 What's the word, y'all? Nothing brightens my day more than reacted to some good old fashioned fictional NBA trades. Mentioned this a couple weeks ago, we have this obsession as NBA fans with player movie, this and that and we haven't even started the season yet and I've read like four different articles about potential trades that could go down and I'm just, I'm here for it, you know? These trades are fictional, these are not rooted in any kind of rumors but they're always fun to react to because I give my opinions about the trades and I go to the comment section and see y'all whose favorite players are involved in the trade, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. We not doing that and it's always fun. Leave a like, subscribe, let's get into it. So the article we reacted to a couple weeks ago gave us one player from every team that should be on the block but it didn't draw out real trades. This article was drawn out real trades that would change the 2024 championship race, okay? So these are the lenses we're looking at these trades through. A, do both teams walk out feeling happy and B, does the trade change the race of the NBA championship? To make a point, Fry in 2016, DeSalle in 2019, Tucker in 2021. You don't have to be a superstar player to be a move to impact NBA championship ball to be the missing piece, if you will. I guess we'll see if that happens today. But I wonder if these are the minority, you know? There's a lot of trades. Remember at the deadline last year, 28 of 30 teams made a trade made a move. The other teams that didn't with the Miami Heat who went to the finals and the Chicago Bulls who were closely going to the finals because they were up on the Miami Heat and because that's how history works. If we were to beat the Heat, we would win to the finals. No. So I wonder if these three examples are just the minority. Similarly to when we talk about the buyout market, how historically the buyout market is so fun and everything but we rarely see a buyout player impact the championship. So I don't know. Are we gonna get into a shout out to Greg Swartz of Bleach Report? The first trade is the Clippers finally get Malcolm Brogdon. It has Malcolm Brogdon going to the Clippers with Mooc, Kobe Brown, Amir Koffee and a 2024 second rounder. This is an interesting one because Malcolm Brogdon last month was traded to the Clippers for about four or five hours. At least that's what it was reported. And then it fell through because the Clippers didn't love the physicals of Malcolm Brogdon. And maybe they're willing to put that aside now because the James Harden thing is not really progressing. They have an idea of what James Harden's value is and then the 76s have a different idea and they're in a stalemate. So maybe this is their consolation prize and getting Malcolm Brogdon. Does it change the championship race? Not necessarily. Malcolm Brogdon of course is a really good player. He had a really good year coming off a six man of the year where he's a former 50, 40, 90 candidate. But would I see him on the Clippers and say, that's the team. That's the team out west that everybody should be worried about? No, could they win the championship? Absolutely, I'm not saying that they would count them out but I don't think this moves the needle enough for me to look at them and say like this was the missing piece. The point guard position as long as Kawhi and Paul George have been together with the Clippers, the point guard position has been the one that they needed the most help. They brought in Brody halfway through the season last year and he looked pretty solid playing his best basketball in a couple of years and he resigned for pennies on the dollar and maybe they're looking to say, hey, we just need a little bit more depth. This guy was the six man of the year last year. So you might not have to start because we have Brody do that but he can just impact our game positively. And for what you're giving up at Marcus Morris, Kobe Bryant and Amir Khauffi in a second, I see that as a dub for the Clippers. If I'm the Portland Trailblazers, this is all another tentacle of the Damian little trade. I don't love it but I also don't know much about Kobe Brown. Could he be a real player in this league? I don't know. Amir Khauffi signed a little extension a little while ago and I think he's a real NBA player but just like, what does that ceiling look like? And of course, a second round pick might not be super interesting but Malcolm Brogdon might not also have the value to get you even a highly protected first. Maybe you asked for two seconds. I don't know. The second trade is Miles Turner opens up the floor in New York. It is Miles Turner getting traded from Mitchell Robinson in a 2024 first round pick, top 10 protector, so it's the Dallas Mavericks pick this year. I don't see Miles getting traded. Of course, anything can happen in the association. He was a player that was rumored to be traded pretty much all last season and he came out and had a career year and then they gave him an extension and he feels like a really good center for what they want to do out there in Indianapolis in Indianapolis is what I meant to say. So this would be, and I'm trying to rationalize it from Greg's perspective. This is them saying, hey, Miles, it's still young. I think he's 27 years old. It's not like Miles Turner's like this 30-year-old vet or something. He's still a relatively young player but the rest of the team is young girls. So maybe we bring a guy in Mitchell Robinson who's younger that maybe fits the timeline a little bit more. But I think having the presence of Miles Turner is real. When I interviewed him in 2019, he was the longest tenure in Indiana Pacer. He was talking about the small amount of pressure that is added would be in the longest tenured player being one of the veterans in the locker room. That was back in 2019 and now we're in a 2023 season. And I'm assuming that he's become more comfortable with being a vet in a locker room and kind of showcasing to these younger dudes how you run or how you become an NBA player in an effective one. He was really good last season. And the way he's talking, I think that you have to have irrational confidence to be really good at what the things that they do. He said that, hey, if I'm not an all-star this season, this is a disappointing season for me. And I like the kind of confidence because he's not very far away from it, especially if the Indiana Pacers are good this season. Now, the priority is probably going to Tyrese. If they are good, but injuries, a lot of things go into a potential player making their first all-star appearance. If I was a bedding man, would I bet on him? Probably not. Probably not. I probably won't put no money on it. But I like that he has this confidence and I would feel more comfortable with just keeping Miles rather than trading him for Mitchell Robinson in his first. I don't know what happens to the first if it does it convey, but I think we're assuming that the Dallas Mavericks are gonna be at least decent this season. So it will convey. And even if it's at the end of the lottery, it's still a lottery pick, I don't know. I don't love it. But if I'm the Knicks, I love it. Open up the game for Julius Randu and Jalen Brunson who wants to get to the basket. Miles is a really good center for what they want to do. But going back to the original thing of it changing the landscape of the 2024 finals, if the Knicks bring in Miles Turner, do I think that that team is about to really compete with the Bucks or the Celtics? Probably not. But it would be pretty nice. I will say that. The next one, oh, look at the dunk from Uncle Jeff. The next one, Miami get their starting point guard. It is Duncan Robson, the 20-28 first round pick, top 10 protected for Tyus Jones. If I'm the Wizards, do this deal, 20-28 first round pick, even if it is top 10 protected, I guess you gotta ask what happens if it doesn't convey whatever, whatever. This is an asset I'm willing to take on. It's the Miami Heat at the end of the day and historically they've always been pretty good, but it's not like you've grown this attachment to Tyus Jones. He's the type of player that deserves to at least play on decent teams. I just don't think that's what the Wizards is gonna be this season. So we'll take on the contract of Duncan Robson where he can come in and shoot some shots and maybe get his value back up and give up the point guard because we don't really need that at the moment. I think that the Miami Heat are at the point now that they just want real NBA players in the locker room and impactful NBA players. And Tyus Jones has been a dude that is a no-mistakes point guard. And those things, those players are hard to find in the current NBA. Low maintenance, no mistakes, in the right spots at the right time. Defensively, you might worry a little bit when him and Tyler Harrow be in the back court. Regardless, you have the amount of buy-on Jimmy Butler that's been covering things up historically. So you might feel fine with this. 20-28 might be just a little bit too far in the future for a Miami Heat fan to give up their draft capital. Especially consider it feels like the Heat are always on the cusps of the big trade and you might want that 20-28 first round pick to pull off the big trade. Again, they always in the conversations and it ain't happened since Jimmy Butler. So I don't know how real it is, but they're always in these conversations and maybe you want to sit pat on your assets and not trade them away for Tyus Jones, who as much as I just talked about how good he can be, it's not like you're trading for a top 15 player at the, not even the top 15 player at his position. So maybe stay in pat. Ooh, Jeremy Grant joins, trade young into Jean-Té Murray. It's the Andre Hunter in a lottery protected pick a part of the Kevin Herde trade for Jeremy Grant who cannot be traded until Jan 15th, right? So this is a trade that would happen later down the line. I am very intrigued with the Atlanta Hawks this year. So intrigued that I just dropped another episode of the Kenny Beecham podcast and we spent a good amount of time talking about the Atlanta Hawks and the most intriguing player on their roster. In my opinion, I'm not gonna spoil who it is. You either go to the YouTube channel or go to Spotify or go to iTunes and go ahead and listen to it yourself. Adding a player like Jeremy Grant does not make me think, again, this is, I'm thinking about the lens of it changing the landscape of the race. I don't look at them and say, boom, that is a team that we should fear. Now I think it's a playoff team. I think it's a playoff team as currently constructed under Quinn Snyder for a full season, but it's not a team again when you talk about a seven game series versus the Milwaukee Baltimore seven game series versus the Boston Celtics that think that that construction of trade young, Dejante, Jeremy, and let's say, click a pillow in Yucca Congo. Whatever the rotation might be, I don't look at that and say that that's our championship contender at the moment, but it could be potentially down the line revolving around some of the younger players because they do have a lot of young, intriguing players like a Yucca Congo, AJ Griffin, Jalen Johnson, and you want one of them to hit. And I don't mean hit, is they've got to be a superstar version of themselves, but just like real adequate, real role players, real all-star, no, not all-star, start a quality players. If one or two of those players hit, it could be in the future. We just don't know that right now. The Andre Hunters contract is one that scares me, but if I'm the Portland Trailblazers, what am I playing for anyway? Right, what am I playing for anyway? I'm willing to take on that contract and to get off of Jeremy Grant's contract and receive an asset in return in a first round pick via the Sacramento Kings is kind of a dub because there's no, I don't think there's any such thing as a immovable contract in today's game. We've seen a lot of really bad contracts be moved one way or another. Usually just have to attach an additional asset to it. And this hypothetical, the Jeremy Grant asset or the Jeremy Grant contract is moved and you receive an asset. I think that's a dump. This does make the Atlanta Hawks an extremely expensive team. And usually the extremely expensive teams are competing for the Toppian stuff, but this has doubled down on Trey Young as a star. I say, hey, Trey, we got multiple defensive-oriented players to Jeremy Grant and Jean-Té Murray and Clenka Pella slash Yeka Kongu. Now is your time to cook and really take us to the promised land because we believe in you as an offensive threat, as an offensive hub. Hey, seriously though, go listen to the Candy Beach podcast to get a new episode today. Ooh, Ojiata Nobi going out for Josh Green, Jaden Hardy, Rashawn Holmes in a 2027 unprotected, woo, we don't get a lot of unprotected picks getting traded away unless you're getting a star player. So this is a huge buy-in for Ojiata Nobi who is going to test the market more likely than not at the end of this season. And because of that, that would scare me away if I am the Dallas Mavericks. Now they did it this year where they traded for Kairi Irvin. Now they didn't give up a crazy amount of assets, but they gave them some really good role players that fit alongside Luca and they convinced Kairi Irvin to resign, right? So maybe they believe that, hey, we can trade for Ojiata Nobi right now because we have a good track record and convince some players to stay around. Maybe that's their mindset. Josh Green is 22 years old and is a good defensive player, runs like a gazelle and shot 40% from three last season. Jaden Hardy gave us a lot of good flashes at the end of last year. He's a good NBA player or he's projected to be a good NBA player, a spark plug, if you will, in that role in Dallas. And Rashawn Holmes don't really care about because you just trade it for him to shoot floaters, but you can make that up. The 2027 unprotected could be a super valuable piece considering it is 2023 and we don't know what the landscape of the league. I always preach this man because everything has changed and it can change in a year's time, a two year's time. We don't know where Luca Donce's priorities are. We don't know. Will he be in Dallas by 2027? Will Cary Irvin be in Dallas by 2027? You talk about completely unprotected? Whew! If I am the Toronto Raptors and I'm not completely sure about where Ojiata's head is at, do you want to stay in Toronto? Does he want to test the market? This is a deal that I'm willing to do because this allows us to get a future asset in the 2027 first round pick and Josh Green, who again is a good 22 year old player that could be more than that and say, hey, now it is time for us to make a decision about the direction of this organization because right now we have a little bit of both. We have the youth and then we also have some older players that are on expiring deals. Maybe we just say, hey, the youth is our route. But also, if you're the Dallas Mavericks, do you look at Luca and say, hey, I know you want to win. Ojiata Nobby is the type of player that can help us win. You remember what Doreen Finney-Smith was doing for us? We're doing that time seven. Okay, I'm not saying he's a seven time better player, but he has more versatility, at least offensively. He can put the ball on the floor a little bit. He wants to do it more than maybe he should be doing by the numbers, but like Luca, we're willing to give up a pick four years in the future where we probably shouldn't in exchange to keep you happy. Do I look at Ojiata Nobby being added to the Dallas Mavericks and say, ah, this is the team? No, but the Western Conference is so open. Same thing that I mentioned with the Clippers that anything can really happen out West. There's no super juggernaut. Like we love the Denver Nuggets. We believe in the Denver Nuggets ability to compete for a championship again, but it's not like they're head and shoulders above the competition. That's how deep the West is. And maybe adding a guy like Ojiata Nobby could take the Dallas Mavericks who are a good roster. I know they didn't make the playoffs, but a good. Okay, Luca's good. Kairi's good. How about that? I can't even look at it and say, good roster. And add another piece. It's like, okay, now, instead of us having the top two talents, we have a third and a distant third, but it's a lot better than what we have in locker room right now. I don't know, let me know what you think. I feel like I overlooked some stuff, some different things about these trades. Shout out to Greg over at Bleach Report for putting it together. I'll go listen to the Kennedy Beach podcast. Links are in the description as we try to become the number one basketball podcast in the world. We were sitting at number six, which we appreciate, but we want to be number one. Appreciate you and I'll see y'all tomorrow.