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On this episode of the Heat Check, the trade deadline has come and gone, so no better time to bring on Keith Smith. I was joined by my bet MGM co host Ryan Horvaugh and Nick Ashe.
We're recorded right.
After the deadline. Keith is a real deal NBA insider. He works for SPOS Trek breakdown all the tea, you know, more than you can ever want. Amazing double length episode, So do me a favorite, Nick and drop that beat. Keith was as shocked as I was about the trade deadline. He gets right into the Sun's trade and what it means.
I absolutely wild dead deadline. I did not expect it to go quite like this. So we're we'll see these deals are all going final now. Some of them are going to structure as multi team deals, but we're gonna be in the range of twenty total deals in season, and about fifteen or sixteen of them are going to have happened in the last about twelve fifteen hours or so, which is absolutely incredible. So I think we're in a spot now where the league is exactly what he said,
It's wide open. These teams feel like they have a chance to win, so they're going after it. And we saw, you know, kind of becoming an arms race in the Western Conference, especially a couple East teams tried to do some things to shore up their positioning. But yeah, it's really wide open in the NBA right now.
I was really struck Keith because matt Eshbia just took over yesterday and his first order of business was to make sure that he got Kevin Durant before the deadline and before.
That night ended. Right.
Was that something that we can say is going to be a foreshadowing of how aggressive he's going to be as an owner and what that means for the Phoenix Suns in the future.
I mean, what sort of struck you about that trade?
Yeah, it could be something where when we look back on this ten year or so from now, we're like, man, this guy came out day one really making big moves and he's never stopped. But then I think back to Mark Cuban when he took over the MAVs and they made a million big trades, and they were trading and signing everybody under the sun that they could get, and then he became actually down the line one of the
more conservative owners for quite a while. So I think this was I want to make a big splash, and I know Kevin Durant wants to be here. Let's go get him if we can, And they had that opportunity to go get him as everything kind of went sideways in Brooklyn. So I think this is more let's jump on it, let's make something happen, than it was anything where it became a you know, we want to read into this and say, yeah, this is a you know, this is what it's going to be like in Phoenix forever.
How would you assess that trade in terms of the details and the pieces got they got moved and who benefited more or you know, did anyone win or lose that trade?
In your opinion?
Yeah, it's gonna be hard to know on the Net side, because we've got years upon years of draft picks. We've got some seventh and eighth graders that are gonna be picked with a couple of those picks. So it's gonna be a long time before we know the end story. But you know, I think the Nets in a tough situation this week after Kyrie on Friday basically said get me out of here. They did fine in that trade. They did really well in this trade. I think it's
Kevin Durant. So it's hard when you trade one of the best players in the league and an MVP candidate, But you got Michael Bridge's back, you got Cam Johnson back, and you got four draft picks and a pick swap, and some of those picks are gonna come probably long after Kevin Durant is retired, so we don't even know what the Sons will be at that point. So I think long term, the Nets look great in this. In
the immediate it's obviously the Suns. As long as kd can come out of the All Starbury kealthy and ready to go, the Sons are a title contender. It's gonna be very, very hard to slow down that offense because this is kind of Chris Paul's dream. Now he can just orchestrate probably doesn't ever have to shoot if he doesn't want to, and set up Devin Booker, set up Kevin Durant, make sure DeAndre can get some touches, just kind of do their things.
All of the teams that didn't do much this trade deadline season was the Grizzlies. Keith explains why they stood pat and what it means for their playoff chances.
Yeah, it's tough for them. They I thought they should have made a bigger move and gone a gutten like og Ananobi or somebody like that, because they have the draft pick capital to spend that that team is basically the core group is there and locked in, and it was time to add to that group and step forward. But we're in a position in Memphis where they're still gonna be pretty good. That they'll probably finish my guess is still probably finished second in the conference, behind Denver,
but behind them, Phoenix, the Clippers. Uh, those teams get better so that they're they're gonna be pushing up the standings. The Warriors are still around, and the Warriors made made a fairly minor ish move, but but it should help them on the court with getting Gary Payton the second back, so that that's gonna be something that'll be interesting to watch.
And then the challenge for Memphis is they might have this great regular season and then all of a sudden find themselves in the very first round of the playoffs. Looking at the Warriors or maybe even the Lakers, who got a lot better in the span of the last couple of days. So that's a really tough spot to be in. And Luke Caernard's going to help them. Really good shooter, gives them a guy that they really needed. They needed one more guy who could knock down jumpers.
But it's it's just doesn't feel like enough compared to what the other teams in the West did.
The Lakers actually were the most active team on the trademarket this week, but did they do it enough to move the needle. Keith Way's in on Los Angeles and they're changed roster.
They're much better. Their challenge with the Lakers is everyone goes to, well, you know, they're only x amount of games behind fourth place, in sixth place or eighth place or whatever. But their challenge is they're still thirteenth in the conference. That means you've got to climb a whole bunch of teams just to get up into the mix
for those spots. So that's where you know, I keep telling people, you keep talking about fourth place and those kind of things, it's probably not happening because that means they have to go on a incredible run the season. You'll probably only lose four or five more times in their their final twenty five or so games, and then that involves involves a whole bunch of teams in front of them losing, you know, seven, eight, nine, ten times, and that's probably not gonna happen with all those teams.
So their work is cut out for them. But they're in a better place today than they were yesterday. I think getting D'Angel, Russell, Jared Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley is huge for them, especially when the only guy that gave up of any kind of consequence is Russell Westbrook and it sounds like that was headed that direction anyway, if we believe all the recording that's coming out today. So
they're definitely better. I did Thomas Bryant move that was a little weird, but sounds like he didn't really want to be there anymore either. Mobamba Da I'm not a big Mobamba guy, So how much he'll he'll help them. But that's a better roster. It's a RUSS that certainly makes a lot more sense. They have a lot more versatility, so they're going to be really good. But by putting themselves in the hole they did, it's going to be
hard to dig out of it. I think they get into the playing tournament and then let's see what happens from there.
Yeah, I'm curious about who Keith you think are going to stay on that Lakers team, because you've got guys on expirings, right, I think d los On in expiring. I can't remember if Beasley is as well, So you've got that. Like, do do these moves give them? Is this like kind of a gap year? Does this give them more flexibility less flexibility heading into the offseason?
They basically have almost the same amount of flexibility that they had prior to making any of these trades. I think what's important to know with these guys is they're in a spot where all of the players they took on they've really got control over moving forward. So Dangel Russell, you're right, he's an expiring contract. H Malik Beasley, there's a team option for him, so the Lakers are controlled there. Jared Vanderbilt is a very very light guaranteed amount for
next season. Mobamba is fully non guaranteed for next season, same as is Devon Reed, who they got also from the Nuggets and the Thomas Bryant trade. So they're in a spot where they can still get to thirty million dollars in cap space if they really want to. But I think now what you're looking at is, well, we kind of like Malik Beasley. If he plays well, we keep him. We keep D'Angel Russell. I would not be
surprised if we see them extend D'Angel Russell. They can give him a two year deal with a fairly minor amount of rays I'm involved off of his current pay, it would not be a surprise at all to me they extend him, and then that aligns his timeline with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, so they would all be coming off the books at the same time. And if they need to hit a big reset in a couple of years, that's when.
Though the Bucks added a great piece in Jake Crowder, Keith loves this move for Milwaukee as much as I do.
Why is the question?
Yeah, George Hill, that moves like one named moneyball, Billy Bean trades. Carlos panis so so artile, can't play him anymore, right, That's what they That's what that reminds me of. I'm with you because Joean Carter should have played more than him in the playoffs last year. Again s the Celtics, but that's that's water under the bridge, I guess. So I think Jay Crowders is a huge upgrade for them,
especially while they have Bobby Portis signelined. They needed to get one more guy on the court that's kind of coming off the bench, that's not six foot four, right, you just needed a little bit more size. Crowders guy who's been there, done that. He'll do a lot of the dirty work as far as defensively, you'll get in there and bang. You know, he's the kind of guy he's gonna knock somebody down in a playoff game and then not pick him up, and that's gonna get everybody
kind of going one way or another. The question with him is is he gonna make shots? That's really it. But they've got enough offensive cover that if he's not making shots, they'll just pull him out and they'll play somebody else. So I think that was a really good depth edition for Milwaukee, considering they give up George Hill, Serge Ibaka, and I can't remember who the other guy was now, Jordan Awara. Yeah, guys who don't necessarily play
for them, So yeah, why not? And they added a little bit to their tax bill, which you know that ownership group should be lauded for. They've paid significant money to keep that team together and keep chasing titles.
With the trade deadline kind of fizzle. Keith gives us some insight into the buyout market, which is really about to heat up.
Yeah, you mentioned a couple of them. Reggie Jackson, it sounds like he's gonna be out there. He gets traded from the Clippers to the Hornets. I think Will Barton is getting close with the Washington Wizards. He'll likely be waived. So these are all guys this is a little bit different.
Normally what happens on the bio market is it's these old veterans where it's kind of like I like to say they're more name than game, and that just is my way of saying, like, yeah, you recognize the name, but they're not very good like and they haven't been very good for a number of years. But this is
a little bit different. Some of these guys can still play and can still help teams, and there's not a sense like a lot of times in normal years, it's like this guy get traded, he's gonna be bought out, and we all know where he's going this year. It's a little bit different because there are so many contenders. A bunch of those contenders opened up roster spots. I think Boston has an open roster squat, Phoenix has has
an ability to take somebody in as well. Those are two teams that I know some of these guys are definitely looking at. I think Chris Haynes reported that Reggie Jackson may get a look for look from Phoenix and that would make a lot of sense for them as they try to retool a little bit of their depth after adding Kevin Durant. So it's it's definitely going to be a very very busy bio market for sure.
The Clippers that are strange deadline day and Keith wonders if they did enough to get over the hump. I'm curious, Keith about the Clippers. I just don't get it. Honestly. I thought that they were going to try to make a move for Fred van Fleet and now it looks like, you know, you get rid of Reggie Jackson and you get rid of John Wall and what you're going to get now is Bones Highland and Russell Westbrook.
What am I missing?
Yeah? I think the Mason Plummeley edition does help them. They needed any big behind Vitazuwacha all so that that will help. But yeah, I mean, bones Hiland, this is a guy the Nuggets, who are at the top of the conference and presumably competing with the Clippers to get to the finals. They were like, sure, we'll let them go and for not even much of a return. So that that to me is a little worried. So I think they made their changes. They're gonna be a different
team now and that they're going to look different. But but we'll see. I know they weren't happy with their point guard play for most of the year with Reggie Jackson the yeah wall, and now we'll see what what it looks like with Terrence. Man's going to get the run there, you know. But we'll see if they can poach somebody on the buy out market or not. They'll
probably be pretty active. But yeah, a little bit of a disappointment from the Clippers for sure, which is kind of the term for this entire Clippers that were quite frankly.
Right, it's like they were supposed to get a point guard, right. Do you have any insight in terms of why that fell apart.
Yeah, I was told they really wanted Kyrie Irving and that that was not just a smoke screen that they were trying to get in on getting Kyrie, and that turned into yeah, it just didn't go that way, and they didn't have necessarily the same kind of assets to send back because they're a little pick poor and those kind of things there, and then then they just ultimately chose to go a different direction. So, yeah, they didn't get Fred van Vliet. There was Taka Kyle Lowry. I
was so Kyle Lowry's market was basically nail. Everybody was kind of like, this guy looks like he might be done. Uh So I think for that Clippers they looked at it and said it was them playing pretty good when we actually show up and take it at least semi seriously and play most of our guys. So we'll do some additions around the edges and kind of keep it moving that way.
The Raptors or a team that was expected to make many moves and instead ended up adding instead of selling, getting Yaka Perl, instead of moving anyone.
What does this mean? Test thoughts you.
And me both and a lot of people around the league. It was you know, one of those things where everybody kind of we got to about two thirty and was like, all right, are we finally going to get the big raptors trades to drop? And then they just never kind of happened, and they were positioned. They made it pretty clear early on, all right, really the end of last week, like we're not gonna be full on sellers here. We're gonna try to still be pretty good if we can.
Where we're gonna, you know, maybe move some guys, but we're gonna bring some guys in, and we don't want to fully tear this thing down and bottom it out. And and Yaka Pertole is fine, and he'll be a nice addition for them and it'll probably be their long term center moving forward, but there's a lot more work to be done on that roster. It's even a weirder roster now because now everybody's to the slide, don't necessarily really fit all that great in so I'm just really
not sure what they're doing. And that's where where a lot of people were feels like a very big missed opportunity for them when we saw what the prices some of these guys were fetching that they didn't move ogn Nanobe, Fred Van Vliet, Gary Trent Junior, guys like that.
In this segment, Keith gets into the match and what Kyrie means to them moving forward. Hint hint, he likes it. And then of course we get into the strange, bizarre James Wiseman sagam.
They're gonna be really really good offensively. They're really gonna push and make it tough on other teams to defend them. It's essentially Kyrie Irving gives them a souped up version of what Jalen Brunson was. I don't have the worries that a lot of people came up with there's only one ball, or these guys are gonna be able to play together. Kyrie's played with Lebron, He's played with Kevin Durant. He's gonna be fine. He knows how to play with other guys. In this year. He'll probably be on his
best behavior. The rest of the season. Everything will probably be fine. It's year two, three and beyond. If it goes that far where we'll probably see some kind of circus that sends everything spiraling. But for now they should be fine. They're challenges, they don't have anybody other than Josh Green, who's a very young player that really plays a lot of defense. MAXI Kleebl will come back and
he should help them defensively. But I think for them, they're gonna have to try to beat teams, you know, one twenty to one fifteen a lot of nights, and we'll see if they've they've got enough offensive firepower to go. I think they're probably in a tier below some of those other West teams are really loaded up and improve it.
I'm really curious, Keith.
The James Wiseman experiment comes to an end, and Joe Lacob loved him some. James Wiseman boy. He did not want to let him go. He did not want to say it was a mistake. Somehow Bob Myers, in the final year of his deal, figured out a way to pry James Wiseman from Joe Lakob's hands, and they get Gary Payton back.
What do you make of what the Warriors did at the deadline?
Yeah, I mean that's a pretty big upgrade because Gary Payton can play, and we've no sense that James Wiseman can and Gary Payton was a huge part of them winning the title last year, so they're gonna get him very obviously, right. They just plug him right back in and just hey, do your thing, you know, do what you do and they'll move forward with that. So that's big for them to get a guy who can fill rotation minutes and do a lot of things for them.
For a guy who wasn't filling rotation minutes. It was never going to work with James Wiseman and Golden State has just gone too far. There's too much pressure on him because they needed to win. You have the draft status hanging over him. This fresh start for him in Detroit is huge because he'll get there, get a chance to play there. Well, we'll find out here over the next couple of years if this kid can really play or not. I think there's still a player in there.
It just wasn't ever gonna happen in Golden State. And kind of kudos for them. It took him a long time to get there, but they finally did realize and move away from this. Well silly, you know, we're gonna have two timelines and you know, twenty years of dominance and all this stuff build around your core. Now do right by Steph and Clay and Dre and those guys and try to win today.
Yeah, it was just really following up on that.
James Wiseman of the Pistons, it kind of feels like he's a perfect Piston, right, just like feeding off of athleticism, you know, not a lot of you know, a lot more organized chaos or less organized chaos.
What does that mean? I guess for Jalen Duran too.
Yeah, kind of funny. Two Memphis guys right there that are now gonna kind of go head to head. But think, if you're the Pistons, let's throw him out there. You know, they'll well split the minutes down the middle. Whoever's playing better, We'll get more of them and we'll just figure it out. I think has really handled things since Kate Cunningham went down and was kind of all right, our season is
not gonna go so great. It wasn't let's go completely in the tank here and let's trade Bogdanovich and sit all these guys, because then it gets really messy. And if you're getting blown out and getting your head kicked in every single night, you get nothing out of that. It just doesn't go well for you. So I think for them. It turns into let's try to be at least semi competitive, but we're gonna play all these kids.
We're gonna throw them out there. We're gonna play big line of small lineups, you know, lineups with three guards, lineups with three bigs. We're gonna do all sorts of stuff and try it. Giving up on Sadiq Bay that's a little odd to me, but sounds like there were some odds between him and the front office there and maybe the coaching staff, so that's probably why that went that way. But very very interesting, you know, MOUs here by Detroit as they kind of continue this.
Rebuilt Keithing, this clip breaks down who he thinks is gonna be the team to beat the snow surprises here.
He likes Boston and Milwaukee.
Yeah. I think Milwaukee and Boston are the two best teams. I think they're in a tier of their own at the top of the conference. Those teams. Two teams are very very good. Uh, they've proven that Philly. For me, that loss to Boston without three starters and then a fourth starter goes down at halftime and the Celtics really controlled the entire second half. That says to me, I just I don't know where Philly's going. They just can't seem to get by the Celtics when no matter what happens,
Juelanbi just doesn't have it. They just can't get there. So I think, you know, if you're the Celtics, you're looking at the Bucks. That's the team you're worried about. And we'll see, you know, they feel pretty good against the Bucks, but they feel really good against everybody else.
I think Cleveland's probably a year away. This is the year to get into the playoffs, experience what it's like to play the same team four, five, six, seven times in a two week period, see what it's like how you have to make adjustments to win playoff games, and then they'll really get after it next season. But for now, Boston, Milwaukee, maybe Philly. I also don't necessarily trust Philly to stay healthy.
That's a whole other issue. But it's you know, it's tough, you know, but I think, you know, now it's kind of Celtics Bucks and everybody else is hoping maybe something happens and we.
Can sneak and he gets into what's left for the Brooklyn Nets after losing their star players, and then he gives me the tea about what's going on with my Portland trail Blazers.
I think now you let Sean Marks do what he did after the Boston Trade. When he came in. It was, hey, all those picks are gone, that sunk cost. We can't get those back. Now we start the process of trying to build this team back up. And he did a really good job. I call it the diamond mining process. That's how they found Spencer Dinwity, That's how they found Joe Harris. And how they did that was, Hey, we're gonna use the bottom three four spots on our ross.
So we're gonna constantly turn it. We're gonna bring new guys in. We're gonna keep trying guys out, and you know, eventually we might try ten guys, but one of them might pop and stick and say, hey, this is an NBA guy, And now now we moving forward. I think that's what they start. Now, they're starting from a little bit better of a place because McHale Bridge is really,
really good. Cam Johnson's pretty good. So I think what they're gonna have to avoid it is if they can get into a spot where it's you know what we're pretty good. We're forty five fifty win team, and you know we're fourth, fifth in the conference and we're competitive. You can't then say, hey, there's two stars who really want to come to New York, let's go get them, because if they're not the right two stars, it all
goes sideways on you so very quickly. I mean, the people were telling me, you know, two years ago, oh man, now Kd's back, this team is going to be dominant, that they won one playoff series. That's it, one playoff series and their entire time together there in Brooklyn, and that's you know, that's just lately you said, that's a massive, massive failure and now it's we got to start over
again and pick up the pieces. But they're doing with some pretty good players and a whole boatload of draft picks and probably more coming when they get into the summertime.
Nbau Keith, that would be remiss as a Portland Trailblazer fan to not ask, oh, what the hell they're doing.
I don't know, hey, maybe outside of Toronto not trading guys. Just a super confusing trade deadline. It was like when they tried to Josh Hard, it was like, Okay, I kind of see what they're doing here. Maybe they're going to go in a different direction. But then it was now let's go add you know, let's bring in guys this way. Okay, Now let's take Gary Payton the second out and and move him along. I just it's it's it's odd they're they're in Portland. I don't really know
a good way to to explain that. And it just feels like we're into I don't know, you're ump team now of Damian Lillard and another small guard was CJ McCollum. Now it's Anthony Simon's and then a whole bunch of guys you kind of like but you don't necessarily love, and and then they're probably gonna give Jeremy Grant a contract I'll hate by the time it's signed, and you know what, we'll just see what it's. It's just a weird,
weird spot. They're in Portland. I felt like it was finally, you know, we kind of picked a direction and now it's like, oh, let's let's let's go a completely different way. And that just feels off to me.
And in this final short segment, Keith tackles the weirdest team in the East. The Atlanta Hawks.
Yeah, I don't know. They they they didn't do a lot. They want got Sadiq Bay That's fine, Yeah, we'll see. That's a little bit of an odd fix because you already have DeAndre Hunter. That would have made been a movie that would have made a lot more sense if they traded Collins, but they didn't. You know, I feel like we might be sitting here ten years from now and saying, man, it might maybe the Hawks will trade John Collins this year. Like it's just I don't know
what this team is doing. They're confusing, they don't play enough defense, their offense isn't good enough to bail them out. It feels like this is a team that it's all gonna kind of end in an early exit in the playoffs. And maybe it may be a team that hits reset in a major, major way this summer, or maybe they're content to just keep plugging along around five hundred. I really don't know.
Ben mg and Tonight airs Money through Friday Live from seven pm to eleven pm Eastern Standard Time. It's available wherever you get your podcast. It's available on the Odyssey app as well. A million thanks to my co host have many producers, folks on the ground, and everyone who listens to this podcast. That is it for the bonus trade deadline episode the Heat Check. Check back soon for an all new episode, and do not forget to watch
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