Napheesa Collier’s Return Changes The WNBA Race

We run through the NBA’s biggest pressure points, from LeBron’s unresolved decision to a three-team deal that could reshape the Hawks, Mavs, and Thunder. Then we shift to the WNBA, where Napheesa Collier’s return supercharges the Lynx and sets up a huge stretch heading into the All-Star Break. 

• LeBron’s pending decision and how it stalls the wider NBA market 
• Why Atlanta’s Lou Dort fit works next to Dyson Daniels and helps the Hawks’ identity 
• Dallas taking on Risacher and the value of development without “be the guy” pressure 
• OKC’s second-round haul and the risk of needing perfect asset management • Lakers signing Matisse Thybulle for perimeter defense and the pressure of a one-year deal 
• Summer League takeaways, Warriors winning, and what Yaxel Lendenborg’s two-way impact could mean 
• Napheesa Collier’s stat line in her return and how it changes spacing and scoring options for Minnesota 
• Bigger questions around MVP cases, rotations, and what the Lynx look like post-return 

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Transcript

Welcome And Quick Housekeeping

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show, it's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Look, today we're gonna talk about some MBA and WMBA news. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support. Now, normally, right, we're gentlemen and we let the ladies go first. But that's not gonna be the day. We're gonna we're gonna save the women for last. Okay.

Waiting On LeBron’s Next Move

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Currently, point in time for the NBA, right? LeBron James has still not decided where he's gonna go. I mean, maybe he knows. We just don't know, right? We've had the Heat had a press link leaked, and people speculating, oh, that's where Braun's gonna go. People have talked about how Bronze's gonna go to the Warriors. You know, we got all these different ideas. I ain't gonna really focus on it until the man makes his decision. I just can't wait for him to make his decision, because then once that happens, the rest of the NBA is gonna start to roll, right? Like, we'll know what team he's on. So now we're trying to figure out when to schedule his team versus the Lakers, right? Like, can we see him versus Brawney? That might be a discussion. Like, these are things that we gotta factor in and think about. But currently point in time, we don't know where Braun is gonna go.

Lou Dort Trade And Who Wins

SPEAKER_00 1:31

We do know, however, where players like Lou Dort is gonna go. And that's to the Hawks. And there was a three-team trade. Three-team trade, ladies and gentlemen. OKC, Hawks, and Mavs. Risha Shea, the number one pick in what 2025, four, one of them two. He gone to the Mavs. So him and Cooper Flag will be a pair of number one picks that are playing with one another on the same team. But this Lou Dort signing, I think it's pretty smooth for the Hawks. I think it can work out nicely for the Hawks, right? You got Dyson Daniels, you got Lou Dort, two defensive-minded players that you can put at the guard position. One's about 6'4, one's about 6'6. I like the I like the signing. Like it spaces the floor out for players like Jalen Johnson still. He fits the what they're trying to build over there in the Hawks. So I I get the signing. Risha Shea to the Mavs, I like that as well, too. Because it gets him enough time to develop, right? Like he doesn't have to he still doesn't have to be the guy on the team, right? He can be just a role player on squad, which is what I think he's going to ultimately be. But he also gets a redemption because he's now understanding the basketball business, right? You you will get traded, even though you were number one pick. You will get traded. Well, one, if the GMs are gone. Like the GM that drafted him, yeah, he's gone from the Hawks. So that that's that's you can get gone real quick. But now, understanding that business side, maybe it matures him quicker. So now he's actually focusing on the game. Let's see what happens, right? We've seen that occur, even on my Lakers with BI, Lonzo. Remember, they were saying Lonzo couldn't shoot. Next thing you know, he's shooting 40% from the three the very next season. So let's see what happens with a player like Risha Shea on the Mavs. OKC getting three second picks, though. I mean, I guess, I mean, you know, I would have liked to see a little bit more for Lou, but they probably focusing on having to pay players. So I get it too. OKC is gonna be real interesting because it's like they're gonna have to strike gold every single trade, every single acquisition. They got to keep doing that to keep their dynasty going because their depth was predicated on them making the right decision. So it was an interesting move for OKC. I feel like the Hawks ended up winning it, but again, as time goes on, maybe the Mavs win it. Hell, maybe the Thunder win it because they get the role player that they need, or maybe they get a star in the second round. Let's see what happens. But yeah, that one happened, ladies and gentlemen. Also, I want

Lakers Add Matisse Thybulle

SPEAKER_00 4:07

to give a little shout out to my to my Lakers. We just got Atise Dybel. I've been having a gripe with the Lakers, right? I will say they are at least trying to do something, right? I do like Thaible as an acquisition from a defensive standpoint. I think from a wing standpoint, he's pretty good. Also, he can get a bucket himself, too. He's not that top-tier two-way wing that we need, you know. I think on any given night, he can maybe give us 15. I think that's something to note, and maybe 10 to 15, 10 to 15. So again, I don't expect us Lakers to win anything. I'm just saying the Matisse Thaibol deal. I do like it. The only thing that I noted was it's a one-year deal. So if he has any sort of hiccup, any sort of slow start, yeah, I can see JJ benching him, and it's not gonna be fair. So again, I there is pressure on Thieble to produce for sure. So maybe even with that, who knows? We'll see what happens. But I do like that one. I do like that one. That was signed. Yeah, that signing could be a little interesting. Now,

Summer League Reality Check

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Summer League, y'all know how I feel about Summer League, ladies and gentlemen. Summer League was cool, it just ended. I'm gonna give a a little a little love to the dubs, right? They just won. Alright, so let's see what happens. They won Summer League, could they win the NBA championship? Let's find out. But Jaxel Lindenborg, ladies and gentlemen, he has been playing pretty phenomenal. I told y'all during the college days, he looked like he could have actually been the best player in college. And yeah, he he might be one of the older players. He looked like one of the best, he looked like sometimes the best player on the floor in every game. Like he genuinely did some games you could argue, but you know, he looked pretty stellar. And so he ends up going up against the Memphis Grizzlies, which contain Cameron Boozer, right? The number three pick in this year's draft. But also for my Blue Devils, you know, he cut from good stock. And look, Memphis was up double digits, and then the dubs come back and win. I mean, a lot of that had to do with Yaxel and the board. 94 to 90 was the game chat was again was was a game score. Yaxel has 21 points, 10 rebounds. Like, that's not bad. Cam does his thing too, ladies and gentlemen, with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists. But I mean, it's the scoring that Yaxel does coupled with the defense. Like, he he's going to be a quality two-way player in the league. And yeah, he's older, so that gives him an advantage over players

Jaxel’s Breakout And Rookie Buzz

SPEAKER_00 6:44

right now. But when we're talking about rookie of the year race, he has a case for winning it. He does. Let's say the if the Warriors actually go to the playoffs and he's a pretty decent reason why. I I think that's fair to say, hey, Yaxel gets the MVP award or should or could. Like that discussion needs to be had. So I'm looking forward to seeing Yaxel and De Borg. And this again, not just because of Summer League, because I told y'all, I told you all, I don't believe in summer league like that. It's cool, it's entertaining. Like it was fun seeing Yaxel go up against Cam for sure. It's cool that Cam was able to go to the championship game for sure. But like, let's be real, it's not like Memphis is gonna go to the championship game. They're not even gonna go to the playoffs. So it's cool seeing this, but I had expectations of Yaxel entering, well, after college. Because again, I saw what he did against us, I saw what he did in March Madness. The man was special, he was spectacular. So that's what I'm looking forward to seeing, and that's the reason why. Not just because of Summer League, but Summer League does factor into it for sure, because again, he did his thing in summer league, ladies and gentlemen. So again, kudos to the dubs for getting the championship, getting a dub, if you will. But again, it was summer league, very entertaining. Now, we've talked about pretty much everything I wanted to talk about on the NBA side. I mean, there, you know, there was a couple things I could have noted, but ah, that's it's not really how the show drops, right? It's not what I really want to talk about on the show. What

Nafisa Collier Is Back In WNBA

SPEAKER_00 8:19

I do want to talk about on the show, ladies and gentlemen, is Nafisa Collier for the WNBA. She is back. Like I just said, I like I just said, ladies and gentlemen, once she returns, it's gonna be a problem. And it's already a problem. In her debut game this season, she dropped 24 points and 10 rebounds in two minutes. Like 9 of 20 from the field. Hey, bro, I'm telling you, now, granted, granted, granted, they were they she did go up against the Storm, all right, and the Storm are in fact the worst team. I stated that I stated that before. I gotta be consistent, right? But, again, but this is like her norm. She normally does this, ladies and gentlemen. And the thing about it is, let's say someone tries to now key in on her. Olivia Miles didn't even have the best game offensively. Five of 15 from the field, 13 points. She can get better. But because Navisa Collier is now on the floor, you get to see Kaylin McBride score a good amount of buckets. Courtney Williams didn't even go off, ladies and gentlemen. She hit 0 of 5. Like, come on now. How often are we gonna see that? Personally, I think they need to move Courtney to the bench as a sixth woman, and then she can close the game. But that's my personal opinion on the map. That's the only thing that I can see differently that the Lynx need to do. But Kayla McBride's gonna flourish now because again, you're getting third, fourth option defenders guarding you. That's disgusting work. Natasha Howard's gonna have an easier time hitting the bucket because again, they're focusing on Nafisa Collier, Olivia Miles, Courtney Williams might get off a little bit. Like, though, the Lynx are in such a good situation right now. It's a good time to watch WNBA, ladies and gentlemen, because again, Nafisa Collier, one of the best three, one of the top three players in the WNBA, has finally returned to the team that has the best record in the WNBA and has held the best record for quite some time. I'm so excited. This is such a big storyline. Right before All-Star Break 2, this is gonna be monumental. This is what they're gonna be talking about. This over All-Star Break and even past it. What are the links gonna look like with Napisa Collier back now? Is this gonna affect Olivia Miles' MVP case? All this stuff is gonna talk about. It was gonna get talked about. I can't wait to watch every single bit of it. Like, I'm about to be a Lynx fan for the rest of the season. Like, I'm so looking forward to seeing them play, them get a bucket. Like, it's it's it's it's such a good time, and I'm so happy we got to see Nafice Collier right before All-Star Break. That was perfectly timed. I like perfectly timed. Kudos to them, kudos to the Lynx for this. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. I hope y'all are too. Like, I hope y'all can really hear my excitement. But

Listener Questions And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_00 11:10

ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So I'm curious, what do you all think about? Well, I mean, I guess I talked about Bronze, so where do y'all think he's gonna go, right? I guess I talked about him. What do you all think of the Thaible signing from my Lakers, right? What do you all think of the Dort Risha, three second-round picks, acquisitions by the Hawks, Mavs, and Thunder? And then also, what do y'all think about the WNBA returning to its prominence with Nafisa Collier back? Again, the links. I'm so excited, bro. Like, this is gonna be a good time if you're a WNBA fan. Yeah, I'm gonna stop talking because I'm gonna just get repetitive. But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA and two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Buck, and I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.