🏀 Knicks Taking Over the East?! 😳 Lakers & Celtics Offseason Pressure | Pain Points Ep. 20

Lakers Trade Luka Debate

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Heard this on pain points first, man. For real? Dude, if I'm the Lakers, I seriously think about Trey Luca. I don't know if you win in a title with Luca. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

The two-star players on the teams we can mention can shoot and defend. They're scores and they can defend. Everybody else around them can score and defend. Guess what we can do? Score. Can we defend a nosebleed? Absolutely not. And who is a big traffic phone on our team who is coming off of a calf injury? So yeah, I see your point. We gotta figure this out. We gotta figure this out.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

This is Derek Thompson from Pick'em Pros. You can catch us on all podcast platforms, including YouTube and now 104.5 WCCG in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Hey y'all, you know this ticket run has me crazy. Also, welcome back to Pink Prince. I'm C Pade. This is Derek Thompson, aka the prophet. You know, we're calling the series like crazy, man. How are you feeling? How you feeling?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Feeling good, man. It's cool to have a nickname, you know, that uh has been given to me by the people, you know. So uh I like it. I like it. I come on, I'm I'm gonna run with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Absolutely, you definitely should because I mean, my goodness. So thank y'all for all the support, you know, on the show and everything as we're going on, especially how we're doing our pick and pros, you know. Derek, you've knocked that tick out of the park. First take of many that I've seen have really just, you know, almost about a thousand. But we'll see, you know, with the rest of these playoff series, how's this gonna go? So we're gonna talk Wolf Spurs, you know, the 76ers getting swept, the Knicks being on fire, what are the Lakers themselves just gonna do, and a lot more on this episode. So definitely excited, definitely excited.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

All right, now do I think Wemby can be stopped with this specific team? Unfortunately, not if Julius Randle keeps playing like this. I remember saying on previous episodes that Julius Randle will be the X Factor. And uh, yeah, he has not been a factor at all because just relying on Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Absol to do their thing hasn't been great. And can't be Superman because you know he doesn't have his legs under him that well this series, and he has been playing well, but he can't do it all. You also got you know Stefan Castle and Jalen Harper. Now, again, me, I was like the young guards are gonna show up, they're gonna hit that rookie wall. They haven't hit it yet, they've been playing phenomenal, and then you got Wemby. And you realize that in their three playoff losses, it's either when he was knocked out of the game, the game he shot five or seventeen, and then the game he got ejected. The rest of the time, they've won when he's on the floor. So you just have to hope that Wemby has either a freak accident, gets ejected, or just forgets who he is for a second, and that's your only hope. And if that's your recipe to beat a team, I don't necessarily like that. So I do think that Wemby has had a greater effect. I do like to see him scoring more because I'm not gonna lie, I was I was like, out of these 17-point performances, Webby. We need a 30-ball, we need you to really go up and dominate. So I'm really excited to see how he continues. But I really feel bad for the Wolves because they don't have that other star that can really go at Webby. Now, again, if they had this version of Kat that's on the Knicks, but we'll talk about that later. But if we they had like that version of Kat on this team, that would have been the perfect thing for this matchup. So it's it's just it's been rough all around. But how do you feel about the Wolves and Spurs, Eric?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, yeah, it's been a um, you know, it's been an interesting series so far. Uh, I heard a great take on NBA radio today. So it's uh Wednesday, May 13th at time of filming. And uh, they said that Nas, you know, should have showed up in the um press conference afterwards with like a neck brace on, and they should have listed him as questionable before game five. And then he might have you know suspended Wimby a game. I was like, oh dang, that's actually a great take. They really should have they really should have played that up more. But um yeah, you know, the the Timberwolves, not the Spurs, sorry, the Spurs dodged a big bullet, man. They dodged a huge bullet. I knew when I made my prediction for the whole playoffs that um ant was eventually gonna you know wear down. I just didn't think it would be this early. So now again, it was more of an injury that had it. So it's not so much wear and tear, although he has been fatigued. But um the Spurs dodged a big bullet by him having both knees impacted, and then of course, DiVincenzo uh tearing his Achilles. So that has impacted it. Um but I'm still gonna ride with the Wolves, man. I'm not coming off of I'm not coming off my pick. I'm standing 10 toes down and gets the extra days rest going into game six. The crowd should be behind them. I think the crowd has not been what it should needs to be these last the last two games at home. They the crowd has waited for the wolves to really get going. And the Spurs are getting off to these fast starts, so they got to stop that. Um, but the crowd has to be the energizer, the crowd has to lift the team in game six. And with Ant having an extra day's rest, Wolves are gonna go ahead, tie it up, send it back to the Spurs for game seven. Of course, it's gonna be rocking in San Antonio, but again, the key for that game is to get off to a good start. Get off to a good start. Don't be down by 10, 12, having to fight your way in it. Just, you know, have a small lead or keep it tight the whole way, and then let that let that inexperience start to come into play there. Um, hopefully the refs will let them play. Uh, whimby had a very, very favorable whistle in game five, so that played a big factor. But if um the refs can, you know, just call it call it even, not not get crazy, then uh the wolves, wolves will still pull this out. I'm riding with them, man.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Yeah, there's a lot of ifs there. So, you know, we'll just we'll see. There's like if the refs do this, you know, getting off to a good league, getting off to that.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

I still think they will get off to a good start.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

So is Julius Riot a we'd have to drop 25? Because we that's that's I don't know if he has to drop 25. Because Terran Shannon has been good, but Tieron Shannon isn't enough when we still have Dylan Harper and Stefan Castle playing like this. Like you need somebody else to help off because again, Dante would have been that guy, but Dante is hurt. That's another thing that people don't realize in the series that is the Vincenzo shooting because you at least have at least one more three-point shooter that can at least bring Wemby up a little bit more. Now you don't have that, it's just like you're just like eh, be special. Like that's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

So now I'm not not gonna be prisoner of the moment with the Spurs winning the last game. Timberwolves, they got it. They're gonna push Wemby out, they're gonna be more physical with them. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna pull this out, man. It's gonna be just like the Nuggets, man. You know, they were down 3-2 against the Nuggets. Came back and got that from them a couple years ago, got that game seven in Denver. Oh, it's gonna be it's gonna be another memorable game seven win like that. I'm gonna have the flick that I'm gonna post out after the game in all my glory on Sunday night, man. Oh, it's gonna be a beautiful night, man. I'm mad at I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start have to figure out dinner and everything. I'm gonna have it all planned out. Don't miss it. Musty TV.

Sixers Swept And The Future

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Game seven. Tomorrow will be hilarious if they actually lose. Because all right, y'all. Time recording is Wednesday, May 13th. So this could be hilarious coming down the line. But yeah, anyway, let's let's talk about these Sixers.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

All right.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

You know, the team that you were riding hard for in the first round, you know, they're gonna come back from down three-one. You were correct about that. Shout out to you. Uh, but now they got swept, you know, it just uh they got dusted off the court.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Which I said they would lose to the Knicks. I said it was a bad matchup, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

But uh 144 to 114. I don't I don't think you expected, you know, Deuce McBride, you know, turning to a splash brother.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

No, I did not expect that. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

I don't think we expected that. But uh, what do you think they do now? Because they've been on two separate timelines for two years with Joel and beautiful george, and now they have maxi and edge comb and um their other young standard boat and like how do you how do you feel about the Sixers future?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Blow it up, go young, man. Go young. I I'm a big fan of M B's talent, but just with the money that he's making and how little he plays, they can't he can't be in Philly anymore for them to be a contender. So they gotta somehow find a taker for him. I feel there's a way they can get him to Golden State. I think they can make that happen. Bob Myers is now like interim president, he's got some high-ranking position. He's basically, you know, has to step in for the GM role, uh, from my understanding right now, there. So he's got to figure out a way to get him to Golden State. I think that's a win-win because at Golden State, all they care about is just getting into the playoffs. They have enough to be able to do that. Wimby can basically he can play his 30 regular season games, just be ready for the playoffs. Golden State, the best version of Golden State, that 73-win team, had Boget. And Bogit got hurt in that game five. A lot of people don't remember that. That was a big factor. Um, uh Draymond got suspended, but Boget got hurt. And here it is, and B, you know, a guy that's got that same size to move everything. So, yeah, man, I think, but they they've got to get rid of him, go young. You've got Edge Comb, you've got Maxi. Um, just you know, rebuild from from that way. You have those pieces, but uh all the all the old heads gotta go, um, and just build from there.

Pistons Cavs And Home Court Chaos

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Sorry, but so let's uh but yeah, when it comes to that team, you really just maxine edge come gotta be your future. Yeah, you gotta resign, you gotta get Quentin Grimes off the team. Ubre, I would say keep him, you know, it's not it wouldn't hurt too bad, but you gotta make sure to really just focus on the youth movement there because you've tried with Joel Embiid and Paul George in their championship window. Hey, this starts after them because again, this is the East. Maxie has wassened into a great score. VJ has really shown promise as a defender, and if you just guess that scoring up a little, like I do think that they can be a really formidable team in the East because honestly, it really is just the Knicks. And and when the Pistons make a move, that's my only thing with the Pistons, is them needing to make a move. And the Cavs, we're we're gonna talk about that like during around this section. But honestly, we can talk about Cavs, Cavs, Pistons right now. This is a confusing series because what the heck? This is a very confusing series for me because honestly, when it comes to that when it comes to this team, both the Pistons and the Cavs, it's like Cade having to be special isn't enough, but then Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are only showing up during these last few games, and I don't know which is sustainable. Like which is like it's on a crash course of like two things that are very unsustainable. It was either Cade has to be Superman and rely on Oh my goodness. I'm sorry, Eric. I don't know why the notifications are going off.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Oh good man. So put it all silent or whatever you can.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Yeah, I got it. That's what I'm like, sorry. Anyway, yeah, pistons calves. Okay, cool. So when it comes to Pistons Cavs, honestly, this series I want to pick the Pistons so badly because of their defense, but their past few games, it just hasn't been there. The tenacity hasn't been there. Donovan's just looking at everybody like their food. So I don't know. Is this the series where Donovan and James Harden finally like get over the hump and they're like, oh, we're actually Donovan Mitchell and James Harden the regular season and actually show up? Or does Kate have to be special again? I don't know which is gonna happen. So that's why I think this series is a lot more unpredictable. But what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 12:52

How do you think you're yeah, yeah, it's been um it's been interesting, man. I mean, home teams won every game. I think it's gonna play out that way. Home team will continue to win. Very similar to the Cavs Toronto series, you know, um, very similar to the Pistons Orlando. I mean, the road team won some of those, but um just that back and forth seesaw, you know, momentum shifting of how that series went will be here. But yeah, I think home team's gonna win every game. It's going seven, just like the uh Wolf Spurs gonna have two great game sevens on Sunday. Oh, it's gonna be a beautiful day. It's gonna be a beautiful day for the Profit, yeah. So yeah, yeah, I'm not worried about not worried about them uh getting Cade. They gotta they gotta get him at shooting guard, but that's uh that's more of an off-season move. Um I would wish they'd bring in a bring in a pure a pure point on unless they're gonna get a knockdown shooter at two, like someone like a booker or something like that. But unless you're gonna pair him with someone like that, you know, get that man a point guard. Just because he's been playing point all his life, teams, you know, they put the ball in the best players' hands, but that doesn't mean that's what you should do at the NBA level. But uh, anyhow, uh Pistons take care of business with this. It's gonna be home, home, home. It's gonna suck.

Giannis To Boston Trade Rumors

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Gotcha. All right. Well, next we're gonna talk about something that Derek kind of mentioned as a throwaway, but actually, this looks like a very real possibility. Giannis to Boston. Listen, I was talking about this today. Um, I'm not gonna lie, Jalen Brown. Hey, Brad, the last time somebody was a nuisance of Boston who was a star player who was on stream talking a lot to the media and kind of rubbing people the wrong way, he ended up in Brooklyn. So, like, I just think that I ain't gonna lie. If my thing is Jalen Brown saying, Oh, this is my best season. Mind you, two seasons ago, you won finals MVP, you were literally possibly the driving force on that championship team where Jason Tatum wasn't playing all that well, but your best season is when you're finally considered the band with a franchise that is known for being ruthlessly cutthroat, brother. It's it's not looking good for you. It's not. I just and again, Milwaukee would take Jalen Brown and some picks in a heartbeat four yards. Please play this safe, bro. Like, this is the thing. It's like, well, they already gave him 300 rams. They've always been tied to Tatum more than you. You notice this. Even when you were a star this season, the whole story is like, Oh, so when's JT back? When's JT back? Now you're throwing your tail on stream saying, Oh, da da da. Now, maybe you do need to change the scenery. Maybe you want to prove your star elsewhere. That's what I think is gonna happen. If the colors are so green and white, brother, so hey, you know, not so much of a uniform change, just the state, just the state. But I just think that that whole thing with going on stream after blowing a 3-1 lead. I never, but now again, this is a different thing. I'm not gonna say this is a different generation, but KD got a call after after Golden State blew the 3-1. Like, hey, KD, we need you. They have to meet them in the Hamptons. Yeah, there's no meeting with the Hamptons if you hop it on stream. I just I don't I don't like I just don't like the whole optics of it, and that's why I do think Jalen Brown eventually is gonna get traded because that is uh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I think he's he's definitely gonna be gone, but you know, if I'm Boston, that you know, yeah, I mentioned it, you know, they would definitely be in the the Giana sweepstakes, and that's what's happening. Um, the grass is not always greener, and man, if he didn't like it in Boston, he's gonna hate it in Milwaukee. So, like, dude, you don't want that, you don't want those problems. Now, the perfect place for him to go, and I can see this happening. If it's not there on both sides, if I'm in Atlanta, I'm giving them whoever they want for Jalen Brown. He's he's from Georgia, he's from there. I don't know if he's from Atlanta proper, but he's from that area. I think he's yeah, and I think that would be a great fit. Um, so that for for Jalen Brown, I think the Hawks would be a great destination for him. Um but yeah, man, you don't Milwaukee and Jalen. That's that's not gonna that's not gonna be a good mix at all.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

So I get it, but it's like if Boston knows that they can get Giannis, they're going to do everything. Oh, yeah, they're gonna do it, everything in their power to get that man. Because honestly, and with Giannis and the whole like thing where he previously said, Oh, I'm tired of running from the ground, I'm tired of running from the ground, and then it was teasing all season about like, oh, I want to leave the team. Listen, Giannis, you could have left earlier. Like, we I'm tired of your because he's trying to do that LeBron offseason mess, we'll get to this in the next segment. Like, but my feeling with this is that the whole teasing of like, oh, I'm like, I'm gonna leave this team, oh, I'm gonna stick with this team, I'm gonna leave this team, I'm gonna stick with this team. Just go and move. We're not going to care because you're on a franchise that genuinely is has not supported you since the championship run. They don't care about you, they've not been a good franchise, they just keep signing your brothers and like a washed all-star, and you think that it's gonna be fine. That's not gonna happen. That's not what's gonna help you. Y'all have got for me with that team, they have got to just decide look, we want to be, we gotta blow it up. Giannis, it's been real, it's been fun, but we gotta get at least another piece and then start rebuilding something more. Giannis, you want to win championships, you're not gonna win it in Milwaukee. Not in this conf this version of the Eastern Conference, because now the Eastern Conference has gotten so much better. Like, this is not you need to go to a good team. So, we're not gonna hate on you for going to a good team, but we're gonna keep hating on, we're gonna start hating because the fact that you keep saying, Oh, I don't want to go, I don't want to go, and then you keep staying. Like, why are you just staying in a relationship that you don't want to be in? Like, that doesn't make sense. But you can go, just go.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Nah, let's gonna be he's definitely gone. So two things can be true. I think Jalen's gone, I think uh Giannis is gone. The question is, are they gonna swap? You know, so yeah, eager to see. But I think there's gonna be another team that's gonna jump in the mix. I would not be surprised to see Atlanta uh jump in, especially the way they got beat down by the Knicks. They see they're pretty far away. So making a move to get Jalen Brown coming home, Atlanta, that would be that that that would that would be a great fit.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Ah, my Lakers. 4-0 sweep.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Your guys, man.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

My guys, listen, I said five-year extension for LeBron James. Great.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Listen, full transparency, right? That series showed how far we are away from being one of the contenders, right? And I will say to the guy who has a calf strain but didn't play, yet I still see Anthony Edwards playing out playing with practically no legs and still hooping. I have questions. We also have a center who got a chain but called that says dominating and only gets three rebounds. Okay. Austin Reeves didn't show up at all, and we're still relying on LeBron to be our best option at 41. Here's what we need to do: LeBron, either you retire this season or next season, we just call it a watch and have the retirement tour. But like, I'm tired of wasting time. I'm tired of wasting time because this is a title town. We've been the premier franchise, the story franchise in this league's history for generations. Yeah, and we still have a star player. LeBron, love you. It's it's been real. We got the we got the Houston series moment with you and Bronny. That's cool, bro. I want to win a championship. I'm tired. I'm tired of just us waiting around and us having all the cab space and uh then him taking them up because he's like, oh well, I'm 41. Why are you you we should not be paying you 100 million dollars and you're 41, bro? I get it. You're a LeBron James, yeah. Like you you have enough money, bro. You don't need more money from us. You would have won a championship. We're going to need an actual center in some shooters. DeAndre In is not it. He cannot catch a lob and he cannot rebound. It's terrible. Get Austin Reeves, you're not getting a max contract. I'm so sorry. You literally played yourself out of that max contract, Luka Doncic. I'm glad you're not doing your ball this season, bro. Get on the court. If you don't want to get on the court, you want to go to another team, go to another team. But I want to win a championship. Trade off every piece to get something, and we take it. Because again, being in the middle class, especially in the Western conference, is not enough. You see what OKC and the Spurs are doing. You see how they could go 11, 12 deep. We can't even go three or four deep. We can't even trust, we can't barely trust like two or three people. How's that gonna work? But you got OKC that could go literally to their bench. They have an AJ Mitchell. They have they have you don't even have Jalen Williams, and there ain't no playoffs. Like, what are we talking about? Like, this is this is bad, man. Um I listen, I'm out on the Lakers, I'm out on everything. I don't even care if we were bad next year, bro. Just get me, get me out of the middle. At least let us like fight for a play in and then lose that way. I'm tired, I'm tired of being in the middle, bro. Because every time we're in the top four seed, LeBron's looking special. They can make a run. Then we run into the juggernaut, and then we wonder why. Oh, this is why we can't beat him because we don't have roster depth, which is something we've been saying for about four years, even when we had Anthony Davis. It's just it's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah, yeah. Nah, it it it definitely is, man. Um, you know, so this offseason, I think, I think um they're gonna they're gonna get rid of Reeves. I think this this shows more that Reeves can't be your number two to win to win a championship. And if it's title town and with new ownership, I don't see this ownership group playing around. So I think LeBron was definitely gonna be gone, but he played, you know, for his age and everything, all things considered, I think he finished the year on a on a high note.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

He did.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Uh, I I feel he did. So with that being the case, even though they got swept, just the way he played, I think was was phenomenal for where where he is right now. So if you can get him for I'd say half the money, you know, come on, 41 years old. You you still you can't be paying him 40-50 million dollars. I think if you can get him on a 25 you know, milli-year deal, if he takes one-year deals, I think you can even pay more. I think that would allow you to pay more.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

But regardless, if he takes a pay cut and you're able to get off of Reeves and then build around, of course, Luca being your one, having a two that could defend, you know, and score, then that can't defend keyword Lakers that can't defend because if Luca gets back, we need actual defenders. I'm sorry. Yeah, Martin Smart ain't the same guy. It's not what's happening. We need people who can switch and play defense, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

And and at some point, and this is where you know it hurts them, and uh, I don't know if it's a quick fix because I just don't know if the it might be two ships passing in the night with this because Luca is an old, whatever, however old he is, he's an old version of that age, whatever the number is. Okay, and we've seen okay, who are the juggernauts in in the west? Who who are the juggernaut teams in the west?

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Honestly, it's okayc and the Spurs, the Wolves. If they actually get Ant number two, then the Nuggets, then the Nuggets when they're fully healthy, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:16

So just stay, and even if you throw the Nuggets in there, but though those top three, okay, all those guys, it's especially one and two. We you know, OKC and the Spurs are clearly the way they're set, they're one and two going forward long term. No, no, no debate there. Okay, if we go up and down their roster, where did all those guys come from?

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Younger college players, they're all very young, high draft picks.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

The draft, yeah. You know what I'm saying? The draft.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

And again, because we're like playing in the playoffs, we can't get a high draft pick of the lottery, so exactly, you know what I mean? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Exactly, exactly. So, you know, it takes a little bit of time to build that. I mean, shoot, the Spurs they hit about three years in a row on the draft. Now, boom, look where they are. OKC hit several years in a row in the draft. Now, you know, if it feels like they drafted Shay, right? But they actually didn't. But with all the picks that they had and everything that they were able to do, they were able to steal them, you know, from the the um from the Clippers. So you have to build through the lottery, you have to build through the draft. Uh, if the Lakers really want to build something sustainable, you know, they're gonna have to, you know, bite the bullet and do that. I know that's not the LA way, that ain't the Lakers' way, you know. So it'll be very interesting to see, you know, do they try to um you know build build that way? But that'll conflict with Luca because Luca's gonna age out as you're trying to do that. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

Yeah, because we're trying to stay on an old man's timeline, and then we realize we probably shouldn't have stayed onto that old man's timeline. I've been saying that for the past two years, but and also we'll say Kawhi Leonard, you deserve a clipper, you deserve uh statue for you know, okay see when they win two or three more championships, because bro, you set him up for life because you set him up to the best drafting GM possibly ever, and then now that they still have AJ Mitchell, who just all of a sudden out of nowhere looks like a dog. Like, what's going on, bro? They cheating over there. That's all I'm gonna say. Okay, see cheating. If and I'm not even talking about the rest, like I'm talking about drafting, purely the drafting thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, oh, it's it's crazy. And dude, they got everybody the NBA got leg, they dodged a bullet Sunday when they Sunday at about 3 p.m. Eastern.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

When they didn't get the top pick because man, just just them not getting a top four pick.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

You know, they they ain't even need the number one pick. Just give them four. Now they probably with 12 are gonna still slaughter everybody.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

They're gonna get a couple that we that nobody's ever heard of, and then boom, we're just gonna get it. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

But but hey, heard this on pain points first, man. For real, dude. If I'm the Lakers, I seriously think about trading Luca. Like, if you if you really, if you really wanna build a contender, and hey, keep LeBron, you know what I'm saying? If you got um your guy, shoot, can you get for uh for for Luca? Can you get AJ and and and a cuff? You know what I mean? Like, hey, what what can you get for? You know, gotta see.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

I I mean it would hurt because obviously we can't we can't give up a guaranteed offensive piece, but my issue is the injury stuff right now, and the fact that he didn't show up at all during the playoffs. I don't know the ownership group, and I was thinking that, but it's like uh, but we still haven't seen him fully like blossom in the playoffs and literally look like playoff Luca. But now it's like the injuries are starting to add up with him, and that's why I'm like, I uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah, that's why the Mavs got the Mavs. That's why your boy Nico, he wasn't crazy all the way, you know. He just needed to get more for, but the the thought of trading Luca wasn't crazy, it's just if we can actually get more for him, I wouldn't be mad at that.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

If we can get a couple picks, you know, something I wouldn't be mad at, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Then because if you do that, you could, for one, if if LeBron is about hey, being the number one, because he clearly loves being the number one, okay, fine, cool, get it. You want to be in LA, and then you have some young, you know, high picks that people are excited about, excuse me, that people are excited about that he can lead. Okay, fine, that could be his fair world tour. Maybe you're able to then still keep Austin for a little bit to then you know dump later. But yeah, I think that's your that's your biggest chip. So it's like, hey, you're gonna dip your toe in the water or you're gonna jump all the way in.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

That's a solid way to jump all the way in.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I don't I don't know if you win in a title with Luca, you know.

Knicks Offense And KAT’s Breakout

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yeah, I mean because I'm sorry, those two-star players, the two-star players on the teams we can mention can shoot and defend. Their scores and they can defend everybody else around them can score and defend. Guess what we can do? Score. Can we defend a nosebleed? Absolutely not. And who is a big traffic cone on our team who is coming off of a calf injury? So, yeah, I I see your point. We gotta we gotta figure this out. We gotta figure this out. All right, last topic: the next, the New York. Oh, the New York Knicks. I mean, what a playoffs they've been having on the offensive end. Shout out, listen, for me, you know, I did say Carl Anthony Tiles was an X factor. Kat, you proved me wrong. You've been really showing out and doing your thing. You're letting Jalen Brent Jalen Brunson score more. You know, Kat is just out here. I mean, ditching like dishing the ball. He's going into the paint more. He's like, this is the cat we've wanted to see for years. This is what we've wanted to see. I'm so glad for the Knicks, you know, and then them realizing, oh, we actually have a solid bench with all these players. Let's actually use them more instead of relying on Jalen Brunson to be special every game. Seeing that really come to fruition, I'm really excited to see them. Now, do I think they're a finals lock? Uh, because of their offense right now, I do think that they they can be, and I do think that they have enough stoppers on defense to really, you know, push the Pistons because the Pistons don't have the same level of scoring, and I don't trust the Cavs, even though on paper they do, it's trusting if Don Rom Mitchell or James Harden will rise to that occasion. So I do think that regardless of whoever comes out of the Knicks uh um Pistons Cav series, I do think that the Knicks are going to the finals.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Yeah, I mean, they absolutely have to be the favorite. I mean, they they have to be the favorite on paper. I mean, looking at what what they did um you know, the last week two is it's getting fuzzy. Um, but it's wild that just the ebbs and flows. I mean, it was what two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

They were down, they're down to the lane of two one, and now they've won like what right illustrate playoff games because you know, yeah. They figured out oh, wait, they don't have a center. Cat be special, like that was it. Joel and beats hurt, bro. Cat turn up. Like, I love how they finally realize that that's the strategy, and then they play next, they're either going up against Jalen Duran or Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. We're going to the finals, yo.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Like, yeah, yeah, you and you know what's what was ringing in my head, and we'll see how everything plays out. We all know what I what I predicted, you know, the Pistons, you know, beating them because of that matchup. It's like we saw how the Sixers looked once they got in B'd and got a game under his belt, how they looked, and they came back from 3-1 and beat the Celtics down. And then, okay, the Knicks. So we saw that, and we're like, okay, this is gonna be a seven-game series, uh, you know. So nobody thought, even the biggest Knicks fan, thought it would be a sweep, and not only a sweep, they blow them out the way that they did. So it was wild that that happened. Although I did think it was a bad matchup, I didn't think it'd be a sweep and be like that. And so the ebbs and flows of it, and it's taking me back to the old adage. Um, you know, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. And so I'm kind of waiting for something, not anything like bads necessarily happened, you know, the Knicks or anything like that, but just for something to be exposed. Um, you know, again, looking at the regular season, we know regular season isn't a full indication of playoffs, but the Pistons were very physical with them and had their way with them in the regular season. Will that 100% translate? Probably not, but some of that has to translate. So it is gonna be interesting to see once they, you know, uh get together. Um, the Knicks are gonna be, is it gonna be rest or is it gonna be rust? How is you know that gonna play into into the you know things then being away so long? But um, you know, something something's gonna come out of this series. Uh I don't think they're just gonna blow through the Pistons if it is the Pistons, um, you know, the way that everybody's thinking. There are gonna be some bumps in the road uh on their way there, but there's no doubt, odds on, you know, they they have to be the favorite.

Live Show Plug And Goodbye

SPEAKER_02 35:04

I agree. I do think that the Knicks, it's your time, bro. Listen, y'all Celtics out the way, all other bad evil teams, the Pacers aren't up there, bro. It's your time. Let's show up, show improv for what y'all been trying to do for the past three, four years. Yeah, I'm really excited to see the rest of these playoffs, the rest of these series. Um, Saturday at 3 p.m., you know, live radio show, you know, come in, make sure you watch watch the guys' debate. Let's see if Derek, you know, let's see if the prophet really does this thing, man. Let's see if he really really nails this thing. So I'm gonna be very excited. And yeah, again, shout out to y'all for again, you know, all the followers, all the support, um past few posts. It's been really great. So, shout out to y'all, and all right, thank you. It's been a great show.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Yeah, yeah, you know, great chopping up with you, man. Appreciate it. Uh, you know, we'll be back and uh yeah, man, let's get to these games. Got pistons and calves on right now. Look like it's back back and forth, neck and neck. You know, each team kind of trading positions here being up too. So we're gonna see who gets this pivotal game five as we speak right now. All right. All right, all right, cool, man. We'll see y'all next time until then. Pick a pro.