WEBVTT - May Madness 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.000 On this episode of This League, we discussed two horrific 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.280 injury updates, the interesting reason why the trade deadline might 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:08.280 be more boring than you think it will be or 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.000 hope it will be. What's happening with Brad Stevens and 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.080 the Boston Celtics, And it's not good? And we answer 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.239 some more listener, DM, God damn, did we get some 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:21.040 bad bad news over the weekend. We have to have 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.520 pissed off the basketball gods, Marty. It's multiple marquee stars, 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:31.320 the faces of the league just falling like Domino's. Saturday night, 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.080 LaMelo Ball, absolute electric rookie broke his fall on a 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:37.680 drive to the basket against the Clippers. Didn't look like 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.680 much and in fact he was probable going into Sunday's game. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.840 But no fractured right wrist. He came out of the half. 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:48.760 This is crazy. He came out of the half he 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.280 was favoring his right hand. Then still played the third quarter, 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.080 still played part of the fourth quarter. So now LaMelo 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.480 came back with an X ray fractured right wrist, believed 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.720 to be out for this season. Thoughts. 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:05.880 Yeah, I mean, it's just tough and the Hornets have 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.040 been one of my favorite league pass teams. I've been 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:12.039 a huge Lamello supporter. They're so awesome to watch, so 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:14.840 this is horrible to see. It really hurts their playoff chances. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:17.760 And yeah, it was weird. It really didn't look like 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.800 much at the start. But you know, when your riskins 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:22.920 that way, you can't really play basketball with it. It's 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:23.880 just too bad. 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.399 Floppy wrist. Terrible a blow. I mean, this is a 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.160 blow to the Hornets, but also the blow to the 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.200 rest of the league. He has been the Rookie of 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.320 the Year for sure. I don't know where that how 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.440 that changes his rookie of the Year hopes. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.840 Yeah, I've still got that ticket, so I'm hoping. I'm 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.040 hoping it still counts. I think he's played enough games. 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:46.000 I hope. And that came right after that injury came 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.880 right after Lebron basically co signed for LaMelo. He said, 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:56.280 Lamello is damn good to be at his age. His speed, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.200 his quickness, his ability to make shots at all, fastest 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.000 of the game in the paint, floaters, threes. He has 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.120 the three tiers already and he's only going to get 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.880 better every game. He is a learning experience for him, 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.760 He's going to get better as the season goes and 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.840 his career goes on. I love it when players or 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.000 coaches evaluate other players based on skills and not on stats, 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.720 like I love that Lebron did that. So then moving 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.880 on irony to all ironies, Lebron himself now injured as well, 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.320 after an entire almost an entire career, right, Marty, seventeen 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:29.720 years he's been healthy. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.799 Yeah, I mean the only one I remember that groin injury. 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:37.560 Yeah, oh yeah, and the groin injury in twenty eighteen, right, yeah, 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.840 that was like bullshit. That was basically like, we're not 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:44.120 going to the playoffs, nothing matters, Let's just put Lebron 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.200 James on ice. He went down also on Saturday with 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:53.160 what looked like a gruesome ankle injury rt row as 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.720 I would say, could not be a worse scenario for 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.920 the NBA. LaMelo and Lebron go going down in the 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:05.160 same day is like a Black Friday. Lebron wincing in 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.760 a way that no one has seen before. I've never 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.639 seen Lebron yell like that, look like that, scream like that. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:14.840 Kyle Kuzma said that he had never seen him scream 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:19.239 like that. X rays came back negative, but he now 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.720 has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and is 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.960 out indefinitely. So this guy, Solomon Hill, look like a 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.920 cheap shot. Look like he dove after his ankle. I 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.040 don't know. It's hard to say. Do you think it 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:33.080 was dirty or no? 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.520 I don't. I'm gonna get him the benefit of doubt. 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.600 I know, I think that's kind of reaching a little bit. 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:42.160 His teammates were irate. Mantrez Harrell said, I don't really 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.040 feel like it was one of those loose ball plays. 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.520 He had to go through his leg to get the ball. Man, 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.360 he was turned sideways, the ball was behind him. I mean, 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.240 you're jumping at an angle going across his way. I 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.040 don't know how you feel that's a loose ball, and 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.600 watching it back, it does not look great. Solomon Hill tweeted, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.800 I would never disrespect the game and take a player 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.480 out purposely, and Lebron knows that that's all that matters 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.520 to me. Praying for a speedy recovery. Yeah, I think 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.720 no one in their right mind, if they're gonna go 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.280 after a player to injure them, would try to injure 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.400 Lebron James like I just don't think that's a thing. 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.880 I don't think that's a thing. What that sort of 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:22.960 highlights to me is all of a sudden, I felt like, man, 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:27.640 father time is happening. Father Time is undefeated, as is 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:33.200 the universe. Lebron James is thirty six, right, And all 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:37.039 I'm thinking is, I hope we don't get Lebron James's 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.920 time stolen from us. I hope that this isn't one 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.320 of those things where it's serious serious. You saw Lebron 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.800 James throw a chair, which is not something that you 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:50.680 normally see, went to the locker room, and you're like, man, 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:55.000 you only get so much time with the greats. Every 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.120 game we get to watch Lebron James is special because 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.760 it's something that's not going to come around again. Once 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.200 it's over. It's like a fucking you know, comment in 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.640 the sky or something. Right, You get it like once 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.920 every three four hundred and twenty years or something like that, 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.599 and once it's gone, it's gone. Like if you're not 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.719 there for the Solo Moon or whatever it's called, you know, 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.280 like you're just never gonna see it again. And that's 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.839 kind of where my head goes. Lebron has been playing 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.680 seventeen years. How many more games are we gonna get? 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.480 Every game he's sitting on the bench is a game 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.919 I could have been watching. Because this season is this 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.960 season regardless of It's not like a miles on a 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.160 car right Like, It's not like, oh, because he didn't 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.880 play these sixteen games, we get sixteen more in two 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.440 twenty seven. No, that's just not how it's gonna go. 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.880 I want Lebron to play till he's forty five, and 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.800 it would kill me if a high ankle sprain limits 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:57.800 his career. This guy, Ryan Whitney, NHL player, host of 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.159 The Spit and Chicklets podcast, has come on record at 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.239 length about how a high ankle sprain ended his career early. 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:09.200 It's not something to fuck around with. So the optimism, 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.120 because yes, I know, I lead with cynicism, that's just 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.800 who I am. The optimism is its Lebron James. I mean, 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.680 he's been healthy for seventeen years for a reason, and 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:19.520 I don't think it's all genetics. I think he takes 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:23.000 obsessive care of his body. He pays so much time 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:26.240 and attention to what works for him, how to keep 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:30.200 himself healthy on the court and off the court, his nutrition, 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:34.040 his soft tissue work, all of that stuff. I don't 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.480 think that there's anyone who knows themselves in their body 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.719 as well as Lebron unless we put Tom Brady in 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:44.920 that mix. But in terms of the West, holy shit, 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.680 is it now wide open. We don't know how long 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.600 Lebron James is gonna be out for AD's out. This 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:52.600 team is in disarray, just got blown out to the 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.880 Hawks without him, Yo, you could lose the next fifteen. 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.000 And where does that put you? You know, where that 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.440 puts you as a serious threat? Like could you just 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.200 imagine your son's marty second seed? You've been doing all 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:12.520 this work all season long, the stats. We're gonna talk 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:14.600 about this on Friday Show. We've been putting it off 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.080 for weeks now. The Suns are a fucking wagon. They're 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.400 gonna probably get the second seed in the West now, 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.800 and now you might face the Lakers as a seventh seed? 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.480 How about that? How about them apples? 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:29.680 I mean, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:31.920 a thought of mine. Actually, one of my first thoughts, 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.280 I mean admittedly, was like, oh, this actually puts us 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.160 in good position to actually make a run, which we 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:38.920 already were, but you know, having the Lakers out of 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.400 the pictures certainly helps that. But then I thought, oh wait, 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.360 like they're gonna slip and we're gonna get them earlier. 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:44.280 And we thought, aren't we. 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.080 Yeah, because you really want them, you really want them 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:47.880 as a one seed. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.120 That would be a very Phoenix Suns thing to happen. 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:55.440 Oh man, how about them apples? Fuck that? This league, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:00.760 I think we have expected, based around probably the news, 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:05.320 that things are gonna be explosive around the deadline, a 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:11.600 lot of fireworks, multi team trades, marquee players going in 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:16.240 new locations. Things are happening, bubbling up, and then all 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.360 of a sudden, it just seems sort of weak. Now, 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:24.360 doesn't seem like maybe anything is gonna happen, Maybe no 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:29.720 one gets traded. We've been hearing so many rumors. Harrison Barnes, 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:36.080 Buddy Healed, John Collins, Vutovich, Lonzo Ball. I just don't 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:41.760 see it now. One GM said expect a snoozefest at 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.640 the deadline. It was like a synonym to snoozefest. It 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.319 might have been snoozefest, but it was something like that. 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.520 The question, though, is why, And I was doing some digging, 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.200 and I think I have an answer. I think it 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:59.640 is because of how this play in tournament has altered 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.400 the NBA. Right, hear me out, I would call that 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:10.280 March Men is for the NBA, Marty. The East has 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.640 been just an absolute dumpster fire. As we know, fourth 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.840 place in the East is only four games over five hundred, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.840 which would put you right around the tenth spot in 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:22.400 the West. 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.120 Yeah. I mean when you look at the East, like 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.480 four through ten, it's just those records are just absolutely gross, 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.640 and like teams like aren't even like really out of 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.160 the ten honestly, like Cleveland still has a chance to 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:35.160 maybe get in. It's weird. 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.480 It is weird two games away. I would say, because 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.480 of the pandemic, that ten spot, as you said, Marty, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.520 actually means something normally would mean fucking nothing. Be zero, 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.520 It would mean your job is in trouble as a coach, 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.880 you as a player have underperformed, and you're looking for 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.640 some ping pong balls to come your way. But now 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.120 with this new playing tournament, there are only five teams 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:09.160 without hope in each conference. Five twenty out of thirty 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.400 teams have hope. Hope is one hell of a drug, 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.640 I tell you what makes you do all kinds of 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.600 crazy things. And the fact that the East is trash 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.240 this year. All of a sudden, only two teams really, 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.640 Detroit and Orlando are out of it. Wow. Everyone in 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:29.360 the East else besides them has hope. That's how you 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.080 get an Atlanta Hawks team that was left for dead, 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.080 going eight and two in their last ten, holding on 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.880 to the four seed, like, hmmm, I don't think we 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:44.720 want to trade anyone. And guess what, there's only five 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.280 games between tenth and fifth in the East. Who is 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.520 gonna go on that next eight and two run. Who 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.239 is gonna go on that next two and eight slump? 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:59.480 Washington Toronto? Who knows? Both teams of those have had 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.439 five game winning streaks are more this year, so everyone 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.719 everyone seems to have either rational or irrational hope. I 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.680 don't know really which one it is. But if they 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.320 go on a run, they can even avoid the playing 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.840 tournament like the Hawks. Now, the Hawks are just firmly 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:18.720 in it. They're just a playoff team. 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.360 Now you look up and they're fourth in the East. Hilario. 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:23.559 You kind of think of them as like not really 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.120 a bad team, but you don't really think of them 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:26.960 much and then all of a sudden they're the four seed. 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:31.360 Is totally So the question is, if you're a team 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:35.480 like the Hawks, why would you be a seller When 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.520 you have hope and you're firmly in the four seed 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.480 and things are working, you've won eight straight. Shout out 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:46.560 to Nate McMillan. If you have hope and you're a 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:48.800 coach on one of these not so good teams and 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.120 you can sneak into that ten spot and you only 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.640 need to win one game to make it to the playoffs, 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.560 have that on your resume and say to the owner, listen, 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:06.679 team is fucking gritty. We have perseverance. All these buzzwords, 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.000 all these little buzzwords that we put on your calendar 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.400 that we've talked about before with the Man in the Rock, 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.040 like you just start spitting those out to your owner 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.880 and you might save your job. Okay, of course, you're 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.840 not gonna beat the Sixers in the seven game series. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:26.160 The owner doesn't expect that. But you have playoff team 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:31.880 in your Wikipedia profile. Now that's all the batters. Maybe 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.600 Joel Embiid has back spasms, knock on something, and you 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.360 get one or two games from the Sixers. Now that's 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.920 really something to make some noise about. You say, we're 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.400 just one piece or two away. We can really contend. 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.520 You can just lie, you can just literally make up 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:55.080 a scenario that does not exist and stay alive, which 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.440 is it's a dirty game. But that's what the NBA is. 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:02.120 Everyone just sort of trying to like scheme and alter 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.760 the landscape of the truth to stay employed because they 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.680 make millions and millions of dollars, right, that's the business. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:12.600 Coaches can influence ownership to not get rid of players 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.920 because they're like, Yo, we're close. Let's keep going the 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.200 way that we're going. We've won eight in a row. 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.560 All of a sudden, they're like, yeah, why not. Now 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.240 you've got games in June instead of thinking about the lottery. 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.760 You know, And let me tell you, I love it. 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:34.480 I love hope. I love seeing teams actually try to 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.560 compete instead of deciding to hang it up in April. 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:47.080 I don't like purposeful mediocrity or purposeful trash play, right, 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.600 and the minnos of the league. It's very very good for. 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.000 But as it relates to the trademarket, because that's what 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.560 this segment is about, it's very bad for teams that 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:03.960 are used to feasting off the poor, unfortunate, perennial losers, 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.600 the poor unfortunate souls, as Ursula would say, right, just 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.640 like suckling off of their desperation to make a move 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.880 to try to rebuild for the future, twisting their arms 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:17.920 like you know what, this is what you need to do, 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:19.960 or you're gonna lose your job. At least you're gonna 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.680 try to do something. Get a lottery, ping pong ball 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:24.880 and get some assets from us and some picks for 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.280 the future, and we're gonna take your best player. That's 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:31.240 what's gonna happen. They're like, yo, this is Danny Ainge. Yo, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.440 I'll give you Jeff Tigue a first rounder in twenty 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:39.000 twenty five, a second round pick in exchange for Vucevich. 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:45.640 And now Orlando's like goddamn, And Danny Ainge is like, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.840 you know why, cause you're desperate. You have to do something. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.200 You're rebuilding. This player does not want to be with you. 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.960 And now a team like Orlando, even though Orlando's out 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:00.960 of it, they're like, oh, you want vouch, give us 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:07.560 three first rounders and Marcus Smart because you, Boston are desperate. 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.760 You are the one the tables are turned. You're sitting there, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:15.440 maybe gonna get bounced, maybe not even gonna make the playoffs. 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:20.400 Isn't that a bitch? That's typically how good teams stay 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:24.240 good and the bad teams stay bad. You've got predators 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:30.920 like Danny Ainge basically exploiting teams like Orlando and Atlanta, 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.840 and that's how they get John Collins right, but not anymore. 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.560 Ain't no fun when the Rabbits got the gun, and 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.600 that's what they got looking at you, Danny Age. Teams 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:44.760 who want to get over the hump, likes Boston are 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.360 now in purgatory, like you have no one you can 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.320 possibly get unless you give up a boatload. That is 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:55.960 a very uncomfortable spot to be. Now, instead of Travis 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.240 Schlank being on the chopping block, maybe Danny Ainge on 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:00.960 the chopping buck. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:04.400 Yeah, why have you made a move, Danny. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.800 Why haven't you done anything? You've got twenty eight and 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.800 a half million dollars sitting in TPE and you've just 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:15.240 done nothing. Maybe building a reputation off of your thievery, 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.440 which every other GM in the league knows you are 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.320 a thief, has come to an end and the Kittings 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.440 who were thinking about trading Harrison Barnes because that was 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.360 where the news was, right, Harrison Barnes, Harrison Barnes, Harrison 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.160 Barnes to Boston. Now they're a half game out of 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.440 the ten spot and they can score one hundred and 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.360 fifty points on any given night. I saw someone on 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.320 Twitter say if I was Harrison Barnes, I'd be like, Nah, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:44.320 I'm good in Sacramento. Unless you're giving us someone really good. 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:48.760 We are not giving you Harrison Barnes. We're just gonna 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:50.640 keep things the way that we are because why we 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.240 are at least competitive? Why would we trade guys who 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:58.240 keep us competitive in this environment where the ten seed 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.560 is all we really need to strive for. Right. Yeah, 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.360 that's why older players who were once All stars are 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.240 now getting looks by these teams in purgatory because fuck, 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.640 they have no other options. You know, you got Drummond 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:15.359 Aldridge boogie who knows right, because John Collins is not 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.600 going anywhere. Vooch is not going anywhere, so you gotta 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.120 take your buyout scraps to make do Yikes, what does 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.119 that mean? Even though everyone has hope, this is the rub. 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.880 Everyone has hope but only a couple of teams can 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:35.399 really contend. Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Miami and that's it. That's it. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:40.120 Boston you are now out of it probably, and Milwaukee, 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:43.080 I would say, can contend as well. But I'm still 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.160 very skeptical. You know what I'm saying. 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:46.919 Yes, I mean, come playoffs, they are going to look 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:47.960 like a completely different team. 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.320 We all know it totally, So Celtics fans. This is 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.399 why you know that Danny Ainge has thrown in the towel. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.800 They are a piece away. As you have said multiple times, Marty, 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.000 this is a roster that's constructed in a very strange way, 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.959 and we've got the next segment is actually more about this. 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.800 But everyone they won is now locked up. So it's 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:10.399 another year wasted for Tatum and Brown in their prime. 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.679 But I am personally tired of teams not letting their 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.840 players develop. Now, if the ten seed is all you 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.560 need to strive for in order to feel successful, and 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.280 you as a coach and your job is not on 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.040 the line, you can actually let the food cook in 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.200 the oven and see what you have. Did you see 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.919 that the Orlando Magic are looking to trade back for 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:34.600 Victor Oladipo no way. 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:35.400 I haven't heard that one. 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.800 Yes, maybe if you would have had Victor Oladipo sit 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:41.840 in the oven a little longer, you wouldn't have to 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.840 trade Aaron Gordon for him, just saying you could add 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:48.480 them both and not did anything at all. Typically, the 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.640 NBA and these teams, they purge assets before they even 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:53.600 know what they are, and then all of a sudden, 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:57.960 it's like, fuck, Will Barton's pretty good? Why do we 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.760 get rid of him? Because as they want to find 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.000 the player that's good right now, for a player that 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.960 has the possibility of being good. They're cynical, just like me, Marty, 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.280 there's snake bitten, just like me. This tournament changes everything, 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:12.280 and I want to keep it this way forever. I 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.560 think it makes the league more exciting, It keeps teams 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.160 from being predators. I think we should make an event 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:19.800 out of it. I think we should make a tournament 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.720 out of it, one arena, one weekend, and I'll call 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:28.080 it May Madness. Are you unhappy with your smile? You 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:31.480 don't have to be. 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Big news over the weekend was that Brad Stevens, 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:29.520 This is crazy, Brad Stevens was going to secretly leave 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:35.800 the Celtics mid season and take a job at Indiana 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:38.720 University in his home state of Indiana. 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:41.800 Yeah, this is like a trill ballin's wet dream. I 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.280 think he started this rumor back in like twenty fifteen 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.120 when they were still like insanely could Yeah, I mean 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.240 he I don't think he's ever really expressed interest himself 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:53.680 in the Indiana job, but it's always kind of been 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:55.200 a thing. So yeah, it's pretty. 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:59.600 Crazy, so insane, but fun for me. When I was 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:01.800 reading the over the weekend, I was like, please let 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:05.400 it be true, Please let it be true. You had 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:10.200 multiple journalists and pundits being like conspiracy theory scenarios. They're 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:14.200 like tracking where his kids are, like, oh, Brad Stevens's 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:18.920 son has gone four hundred and seventy two consecutive classes 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.919 going to class, and today is the day that his 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:23.600 son has missed class. 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:28.680 So it's like college football. When they tracked plane totally. 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:30.560 That's what they did. They were like, Brad Stevens and 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:33.439 Gino Oriama and blah blah blah, We're on a private 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:37.720 plane heading into Bloomington. The whole ball of axe was happening. 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:41.159 It was crazy, kind of psychotic to a degree, really 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:44.439 trying to figure out whether he wants to go home 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:48.320 and whether his wife has like secretly been saying that 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.679 she wants to be with her family, and tracking like 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:54.679