EPISODE 4: The Kyrie Irving Trade REACTION

It was just a week ago that not only this show debuted, This League Uncut, not only a week ago was the first episode. I'm pretty sure a week ago you and I were at the end of that episode. We were talking and kind we were trying to will it into existence. Are we gonna get a curveball? Are we gonna get a surprise? Are we going to get something that we haven't even talked about? But it's gonna

make this trade deadline memorable. Yesterday Sunday, what I thought was going to be the last stretch of the last dose of calm before the madness, before locking myself in the trade deadline Dungeon. Of course, the Dallas Mavericks, the team in my city, strikes a Sunday afternoon trade to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets. I guess we have our seismic surprise this league. There you go, I did this league. I didn't. I mean we talked. We

talked the morning Sunday morning. Yes, and you know what the people need to know. You told me a stein, you said this could happen today. I'm like this young fellow, Chris Haynes, what is he talking. There's no way this trades happened on a Sunday. I at least have till Monday. No, I do not. Chris says was correct, and I was not. And Sunday lunchtime you were right boom. So I gotta call at five in the morning my time. I'm here on the West Coast. I gotta call five in the morning.

That should I marks GM of the Nets and Joe Side, the owner of the Nets, were going to huddle up at some point in the morning. So I got to call around five and they and I guess they were going to huddle up in the next two to three hours at that time, and they were gonna go through all their all the offers that they had. And so at that point, that's when I knew, Okay, this thing can go down today or at the latest tomorrow, just the way that this individual explained the plan of attack

for that day. And so I remember I talked to you. We talked, Yeah, we talked that morning. I think we talked a couple of hours. It had to been the morning time. Yeah, you weren't. I should I should have just locked myself in my house, but no, I tempted fate. I said, this is my last chance to escape before these next four days of NonStop no sleep. So what were you doing? Star? Do I have to reveal that? I will? I will reveal. It doesn't made me look very smarter. Good, So you know, you know I'm a

tennis addict. I mean addict. Tennis was my first sporting love. I wanted to be a pro tennis player. Never even got within a bazillion miles of being anywhere close. But I started playing very late. I didn't really start playing until I was thirteen, but by fourteen I was an addict, and I realized it really cemented my decision to be a sportswriter because I thought I can make the tour

as a writer. I can be and in those days, you know, this is the days of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, and you know, tennis was huge back then. I said, I can make it as a I'm gonna make it as a writer. I'm gonna travel the circuit, I mean tennis. So we have a pro tennis tournament that started Sunday in Dallas and it runs through the whole trade deadline week and I don't get to go to any of it. Pro tennis in my city up.

An ATP Tour event last year was the first time since the late eighty So I said, you know what, I'm gonna sneak to tennis and just watch, just watch a smidge of tennis before. And I'm an idiot. I should have listened to Haynes. Haynes told me the trade was gonna happen Sunday, and I didn't believe you. You would have still went, But the trade happened. But Stein we gave, We gave everybody a little bit of a teaser. Was it our first episode about how this could possibly

go down? I think it was like, yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, no, you said, I think it was also the first episode. It was the first or the second, and you said, we've got to keep our eye on this Kyrie Irving situation. Yeah, and this was obviously the last step requesting the trade in. We're here now, go ahead and Stein, go ahead and break down what the Dallas maver got, and then I can I can talk about um. Somebody offers, well, look, I have to say

I Look, I knew the Mavericks would be interested. You know, they flirted with it in the summertime. And the reason that the Mavericks came up immediately is because you know, the Mavericks trade assets get dissed all the time, but what the Mavericks do have. Nico Harrison, the former Nike executive, very closely with both Kyrie and Shatilia Riley Irving, kyrie stepmother and agent, so he knows them very very well.

Jason Kidd was one of young Kyrie's favorite players because Kyrie, as he's told us many times, grew up a Nets fan. I just found out the other day that in twenty eighteen, when Kidd got inducted to the Hall of Fame, when Kyrie found out. You know. He basically reached out to their mutual friend Robin Pound, the former trainer of the Sons, and Kyrie said, I have to be in Springfield you get inducted. So he and Kid are close. So the

MAVs do have that infrastructure in their favor. But I didn't think the MAVs would be able to put the best deal on the table. I reported, I want to say Friday or Saturday that the Nets we're always going to go after din Witty and Dorian Phinney Smith. When you look at the MAVs players, they're three most coveted players around the league not named Luca. Would have been

Dorian Finney Smith number one. And then I think a toss up between din Witty and Josh Green because Josh Green is really improving and I think I think teams like him. But the Nets no din Witty. Din Witty has shot at the ball in Dallas. He's in Dallas. He's become a forty percent shooter from three point range. He never shot the three like that in his other stops. So the Nets get back din Witty, a guy they know very well, Dorian Finney Swift Smith a three and

d Wing who Kevin Durant likes. They also get a future first. But I didn't think that. I knew that was the best the MAVs could do. I really thought this was going to be a Laker's three way with Sam Antonio. The Nets get the picks, Jaka Purdle, the picks go to San Antonio, the Nets get other stuff. I didn't think the MAVs would win this race, and it happened. It happened fast. I feel it, you're feeling all the other blanks. Yeah, okay, I thought, you know,

I think we talked about this before. I thought Phoenix had probably the best package. So what I gathered from, you know, the offers that they received from the Lakers and from the Phoenix Suns, they felt like the Davers Mavericks, you know, they value of course, they value picks, but they value more importantly to have good complimentary players to help KD because they still want to make a run.

They still have championship aspirations. But with that being says I, so I was able to gather the intail of what the Lakers offered and what the Dallas excuse me, the Phoenix Suns offered. So the Lakers, they did. Indeed, as you would know, they did d include those two first round picks. There was I think there was like some pause on people that felt like Robert only Rob Polinka, that is, would only offer, you know, include one, you know, one of those picks. But he did include both. So

the Lakers went all in. They went all in to try to get Kyrie Irvin and it didn't work. The Phoenix Suns. Now, this is probably the probably probably the more juicy tip bit. I was told the Sons included Chris Paul, Jay Crowder, and some unspecified picks that they couldn't get an agreement on, and ultimately they turned that down.

And I will say this, Stein, I'm very sensitive to you know, what players go through during this time, this period trade and trade deadline and hearing your name and all that stuff, and so you know, in reporting what offered were turned down, I reached out to Chris Paul. And before I reported that, I reached out to Chris

Paul first. I wanted to get his not that I needed to, but you know, I have a pretty good relationship with him, and the trade has done, like the big trade is done, so you don't necessarily need to know who was who was offered. But I knew it was going to get out if I did it, So I reached out to Chris Paul. I told him what I had and he you know, he thanked me before coming to him and being up front with him, and he said, Chris, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I respect the fact that you haven't handled it this way. Do what you gotta do. Go ahead. And so that's what led me to reporting the extra details on what was offered to the Brooklyn Mets. Yeah, and see when you reported that Sunday night, see that seat because the way it had been built to he is Brooklyn picked the Mavericks offer because the Mavericks offered the two best win now players in the deal perspective, I think you're

right they were willing to trade both picks. From what I've heard, though, the Nets asked so much more from the Lakers than they did the other teams, multiple pick swaps. On top of that, they wanted Austin Reeves, they wanted Max Christie. I was also the Tulton Knight. They just got Ruey hatch m last night. Sorry, I was just told Sunday night they just got Ruey had Cha Murrow, So you can't you can't aggregate Ruy had Cha Murrow with other players. But the Nets would have wanted Rudy

if if he could have been aggregating the deal. So, as one source put it to me, Eat, one of the presumed objectives for Joe Si the Nets owner in this trade, was don't send Kyrie where he wants to go, don't send him to La. And when you when you start hearing all the stuff that they were asking from for them, that they were asking for from the Lakers, it does certainly support the notion that they did not want this deal to end up with Kyrie going the Lakers.

But what the stuff you reported about the Suns is fascinating because is Din Witty, Dorian Phinney Smith and a first a better win now package than Chris Paul, Jay Crowder and draft capital. I mean that is that's a really strong offer from Phoenix. So it's interest very interesting to me that the Nets chose the Dallas offer over the Phoenix offer. I have to believe that they did. Now this is this is this is this is tea

leaves reading. On my part, I'm not reporting this because I do not know how the nets arrived at that ultimate decision. But I have to think they thought Kevin Durant would like the din witty Phinney Smith combo better than the Chris Paul J. Crowder combo. But again, that doesn't that surprise you a little bit? It definitely does surprise me. But I mean, I think that's a safe assumption. If you're gonna make that move, you you have to run that by KD to get his stample of approval.

I think you would have to, especially at this stage right now, where KD has been left bare with no other all stars, I should say, on the roster. So yeah, I was surprised because going in I thought Phoenix. So it was it was funny. So this morning waking up receiving a five IM phone call kind of giving me a heads up on what's going on, I was under the impression that Phoenix, like this was Phoenix's to lose.

And then a few hours later, talking with a few people, I was told Dallas is in the driver's seat and I was like wow, like that just shocked him, Like what what is Cuban? What is Nico doing? Like how can they get like how can they be the driver's seat? What is Phens doing because at the time I was thinking, man, Phoenix must be it must be playing like what's going on? They're not including everybody. They're not doing you know, because I was I was hearing Phoenix, Phenix, Phenix, and I

didn't know what changed. And so you know, again, from what I understand, the Nets felt like these two pieces were better suited to keep the Nets afloat for championship pursuit. So yeah, I think that's still going to be ongoing debate if if they're better with din Witty and Phinney over Chris Paul and Jay Crowder. So that's well, They're one thing now. One thing I can add to this

that I've since learned. You know, I wrote all I wrote like two thousand words on my sub stack about this trade, but I didn't know this when I wrote that Sunday night. I have since been told that don't the Nets have not ruled out sending din Witty somewhere else in a in a subsequent trade or look, these teams, the Mavericks and the Nets haven't announced their trade yet. They haven't formally done it, so that the trade can still expand if they find something else that they want

to do. So that might be the element where the Nets thought, if we get Spencer din Witty, who's making in the eighteen million dollar range and having you know, again since he became a maverick, didn't he's played the best ball of his life, maybe the Nets think it's easier to move din Witty for something else to fill another need than move you know. Obviously Chris Paul would have been harder to move on. But yeah, I mean that, like I they're gonna when there's finally press conferences here,

that's certainly gonna be after what you reported. I can't wait to hear what Sean Marks has to say. You were offered Chris Paul and you didn't take it. Yeah, obviously, you know he wouldn't. He wouldn't respond to that him. I think, no, I mean he might have to. He's got to say. I mean, they're gonna ask him. He's got to say something. May I guess he could go no comment, but yeah, yeah, I would. I'd be very

surprised if he commented on any other teams. Yeah, I mean, you're right, he'll just say these you know, we went with the guys we like best or whatever. But I mean, that's that's but but look at look at what happened. Kyrie requests the trade, and then just the last couple of days and then you know, I was told that the Nets were going to sit them out until they found a deal. So we knew like this was over.

And I mean they were applying applying pressure Kyrie and in his camp, you know, word got out, and you know, I was told the same thing that if they didn't trade them pass the deadline, they were seriously considering sitting out the rest of the season. So they were really trying to apply as much pressure as possible to get out. And I was told from Kyrie's camp as well that he's ecstatic about this move. He's looking very looking forward to partner up with Luca Donkis. Now that's what we

have to look at. You know, you're gonna have a front row seat to that starting sign. I'm jealous. I'm always jealous. Man. You got the best seats, probably with some of the best seats that we have in all the other twenty nine NBA arenas. Man, that is a great seat to watch some great basketball knock on hardwood. Somehow we have retained just to show you how how spoiled I used to be in the old old days when we sat like on the table on the part.

You know, when we first got those seats, when when you know the MAVs Arena opened, it was it two O one o two somewhere in there. At first, those seats were a little farther away than we were used to in Reunion Arena. I sat on the on the table, I was on the floor. I could reach out and touch the game. So going from Reunion Arena to the AC, I was like, man, this is you know, I'm a

little I'm a little spoiled. This isn't close enough. But compared to where we are now in twenty twenty three, you're right, the MAVs seat is about as good as it gets. Knock on hardwood, We're still pretty close. And you're right. I mean, look, I have a lot of skepticism about that yourself. Stet the MAVs. The MAVs made this look they lost Jalen Brunson without compensation, and that was an absolute hammer blow. I think Brunson should have

been an All Star in the East. I mean, there's no room for James Harden and Jimmy Butler, so I guess there's no room for Jalen Brunson, But I mean he had a very strong case. The guy just gets better every single year. He was great. He knew how to play well with Luca, which made him even more valuable. It's been a rough season without Brunson. So look, the MAVs have paid a very hefty price here after not

resigning Brunson and losing them without compensation. They have paid a very hefty price for Kyrie Irving, who is essentially, potentially will say to be more polite here a rental. We'll see how the Mavericks have not promised. Based on everything I'm told, the Mavericks have not promised Kyrie a new deal. They're gonna see how it goes. There's a lot of skepticism about how two ball dominant players Luca don Chich and Kyrie Irving can co exist, and so

everybody wants to see it first before they commit. But if this doesn't work out and Kyrie becomes a free agent and leaves, the MAVs just lost Din Wittie, Dorian Phinney Smith and a future and unprotected future. First in twenty twenty nine, for cap space, the Mavericks history with cap space is awful. They have never hit the home

run with cap space. All of the MAVs big moves, their successful splashes were always trades, always, so having a boatload of cap if Kyrie leaves and having a boatload of cap space, the MAVs can tell you a better than anybody that that guarantees nothing. So there are a lot of question marks. I mean again Kid and Miko. Infrastructure wise, the MAVs are probably best positioned to take

him in. I mean the Lakers with Lebron or obviously you know Lebron and Kyrie wanted to get back together, so obviously the Lakers, you would think Lebron could have managed that. But infrastructure wise, with Kid and Nico, the map should be is well positioned to take Kyrie in in the middle of the season as any team. But what is that really How much insulation and protection does that really give you after these last four years of roller coaster in Brooklyn? Yeah, I mean, and that's what

I'm man. Look, I am very much intrigued with how that partnership is going to work with two ball dominant players. I think for the most part, when you team up to challenged players like that, they tend to figure it out. And so I you know, Kyrie played with Lebron, you know Broun's ball dominant. He was able to figure it out. And I think he wants this. He understands this is Lucas team. I think he's gonna come out. I think he's gonna do well. I really do. I think he's

gonna do well. I mean, I don't know how well that's going to translate into team success or how deep they go, but I think I think he's gonna do better than what people probably initially expect. The other element about this is I'm hearing Dallas is not done. S this is this is your team. I'm hearing they're not done. You know, I agree. I reported Saturday that the Clippers have been eyeing Christian Would. I think Christian Would and

D'Angelo Russell. I mean, look, the Clippers are looking at a lot of guys, and the Clippers made a run at Kyrie. Let's not forget that. So the Clippers, we know they want to improve. They want to bolster the front court and the backcourt. So you can pretty much expect that the Clippers are going to do something between now and Thursday. I you know again, they're they're looking

at Christian Wood. It would not surprise me if would ended up being traded to the Clippers, because he's extension eligible with the MAVs and they weren't making much progress on extension talks before this Kyrie trade, So um, that would not surprise me. Um. From what I'm told, the Clippers have been looking hard at D'Angelo Russell. I think they think they have interest in nas Read as well. But all the signals from Minnesota have been that that naz Reid is not going to be moved. But yeah,

I mean, the MAVs are not done. The nets are the nets aren't very much not done. As I said, you know, they could. They have not ruled out trading din Witty for something else, and you know you said it. I mean, the two things we don't know is, you know, Lebron tweeted a cryptic tweet like he always does, but we can't be sure what that actually. We do not know for sure what Durant and Lebron are thinking here. Yeah,

and those those are two major major dominos. Is Lebron pissed or is he understanding that we just the Lakers could not come up with a package like the Nets just kept out asking for so much there was no way to do it. Do a deal with Lebron, accept

that you go ahead, here here, here it is. I think when it comes to that tweet, Brook, that that tweet is very much tied to the Mavericks getting Kyrie and the fact that you know, you know, we reported that they did offer those two first round picks before Lebron understands that they offered what they could, they offered what they could within reason. Well, that's good news for the Lakers if that's the case, because yeah, yeah, I think that's what he means by what do he say?

Is it me? Maybe? Maybe maybe it maybe it's maybe it's me, And so I think, um, you know, it's just I guess he feels unlucky. I don't know, I don't know, but yeah, I think with um Rob Lincoln didn't hold back. He didn't hold back. You know, we just didn't know if he was gonna, um include those two first round picks he did. Nets didn't go that route and if you you know from your reporting, the Nets were not going to go that route out of

spite if they could, if they could avoid it. You know, if the Lakers had the best offer, I think they would have done it. But yeah, I mean, look, I mean, Kyrie Irving caused a lot of disruption in Brooklyn, and that's why they're skepticism in Dallas. This has nothing to do with basketball. Kyrie Irving is still an absolute wizard. The guy is flirting with fifty forty ninety and for the last thirty thirty five games, he's been fantastic. And this has been, you know, the best run the Nets

have really had with the two of them. And Durant's missed a bunch of it with an injury. Um, but Kyrie was a Net for about two hundred and eighty games, and he missed almost as many as he played. That's the issue. And so nobody knows you know, what you're gonna get exactly. But what we know what we're going to get still transition. What we know we're going to get. Lebron is going to break Kareem's record this week thirty six points short. He has old he's planned against OKAYCD Tuesday.

He has the Bucks Thursday. I actually had that game the Bucks Thursday, Lakers Bucks Thursday, thirty six is your guest. So now I'm rooting. I'm rooting him for him now to score thirty four against the Thunder because I want you, I want you to get that that postgame interview when he breaks it. No, and honestly, in all seriousness, like I don't want to go on a full on rant here, but I'm actually I mean, you know, I am a nostalgist. I'm his story, and I love anything that takes us

back to the eighties. I remember being fifteen years old when Kareem broke Wilts record. I remember watching the game. I can remember chick her and on the call swaying left shoots. I mean, I can see it. I can remember, though the game was played in Vegas instead of you know, against Utah over Mark eating the sky hook, and this is such a huge, huge achievement for Lebron. I hate

that it's happening now. I mean, I wish this was happening after the All Star Game two weeks from now, because the way this is not nineteen eighty four anymore. The way that the the way that this league, the way that this league has evolved, trade season dominates everything, and I know, like we're barely getting to this record at the end of this pod, We've we have not even talked about it yet on any of our shows.

I've barely written a word about it. And it sucks because this is, this is this is really just a crazy record. I mean, this is it's been forty almost it's been thirty nine years since since since this was since since Kareem broke the record, and we might never see it broken with what I mean, what about the other what do you think the other day when le Bronson I'm playing a few more years so that he's gone past forty. Yeah, he's going up. Man, it's gonna

pile up. I think I honestly think he's breaking it Tuesday. Okay, see, let's do the reverse jinks. Let's guarantee that he's okay. I don't see anybody stopping that man from getting thirty six, thirty seven whatever he needs to break that record. Man, lou Dorc can't hold him under thirty five. I don't see it. I don't see it, but I will ask this. You know, I think time is running out shortly, but

I do want to ask this. I think I asked you off the off the um when we're just talking on the phone, stock is it better to break a record like that to have your moment? Is it better to have it in the fourth quarter when the game is in the balance, or is it better to have the record early in the game. And I'm just assuming, you know, he'll if he doesn't get the record Tuesday, he's gonna come so close to where it's gonna be. He'll need probably six of four or six points on

Thursday to what's better? What's better for the moment? I don't know's I mean, that's a I really haven't thought of it like that. Um. Like I said, my own kind of myself is just myselfish rooting interest for you that you get that post game, that you get to be the one to ask him about it because it is Look, and you know, everybody's turning this into does

this make him the Goat? And I just you know, yeah, there's there's just there's always gonna be people no matter what Lebron does for the rest of the there's always gonna be a lot of people who say it's Jordan and there's nothing you can do to convince them. But Lebron, to me is the longevity goat. And I think that's a big deal. I don't think we talked about that last week a little bit. I think that's a huge deal. Like to Kareem played pat to forty two and Lebron

sounds like he's gonna play to forty. We know he wants to play with Brownie. I mean, he plays to forty, he's probably gonna take the scoring. His total will end up in the forty thousands. Yeah. His contract, I think is his current contract, So he has one more guaranteed year with the Lakers and then he can become a free agent same June twenty four, same month that let Brownie becomes draft eligible. Um, I mean if he and that's if he plays with his son. I mean here,

he's already playing again. He's already playing the sons of guys he played against. To play with his son in the NBA would just be absolutely ridiculous. So, I mean, he is the longevity goat. Maybe that's not enough for him. I think it's a pretty damn impressive honor. And I you know, like I said, I just trade season is all encompassing, and I look, I'm as guilty as anybody. I mean, I'm the month of January every story I wrote was about trades. M but that's just we're so

we can't think about anything else. But and that's the thing is like right now with the Lakers, were they gonna get Kyrie? And what happens now that they didn't get Kyrie. That's that's the story with the Lakers, and it just kind of bums me out. Yeah, well, STI, we gotta get out of here. We're coming back at some point this week. Man. We got to figure out where before they didn't talk about to talk about all the other trades. Yeah, well, free agency and that'll do

it for us, See you next time. This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production.