Giannis Finally Leaves Milwaukee and NFL Drops Hammer on Sorsby

Giannis Antetokounmpo is finally out of Milwaukee, and the first question isn’t “who won the headline?” It’s “who can actually build a real team after the dust settles?” We walk through the full Giannis trade fallout, including why the Bucks reportedly turned away a Celtics package built around Jaylen Brown and instead leaned into a down-to-the-studs rebuild with picks and young pieces from Miami.

From the Heat side, we’re honest about the tension: pairing Giannis with Bam Adebayo can anchor an elite defense, but the modern NBA doesn’t let you win on stops alone. Shooting, spacing, and depth decide playoff series, and Miami’s cupboard looks bare right after making the biggest superstar swing in years. We also get into Giannis’ leverage, why timing matters in star trade sagas, and what this move says about competing now versus choosing the lifestyle and long game.

Then we shift into draft night, focusing on the top picks and what it means when a fan base like the Chicago Bulls finally gets a high-leverage selection again. We also hit the Lakers’ money puzzle after Austin Reaves gets paid and the LeBron James decision looms, because roster construction is still the story behind every “big move.”

To close, we jump to the NFL and the Brendan Sorsby saga, including the league’s decision to skip the supplemental draft and the bigger conversation around sports betting, integrity of competition, and accountability when a player crosses the one line fans won’t forgive. After that we also talk about some recent NFL offseason headlines including Kyle Pitts getting a big extension. Subscribe, leave a five-star rating, and share your take: who actually set themselves up best for the next two years?

Transcript

Welcome Back And The Agenda

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to the JB Sports Podcast. Today is Wednesday, June 24th, and we are back for another pod. Um, it hasn't been two weeks since I've podcast. I did one early on last week. So we're in a good spot here. I'm doing one, another one in a second week in a row without any issue. So we should be very happy for that. And let's see here. I think I was kind of forced to, because even if I didn't want to, there's so many things happening that I wanted to talk about that it was kind of forced upon me. Just my own um sense of like uh inner inner want to just to pod. Because think about it this way is that one of the things I have to think about when it comes to this podcast is not wanting to talk about too many things too late after people stop caring about the things that I want to talk about, right? So there the all the NBA stuff that kind of rolled out early on this week with Giannis and with the NBA draft because I was pretty honestly, this is like the first NBA draft in I think uh like I think ever maybe possibly that I was truly like locked in on and actually watched like more than half of the first round. And I only did that because the Bulls had have had it's like their first real pick. I'm not gonna say first real pick, but it's like the first time that the Bulls having having the fourth pick overall like really have a chance to then there was four like players considered in this draft be to be considered like the dudes. So it was the first time in a while that as a Bulls fan that I think they're actually adding a a player of real consequence in the draft that other teams would want, if that makes sense. That definitely makes sense. So playing things I'm gonna talk about, and then on top of that, I want to talk about some NFL things, Brendan Soresby as well, because that saga has taken another turn that I want to get into. But before I get to any football, because think about it this way when I if I have Jace on the pod, which I haven't had to because I wasn't able to today, because his it's his girlfriend's birthday today, so he's kind of going out with her, making sure she has a good time, which is great for them. But I also think is really good for me too, because I really do want to talk about basketball stuff. And for the most part, if Jace isn't truly into any specific um what like any specific thing about the pod or about basketball, he doesn't want to hear talk about any of it. So this is my time to kind of come on here and without him just kind of sitting here snoozing along or yelling at me to go on to the next topic, I can start talking about a little bit of basketball and take my sweet old time doing so. So, without further ado, let me go ahead and stop all the rambling here and let's get into honestly the no it, I'm not gonna start with the honest trade. Let me get to the other trade first because it's not as important, and then I'll get to the honest trade. So, this was on Monday. Sorry to take a drink there. On Monday, it was kind of like Giannis Trade Watch for the most part, right? Because the news had came out the days before that that the Milwaukee Bucks kind of put their own internal clock on when they wanted to get the Giannis trade done because they wanted to be able to potentially use a pick on Tuesday's draft that they would be receiving on a player and just have the whole thing over with so they can kind of get to their future as to what they wanted to do. And in waiting for such trade to happen, there was a different trade that kind of went on and honestly really went under the radar for the most part. And I think that's mostly because not only is the trade not as big as Giannis getting finally getting moved from the uh Minnesota from sorry, not Minnesota, from the Milwaukee Bucks, but it's also more that the team all the teams involved in the players involved doesn't necessarily reach the same level of importance by comparison. So this is the trade that happened earlier on on Monday, not early

Bulls Involved In A Quiet Trade

SPEAKER_00 4:15

in the day, but it was like mid-midday, mid-to-late day on Monday. So this is a three-team trade between Minnesota Timberwolves, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Chicago Bulls. So Minnesota trades away Julius Randle and the 28th pick in the in this draft that is happening, that happened on Tuesday. They traded those two things away in order to receive the 33rd overall pick in this up in this draft that happened on Tuesday, and forward Moe gay Mo Gaggi from the Chicago Bulls. So they just wanted to salary dump Julius Randle off somebody else because I just think in general, the new ownership group for the Minnesota Timberwolves, um, I think because of all the salaries that they have, they're paying out on their squad, and all the power the salaries are they're paying out, and they have Io DeSunmu on their team that they traded for from the Bulls last season during the trade deadline. They're they're like, hey, we want to uh sign Io to a long-term deal, but we don't necessarily want to put ourselves into the sec to the first or second April when it comes to having that much salary going out. So they decided, hey, the Julius Randle, because it was news during last year that Julius Randle wasn't necessarily the best team guy when it comes to vibes, or um, he wasn't the most liked person on the team in general. And then but he but my thing is with that is that I think they really needed him as a player. But I th I think the the main focus for the Timberwolves was to be able to sign Ayodasunmu, who was a backup guard, to be able to help out Anthony Edwards and do it that way so all the ball handling is not all on his shoulders. But I think also they wanted to try to get cheaper and assert cheaper in a certain sense. So making this move of getting um Randall's contract off of their books is was like the perfect way to do it, especially if they felt like, hey, this team isn't gonna go out there and make any like is not gonna be a real contender next year in the in the West. So they decided, hey, make this move, get a little bit cheaper, be able to sign Io to Sunmu. And I think there was a little bit of news that the Minnesota Trimble Wolves was like one of the other teams that were trying to get in on the Giannis sweep stakes, which that was what I was thinking at the time when they got rid of Randall. Because I'm like, man, why are they clearing up this cap space? Are they trying to make room if they think they have a shot at getting Giannis? But the thing was is that by that point it was already pretty much the news is already out there that the teams that were the two teams that were like really battling it out for Giannis at the end, um, to just try to have the best deal possible for for the Milwaukee Bucks were Miami and the Celtics. So I it kind of it didn't really work out the way I was thinking about it, but it was just turned out to be a salary dump. Um and then Chicago the Chicago Bulls part, which I did, this is the reason why I cared about this trade as much as I did, was that the Bulls was able to get a center in Nick Claxton from the Nets, which is what the Bulls got out of this three-team trade, which I think for the Bulls, getting a real center in Nick Claxton, that kind of can kind of help out be a rim defender defensively, and then be able to help out with some rebounding. And I he also is a pretty decent guy at getting um at getting um what is the word I'm looking for? Assists. He got also can dish out some assists too from the center position. So that is the reason why I think the Bulls kind of made that move, especially if they have all that cap space. So there's not a lot of like there's not a lot of like big centers that are available to go sign. So trading for them is the best way to do it this time around because there's not a lot of like free agent centers out there to like go go ahead and sign. Honestly, there's not a lot of free agent big free agent players that are gonna make huge impacts on the teams that they go to in this time this time around in free agency. So trading for them is probably the best way to do so. So, and then Brooklyn, why they took Julius Reynolds because I think Julius Reynolds will be another good player to add to their team that I think will help them be a tad bit more competitive, even if I think Brooklyn is not necessarily trying to be the most competitive team out there. I think they're still in the hunt to try to find their superstar player to really like build their team around for the future. But I think they have a bunch of cap space on their books that they need to use on somebody. So getting a guy like Randall to come to that team is not only a draw to potentially get butts in seats, but I think also is making to make their team a tad bit more competitive, especially with the new rules when it comes to the anti-tanking rules coming up next year. So just being the worst team in the NBA is not enough. You have to actually try to be competitive. So with that being the case, the uh I understand why getting Randall was gonna be a decent move for them to try to at least try to act like they're gonna be at least a tad bit of a competitive basketball team, so they're not at the bottom of the league. So because again, being at the bottom three teams in the NBA record-wise doesn't actually get you a better chance of having the top pick um in the next in the next draft, right? So I understand why the Brooklyn Nets do it because they don't have all the money to spend anyway, and Randall will just kind of help them in those ways. Minnesota, like I said, I think was mostly a salary dump. They have now they have the money to get Iodasunu, which I think they signed him for, I think like $20 something million dollars a year. I think it was like a three or four-year deal. So they managed to be able to keep Ayodasunu, which I think had a very good uh playoff run, and I think he proved a lot that he can be another another ball handler to help out um Anthony Edwards. And I think they also get cheaper, so they're not gonna be in the apron apron process. But the thing is that I think getting rid of Randall, he is a big like a big defender on your team, another big body. And I think he also is very good at getting assists as well. He kind of helps your offense get moving, so not all of the the press, not all the pressure is gonna be on Anthony Edwards to like be the like the ball dominant distributor and like keep the offense move going through him. But again, I think that's what I would assume it was meant to do now, now that he kind of can eat up that role, even if I even if I think the defense for that Minnesota team now takes a major hit, because you don't have such a big body on the front line as Julius Randle was for that team. And I think that's it, man. I think that that trade, even though, like I said, it's not necessarily the biggest trade, and honestly, nobody like when I was doing all of the because again, when all the stuff happens, I kind of just go through different podcasts and like try to get like try to get gauge what the importance is for these moves from people that are actually in the know when it comes to the NBA. And honestly, nobody really gives this, gave this trade really a second look because of the Giannis stuff, and everybody's waiting for that news to come out, and it finally did for the Giannis trade. So once that happened, it took away all the oxygen of any chance of this trade being something that really matters in the long term. And um, again, it was the Bulls were involved, so that's why I was kind of a little bit more focused on it. But I think in general, this is a trade that I think is not gonna have the most major of impacts. But I do think that Minnesota's definitely take a step back next year, potentially defensively, because of it. I think that was the minute Minnesota what made them so dangerous was the fact that they had so much size on their team, and you had Anthony Edwards as more of like a closer to be able to go against some of the better teams in the West and like be able to be like, hey, we have a guy on our side that can be a closer and kind of finish off games for us. And again, it didn't work out for them last year against um the Spurs because let's be honest, Anthony Edwards was hurt, and then I think you know the Spurs were just kind of on their own run of um Victor Winbinyama figuring things out and kind of getting better as they go. And I think as that team in general, they're just a much deeper team than what Minnesota ended up being. But now the fact that they've traded away one of their better defensive pieces than one of the guys that added real size to that squad, um, that X factor that Minnesota has had over the last few years that made them such a hard out in the playoffs is is taken a whack at. But again, they are getting another ball handler in the soon move that they could potentially help their offense out. But I think their defense was the X factor that really kept them as a real X factor in the playoffs to have to for any of these top teams in the West to have to go through. But again, like I said, I think this is mostly a salary dump thing, so I think they kind of took that into account and was like, hey, we'd rather just be cheaper, so we don't have to be in the second the second the first or second apron, so they can just help out their team in the long term when it comes to money. So I don't think being the most competitive team was the first thing on their minds when they made this move to get rid of Randall. Um and that's pretty much all I have on that trade. Um, like I s you know, it is what it is on that. It was an interesting trade, but not necessarily the most uh long-lasting or um groundbreaking trade in general, in comparison to what I'm

Why The Giannis Saga Finally Ends

SPEAKER_00 13:25

about to talk about now with Giannis. Man, the news has finally happened. Everybody's been waiting. Let's be honest. We have been waiting as a NBA community. This has been the trade of Giannis getting out of Milwaukee that is really we've been talking about happening for the last two to three years. Because Milwaukee has kind of like went nowhere fast ever since they won their championship. I think they won their chip in 2021. When did Milwaukee Bucks win the championship? I think that was 2021. So yeah, so ever since 2021, that team has just gotten worse and worse over the years. Giannis has been more and more hurt over the years, especially like the last two years. And it like they had an aging roster to a certain extent, and then they tried to get rid of some of the guys and bring in others, and they try to bring in Dame, and that didn't really work out because Dame got injured at weird times, and then they got they got off of that. And it was just a I think it just became an every year ever after their championship of trying to find ways to retool that team when they really couldn't, and they kept trying to get young talent to try to like re-in reinvigorate the team, and every move that they made just really did not work out for them. And I think as Giannis was kind of like in his prime, and like we were thinking after they won their championships, like, hey, this team can be Giannis is coming up into the his prime years, and they can be a team that can be like a real contender from year in, year out. And it didn't really work out that way because not only the guys on their team just got old and it kind of got stale from there, but then moves they made after that, which Giannis to a certain extent made them do because he was trying to you know force them to like keep trying to be aggressive and make moves to try to keep themselves in championship contention. And then on top of like on top of that, the injuries and stuff too, and so for the last like two or three years or so, everybody's been waiting for Giannis to finally pull the ripcord and pull ri rip the band-aid off to a certain extent, and just ask for a trade, and he wouldn't do it. He kept trying to be the good guy, and he kept doing it in the in the in the dark of night, letting his letting agents do it, and it's like little whispers that Giannis would be potentially okay looking for a trade, but because of Giannis's lack of willingness to be the bad guy and like really just have the hard conversation, he decided he wanted to be the good guy, and I think that gave Milwaukee more opportunities to think that they could change his mind over and over and over again, rather than because let's be honest, if there's if Giannis is not going to give you the like the for sure I'm done here and willing to have that hard conversation, Milwaukee has more like plenty of opportunities to believe that oh, he's still not all the way in on it, we can change his mind, and I think that has only kind of dragged this out in a way that I think has kind of screwed over everybody in this process. I think everybody is worse off now because Giannis didn't make the decision to have the hard conversation sooner. I really do think so. And now that this this deal has kind of come to fruition, it's finally happened. I like I do think Milwaukee kind of got like a lot of stuff in this trade. But I think if they would have made this trade two or three years ago, I think they could have gotten so much more because Giannis would still be in his 20s, in his in his late 20s, kind of in the middle of his prime. He would not be as injured as he is now when they're getting rid of him, and I think that the team that be that would be getting him wouldn't have to necessarily give him an extension right away. So I think that would be a a part of the of the trade process that a team receiving him wouldn't necessarily have to deal with because they would have control over Giannis for multiple years before they would have to re-up on his contract again. But because of all of this dragging out that Giannis has done because he is his lack of wanting to be the bad guy, I think it screwed, I honestly think it screwed Giannis up, and I think it screwed over the teams that would potentially want him up too. Because think about it this way: the the fact that this trade for Giannis came down to only two squads. Though those the the two squads were the Celtics and the Miami Heat, were the last two, those are the ones that Giannis finally decided, after he finally decided to be the bad guy and really want to rip the band-aid off. He made it very clear that these are the two teams, these were the only two teams that he would sign an extension with. Because let's be honest, if you're in a trade for a star player like this, the doing doing it like Toronto did, where they traded for Kawhi without actually knowing if you would sign a long-term extension with them, is a very few and far between because of the amount of assets you have to give up to get a guy a player like that. Most teams would like to be able to say that they're not making a trade with giving up that much for a guy, and him not be able to be willing to commit to them long term and say that he'd be willing to sign a contract extension with them. So needing Giannis to say that, hey, I'll sign the contract extension and I and I'll be willing to be there for long term is like one of like the main things for whatever team was going to try to trade for him. And Giannis finally made it clear that he was he wanted to get traded by the Milwaukee Bucks, and it really forced their hand into actually having to make make the trade happen. But then him saying that, hey, the two teams that I'll be willing to go to are Milwaukee, I mean, sorry, are the Celtics and the Heat. And I think also the news came out that maybe he'd be willing to go to Minnesota, but apparently that just that trade never got any traction when it comes to what Minnesota's willing to give up for him. So Minnesota was kind of like the third team out, the the third last team out, and they were kind of out in the whole process, kind of came down to the final two in Boston and Miami. And then so the news came out those are the two teams trying to go after it, and the let me get to the trade first, and then I'll talk talk about all the sides of the trades. So, no, sorry, not the trade itself. These the this is what

Celtics Offer And Jalen Brown Fallout

SPEAKER_00 20:00

sorry, I'm just trying to decide in the moment how I want to do this. So let's just do this the first team out, right? So the team that lost out on getting Giannis in this trade was the Boston Celtics. Their trade that they were willing to give up for Giannis was Jalen Brown, a still in his prime superstar player that proved last year that he can be the best player on a team. That I think they were number two in the East. I think he was their main guy. He was the he was the guy that kind of kept their team afloat without Jason Tatum, who was gone most of the year with the with the recovering from the Achilles tear that he had gotten in the playoffs the year before. Okay. Jalen Brown had I think he is like top five in MVP voting. He had a great year. He scored his scoring went up, his defense went up. Like he is still a very, and he was rarely hurt. He's still a very like durable player at this point in his career, and he's still in the middle of his prime. He's 28, 29 years old. So Jalen Brown, him, and then they want to get two first-round picks in order to get Giannis. That trade was kind of like much different than Miami's in a way that if Milwaukee were to have picked the Celtics, they would have gotten a superstar player back that I think they could have built around to be like their superstar player for years to come. And this trade was actually quite, even though it didn't happen, I think it'll have real impact long term because this is now the second time that the Celtics have tried to include Jalen Brown in in a trade for a different superstar player. And I don't think that Jalen Brown's gonna take that lightly. I think he's gonna take that as a sign that he he should be out of there. And I think in general that because he was included on in another trade and it didn't work out, I think this is that was like the last straw. And I do think that Jalen Brown's probably gonna end up on a different team before the season starts. I really do think so. Because I'm understanding you're like. After Jalen Brown did what he did. And again, I know Jalen Brown hurt himself in a lot of ways by talking after they had gotten outed in the playoffs, where they were they were up 3-1 and lost to um the 76ers. And then Jalen Brown comes out on his own podcast and talks about how he this was his favorite year. And it kind of like insinuates that this is his favorite year because he was able to be the superstar player without Jason Tatum around. And I feel like he's taken hits hits to his own credibility for that team by saying some of the things that he has said. Okay. Whether right, wrong, or indifferent, I just think that's the truth. Okay. And then not only that is the fact that he wants to go back and forth with the media, and it's just very obvious that there is like some real tension between him and the front office for the Boston Celtics. And now with the Celtics willing to move on from him in order to try to go obtain Giannis, I feel like that's gonna be a kind of like a cataclysmic, not a cataclysmic, because I do think they'll survive from this, but I do think it's gonna make force Boston to have to move on from him, even if because let's be honest, what other player that's better than him are you gonna be trading for and actually be able to get that in return? I'm like the Boston Boston trying to go after Giannis makes sense because he adds real size of their team, he adds a real defensive monster to their team, and I think he also kind of makes he's like a much different player than what they usually have bit like have on their squad. Usually it's Jason Tatum, it's Jalen Brown kind of being the the Swiss Army knives when it comes to how they play, and then you have a bunch of three-point shooters around, right? They're all played relatively good defense and all that, but I think if they really want to change their team, they felt like what they were doing wasn't working. Adding a guy like Giannis is going to be able to add a player that most people would say is still better than Jalen Brown at this point. Even if Giannis is older, he's more injured. I just think that in as a defender, he's better because he's just a much different archetype. Um, all those things might be true, but I also think Jalen Brown looks at the situation and says, hey, I was in the MVP voting last year, and Giannis leading his own team hasn't done anything close to what I did last year with the Boston Celtics. So I like I would totally understand Jalen Brown thinking, like, hey, I have been a better player over the last two years. Why are you trying to get rid of me for him? So I think Jalen Brown's gonna end up on a different team, and I think that there is not gonna be another player of like in the same ballpark as Giannis for them to trade Jalen Brown for. So now they're gonna have to move him for maybe less than what they would like to. But I just think that going like there's some people that are talking about, hey, you just need to have a hard conversation with Jalen Brown and hope that he's willing to forgive and forget and just let water go up, like let it be water under the bridge. And I'm like, what about Jalen Brown has made you believe he is a guy that's just gonna forgive and forget? He's been a guy that's more than happy to talk and will and more than willing to go back and forth and make his his feelings known. He is not a guy, like he at least he hasn't been proven to be a guy as of recently that's gonna be a guy that's just willing to take that on the chin and just accept it and move on to say, oh, it's it's okay. There's nothing about Jalen Brown recently that has shown you that's the case. Maybe the fact that he got over it the first time when they were trying to trade him for Kevin Durant, he got over it and he played nice. But I'm just like, there's nothing to show you now that he's gonna be willing to make that same decision with the Boston Celtics. Especially after you had for you last year, in where he's an MVP candidate, he gets you number two seed, and he was the guy that kept your team afloat without Jason Tatum, uh Jason Jason Tatum there. So I just think that all in all, the Celtics not getting Giannis is gonna have huge impact on their team going forward. And I think they're gonna be forced to get rid of Jalen Brown for lesser parts than what they would have gotten if they would have made the Giannis trade happen. And I think the main apparently the main thing was that the why Milwaukee didn't choose this trade was that first of all, they felt like if they were to trade for Jalen Brown, they'd be in the same spot over again. That they feel like they have a superstar player that may not want to be there and that wants to be more competitive. And if Milwaukee's not ready to be super competitive right now, and they if they get get Jalen Browning on their roster and they feel like they can't build around him quick enough, that they're gonna be in the same spot next year when he's asking for a trade. He's he's gonna be a guy asking for a trade to get out of there as well. So that's reason one, and then reason two, they felt like they wanted more young uh talent from that from that um that Boston Celtics team. And let me see. Um players uh Milwaukee. Milwaukee. What was it? Celtics. I'm forgetting the player's name, which is why I'm looking it up. They wanted Baylor Shireman and Hugo Gonzalez. Like those are two younger players that are three-point shooters that are relatively good defensive pieces for the Celtics that the that Milwaukee wanted a part of this trade on top of the picks um and pick swaps that the the two picks, and I think a pick swap that the Celtics were willing to give them. And the Celtics are like, no, and I understand them not being willing to like get rid of some of their younger talent, too, because I think the Celtics in making this trade, one of their main goals was to add Giannis, but then also keep themselves in championship contention and still have the deep roster that they kind of were dealing with last year. Because again, the the Celtics' problem was not the fact that they didn't have like a they they were a well, I'm not saying they were as um as deep as a team like OKC, where they had 10, 11, 12 guys that they were really using on a night and night out basis to during the regular season. But I think they had a team that had a bunch of dudes on the bench that they feel like they knew what they were getting out of them and were three-point shooters and that really fit their team, right? So getting Giannis and adding him to that team while giving away Jalen Brown, they felt like they still wanted to be competitive on the back end and be able to get Giannis and then be able to say, hey, we have now upgraded from Jalen Brown to Giannis onto the Kumpo, and he is gonna make us a real championship contender next year without us having to do anything else. And I feel like if you give away a few of those pieces that you have on your roster, I do think they probably should have been more flexible in being willing to give that up because again, this move is gonna force you to get rid of Jalen Brown no matter what, anyway. So now you're gonna have to take a lesser deal because of the back, the um, because of what Jalen Brown's gonna be probably gonna feel. Again, maybe there's room to be like, hey, Jalen Brown does forgive and forget, but I'm just not gonna be a guy that's gonna believe that until I see it. But I just think that if you're willing to potentially blow your spot up in including Jalen Brown in another trade, then you have to be more aggressive and be willing to give up a little bit more to make the trade happen. So you don't have to deal with this on the back end now that and like you do right now, without Giannis being a guy that's gonna be on your roster net next season. But again, at the same time, I do understand the fact they still want to be competitive on the back end and getting rid of some of those young players that were on your roster that really felt like they were adding real additives to what you were last year were a little bit too far for them, and I feel like they were being a tad bit more conservative than they probably should have been for Giannis. But I understand what they wanted to do because I think by comparison, when you compared what they were willing to go up to what Milwaukee accepted from the Miami Heat, were two very different trades, right? Because Miami did not have one player that matched what Giannis was going to be on the basketball court, right? I think like again, even in this trade, there was still even in the Celtics trade, there was still gonna be a little bit of a fall off by by comparison. Because most people do think that Giannis is a better player than Jalen Brown, even if Jalen Brown's a younger, more durable player. But it's still very close in what the caliber of player that they are, right? There's there these two, like Giannis is a top five player, and then Jalen Brown's a top 10-15 player. That's still very that's still very close by comparison, especially when you compare that to the Miami deal, where with them not including Bam in the trade at all, he was not going to be involved whatsoever in the trade. Miami's the trade that they the what they were willing to give up in order to get um Giannis and what managed to work, what Milwaukee accepted for Giannis was a lot different of a trade. So this trade that Miami was able to give to what Miami gave was closer to like the closer to what the Knicks memory um I'm not sure what the exact deal was, but when the Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony, the trade that happened kind of felt like they left their own cupboard bear in order to get us get a superstar player, right? They kind of emptied out everything, they gave away all the picks, they gave away all like the better players on their roster, and they really kind of left the cupboard bear for what Carmelo was coming into because they had to give up so much to get him. And I do think you kind of put that on Carmelo because Carmelo wasn't actually trying to make sure that there was a competitive team on the back end for him to actually be a competitive on a competitive team for years after that. So I think that this trade that managed to go for you through for Giannis is very similar to that. So let me get to the let me actually talk about this trade

Miami Wins The Giannis Sweepstakes

SPEAKER_00 31:50

with me have having talked about this for long enough. Um so the trade that actually went through for Giannis. So that in this trade, Miami is going to receive Giannis, obviously, and Bobby Portis, which is a another big defensive piece that also gives you a little bit of shooting. In compare um, in exchange for this is what Milwaukee's receiving from Miami, Tyler Hero, Kellel Ware, who's a young player that's a center that is honestly has a bright future, but the people worry about his motor and like what he can, you know, translating his skills to like actual play on the basketball court. Um Jaime Hawkes Jr., who was a guy that was in the running for sixth man of the year. You have Kasparas Yachionas, I believe is his name. Another um younger player that is like a like a bigger guard. Um he's like a distributor type of that type of player, but he's not a guy that's like a big shooter and all that. It's really going to help out your squad that way. But again, it's another young young player that you potentially like have in your squad long term. And then along with that, three first round picks, which included the number 13 pick in the uh draft that happened yesterday, and then unprotected pr picks in 2020 2031 and 2033. Again, English is so hard sometimes. And then also a second round pick in the 2023 draft. So this trade that Milwaukee accepted was a trade that gave them a bunch of pieces, with Tyler Hero being the best player that they received in that trade, right? Again, Tyler Hero, nowhere near what Giannis or Bob. I think maybe Tyler Hero is a better player than Bobby Port is, but it's really just depends on what your flavor is for what kind of player that you want. Um, but so Tyler Hero was the best player that Milwaukee received back in that trade. Okay. I think Tyler Hero is a guy that maybe they can just maybe Milwaukee would want to keep him there long term. He is from the Milwaukee area, so I think he would be a player that'd be willing to be there long term and maybe get some big money from them to stay and like kind of put butts in seats if Milwaukee wanted to go that route. Or they can trade Tyler Hero to maybe the Detroit Pistons, who needs a scorer and a ball handler to help out with that team, and maybe they can get more for Tyler Hero by trading him then again and getting more assets to kind of help their rebuild uh for the next few years. So they have options there. Killelware is going to be a young center that they think they can help, and as long as he develops and does what he needs to do, can be a really good player for them in the future. Jamehawk is Jr. and Kasparos Yock Jonas is a young or two young uh Hameyakis is a little bit, he's like a veteran player that I think is going to be a good piece for them if they want to have them come off the bench. Um Kasparas is going to be a guy that's going to be like a hopefully he can develop and kind of help them out. But again, on top of all those players, they now have the three first round picks that they got. They used the 13th pick um in last night's draft on Nate Amnent from um Tennessee, a 6'10 forward who I think has some real upside as a player that can be a good player in the future for them. So that is the main trade that they manage. That is all the main pieces that the Milwaukee Bucks received from um Miami Heat in order to make this trade happen. So I want to talk about this from three different aspects, and I kind of have to a certain extent, but I want to like get into the nitty-gritty. Um, I want to talk about this from the Miami Heat side, the Milwaukee side, and then I want to talk about this from Giannis's perspective too, which I kind of gave already, but I want to kind of put a bow on that. So I'll get to the honest part last. I'll let that one be the last one I go. So from the Milwaukee Heat, I mean sorry, the Milwaukee

Bucks Choose Picks Over A Star

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Bucks aspect. Milwaukee chose, instead of getting a player of closer to equal value in Jalen Brown from the Celtics, they decided that they were going to try to tear this thing down to the studs, restart, and then have to re really rebuild this team from the ground up with the pieces that they have gotten from the Miami Heat when it comes to players on the court, whether they want to keep them or not, Tyler Hero and all of them, what who knows what they want to do with that, or just kind of like trade those away for more assets in the future when it comes to draft piece, draft picks and all that. Um, and then the pet picks that they gotten and all that. So all of this has kind of shown that Milwaukee Bucks are trying to take this down to the studs. I think for what where they were at, this is the better, this is probably the better trade if they wanted to. I think the two the two trades that were options for them. One was if they wanted to take Jalen Brown trade, I think that was a trade that they would have taken to try to be as good as they possibly can be fastest, right? Because I think Jalen Brown being the main guy on your team, I think just says they still want to be trying to be comp as competitive as possible by having a top 10, top 15 player in Jalen Brown. I think top 10 at this point, because he was a top five in the MVP race last year. So having a top 10 player in Jalen Brown, I think, will help them be competitive as fast as possible. But I think in this taking this trade from the Miami Heat, they decided they wanted to really rebuild this thing from the studs the right way. Not there's the wrong way to do it, but if you're gonna redo it, redo it all from the bottom up to try to make sure you're not like this is like the way you want to do it, right? So they decided they want to do that. And they have a bunch of trade assets, and with what options they were given, I think this is probably the better trade. If they thought the Jalen Brown thing wasn't gonna be able to like last long term and he'll be willing to willing to stay there, I think this is the better trade for them if that was what their issue was with Jalen Brown. And with that, they have a bunch of pieces now they don't know what to do with. And I think with that being the case, is that they're going to use all this and potentially try to build a team up for the next two to three years, and maybe they can suck enough to get a top draft pick in the next draft or two to try to get them their next superstar. And with that being the case, I feel like in a team like Milwaukee, that is the way they're gonna have to do it because Milwaukee is never gonna be a big free agent destination. There's not gonna be a superstar player that's gonna like pop up and say, Hey, I want to go to Milwaukee, right? And now that you've gotten rid of your literally your best player that you've had in a very long time, I think he's probably the best player they've had in the Milwaukee Bucks uniform. Even though I think, what is it, Krima Buljabar was a was a buck, I think. Am I crazy? No, I'm right on that, right? I I again in recent times, Giannis is the best player that they've had in it in their uniform. And now that you've gotten rid of that legendary player, you're now gonna have to go find your next one because they're not gonna be nobody's just gonna come to you willingly. You're gonna have to build from the ground up. So, with them doing that, I think this is the best way to do so. And again, do I think Milwaukee and their heart of hearts really wanted to get rid of Giannis? No. I think that if Giannis was willing to go any farther in not being the bad guy and not willing to really rip the band aid off, I think Milwaukee was going to hold on to him for as long as humanly possible and hope. I think the last straw was Milwaukee um was Giannis not being willing to sign the Supermax extension in order to stay there. I think that was like the last straw because that proved that he was finally willing to rip that band aid. So with that being the case, I think they made the best of what they had, and I think that they're now gonna be a team, a smaller market team again, that's gonna be looking for their superstar player, their next superstar player. And it's who knows whether it's gonna work out or not because of how much harder the draft is and all of that, and like all of the newer, the new rules when it comes to tanking and all that. So I feel like it's it's a lot harder to do so now. But I feel like with once Giannis Society wanted to get out of there, this is their only way to really get that done. So from Milwaukee with what they were given, I think they made a relatively they got they got relatively I'm not saying they got a great trade, but I feel like they got what they could, and I feel like that was pretty much all they can do, man. Because again, once once a superstar player decides they want to go, you kind of lose all your leverage after that, and I feel like that was pretty much what happened to them, and there's nothing they can do about it, right? So hopefully they can find the next superstar to kind of get them back up to prominence once again in the East. But until then, I think Milwaukee's gonna be a team that's gonna be middling for a while and trying to, you know, build it up from the ground up. So Milwaukee, they made the best what their situation was, and I I do feel for the fact that um a player like that is is very rare for a market like that. So I get the idea that they were so dead set on keeping him until he made it in untenable. So it is I don't know. Um would I have taken the the sense the trade from the Celtics? I think I again I I but I understand the idea that if they traded for Jalen Brown and he decided he was willing to he didn't want to stay there long term, they would have to be trading away another potential superstar player. Again, maybe you'd have more assets on the backing because I think trading Jalen Brown with the couple first-round picks they would have gotten, and then traded Jalen Brown again, they probably gotten a couple more first-round picks, and they would have even more first-round picks in general just to kind of like help their rebuild. But I feel like that adds in the heart potential heartbreak that they may not have wanted to deal with in the first place if Jalen Brown was gonna have to give them a no, and I think that that was probably part of it too. So now let's get

Heat Get A Superstar And Empty Out

SPEAKER_00 41:45

to the Miami Heat side of this. Um, Miami Heat now has their next superstar. I think Miami Heat, the Miami have been a team that has been superstar-driven for a long time. I feel like after the Heatles with LeBron and Chris Brosh and Dra and Dwayne Wade, they then went to the Jimmy Butler kind of version of their team, Jimmy and Bam Atabayou, and they did with the best what they could with those two very good players, if not superstars, and then a bunch of role players that kind of were well coached and knew what they were doing and were tough on defense. They did what they could. They got to two finals. I think that two finals with Jimmy Butler. I think so. One or two? How many finals did the Miami? Um were they in with? I think they were in two. They reached two with Jimmy Butler being their best player. And that was in 2020 when they lost to the Lakers, and in 2023, when they lost to the Nuggets. So they reached two finals with Jimmy Butler being their best player, and I feel like they really overachieved during that time. But other than that time, I think Miami has been a team that's really tried to rely on having superstar players from other teams, and they have now have their most recent version of that by getting Giannis onto Tacumpo. And this is probably like Pat Riley's like last hurrah in getting a superstar player because Pat Riley is like 80. I think in his late 80s, right? I think he's in his late 80s. No, early 80s, 81. Honestly, it kind of he kind of seems older when you hear him talk at times. I don't know. Um, so he's a little bit older of a GM slash like head of the basketball team. Um, but and he's kind of been like swinging and missing over the years and getting superstar players. They try to get Ja at one point when Jaw was still considered a great player and they couldn't make it happen. They try to get um what other players? They were trying to get. They tried to get um who was the other players they tried to get. I'm forgetting I'm forgetting the other players they tried. So there were plenty plenty of superstar players they tried to go and get swung and miss and didn't work out. And they've been trying to do this for a while now, and especially ever since Jimmy left, and it just hasn't worked out. And finally they've made it happen. But I think in doing that, they kind of left their cupboard very bare. And I feel like they had to be a lot more desperate than the Celtics were in um when they were kind of coming down to it, and those two teams were going after having the best offer for um Giannis, they were the more desperate team, and it looked like that with what they gave up. They left their team bare. They literally have no literally the only three teams, three the only there's only like three or four players on their roster that are actually signed. Bam, who was already there, Giannis, who they just traded for, and they think they're gonna give them a long-term extension. Bobby Portis, who they also also traded for in that same trade. And then they have Killelware, not Killelware, um, who are the other players that are um I mean players on roster now. After Giannis trade. So the players they have on their roster right now, um, like I said, Giannis, Bam, and Davion Mitchell, and and Bobby Portis. Those are the only players that are truly on their on their like on the books on their roster now, right? Andrew Wiggins is on a player option that I don't think they actually want him to sign because I think they don't they have like 22 million total to use on trying to fill out the rest of their roster based off of their their cap constraints. And then uh Norman Powell is also a player that they would love to keep, but I just don't think they he's gonna be willing to take the discount in order for them to keep him, especially with other teams being willing to line up to give him more money than what Miami would be willing to give him. I don't think Norman Powell's gonna be there. So now they have like four or five players locked up on their roster, and now they have to try to rebuild what they have left of their bench, which they don't have one, so now they've got to rebuild that one from scratch without having really any money to spend on getting those players. And what that leads to is I think they have their superstar, but now they're gonna have to take the next year plus to try to rebuild that team from the ground up to actually be able to contend with Giannis as their player, as their superstar. And the the problem with that is that now that Giannis is, what is he, 31 years old? Let me see. Giannis age. I think he's 31 years old. So he's 31. Um, he'll be 32 in December, so he'll be 32 during the season. He's been more hurt over the last couple years, so who knows whether he's actually gonna be able to be durable like he was at he probably won't be at like as durable as he was three, four years ago before he started getting all these injuries. And now you're gonna waste another year of what's left of this guy's prime to try to rebuild this team because there's no way this team is gonna be able to contend next season based off of having to refill what they have left that team with the money that they have left. Like they just they just don't have it, and they don't have the shooting that necessary to help um with because again, this team's gonna be very good defensively with with Giannis and BAM as your frontline defenders. That they're gonna be really good defensively, but the problem is that in the regular season, you're not gonna be able to win, you're not gonna be able to win the game 66 to 60 like you were able to 30, 40 years ago defensively. Like right now, scoring is what you need, and shooting is even more important, and you don't have any shooting. Like, um let's see here. Like, Davion Mitchell is a a good guard, but he's not a starter, and he can shoot, but he's not really all that consistent. And like I said, he's not a starting point guard, he's more of a backup, but they're gonna have to have him be a starter this year because they have nobody else. Andrew Wiggins, if they can keep him, and if he can like he can decline his player option and kind of resign for a bigger amount of money total, but they'd have to spread that out over two years to make it happen. But if they keep Andrew Wiggins, he's a shooter, but he's not really a lockdown, like lighted up type of shooter. And he's a really good defensive player at his age, but he's not necessarily a guy, like that's not enough shooting for that team to really make use of what you have in BAM and Giannis, right? So they're gonna have to take upwards of probably this whole next season, the trade deadline and all that, and then you have to go through another free agency cycle in order to build this team up to a point where they're actually going to be able to contend with Giannis as their superstar player. And again, I get it. He you have your superstar now, you have you have a hope for the future, but the problem is that you don't have nearly if this trade would have happened three, two or three years ago, like everybody's been looking forward for the Giannis trade to happen, then I understand because you have more of a more of a um a landing, like kind of like a um what is the word I'm looking looking for? Um you have more room to land the plane, like you have more years to figure it out. But now this with them making this trade right now, you have less years to make this happen with Giannis being a little bit older than a little bit older of a player, a little bit more hurt of a player than what he's been over the last couple years. So I just feel like making this move is just not as clean of a way to make sure, like, hey, you're gonna be contenders at some point. Again, you're wasting another year of Giannis's prime that he has left. And that's the part, like if you're gonna make a trade like this, you have like a championship has to be the first thing on your mind. I just am not sure of wasting a year to make that happen is not necessarily the way they wanted to do things. But again, Miami was a lot more desperate to get a superstar player on their roster in Giannis, and they made it happen. So again, I'm not sitting here saying that they should be mad and like they should be like again, they should be very happy about the Giannis trade. I don't think they should be disappointed whatsoever. But I just feel like if you talk to a Miami Heat fan, I feel like even they know basketball well enough to be like, hey, we're like we have a superstar player, but we're not contenders right away. Like with Giannis, are they better? Are they better than um than the the Knicks? No. Are they better than um than Detroit? No. Are they better than what sort of who are the other teams looking for? Are they better than the Celtics? No. Especially if they keep Jalen Brown. Are they better than let's see, are they better than like um who were the top teams in the East last year? See, I'm not really great at remembering these things off the top of my head. Um Eastern Conference standings. Are they better than the Knicks? No. Are they better than the Cavs? No. Are they better than the Celtics? No. Are you better than the Pistons? I don't think so, especially if they add another ball-centric guard to help out Cade Cunningham. I don't think they will be better than them. And then now you're talking about are you better are they better than the Raptors, the Hawks, and the Sixers in the Magic? Like they're in the now that now they're in that like next four teams range of what they can be as a team. And I'm not totally like, are they better than the Magic? I'm not sure. I think the Magic is a deep a deeper team than what the Heat are right now. The Hawks, I feel like they were a team that got hot late last year, and now they're gonna have to try to like retool to help that team out. Um, I'm not even sure they're better than the Sixers. If the Sixers are back to full health and they can get a closer to healthy um Joel Embiid. I'm not I'm not sure you're gonna really gonna get that again, but like if Joel Embiid's playing out there, I don't think they're better than the Sixers. So now they get Giannis, a superstar player, a top five player, and now you're gonna be you're battling for barely getting into the playoffs next season. So I'm just sitting like that's where I think that because of Giannis's lack of being willing to be the bad guy, I think it screwed over the Miami Heat and whatever other teams would have had a chance to get him if he made that decision earlier. I think that was where Giannis has to own some of that accountability to a certain extent. And again, I think Miami, Miami fans should be happy they finally have their superstar, but I'm just not sure if whether how they're gonna make that make good on having a player of that caliber. I just don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon. And there's gonna be a lot of building from now to then. Who and who knows what changes happen between them when it comes to injuries and age and health of Giannis. So, and so the Miami, I totally understand they made a great trade for them, they got their have their superstar now, but it's I'm not sure what it's gonna be long term. And then let me get to the Giannis part of this, right? If I'm Giannis,

Giannis Choices And The Cost

SPEAKER_00 53:30

I'm not sure why if Giannis's main point is wanting to be on a more competitive basketball team. I don't think he truly got that by going to Miami. I think he has a better running mate in BAM. I think BAM is a top 20 player, so I think he has a better running mate, but I'm not sure if they they have a team that's going to be able to give him any better of a chance to compete next year than what he would have been if he would have stayed on Milwaukee. And again, maybe you can give more credit to the fact that Miami is a lot better at developing talent that maybe isn't the most talented. Maybe that's the point. They do have a top, a top coach in all of uh basketball, and why am I forgetting his name? He head coach. Eric Spoolstra. They have one of the best coaches in the NBA in Eric Spoolstra. So I think they're gonna have a little uh there's gonna be a coaching bump there, and I think they are really good at developing young talent, but I'm just not sure if they're gonna have even have good a good way to even get young talent on their team with the lack of money and all that that they all the different issues they have with their roster now with how much they're paying two players in Giannis and in Bam. Heck, between those two players, they're giving they're giving up a hundred million on two guys. So I'm a sitting you're like, if you're Giannis, I'm not sure why if I was Giannis, I would have forced my way to go into the Celtics. I would have told the Milwaukee Bucks that, hey, there's only one team that I'm willing to give a willing to sign a long-term extension for, and that is gonna be the Boston Celtics. I really do think so. If the main goal was to just be be as competitive as possible next season. But who knows? Maybe maybe the idea of being able to live in Miami, no state tax, a lot nicer weather, maybe that was more important to Giannis than what we would all like to think. Maybe this move wasn't all about being as competitive as possible from day one, right? But if being competitive day one was the was was the main thing, then the Celtics would have been the move. And I would have, if I would have, if I were y'all, like I said before, if I was Giannis, I would have just forced my way there. But he didn't. He left Miami on the table, and because of that, they let they he let those two teams fight it out, and Miami won the trade. And this all goes back to Giannis' main fault in this whole saga, the Giannis um movement saga, being traded saga. This was Giannis's main issue. His issue was that he was never he never wanted to be the bad guy, he never wanted to be the guy that disappointed the city of Milwaukee, and because of that, he could have made this trade happen years ago. And he could have had more of his own prime to be able to go out and try to win as much as possible and not have wasted these last couple years, and now he's gonna be on a team that's not gonna be able to is going to be wasting another year of his prime. And that's on Giannis. Like that that is all on him, and I feel like you like he has to own that part of it because now there's gonna be a big what-of on his career is that if he would have just made that change sooner and being willing to be that bad guy sooner, could he have been a guy on a championship winning squad already these last couple years? Because let's be honest, over the last eight, nine years now, it has been a different championship winner every single year. It has been more random. The parody is so much more rampant than it ever has been. And if you're Giannis and you're a top five player in the NBA, which he for sure is, him going to a better squad a couple years ago when he's still in the middle of his prime and he's in his late 20s rather than early 30s now, he could have gotten a second championship by now. But he had his own hand in wasting m many, like a few precious years years of his own prime, and that's the part that I think he has to own more than anything. And then now, even in the final moments where he had his chance to really force his way to wherever he wanted, because if he, like I said before, if he would have just told the Heat that I I'm not willing to sign a long-term extension there, the Celtics would have been the only option, and they would have been forced to accept that trade that this the Celtics offered. And he didn't do that, and I think that's why it makes me think that being a championship contender from day one wasn't his only goal. I feel like the fact of being in a place in Miami, in Florida, no state tax, nicer weather, all of that I feel like was a little bit more attractive to him than we would all like to think. And I don't know, man. Maybe, maybe they'll end up winning a championship at some point and making make it all work out. But I am not sold that he is in a much different spot now than he was with the Milwaukee Bucks the last couple years. Maybe in a year or so, there that'll be a different, I'll be saying something very different. But as of right now, I just don't think he's gonna be doing much more winning than he has done with the Milwaukee Bucks the last two years. And that's the part that I think is the most disappointing. I really do think so. Because not only did he not go to the more competitive team that he could have been on from day one, but I feel like now you're gonna be waiting another year to even see Giannis in another like game of real magnitude because the team around him is just isn't good enough. Not right now, it isn't. And I just don't have a lot of faith that they're gonna be able to fill out that roster with enough depth in order to face off against the best teams in the East that they're gonna have to go through in order to get to even get to a finals again, let alone get to an Eastern Conference Finals. So to get through the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the finals. So with all that being the case, I'm just a little bit, it's almost like this, as long as this thing has been going on, it's like the Giannis saga has been going on. I feel like it's a little bit anticlimactic to a certain extent. But it's just again, I don't know. Because this is like the first big trade in a while that like when you see these big players moving from team to team, that it doesn't feel like that that team's gonna be competitive right away. It's been it's been a little bit since that's been the case. So um a little bit disappointing on that end, but I and I'm glad the whole saga is over because that's like been a huge talking point for years, and it's kind of been annoying to a certain extent. So I'm glad that the trade finally happened, even if it didn't come out with an ex with a didn't come out with the most interesting backdrop for the upcoming NBA season. Alright, so that's the honest trade, the

NBA Draft Top Four Breakdown

SPEAKER_00 1:00:30

the trade that finally happened. I've talked about all that that I want to talk about here, and I think I've gone on pretty long, just about two trades. Close to an hour. That's insane. Um without further ado, let's get out of the the trade talk and let's get to the draft last night. And I think the draft tonight, too, because I think the second round's happening current actually right now. I'm not gonna go too much on the on the draft for the most part. You have, I think the I watched a lot of the draft last night of the first round. I obviously this isn't a podcasting right now during the second round. I haven't really watched a lot of that going on in tonight by comparison. But here's my thing. Here's my thing for because honestly, the first round is what most people care about anyway. The four great players that everybody was looking at coming into this draft were the four that were taken first, right? Those are the it was a very well-known fact that if you're watching, if you watch basketball at all and you watch a college basketball and you kind of get into like the NBA draft stuff, there were four players that really separated themselves from everybody else. If you had a top four pick in this draft, you were going to get a player that has a real chance to be a superstar player down the line. Okay. You had AJ DeBonsa, who is like known as like the probably the best player, um, probably with the highest floor, because Darren Peterson is a guy, the guard from Kansas, is a guy that's probably looked at as like probably being he's 6'6, 200 pounds, like he's like the closest to a superstar, right now he has otherworldly talent, but he's a guy that has a little bit more of a question mark around him because of all the injuries that he experienced at Kansas and some of like the competitive issues and all of that. So there's a little bit more of a question around Darren Peterson, even if even if you when you watch him play, he looks like people like people were mentioning Kobe and some of like the best scores in the NBA when they looked at Darren Peterson. So like there was a real chance of Darren Peterson like being that type of player, but he has a few more question marks. I think DeBonsa is probably the best player overall because he is has all the size. He's six, six, nine, really good score. I think he led the let led college basketball and scoring scoring last year from BYU. Can score from anywhere. His shooting isn't necessarily his three-point shooting isn't all that great, but outside of that, he has a very clean, a very good bag, and he's a big body player. Not necessarily the best at defense as of right now. Um and he has a guy that has the needs to have the ball in his hands, is a guy his size is a little bit more, so he needs to learn to play without the ball a little bit better. But I think AJ is like the most clean cut number one pick, and that's what Washington took. They took the guy in DeBonsa, especially after they I think they signed uh why am I forgetting his name now? Oh no. Let me think here. Why am I forgetting his name? Uh Trey Trey Bird. Oh no. Oh no. Um Trey Young. I forgot his name, so that's crazy. So going into last um going into last night, they tra they signed Trey Bur Trey Trey Young. Goodness gracious, sorry. Um, so they signed Trey Young to a four-year $212 million deal, which a little bit of a surprise to a certain extent before this draft happened, because he was a guy that had like a $49 million player option that he could have just exercised and got $49 million for this year. He decided to opt out, and everybody was like, okay, why are you doing that? It's like if you were gonna opt out of having such a big love sum of money for one season, then he had a then Trey Young would have had some type of inkling that he was gonna be able to get a longer-term deal that had a lot of money on the table. And the deal that he ended up signing was for four years, $212 million with the Wizards. So he's gonna stay with the Wizards and be there for the next four years, okay? And once that signing happened, it made it very clear that they probably weren't gonna draft Darren Peterson because Peterson is a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands. And why would you draft a guy like that if you just sign Trey Young to a big contract extension for him to be your point guard moving forward? Not to mention the fact that DeBonsa is probably gonna be a guy that probably fits with that a little bit more, even if DeBonsa's gonna have to learn to play without the ball a little bit more to make himself the most useful with a guy like Trey Young being the main uh main main ball, the main ball handler. And not to mention the fact that if you're the Wizards, you also have um why am I forgetting? Um, Anthony Davis. You also have Anthony Davis on your roster as well. Who knows whether he's gonna actually be there? Because again, he's gonna be looking for a contract extension as well. If Trey Young got one, I'm a better player than him. Then I need to get my money too. And who knows whether the Wizards are gonna be willing to sign Anthony Davis to a long to a long-term extension as well. With him being a tad bit older, I think he's like 30, 31 years old. So that's gonna be a qu it's like something to kind of watch over once you get into free agency and all of that, whether you're gonna have him and or trade him off. Now that you have DeBonsa as like your like superstar player that you're gonna build around from years for years to come. But Trey beginning DeBonsa and signing Trey Young just kind of made it AJ DeMonsa make the most sense as a guy to add to your team. And I think he'll be a good player for them to build around. He's going to be, I think he's going to be very competitive from day one. I think I think the Wizards are trying to be the most competitive team as they possibly can be next season. And now with Trey Young and saying that you at least let's just go with the fact they're keeping um Anthony Davis now adding DeBonsa to that team, I think they're going to have a very good front court with a lot of size. And I think with Trey Young, I feel like they're going to be able to hide a little bit more of his defensive efficiencies. And as long as Trey Young can kind of like keep scoring the ball and shooting well and having good assists and setting up DeBonsa and Anthony Davis to be able to score in the inside. I feel like they have a team that can be very competitive from day one. I'm not saying they're going to be like winning it, like, but they have a chance, not saying they're going to be a top four team in the Easton or anything, but they could be a team that can make the playoffs, which is something the Wizards haven't done in a long time. And I feel like that's something that the Wizards can, Wizards and the fans can look forward to. Darren Peterson was picked number two at Utah. He's going to be a guy. I think Darren Peterson made it very clear that he didn't he wanted nothing to do with going to Washington. And he I think the only team he actually went and um did a visit with was Utah because I think he just looked at his opportunity to go in and play right away, be the number one ball handler right away. Utah was going to be the best fit for him. And it worked out for him. He was picked by them. Um he's gonna be a again, as long as he gets over the injury issues that he had last year at Kansas, and as long as like some of the character questions get answered, nobody questions Darren Peterson's talent. Like when you watch him play, he is a very good offensive playmaker. Um, he's a gifted scorer, he can shoot, um, he can get to the basket. Like he and he is good size, like he's 6'6, 205. Like he has a very he's a very good size for a guard as well. So like he has all the talent in the like the size in the world to be a very good player from day one. And I feel like as long as he can kind of go go there and get in, like the injury issues aren't a thing. I feel like he'll be a very good player from for years to come for Utah to build around. And Utah is not they don't have a lack of players. They have Jaron Jackson Jr. who they traded for last year. So they're gonna have some like some good talent to put around him as well. So Utah can like be a more competitive team from day one starting next season. Um, so I think Darren Peterson's gonna be in a good spot to kind of like show his talent from day one on a team that will be a tad bit better than you think. So um pick three, Memphis picked up Cameron Boozer. He um I kind of was low-key hoping for Cameron Boozer to drop to the drop to the Bulls at four. Um, just because obviously I watched his dad play for Chicago with uh Derek Rose and all that, so that was like a very fun time for me as a fan. Um, but again, Cameron Boozer got picked up at Memphis instead. Again, I think Memphis deserves having a top pick like this because they did everything right. It wasn't their fault that the whole thing with Jaw kind of went to absolute hell. That's all on Ja, man. Like his own personal issues and like him kind of taking, like kind of not growing as a player as he probably should have on the court. And because of that, Memphis is in a much different spot to where they have to build around a new superstar. And I feel like getting a guy like Cameron Boozer is gonna be a very good start, really good start from day one to be able to do that. Cameron Boozer is a very good, like polished player in general that knows what he's doing. He's pretty good offensively, he's very competitive defensively, he has great size, and I think he'll even though he may not have the crazy upside like some of the other players in this top four, I feel like his floor is gonna be so much higher than everybody else's, and I think he'll be a very good player from day one. I feel like the the the bust potential on him is so incredibly low that I think even if he isn't the superstar, they're probably drafting him to be, he'll be a very good player for a whole career of his own because of the player that he is as a right now. Um so I do think they're getting a very good player out of Cameron Boozer that I think Memphis really needs to kind of rebuild from day, rebuild that thing um without Ja being a part of their future plans. And then the fourth pick, the Bulls, one I cared the most about. They picked up Caleb Wilson, um, the forward from um North Carolina. He's 6'10, 215. He's super athletic. Uh his shooting is a little bit of an issue, but I think outside of like his outside three-point shooting is a little bit of an issue. But outside of that, I think he's a very good player. He can he can um he can rebound relatively relatively well. He's a little bit thin, but he's 6'10, so I feel like he's gonna have a chance to really build out his frame a little bit and get stronger. But outside, but again, if he can just come in, be a super ath, super athletic uh player at his size, be a rim defend, help be a guy on the front line to help uh be a defender for them. Because again, the Bulls haven't had a really good def any good anybody really great defensively in a long time. Uh, and then Giton be a very good dominant physical guy near the rim. I feel like the Bulls can have a player they can really build around, especially with what they have already. They have um Josh Giddy, who can be a guy that can get Caleb Wilson the ball in the in the um near the paint relatively easily when it comes to lobs and all of that. And I think they also have why am I forgetting his name now? This is a bad time to forget the name of uh not Giddy, it's hold on. I'm doing a lot of looking up things today because I'm just forgetting names. This is a bad Montez Buzellas, who is I think all-around scorer, he can shoot very well. He's not really as great defensively, which I think is what Caleb Wilson can kind of be a guy that can help out that in that fact. But Buzelis can, he's a very athletic guy, very athletic small forward. He can get to the rim, he can shoot, he's like a very good all-around scorer, and I just think defensively is where this team really needs to help get the most help. And I think that Caleb Wilson with his rebounding and with his size on the front lines, especially with the fact they added um afreating the Nick Claxon, also adding him at center. I think they're adding a lot of size to their front court and adding a lot of rebounding, which is what's something that they really struggled with as a team. So I think Caleb Wilson, as long as he kind of gets a little bit stronger, and I think he can be a very good addition to the Bulls roster. And I think with the athleticism that he can shoot he shows, I think as long as he kind of gets better with his three-point shooting and be a consistent three-point shooter, I think he can be have a very bright future that I think can make the Bulls a very I'm not gonna sit here and say competitive, making the playoffs type of team, but again, from what they've been, they've been a team that's been close to the play-in. And I think that if they at if Caleb Wilson can kind of work out and like be a really good player for them, I think if they can take the next step and maybe sneak into the play-in or even get into the playoffs as like a like a you know, as a seven, like a eight or seven seed, you know. Again, very hard. I think they'll have to do it through the play-in for a first couple years, but I do think they can they have a actual future for the first time in a while. And then you have the rest of the trade, the rest of the picks go down. You have the the Bucks who had now had their two first round picks because of their Giannis trade. So they got Braden Burries, who they I think that was with their own pick that they had, a guard out of Arizona. And like that's a Nate Emnitt Emnet Emment from Tennessee, like I mentioned earlier. Two younger players that have a lot of size. I think Ament is 6'10, 207 pounds, and then Burries is a 6'4 guard. Um, two guys with some size that I think that they can try to. I'm not gonna sit here and say that either of them are gonna be superstars, but I think that there's gonna be two young pieces to try to help infuse that team with some young energy, and hopefully one of the both of them can turn into solid starters, if not like bench guys for the future, um, for whatever superstar they manage to make up and have be able to be the next guy for that team. And who was the other player that I thought was interesting who they drafted? Oh, um, a day Mara, the center from Michigan, the OKC drafted him at pick 12. He's 7'3-255. He's not really great defensively, but I think offensively he's uh like a pr a guy with some skills with a guy of that size. And I feel like when you see it, when you see how the Western Conference finals went for them against uh went went for them against the Spurs, right? And then they draft a guy like Daymara at his size, it kind of like, hey, we need some size to be able to battle up with um with potentially with uh Wemby, and adding a guy that's 7-3 is probably a good way to start. And I think the other guy that they got in this draft, too, um Ibuka Akori, is another guard that I think they're just gonna be able to add to their rotation to be like, hey, we don't need you to play a bunch of minutes, but when you do come in, we need you to play hard defense and be able to shoot the ball relatively well. I think that's another guy that'll be able to fit that system. But I think OKC and the way that they drafted this um last night in the first round kind of makes sense with what they're trying to do if they're like feeling like they need to go and and um compete with Wemby and the Spurs for years to come. And then any other picks that I thought was relatively interesting. Let's see here. Not really, nothing crazy. Again, I'm not gonna sit here and claim I'm like the biggest like NBA draft nerd ever. Like I said, this the last night's draft was the most that I've ever watched of NBA draft in a very like ever. So um again, I watched what all this the um peep the um all this experts were saying about these players as they were going, and a one player that was relatively um highly regarded was why am I forgetting here? Who was the guy's name? Cameron Carr, the 6'5, 175 guard from Baylor. Um the Lakers managed to get him because and he is like a very big guard that I think will be able to add some offensive upside to that team, which I think is something that in shooting that I think the Lakers have needed over the last couple years. Um, that is a very another very interesting pick that managed to happen in last night's uh draft in the first round of the draft last night. Um, but yeah, I'm not gonna go too crazy. Oh, and Yaxel Lindenborg, Lindeborg, um, the guy from Michigan that got um drafted to the Golden State Warriors was another seeing his little there's a clip of him getting drafted and being very emotional and all that was very was a very nice little moment to see. Again, this the draft that happened last night wasn't all that exciting for the most part. It was pretty boring, even though they this is like the most talented draft that there's there's been in a while when it comes to top players that are looked at to be potential superstars with the top four. Um, it wasn't the highest energy draft that I can like recall, especially if with clips and all of that. But I don't know. Again, I'm just an outsider on this on when it comes to the draft stuff. I'm more of a NBA, just I'll watch on the regular season in the playoffs. But um, you know, it was just a little weird watching the whole draft. It was just a little bit lack of like when you compare like the NBA draft this year to like what the NFL draft was this past one, like the energy is just so much different by comparison. Maybe it's just the the because the NBA draft is so contained inside of that um, I think the Barclay Center, and then you have the NFL draft that's like being held in the middle of Pittsburgh and like there's tens of thousands of people there um just sitting there just watching the draft and like getting all excited about it. There was just a little bit of a lack of energy in the NBA draft by comparison while watching it that the NFL draft did not have any issues with. But I don't know. Maybe it's me and me as more of a football fan, maybe that's kind of like it gets in my brain a little bit more. But okay, that's it with the draft. Um, I don't really want to go too much farther into that because I've really talked a lot up to this point, I think over an hour about just basketball, which is kind of crazy to me. Hour and 20. Um there was one other thing

Austin Reaves Paid And LeBron Next

SPEAKER_00 1:18:30

I wanted to talk about here when it came to the NBA. Oh, the move that Austin Reeves got signed to has signed his super max his max extension. Um Lakers. I just want to make sure I get the terms right. Um he signed his max extension four years, 185. 185 million. Let me make sure I have that right. Respect the man, he gives 185 million dollars over four years. Yeah, signed his extension. I feel like this was bound to happen anyway, because the Lakers really had no other choice. Luca was a guy that was behind keeping Austin Reeves, and I feel like he is another again. But this is the problem, right? Because the Lakers kind of like money issue, because of they they had to sign Austin Reeves because he was like one of their best players throughout the regular season. If even if I don't think he's a better player than what LeBron or even Luca was going to be in the postseason, when things kind of get ramped up defensively and all of that, they needed him to be another because he's younger, obviously much younger than what LeBron is. And I feel like his timetable matches up a lot more with Luca than what LeBron would be. And again, Austin Reeves has played very well for the Lakers, and I think he deserves getting the money that he's getting paid, right? But when it comes to building out a team, I don't think having Austin Reeves and Luca Donchins being your two highest paid players, and neither of them playing defense is really a way to build out your team to like have a real contender in what the Western Conference is as of right now. When you're going up against the Spurs, you're going up against the Thunder, you're going up against the um who's the other teams we're having to worry about here? I think Denver to a certain extent, but then you're dealing with Timberwolves and all that. But like having your two best and highest paid players on your team being guys that don't play defense is not a way to have a real contender in the Western Conference. And not only that, then you have to mention the fact that now that Austin Reeves has signed his money, and now the Lakers are pretty much in a weird spot where now you still have LeBron as a free agent who can go anywhere he wants to, and that the problem is that there's not a lot of team teams with a lot of like money that would be like real options for LeBron to like go and be able to be on a contender right away. Any any team that he would like to go to, I feel like don't doesn't really have a crazy amount of money to pay him like he has been paid over the last few years from the Lakers. I think he's been getting paid like over 50 something million dollars. But if he signs for that type of money, he can sign for that type of money to the Lakers. But if you sign LeBron to a deal that he'd probably be more okay with, you would have no money if you're Lakers to try to rebuild out your squad to make yourselves any more competitive. Or if LeBron would like to go somewhere else, a law the Cavs in a sign-in trade, because apparently the Cavs have a tad bit more money, a tad bit more money to pay him, but they would it would have to be like a sign-in trade to get rid of one of their more higher priced players to make it happen. Or if LeBron would like to go to a place like Golden State and he would have to take a big pick out to go there, but it would be a lot of fun to see him go and play with Steph and like just have a very fun season with LeBron like in his last year or two. Um, maybe not be a team that can be competitive when it comes to like trying to win a championship, but they'd be a fun team to watch. He went to a team like Golden State, or maybe he'd want to be like a backseat type of more of a backseat player with like you know, with Denver, because honestly, Jokic is the guy that kind of runs that team there. But if LeBron wanted to be in like a more competitive scenario, him going to a place like Denver, but Denver doesn't have any money to pay him either. So it is like a it kind of puts LeBron in a weird spot and the Lakers in a weird spot, like because do the Lakers like I don't think the Lakers want to disrespect LeBron and tell him to kick rocks, but I also think they understand that if like Luca is the guy they need to be building around, giving the like the more money you give LeBron makes it much more difficult to actually build this team up with a good a good um a good center to help out with Luca when it comes to the pick and roll and a lob threat. And it doesn't help with have their lack of shooting that they've that they've had over the last couple years. So the more money you play LeBron, the less you have to kind of build out the rest of your roster to try to retool around Luca, and that's where the Lakers are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard play because I just don't think they want to disrespect LeBron for what he has been for them over the last I think seven years. I think he's been there. So but I also think that signing LeBron means that you're kind of like pushing off trying to retool around Luca for the next couple years, which is kind of like that that's where the issue comes in, right? So what does LeBron decide? I think the the decision is ultimately LeBron's. I feel like the if LeBron's just said, hey, just sign me to the lake, just I'll stay with the Lakers and take all the money I can. I don't think he can be a guy that can complain on the back end and be like, hey, I'd want to be able to play with a team that can be competitive because all the money he takes is going to keep the Lakers from being able to be competitive. But again, it all depends on what LeBron wants to do. If LeBron just wants to get as much money as he possibly can and ride out the last year or two of his career and like just keep amassing stats and just like playing good basketball and just being the player that he has been, even if it comes at the risk of not really being as competitive, I feel like he he's more than like he's earned the right to do that without anybody questioning his long-term legacy. But if he wants to be on a competitive team, I think taking all the money you possibly can from the Lakers is not going to be the way to do it. It just depends on what he wants to do. And I feel like the Lakers just kind of have to wait for LeBron to make his decision as to what they what he wants to do when it comes to money-wise, whether he's going to take a pay cut or not to make sure the team is better, or if he just wants to go ahead and take all the money he can, ride out the next year or two of his career and just just play basketball, is also his right too, if he wants to do that. So that's gonna be a weird kind of thing to kind of keep a track of over the over the next couple weeks as free agency happens and all of that. But um, but that's all I got on the NBA, man. That's all I got. I don't think I have anything else to really talk about. Um nothing to really talk about now. I'm I think I'm good on the NBA now. I think I've kind of gone on long enough. I think even I can get a little bit tired of talking the NBA too much. Alright, got a drink there? Alright.

NFL Shuts Down The Sorsby Plan

SPEAKER_00 1:25:05

Let's get out of the NBA. Let's go into some NFL stuff here. Not really NFL. Well, a little bit NFL. Hold on. Let me let me let me get to it here. Before I get to specifically NFL, let me I want to get into the Brennan Sorsby stuff. Cause I think last time we potted, I was talking about the fact that Brennan Sorsby had decided that he was going to go into the supplemental draft. And that was like the last main thing is that hey, he decided to stop his whole thing with the NCAA and suing and trying to get injunctions and all that. He decided, I think him and Texas Tech, I think the news came out that Texas Tech was kind of like nudging him towards like, hey, keeping you here is going to be too much of an issue for us, and I feel like it'd be better if we just kind of wipe our hands clean here of the whole situation. And you know, Brennan Sworesby kind of stuck with that. I think Texas Tech did pay him out for a lot of money that he was going to be owed this year, like they close to five million five like upwards of five million dollars to play with him. I'm not sure if they paid him the whole amount, but they paid him a decent amount of money for him to kind of like take his like take his stay and kind of like go. And he announced on the last pod that he was going like when I talked about on the last pod, he was going to go into the supplemental draft and you know go on to the NFL, right? But the news came out yesterday that the NFL said fuck that and they threw a whole monkey wrench into this whole thing and decided that they weren't gonna have supplemental draft altogether. And let's see here. NFL statement on Soresby. And that news came with the NFL also releasing the a statement about Soresby. Again, apparently it was like a similar level level um letter to what they sent to Soresby. But I think the NFL wanted to make it clear to everybody as to what their what their point was on him, right? So the hold on, I want to get the actual statement. Let's see. Okay, so they sent out the statement yesterday as to why they denied having the supplemental draft for Soresby. Because again, going in, so having the supplemental draft would have happened, and the NFL, apparently, the rule is the NFL can decide to have the supplemental draft or not. It has not a birthright. The NFL teams and the actual front office, like the not the NFL league office, they get to decide whether they have the supplemental draft or not, right? And it goes to show that the only player that applied for the supplemental draft was Brennan Sorsby. Okay. So if the NFL were to have decided to have us Supplemental draft, it would just be for Brennan Sorceby. There's nobody else that was in that was trying to get into the NFL via the supplemental draft. Okay. And with the news that yesterday that they decided not to do it, it came with a pretty scathing message about what they want like why they decided not to allow it let not to have the supplemental draft for him to do it. And one of the main quotes that kind of got me here, um, let's see here. Hold on, let me see if I can read it. Because I think it was on Twitter that I saw the whole statement. I'm not sure if I want to read the whole thing or not. But let's see here. Brennan Sorsby. Okay, then I'll just read the I'll probably just read the whole thing. Um I'm just gonna read the whole thing here. This is the letter that they sent out for everybody, as well as to Sorsby. We are in receipt of your petition for this special eligibility dated June 16th, 2026. A petition as announced earlier today, the league is elected not to conduct a supplemental draft this year. And this whole next thing was about how they pretty much can decide it's not the in it's not the uh NFLPA or anything like that. It's like the NFL pretty much stating that they have full control as to whether they have the supplemental draft or not. And this is the next part. The sole reasons identified in your petition for seeking entry into the supplemental draft are that you had been declared ineligible by the NCAA, have exhausted all of your avenues to continue in the NCAA and want to now play in the NFL. The petition provides no information regarding the basis for or timing of the NCAA's decision. Public sources, however, indicate that in May 2026 that the NCAA issued a determination clearing make sure I'm reading that right, declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three different universities. The league does not have the complete record of the NCAA's investigation, and you did not provide any such materials with your petition. Available information nonetheless indicates that over the course of your collegiate career, you knowingly engage in repeated and significant violations of NCAA rules designed to preserve the integrity of athletic competition. Reported conduct includes placing wagers on your own team and teammates, and to avoid detection, establishing or funding accounts in the names of intermediaries who place bets on your behalf. There are also reports that you may have violated state criminal law, which again comes to him underage gambling. Your petition does not address these matters, nor does it demonstrate accountability of your conduct or indicate whether or how you would adhere to the league's rules and policies governing the integrity of competition. Instead, even after receiving notice of the NCAA's decision rescinding your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the consequences of that determination through litigation rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, and you pursued entering into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts. As Commissioner Goodell has emphasized, participation in the NFL is a privilege that carries with it significant responsibilities, including accountability. By all count accounts, you are a talented player with the potential for future success. We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the into the NFL through the 2027 NFL annual draft. So that was the whole statement. And my let me let me just let me just get to how the statement reads is that the NFL I think when when I first read that statement, it was like the first time in a long time that I can look at anything the NFL has done and kind of just say, fuck yeah. Because what Soresby did was wrong. And not only did he bet, which was not allowed in college sports at all, they're not allowed to bet at all, but I think the bigger thing for me was that he bet on his own team. And I think that was the instant no-no in all of sports. Once you do that, that there is no coming back from that. And I think that for me, when I looked at it, if he had never bet on his team and never bet on football once whatsoever, and he was just out there making baseball bets and all of that, and he got suspended, I think I would be a lot more lenient on him trying to come back and play because I'm sitting here like, okay, because there's some people that have tried to make the argument that betting is too accessible, and I think that it leads to point to stuff situations like this, and I think and they're making the case that it's filled with hypocrisy that we are throwing betting in every in all these young people's faces, and then when one of them messes up is trying to give them the death penalty or like through trying to drop the hammer on them. But I think that for me, if he would have made bets on anything else but football, especially on his own team, I think I could have agreed with that type of that type of thinking. But as soon as he bet on his own team, that's where you lose it for me. And he bet on his team multiple times, and the team that he's on, and that's like the one thing that like you can't come back from if for if if you're if for me, right? And that's how the statement reads from the NFL, where like, hey, not only did you not like not do the right thing, but then you also didn't seem like you were taking accountability for any of it, and you tried to escape accountability for it by you know going through the courts and trying to get injunctions and all of that, and once none of that worked, then you decide to try to come to us trying to get into the NFL. So that's how the statement reads. The statement reads is that the NFL is just going to be like, hey, he deserves to have some type of accountability and have to take the take the DAC, take the L for what he did. But one thing I I can't get out of my brain is that if he had never bet on his own team, I think the NFL would let him through. And I think that for multiple reasons. One, in the NFL, you can bet on whatever you want as long as you're not betting on football. And as long as you are not betting on NFL premises when it comes to in NFL facilities or while you are on a business trip going to a different team, going on a road game and all that, like as long as you're not in like business with the NFL or in an NFL building, you can bet on whatever you want outside of football. Like when it comes outside of NFL football. Okay. And I think that's okay. If you're a grown man and you can go out there and do your thing, I think, and you're throwing betting in everybody's faces, like some people will try to make the point, allowing them to bet on other things outside of your own sport, I think is a more than reasonable thing. And I think that if Soresby hadn't never bet on his own team, I think the NFL would let him through. If all the bets that he was making on different, on um different sports, baseball and all this, and even underage betting, I don't think the NFL would have nearly the issue that they kind of made it out to say that they did in this statement. So I think it comes up as them trying to, I think the statement reads as they were trying to be like the knights in shining armor in this situation and try to make him take an L, which I think to a certain extent I can accept. And I had that, that was my first thought when I when I read this statement. But I also think it's the NFL trying to skirt having to make any hard decisions on Brendan Sorsmy in general, because if they were to let him through the draft, if they were to have the submental draft for him and him get drafted through submental draft and then try to come back on the back end and just suspend him, just like they did when Terrell Pryor got went through the supplemental draft after getting again, it's a little bit different scenario because I think trading trading away your own things for tattoos is nowhere near on the same level as betting on your own team. But the NFL did come out on the back end after Terrell Pryor came out of Ohio State through the supplemental draft and got suspended. They suspended him for I think for the same ten games that they were that the NCAA was trying to. And if the NFL were to try to do that, I think Soresby would try to sue them in the same way that I think he was going to do the NCAA because of different things that have happened in the NFL betting-wise, and I think have gone through without an issue. Because I think it just kind of lead leads to the hypocrisy that I think Soresby would potentially win such an injunction if he tried to go that way. So I think the NFL didn't want to deal with that, and I feel like they didn't want to try to do any more due diligence on him. So I feel like they just kind of kick the can down the road, and then they get to kind of put out this statement as like a knights and shiny armor, when I just think they just don't want to do have to deal with any hard work when it comes to Soresby if they were to let him in and then try to to uh try to suspend him on the back end, and I think that is like a little bit of a weird thing to me because there is a little bit of hypocrisy in all this, and I I can understand people's plates. I think one of my um the one of the guys in NFL media that I kind of um follow the most and like really respect his opinion is um oh why am I forgetting his name? Um why why am I forgetting his name? BFT owner. Mike Florio. He's like one of the main NFL news guys, not news, but like he's more of like the NFL pundits. And um, I think he more than most is a guy that's willing to kind of stand on the stand on the rights of like everybody. He's kind of lab he's he's not sitting here sucking at the teeth of the NFL when it comes to being willing to take whatever anything that's given to him. I feel like he's more than willing to may have the hard conversation when it comes to the business dealings of the NFL and like some of the wrongdoings. I feel like the NFL is not like in like they're culpable in some of the things they're of the things they're doing, and I feel like when I listen to him talk about this situation, and he kind of comes off as like a little bit on the side of Soresby when it comes to trying to give give the most trying to underst make people understand that the NFL created this monster by letting the betting into the NFL. They're taking the money from from all these casinos and from these bet from these betting apps, FanDuel, DraftKings, all of that. They're taking the money from them and putting ads all over the televisions, but not expecting the issues of these young men kind of deciding to give in to that when you're throwing it all over on these commercials and bettings everywhere. I understand that mentality, and I think if Soresby had never bet on his own team, I think I'd be with him on that mentality. And with that, is that I think the NFL does have to accept some responsibility that they did let betting into their own league, and I think they do have to like potentially deal with the fact that if the one thing that you're worried about the most is having the integrity of your game, once you let betting, once you start taking the money of these these cause these um these betting apps and all of that, is that those questions are gonna happen and you're creating your own monster in that way. So I do think there's a little bit of hypocrisy coming not only from him but from the college level too, because I feel like you're giving all these young young guys a lot of money, and again, and they're not old enough and they have to be 21, so like that the betting ages and stuff you have to deal with. That's like kind of like the main thing. But if you're gonna give all this money to a lot of these young guys and tell them they can't bet on anything, I feel like you're already creating your own issue, especially when college sports is also taking on betting and like accepting all this money from these from these betting stuff, like and there's commercials everywhere about it. So I do understand the pop the hypocrisy of these leagues taking the money from these betting apps, but then also trying to say, like, hey, we're trying to the we're trying to keep the integrity of the game at the as best as possible. I feel like you're kind of talking out of both sides of your mouth. So that part I do understand when it comes to guys like Mike Florio, kind of like having that type of mentality. And again, if Soresby hadn't been on his own team, then I would be more than happy to sit on that side of the aisle. But he did, and I think that he deserves them the brunt of the issues that he's been going through now, now that he's gonna have to wait a whole full year without playing anything when it comes to college sports and getting paid five million dollars by being in the top of college football, potentially getting a Heisman trophy. He's gonna have to like he is gonna be now going to take the brunt of an L because of the decisions that he made. And I feel like I'm really down with that because I feel like they're like in order to kind of take away some of these people doing it long term, is that there has to be a hammer that's dropped on somebody that makes the bad decision. And unfortunately, Sorsby is the guy that made the bad decision, and the hammer is being dropped on him, and hopefully, this keeps other players that are in college sports from t making the same decision. But I do also understand the fact that there is a little bit of hypocrisy going on in this whole thing, and I feel like the NFL and college ports are gonna have to like make like they're gonna have to really look at themselves in the mirror and kind of decide whether like if they're gonna be taking the money from all from all this betting stuff, then you're gonna have to change in the way you think about it and like help and try to the way you look at it. You can't have old thoughts on it when it comes to betting if you're gonna make betting so accessible and it's on people's phones and so easily ready to go. So I don't I don't know. Again, Soresby needs he he deserves the suspension that he's getting. And I on one hand, I totally I'm happy that the NFL kind of made the decision that they made. And I do think he'll end up being an he'll be end up being an NFL player, but I think he's got to take this year, and maybe he can go actually like get some real help. I feel like only three weeks in in um rehab is not enough to help years and years worth of making bad decisions. If you are truly addicted to it, I don't think three weeks in rehab is going to be able to be like, uh, I'm fixed. I feel like there's gonna be have to be some real reflection, and I think a year off of playing any sports, maybe he can work on his real health, and I feel like he can come out of this a lot better and a lot better of a person and not making such self-destructive decisions. And like so, I totally in the fact that he tried so hard to escape accountability in the call on the college level by getting all these injunctions and all of that, I feel like does kind of like make me feel like even more that he deserves this punishment that he's getting now thanks but he's not gonna be able to play anywhere, at least not high-level football, even if he does if he decides to go to the NFL or the or to the Canadian Football League, like maybe he can go play some football, but it's not gonna be nearly on the same level that if he were to be playing at Texas Tech or be playing on the NFL level. So I think this year off, I think will be probably as long as he takes it the right way, I think he'll be able to come out of this a much better person and a more changed person. And I feel like I think everybody will be willing to kind of let him take his next step on his trying to have a long-term NFL career after this year is over. I really do think so. Because I think there is something to guy's making a mistake, but this the mistakes that he made, you have to take account accountability for and take the L. And now that he's taking the L, I do feel like if he comes up into the next draft, I feel like he'll be available. I think the NFL will make him available in the next draft, even though I think he'll now be considered a lot lower now because he had that's a year's worth of playing, he's not gonna have. So I don't know. I I feel like I'm like I feel like it ended up the best for everybody when it comes to like seeing the guy having to take an L based off of the decision that he made. And I feel like betting on your own team is just the one thing that nobody, no sports fan is gonna be able to accept. So now that he's gonna have to take that one-year suspension being out of the NFL or college football, he'll come back next year in the next draft, and I feel like he'll get drafted by somebody, even if it's not as high as he probably would have been. Um I feel like, all in all, I feel like the sports gods kind of came up the right way, even if I think there is some kind of um hypocrisy going on here that I that I don't want to talk about anymore in this scenario. Alright, that's it on Soresby.

New Deals For NFL Tight Ends

SPEAKER_00 1:44:55

Um other NFL news I want to talk about real quick before we get out of here. Let's see here. So there's a couple tight ends that have been signed this past week, actually, this week for long-term deals that I want to talk about here real quick. So the Falcons signed Kyle Pitts to a three-year $54 million deal with $36 million fully guaranteed, and that officially makes him the third highest paid tight end in the NFL. Um, that he gets like eight around $18 million a year on his current on his new deal, and that's behind Kittle, um, George Kittle at 19.1, and the Cardinals, Trey McBride, getting paid 19. Kyle Pitts getting paid that much money is kind of surprising based off of his lack of. I think last year, I think he kind of made a big jump in his production, but before that, it really wasn't doing all that much. But again, as long as he kind of continues what he did last year, I do feel like this deal will be more than worth it for him and for the Falcons. But it's just they have to keep that kind of production going for him, and he has to stay healthy. And I feel like if, and again, they now have Kevin Stefansky as the head coach on their team, and I feel like he has a very good offense that does feature the tight end. So I do fit, I feel like Kyle Pitts is going to be in a good spot to kind of keep that production up like he did last year. So with that being the case, and he kind of he kind of like lives up to all the the crazy talent that he has, I feel like 18 lane is gonna be a very good deal for the for him for the Falcons for the next three years or so. So I do understand that, but it's just that they're gonna have to make sure, because especially with his lack reduction the before last year, they're gonna have to make sure they kind of keep featuring him and he's gonna have to keep delivering in order to make that deal worth it. But third highest paid tight end, again, the talent that he is, he definitely should be up there, but it's just if not for last year, it's been a lot of nothing burgers from him, especially with him being a top 10 pick by the Falcons. And then another player that was another tight end that was signed was Brenton Strange for the Jags. Um, the Jags signed Brenton Strange to a three-year extension worth up to 48 million with 25 million guaranteed. Brenton Strange is a guy that's not necessarily looked at as like a highly regarded tight end, but he is a very talented one that can make a lot of plays, especially on that offense where they have so many playmakers. Um it's not like they give the tight end has a bunch of work, but I feel like when when he is out there and they have so many weapons on the field, Brenton Strange is a guy that can make some really good plays for them. Again, they're not paying up a ton a bunch of money, but he is getting paid a decent amount. That is something somebody to have to talk about. Um, but is he's a good tight end, and he's really nothing, nobody that's gonna be like worried about trying to get in in uh in fantasy football or anything. He's not really all he's not really a high-tier tight end in that way, production-wise. But I feel like he does everything for them, and I feel like he's earned the money that he's getting from the um from the Jags. Let's see here. Other things. Um, Titans and reach a three-year extension with Jeffrey Simmons, their defensive tackle, literally their best player on their defense. They are paying him three years a hundred with a hundred and five million dollars, with a hundred million of that guaranteed. Again, he's one of the best defens defensive tackles in all of football, and he's their best defensive player on their team. And with the Titans now kind of rebuilding things here, um I feel like they, especially with having a young quarterback, they drafted Carnell Tate in this, um, in this last draft, and then a bunch of defensive players. Having your best defensive player on your team happy, ready to go, is the best way to go. Jeffrey Simmons is still a very, very productive player, and he's a guy that can stop the run. He's very he attacks the passer. He still gets a lot, he gets a lot of quarterback pressures and all that from the defensive tackle position. So that's a very valuable commodity in the NFL. So making sure he is paid and he's happy and ready to go is definitely a big deal for the for the Titans, especially with that defense. They have um Robert Sala as their head coach now. And I feel like with him being able to kind of build that defense around having such a talented defensive tackle is gonna be a huge deal for them. So making sure he's paid is definitely a great deal for everybody involved, and he's more than deserving of the money he's getting because he's just he's that good. Um other thing I want to talk about here before we get out of here. This Brandon Ayuk thing,

Brandon Aiyuk Drama Gets Weirder

SPEAKER_00 1:49:40

I I I'm not sure if I've talked about this recently or not, but I I watched a clip recently of um George Kittle talking about Brandon Ayuk on the the podcaster of Barstool Sports, why am I forgetting the name? Uh pardon my take. He was on there talking about Brent Ayuk is um PFT is a big Washington fan, and it has been w widely kind of like known that if Iuk manages to get draw if he manages to get uh cut by the San Francisco 49ers, he would probably instantly go to the Washington Commanders. And Kittle was talking about him. And on one hand he said the last time that he saw Ayuke healthy and good and doing anything, that he still looked good and he still like he has a lot of skills. But it's just this whole saga of Ayuke, ever since they paid him, and then he got hurt within like the first couple weeks of the season after him holding out during the preseason, I think not last year, but the year before, I think. Um he got the he had the bad injury, I feel like it was a knee injury or something, ACL, I believe. And then they haven't seen him on the on the um team since. They haven't seen him on the field since he don't wasn't showing up the practices, and I think the Niners voided out his contract because of his lack of showing up to the team, like the team stuff when it came to not only the like the in the in-house like uh physical therapy and all of that that he needed to be at, because he didn't show up, the Niners were able to void his contract because he was unwilling to kind of stay in contact with the team and do what he was supposed to do. And now they're kind of sitting like idly by because nobody's willing to trade for Ayuk because they know that he's never gonna play for them again because of his lack of being out there on the field. But also when it comes to his the the um what's the word I'm looking for? The standing between him and the organization is is is in such shambles, is that nobody's gonna be willing to give up real draft compensation because they know he's never gonna play for them again. So like having a guy on their roster that they have so much money um invested in, the only way to try to get anything back for that is to drop him and just like try to have to eat that dead cap hit just so you don't have to give up give out the cash. But again, the contract's been voided already, so it doesn't really matter. But Ayuk has been making it very loud and clear, like going on social media talking about the whole situation and kind of airing everything out, that on one hand, Ayuk is making himself look incredibly stupid to a certain extent because of how much he's been talking. Like again, if he wouldn't would have never signed that extension in the first place, he would have been a free agent and would have been able to go wherever he wanted, but then he signed the extent the extension that he got and then makes claims about how unhappy he is in that offense and the on that team, and it just makes him be like, hey, like you why'd you sign the extension? And if you already had these issues and you weren't happy and like all of that, so it's just like it doesn't make a lot of sense. And then now that he's just trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible for that team to keep him, it's just very weird, especially when you have the Niners kind of sitting on the back end, is that if they drop him, and I feel like this is one of the points that he tried to make, is that the one of the reasons why the Niners won't just let him go and let him be a free agent and go wherever he wanted, is that they feel like he'll if he goes and plays very well for whatever team he goes to, it'll make the Niners look dumb. And I feel like that maybe that is the case. But also, it's just like if you're the Niners and if he's not willing to do what he's supposed to do and the money's already voided, why would we get rid of you? We're on the option. So it's just a very weird scenario, and it looks like he's not very well liked by his own teammates, let alone the organization. And I feel like if he wants to get done what he wants to get done, I feel like he's gonna be uh have to be a lot more professional to a certain extent and try to like work with the Niners a little bit. But with him kind of going the route he's been going, going on live on Instagram and like talking about this whole situation, and kind of like it's only made it worse, and I'm just not sure how this whole situation is gonna get any better based off of how it's been going. And I just don't think it's just a weird one of those weird scenarios on sitting there like one decision could have changed this whole thing up where none of this would have happened, but it just has, and it's been one of the weirder scenarios in all of the NFL. So I don't know. Again, if he can be healthy and all, because there was times where he looked like he was like gained a bunch of weight, and then then he comes out and like Shoney's working out and he's like doing all this and that, and it's just like a weird, it's just a weird it's giving me Antonio Brown vibes, and if I ever have to think about somebody in Antonio Brown fashion, it's not a good look whatsoever, because we all have seen how that has gone ever since he left Pittsburgh. So I don't know. I'm I'm the the vibes I'm getting from this IUK situation is not very good from either side, whether either the team or him. So it is what it is on that. But I think that's all I have when it comes to news. If you're if you're

Quick Sports Wrap And Signoff

SPEAKER_00 1:54:40

a World Cup fan, there's been a lot of games going on, a lot of great players are scoring a bunch of goals in these games. Um what am I why am I forgetting his name? Uh Ronaldo Messi. Messi's playing very well in the World Cup for um Argentina, I believe. I think that's who he is with. Again, I'm not a big soccer guy. Um a lot of people are very happy with the World Cup. It's being in the United States, obviously. If you haven't been living under a rock, you understand that World Cup's in the United States this time around. I'm just not a big soccer guy. So if you're looking for soccer talk, you're not gonna get that here. But it is going on. I do respect the the sport in general, but it's just it's not a sport that I really, you know, really rely, really like jump in on. Um and then baseball's still going, man, in the middle of the season. The Yankees are fine, like they're they're holding water, judges hurt they're pretty hurt right now in general, but there's they're still ahead in the um AL East and they're kind of like treading water. But again, what the Yankees do for me is not necessarily about what they do in the regular season, it's all about the postseason. So as long as you get healthy, Schlittler is all is playing very well, though. If he he's a guy that's in the Cy Young, in the running for a Cy Young. So I'm very happy to see when he's out there playing. So but baseball is like really hard to keep really hard to talk about from a like a day in, day out basis, because it's just baseball. There's so many games to have to keep track of and all of that. Um so I'm not gonna re this is not gonna be a bunch of in like MLB talk, probably until um until the trade deadline is probably when we'll probably heat up and talk about a little bit more of the MLB. There's just so many games hard to keep track of during the regular season. And then obviously the playoffs as well. That's when things really hit up when we talk about the playoff, the uh MLB a lot more. And then, you know, football is where it's at. Again, there was so much to talk about today that I didn't really talk want to get into like the NFL stuff like when it comes to previewing this upcoming season and like talking about some of those other things. So we'll get to that at some point. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Jace on so we can have those conversations and kind of do more of like the preseason stuff for the NFL as well as as well as college football. Um, but again, I talk about the NBA for like over an hour today. So today didn't seem like the day to start doing that. So I think that's about all I have today. I think we're close to two hours now, so I've been sitting here rambling on long enough. Um but I think that's when I went where I want to end the podcast here. So if you've been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now jumping on, hopefully you like us and enjoy us enough to listen join us on this ride of listening to us talk about sports in the dumbest way possible. If this is the first podcast you've listened to, make sure you go listen to a different podcast with both me and Jason so you get a better idea of what this podcast is at its best. Because again, this podcast is better when you have both of us on here, brothers, podcast co-hosts, talking shit, talking sports, going back and forth is where this podcast is at its at its finest. Okay. So, but if you do like us and you want to help um help us out, if you could do a couple things for us, we'd appreciate you if you could like our podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us. We're available on all audio platforms out there, and we're also available on YouTube. 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And then last but not least, if you could, like, follow us on Twitter and or X, wherever you want to call it, at JB Sports Pod is the podcast handle, at Javante Boozer is my handle, and then at Jaceboozer1 is Jace's handle, and that is about it for me. So I'm ready to finish off the pod. So thank you for guys listening. Thank you guys for always listening, and you guys have a great day, a great night, and we will see you next week. Goodbye, y'all.