You're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick.
On this episode of the Heat Check, the trade deadline has come, the trade deadline has gone, and I am here to break down everything that I think that happened that was important, from.
Kyrie and Katie getting moved at the.
Deadline to the most underrated trades that have happened, and.
That all happens on a pretty underwhelming deadline day.
I also get into the looming buy out market just a tad talking about some news around the league, including an interesting update on Zion, of course, and another NFT lawsuit involving Chef Curry.
We get into that scandal as well.
Lots of popping, So do me a favorite nick and drop that generic beat. Let's talk about this trade deadline, baby. I have some thoughts first and ball let me begin by saying this, Is it just me? Or was this year's trade deadline not only the most dramatic trade deadline we've ever seen, but also the least dramatic trade deadline we've ever seen?
Is it just me?
Because man, it was like boom pouch and then like nothing right.
It was like Kyrie kd Russell Westbrook.
And then Luke Canard you know, it was like you're like, oh, yeah, this trade deadline is gonna be fucking lit. And then you're like, oh, Reggie Jackson okay, Oh oh my god, Matis Stibel okay. Like when James Wiseman is one of the more impactful trade deadline moves at the deadline, which ended up being scandalous. By the way, there's this craziness
in that four team trade. But when you've got names like James Wiseman and Mattis Steibel and Reggie Jackson and a bunch of I would consider them to be role players getting moved after what we got was the main course. You don't give us Brussels sprouts after the steak. You don't do that because it's very disappointing. We don't get dessert and steak and lobster. And then it's like, oh yeah, also we have this sees yourself for you, like, no, that's not how that's that's what Luke Canard was. So
Kyrie obviously demands the trade. I was in Arizona could not really record as much as I wanted to, but he said everything into overdrive right. It was like, oh my god, Kyrie's doing it where there's no time left on the clock. They have to move him. Where will he go? Will it be the Lakers? It will not be the Lakers. No one wants Russell Westbrook at this moment. Seventy two hours later, he is in Dallas and people are like, okay, so that move happens. No way, Kevin
Durant gets traded right like, no way. There's not enough time, there's too many suitors, it's too much complexity. And enter my guy, who I am calling big balls, matt Ish with one T. Matt with one T, newly minted owner of the Phoenix Suns, and he comes in and says, fuck it, we'll do this deal.
So Kevin Durant, I don't.
Know if you guys know, this had only one destination in mind, it was only Phoenix. It was Phoenix and only Phoenix the entire time. Comes to the front office and says, look, guys, I'm exhausted. I am happy to find a way to get excited about these new guys, and I'm willing to stick it out this year.
But at the end of this year, can you guys just give me to Phoenix. Can you guys figure it out?
Can you figure a way to make something happen, and so then they figure out maybe just maybe if we keep this on the D L, extra D and extra L, then maybe get this thing done by the deadline, right. And Matt Ishbia, I don't know if you know this
friends with Josi. They've had each other's phone numbers. Matt Ishbia came to a bunch of nets games really just kind of see what it's like to own a team, and the deal that James Jones turned down because Michale Bridges was in that deal and Cam Johnson was in that deal, and a bunch of unprotected first we're in that deal.
Finally just said you know what, man, what do you think Matt? And Matt was like, okay, what's the luxury tax?
And they're like, they're gonna put us bad in the luxury tax. We're gonna get like forty million into luxury tax. And our man, Robert Sarver, the scumbag that he is, the cheap scumbag he is. I think he had only gone to the luxury tax for a combined seventeen million dollars through the entire course of his ownerships, So forty million for Kevin Durant in the luxury tax.
Everybody's like, oh my god, what's is should be you gonna say? And he was like, do it, do it right now, let's go absolutely.
And then they were like, also, I know that we said we want to Cam Johnson and we want to McHale and we want to four first round unprotect. But like, and we know that we said that was a deal. We also kind of want Jay Crowder too.
I'm like, that's enough, We're not doing the deal. See you later.
And then Mattieshbia goes to a meeting and he's sitting there and he's thinking about trading for John Collins, right, and that was.
The other deal that they had on the plate. Can we get John Collins?
John Collins a nice player, he's been on the trade bark for four or five years now, and he's like, man, Matti Shbien knows what it's like to see the property because he's a mortgage guy, see your dream home, and like back at the price.
You go to the next house and you're like, just.
Don't like the bathroom closet kind of tiny? This s guy John Collins. He happens to not be anywhere close to Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant would move the needle, and so he calls up his fam calls up James Jones. He says, you know what, I don't care that it's war in the morning, East Coast Standard time.
Let's do the deal.
So they hit up Joe Sigh, they hit him Sean Marks, and they're already driving away from the arena because they think the deal dead. And then they go skeet skirt, it hit a little U turn. They're like, let's do this thing. And at the crack of dawn one.
Thirty am Eastern Standard time, Kevin Durant to the Suns. Done deal. Holy shit.
So why though, the question is why why does Kevin Durant only want to go to the Suns? Why was that the only place he wanted to go? I've answers first and foremost, Kevin Durant loves some Devin Booker loves him. Apparently that relationship was a key piece of that move, all the way back to when he first got into the league. He told Ben Simmons in twenty seventeen, this we called Devin Booker. We wanted Devin Booker in OKC.
What I wanted him.
I love book He loves the game. He's a dog. He'll rough you up, he'll get into you. You better watch up for that boy, because he's next and twenty. He's seventeen. He came out and said, Devin Booker is the next guy.
He's the dog. I'm telling you it's him.
They also then bonded during the Olympics when they played in Tokyo. Remember it was like locked down. You had no ability to see Tokyo. You had no ability to do anything but to go to the events that you were regulated to do. So him and Devin Booker were like peas and carrots, like white on rice. Got very very close, started saying to each other, what would it be like to play with each other in the NBA.
Number two, He loves Monny Williams. Money Williams to him is one of the best coaches in the NBA.
Got to know him as an assistant for Okcee. Monny Williams was an assistant with Kevin Durant was playing for the Thunder also was an assistant coach for Team USA. Kevin Durant thinks he's a leader, thinks he's a good teacher, and he says, I'm excited that he's back into coaching and walking these sidelines again.
I got to know the type of man he was.
His coaching style is what it is because of the stuff that he's been through as a person and how he looks at life in general.
So really good friends with the marquee.
Starr, really close with the coach and has a relationship with him. And then what about him and Chris Paul. Chris Paul and KD played together in twenty twelve for Team USA as well. They bonded in that moment, and in twenty twenty, Kevin Durant defended Chris Paul as a Hall of Famer, saying that he was already a Hall of Famer even if he never won a championship. Of course, he does go at it with Chris Paul's older brother, because who doesn't.
And so then.
Kevin Durant becomes a son and we're thinking, oh boy, we are off to the races.
What else is gonna happen.
Where's Pascal gonna go, Where's Og gonna go, Where's Fred gonna go? And then the rest of the deadline, let's be honest, was fucking terrible.
It was trash.
It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. We were two days short of the deadline and everybody was like, man, what's it gonna be? And then you get there and it's like very disappointing. What happened with og what happened with Pascal? What happened with Chris Middleton? Who was in the news that he might get moved? John Collins was in the news that he was I mean, when is he not? John Collins was in the news that he would get moved.
So not a single star outside.
Of Kevin Durant was after the Kevin Durant trade happened after he broke the internet while you slept.
Nothing happened ever since.
So let's talk about Because you've probably googled every trade under the sun, I'm not going to recap them all for you. Let's talk about the biggest winners at the deadline. I've got top three, number number three. Let's start from three to one. Number three the Los Angeles Lakers. Yeah, yeah, I said it. The Lakers got something interesting brewing. I hate it for him. I hate it I do. This team's now better than they have been in a long time. They are deep, they have so much more shooters than
they had before in a long time. They went from being one of the oldest teams in the NBA. I think everybody was about to get ready for their AARP card and now there's not a player.
Other than Lebron older than twenty nine on this squad.
So they got very young D'Angelo Russell, who we know has already played for the Lakers. He is a true point guard who can shoot. He can shoot from deep very easily. He's very much an upgrade over Russell Westbrook in that fashion. Jared Vanderbilt really good young player, he can defend. Get Maliite Beasley who can fill it up and moboneba, so they get him too. And not to mention, they already had ruy Ha chimur and who they traded for like many weeks before the deadline.
Very very interesting. Number three Los Angeles.
Lakers, Number two, number two winner at the deadline, the Los Angeles Clippers.
This is like the sneaky team flying under the radar.
Nobody's talking about them, nobody's talking about how good their trade deadline was. You get bones Hyland, who is not only an elite scorer, but he can play make as well. He even came out and said, listen, guys, I can play the true point guard.
You didn't need Fred van Fleet. You got me.
Now, step aside, homies, step aside, Reggie Jackson, I got this. Kawhi can bring the ball up, Paul George can bring the ball up, and I can bring the ball up.
So you do that. You got that very.
Interesting, and you didn't really have to pay much for him. You didn't actually have to pay anything for him. You also get Mason Plumley, a very elite passing big. He's not an elite big, but he's elite at passing, if you know what I'm saying.
And you get Eric Gordon for nothing.
You actually got three second round picks for him, so you can take up his contract. He can shoot threes, he can defend a little bit, and by golly, he's already been a Clipper before, so you know it's probably gonna be fine. The Clippers got so much better as a result of this trade deadline season. And number one, you know what time it is best biggest winner at the deadline is the Phoenix Suns.
What they got fucking Kevin Durant. That's it. You don't even I don't even need to say anything else.
You become the instant title favorites. The starting five is ridiculous. Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker. My god, like just those three eighten you didn't even have to give up eighton that's four.
You saw eight guys.
In and out and things get really interesting. Congrats Phoenix, you won the lottery franchise altering trade.
So let's talk more now about some of my favorite underrated moves.
Top five underrated moves at the deadline, maybe more than five, but these are my favorites. Luke Canard, Yeah, Luke Canard, who I think is overpaid, but him to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three way trade is really really interesting.
He's gonna be a great three point shooter.
We know he can fill it up, we know he can space the floor, and he gives them a little bit of depth that they didn't have before. And by golly, if I could see anybody else besides Dylan Brooks and John Morant shoot threes. I know they have Desmond Baine, I know they have Jared Jackson, but let's be honest, perimeter shooting is that they're forte and now they got a guy who can really shoot.
Jay Crowder Number two. Jay Crowder underrated move as well.
He gives a little dog to the Milwaukee Bucks that they haven't had since PJ.
Tucker.
They missed that. He went to South Beach and all of a sudden, the toughness level decreased.
Number three. Mike Muscala to the Celtics.
Yes, I said it, Mike Muscala, big man, stretches the floor, helps this team with his length.
He can shoot. They're calling him a sniper.
I think he's gonna end up becoming a very key piece in the championship run that they're trying to make. There's gonna be a time where he has five threes, or he ends up having a huge scoring game or block somebody, just a key piece of the game that ended up altering the outcome so that they get a win.
Mike Conley to the Wolves, Number two.
This is very interesting, probably the biggest trade next to Katie and Kyrie.
In the three way between the Wolves, Lakers, and Jazz. So you now.
Finally get a playmaking point guard who isn't di Lo. Dilo is not a playmaking point guard. We know that d Lo is a Chucker d lo is a gunner. Mike Conley likes to set you up, likes to get you the spacing rank on the floor, likes to put Aunt Edwards where he wants to go. Mike Conley to the Wolves is going to propel them from a team that might not make the plan at all to a team that might be dangerous to get out of the
first round, which I think is very, very interesting. And Number one, because you know how much I love my Dubs. Number one most underrated signing in this trade deadline is GP two to the Warriors. GP two with Draymond Green elite defensive combo opens up Draymond to play the five. Plays really good defense at the point of attack, which is something that Steph Curry has not been great at. He's gotten a lot better at. Klay Thompson obviously has lost a step defensively. So you need GP two if
that man can get healthy by the playoffs. If the Warriors even get into the playoffs, but I'm not gonna say that, then that's gonna be something critical to their success. They wanted to keep them, they weren't able to keep them, and now they ship out James Wiseman and they get their guy GP two back. Let's also look at some teams that failed at the trade deadline. Biggest failures at the trade deadline Number one biggest failure to me, most
puzzling is the Toronto Raptors. How do you go into the trade deadline and say you're gonna move everybody and move nobody?
How are you gonna go.
Into the trade deadline and say you're gonna be sellers and then actually be buyers?
How is that happening? You were you were in the market to sell everybody.
It was like, okay, we're gonna move Fred van Fleet, Gary Trade Trent Juniors on the trade block, O Gananobi, he's available for sale. Pascal Siakam, he's available for sale. It was only Scottie Barnes who was ungettable.
And what did you do? You picked up Yakapurol, who you already had once before. What's going on? Guys?
What's going on there? Did you just not get the price that you wanted for him? There's guys that are now on and expiring, like fredman Fleet. What are you gonna do with him? You're just gonna lose him for nothing. I don't understand what they're doing. Number two on this list most disappointing teams at the trade deadline The Bulls.
What you're doing, baby, What you're doing?
Another team? Everybody thought you were gonna do something. Are you gonna move Crusoe? Are you gonna move to Rosen? Are you gonna move Levin? Are you gonna move Voch? No?
No, we're not doing anything.
No we're not We're not getting anybody. We're not getting anybody. We're not selling anybody. Yeah, we know you want Alice Cruz, so yeah, maybe we wanted somebody in return. But you know what, we're gonna do absolutely fucking nothing. We're just gonna be frustrating as all get out.
And number three our Kings. You know it stinks. I wanted this team to get Mason Plumley. I did.
I thought that was a done deal. I thought that was something that we had.
Basically been talking about all season. They need a backup big, They need a backup big.
The non sabone minutes are brutal, but surely Rashaun Holmes in a second rounder would have gotten.
The deal done.
You would think when the Clippers got Mason Plumbley for Reggie Jackson in a second round pick. But maybe there's some sort of relationship there between our guy Jerry West and Mitch Kupchek, who has worked for Jerry West in the past, and so that deal gets done because of the relationship alone. I think that's the only reason that happens. So the trade deadline has come and gone. I don't really know what to make of it.
Honestly, I don't know who's gonna be good. I don't know who's gonna be bad.
But I do know we're gonna be talking about these seismic changes for the rest of the season and beyond. The aftermath is there's probably not gonna be many roster changes going forward, right outside of these little jankety, little raggedy buyouts, like because John Wall gonna get bought out, who knows?
Russell West We're gonna get bought out, who knows. I'm not gonna deal with that.
Like I'm not gonna be staking my episodes on where Will Barton ends up. I'm not gonna be staking my episodes on where t Ross no shaded t Ross or Will Barton where they go, which I do think t Ross goes to the Dallas Mavericks, and I do think Will Barton ends up probably back in Portland because they like him. But that's something for another day. So I want to talk about really quickly the deepest teams who are now the deepest teams in the NBA as a result of this trade deadline.
I have five.
I thought I was gonna do three, and what I ended up at was five because teams got really, really deep. Not all of them are contenders now, so don't quote me on that, but these are the top five deepest teams right now in the league.
We'll start at five.
We'll go to one number five, top deepest team now in the league after the deadline. Philadelphia seventy six ers, ooh you said what, yes, Harden, Maxi, de Anthony Melton, Cork Moss, who by the way, demanded the trade, did not get traded, Tobias Harris, Jalen McDaniels who they got at the deadline, PJ Tucker, George Nang, Joel Embiid, Montrez Harrell, and now Dwayne Debman. Dwayne Dedman is now their backup, backup center because they have obviously.
Montrez Harrel as well.
So they have eleven players that you can legitimately see playing on a night tonight basis Number four, the LA Clippers.
They're running eleven deep as well.
Terrence Man, He's gonna run the point Bones Island backup point, Norm Powell, Paul George, Eric Gordon Kawhi, Leonard Marcus, Morris Batoom. These are real deal players. Roco Zubac the good players. These are really good players. Number three, deepest team in the league right now. This is this is gonna be fascinating. I don't know if you're gonna I don't know if you're.
Gonna like agree or if it's gonna be surprising.
But this team has thirteen players that they can roll out, throw the ball out with any one of those seven and you could get games won.
The Brooklyn Freaking Nets. Brooklyn Nets subtracted.
KD and Kyrie and now they are the third best deep team in the league.
Check Out this roster.
You got Ben Simmons when he plays, Spencer Dimwittie, Patty Mills, Edmund Sumner, Seth Curry, Michale Bridges, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Joe Harris, Royce, O'Neil Utah Watt Nabe, Dorian Finney, Smith and Nick Claxton shut the fuck up?
What thirteen deep? Come on now?
Number two deepest raw on this league after the trade deadline, the LA Lakers.
Now, yeah, they are really deep. They is shocking. I looked at their new roster.
I discovered that Lebron, like I said, is the only player over thirty. But you've got DeAngelo Russell, Dennis Shrewder, Austin Reeves, Malik Beasley, Lonnie Walker, Ruey, Hachi Mura, Jared Vanderbilt, Lebron, a d and Mobamba.
I know that's less than thirteen.
I just think the caliber with Ad Lebron and a bunch of depth is even more deep than deep. You know what, I'm saying, number one deepest team in the league now because they didn't trade guys that we thought that they might, and they added some. This is the Boston Celtics, number one deep team in the league right now.
Eleven players are gonna get minutes. You got Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogden, Derreck White and Pritchard all at the guard spot, Tatum Brown, Sam Hauser, Horford, Grant Williams at forward, and now you got Mike Muskala joining time Lord and Blake Griffin at center. That is eleven dudes that could significantly get minutes.
Boy oh boy, is this fun.
So with that, obviously you can't always get a chit from that, but it doesn't hurt. You're gonna be able to survive injuries. You're gonna be better as a result. And I think at least four of these teams could make some real noise in the playoffs.
Moving on with the trade deadline.
Now, in the past we got to talk about the buyout market. Such a very weird trade den like. Like I said, but it makes buyouts even more important for teams that did not alter their roster enough. Moving forward, there's already been a couple of buyouts as well right now and signings. You got Reggie Jackson who went from the Clippers to the Hornets. He gets bought out and now he signs with the Nuggets, which I think is hilarious because the Clippers got Bones Highland and the Nuggets
got Reggie Jackson. I think the Nuggets are gonna be less impressed with Reggie Jackson than they were Bones Highland. If you I thought it was tough to navigate Jamal Murray and Bones, let me introduce you to mister October.
Reggie Jackson.
Let me introduce you to the man who has a heat check twenty four to seven, seven days a week.
Love Reggie, but I don't know.
If you're gonna get anything more out of him than you were bones Highland. Maybe cheaper, maybe more equipped to fit in and slot in.
But boy, oh boy, I do I not know if I like that move.
Terrence Ross was weighed by the Magic alongside Beverly.
Terrence Ross has signed with the Suns. Is that true? Wow, that's incredible. I didn't even know that.
Here is a list, though, of the most important buyout targets.
Russell Westbrook.
He is now rumored to go to Chicago or the Clippers after he's bought out by the Jazz. I think he should go to Chicago. Let him languish there, let him ball out, sell Jerseys. Nobody wants to see him in La Nobody. It's just I know Paul George is trying to make it happen. I don't think this front office does want it to happen. Stop Paul George.
It's okay. Just let him linguish alone.
John Wall He's gonna be bought out most likely, and like severally, is he the only player ever in history to be bought out by the same team twice. No, like in two years, got bought out by the Rockets, went to the Clippers, signed a new deal and got sent to the Rockets and is about to get bought out again. Crazy Patrick Beverley sent to the Magic they waived him. He's gonna sign with another team. Not surprisingly, the Clippers are back on that radar as well, which
would make this reunion tour even more sweet. Like all these players just going back to their old teams. I don't understand it. That's why I think Will Barton's going back to Portland, because why the fuck not?
Why not? Gary Payton goes back, Yaka Perle goes back, Eric Gordon goes back. I mean, this is like so insane.
Dario Sarz looks like he's gonna get bought out as well.
He was playing really well. I think that was very surprising that he got dumped to the Thunder.
I'm not sure if the Okac Thunder are going to buy him out. It is un but whoever ends up, you know, if he's out on the market, there's gonna be a dozen teams probably trying to go get him.
Like I said, Will the thrill.
Some people think he's like one of the most talented players on the potential buy out market. This man doesn't play any defense. He doesn't like I love Will. He is a bucket. I'm sure he'll be some great scorer from some team, but I'm telling you the MAVs don't want him.
Maybe the Sun's due. It's gonna be very interesting.
Sergea Baka got bought out by the Sun by the box, excuse me, and the Sixers are now said to be kicking the tires on him.
I thought he got picked up, though maybe not. I'm not an expert. I'm just just a commenter.
There are some other players rumored to be bought out or way before the March first deadline, like Derek Rose, which would be fascinating, Neurlan's Noel Detroit, Justin Holiday, and maybe possibly even Kevin Love.
Kevin Love on the buyout market.
God, we've been talking about that for two years and now all of there's teams getting caught holding the bag of the deadline buyouts this year probably more important than ever.
There are teams desperate to upgrade out West. I mean, despite the seismic changes that we have on the.
Rosters in the East, where thirteen teams are still in contention, so it's gonna be fascinating to see what goes down.
Moving on. So we got to talk about my Portland Trail Blazers.
Hey baby, you're in trouble. Hey, what'd you do? Something's up? So they get caught in this four team trade that got certified by the league yesterday, So technically the trade deadline only ended Monday because the Warriors decided that even though there was some sort of skull luggery some I don't know what else to call it except for a concealed I don't want to call it out right lying, but the Warriors very mad that Gary Payton has damaged and that he might be out a few weeks, maybe months,
and Portland's been playing him significant minutes right before the deadline. So instead of blowing up the entire deal and ruining the day for fifteen percent of the league, Warriors decided to keep Gary Payton the second So the fourteen.
Deal is as follows.
Blazers get Kevin Knocks from Detroit and five second round picks. It's a lot five second round picks from Golden State. Warriors get GP two and two second round picks from Atlanta Pistons get James Wiseman from the Warriors. Hawks get Sidik Bay from the Pistons via Golden State Warriors.
Very complicated trade, but what.
Was lost on all of this is that the entire deal centered and hinged around Gary Payton passing his physical Very Carlos Coorea vibes he did not pass that physical So then things got crazy, the universe, undefeated, chaos anger, internal investigations launched, all kinds of stuff happening because the way.
That the Blazers did or did not disclose the.
Gary Payton injury to the Warriors, who by the way, had him last year, and he had that core injury with them last year, so the fact that they thought he was.
All good kind of strange.
Anyway, Peyton's been dealing with that core injury all year, and even last year. He had surgery in September of twenty twenty one. Rumors are that he's been unhappy in Portland. I don't understand why. I can't really get to the bottom of it. He's been injured pretty much most of the year. He's not gonna get a ton of minutes and Portland's not winning games, so.
Maybe that's why.
Maybe it's the lack of melanin in the city of Portland, not sure, or the lack of sunshine in the city of Portland. But the Warriors' medical staff inspected Peyton and they were very mad that Portland they felt like they duped him. So then because the Blazers didn't disclose to the Warriors that he had been given Tordal, which is like an NSID. It's not like a people don't understand. Tortal is not a steroid. It is an anti inflammatory. But there's all this like rigamal role as my grandma
would say. Because Aaron Goodwin, Gary Peyton's agent came out and said, no, Gary Payton's not been taking tourtole, no tourt all shots for Gary Payton. Turns out Gary Payton, He's.
Right, did not take any tort all shots. He took his tortoll through the mouth, so little like sus in terms of him avoiding the question, making it seem like he never took toward all when he knew that his client had, but won't keep it moving. Right.
Turns out good Ones technically correct, but also that's shady, right, that's very shady. The trade was on the brink of blowing up. It would have sent it all these disgruntled players back home to their original location. Could you imagine James Wiseman, after getting shipped out, having to go back to the Santa Cruz Warriors get out of here. You
think Sadik Bay wants to go back to Detroit. No, you think Gary Payton after blowing up the franchise saying, oh I'm happy he was how they were forcing to play hopped up on tour It Hall wants to go back to Portland.
No shot, So the trade goes down.
I have questions, specifically why Aaron Goodwin would lie to protect the Blazers. I put my detective hat on, I broke it down. One thing I have to say about Goodwin, He's got to be a team player. Because Aaron Goodwin, Aaron Goodnall also represents Dame Lillard. Dame Lillard Portland trailblazer
Marquis Starr making sixty million dollars a year. So Aaron Goodwin protecting the Blazers and thus Dame helping Dame clear a runway or at least not additional like additional roadblocks up for dam to try to get some additional players on this whack ass team. That would be why he would do this. Do not say the Portland is making their players who are injured.
A play on turtle.
Do not say that you're hiding information that is critical to the health and wellness of said players. Players will not like that. Players are already struggled to go to Portland. Aaron Goodwin did what is in his one client's best interest and maybe not the others.
I know though, something about that.
All four teams involved in this trade have narratives surround them. This year, all the NBA misfits got together. They shifted around each other's problems like a game of hot Potato Pistons. They solve their Sadik Bay issue by shipping him out. They were not going to sign him to his rookie extension. He wanted to get paid. Blazers get Matis Steibel so they get younger, cheaper, longer. They don't have to deal with Gary Payton, who's been struggling with his core injury.
They didn't know when he was gonna be fully healthy. Hawks get Sidik Bay for reasons that are unknown. I don't understand it.
I'm not sure what they want with them. I'm not sure if there's gonna be some future move happening in the in forthcoming months after in the off season.
But the last thing that the Hawks need is another guy who just shoots three and doesn't play defense. Golden State ships out their number two overall pick, and that finally means that we can trustfully say James Wiseman was never gonna.
Work in Golden State never.
The big news though for the Doves is that means, like I said, the Wiseman experiment is over. We're gonna deal with that more in a later episode, but for now, Joe lakeubsending Wiseman packing means it is now win now mode for Golden State. Wiseman was set to cost the Warriors one hundred and thirty one million in salary and luxury techt the next two years. So the question is
why does that matter? Well, the reason it matters is because the Warrior have never been shy of paying additional luxury tax dollars when they thought that was going to help them compete. Remember, they signed Kelly Ubre to a deal. Kelly Ubre, who is horrible, was costing the Golden State Warriors like sixty seven million dollars in luxury tax and salary combined.
So now what does that mean for the Doves.
That means the Doves are not trying to spend unnecessarily for players who are not going to help them. World champs are no longer going to operate like money is water dumping. Wiseman was a message that the gravy train is about to end this roster.
May I actually believe this? My prediction is that the.
Warriors retool, rebuild, completely reshuffle the roster next season. There are players who are marquee guys who are on the Warriors right now who will not be on the Warriors next year. Is that Draymond Probably? Is that Clay probably not? Is that Pool? Maybe it might be a fire sale to get whatever key pieces that they need in order to get a championship happening now. Is Steve kerrback next year? Is Bob Myers back next year? All of that something to monitor. And I have a question for those who
are my fellow Dubs fans. If you had the decision to make and you could only keep either Andrew Wiggins or Jordan Poole, who to be Because I don't see both being in the long term future of the Golden State Warriors, and if it was me, I would choose Andrew Wiggins despite him being very much on the downturn this year after getting paid.
The Warriors have a third of a season left.
The earliest they're going to get back GP two is right before playoffs, and that is if he doesn't have another setback, which again, core injuries are really tough. Blazers I think are the only team in this four team trade that came out doing well.
So there's another class suit happening.
Concerning NFTs, and it's making its way to the NBA, and it's involving a bunch of celebrities in the NBA, including Babyface Assassin himself Steph Curry, and it's probably gonna mark the beginning of a whole other set of lawsuits headed towards anyone in the NBA who ever promoted NFTs and or Crypto I Ecrypto dot Com Arena aka NFTs being your Jersey patch.
Aka NFT bobblenut Head Night.
If you are involved, you are maybe in the Scopelands lawsuit Real and Titcher versus YUGA Labs. This is The New News names a bunch of celebrities in this lawsuit, from Jimmy Fallon to Kevin Hart, to Serena Williams to our very own Steph Curry, and for the first time, peels back the curtain on how all these rich and famous folks got pulled into what is now, very obviously in hindsight, a scam, very obviously in hindsight borderline Ponzi scheme,
very borderline made off vibes. So I'm not someone who ever gotten too NFTs because I don't buy things I don't understand, and I did not understand them. I still don't understand them, but this is what I know about them, And NFT here we go.
You say, well, you're such a millennial.
Yes, if you're a millennial too and you're listening to this podcast, we're gonna break it down for y'all because the gen zs they probably already have this.
In their head.
NFT or a non fungible token that's where you lost me. Can't touch it, can't grab it. Non fungible token a type of a new type of digital asset secured by cryptography that should tell you everything you know. Shady right, NFTs can represent anything anything. They can represent anything from gold to silver to digital items like music or photos or art, even tweets. You could buy an NFT of someone's tweet and you own that NFT tweet.
What fuck does it? Who cares? We move on?
Entered the board Ape yacht Club, which was a real thing. That's not Those are not a collection of words that just made up. They have imploded spectacularly from a four billion dollar valuation to now as we sit here today, worthless valuation, worthless. Justin Bieber said he purchased the board Ape NFT in January twenty twenty one for one point three to one million, and it is currently worth sixty nine thousand nice, which is a decreased ninety five percent value.
Good thing. He's Justin Bieber and he can just make more music. That is rough.
The lawsuit states the two things though, that are worth mentioning, and neither are good for Steph Curry. Number one, it says celebrities like Steph use their status to fool the public. That's not good to fool the public into investing into board Apes and other NFTs. The fact that there was a
scam probably doesn't help at all. Secondly, and probably more damaging, a forensic analysis of the blockchain, also words that I did not make up, shows that these celebrities did not actually use any of their own money, but were transferred crypto to make the expensive buys that they were promoting.
So they got the stuff for free and they promoted it, they were actually investing in it.
According to the investigative report on CNN, hours before Justin Bieber bought an ape for the bought an ape for the equivalent of one point three million. Bieber received ethereum worth, another type of crypto worth around two point five million in his crypto wallet.
The blockchain shows, is anyone else confused? Shit's crazy? What does this even mean?
Curry and other celebrities named in this lawsuit didn't even spend their own money on the NFTs, despite saying they were doing so, and they were hyping up these types of NFTs like the board apes on social media. I would say, if I had to guess if I'm Steph Curry, I'd be worried.
I'd be a little concerned. We are going to look back on this whole NFT thing and crypto thing as one of them most bizarre potential financial scams in history.
All this reminds me of thatout saying. My grammy used to say, a money uh no, a fool and his money are soon parted, especially when that fool is being hyped up by a guy like Bordell. Stephen Curry, All right, let's move on. We got our latest update on on Zion. Yeah, folks, it is not good.
It is not good.
So Zion was playing three on three recently and re injured his hamstring, his hammy, and now his return has been further extended. Today it was announced he would miss quote several weeks after the All Star Game. He heard his hamstring against the Sicker Sixers on January two, and he's been out ever since. The Pelicans, as we know, have struggled without him. They've fallen in from second in the West to seventh in the West. They are only one game over five hundred.
Right now. They are six and fourteen cent Zion went down.
They have including a ten game losing streak, which is very brutal. Zion was very good in the games that he played, twenty nine games made the All Star team. Even in those twenty he must have been so good that even though he played less than half the season. He still made the All Star team. So that tells you how elite he was playing. I don't know how this gets better for New Orleans at the moment. Dude is too big for his body, too powerful.
Too fat.
I said it, I promised I would, but he is, and the Pelicans to me are in trouble.
We've got CJ.
McCollum who's got a thumb injury that's probably going to require at some point surgery. You've got Brandon Ingram coming off of some sort of turf toe. He's been awesome. How long will that last? You've got guys like Herb Jones go down with injuries. B I, like I said, miss four weeks before coming back, and now Zion is not back for at least four to six weeks more.
That puts us at March early April, right before the playoffs. Then you got a recondition.
Let me ask you guys this, Do you think it's gonna take Zion a week to recondition or do you think it's gonna take him a long time to get in condition to play basketball when he hasn't been playing anti basketball and he's probably just been.
Who knows who knows who he's been doing. I can't speculate.
Very promising season might be in danger of getting away.
That's all the time that we have for the heat Check. Check back on Thursday. We're gonna give you more episodes.
I think we have an interview tonight with Kevin Ray, so we'll put that on the feed. He is the play by play commenter for the radio for the Phoenix Suns, so we're gonna break down all of the Kevin Durant trade with him. Please follow the heat Check as the season heads towards All Star weekend in Utah, and crazily enough, they thought they were gonna have two All Stars, the Utah Jazz for the Utah All Star Game, and they do not download subscribe.
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