Pascal Siakam is a pacer. We examine both sides of this week's mega trade, both for Indiana and Toronto, and a very detailed pulse take on two of the Western Conference's top teams. We go inside on both the Thunder and the Clippers. All that next on the latest edition of This League Uncut.
Welcome to This League Uncut. In the rule of twenty four hour NBA News this you'll Chris Haynes, it's go time, work's time. It's so time. This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should be a good one.
Hey everyone, Welcome in to another edition of This League Uncut. Chris Haynes and me Mark sty recording on a Thursday night. A Thursday night that brings us just inside three weeks until the NBA trade deadline February eighth at three pm Eastern, So less than three weeks now until the trade buzzer sounds, and two of the foremost talents that were expected to be in play during this trade season have now both
been moved, both by the Toronto Raptors. Ogn Andobi of course dispatched to the Knicks on December thirtieth and Wednesday, mid January Pascal Siakam. His lengthy and successful tenure as a Toronto Raptor is over. I think Siakam's first choice, deep down was that that long term arrangement could have been hashed out with the Raptors, where he developed from the number twenty seven pick into a two time All
NBA selection. But if it wasn't going to be Toronto, I think it's become clear in the last forty eight hours, given all the signals we've been getting about how happy Siakam is to land with the Pacers, how teams around the league are already considering Siakam's re signing with the Pacers to be a formality. I think it is fair to say that Indiana is where he wanted to end up if it couldn't be a further extended stay in Toronto. Chris Haynes, I know you've been on the run this week,
on the road Siakam to Indiana. Give me your first reactions.
I said it. I did a br Live session last Friday, and that's where I said that Siakam will be moved. They are parting ways. Siakam and the Raptors are parting ways. And I can't remember if I said it on this pod. I don't think we did a pod after that, but it became inevitable that his last days were. We were
in the in the presence of his last days. So you know, when the trade went down, Indiana Pacers obviously, I think and I think I said on my Live at that time, you know, the Pacers were in prime positions don because they felt like, well if if nothing could be done as far as the trade by the February eighth deadline, they felt very comfortable by being able to sign them as a free agent over in the summer.
You know, they had the cap space to do that. So, you know, I think it's clear to say that Pascal wanted to end up in Indiana and he was going to get there either way, whether that was going to be now or what it is going to be months from now in the summer. But Toronto, I think they figured, you know, they didn't want to lose Pascal for nothing, and I think they were able to come out with a fine haul three first round picks in return. So I think it ended up working out for both parties.
But Indiana was in prime position. They felt like they were going to get Pascal one way or the other.
I think you're right. I think is this process rumbled on. Certainly there were a handful of teams that inquired about Pascal Siakam, but nobody was going to be offering as much as the Pacers were. And even though yes, the Pacers theoretically could have created the salary cap room to do this in the summertime, I think they're very relieved to get it done now. To get the deal done, get Siakam in in season. They inherit his bird rights, of course, so they don't have to worry about creating
salary cap space. They can now sign him comfortably. And look, Indiana was able to do this. The Raptors really wanted Benedict Maturin or Jerris Walker or even Andrew Nebhard or even Jalen Smith, and the Pacers were able to get this deal done without including any of those prized for young, rising, developing players. So I think the Raptors ultimately looked around. You know, Sacramento was not going to trade Keegan Murray
in a Siakam deal. You know, Golden State, yes they did inquire, but you know they certainly don't have I think the easy to move trade assets like Indiana. Indiana just had more trade assets than really any other team in this chase. And that's why I think it just became apparent to Toronto that yeah, they could if they wanted to, they could play this thing out all the way to the deadline. But was the offer really going to get better than what Indiana put on the table now?
And I think they came to the conclusion that the realistic answer was no, And by doing the trade now when they did, they still have almost three weeks to see what else they can do. And when Messiyu Jerry held a very lengthy and emotional press conference earlier Thursday, he went for a full hour talking about both the Ananobi and Siakham trades. He was asked if more moves are coming, and he said definitely. He didn't even try to deny it. And so Bruce Brown, Bruce Brown's contract
cannot be aggregated with any other players. But it's twenty two million this season. It's a team.
Option for next season correct.
Twenty three million. So it doesn't get more trade friendly than that. We're going to see now, will Toronto end up moving on Bruce Brown as well?
Uh? Back to Siakam for a little bit stime. You know, you talked about the Kings were not willing to include Keegan Murray into a deal, which is what I heard as well. But Siakam didn't want to go there to Sacramento. And there's something that went down there that Sourdika on Sacramento. I'm not prepared to say that now, but there's something that happened, something that was said, something that happened, something
that occurred. Oh hey, I don't know if I you know, I think we had to wait on that, but there's something that happened.
That long as you eventually tell us that's something.
There's something that soward of Siakam on Sacramento. I think he would have been had things been handled differently. I think he would have been open to doing something long term in Sacramento. But that's not a hero there. Now what's done is done. He's in Indiana. They were a pretty good team before Adam Siakam. Now he only makes them even more potent. So they're going to be a really scary team. Offensively, they're going to have another edge.
Now they got somebody you can you can get a ball to and get a bucket, so you know the East has got a little bit more interesting for sure.
Well, look the reality is, and you could say this about Sacramento, you could say it about Philly, you could say it about Dallas when you already and look, Philly doesn't officially have two max guys yet, but we know that the Philadelphia seventy six ers ultimately will Max Tyrese MAXI, And so Sacramento has Fox and Sabona. Dallas you've got Luca and Kyrie. Philadelphia will ultimately have EMBIID and MAXI
on max deals. And so the kind of contract that Siakam is going to be expecting in free agency, I think it's a difficult fit for all those teams. There are not many teams in today's NBA that really want to have three maxed out guys because you're guaranteed to wind up in the second apron and then you lose so much roster building flexibility. And look what's going on in Phoenix right now. Yes, when Durant and Booker and Bradley Beal are all on the floor and all healthy,
they're dangerous. They can pose a lot of problems for your defense. But they haven't been very healthy as a trio in their first half season together. They're surrounded by players on minimum and smallish type contracts and they just don't have a lot of flexibility to go out and get more. So I can understand the King's hesitancy there when they have so much invested already in Fox and Sabonis.
I mean, it makes more sense to you know, let Keegan Murray develop, let him play out his rookie scale contract and you'll see if he can be your third guy, because he's definitely shown the flashes.
Yeah, I mean Kings, but they're gonna the Kings are a team that's looking for hilp you know. There they've hit a rough rough patch here. Classic Mike Brown, Classic Mike Brown bringing that laptop to the podium. Oh love Mike Brown, Love Mike Brown. But yeah, I was thinking, if.
We have him back on the pod, is he going to bring a laptop to the part.
Well, I think he has to. I think you have to do this pot on the laptop. But yeah, he has to bring another one to show us to break down the play. Sure, but yeah, I mean the trade deadline February eighth, it's not done Toronto. As you mentioned with Bruce Brown, that's a very attractive not only his salary and the way his contracted structure is attractive, but he's an attractive player for teams that are looking for perimeter defensive help. You have teams like hey, Phoenix, Milwaukee,
who else can I throw out there? Who are looking for a player of that Well.
It's funny. The Knicks have been mentioned with Bruce Brown, and I do think the Knicks have some interest there. But I've also been hearing with the Knicks. I think they're kind of top choice is a scoring guard, someone who can more fit in the mold of what they lost when they traded Emmanuel Quickly is part of the Ananobe deal. And Bruce Brown great cutter, great off the ball, but like he's not really what you would classify as a scoring guard. I think more along the lines of
that kind of player is a Jordan Clarkson. Now I don't know if the Knicks can actually get Jordan Clarkson, but no, the Knicks are undeniably in that Bruce Brown mix. We'll see ultimately what direction the Knicks go. I do think this, you know, I can't tell you who it will be. I do think the Knicks have at least one more move in them, because like the Raptors with Bruce Brown, the Knicks have a very trade friendly contract with Evan Fournier making what eighteen ninety million this season
and then on a big team option next season. So the Knicks can make a move with Fournier's deal and draft compensation and make at least one more upgrade before the deadline. And I think you're absolutely right. I'm not sitting here saying that the Kings are fine and don't need any upgrades. I mean, as of Thursday's play, they were seventeenth in defense, which we know is something that
Mike Brown does not want to see. But more concerning their fourteenth in offense, they were number one in offense last season. So the Kings are definitely going to try to get something done using Harrison Barnes, Kevin Herder, Davion Mitchell. All three of those guys are in play to varying degrees. But I just wonder if the Kings, you know, they do, they just need a solid addition as opposed to another
star presence. The Siakam trade is obviously the headline of the week, and I have to say I spent a good amount of my Thursday watching the Messaiau Jerry press conference very interesting because you know, he made his two trades and then did come to the podium earlier today and fielded every question that the Toronto media threw at him, which, whatever you think of the strategies the trade approach that the Raptors have taken last season in this season, it
was refreshing to see that and hear that, because there's no question that the Raptors have faced a ton of criticism for their inaction at last season's trade deadline, and I wrote about this Thursday on my sub stack. I have not sensed a huge amount of regret over the past year from the Raptors in terms of how they handled Fred van Vliet's final season as a Raptor. The Raptors certainly could have traded Van v season, but based on everything I've been told, they felt the offers were
pretty underwhelming in nature. One that I've heard about is, you know, they could have sent him to the Clippers for Luke Kennard and what I would say a modest amount of draft compensation, and the Raptors felt like Fred's a former All Star, a fan favorite, a member of
that unforgettable championship team in Toronto. A key member of that team, they didn't want to just send him away for such a modest return, and so they decided to trade for Yaka Pertle and give Scottie Barnes, Siakam and Anobi and Van Vliet, give that quartet one last chance, one last ride. And you got to throw Nick Nurse in there, because it was one last ride with Nurse as the Raptors coach. And it obviously didn't work out.
The Raptors did not exactly finish last season with a flourish and so that actually a lot of the questions today were focused on should they have acted sooner? Do they have regrets in not trading Ananobe or Siakam sooner? Only time will tell and allow us to give the proper judgment on it. But look, I think you could say, I mean the Raptors are optimistic about the hall they got back for Anonobe. No, you know last season, of course you heard they want three first, they want four first.
But you know they're counting on Emmanuel Quickly and RJ. Barrett as young players who have a lot of upside. They think that's going to work as a more productive return for Ananobe. Again, only time will tell there when it comes to Siakam, you know, and we still this is you know, you mentioned some stuff about Siakam and Sacramento that hasn't emerged yet, and I'm sure I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm sure when the right time arrived and when you can fully report it, I
know you will. But you know something else that we need to kind of get to the bottom of what was the best Toronto really could have done had they traded Siakam last summer, And more reporting has to be done on this. I went on the Raptors Show in Toronto this week and said the same thing. I don't
have all the answers. I've got to dig in a little bit more on this, but based on where we are now reporting wise, the best indication is that, you know, Atlanta's best offer for Siakam in the summer is believed underline believed believed to have topped out at DeAndre Hunter,
AJ Griffin and a future First. I don't know how stringently that future first would be protected, but if that was really the best offer that Toronto had, I think they can make the case they're going to have to ultimately prove it with what they do with the picks and how they move from here. But they can make the case that trading Siakam for Bruce Brown's deal and three first, that they can do more with that than what they could have done had they taken Atlanta's offer.
But again we have to confirm and make sure that that was indeed the best thing on the table for the Raptors. All Right, We've gone on about the Siakam trade enough. Again, that obviously is the major major headline in the league this week. But you know, I always want to hear about your tails from the road, and you were on the sidelines for thunder Clippers the other night,
So the floor is yours. I've rambled on enough, give us give us some la stories about what you heard and saw in Clipperland the other night.
This was my first time seeing the Okac Thunder up and close this season, so I was really looking forward to catching up with SGA and that young group chat and those guys. And I'm gonna tell you right now, the Thunder they are. They are ecstatic just about the the core guys that they have, and not just on the court, just just good guys that they are good locker room, really good locker room. I spoke with Jalon Williams a little bit, chopped up with SGA for a
little bit as well. One thing is that that kind of caught me, not by surprise, but I was a little I'm like, you know, it was something it was, it was something I didn't consider before. So I spoke with Jalen Williams, and you know, the second year guard who's doing tremendous over there, and OKAYC starts, they start a positionless starting five. You know they really have they're really starting. You can make a case they're probably starting
four point guards then check. If not point guards, then just you know, just guards who who need the ball in their hands. You know, I was talking with Jalen about that, he's he's listed technically, I guess you could say he's the power forward. You know, you got Josh Giddy and Shaye in the back backcourt, then you have
lou Dort and you got Jalen Williams and check. And so I asked Jalen about just, you know, what are the benefits of a pros and cons of you know, starting a lineup like that, because you guys look like you are. You know, everybody look like everybody knows where they're supposed to be, and they understand each other's game. He said, I'm gonna be honest with you. He said, at times is tough. It's a struggle because we're all guards, and a lot of us are lead guards, and we
need the ball in our hands. So he said, so while it may look pretty and seamless to you and everybody else, he said, a lot of times, it's hard, you know, because we we we need the ball our hands. I need the ball on my hands, and you know, I like the handle the ball, bring the ball up initiaate the offense, he said, So does Josh Giddy? He said, so this s g A and so he said, yeah, it's problematic sometimes, he said, but we do a good job of trying to play the right way. And he
said in it's work and that. But that caught me by surprise. I didn't I didn't expect him to have such a candid answer, a candid response to that. And if you look at you know, you look at the dynamic of that team. A lot of young guys, a lot of young guys, a lot of shooters, a lot of guards, Uh, they're they're you know, that is a well packaged team that you know, and they definitely have the assets to do something big eventually.
But yeah, you know what everyone says. Everyone everyone thinks that they're gonna do something at this deadline, and I really don't. And again, it's not based on reporting. Just it's based on years and years and years of watching Sam Presty and I just know he's always going to be patient when he can, and just my instinct, you know, maybe you got some of this vibe when you were with those guys. I do wonder to really evaluate that
team and decide what they need next. Do they need to see them in a playoff series first before they can really evaluate exactly what they have. Does this lineup approach you're talking about really work in the postseason? Like, just something tells me that letting this team make a playoff run and then making decisions about trades that just seems the safer forecast. When we're talking about the.
Thunder, Yeah, and talking to the Thunder, the people over there, they're very happy with this roster I have. I'd have no. I haven't heard anything any scutter buzzs or anything that suggests that they will make a move at the deadline. I think to what you say, Stein, I think they at least want to see this thing through in the playoffs to see if this has the potential to be effective, the potential to work. It's one thing in the regular season, but you know, to see if this is you know,
see if this is sustainable in the postseason. So I would agree with your with your sentiment on that. It's so Stein. Another thing, so, you know, one thing about being asilumn reporter, you get to go and kind of check out the timeout huddles and listen in and you know, it's cool. It depends on depends on what team you're you're around. You know, some teams have players that don't talk much Kuhi. If you've got a younger if you have a younger group, it's probably not that not that
much talking. But if you got an older, experienced group, a lot of talking, a lot of talking, a lot of a lot of ship talking, by the way, you know, that's that's that's why I like to hear. I like to get all you know, see you know, see how they talk to one another, see how they talk about the opposing teams. So Stein, I I at a certain point during the game. I'm at the Clippers time out huddle, and the Clippers Westbrook is the most vocal player on that team. He is the vocal leader since day one,
he's took that mantle. That's that's him. So it's always cool hearing what he has to say. So, uh so they call the time out and I go stand behind a timeout huddle, and at this point, Russ is subbed out. He got subbed out rotation. Uh, it was just it was just his time to come out. And as people know, there are two rows to a bench, and so I'm actually standing behind the second row. So Russ comes over where I'm at during the time out and he picks up a stat sheet, looking at his stats, and he says,
he looks at me and says, Chris, nobody scores on me. Nobody. Ain't nobody fucking scoring on me? You say that first team all d right here. I'm like, okay, So I guess Stein, you know, I guess Russ would like us to pay a little bit more attention to his defense because he believes he's playing at a very high level. I wasn't expecting that he came over and let me. Know, ain't nobody scoring on him? Now? Before you know, I don't want people the aggregators just chop this up and
and go crazy. Obviously, this is the NBA, and players are going to get scored on it. That happens. But I think I think Russ was kind of, uh, just throwing it out there a little bit that he wants people to take note of what he's doing on that end of the basketball. So that was that was that was a first for me, for for a player to come and say something like that, to be while I'm just chilling in the background.
As you know, I didn't do as much sideline as you I really only did it for radio, and I only did it at the All Star Game and the Finals. I never I mean, I'm trying to think if I've ever even done a regular season game. I'm not. Maybe I have done one or two. Yeah, I've probably done one or two for radio, but not many. But it's so funny. I know we've talked about this before. I remember when I started doing sideline, I was taught the main thing was do not make eye contact with the coach.
Listen in on the huddle, but do not make eye contact with the coach. I think it was Rick Buker who gave me that pearl of wisdom. And here you are, screw that. You're just like talking to Russ during the time out?
Am I talking to Russe? Is Russ talking to meet depend well? That you know again, that doesn't happen often. You know, of course, there is little you know, there are coaches that see you, and you know, the the secondary coaches, the coaches that sit on that second row, they you know, they see they give you some dapt say what's up. And then there are some players that give you the head nod what's up when they see you. But there's not too much interaction that I that I get.
You know, you may have Lebron may cuss me out of something or uh, you know, a playful cuss out when he sees me. You know, things like that, but no, no conversations. And I wouldn't even consider that a conversation. But Russ was just letting me know. I was in
the vicinity and I think he was playing. I would have to go back and look at the tape, but he might have in his assignment, might have been SGA right before he got subbed out, and so I think he was feeling good, you know, it's feeling good about himself. But look, I think again, I think he's in a in a subtle way. It wants people to, you know,
acknowledge his defensive prowess. And that's that's one thing Tyler talks about that Russ brings the intensity on both ends, and he talked about him particularly on that end, on defensive end. So I think people need to start checking him out. Russ. You know, Russ is putting it out there.
It's interesting you have. You had that vantage point that most of us don't have to actually watch how these guys all interact during a timeout and a stoppage. So I guess the interesting thing is, I mean, I think Russell Westbrook deserves tons of credit. He has embraced this six man role. He's the one who sent himself to the bench basically when the James harden arraw got off to such a bad start. And but I mean, you you've now seen it. You're you know, you have a
first hand, up close account. I mean, if he's the vocal leader, they must be listening and open to that for him to be so vocal, which is interesting, he's only playing twenty three minutes a game.
There are.
Man four or five Clippers playing more minutes per game than Russ. So how effective do you think it is when he's being so vocal. I mean again, I imagine if his teammates didn't want him to take that role, he wouldn't have it.
One thing about Russ throughout the league, he has tremendous respect among his peers. That's that's one thing that's never left, even when he was struggling with the Lakers, you know, even you know the few times he struggled with a few periods he struggled with the Clippers, the respect is always there. People love Russ and I'm talking about it in the NBA is peers and so he's always they're always open to listening to him speaking because he's going
to go out there and give me. It's all like, is he going to make the right play all the time? Is he going to make some mistakes?
Yeah?
I think that that comes with the way that he plays basketball. It's like a reckless style of play. But they know his heart is always in the right place. And you know, again with him going to coach lou and telling them, hey, I think it's best for me to come off the bench, allow James Harden to go out there and flourish, and you know that that's what has happened. And so you know with Russ, man like he's in a he's in a good place. He's a really good place.
Man.
I think I remember we were doing our Podstarn and it was when James Harden came over, and that was before we didn't know how things were going to play out. We knew something had to change, and I was, you know, I didn't know how it was going to play out. I didn't know how well, listen, I knew how it was going to play. I knew eventually Russ would have to go to a reserve role, but I didn't know how he was going to take it. And he not only has he taken it well, he's he's he's playing
really good. He's playing really good in that role, and he's still being impactful with his voice and his leadership. And so that's cool, that's kind of cool to see up front. Start of another another note on SGA right, and so I didn't get to use this as well, but I spoke with Chris Paul, who is recovering from
his hand surgery. I had a conversation with him phone conversation with him to day of the game, and you know, I was just basically asking him like, like, how was it playing with him that year and when you knew that he was going to be the future. But you guys are both point guards, Like how did you try to still play your game but make sure you didn't step on his toes? He said. Free said, first of all, when I when I went over there, OKC we started working out, I wanted to get inside of his head.
And he said, Sga loves basketball. And he said, if you love basketball, I love being around you. That's what Chris Paul told me, he said, So that made it easy, he said. But he said he did feel like he had an obligation to not only teach him what he knew, but also allow him the freedom to play that position as much as he could when they both shared the court and play it, you know, with some freedom, allow
him to do make mistakes, not get on them. And you know, that was the first time in a while where Chris Paul and his other stops it was championship expectations and now you know and okay, see that was a time where they they surprised people. They surprised people with the season that they had, and so he said it was a delicate balance of trying to mentor trying to get them freedom, trying to help enhance his game, he said. But one thing he said offensively, he said,
I didn't have to do much, he said, defensively. That's where he had to get on SGA's ass, he said. He he said he used to, like he said, if he talked to SGA, which I didn't at that point, he said, talk to SGA. Ask him about how much I got him throughout the season on the defensive end. He said, I felt like he was not putting forth the effort or didn't know how to put forth the effort on that end when they when they were around.
And now you look at SGA leader in steels, leader in deflections, and you know that's something that he said he saw in him back then. And so he said it was a privilege to watch him and and that to have a to have a part in his development. But he said SGA made it even more easier for him when he came along, because that was you know, just where Chris Paul is at his age and his stature and where Shay and the rest of that group was.
He said, it was kind of a tricky situation with both sides, but they they made it work.
In your time with the Clippers, did you register any did you see any tangible joy from Kawhi Leonard one week after him signing his big contract extension.
I don't think we will see any tangible joy if he won the billion dollar lottery, you know, I don't think you'll see that from Kawhi. I thought you were going in a different direction. I thought you were going to say, did I see any joy in PJ? Tucker?
Well, I have a suspicion I know how that story would turn out. But since you brought it up, please tell us what you read on the latest with PJ. Tucker is. Because he definitely is a name that people have their eye on. Will the Clippers try to trade him? Obviously, he has one more year on his contract after this season, which complicates their ability to trade him. But all right, you tell us what's going on with PJ.
Nothing has changed. He wants to play. He wants to play for a contending team, whether that is the Clippers or somewhere else. And you know being around him, you see you seeing him on the bench, and he's a little bit more quiet, a little bit more quieter than I've ever really seen him, But that's because he's not playing. But he still has a he's still vocal when he felt when he sees something. I see points throughout the game where he may he may suggest something to a player.
But for the most part, you know, he's just in the background, just waiting on waiting, on the move. And the Clippers know how PJ feels, They understand, they they are still as of right now, they are still hoping that PJ would just understand that they're gonna need him down the road. Teams have called. The teams have called the Clippers, checking in to see what it would take those type of scenarios. I don't know concrete that there have been offers, but teams are called, have called in
on PJ. The Clippers right as of right now are not interested in doing anything. But there's still time left for those calls to become increasingly more serious, where serious offers will be presented. But uh, I can tell you right now, as things stand, PJ believes that he has a lot of game left. He can help a contented team, and that's what he wants to do. He doesn't want to sit on the bench.
So during this game, you confess to us, Now, were you just constantly by the Clipper huddle or did you sneak in on some Thunder huddles too?
I stuck on Thunder holes. But you know a lot of you know again, you know the younger teams they are, they're pretty quiet. For sure.
They do not want you over there. The Thunder like, hey, hey, ty lu doesn't care. But I promise you without even asking, I'm sure the Thunder do not want your want you in their huddle.
They did not remove me, they did not know. They can't you want you.
I mean, you have the license to be there. I'm just saying they don't like it.
Yeah, it might be the case. My guy, Matt Tumblinson, you know what, you know, that's my dude over there at Okay, See he was. He was right there in the vicinity of where I was at when I would go over there and check in on the Oka see huddles. But no, I didn't have any I didn't have any problems. It was it's a really good group of guys. Again, it's a young guys. You know a lot of times, like I said, like when you have an old, veteran,
experienced group, those are probably your more vocal guys. You want to get more substance out of those type of huddles opposed to a young, quiet team. Trying to think who's probably a vocal Yeah, not even I mean you probably would think dork is probably vocal, but nah, not really. Yeah, it's pretty much the coaches. The coaches are you know, are the vocal presence in those huddles for ok see.
And so I was running around Tuesday night. I didn't see any of the game. What was your James Harden report during the game?
James Harden? So I spoke with James Harden before the game because I had heard I heard heard a tipbit. So I was like, let me go talk to James before and before the game. And the tipbit I heard is that he wants to sign a long term deal in the summer with the Clippers. I'm like, huh, okay, let me go check. So I went to him before the game and he was shown enough. He was like, yes, I wanted this is where I want to end my career.
He said, Kawhi got his extension done. He said, I know Paul is working on his and once they get that solidified, he said, I'm hoping I'm next in line over the summer. You know, he can't James Harden can't do an extension. Is you know the way his contract was structured, the last deal with Philly that didn't allow for such an extension to be implemented. So he'll be a free agent to summer. So you know, he's hoping that he can get something long term done with the Clippers.
He said that, he told me that him, Paul, George Kauai, they've they've talked about like playing multiple years together and doing something special with that new arena that's uh into it Dome that's going to be in play next season. You know, they they've already talked about that. You know, they they they're invested, you know, they're really invested in trying to see this thing through. And so he said, yeah, I know I might have. He said, how do you
try to ort to try to quote him correctly? But he said something along the lines to me about I know I probably said that at my last stop. He said, but y'all, y'all know, you know, he said, y'all know the shit that happened, you know, you know along the way over there, which got me to go in a different path. But he's he talked about how tay Lude to him was one of the best coaches in the NBA.
He said, it has the best best, one of the best medical staffs that he's been a part of here at the Clippers and you know, have you know, his his la guys here. He said, that makes all the sense of the word. He said, I'm happy they let me do my thing, and you know, he just loves being home. So you know, that was the first of him saying anything like that.
Yeah, I think it's gonna happen to I think he's exactly right. Kawhi did his extension. Around the league, everyone expects Paul George to do a deal sooner rather than later, and James Harden, as you noted, he cannot do an nd season extension. But when he's a free agent, the widely held assumption already is that that will be a one team pursuit and that James Harden will re sign with the Clippers. I think that's a pretty safe prognostication at this point. And next man, I can't wait to
see the Intoit Dome. You know I was when I covered the Lakers they played in Inglewood. It's been a long time since I've covered an NBA game in Inglewood. I cannot wait to see. And I've seen some of the clips of the Into It Dome, but I have not been there and cannot wait to see how this thing turns out.
Owner Steve Balmer says is going to have the most urinals of any arena in the country. I'm looking forward to checking those urinals. STA. You know what, I'm gonna tell you this. It is gonna be weird. I hate to even admit this, but.
It was already weird when you said you can't wait to check out those urinals.
So yeah, yeah, I'm going somewhere with that.
Keep it weird, I guess I'll keep with this.
Is this league uncut? You know, this is family. Everybody's listening. When I was younger, my mom used to think I was strange for doing this, and you know, I probably was. But when I was young, I would say six seven eight. Every time we went out to a rest the first thing I would do was go check the restroom out. I don't know why I just go check the restroom out. I just wanted to see how clean the restroom was. So I think this is probably six seven, eight, nine
years old. That was my go to, like, I wanted to go see how clean the restroom, I guess, and it was really restaurants, So I guess that was my way of kind of trying to decide before I ate the food, if the food was going to be any good or that. I think the restroom, how clean the restroom was was kind of an indicator of how well the food was going to how good the food was
going to be. And I think, oftentimes from my own analytic process your database, yeah, my database, I think most of the time, when it was a clean restroom, the food was amazing, but when the restroom was, you know, shitty, the food was shitty. So that's what I'm looking forward to seeing how these urinals well, I think the urinals gonna be nice, at least at least early on into a du that's gonna be nice. But I'm looking forward to the process of what months and months go by.
Are these eurinals still going to be plush? Are you with me? Star?
I'm in shock right now, I cannot believe, as we're nearing the one year anniversary of this show, that we just ended a show with a solid three minutes on stadium urinals. I'm really glad that you forced producer Ryan to turn his camera on now during these segments so we can see his absolutely shocked reaction to this ending that was definitely unscripted and uncut. This was not in the pre show notes that this is how we were going to end this show.
Well, Stein, Producer Ryan was actually not in his head, and it looked like he was. He understood my premise. He understood my process as a kid of looking, you know, going into the restrooms and checking out the facility before I ate the food. So it looks like he under producer Ryan, if you could shine man.
We're gonna let you guys have that out off air. I think we've subjected the audience to enough because I was really I kind of what I was expecting is that you were going to say, yeah, you know I, I really can't wait to get my tour of the indt too. It dome like we saw a bunch of media that was invited there the other day for All Stars and everything.
No, No, Stein, Steyle. Listen, that's what I have Stein. I can't be the only one who thinks that way, because Steve Balmer himself, he's the one that made it public. That is going to be the all time most urinals in the country.
Well, now I know when we if we ever get Steve Balmer to join us on this pod.
Now I know what he said it by the way, he said he'll do it. I talked to him a couple days ago. He said he'll do it. Did you did he really got it? Yeah, yep, he said do it. So I gotta work that out with the Clippers pr all.
Right, Well, I would love to have him on. So I guess I will put up with the urinal.
Discussion and we will. We will talk about that. We're gonna We're gonna do a deep die with Steve barbaro urinals on this show.
This is uncut, This.
League uncut, this League off the rails. All right, that's gonna do it for this edition of This League Uncut, Mark Stein with Chris Haynes. Thanks as always for tuning in. Please remember, if you haven't already, follow the show, rate the show, review the show. We'd love A five star rating from you anywhere you get your pods where that's Apple, Spotify,
you know where to register all that stuff. And Chris and I we will be back with you again very very soon as trade season continues to deliver deal after deal after deal, and we've got just under three weeks to go. Stay tuned, talk soon everyone.
And that'll do it for us. See you next time. This League on CUTA is an iHeartRadio production Chris Haines and Mark Stein