Emergency Pod! The Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown to the 76ers!

The NBA following an absolutely bonkers day of LeBron announcing his departure from the

“Lakers and Kawai Leonard returning to Toronto decided, how about we just won up that?”

How about that? The Lakers started the morning with a flurry of moves highlighted by a massive gamble on Walker Kessler. That was pretty big. It's the Lakers.

It's the glamour franchise in the league. Did they do it enough? Is this the whole team? They have no control over picks until when? What happened?

Who got how much money he's putting grinds is involved? What's going on? A little blow in the day. Maybe went to the grocery store. Maybe got to work out it.

It maybe took a power nap. Saw your family. And then boom. The Jalen Brown saga suddenly ends with a shocking indivision trade.

It's sending Jalen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul Freak and George and two first round picks

and two second round picks at absolutely earthshattering trade breaking up the most highly accomplished duo in the NBA probably over the last 10 years Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum. Holy smokes. How bad busted a Ben inside Boston for that trade to be the trade that ends all this after the honest flirtation and everything else?

Where was the rest of the league on this?

“Did they drop the ball or was this actual proper evaluation of Jalen Brown?”

This just happened. Most of the killers here were shell-shocked and groggy. Team USA is playing Bosnia as we speak. Desaklo shows coming up I hope it makes sense and you enjoy it. Welcome to an emergency edition of Desaklo Show, Jalen Brown, Celtics legend, final

MVP, the superstar who carried the Jason Tatum with Celtics to 56 wins in a two-seed half of a tandem that is defined a decade and a very profitable one of Boston Celtics basketball has been traded rather suddenly and shockingly to indivision rival recent playoff

Nemesis, the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first round picks a 2028 one that is like half

swapped, unprotected 2031 a couple of seconds and that is the end of the Jay-Zera in Boston. Motoculus here to help us make sense of this in Mo, let's zoom out and start here. The Celtics in the past 10 days have had three different pathways to go down. Number one, do nothing, keep Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum on your team, keep every pick, every swap, every young player you got and go back to battle next season.

Path 2, trade for Jalen, using Jalen Brown, probably three first round picks. Google Gonzales, who go, maybe bailing our shiremen, maybe not, they did not do that. We're assuming by the way that that was a real opportunity and that the bucks owners weren't just going to say, you know what, we actually want Miami's deal no matter what, because we don't want to be in a young situation in two years with Jalen Brown, but that path appears

to have been available to the Celtics and path 3, the one they chose, shopping Jalen Brown around the league. Finding out that his trade value, because of his salary more than anything, I'll say, yeah, maybe some suspicion, perhaps somewhat analytics based that he is a hero for rated as a player and if he is a hero for rated, he's still a goddamn good player finding little trade value and settling as I warned, just yesterday and then the day before for a deal

that was going to make Boston fans mad, a deal that was going to be centered around financially sort of resettling the future a little bit and maybe adding some draft equity, but one that would be unpalatable to Boston fans, they have chosen path 3, mode to kill your initial reaction. I mean, shock like it was one of those things where that's all you can get for Jalen Brown as Paul George on top of that trading him to not just like

a division rival, but your rival, it feels like for the most part the team that just knocked you

“out of the playoffs after coming back down 3-1 and I think you know, it's along those ways where”

it's like, wow, that's it. I was shocked at the price and I understand the value of Brown goes down a little bit. I don't feel like the the market was fully there for him, but it's still sort of jarring to see because Paul George generally in my mind, I don't believe contracts are untradable and this one proves it, but I felt like he was pretty untradable. I felt like he would have

No, spin it the other way, Mo. It would cost you a pick to get off the Paul George. So like

“the way to look at this trade from the Celtics perspective is one of the picks is for taking”

Paul George, which means you really only traded Jalen Brown for another first round pick, a single

first round pick in a couple of seconds. And yes, the ability to employ Paul George on your team, who is still a very good player, but who plays, you know, the last two seasons, half of each one and his aging fast and does nothing better than Jalen Brown other than Shoot 3, which is a very valuable skill for the Celtics. So he's a good player, undeniably a step back for Boston. And yes, that's part of why a shocking is that the Celtics went out after falling

short of acquiring Janis, which we will revisit and said, it's now untenable. We have to trade Jalen Brown. It must be so toxic internally and must be just the atmosphere so negative and so broken that because ostensibly you would rather do nothing than do this. Yeah, the picks are nice. Again, one of them is for absorbing Paul George who has only one fewer year left on his contract than Jalen Brown at a huge amount of money. It's about the one single year. That's the only financial

relief you're really getting here. Doing nothing was clearly not an option and the market was clearly not here. And so they landed here. It's absolutely stunning. And the Celtics are definitely worse next season. I don't think there's any question about that because Jalen Brown's better than Paul George and Paul George is much more injury prone. Jalen Brown is super durable and we'll see how good they are and we'll talk about these in a minute so they've taken a step back to take a step forward.

“And the only way this becomes a women for Boston or a non-boss is all the onus is now one the next”

move. You passed up on Janis. And maybe part of the reason you passed up on Janis was both the assets that we're going to have to go out to beat Miami's offer to convince Jimmy Haslam to do it.

Three first and another young player in Hugo Gonzalez, plus Jalen Brown. All your optionality

or a lot of it goes out the window. Then you re-sign Janis and you're in a financial situation similar to what you're in now. Clearly, I think they wanted some financial relief and they got it here losing a year of big money. But the short-term step back is is relevant. The blowback from the fans is relevant and just the lack of any blue chip asset at all coming back is shocking and speaks to the absence of any other suit or like I'm I think there's a way

where this doesn't look as here's the way this doesn't look as bad as it looks right now. The Celtics are a regular season wins machine. Let's just say they win 52 games again next year and they're in the top six and they're successful playoff team. And then in a year Paul George is an expiring contract with Janis was not going to be in jail and Brown was not going to be and you pile that on top of all these picks and you get the next guy to pair with Tatum and zoom back into

championship contention. But there's a freaking canyon between there and here and they got to build a

bridge over the canyon. I mean, that's the hardest part. Sometimes finding that second guy to pair with

your young star at this point is the hardest part and we also just have to recognize the fact Jason Tatum is still coming back from a torn Achilles. I know he came back incredibly early and you know he had moments where he looked good he had moments where he didn't he didn't even finish the playoff series. Like there's he's still coming back from a brutal injury. I not thought would I believe he's going to come back and be be fine but it's still a long road

with all of those injuries and everything. So now you've kind of put yourself in a tough position. You put a lot of pressure on Tatum to be ready and perform and I think he I think he will be but it's still challenging. But finding the next star after this is also going to be very hard. Right? Like we have to remember how they got these guys. It was because they turned Paul Pierce

“Kevin Garden at the whole trade to Brooklyn to get all those draft picks and that's how they ended”

up with these guys and creating that it was almost kind of a not a stroke of luck but it was a stroke of genius on ages part to make this move but it cost them a lot and now you have to figure out how you're going to do that again and it's hard to kind of predict what's going on in the what the NBA is going to look like a year or two from now on the picture and assuming that Paul George can rehab his his value in the next season it gets really interesting and challenging for

that they have the picks they have they have their picks obviously they didn't send out you know

just just mean they're going to try to make another run at trade Murphy or herb Jones or whoever and and try to shore up their their their wings and and things like that it just I don't know where they go from you're those act like I'm a little bit still sort of shell shot like I'll be honest I'm getting ready to move I was packing up the car when I saw the trade and I go like well not doing anything

“today this is the rest of my day and I think that's where we're at and I'm just looking at it”

looking at the the numbers and everything I don't know what's going to happen with Boston because like I I I I'm very concerned about them for next season and then how they build going forward so the honest path is clearly the best of three paths for immediate short-term

contention for your title window for the next two years that's the one because

portus you get portus and he's a useful bench player you would still have the mid-level exception perhaps you would not use it on Mitchell Robinson which is a great signing for Boston but you could use it on a representative center that fits well with Janus so that ship is still there and you lose who go I bet they could have hung on to shiremen and so your depth is a little worse but not that much worse now short-term that's short-term long-term you get expensive

in a little older real fast throw that path to the side the do nothing path I think is clearly better than what they just did because the team and we'd be better in the short-term and you could you could have traded jail and brown for this in four months in six months in eight months I don't know why there was a rush to take this deal because even if you think you have to trade them at some point this isn't enough I don't think and you could have opened it

up to a team spirals a little bit at the beginning of the season and it gives you a better

“return with more optionality but you have to ask yourself like if this was the best they could”

do here's just the list of teams that I think either flirted with it and didn't go there or just didn't go there at all Charlotte I don't think went in at all Detroit despite the jail and Durin standoff that I think is full of sound and fury signifying nothing didn't go there at all Cleveland did not like I'm sure there was a hey Evan mobile yes no it was a quick no and that was it Houston to my knowledge just was not in period Brooklyn I think there was a little flirtation

with the Michael Porter Junior package that I had mentioned on previous podcast and it died Durano no clippers no Denver I think it's just too seismic a move Portland I'm not convinced was ever really bad in I'm sure there were talks I'm sure there were I'm guessing there were talks in conversation I'll think there were really that in Atlanta appeared to just be doing other stuff and and didn't have it in mind New Orleans I'm not sure

ever really picked up the phone on anything I'm not entirely sure like there was I don't think

“though I think the league is underrating jail and Brown a little bit for sure at large”

I think the salary is just really prohibitive and and it's hard to trade guys making this some out of money who aren't clear top five to eight players in the NBA and I don't think John Brown is a top five day player in the NBA he's still awesome and this return is still I think a pretty crushing disappointment for Boston and they just again the only spin is

you kept your depth you basically like net plus five first round picks if you consider it

would have been minus three to get Yannis and now it's plus two to trade jail and Brown for Paul George you better make something out of those and make it something out of them in the next 18 months or else this window is going to close too I'm just I'm absolutely shocked I'm shocked and like Paul George is good it this is ten years after you was a prime trade candidate for the Celtics in Paul being jail and Brown like I I don't know what I like I think this is still

going to be a good team but this is an undeniable step back the return is disappointing and it just I just don't understand why they had to make this trade I think you could make an argument mode you could probably convince me that this is better in the long term than just going to get Yannis at all costs I would have I actually would have a hard time quite getting there because Yannis is so good but he's been entering front too I just feel like this is the worst like the worst outcome possible

of all of these paths this is the worst possible outcome and and like I get it if people want to try to convince us of the long term but this needed to be a win now move really like you know this is what I've been warning about for five podcasts is like this move is going to come and it's it's going to be a move that is not going to satisfy anybody who it's going to be a step back now and it

all there was and and the whole like for me my belief of the I didn't think there was an ability to

mend fences like I didn't I I feel really the fence god lit on fire like to take it away to tornado it's gone yeah I mean like once I feel like once they cross the rubric on where where

“they made the official offer with Jalen Brown you know in the offer for for the books I think”

that became that that's become an untenable situation and even if he came back I think eventually it slowly would have eaten away at that locker room one way or another you know bad game from this guy or whatnot and things it would have just manifested itself in different ways and would have eventually led to a problem but I still would have kept it if I knew this was my return like it's it's I still would have found a way you know in that way okay I haven't at least told next trade deadline

to figure this out and somebody at the next trade line is going to be desperate to try to make the big move I understand moving a contract that big is incredibly difficult it's difficult

in the regular season it's difficult as we're seeing now even in the off season I mean ultimately

the biggest winner besides filly on this is the second apron right like the cap in the way the CBA is set up it's crushed the Celtics at this point where it they had to kind of also make this move to create financial flexibility not next not this year not I mean not this coming season and not the season after that but later and we've talked about the financial flexibility and the things that they're going to have to do in the maneuvers they have to make but this is just a brutal

“blow I think for Boston in the short term and I think it sucks because this was a team that you”

felt hey like if everything was going right we're going to be contenders and now you just look at it going this team's not a contender next season they got significantly older when you look at Paul George for Jalen Brown and age at Mike Connelly signing with them I love the Mitchell Robinson signing although I do worry also about his availability like there's there there are going to be challenges within this roster for next season just in terms of who's available on

a night tonight basis I think the only real way to read all of this taken together is that they did not have an appetite enough of one to take on the honest is salary for better or worse and what they really wanted was a little bit of financial breathing room and flexibility down the line and his little of a short term hit as possible and I'm not sure they accomplished that at all so here's where we are now with the Celtics starting five let's just I mean who notes right

but let's just map it out paint and Richard Derek well I know paint and Richard went back to a bench role that you're just just go with me paint and Richard Derek White Jason Tatum Paul George Mitchell Robinson it's good lineup off the bench we still have Hugo Shireman, Houser, Walsh Mike Connelly's here Kate is going to be here Ron Harper Jr's here Luca Garza's here they got all their depth and they got a bunch of picks I bet they'll win a fair number of regular season games

it's tempting to say that you know this was a two seed last year with Jalen Brown and without Jason Tatum now it's Jason Tatum and No Jalen Brown but Paul George in his place and are much better starting center you know you mentioned that they're not contenders now I think getting exposed the way they did in the playoffs by fully broke the Celtics and then like ran off with the wreckage basically and I think the Celtics looked in the mirror and said okay we maybe are at least somewhat the version

of of ourselves that the skeptics saw before last season like just not not a good team but not a great team maybe that 56 wins was fools gold let's be realistic about ourselves and take a step back a little bit but I can't believe that this was necessarily the step back so that'll be a good

team here's the thing about the Eastern Conference right now there are eight teams at least eight

who have you asked them right now they would say a were a top 16 eight is greater than six

“mole yes you're so if you want to like ink if you're a Celtics optimist and again I think this”

team's going to win a lot of regular season games and you want to say oh we're just we're still going to be a top 16 here Detroit New York Cleveland Boston Miami Toronto Philadelphia it out has to be in the competition in Indiana member Indiana team that was within a whisker of the championship that's eight and we haven't even you know Toronto just got coi my MP just got yannis there they're in the eight I mentioned we haven't mentioned Orlando who probably is like hey what what

what are we we where it can be a top 16 didn't get to Atlanta and then there's a bit of a drop off but like it's going to be hard to be a top 16 in the east next year for Boston it's possible it might even be likely I'm curious to see what the overunder is but it's not it's not going to be easy and I just can't believe Paul George is where this landed I really yeah I love I love Paul George's

last two seasons that's the thing that's most amazing it's you know it we we should have known better

“it seems like it's always a team that comes out in nowhere in these types of situations and that's”

sort of what happened but I just would have never fast them also just Boston making the trade with

Philly and it I know rivals and things like that and we we kind of get lost with that but it just seems weird to me that that's that's where they went and now they're going to see him four times next season they're going to see Jalen Brown four times extra I'm calling my shot now this is the Christmas day game Jalen Brown's first return to Boston how about how about this he's like five days removed from saying all of this stuff is turning me into a monster this this is a whole different

level of stuff this is your own team and dealing you to the team that just eliminated you in the playoffs arguably their second most storied rival behind the lakers for Paul George who was good last year but also was suspended for a huge amount of time and he's been just like a giant disappointment in Philadelphia and a couple of picks if Jalen Brown was becoming a monster before this deal he's becoming like Godzilla plus King Gong plus Mothra right now and you know he's coming for blood the

first time they play he is going to try to dunk on someone within it and this is one of the most

violent dunkers in the league already that is going to be absolute must CTV let's take a quick break and talk a little bit more about the other angles it is midi tiren yoga jogging nigg's in spandwich I really really like my style total. Stoyer, how do you feel about the stoyer action? Yeah, I've got lots of locker over 1000 euros to go to get it. Hastugahime connections or exes superkräfte? No, just like how stoyer is. Wow, and that is easy. Yeah, the match fast

all is automatic. I feel really like so. In spand, hold your money to go upgabber frist 130 What? What? How are you feeling? How are you feeling?

Oh yeah. 4, 5, 8, 9, 9, 9, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 4, 9, 0, 1, 0, 1, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 5, 8, 9, 8, 9, 10, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 4, 4, ah.

trade. Would you rather have just gone at all in Friana, even if it took three first round picks,

and Hugo, is that where we've ended up here, Mo? I kind of think that's where they would have been

“better off in the long run. I think there would have been an appetite, maybe, to bring you be able”

to hopefully get some vet minimum guys or whatnot and things, but I think that's where I probably would have gone with it. You wouldn't have spent so much to get Mitchell Robinson, you would have been able to reallocate that you were talking about, you know, a different center that would fit the need. But I think that's kind of where I would have gone, and my only thing, two zack is like, if you were going to enter the honest sweepstakes, you needed to enter with the attitude of

we're going to try to win it. I think, and that says, and we might be, and you said it in the beginning, you might be right. Haslam might have looked at it and said, no, I want to my amy package. Again, we don't want to be down this road two years from now with Jalen Brown. They still might have lost in that sense, but if you were going to make the offer, you kind of had to go in to make the offer to try to actually beat Miami's offer instead of just saying, no, this is our offer, and that's it,

and we're not willing to give up anything else. And if that was the case, then they needed to immediately fly to wherever Jalen Brown was and immediately start working on building the fence, because the fence was gone, and you had to rebuild the fence then at that point. And I think I still think it would have been maybe a little bit difficult, but you needed to start right of the way and you needed to kill any possible rumor after that of you're going to actually

trade your, you're going to start shopping him now. By the way, apologies to the Charlotte Hornets who I forgot when I was listing all the East teams that are chasing a top six spot next season, because I'm, my brain is adult and we're doing this like pretty instantly. I mentioned the first aid, and then I said Orlando Atlanta, Charlotte should be right in there, too. Like that's 11 teams chasing six top six seeds and the 10 plans. But like the East is,

“and then you have to drop off to Milwaukee, Chicago, Brooklyn, Washington. Wow, who the hell knows”

what's Washington is going to be like hell. Let's talk a little bit about Philly. I think I would actually rather have done nothing than the other two. I think nothing is a perfectly fine thing for the Celtics to have done. This is, this is not like if you're like we're selling high on Jalen Brown

noise you. This is not selling high. I mean, this is selling, this is just selling. It's not selling

high just selling. Can I ask you a question, when you say you'd rather done nothing like not enter the honest, we stakes at all, because that would have been my choice if that was the case. Yeah, because you know it's going to get out and you know that there's going to be ramifications.

“No, I think you have to enter it and maybe maybe I'd have to really think harder if I think winning”

it is, I think winning it is maybe better than this, but it, but it, it's, I think that path is more thorny, risky and limiting in the medium term future than maybe fans who are just getting when they see a superstar's name might realize speaking of superstars Philadelphia. Look, I mean, they have to be taken seriously now. Yeah. Here's their starting five. Maxi, Edgham, Jalen Brown, Dean Wade, baby, and Joel and Beat. And the bench is, it needs to be filled out.

They sign hook 40 is a backup five. They have Bona, they have Justin Edwards, they have LeBaron Fylon, who they just drafted. Dale and Terry is still here. I'm probably forgetting someone. Let me look at their death chart. Javari Walker, Dom Barlow, those guys are still here. The bench needs to be filled out a little bit. They have not, they, I believe they have the biennual exceptions still left in minimums. They use the mid level. I think on Dean Wade,

“most of it. So yeah, I think Tony Jones just reported it at the athletic that they will be in pursuit”

of one of the bronze James. Should be noted that Mike Gansy, the former Cavaliers GM, not only just pulled Dean Wade out of Cleveland, but is very familiar with LeBaron James and has a relationship with him. Obviously, I don't know how they get him. I don't know what the money is. I don't know the mechanics. If you can add LeBaron James to that group and start him over Dean Wade and put Dean Wade to the bench, that becomes a real team. I just, here's the

thing that's just unending. Joelle and Beat is never going to be healthy for a full season and

probably not for a full playoff run. It happened again this year. And I just think as good as Maxi and Brown and Edgecom are together, let's park LeBaron to the side and assume he goes somewhere else because the field has a better chance of the sixors. It just like it amounts to the same thing and amounted to this year, which is you might get 10 days in the playoffs of, hey, this is the team we envision. The Holy shit. It's good. We just knocked out a two-seat and then it all goes to Hell again.

And I admire them for taking a shot. Just literally yesterday, I joked about how I don't think about the sixors that much as an off-season team, because I just think they're in and Beat and Paul George Jale. Well, they just escaped Paul George Jale. And Jale and Brown's contract runs the exact same length as Joelle and Beat's contract. It's a natural reset time table. I like them going for it. I just, I have a heart, it's unimaginable to me that Embed will be

healthy enough for them to make a real legit title run at any time. But I mean, if the cost is one extra year of salary and seven years younger and way better in the NBA player hierarchy and two picks, you lose some optionality, still some clippers draft that's that's the backstop it.

“I think it's like, it's beyond an old brainer. It's a, my gansy can't even fucking believe”

that that this trade is actually being executed and called into the league office. Yeah, I think it's a massive win for them. I think this is one of those things where you look at where you're at. You got everything you said. You got significantly younger. You got the best player in the trade as well in the process. I think you know, when you look at the way they're set up to, you just got better defensively. And that's not, it just naturally, Paul George isn't the

defender that Brown is. And what Brown just did this whole, this whole past season was amazing.

And now you add that retirees maxi take in the league. Like the thing about the sixers that was so beautiful the season was, they made the transition from an MB team to a retirees maxi team. And now really, I look at them as maxi Brown edge comb in any, however order. And then in beat is what you get from him is the, the cherry on top. It does hurt them with their depth, their size. They got to start figuring out all that as they go through. But that's a great starting point.

It doesn't hurt your depth. They traded one player for one player. What I thought is a general, the lack of depth they had anyways. But just like, that's a great starting point to be at, right? I just talked about how hard it is for Boston to find the next guy. They just found their guy. Oh, the contract that most of us thought was untradable. By the way, we mentioned Mitchell Robinson, great signing for the Celtics

regardless, hurt hurts the next. And yeah, the east is a little bit of a cluster right now with teams getting better, getting, getting worse, doing weird things, doing crazy things. The next still said at the top. But that's a real old that they're going to have to fill somehow in a real weapon that they just like Mitchell Robinson was a hugely valuable part of their

with his offensive rebounding. And was became a really great defensive center in the paint.

And it hurts them even if it's only 12, 13 minutes a game or when cats and foul trouble 20 minutes a game. It hurts if they're going to figure it out. But now he's on the Celtics. Look, for the sixers, I just home run, no notes. I don't know. Is there anything else we didn't hit on this trade? I mean, this is intended to be like a short podcast. And I feel like we've hit pretty much anything except like I just can't believe. I just feel like the Celtics panic and acted too fast.

And I just can't believe know what else in the league stepped up to try to beat this. And I get to concerns about jail and brown salary. I get the general perception around the league that he's a little bit overrated. I get it. I just can't believe this is the trade. I'm remain in shock even as I understand again, the financial flexibility and trade flexibility that Boston has gained here and the long game that they're playing and how this could look very different in 24 months.

And it looks today. I get all of that. I still am just sitting here and disbelief that this is the

“trade. The other thing, too, for me, just kind of like, why couldn't they just take it a breath?”

And it doesn't even, they could have made this trade July 30, you know, or whatnot. Like that's that's more kind of, if you didn't like the offers you're coming in, just wait a little bit. Let free agency play out. Somebody's going to strike out. Somebody's going to want to do something. You know, I think they didn't even have to carry this into next season. But they could have carried this further into free agency and just waited it out a little bit. I don't know what the

upside was for making this trade on July 1. And I think that's kind of my, my big question. Why not just take over, couldn't have made it at the end of the month, like, just wait this thing out and see where you're at. Nobody was trading for Paul George. We're going to have to worry about losing, you know, Philly as an option in that scenario. I think that that might have been something maybe a little bit more prudent. I do think they panicked a bit and reacted a little

bit too quickly. Okay. This, we have a holiday weekend coming up. We have next week to to settle in and do more stuff. So I don't want to do the full thing now. I just want to do a few minutes. On the other major thing that happened today is that before lunch on East Coast time, the Los Angeles Wakers had a completely brand new team highlighted by a massive sign and trade

for Utah for Walker Kessler, who is making four years, $130 million total, 32 in

change a year and exchange Utah got two unprotected Lakers first round picks in a couple of swaps.

“And the Lakers have, I think, no control minus one swap of any first round draft asset through 23.”

They then filled out the roster with Colin Sexton on, let me bring it all up. So I get it exactly right. Two years, 19, Maumu three, four years of the player option about 12 and a half a year, Quinn Grimes four years, 60, and obviously Austin Reeves is brought back. Mo, you're, well, you know why I'll go first. I, again, we'll do the full Lakers autopsy next week. Here is my initial reactions to these moves. They look like a team that has next to no chance to beat the thunder

in the spurs in a playout series in the next two to three years and almost no outs at all to change their team other than maybe trading Austin Reeves in a year or two when this doesn't work. I'm not like, I don't think the moves are like horrendously bad. The Lakers were trapped in a situation of user-lews at cat space and a super star who was a year away from potentially, you know, trying to exert a lot of pressure or were able to exert even more pressure and they needed a center.

“This is an unbelievable reach for Walker Kessler, who I think is good, but is for this amount of”

money being paid like a proven all-star center, it's not a proven all-star center. I think he will look very good with Luca, his rim defense is legit. Scott, he improved his screen center and a rim runner, but I think there's something there. The rest of it is like sections and interesting bench guy, Grimes is an interesting bench guy. Like, I don't even know who the other two starters on the team are other than Reeves, Luca and Kessler. And then it's like the bench, or the

the combination of the fourth and fifth starter and the bench is like sexting Grimes is Mammu,

the starting power forward. The guy who could barely play in the first round of the playoffs.

Jared Vanderbilt is still here. Eight in his here is the backup center. Car, they just drafted. Like, they'll be good because Luca is that good and Reeves is a really good second banana and I think Kessler will fit well. I'm not saying the Lakers will be bad. They're going to be good. I just look at them. Like, I don't know how that is supposed to compete for like a western conference championship. Now in two years, in three years, like, Olivia is still here somewhere.

Maybe he's one of the starters and just to have that be the roster and be completely tapped

Maybe I'm just grossly underestimating the team, but that's my reaction. It's a little bit

nerve-wracking when you talk about the no-outs. They don't control any of their draft picks for the next seven years, right? Like, it's something like that, or they can't make any trades trade any draft picks for the next seven years is you're right about the no-outs situation. I'm a little bit

“higher on it, though, just because I think this is a team that makes more sense around Luca.”

No question. There's no question about that. And in losing LeBron, I think they had to kind of retool everything and figure out how this works. I'm with you in that. I don't think they have a chance now to beat the thunder or the spurs or on that level in that regard. I just also don't know what's out there that would have been. I think in the long run, I think we'll see a situation where Reeves goes out to bring somebody else in in the long run, but I think that's two or three

years down the road. I just think this is a team that makes more sense with the pieces. I like Mammoo. I know struggled in the playoffs and whatnot, but I think the ability to spread the floor. I think he starts at the power forward area, you know, Kessler, he barely played last season, but the year before showed a little more 3. shooting in terms of averaging about one and a half crazy game and things like that. But obviously, having the rim rolling and then the rim protection

from him goes a long way, I do worry about their perimeter defense still. I still think that's

“going to be a large concern. Because there isn't anybody. Yeah, there isn't anybody. I think that's”

where I'm kind of a little bit worried, but I think for the situation for what was available to them, I think this was the move they had to make. And I think part of it, too, was selling Luka on the vision of like, this is the plan. This is what we're going with. I also trust Mark Walters, who, you know, owns the Dodgers. He's competitive as hell is going to spend to put a winner out there. I know it's different in Major League Baseball versus the NBA and the the restrictions,

the second apron brings and everything that comes with it. But I think they're better off now than

where they were, you know, a week ago or once they found out LeBron's not going to be there, they at least have an understanding of this is our team. This is the vision. This is how we move forward. Now let's just see if they can execute in some way. I mean, they were a pretty goddamn good team last year when they had LeBron Reeves and Luka. And look, I mean, we could sit here and say, whose choice really is it that LeBron is not a Laker now? Is it LeBron's choice? Is it

the Laker's choice? They don't appear to have really made him an offer? What would the offer have had to have been financially to convince him to come back and how much with that have chiped away at their flexibility? So it's hard to sort of envision what that roster is versus what this roster is. But it's not like they were struggling with LeBron. This is going to be a good team. It does fit better around Luka. And to your point, what you're essentially asking me is

what are the other paths? What else could they have done assuming that Luka kind of had them

“over a barrel, which he does? And that's a fair point. What I would respond to is, I think you just”

go shorter on the deals for Grimes and Mamo. And the Kessler one, I don't know. I'd have to really go back and try to think of a team making this big of a bet on a player who has proven so little in like big scope terms in the NBA. There's not a huge sample of Walker Kessler playing really well. I mean, good. He was a rookie of the year candidate and all that. He's good. He's clearly good. There's just a huge sample of him playing really well in games that actually

matter for a team that's trying to win. Let alone good enough to make $32.5 million a year. Like how many centers are making more than Walker Kessler right now? It's a really short list. And and the two unprotected picks, which could be, you know, something goes haywire with Luka, all of a sudden Utah. I think that's a, I think Utah made out like a bandit in that trade. They have to figure out the center position. They've got Nurkish back. They've got Jackson Hayes back.

But I think they can now kind of play a little bit straddling two timelines pretty effectively. Pretty good now. Pretty good set up for later for the next move. Opens up maybe a starting spot. Maybe not. We'll see what happens with Ace Bailey. If he still comes

off the bench and all that, but I just, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to spend the weekend

watching Walker Kessler film specifically rim running film refresh my memory. Look at some numbers. Going to look a little bit more about how the rotation could shake out with grinds and sextant and who plays what role and sort of try to get a little bit better of what the vision is. But on its face, I just think given what they gave up, this is not a good enough team. But that's

No, I just want to echo the Utah did make out like a bandit. They didn't want to pay Walker Kessler

that much money. Obviously, and then they come back with these picks. And now they have a vault ready to go when they want to go, when they figure out what the team is and when they, when they see their whole team as a, you know, on the floor next season and figure out where the holes are. They have the ammunition to go build up and go, you know, go get the guys they want.

“I think it's going to be pretty interesting to see for Utah, like they did come out really great on this.”

I'm, I'm just excited to see what this looks like. And I think also the other element is Lucas, one of those point guards that's going to make your, your center look better.

Then he, he's an amazing, and he's an amazing Walker Kessler is one of the three four best offensive

rebounders in the NBA. And that's another massive, the important skill for all this sort of like

“they, we could call them Kobe assist if you want. Like Luca gets in the lane on the pick and roll”

misses Austin Reeves. And he could have missed some of those two's, but the roller is going to be open to put him back in and he's real good at that. And his rim defense is legitimately special. So I get the bet. It's just a huge, huge, huge bet. Okay, Mo, this time I mean it, you're not here for me again until the holiday weekend is over. Thank you to Mo to kill for scrambling. I made a move to come on

the podcast. Thank you, bud. You could always catch you on a double dribble podcast on Twitch on

Bleacher upward, on the off sides network, all that. Thank you to Mo. Thank you for to Jonathan Mike and Billy on production for scrambling late today. And thank you all for listening to Eandora watching the Zach Low Show. I mean it. We will be back after the holiday weekend NBA. Show the F out. A jail and brown straighted. The lakeers did some stuff. Thanks everybody. 21 over in president select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas star casino or 18 and

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