons said it. I've seen other people say
Speaker 1: it talking about how last week was the trade doudline.
Speaker 1: It was a dud. There was nothing. People. Come on, man, listen, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna We're gonna go through this one last time.
Speaker 1: There were six trades in the NBA before last week
Speaker 1: during the season. James Harden was traded on Halloween. Og
Speaker 1: An Andobi was traded on December thirtieth. Pascal Siakam, like
Speaker 1: James Harden, a former All Star and a former All
Speaker 1: NBA selection. He was traded in mid January, right before
Speaker 1: the season. Damian Lillard was traded from Portland tim Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: A trade gets no larger than that. And Drew Holliday
Speaker 1: himself a former All Star, who was in the trade
Speaker 1: that got Damian Lillard from Portland to Milwaukee. Portland turned
Speaker 1: right around and traded Drew Holliday to Boston and then
Speaker 1: on deadline day, Okay, the Atlanta Hawks kept a Jontay Murray.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean that it was a dud. We still
Speaker 1: got fifteen trades on deadline day, and Okay, no All
Speaker 1: Stars moved, but probably that's because we had multiple current
Speaker 1: and former All Stars moving in trades before deadline day,
Speaker 1: and I would say on deadline day we still had
Speaker 1: plenty of suspense and action. The Knicks made very significant
Speaker 1: moves by bringing in Boyon Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. The
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder gave you a surprise trade. When people say, oh,
Speaker 1: teams are just doing this for tax reasons, and luxury
Speaker 1: tax reasons. Gordon Hayward and his thirty one point five
Speaker 1: million dollar contract was unexpected traded on deadline day. Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City acquires Gordon Hayward and then after the deadline they
Speaker 1: bring in Bismack Biyambo to address the size issues. Dallas
Speaker 1: couldn't have been much more aggressive. Dallas woke up Thursday
Speaker 1: with one first round pick to trade. They went out
Speaker 1: and got another first round pick to trade and traded
Speaker 1: them both. So we did see action and surprises. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just little salary dumps and moves to reduce luxury
Speaker 1: tax bills. There was significant trade action on deadline day.
Speaker 1: And I just say that because I just think we're
Speaker 1: getting spoiled, like you're not gonna have blockbuster trades at
Speaker 1: every single turn. No league can just have infinite, huge trades.
Speaker 1: The previous two deadlines, former MVPs got traded James Harden
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. I say all this just to
Speaker 1: kind of put a bow on this. I don't think
Speaker 1: fans of the transaction game have been cheated. I think
Speaker 1: they've gotten plenty of action over the past five six months.
Speaker 1: And you know you can tell me now you agree,
Speaker 1: you disagree. But just because Atlanta said, you know what,
Speaker 1: we're not trading de Jante Murray to me, did not
Speaker 1: make the trade deadline a non event.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, Stein don't hold that. Let's know how
Speaker 2: you really feel. You don't get that from Stein too often,
Speaker 2: so I relish it. I wasn't expecting that star. I mean,
Speaker 2: was was was this twitter? Was this twitter? That was?
Speaker 1: I think it's everywhere. No, like I mean, I think
Speaker 1: it's everywhere. Like I said, every you know, every time
Speaker 1: I dial into a podcast, it's the trade deadline?
Speaker 2: Was it was a.
Speaker 1: Done the trade deadline, right, I mean, like, like again,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get all stars moving in every single
Speaker 1: transaction cycle. And like I said, I think you have
Speaker 1: if you you don't just judge the deadline by deadline day.
Speaker 1: You have to say your Pascal Siakam was traded on
Speaker 1: January seventeenth, that's, you know, three ish weeks before the deadline,
Speaker 1: but that is still part of the deadline.
Speaker 2: I agree, I agree. I mean the Knicks, don't you know,
Speaker 2: they don't feel like they had a dead of a
Speaker 2: deadline and no, I.
Speaker 1: Mean, I think the Knicks. I mean to bring in
Speaker 1: Annaoby and Boyan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks and to do
Speaker 1: so without giving up a first is it's not just activity,
Speaker 1: it's impressive activity.
Speaker 2: They didn't give up a first or anybody from their
Speaker 2: their core rotation. You know, they they just you know,
Speaker 2: they got better. They definitely got better, increasingly better. Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 2: It was one thing I knew well. Signs were pointing
Speaker 2: to the Mavericks making a move anyway, because you've been
Speaker 2: reporting for so long how they did a Ford going
Speaker 2: after a Ford, a big man or whatever. So I
Speaker 2: had the last game before the trade deadline that I
Speaker 2: had was the Dallas Mavericks and the Brooklyn Nets. And
Speaker 2: I initially had the Dallas Mavericks against the Knicks game
Speaker 2: on Thursday night, but I got pulled off of that
Speaker 2: so I can focus on just trade stuff because I
Speaker 2: was doing TV from two pm to eight o'clock that day.
Speaker 2: But I bring that up to say that Jason Kidd
Speaker 2: told me on Tuesday that he was not going to
Speaker 2: have shoot around on Thursday because Betraye goes down after
Speaker 2: that shoot around. He said players would have been all
Speaker 2: in their heads, they would have forgot everything that they
Speaker 2: were trying to tell him about the game that morning,
Speaker 2: and so he didn't want to have the distraction of
Speaker 2: having a shoot around, then having a couple of players move,
Speaker 2: and then the team just being out of sorts mentally
Speaker 2: and not being prepared for that New York Knicks game.
Speaker 2: So once he told me he was going to cancel
Speaker 2: shoot around, I was like, Oh, yeah, something is going down,
Speaker 2: something's going and I was I knew it was going
Speaker 2: to be Grant. I knew it was going to be Grant.
Speaker 2: So that wasn't that part wasn't a surprise. They made
Speaker 2: two moves so that, you know, I didn't see the
Speaker 2: other one coming. But you know, definitely Dallas, New York
Speaker 2: definitely the winners. More so for me, New York definitely
Speaker 2: the winners of that trade deadline. And again if you
Speaker 2: add in what they did a few weeks prior and
Speaker 2: pulling in og, you know, come on, that was a
Speaker 2: It was pretty good to me.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad actually you brought up that TV assignment
Speaker 1: because what happens soon after the deadline. Just a few
Speaker 1: hours after the NBA trade deadline passes TNT's Inside the NBA,
Speaker 1: the most celebrated studio show in sports history. Who do
Speaker 1: they turn to for their trade deadline analysis? Our very
Speaker 1: own Chris Haynes, Star of this League on UH and
Speaker 1: there's the Chuckster, Shack Kenny, the venerable Ernie Johnson. Except
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes was in some sort of dungeon room at
Speaker 1: the Bleacher Report New York offices, and it was great
Speaker 1: to hear the guys giving mister Haynes a hard time
Speaker 1: about the very man, I don't even know what the
Speaker 1: right word is, the very understated setup that Chris Haynes
Speaker 1: was in as he delivered his post trade deadline analysis.
Speaker 3: Chris Haynes, who was joining us tonight from New York, Chris.
Speaker 2: Is it in a dungeon somewhere? No, he's not in
Speaker 2: a dungeon. He's in a studio somewhere. That is not
Speaker 2: a studio. Telling me you're in a studio?
Speaker 3: Will you got one wall and one other?
Speaker 2: Chris, you're in New York? Said it? Man?
Speaker 1: Did you find out that cheap bass studios dot com?
Speaker 2: You're in a studio right, you know studio here in
Speaker 2: New York? Yes, studios. So for context, for background. I
Speaker 2: was in New York. I was at the New br
Speaker 2: Bleacher Report studio. First time I was there. You know,
Speaker 2: I don't get to New York often, so first time
Speaker 2: I was there. And uh, I mean it's a cool studio.
Speaker 2: I mean the back, the backdrop. Uh it was two
Speaker 2: walls in the back. One was like a wooded it
Speaker 2: was a wooden type of decoration. In the on the
Speaker 2: right side of it, I believe it was like just concrete.
Speaker 2: So in the so in the shot you see wood
Speaker 2: on one side, concrete on the other side. Mexic It
Speaker 2: makes it really looked like I am in some dungeon.
Speaker 2: That's I didn't even think about that, you know, until
Speaker 2: Chuck said something like that, And then when he says something,
Speaker 2: I look behind me, I'm like, I guess this is
Speaker 2: all you see. I guess because everything around me in
Speaker 2: the front it's nice, like a nice plus studio. But
Speaker 2: this backdrop that I was using, I was like, Okay, well, yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess I could see why they would would say
Speaker 2: such a thing. I don't know.
Speaker 1: You know, now that show is truly it's amazing how fast.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how fast the viewers tweet in the memes
Speaker 1: and like they get him on the air so quickly.
Speaker 1: And you and I have both been on a zillion
Speaker 1: TV shows in our life, and like, I don't know
Speaker 1: how they react so quick, but their staff is truly amazing.
Speaker 1: How fast because the guy but somebody tweeted that picture
Speaker 1: of you with the video of throwing a ball against
Speaker 1: the wall and a jail cell, and they had that
Speaker 1: thing on air in seconds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what one of the staff is the best,
Speaker 2: you know, the best in the country. But nah, it's
Speaker 2: it's all well, you never that's the that's the thing
Speaker 2: about it. Like they will tell you, okay, you're going on.
Speaker 2: You're talking with Ernie and Chuck and them, and they'll
Speaker 2: go over like some topics that we might you know,
Speaker 2: want to discuss. The problem is with especially Chuck and Shot,
Speaker 2: you don't know which direction they're going in, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean, Like you you have no clue. We
Speaker 2: can have a plan set up, but nine times out
Speaker 2: of ten they're going to derail that play and go
Speaker 2: into their own zone. So uh, that's that's what makes
Speaker 2: it their show so much. Magic man, It's it's a
Speaker 2: spot to the house hold on It's the it make sure,
Speaker 2: I say that it's the spotting, you know what st
Speaker 2: the spontananity. There you go, you know what I was
Speaker 2: going on.
Speaker 1: You know, I haven't seen those guys in a long
Speaker 1: time and one of the it's one of the highlight
Speaker 1: like I am, as I mentioned, I think on the
Speaker 1: last pod we did, or one of the most recent
Speaker 1: pods we did. I finally have secured my plane ticket
Speaker 1: and hotel room for Indianapolis, so I will be meeting
Speaker 1: you there. Of course you'll be you know, you'll be
Speaker 1: floor level the Panini Future Stars Game, All Star Saturday
Speaker 1: Night All Star Game. You know, I'll need binoculars to
Speaker 1: see the court from where I am, but at least
Speaker 1: I will be in Indianapolis. There are rumors, there are rumblings,
Speaker 1: there are sourced whispers that Stein and Haynes might be
Speaker 1: getting together for some sort of special edition of This
Speaker 1: League Uncut, maybe even with an audience more. We will
Speaker 1: reveal more on that when we know it's going to
Speaker 1: happen for sure. But we are working feverishly behind the
Speaker 1: scenes to make some sort of live Indianapolis edition of
Speaker 1: This League Uncut happen, and I am fairly confident that
Speaker 1: it will happen, so you and I will be in
Speaker 1: the same place at least for that. I hope I
Speaker 1: see more than that, but I know at least at
Speaker 1: least we're going to get together at least once. But truly,
Speaker 1: one of the things I look forward to most about
Speaker 1: a trip to All Star Weekend is seeing the Chuckster,
Speaker 1: seeing Shaq, who I covered as a beat writer in
Speaker 1: LA with the Lakers. I only covered Shack one year,
Speaker 1: but it was the It was the first year of
Speaker 1: Shaq and Kobe, and that was a huge, huge pivotal
Speaker 1: season for me, and both Shaq and Kobe always made
Speaker 1: time for me after that. Just having been the beat
Speaker 1: writer with those guys for one season, it was hugely
Speaker 1: important for me. So I mean seeing them all, seeing
Speaker 1: seeing Ernie, Kenny, Shack, Charles together, that is always one
Speaker 1: of the highlights of an All Star Weekend. So I'm
Speaker 1: definitely looking, definitely looking forward to with with any luck,
Speaker 1: crossing paths with them too.
Speaker 2: Are you coming to any of the events, Are you
Speaker 2: coming to any of the parties with me? Stein? Are
Speaker 2: you doing anything? Are you stepping out of your zombie
Speaker 2: solo self and going out and joining everyone else?
Speaker 1: I have I did R s v P to one brunch. Now,
Speaker 1: whether I actually attend it will see?
Speaker 2: Is that is that on Sunday.
Speaker 1: That's on Sunday. But you know, like I said, you know,
Speaker 1: I know, well, first Sunday, we gotta make our thing
Speaker 1: happen first.
Speaker 2: That is my Sunday priority.
Speaker 1: So that's all I'm really thinking about. Uh Thursday, I've
Speaker 1: already turned down a couple of things. It's just not
Speaker 1: I'm just I just I don't know, man, It's just
Speaker 1: it's not I don't know. It's just not me. Turn
Speaker 1: are you Where are you going? You're let me guess
Speaker 1: you're going to the Clutch party.
Speaker 2: The Clutch The Clutch party is should I say what
Speaker 2: day it is? But yes, I'll be I'll make an
Speaker 2: appearance there for sure.
Speaker 1: I don't even get I don't even get invited to
Speaker 1: that party. So I would have to go as your
Speaker 1: plus one to get in there.
Speaker 2: Please. I the brunch that you mentioned, I'll uh, we
Speaker 2: gotta make our that's around the time where we have
Speaker 2: our pot uh timing set up, so after that maybe
Speaker 2: we can do you know, hit that up. I'm not
Speaker 2: turning down Stein, I'm just not replying to those that
Speaker 2: I am not going to Turning down is such a style.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's a better way, there's a more delicate
Speaker 2: I'm not even you know what I don't. I should
Speaker 2: don't show up.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't even say turning down because I haven't been.
Speaker 1: I've barely been invited to anything. I think people. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't really get invited to that much stuff. I
Speaker 1: have been invited to the NBA Tech Summit on Friday morning.
Speaker 1: I do hope to attend at at least some of that.
Speaker 1: But that's not you know that. I know that doesn't
Speaker 1: really excite you. You're you're more interested in the nighttime activities.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I have.
Speaker 2: No no star. I've grown.
Speaker 1: I've grown.
Speaker 2: That's not not necessarily true, but check it checks out.
Speaker 2: There is a party that you can come with me
Speaker 2: Saturday night, the T and T wrap up party. You
Speaker 2: can be you can be my guest for that, and
Speaker 2: you have all your fablure.
Speaker 1: You know what, I've never I've never been to one
Speaker 1: of those. I might actually to be your guest of honor.
Speaker 1: That might that might.
Speaker 2: Do it all right, but just don't. Just don't turn
Speaker 2: me down if you're not gonna come just don't come.
Speaker 2: Don't tell me you got better things to do. I'm like,
Speaker 2: what better thing you got to do on Saturday night
Speaker 2: than to come to the T and T wrap up
Speaker 2: party featuring your guy Chris Hanes, Shack, Chuck, Ernie ej
Speaker 2: and the rest of the T and T crew.
Speaker 1: Come Ho star well I can also, I'm also quite
Speaker 1: excited to report that I have two reservations at Saint
Speaker 1: Elmo already in the books, and fingers crossed that I
Speaker 1: get drafted into someone else's reservation. So I'm I'm the
Speaker 1: over under is how many times I eat it Saint Elmo's.
Speaker 1: The over under is his three.
Speaker 2: For three days.
Speaker 1: Uh No, I'm there for I'm there Thursday through Monday.
Speaker 1: So I mean I I you know, Okay, two are
Speaker 1: already in the books, and we'll see if there, we'll
Speaker 1: see if there's a third.
Speaker 2: That's a lot of almost.
Speaker 1: All right, before we go, we've talked. We've talked about
Speaker 1: social matters far too much in this show. I would
Speaker 1: like to hear from you, you know again. There were
Speaker 1: fifteen trades on deadline day, but so much of the
Speaker 1: focus was Atlanta did not trade to Jante Murrie, the
Speaker 1: Lakers did not make a trade today. On my sub stack,
Speaker 1: I wrote a long piece about how there seems to
Speaker 1: be a rising belief around the league that Atlanta is
Speaker 1: going to at least consider the prospect of keeping de
Speaker 1: Jonte Murray and entertaining trade pitches for Trey Young after
Speaker 1: the season. I think, obviously that will depend on how
Speaker 1: the rest of this season goes. Entering Monday Nights play,
Speaker 1: Atlanta was twenty four and twenty nine in the tenth spot.
Speaker 1: The Hawks should be able to secure a play in
Speaker 1: Berth at worst, because I don't really think any of
Speaker 1: the teams chasing the top ten. You know, the Brooklyn
Speaker 1: Nets really have been going in the other direction, the
Speaker 1: wrong direction since early in the season. So I mean
Speaker 1: the Hawks are gonna finish somewhere between seven and ten,
Speaker 1: most likely in the East, and how this season wraps
Speaker 1: up will certainly factor into some degree. But around the
Speaker 1: league there is a belief in some rival front offices
Speaker 1: that the Hawks might finally be ready to listen to
Speaker 1: Trey Young trade pitches after the season. So just give
Speaker 1: me kind of your take on the Hawks and the Lakers,
Speaker 1: since I know you were tracking those teams pretty closely.
Speaker 1: As the deadline was winding down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I reported on T and T that the
Speaker 2: Lakers plan to go after a big star. I didn't
Speaker 2: name names. I didn't want to do that at the time.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to name names. But they plan on
Speaker 2: going after a big star in the offseason, although they'll
Speaker 2: be equipped with three first round picks, and they believe
Speaker 2: that there will be players this coming up off season
Speaker 2: that will request the trade and they feel like they
Speaker 2: will be in play as it pertains to Tray Young. Yes,
Speaker 2: trade has been linked to the Lakers for quite some
Speaker 2: time now, and so I don't know if it. I
Speaker 2: don't know if his situation will be a matter of
Speaker 2: him request the trade or Atlanta choosing to go in
Speaker 2: a different direction. But whatever the case may be, Yes,
Speaker 2: we heard that. I can I can echo you know
Speaker 2: what you're hearing. You know, that's how that's how people
Speaker 2: within the league view where the Hawks are headed and
Speaker 2: could possibly go down that road where they feel like
Speaker 2: they probably need to shake things up. And you know
Speaker 2: that's that if they make that move, that's shaking things
Speaker 2: up with your cornerstone cornerstone player. You know, again, it's
Speaker 2: a new regime out there. In the front office with
Speaker 2: the Atlanta Hawks Landry Field. So does he want to
Speaker 2: or does ownership want to equip him with the opportunity
Speaker 2: to bring on his personnel, his group of players to
Speaker 2: try to build his way. I don't know, but it's
Speaker 2: things are getting definitely interesting in Atlanta. So yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing how how everything unfolds towards the
Speaker 2: end of the season.
Speaker 1: Well, a couple of points there. First, on the Lakers.
Speaker 1: You know, there was great anticipation leading up to the
Speaker 1: deadline what would the Lakers do? And I think they
Speaker 1: actually made the right call. They only had one first
Speaker 1: round pick they could have moved at the deadline by
Speaker 1: not making a trade. Once Draft night hits, the Lakers
Speaker 1: will have access to three first round picks they can trade.
Speaker 1: In addition to the twenty twenty nine first that they
Speaker 1: could have parted with at the deadline. They will also
Speaker 1: have access to a twenty thirty one first that can
Speaker 1: be moved, and then either either a first in this
Speaker 1: draft in June or in twenty twenty five. It's up
Speaker 1: to New Orleans to decide when it wants to take
Speaker 1: the one first rounder that remains to complete the obligations
Speaker 1: from the original Anthony Davis trade. But yes, the Lakers
Speaker 1: as of June twenty sixth, will suddenly have three draft
Speaker 1: picks that they can put into deals. And I think
Speaker 1: it's important for them to wait, not just because were
Speaker 1: they really going to be able to acquire a certain
Speaker 1: difference maker at this deadline? I think that weighed on
Speaker 1: them heavily. If you give up what you have to
Speaker 1: give up to get de Jonte Murray, are the Lakers
Speaker 1: really any closer to title contention? But something that has
Speaker 1: to factor in to their calculations here. Lebron James has
Speaker 1: a player option for next season, and the Lakers don't
Speaker 1: know yet if Lebron is exercising that player option. I
Speaker 1: think we expect him to. I think the lead wide
Speaker 1: expectation is that he will exercise the option, But the
Speaker 1: Lakers didn't know that as of February eighth, and it's
Speaker 1: something they might not know until June. And if Bronnie
Speaker 1: James puts his name in the twenty twenty four draft,
Speaker 1: and if Bronnie James is drafted by a team, that
Speaker 1: suddenly Lebron says, you know what, I want to go
Speaker 1: to Team X because They've drafted Bronni and I'll sign
Speaker 1: there for way less than fifty four million. That is
Speaker 1: a scenario that the Lakers do have to keep in mind,
Speaker 1: keeping their thoughts in case they suddenly have to pivot
Speaker 1: and fill a Lebron sized hole on their roster. And
Speaker 1: if they do end up in that position, they're obviously
Speaker 1: going to be thankful that they have three first to
Speaker 1: work with instead of just two. But from the Atlanta perspective,
Speaker 1: I think the reason that Trey Young's name is coming
Speaker 1: up more and more in terms of buzz around the
Speaker 1: league and rival teams trying to project what Atlanta might
Speaker 1: do is because, for the first time that I can remember,
Speaker 1: there really does seem to be a market forming for
Speaker 1: Trey Young where you could see San Antonio if any
Speaker 1: team makes sense for Tray Young, that is the one
Speaker 1: Tray Young's offensive gifts. There is no question about what
Speaker 1: he can do offensively. The guy's averaging twenty seven to ten.
Speaker 1: He is an offense under himself, But if you wanted
Speaker 1: to pair him with someone who could cover his defensive deficiencies,
Speaker 1: Victor web min Yama would be as ideal a tag
Speaker 1: team partner for Trey Young. As you could come up with.
Speaker 1: And I think you could say the same about Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1: So the Spurs and the Lakers are two teams that
Speaker 1: would naturally have interest in Tray Young if he's made available,
Speaker 1: And so I think that is why this is becoming
Speaker 1: more of a topic.
Speaker 2: Okay, I grew with you him seeing that. And before
Speaker 2: we dip out of here start, I want to give
Speaker 2: a shout out to somebody who I don't think is
Speaker 2: getting enough credit for what he is about to put
Speaker 2: himself in. And that person that is Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown,
Speaker 2: he's entering the Dunk Contests and he's the only household
Speaker 2: name in this dunk contest. He's the only star in
Speaker 2: dunk contest. I mean Jacob topping him, the rookie in Miami,
Speaker 2: and Matt mcclong, you know, spends most of the time
Speaker 2: in the G League. You know, most stars do not
Speaker 2: want to get put themselves in these competitions because it's
Speaker 2: they have a lot they have there's more to lose
Speaker 2: than than to gain. But I have to credit Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown for putting himself in this situation. I don't know
Speaker 2: how he's gonna do in the Dunk Contest because mcclong
Speaker 2: is a is a real dunker. And I've seen some
Speaker 2: clips of Obie topis brother Jacob and he's a you know,
Speaker 2: he's a dunker like his brother. So uh, man, I say,
Speaker 2: I think Jime won the high school dunk contest or
Speaker 2: something like that. I believe back in the day. So
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I gotta give him credit for
Speaker 2: being a competitor going out there and say I'm gonna
Speaker 2: leave it all out so.
Speaker 1: I can't remember. Is the dunk contest on your menu
Speaker 1: of assignments.
Speaker 2: I'm doing some sidelines, yes, but I'm doing this. It's
Speaker 2: a simulcast that I'm doing, not the main broadcast. It's
Speaker 2: a simulcast for that's going to be I believe on TBS.
Speaker 1: Maybe can Jalen Brown win the dunk contest?
Speaker 2: Listen, man, I mean mcclong is a professional dunker, like
Speaker 2: that's what he is. We've seen what he does, like
Speaker 2: you know, is the NBA player, Nah, he's not really, No,
Speaker 2: but he's a dunker. He's a professional dunker. So I
Speaker 2: don't know. The os is not their odds are not
Speaker 2: in his favor. I will say that that's what I say,
Speaker 2: I gotta give him props because I believe a lot
Speaker 2: more people are going to tune in just because of
Speaker 2: his star prowess is included.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, look, we had a very tight window
Speaker 1: to get today's podcas cast recorded. I'm all over the place.
Speaker 1: The Wizards are in town. I went to Wizards shoot around,
Speaker 1: I got Wizards maps tonight. I know you will be
Speaker 1: hitting the road soon Big week. We will have much
Speaker 1: more All Star talk to come because again both Chris
Speaker 1: and I will be in Indianapolis. We're still putting together
Speaker 1: exactly when and where and how the podcast we do
Speaker 1: from Indie will come together, but the signs are promising
Speaker 1: that we will be able to make something happen from
Speaker 1: the ground in the three one seven. Indianapolis is one
Speaker 1: of my favorite cities on the NBA map. I haven't
Speaker 1: been there in a long time. I'm really excited to
Speaker 1: go and let's do it All Star twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: You were in Salt Lake City. I was not. So
Speaker 1: this is the first time in show history that we
Speaker 1: will be together on the ground at All Star weekend.
Speaker 2: Yes, and I'm as glad to get these this cold weather,
Speaker 2: these years of cold water sitting out the way. Let's
Speaker 2: get to La. Let's get to go to State.
Speaker 1: I looked at the weather forecast. It ain't gonna be
Speaker 1: that cold. Don't be soft. It's gonna be fine in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fine. Forties and fifties. You can hack it.
Speaker 1: Just put on your new Travis Kelcey hoodie and your
Speaker 1: Travis Kelcey puffer jacket and whatever whatever, whatever chief scare
Speaker 1: you've been purchasing. All right, everyone, that will do it
Speaker 1: for this edition of This League Uncut. At least one
Speaker 1: more episode to come this week, maybe two. If the
Speaker 1: podcast gods smile upon us, stay tuned, we will be
Speaker 1: back again with you soon. Stein and Haynes as ever
Speaker 1: as always be at This League Uncut. And that'll do
Speaker 1: it for us.
Speaker 3: See you next time.
Speaker 1: This League UNCUTAG and iHeartRadio Production. Chris Haynes and Mark Stein,
Speaker 1: the