Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News. This's you, Chris Haynes. It's time, Markstein,
Speaker 1: It's some time. This League Uncut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 1: This should be a good one.
Speaker 2: Friends, Welcome to another edition of This League Uncut. Mark
Speaker 2: Stein here, of course, accompanied by Chris Haynes from Turner Sports.
Speaker 2: We did not arrive at the name of this show
Speaker 2: by accident. Hashtag this League is obviously a huge part
Speaker 2: of the show title, and this Thursday night in the
Speaker 2: NBA was a This League kind of night. Man the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia seventy six Ers up three to two, a chance
Speaker 2: to close out the Boston Celtics at home move on
Speaker 2: to the conference finals for the first time since two
Speaker 2: thousand and one. Jason Tatum misses thirteen of his first
Speaker 2: fourteen shots. This thing was set up for Philly to
Speaker 2: finally finally get past the second round hurdle, get back
Speaker 2: to the final four, and really give themselves a chance
Speaker 2: to win a championship. And what happens. Tatum goes nuts
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter when it looked like he couldn't
Speaker 2: win a shooting contest against Fresno pacifics Chris Haynes Tatum
Speaker 2: goes wild in the fourth, Boston Storms back wins, evens
Speaker 2: the series, forces a game seven, and then it gets
Speaker 2: even crazier in the night cap with the Phoenix Suns
Speaker 2: trying to save their season. No DeAndre Ayton because of
Speaker 2: a rib contusion, No Chris Paul who's been out for
Speaker 2: several games with a groin injury. Phoenix in an elimination
Speaker 2: just like last season. Phoenix goes down by thirty at
Speaker 2: the half. A year ago, Game seven at home, second
Speaker 2: Round against Dallas at halftime, Phoenix down fifty seven twenty seven.
Speaker 2: Tonight at home, Game six, have to win to force
Speaker 2: a Game seven in Denver. The halftime score Nuggets eighty one,
Speaker 2: Sons fifty one. Game basically over at halftime. Denver rolls
Speaker 2: on to win comfortably and ussure the Phoenix Suns to
Speaker 2: their own off season of discomfort, where the Boston Philly
Speaker 2: loser is headed, where the Milwaukee Bucks are now, and
Speaker 2: where so many other teams in the league are After
Speaker 2: a season where you had a number of clubs go
Speaker 2: all in to try to chase the championship, and my man,
Speaker 2: my man Howard back he had a great line in GQ,
Speaker 2: he called it the Age of Chaos, a fitting summary
Speaker 2: for where we are and a fitting summary for this
Speaker 2: Thursday night. Wow, let's start with the first of tonight's surprises.
Speaker 2: Chris Haynes, I'm gonna be honest with you. I thought
Speaker 2: Philly was winning this game. There was nothing pregame that
Speaker 2: you were I was just I didn't want to hear
Speaker 2: about a Boston bounce back. I know they did it.
Speaker 2: They won at Milwaukee in the exact same situation last season,
Speaker 2: down three to two, needed to win a Game six
Speaker 2: on the road to have a shot to extend the
Speaker 2: series and win in seven. But you know the Bucks
Speaker 2: didn't have Middleton. I just I thought Philly went to
Speaker 2: a new place by winning Game five in Boston. They've
Speaker 2: won twice in Boston already in this series. I mean,
Speaker 2: are we are we now going to say that the
Speaker 2: We're now going to ask the Sixers to win a
Speaker 2: third road game in Boston to get out of this rounde.
Speaker 2: I just all the frailties of these two teams, they
Speaker 2: were all on display tonight on both sides. But Jason Tatum,
Speaker 2: when it looked like just going to be the worst
Speaker 2: night of his life and the worst off season of
Speaker 2: his life, brilliant in that fourth quarter. And like I said,
Speaker 2: I putting my hand up. Didn't see it coming, man,
Speaker 2: I really didn't.
Speaker 3: No, huh, Well, you're not alone. I didn't expect them
Speaker 3: to beat the Sixers at their place at all. I
Speaker 3: thought the Sixers had their number. I thought the Celtics
Speaker 3: were mentally out of it, didn't have I just think
Speaker 3: they didn't have the answers. But they had the answers
Speaker 3: in the fourth quarters. Jayson Tatum for sure came through.
Speaker 3: And can they win? Can the Sixers win a third
Speaker 3: game in Boston? That is a lot to ask. That
Speaker 3: is a lot to ask. Boston is not easy. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's a good series though, definitely a good series. If
Speaker 3: I was a betting man, which I'm not. If I
Speaker 3: was a betting man, I would just have to favor
Speaker 3: the home team. I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't be
Speaker 3: confident about that pick. But it's Game seven, it's in Boston.
Speaker 3: That's why, that's why the regular season is so important,
Speaker 3: so you can have the home court advantage. But I
Speaker 3: know Philly, having already won two already, they go in,
Speaker 3: they go into Boston with confidence. But I don't like
Speaker 3: the way it looks they had a golden opportunity to
Speaker 3: sell it Game six at home that definitely could have
Speaker 3: cost him a series.
Speaker 2: I mean, just getting to the conference finals would have
Speaker 2: been demons would have been exercised in Philly. And now
Speaker 2: for the next twenty four plus hours, they're gonna have
Speaker 2: to hear it all again. I mean Doc Rivers like
Speaker 2: it or not, there is no getting around his record.
Speaker 2: Doc Rivers is seventeen and thirty two in elimination games.
Speaker 2: And you know Embiid only had two points no rebounds
Speaker 2: in the last six minutes. So Harden is taking all
Speaker 2: the heat for how poorly he played, But it's not
Speaker 2: just gonna be on him.
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 2: The Sixers. They haven't been to the conference finals since
Speaker 2: the days of the Answer, since I was in my
Speaker 2: beat writing infancy that was. I mean I had six
Speaker 2: seven years in the league.
Speaker 3: I mean it's it's Lakers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they look, they made the finals and they lost
Speaker 2: to the Lakers. But I mean just that team won
Speaker 2: the East, and you know that was Iverson at the
Speaker 2: peak of his powers, and it's been more than two
Speaker 2: decades and tonight was the night, and it just look
Speaker 2: this this whole season has been bonkers, and you know,
Speaker 2: just night after night after night, we just keep finding
Speaker 2: out that we think we know these teams, and this year,
Speaker 2: more than ever, we don't know these teams. So I
Speaker 2: guess if there's ever gonna be a year where you know,
Speaker 2: we get shocked again and Philly wins this series, you know,
Speaker 2: they win a third row game and win a Game
Speaker 2: seven in Boston. Look, I guess anything is possible this season,
Speaker 2: but I'm just psychologically I can't wait to see what
Speaker 2: this team looks like.
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 2: This, they know the opportunity that was squandered tonight, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure as we're taping this on Thursday night, they
Speaker 2: are They're in agony. It was teed up for them
Speaker 2: so beautifully in a series that statistically, in a lot
Speaker 2: of ways Boston has dominated. I mean, Boston is plus
Speaker 2: thirty eight for the series. This series should have been over,
Speaker 2: but no, it was Philly with the chance to close
Speaker 2: it out tonight. And I think in sports we tend
Speaker 2: to we tend to say Team A can't get over lost,
Speaker 2: be they'll never recover. It was so gruesome, you know,
Speaker 2: and I think teams routinely surprise us. But man, like
Speaker 2: I said this, there are so many psychological layers here
Speaker 2: for Embiid, for Doc Rivers, for Harden, I can't wait
Speaker 2: to see. I'd love to see improved me wrong, But
Speaker 2: you know, I'm skeptical in the extreme for m.
Speaker 4: B, the MVP winner.
Speaker 3: And if you look at, on the other hand, what
Speaker 3: the Joker is doing, dominating quietly as he always does so,
Speaker 3: and B would definitely get his share of criticism, probably
Speaker 3: the most criticism of his career. If they don't pull
Speaker 3: this out. You know, there'll be a lot to be
Speaker 3: had Rivers as you as you said, the track record
Speaker 3: speaks for itself. So there's a lot of stake for
Speaker 3: the sisters, a lot of state going into that final game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just man and yeah, and you know as
Speaker 2: we speak, I mean, that's the thing. These HiT's so weird.
Speaker 2: It's how quickly things can change. Because Jokic won the
Speaker 2: last two MVPs, and coming into the season, there was
Speaker 2: all this talk that voter for tigue, voters are not
Speaker 2: gonna want to vote for him a third time, and
Speaker 2: I think there is truth to that. I think voters
Speaker 2: were not gonna give it to him unless it was
Speaker 2: an absolute, unequivocal slam dunk. But the whole second half
Speaker 2: of the season, of the regular season, the conversation changed,
Speaker 2: and it was not just that Embiid was the likely winner,
Speaker 2: and that was proven to be correct. Embiid did win
Speaker 2: his first MVP, but it was that these playoffs were
Speaker 2: going to become a referendum on Jokic's last two seasons.
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't want to get into a
Speaker 2: huge all night MVP debate, but I mean, I you know,
Speaker 2: I gotta, I gotta say it. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: Jokic has he's shutting a lot of people up right
Speaker 2: now because you know, they're going to the conference finals
Speaker 2: for the second time in four years. And as I
Speaker 2: keep pointing out, the two times in that four year
Speaker 2: stretch they didn't go Jamal Murray was injured, he didn't
Speaker 2: have his second best player. First of all, the Nuggets
Speaker 2: don't even have a second All Star. Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, Junior,
Speaker 2: Aaron Gordon all excellent. They've got a better bench than
Speaker 2: they've had, but there's no All Star there. Jamal Murray
Speaker 2: still has not made an All Star Game. So Jokic
Speaker 2: took all this heat all season long for his suppose
Speaker 2: d playoff failures, and it's like, okay, what you know,
Speaker 2: the last two times he's had a squad, he's in
Speaker 2: the conference finals. They lost to the Lakers in the bubble,
Speaker 2: and let's see what happens in these Western Conference finals.
Speaker 2: So I mean you said it. I mean this is
Speaker 2: the list of I think, the list of teams that
Speaker 2: are at this crossroads. It just keeps getting longer and
Speaker 2: longer and longer. I'm gonna have to count it up.
Speaker 2: I think we're getting close to half the league worth
Speaker 2: of teams that are all facing these really uncomfortable off
Speaker 2: seasons and and tough roster decisions. But you know Philly's
Speaker 2: going to be at the top of that list. I mean,
Speaker 2: Harden and Doc Rivers are their play the past playoff failures.
Speaker 2: Now it's going to be that's all they're going to
Speaker 2: hear here about. And Joel Embiid, Yeah, when you win
Speaker 2: the MVP but your team underachieves in the playoffs and
Speaker 2: and you know you're the Sixers are up three too,
Speaker 2: you've got to finish the series off. You just have to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't want to go too far down the road.
Speaker 3: But if they don't, you know, this is a this
Speaker 3: is a team that can go through a similar situation
Speaker 3: like the Milwaukee Bucks, where they might they could change coaches,
Speaker 3: they could James Harden's future is in doubt. There, Well,
Speaker 3: where does Philly go from there? Are they going into
Speaker 3: the next season? Will they be a championship contending team?
Speaker 3: There's there's a lot, you know, there's a lot that
Speaker 3: will dissect you in this league because at the appropriate time.
Speaker 2: And look, we've been talking about this for ages now,
Speaker 2: but the reason we talk about it so much is
Speaker 2: because the chatter is out there. When you talk to
Speaker 2: other teams, they I mean, you know, I did. I'm
Speaker 2: trying to remember. I've done quite a few radio shows
Speaker 2: here lately, so I can't remember which one it was,
Speaker 2: but one of my recent one of my recent radio appearances,
Speaker 2: they said, you know, do you think do you think
Speaker 2: James Harden to Houston is real? And my answer to
Speaker 2: that is, we don't know yet if it's real, But
Speaker 2: there's enough smoke that teams around the league watching this
Speaker 2: situation are convinced that the Rockets are serious about going
Speaker 2: after Harden in free agency and pursuing a reunion, so
Speaker 2: you know, one kind of cautionary note or you know
Speaker 2: where I'd say, let's just wait and see a little bit.
Speaker 2: You know, I am intensely curious as I get ready
Speaker 2: to go to Chicago for Tuesday's Draft lottery. For once,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be somewhere and you're not going to
Speaker 2: be somewhere. That's the first time that's happened in ages
Speaker 2: that I'm somewhere important and you have to check in
Speaker 2: with me to see how it was. What if Houston
Speaker 2: wins the draft lottery, if they get web Bin Yama,
Speaker 2: do they really still want to pursue James Harden or
Speaker 2: do they make it all about wem Ben Yama's timeline
Speaker 2: at that point? And you know, I guess, uh, if
Speaker 2: that happens, the Rockets will have to answer that question.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think just using common sense, they get
Speaker 3: that kid, you build around him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would think so, I mean if they get
Speaker 2: if the Rockets win the lottery, to me, I I
Speaker 2: don't look, I've questioned their interest in the hardened reunion anyway,
Speaker 2: but I know the Rockets want to win that. You know,
Speaker 2: they've just endured the three worst seasons in franchise history.
Speaker 2: They don't want to be a rebuilding team anymore. James Harden,
Speaker 2: by all accounts when you plug into the grapevine, his
Speaker 2: interest in going back home. There are legit reasons for
Speaker 2: him to want that. So yeah, it's gonna it's gonna
Speaker 2: be a very loud and noisy offseason in Philly if
Speaker 2: they can't go to Boston and surprise us yet again.
Speaker 2: But this whole series, man's like, like I said, when
Speaker 2: Milwaukee went out out Philly Boston, to me the winner,
Speaker 2: that was your favorite to win it all, and they've
Speaker 2: both been so shaky in this series. I'm not even
Speaker 2: sure I'm picking the winner to beat Miami. I do
Speaker 2: think Miami will close out the Knicks in Game six.
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler is playing the basketball of his life and
Speaker 2: they got spoke coaching. I'm not sure. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: I'm picking Boston or Philly to beat Miami. I'm really not.
Speaker 3: Well, you know you're assuming that that series is over.
Speaker 2: Stone, Yeah, I am, that is the one. I mean, Well, look,
Speaker 2: I've been wrong, left, right and center with my picks
Speaker 2: here lately, so I am though, I do you know,
Speaker 2: no disrespect to the Knicks they did what they had
Speaker 2: to do in Game five to extend that series. I
Speaker 2: just don't think a veteran Miami team is going to
Speaker 2: do what Philly did tonight and squander the close out chance.
Speaker 2: I just don't. I just don't think Spoe and Jimmy
Speaker 2: Butler will let that happen.
Speaker 3: I would. I would agree with you. I would agree
Speaker 3: with you. I'm just just starting something.
Speaker 2: You always like to You like to just sit there
Speaker 2: and jab me, because you know it's easy. I know
Speaker 2: I'm easy.
Speaker 4: You'd like to see how you react.
Speaker 2: You know I'm easy. Pray in ad. I think I
Speaker 2: think what we saw tonight probably gets Miami even more
Speaker 2: ready to you know, the Knicks. The Knicks have had
Speaker 2: a great run to me this, You know, the Knicks
Speaker 2: fans don't want to hear any of this. They want
Speaker 2: to win the series and go to the Conference finals
Speaker 2: in the first time in forever. But you know, to me,
Speaker 2: even if the Knicks are out after Friday night, even
Speaker 2: if Miami finishes that thing in six, I think tremendous
Speaker 2: season in New York, Jalen Brunson found yet another level
Speaker 2: improved for the fifth straight season and or maybe the
Speaker 2: fourth straight season. You can't really improve on your rookie season.
Speaker 2: But they're gonna keep They're gonna keep building that thing.
Speaker 2: They've got so many pieces to make upgrades. The Knicks
Speaker 2: have a tremendous future no matter what happens. So if
Speaker 2: I am prematurely writing them off, I'm sure, I'm sure
Speaker 2: I'm gonna hear about it.
Speaker 4: Oh you will, Oh for sure you will. Yeah, no
Speaker 4: doubt about that.
Speaker 2: Mister Haynes. Let's move west now, because for me, honestly,
Speaker 2: what we saw out of this game Denver at Phoenix
Speaker 2: in Game six, I think it's almost crazier than the
Speaker 2: events in Philly tonight. Yes, much closer game in Philly,
Speaker 2: but that this could be so one sided that the
Speaker 2: Sun's season could end this way the same way it
Speaker 2: did last season. I really, I really thought, even without
Speaker 2: DeAndre and Chris Paul, that the Sons at home had
Speaker 2: a more than decent chance of forcing a Game seven.
Speaker 2: But you know, we're constantly on the search for a
Speaker 2: true favorite in the league, and like I said, Boston
Speaker 2: and Philly have both been so shaky in that series that,
Speaker 2: like I told myself, I gotta stop saying that the
Speaker 2: winner is the favorite to win it all because neither
Speaker 2: one of those teams are playing well enough to deserve
Speaker 2: that mantle. The Nuggets, on the other hand, unbeaten at
Speaker 2: home in these playoffs. They closed out the Wolves in five,
Speaker 2: they closed out the Suns in six, and mister Jokic
Speaker 2: doing just fine as the non MVP this season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but he's looking like the MVP he is again.
Speaker 3: He is doing it quietly. That's that's his game. He
Speaker 3: dominates quietly his game. You're not going to see it
Speaker 3: on many highlights except for probably his passing, but one
Speaker 3: to truly, one truly, one of the most dominant players
Speaker 3: have in the league right now, arguably the most dominant
Speaker 3: only offensive end. With that being said, I picked Phoenix
Speaker 3: to win this series. Matter of fact, I take it
Speaker 3: a step further. I picked Phoenix to win it.
Speaker 2: All, and I warned you not to do so. You
Speaker 2: did you?
Speaker 3: You wasn't on the bandwagon. You didn't you didn't pick Phoenix.
Speaker 2: Well, no, huh, I think I think I think I
Speaker 2: think I did warn you that. It just wasn't enough time.
Speaker 2: It just it wasn't.
Speaker 3: It wasn't. But it's KD, It's Devin Booker, It's Chris Paul,
Speaker 3: and I felt like if anybody can mesh in that timeframe,
Speaker 3: it would be those guys because of their talent and
Speaker 3: their IQ. But KD went out with that injury towards
Speaker 3: the end of the regular season, was out an extended period,
Speaker 3: miss time, Chris Paul with the growing injury, last two games,
Speaker 3: miss the last two game to the series, and they
Speaker 3: just didn't have the depth. They didn't they didn't have
Speaker 3: the depth. And I still you know, it's one thing, Stein,
Speaker 3: if if the public would allow me to make a
Speaker 3: pick at the regular season and make a pick at
Speaker 3: the postseason and allow me to stick with my pick,
Speaker 3: I'll be fine. Like if I had the chance to
Speaker 3: change my pick after the first round, I probably would
Speaker 3: have changed it, Stein, but I'm sticking with my pick.
Speaker 4: I'm sticking with the pick I had in the postseason.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't comfortable with the pick.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't confident with the pick, but I stuck with it. No.
Speaker 2: Look, and first of all, I'm the same. Once I
Speaker 2: make a pick, you can't you can't change it. I mean,
Speaker 2: you just you know, Milwaukee was my pick to win
Speaker 2: it all this season, and you know, there you go.
Speaker 2: I mean gone in Round one. I mean they were
Speaker 2: down forty four to twenty six after a quarter tonight.
Speaker 2: I mean, this thing is a mess. This is an
Speaker 2: absolute It was hard.
Speaker 4: It was hard.
Speaker 2: Crops to the Denver Nuggets, who I think will now
Speaker 2: get some incredible shine because again they've been they've got
Speaker 2: a real home court advantage, they've lived up to the
Speaker 2: one number one seed so far. Again that the last
Speaker 2: six plus weeks the regular season was nothing. But Jokic
Speaker 2: better do it in the playoffs or his MVPs are invalidated,
Speaker 2: even though MVP is a regular season award. But that pressure,
Speaker 2: if it's bothered Jokic, you can't tell one iota that
Speaker 2: it's it's bothered him. And they go to Phoenix and
Speaker 2: win by twenty five to close the thing out, and
Speaker 2: now it's just, you know, put the Suns right there.
Speaker 2: You know again, I'm I'm i gotta stop prematurely putting
Speaker 2: Philly there, because the Sixers could win a Game seven
Speaker 2: in Boston, but the Sun season is over, and they
Speaker 2: go right up there with Milwaukee and Dallas and Portland
Speaker 2: and anybody else you want to name for these teams
Speaker 2: that have to be looking at major, major, major changes.
Speaker 2: DeAndre Ayton can't see him playing another game in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: You know, I think there's some question about what sort
Speaker 2: of market he would have with three years left on
Speaker 2: his deal he's on. You know, this was only year
Speaker 2: one of the one hundred and thirty three million dollar
Speaker 2: deal that he got after doing an offer sheet with
Speaker 2: the Pacers and the Suns matched. But he's a former
Speaker 2: number one pick, a recent former number one pick. A
Speaker 2: market will emerge, and you know, I uh, I just
Speaker 2: think they're gonna move him. You know, Chris Paul is
Speaker 2: a harder call. Chris Paul's contract is easier to trade
Speaker 2: financially because there's only a sixteen million dollar guarantee a
Speaker 2: little shy, a sixteen million partial guarantee for next season.
Speaker 2: The fourth season completely non guaranteed. So theoretically Chris Paul
Speaker 2: should be easier to move than DeAndre Ayden. But I think, look,
Speaker 2: they may end up looking to move both of them.
Speaker 2: But I think I think eight and eight and there
Speaker 2: has to be a fresh start. I mean, it's just
Speaker 2: it's just gotten way too tense. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 2: think on both sides there and I do think there
Speaker 2: will be some sort of action, but you know, they
Speaker 2: gave up so much to get Kevin Durant, and I
Speaker 2: think they found that. You know, they decimated the depth
Speaker 2: around him to get him. And you know then you
Speaker 2: got Durant and Booker only playing, Durant only playing eight
Speaker 2: games before the playoffs. It's just just too hard to
Speaker 2: throw it together on the fly with with the a
Speaker 2: deb you know, and and as good as Denver.
Speaker 3: Is, let me, you know, I agree with most of
Speaker 3: your the points you made. But can a case also
Speaker 3: be made that this group just hasn't played together love
Speaker 3: enough and that you give them one more run, give them,
Speaker 3: give them another him one full season, even bringing Ayton
Speaker 3: back one full season to see what this team can do, can't.
Speaker 4: Can a case be made? Can a vala case be
Speaker 4: made for that scenario?
Speaker 2: I think to a degree it can. But the nature
Speaker 2: of this loss was so one sided after a one
Speaker 2: sided loss last season, so I think there has to
Speaker 2: be a significant change of some sort. You know, based
Speaker 2: on everything I've heard, I think Matt Ishbia, the new owner,
Speaker 2: is a MANI Williams fan. I don't I don't see
Speaker 2: that this. I don't see this being laid at the
Speaker 2: coach's feet, even though they're non competitive in this huge
Speaker 2: game six.
Speaker 4: Whose feet star?
Speaker 2: Like I said, I think eight and be the first
Speaker 2: one to go. I'm actually gonna break one of my rules.
Speaker 2: I don't like to do fake trades, but I think
Speaker 2: today I might actually lob a fake trade into the
Speaker 2: ether completely fake trade.
Speaker 3: Should should What I mean this is this league uncut,
Speaker 3: is not this league cut.
Speaker 2: But you know that's not a you know that's not
Speaker 2: really a function of this league uncut or not. Like,
Speaker 2: I don't like to do fake trades because we're counted
Speaker 2: on as league insiders to report actual moves, and like,
Speaker 2: I don't like to hypothesize about, hey, this would be
Speaker 2: a great trade, because again I don't want to confuse
Speaker 2: it with when we report the real deal. But in
Speaker 2: this case, I am gonna get swept up in the
Speaker 2: pod moment here.
Speaker 4: You're making me nervous.
Speaker 2: I'm making you nervous.
Speaker 4: Though we switching size.
Speaker 2: DeAndre Ayton to the Dallas Mavericks to hook up with
Speaker 2: his buddy Luka Doncic. Hypothetical fake trade. This is purely
Speaker 2: an idea. Eighten to the MAVs for a package that
Speaker 2: would that would feature, first of all, Dallas has to
Speaker 2: keep its number ten pick in the lottery. If the
Speaker 2: MAVs fall to eleven in the lottery, that pick goes
Speaker 2: to the Knicks. So if the MAVs can retain that pick,
Speaker 2: you package the player they draft at number ten because
Speaker 2: that pick the MAVs. The MAVs have to make that pick,
Speaker 2: and such a trade would have to be executed after
Speaker 2: the draft. They can't do it beforehand. But you package
Speaker 2: number ten with Tim Hardaway, Junior, MAXI Kliba, whatever other
Speaker 2: contracts are needed to make the math work. And hypothetically,
Speaker 2: I do wonder if there would be interest in the
Speaker 2: Phoenix side from that. I I, you know, Ayton is
Speaker 2: a former number one pick, but I don't know how
Speaker 2: high his stock is. Maybe maybe they can do better
Speaker 2: than that, but I'm not so sure they can do
Speaker 2: better than that. And I think the Suns and Ayton,
Speaker 2: I think both sides need a fresh start. Luka Donca
Speaker 2: and Aytan they've they're from the same draft class, and
Speaker 2: I I, you know, I think their buddies. I think
Speaker 2: there is a fondness there. So, you know, I could
Speaker 2: see two teams and they do they do share. Mister
Speaker 2: Bill Duffy is an agent so I you know, I think, uh,
Speaker 2: I think that's two teams that need need to shake up.
Speaker 2: And so again, throwing that one out there purely as
Speaker 2: a hypothetical, as a maybe, as a concoction, in my mind,
Speaker 2: not even a maybe. It's a full, full on concoction.
Speaker 4: Uh. I'm just looking at four.
Speaker 3: I'm looking at some fake news right now. Stein, I'm
Speaker 3: looking at Dwight Howard. I'm gonna send this to you
Speaker 3: and Ryan. Dwight Howard just posted. I guess he failed
Speaker 3: for it because it's definitely fake. So he failed for
Speaker 3: a fake quote and he posted on He posted it
Speaker 3: on Instagram. It's a quote supposedly, it's supposed to be
Speaker 3: from Chris Paul. The quote is, if I don't win
Speaker 3: the ring with KD, I'm going to Taiwan with Dwight Howard.
Speaker 3: It's so Dwight Dwight posted this fake Cobbat say a
Speaker 3: CP three, what we're doing here? We gotta be better.
Speaker 3: We gotta be better. Come on, dw we gotta be better.
Speaker 3: I do not that's that's something Chris Paul would not say.
Speaker 3: But we gotta be better. Man eight years yeah, and
Speaker 3: for him, Stein, that's right, Oh man, this was I
Speaker 3: remember when I remember when they picked up KD. He
Speaker 3: said he's never had a situation like this where he
Speaker 3: could just get out the way you know, he told
Speaker 3: he told me he's been wanting to play off the
Speaker 3: ball for a minute. And he did it a brief
Speaker 3: time with Houston and they had some great success. Believe
Speaker 3: they were a win away from getting to the NBA
Speaker 3: Finals when they were playing the Golden State Warriors a
Speaker 3: few years back, and he just didn't get to see
Speaker 3: it happen.
Speaker 4: We didn't.
Speaker 3: We didn't see enough time. So that's why I asked, like, Okay,
Speaker 3: could management, could they look at a scenario where they
Speaker 3: bring I think if they're going to bring anyone back,
Speaker 3: they'll bring CP back over eight and I think eight
Speaker 3: and is. I think they're probably done with Aiden. I
Speaker 3: think they're probably tired of each other at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, That's what I'm saying. Like, it's not inconceivable to
Speaker 2: me that they would not move Chris Paul. But I think,
Speaker 2: look Ishbi has shownas he's going to be super aggressive already.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, he put a bazillion assets on
Speaker 2: the table to get the Durant deal done. You know,
Speaker 2: he had basically been there for a day or two
Speaker 2: officially when that trade went through. So I am sure
Speaker 2: the Suns are gonna aim high and explore every single option,
Speaker 2: but I I think that, you know, the safe the
Speaker 2: safe bed is that they're going to make at least
Speaker 2: one major move, and I think it has to be
Speaker 2: it's got to be eight. I mean, with this new
Speaker 2: CBA coming in, it's just you can't have you can't
Speaker 2: have a four star construction and then be able to
Speaker 2: put pieces around him. It's just that the the restrictions
Speaker 2: are too onerous when you can't use the tax mid
Speaker 2: level and you can't make sign in trades, and it
Speaker 2: just it restricts you so far if you if you
Speaker 2: advance into second apron territory. So it you know, it
Speaker 2: behooves the Suns to try to They got to see
Speaker 2: if they can try to move eight, and if they
Speaker 2: move eight, and then see if they can get some
Speaker 2: depth back because they were clearly lacking in that department.
Speaker 2: But the other thing tonight, man, they showed they showed
Speaker 2: the great Al McCoy call it on the radio during
Speaker 2: the game. They you know, you got the legend Hub
Speaker 2: Brown on the TV broadcast and then they're talking about
Speaker 2: Al McCoy. I mean, Al McCoy is ninety, this is
Speaker 2: his fifty first season calling Sons games. He's retiring, one
Speaker 2: of the absolute gents in the sport, won an absolute
Speaker 2: legend in the broadcast game. And I mean the Phoenix Sons.
Speaker 2: He's leaving the job without the Phoenix Sons having won
Speaker 2: a single title in all that time. They made the
Speaker 2: finals multiple times, three times, seventy six, ninety three, and
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, but couldn't win it. And man, al
Speaker 2: McCoy fifty one years in the job and didn't get
Speaker 2: to see a championship. That's rough.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's tough. Yeah, everybody was expecting it to be
Speaker 4: this year.
Speaker 2: But you really, you really, I mean you liked I mean,
Speaker 2: I know Jamal Crawford was the same.
Speaker 4: You don't make that trade.
Speaker 3: You don't make that trade and not have those expectations
Speaker 3: like you make those You make that trade to win it.
Speaker 3: Now there's no it's it's win now. You know this,
Speaker 3: you know you know that question. Giannis was asked at
Speaker 3: the end, like is it's a failure? This was a failure.
Speaker 3: This this season was a failure.
Speaker 4: For sure.
Speaker 2: It was a failure, but it was also like again,
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like I brought it up more
Speaker 2: than once because again it history tells us you just
Speaker 2: mid season trades don't lead to championships. We can go
Speaker 2: over the history one more time. Clyde Drexord to Houston
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety five. That trade led to a championship. However,
Speaker 2: the Rocks were defending champions and they had a guy
Speaker 2: named Hakim Elijahwan who everything revolved around in Houston. Rashid
Speaker 2: Wallace to Detroit in two thousand and four, that to me,
Speaker 2: that is the standout example. That's the best that a
Speaker 2: mid season trade has ever worked out because Rashid wall
Speaker 2: I mean, it's really hard to pinpoint who was the
Speaker 2: best player on that Pistons team. Was it Chauncey Bhillips,
Speaker 2: Was it Rashid Wallace? Was it Ben Wallace? Was it
Speaker 2: Rip Hamilton? It was it was the ultimate ensemble cast.
Speaker 2: But Rashid's two way play and the kind of defender
Speaker 2: he was that really changed the dynamic of that team
Speaker 2: and took it to a new level, to the point
Speaker 2: that they smoked the Phil Kobe and Shaq Lakers in
Speaker 2: the two thousand and four NBA Finals and then Markasol
Speaker 2: in twenty nineteen. But when he went to Toronto that
Speaker 2: was Kawhi's team. He went as a complimentary player in
Speaker 2: this trade. Kevin Durant is supposed to be the alpha.
Speaker 2: He ended up being the co alpha be because Devin
Speaker 2: Booker was so good in these playoffs. But again they
Speaker 2: were together for eight regular season games and that's just
Speaker 2: not enough. So I mean that kind of does back
Speaker 2: up your case. That to a degree, you could run
Speaker 2: it back, but like I said, it's there's been so
Speaker 2: much negativity building up since the finals of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: When it comes to DeAndre Ayt and Mani Williams the franchise,
Speaker 2: there has to be a change there. There just has
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 3: Well, that's what the offseason is for and we're going
Speaker 3: to see. But they definitely would Matt Ispia. He is
Speaker 3: in when now mode. When now mode, He's going to
Speaker 3: apply pressure and I wouldn't be I'm just saying this.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if he added staff to that
Speaker 3: front office. There's going to be there's going to be
Speaker 3: changes all around. I believe, really, yes, I believe.
Speaker 2: So all right, we will get back to the Suns
Speaker 2: and they're busy offseason. I have a feeling you're right
Speaker 2: and that they will be a fixture among the teams
Speaker 2: we're talking about once we fully shift our focus to
Speaker 2: what's happening at draft time and free agency. But we
Speaker 2: still have two massive games Friday night. There is absolutely
Speaker 2: no letup Nick's Heat Game six in Miami. You've already
Speaker 2: heard the clips that Tom Thibodeau is surely racking up
Speaker 2: and going to use them in his pregame motivational speech
Speaker 2: because I said Miami was going to close that thing out,
Speaker 2: So let's see, maybe I can. Maybe, maybe I turn
Speaker 2: out to be a mini spark that leads the Knicks
Speaker 2: to a surprise. But no, I do think Miami will
Speaker 2: not make the mistake affiliated tonight. I do think the
Speaker 2: Heat will find a way to finish that series off
Speaker 2: on its home floor. Lakers have the same opportunity against
Speaker 2: the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors closed that thing to
Speaker 2: three to two on Wednesday night. Chris Haynes was in
Speaker 2: the building. I gotta just say, from far away Dallas,
Speaker 2: just watching on my TV, scary what happened with Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: Scary to see your reporting that said Anthony Davis needed
Speaker 2: wheelchair assistance to be relocated to the Laker locker room
Speaker 2: where he needed to be in the bowels of Chase Center.
Speaker 2: All signs point to Anthony Davis playing this game six,
Speaker 2: But I mean, how effective will he be? Has he
Speaker 2: really shaken this thing off in record time? Major major
Speaker 2: question mark.
Speaker 3: Was it was scary. I'm just being honest. I saw
Speaker 3: ad as he walked off the court and I was
Speaker 3: able to follow him to the back before he needed
Speaker 3: will share assistance, and his equilibrium was off. He couldn't
Speaker 3: really stand up straight. It was a scary sight. Like
Speaker 3: I know a lot of people are making light of it,
Speaker 3: but that that wasn't a light situation. And so I'm
Speaker 3: you know, I was very surprised, you know, that night
Speaker 3: that he didn't suffer a concussion. So that's good news
Speaker 3: for the Lakers. And now he's gonna he will play
Speaker 3: in game six. We don't know how effective he will be,
Speaker 3: but he will play in Game six. We were able
Speaker 3: to see him walk and leave the arena and at
Speaker 3: that point he was walking fine. He was walking fine,
Speaker 3: but I saw him the way he looked right after that,
Speaker 3: and he just did not look right. So that's that's
Speaker 3: pretty much a miracle that he's going to be able
Speaker 3: to play. With that being said, the pressure is on
Speaker 3: the Lakers right now. That's exactly what the Golden State
Speaker 3: Warriors want it. And you still it's going to be
Speaker 3: tough to close this Golden State Wars team out because
Speaker 3: they've been through every scenario imaginable in the postseason. They've
Speaker 3: been down, they've been up, They've played with key players
Speaker 3: out and performed well and got to win. This will
Speaker 3: not be This will not be an except exception Friday.
Speaker 3: I expect a really tough game, really tough and close game.
Speaker 3: I don't expect to blowout from from either team tomorrow.
Speaker 3: So I don't know what to expect. I can't even
Speaker 3: say I you know, you know, I usually I tend
Speaker 3: to favor the home team. I can't even I can't
Speaker 3: even go there, starn I really do not know what
Speaker 3: to expect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in these playoffs that have been so topsy turvy,
Speaker 2: so surprised, fieled the year of the lower seed, as
Speaker 2: I've been calling it, I mean, yeah, you know, I
Speaker 2: guess I'm giving Miami some extra respect because of Jimmy
Speaker 2: Butler and Eric Spolstra by my you know, in my
Speaker 2: belief that that they'll be able to close out the
Speaker 2: Knicks in Game six, but any any other series. I mean,
Speaker 2: could Philly pick up all the pieces and win a
Speaker 2: Game seven in Boston this year? Sure? Why not? And
Speaker 2: could Golden State undo and pull themselves out of a
Speaker 2: three to one hole this season this spring? Why not.
Speaker 2: It's it's you know, almost anything is possible in these
Speaker 2: in these wild playoffs, the age of chaos. As again,
Speaker 2: as as Howard Beck called it, I did I did
Speaker 2: see while we're recording this, Kevin Durant just went to
Speaker 2: the podium after Phoenix's elimination. The KD quote quote, it sucked.
Speaker 2: It was a bad feeling. It was embarrassing. They came
Speaker 2: out and hit us in the mouth and we couldn't recover.
Speaker 2: Gonna be such an interesting off season in Phoenix. But yeah,
Speaker 2: get getting back to Lakers Warriors. I mean, I certainly,
Speaker 2: I'm you know, I'm I'm far, I'm fifteen hundred miles away.
Speaker 2: I'm watching it all on TV like everybody else, And
Speaker 2: really did expect that Anthony Davis was going to end
Speaker 2: up in the concussion Protocol but he did not the
Speaker 2: Lakers say, I think he's officially probable. Is the is
Speaker 2: the listing?
Speaker 3: They listed him probable, but not due to the hair injury.
Speaker 4: It was due to a foot injury, so.
Speaker 2: It's not even on the injury report. Man. But yes,
Speaker 2: if I'm the Lakers, I would advise them to uh.
Speaker 2: I would advise them to win Game six, don't don't
Speaker 2: let this, don't let this go seven, where we saw
Speaker 2: what happened in the last Game seven and the mister
Speaker 2: Stephen Curry delivered the first fifty point game in Game
Speaker 2: seven history. I wouldn't advise.
Speaker 3: It, not at all. I won't be covering game six,
Speaker 3: I'll cover Game seven. That so game six is ESPN
Speaker 3: game and the game seven is an ABC game, So
Speaker 3: if it gets the game seven, I'll cover that. That
Speaker 3: would just be for writing purposes, Bleacher.
Speaker 2: Report and podcast purposes.
Speaker 4: And podcast purposes of course, yes. And then after that,
Speaker 4: I'll be on assignment for T and T during the doing,
Speaker 4: covering the entire Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: And the next time you and I connect for one
Speaker 2: of these pods, I will be in Chicago already for
Speaker 2: the combine, the G League Draft Combine, and of course
Speaker 2: Tuesday's draft lottery brick for Vic Victor Webbin Yama, we
Speaker 2: will finally find out his team after months and months
Speaker 2: and months of anticipation. Wem Bean Yamas season is still
Speaker 2: going in France, so he won't actually be there. He's
Speaker 2: going to have to watch it from Afar himself. But
Speaker 2: I'm really looking forward to it because I've had playoff
Speaker 2: obligations for the last bazillion years. If I've ever been
Speaker 2: to Chicago, I legit can't remember it. I think this
Speaker 2: is my maiden trip to the pre draft camp in Chicago. Again,
Speaker 2: if I've been to one in the past, I completely
Speaker 2: don't remember. But this will definitely be the closest I've
Speaker 2: ever gotten to the actual lottery. And so this is
Speaker 2: one that I figured, with Wembin Yama being at the
Speaker 2: top of the list and how badly teams want him,
Speaker 2: a pretty good one for me to make the trip
Speaker 2: and check it out. So that's going to do it
Speaker 2: for this edition of this League, uncut, Stein and Haynes
Speaker 2: together again. Please please please rate, review and subscribe to
Speaker 2: the sh Show, and we will be back soon with
Speaker 2: all the thoughts on how Round two ended up. A
Speaker 2: look ahead to the conference finals, and a look ahead
Speaker 2: to the draft lottery. Talk soon, everybody, and that'll do
Speaker 2: it for us.
Speaker 1: See you next time. This League on cuta IS and
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio production
Speaker 2: Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.