An honest look at the Milwaukee Bucks | The Athletic NBA Show

An honest look at the Milwaukee Bucks | The Athletic NBA Show

Welcome to the slam and jam here on the athletic NBA show go to theathletic.com NBA show you can get the athletic for a discounted rate can read all sorts of articles about trades you can read uh there’s a great breakdown of the SE yakum deal by multiple writers

Honestly and it’s great gives you a great insight as to how the deal broke down and and maybe where the Pacers are headed after this so please please go check that out with me as always is my good friend Alex Spears Alex tell me what happened in the NBA this week well

Andrew it all started last Friday night with a battle of two teams at the bottom of the standings the Spurs versus the Hornets why am I talking about this game because Victor wanyama has been on a tear recently and it’s worth mentioning uh first the game Spurs won 13599 uh

Charlotte has lost six in a row Spurs still only have seven wins who cares both of these teams are are firmly in the race for one of the 15 players that may go number one in this year’s draft the important thing is that since moving to center from power forward on December

8th vikor wanyama is averaging 21 and 11 with three and a half assists and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 50% from the field previously shooting 43% from the field that is impressive on Saturday it was another rookie who shined for his team Jordan Hawkins for the Pelicans in

A 118 to 08 win over Dallas Hawkins scored a game high 34 points including six of 12 from three there have only been 11 30-point games from rookies this season wemi has three of them Chad has three and Jordan Hawkins has two as a rookie Hawkins is shooting 39% from

Three on 5.6 attempts per game the Pelicans have won seven of their last 10 and are now fifth in the West on Sunday we had an incredible game with an incredible finish Kings at bucks it was close all game but in the final minutes of the fourth it looked like the Bucks

Were starting to gain control up five with 73 seconds left the Bucks had an 87% chance of winning in the next minute however dearen Fox and Malik monk would score 10 points to send the game to overtime then in OT it was the Kings who looked like they were in control up four

With only 18 seconds left and Malik monk heading to the line for two but monk would miss both free throws which would follow a Brook Lopez three and then dearen Fox missed a free throw all leading to the final play Damen Lillard getting the ball in the back court

Dribbling to just outside the top of the key and hitting the three to win it as time expired we’ll talk about the Bucks a little bit more later but for the Kings things are still weird they have now lost four in a row and while three of those losses were completely

Understandable on the road to Philly Milwaukee and Phoenix on Thursday night they lost to the Pacers at home who are without four of their main rotation guys on Monday is it was a night for Revenge who can forget the battle between the Pistons and wizards when Detroit was in

The midst of their 28 game losing streak what seemed like the best chance for Detroit to prevent history ended in a 19point loss for the Pistons at the time but on Monday night the Pistons were out for blood Alec Burks 34 points including eight threes Jay Navy 247 and six Jaylen

Duran 209 and4 on eight of eight from the field and in the end it was a 29 to 117 win for the Pistons their fourth of the Season since December 30th Andrew how many teams do you think have won fewer games than the Pistons what would you guess uh one three three Washington

Charlotte and Brooklyn Wow have all only won one game since December 30th while the Pistons have won two are things looking up for Detroit well if you’re cool with a very loose definition of up yes they are on Tuesday it was the game of the week the Denver Nuggets at the

Philadelphia 76ers yic vers embiid Murray vers Maxi mpj vers tsunami poppy it was an incredibly tight game throughout with 16 lead changes and the largest lead only being 10 while yic is 25 and 19 nothing to sneeze at Joel mbid put up 417 and 10 leading the Sixers to

The 126 121 Victory the Sixers have now won three in a row and will meet the nuggets again this time in Denver next Saturday on ABC also on Tuesday on a very serious note Warriors assistant coach dehon movich was rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack

During a team dinner Movic passed away the following day at age 46 movich played professionally and he was named the Adriatic League Most Valuable Player three times in a row he also helped the Serbia and Montenegro national team win eurobasket in 2001 he later went into coaching where he would coach future NBA

Players including goap pad iita zubats and Nicola yic he has been an assistant coach for the Warriors since 2021 the Warriors games on Wednesday and Friday were both postponed as the team Mourns the loss of their beloved coach on Wednesday we had a blowout in Cleveland missing Giannis the Bucs fell behind

Quickly to Cleveland and ended up losing by 40 135 to 95 the Cavs who are still without Evan Moy still without Darius scarland have won six in a row the longest active winning streak in the league they are now 11 and3 since both Moy and gar left the lineup and are

Fourth in the East also on Wednesday give you some Raptors news for the second time in the past month we got a huge Raptors trade Pascal seak is heading to the Indiana Pacers and exchange for Bruce Brown Jordan noara and three first round picks SE yakum is

A huge front Court boost to a team that is one seven of 10 and currently sits seventh in the east at 24 and 17 but only one game out of the fourth seed for the Pacers finally on Thursday night we had a great one between the Oklahoma

City Thunder and the Utah Jazz the thunder came into the game on a two-game losing streak after having dropped both games of a back-to-back in La the jazz on the other hand were riding a six-game winning streak into Thursday night the Thunder ended up winning 134 to 127 and

Listen you know all about Shay gilders Alexander he had another great game he’s great but what about Jaylen Williams AKA jdb jdub put up 27 points on 11 of 14 shooting to go along with eight assists two Steals and two blocks over his last 20 games jdub is averaging 24-5 on 59

5378 splits more importantly he’s been making his Mark in the fourth quarter Shane Young atou Young NBA on Twitter posted his fourth quarter stats from the season 28 points per 36 minutes with 6259 83 splits that’s what he’s doing in fourth quarters up next for the Thunder

Is a showdown with the number one team in the west the min innesa Timberwolves in Minnesota on Saturday night what a week it was Andrew what a week indeed uh it’s trade season so we’re gonna talk to our Guy s Vini right now well Al it’s trade season officially it’s time to

Start talking about trades first we had the Pascal yakum deal and many more trades to come I assume and the person I wanted to talk to about traits is our Guy s Vini he covers the draft he also covers the NBA for us here at the athletic also has a podcast called The

Game Theory podcast which you can watch on YouTube if you like watching podcasts on YouTube uh Sam how’s it going man I’m doing great Andrew it’s the summer here I don’t have to worry about the snow I don’t have to worry about the ice like

Wow what a flex what a flex summer here sunny Australia wow wow I did not expect to uh to hear anything about you being south of the Equator but here we are here we are know sometimes you just got to flex on that south of the Equator kind of

Stuff uh hey let’s start with this uh let’s start with the Pascal sakam deal and and also if you want to hear a ton more about it the the guys at the tampering show did such a great job covering it today uh Sam amch had some like really great details about about SE

Yakum himself and kind of like his his thoughts on the deal and kind of what his Camp thought about it so you should go listen to that but we have seak going to Indiana for three first round picks Jordan war and Bruce Brown how much of a

Needle mover do you think this is um for the Pacers and like what can the Pacers do in the East now yeah I think it’s a significant needle mover for them because seum is probably at least this version of him and look we’ll talk about the long-term Ram ramifications of this deal

Here in a minute but this version of Pascal cakam is kind of tailor made made for this Indiana offense in such a significant way yeah he is one of the best transition players in the NBA uh if you look at uh his points per game in transition I think he averages like 5.7

Or so which is in the top 10 I believe in the NBA he’s in the top 10 Perc of all players in terms of transition efficiency he is a fantastic fantastic fit with that part of the Pacers attack and that’s a significant part of the Pacers attack right they score you know

The third most points in per game off of turnovers in the NBA the third highest percentage of their possessions in the NBA or in transition right uh they’ve tied for the most points per game in transition per Synergy right like they’re in the top 10 in field goal

Percentage top nine in effective field goal percentage in transition and now they have this guy who is this six foot n dude who runs like a deer flies down the court every single time has exceptional motor and he’s going to be able to create all sorts of incredible opportunities for Tyrese halberton

Looking around for options as he surve the game coming down the court uh that piece of it is great the other piece of it that’s really interesting is that the Pacers currently in the NBA right now are third in drives per game they are third in the NBA in points off of drives

Per game I would say that they’re doing that despite the fact that I don’t believe they have like what I would say is a truly Dynamic driver of the basketball on their roster yeah I’ll do respect tyres Halton tyres halberton is incredible he is one of the smartest

Players in the NBA he is able to use the threat of his shot and his passing ability and his overall intelligence to get to the rim but I wouldn’t call him like dynamic as a driver Pascal seak is one of the most dynamic drivers in the NBA of the basketball and he’s been

Doing that despite playing in a Toronto offense that has not finished higher higher than 20th yeah in either three-point percentage or three-point attempt rate over e each of the last three seasons they’ve not finished higher than 20th in either of those metrics if you watch Raptor’s games the

Offense is still a little bit stagnant often times he’s driving into a paint where there are multiple guys just waiting there to go and get him or to try and cut off his drives or to be there at the rim and help the Pacers part of why they’ve been

So successful driving the basketball to the rim and really in my opinion the significant reason is because they spaced the court so incredibly well so now you’re putting one of the best drivers in the NBA into a circumstance that he hasn’t played for really in like four years at this point

Yeah where he’s going to be able to get to the rim when he wants and they’re going to be able to run all sorts of interesting creative actions off of him Miles Turner is a spacing five they can run these weird like four five you know combination ball

Screens they can run any combination in my opinion of ball screens for any of their players one through four in what will likely be the starting lineup like they like to run the halberton heeled ball screen occasionally where heeled ghosts for halberton they can run SE yakum halberton ball screens now they

Can run you know whatever they want to do they can get really really fun and creative with all of the movement all the dribble handoffs that they look to do I think it’s going to be about as Taylor Made a fit as you can find on offense and then defensively I think

Siakam’s been much better this year than what he’s been the last couple of years uh his energy his Mobility his effort level on that end I think has really improved as Scotty Barnes has been able to take more offensive responsibility off of his table SE yakum is gonna be a real needle

Mover for them like I think this is now probably in the regular season at least I think I would say they’re going to be a top four team in the East yeah at the end of the day uh we’ll see what happens in the playoffs like we need to see what

These guys look like but there there’s every reason to believe that this is going to be a very very very good basketball team yeah and how comfortable would you be willing to give him the max this summer the Pacers have said that they would give it to him it’s five years 247

Million I mean it’s it’s a big big commitment to seaka have you have you has some did Sam say that that they’d be willing to give him the max is that is that there was there was like a report today that the Indiana was reported reportedly

Comfortable with it or or willing to do it or something like that so I’m gon to be just like fascinated to see how that goes because with the Pacers SE yakum is eligible to get five years you know in the ballpark of 247 million we don’t know the exact number because the salary

Cap needs to be set still right right with another team he is eligible for four years about $183 million something in that ballpark that’s a big gap guys like that’s a lot of wiggle room for these teams to come in and try and find a solution that pays SE yakum more

Guaranteed than maybe what he would get from another team but maybe a little bit less than what the max is maybe it involves like a team option on the fifth year maybe a partial guarantee on a fifth year something like that some way to potentially miate the downside of

Like a 35y old Pascal seak not being quite as good as what he is now and I think there are reasons to believe that that will be the case I think there’s enough wiggle room to where I would bet that the contract is I don’t I don’t know the answer to

This uh but I would bet you that there is a real chance to where they can find a middle ground that makes sense for both parties so uh bouncing off the seak deal how do you evaluate Bruce Brown’s half season in Indie because we all saw how

Important of a role he played in Denver’s Championship run but Indie didn’t seem to work quite as well his Advanced stats are down across the board Why didn’t it totally work in Indi and how do you value him as a potential trade Target or just as a raptor he’s

Playing tonight had a great game yeah I’ll be really interested to see what they decide to do with him uh for a reason I’ll explain momentarily I’ll answer your initial question first I think that it started out quite well he was knocking down shots things seemed to be

Rolling and then I think that it got a little bit more fraught in terms of fit he what the Pacers need above all defensively from somebody right now and this is part of where I think zakum can be so so valuable for them is somebody who can deal with like bigger Wings

Right so in the last 16 games the Pacers have given up 32 on 15 shots to low marinan 25 to Michael Porter 38 to Jason Tatum then 40 the next game from Jaylen Brown they give up 34 to Paulo banero on December 23rd kawh Leonard and Paul George combined for

63 in what was like a truly catastrophic defensive game against the Clippers uh in December at one point and then this is like the crazy one Patrick Williams dropped 22 on them uh that that’s the sixth most Pat Williams has ever scored in a game he’s played 210 games at this

Point in his career and that is uh the sixth most he’s ever scored in a game they needed somebody that could guard like bigger Wings above all and a lot of the time it fell to Aaron naith I think Aaron naith is a little bit better on like true

Wings and Bruce Brown would occasionally have to deal with things like this as well and Bruce is just smaller he is not as good at dealing with those he can manage because he’s strong he’s physical but he’s just not he wasn’t the answer for them in terms of what they

Needed on a possession byp possession basis I think that as the Season War on it just continued to deteriorate in terms of what the issues were with the exact fit of him in Indiana I think it makes a little bit more sense in Toronto as presently constructed I think that it would

Probably make even more sense somewhere else if I’m being transparent uh Bruce Brown has a really interesting contract structure now where he’s you know obviously paid like 22 million this year next year he has a team option for 23 million the Raptors theoretically if they would want to do something like this they

Could take that to the draft with Bruce Brown yeah to a team that’s like a real Contender and say hey you’re a team that doesn’t really have another mechanism to bring in Bruce brown right we’ll trade him to you or we’ll like give picks or anything like

That he’ll pick up his team option and you give us assets basically what the Raptors are going to have to decide is is it more valuable to move him now or to wait until something like around the draft before he has his team option kick in on June 29th yeah to

Where they can find an interesting solution uh I I I don’t know what the answer to that is going to be though like I think that you could make a case for it either way yeah now the Raptors like have all these picks in this upcoming draft you know from from the

Deal you just wonder if if maybe now is a good time to try to test the waters for Bruce Brown are there any teams that you think like that should try to get him yeah I mean like I think that it makes some sense for the Lakers to go

For something like this like if the Lakers would be willing to do like D’Angelo Russell in some sort of like asset value for Bruce Brown yeah uh you have to be like substantial asset value in some regard but I think that’s a deal that helps the Lakers uh if the you know

The Warriors could find a deal that makes sense like could you do something like I I was trying to decide like if you’re if you’re the Raptors would you be willing to take the Andrew Wiggins deal if the uh Raptors also tossed in Moses moody or if the Warriors tossed in

Moses Moody yeah like that no yeah no I don’t think no I don’t think I would if I was the Raptors for what it’s worth just all the Canadians yeah that’s the only upside I mean it’s kind of cool it’s it’s unlocked RJ Barrett it’ll just unlock

Wiggins I mean you just have this like monster Canadian team Wiggins has been quite bad this year uh which is concerning uh given that he is on a four-year deal now worth I think over100 million a deal that everybody thought was like how did the Warriors pull this

Off you know it wasn’t that long ago people were saying that that turned unfortunately yeah uh yeah so and look like these things turn back right like Duncan Robinson is untradeable right now for Miami truly so you never know like you truly never know uh the Warriors you

Know maybe they could find a way to do something like that where they attach you know Wiggins and an asset for Bruce Brown I I don’t know like I’m just kind of spitballing like they like I could see Bruce Brown being like the most Tom Tibido player of all time like that

Would make a lot of sense he’s not what they need but you never know with tibs like he might just go yeah let’s do it that sounds great also Bruce Brown CAA client so like that’s a useful thing I mean some Thunder fans are like Drawing the Line like the Thunder have the

Stavas Bon’s contract you know and I think and obviously the Thunder don’t need another like 6364 guard that does everything they have tons of those guys but all the guys they have that do that outside of Dort are totally inexperienced like if the Thunder want to make a playoff run I think just

Having Bruce Brown around for a couple years I think could be helpful or even just this year like if you if you could do Bruce Brown for Davis Berton in one of the 45,000 picks that the Oklahoma City Thunder have moving forward it’s not a bad idea uh the other piece for

The Thunder is like I think the Thunder more than anything just need to go find a big that can match up with Nicole yic in a playoff series like I I just don’t I don’t love the idea of Chad having to deal with that for 48 minutes

A game and then them not having anybody else that can do it like you essentially have to match Chet minutes to jokic and that feels like a problem I would just want another body the good news for Thunder is that they have the mits and

Poku deals that can get them up to like I think they can move those guys for up to like a contract worth1 15 million so there’s like a little bit of flexibility to be able to maybe answer both questions if you wanted those things I I just don’t know what the

Thunder are going to do uh they are they are their usual quiet selves uh you know multiple weeks out to the deadline right now uh according to the people I talk to at least they have um they’re they’re not uh they’re not like out there uh yeah

The way that I would phrase it is like they’ll be opportunistic if something com about but they’re not out there to force anything to happen right well and like a thing for them that you know a couple of other teams have told me is like look the way that they will

Sometimes operate is they’ll say hey we like our team we love our team we’re not going to do anything and then like two days before the deadline you know just so that yeah you know nothing gets out there’s no leaks there’s no anything they’ll go to somebody and say hey like

You know what about this what about that I just I would be floored if they did nothing with that Burton’s contract like I would be really really shocked I would be too for what it’s worth uh I would be really surprised like Kelly alen is sitting right there and makes a lot of

Sense you think that jazz would trade him now like this is that’s a that’s a guy who’s like on the list who I think is he’s like tailor made to play four of the Thunder no I know that’s what I keep thinking as well uh you know dribble

Pass shoot is a big that’s exactly the thing that the Thunder love to have uh I think Jazz Chad too which is like another thing it’s like getting a big that you feel comfortable playing with Chad is like not the easiest thing especially if you want to continue to

Play the way you want to play like you could still do it with him he’s basically like their backup point guard in Utah yeah totally no that’s that’s what they do they like throw him the ball like entry passes like at the top of the key and just like have him

Kind of operate their offense for swads of time uh look the Jazz I think they understand that Kelly lenck is on an expiring contract and their front Court situation is crowded with Lowry marinan John Collins Walker Kessler Taylor Hendricks right like I would say that the Hendricks thing does make it more interesting

Because like they just can’t find any time for him right all four of those guys are likely bigger pieces of the Jazz’s future than Kelly oen is yeah is Kelly alen such a valuable piece to them this season that it’s worth losing him for nothing potentially in the off

Season because like Kelly oen probably gonna want to go find somewhere where he knows he’s gonna get consistent playing time I think the Jazz would love to retain him but like I I don’t can they can they promise him minutes even like next season I I don’t

Know if they can necessarily right now now so it’ll be interesting to see what they do they might keep them they might just say like we really want to be as good as we can be this season and Kelly alen’s a big piece of that that wouldn’t

Surprise me at all yeah they could they could also like save the Jazz a lot of money because of this Berton deal they could take back oen and ton Horton Tucker’s expiring contracts and like save save the uh the Jazz some money you know this season they could save him

Like six million bucks by taking yeah those guys and like the idea that I came up with was like let’s say the Jazz really want that 2024 first round pick to transfer this year right because they they want to clear their C clear their pick books moving forward they want to

Make sure that uh you know that they transfer this pick in what is considered a down draft at the top the Thunder could theoretically like remove some protections on that pick for you know and say like hey we will say that this pick transfers this year give us a you

Know we’ll give you a second round pick in addition to that or two second round picks in addition to that and you know do alen and Berton for uh as a deal like something like that yeah uh there’s there’s enough like Synergy there between those two teams because they’re connected by their pick

This year to where I wonder if um it does line up a little bit but we’ll see you know it’s it’s early in the process still uh let’s talk about the Sixers the the pitch for the Post Harden Sixers was that they would have a ton of cap space

Next summer and like when the idea was to land somebody to pair with and beat him Maxi now OG’s off the market Pascal Kawai Paul George is likely going to be joining them too who are your favorite remaining targets for the Sixers either before the deadline or maybe even this

Summer yeah before the deadline it’s really hard because I think you want to try and find guys that you know are on expiring deals that allow the Sixers to maintain flexibility like I don’t love the idea of dejonte Murray for them uh it just like doesn’t totally line up for me I

Don’t know I don’t love the fit between him and Maxi I would want the ball in Maxi’s hands uh as much as possible and I also it’s been frustrated with Dante’s defense this year even though like in theory he’s not taking as many possessions as he was

Late in his career in San Antonio so theoretically like you’d think he’d be able to expend more energy defensively but like his off ball engagement it feels like has been a little bit rough uh it’ll be interesting to see like if he goes somewhere at the deadline what

Does he look like on defense maybe he just like wants to be out of Atlanta um and that’s speculative that’s not reported right um you never know what that could look like uh the names for me that line up for Philly are Alex Caruso and Demar de rosan uh Caruso is on a

Cheap enough deal to we he doesn’t impact a ton of their flexibility in the summer I think they could really use like an awesome backourt defensive partner next to uh tyres Maxi in addition to DeAnthony Melton I also think that D rozan is like the secondary scorer that lines up probably

Best with what their kind of incentives are at this point to keep flexibility but also to try and find that secondary scoring Punch or to find that secondary offensive creation like when they take Tyrese Maxi off the court they don’t really have like a lot of like backcourt creators like that’s why

Kelly UB has been useful for them this season yeah is because he’s just somebody who can go get a shot on some level and they don’t have a lot of those guys really who are capable of that and most of the guys they do have in that regard are not really like highle

Distributors right they’re not like ball movers they’re more scoring threats Kelly alen Tyrese Maxi Maxi’s gotten better as a distributor but like he’s not like a true point guard still he’s more of like a combo guard that focuses more on scoring it feels like getting somebody like kuso that like really moves the

Ball at a super high level processes the game moves it quickly and then finding like a secondary high level offensive option like Demar de R rozan could make sense but at the end of the day I kind of wonder if they just roll this over until the summer uh maybe you do

Something small maybe you can get like a Gordon Hayward for the Marcus Morris and Robert Covington contracts and like you attach a couple of second round picks to that uh maybe you do something like buam bonovich who has that super cheap uh what is it it’s like a non- guarantee

For next season like a very small partial guarantee for next season uh you know maybe it’s a tyus Jones that can be like a point guard who has an expiring deal I think that they look more on that level if you made me bet unless we find

There is some other star out there that is unhappy and just has not made himself uh known yet at this stage yeah I like the tyus Jones idea I know that’s like not necessarily like some big needle mover but just to have another point guard that can also play offguard I think is

Helpful yeah tas’s track record in the playoffs is a little spotty uh which worries me a little bit uh for them specifically also like a back court of him and Maxi I think would be quite small in the playoffs but as a like if you’re just trying to find a really good

Backup point guard that can run the show for you for 17 minutes 16 minutes yeah when Maxi is off the court and then in the playoffs like for seven minutes when Maxi’s off the court in all likelihood uh you know M Jones could make sense depending on the price point but I I

Don’t I wouldn’t want to give up a first for him at least oh yeah um so I want to go I want to head a little North Sam to the uh Brooklyn Nets only had one player your guess is as good as mine well they’re super interesting

Because you know like a month ago it it makes sense that you only had one guy in your top 35 of your trade board is Royce O’Neal they’ve won three of their last 17 games two against Detroit one against OKC they’re now outside of the play several players who theoretically would

Be coveted by contending teams but they also do not have full control their picks until 2028 which makes rebuilding moves more difficult how would you approach this deadline if you were with nits yeah truly look I I would sell if it was me so you’re asking like what I would do I

I would sell I would move Mel Bridges I would move oh really everything I can and try and like get everything gone yeah like to me like what we’ve seen from male in Brooklyn and I there probably has not been a bigger fan of male bridges in the public sphere than

Me uh among National media I have loved male Bridges I think he is a stud I think he is like the perfect third or fourth option for a great team I don’t think he’s the number one and they need to find the number one guy like they just really really do

And look maybe they can while Bridges is on the roster still but you know m is what I think he has two and a half years left on that contract getting him would really potentially help another team but also trading him I think would allow them to get very significant pick

Capital in a way that would really help them like if you’re if you’re Memphis you’re looking like you’re probably in a circumstance where you’re going to end up with like a top five pick this year something like that you probably move that pick and other stuff for Mel Bridges right now knowing

That you’re going to have JN Morant Desmond Bane Marcus Smart back next season and your closing lineup at that point can be JN Morant Desmond Bane Marcus Smart Mel Bridges jiren Jackson Jr like that is an absurd lineup that would be awesome and that’s just like

One of the teams that I think could theoretically try and get involved and like that’s a team that like nobody is considering a buyer right now because they shouldn’t be buying given that they had an absurd number of injuries all happen in a single week with Bane and smart and jaw going

Down like I I think there are so many teams that would be involved in a male Bridges like potential sweep Stakes that it would drive the price through the roof uh he’s making $22 million a year for the next you know two years Beyond this one he is

Just the perfect guy for so many teams like if you’re the Lakers you give up everything that you have for him I think if you’re you know if you’re the Thunder you give up everything that you’ve you know not everything because they have way too much but like you give up a lot

Of what the Nets want I think for Mel Bridges yeah if you know if you’re I’m just like trying to think of like other great teams if you’re Philly I think he really would help Philly a lot like that would make an immense amount of sense for them uh if

You’re I’m trying to think of teams that have like a lot of assets if you’re New Orleans I think that’s the kind of like guy that would really represent an interesting shakeup move for them in some way if they wanted to uh and like a good buy for them a good buy opportunity

Because they have a lot of picks uh if you’re the Knicks I think that you go for that and just continue to build the Villanova uh pipeline right like every team Miami would have an immense amount of Interest I would think team the other day Houston because Houston offers

Something to the Nets that nobody else can and is that control over your own picks again which is like problem for them so here’s that’s like the biggest Catch 22 in the league right so if you’re Houston you have these picks you have three more years of their picks I

Believe Beyond this one right yeah do you trade one or two of those for Bridges knowing that if you do that these picks are going to be like really high leverage high value picks yeah or do you assume that if they’re looking to move Mel Bridges to you potentially that they’re also probably

Looking to Mel Bridges to look to move Mel Bridges elsewhere and thus you can get the full value of those picks on your own where those might end up being seriously like top five picks they move Mel Bridges yeah and assume that we can just have like a pipeline of

Talent coming in that’s like cost controlled and like unbelievably good and super high like Leverage Talent or just like super high leverage picks that you could move in a deal for something like that if I’m Houston I kind of lean toward the latter if I’m them yeah if they’re offering Mel

Bridges to me I’m kind of assuming that they’d be and I’m not saying that they are for what it’s worth with Brooklyn like I’ve not gotten any impression that they’re offering Mel Bridges this is all hypothetical based on what I would do according to Alex’s uh question here but

I have to say that just so people don’t like you know lose their minds yeah but if I’m Houston like I kind of bet that you know if they’re talking to me about Mel Bridges they’re probably talking to other teams about Mel Bridges and I would assume he’s gonna get moved

And I’m gonna bet that these picks will be very high value and I if if that’s the case like I wouldn’t want to move those picks bridg I don’t know if I would I might move one of them yeah but yeah I don’t know about a lot of them but the but

Because they hold so much value and they have Houston’s got some like some bigger unique expiring contracts and Jeff Green and victoro like you could just trade them basically Oladipo Jeff Green and these picks because like those picks really do hold the future like this is

Why like the Nets are so uncertain about what they should do because their future is in a strangle hold because of these picks and so like if they could get them back somehow like Houston wouldn’t have to give up any of their young prospects for it because they hold so much value

To so it’s just a really interesting situation here’s here’s like also the great question for this hypothetical and to be clear still a hypothetical because again as far as I know I have not heard anything about Mikel Bridges actually being on the market right now yeah people seem to think that that’s

Probably not going to happen two weeks still to go anything could change but as of right now that seems like it’s the case if you’re talking specifically about Houston though would you rather move like Jaylen green than one of these picks I I probably would if you’re

Brooklyn like do you if you’re Brooklyn and you’re putting Mel Bridges on the market you’re probably going to find something better than Jaylen green upside wise but like I’m not a thousand perc sure are you um I’m a thousand percent sure yes I’m sure you think so yes okay I like

Like in fact th% sure W I’ve been low on Jaylen green for a while so like this is coming from me but there is still like some there is like still a real chance that he can be like a highle scorer in the NBA on some

Level sure but again like the point the point you’re making the pi without giving up uh yeah without giving up like their younger prospects yeah I I just if I’m Houston I’m kind of playing the game of chicken the other way yeah yeah saying get that well I’d rather just

Have the picks and you’re probably going to move this guy anyway so now we’re going to end up with like probably two top five picks in the future so why wouldn’t we like would you trade Mel Bridges for a top five pick this year for this year no that’s all I’m

Getting no no yeah I would rather have Mel Bridges than that yeah would you trade male Bridges like so like let’s put actual names to this for a second okay let’s do it would you trade male Bridges if you’re Houston okay if you’re Houston would you trade alexar and VJ Ed for M

Bridges if I was Houston yeah no chance right what you would trade both of those you’d be willing to trade both of those guys for Mel Bridges in the eight years that come with Team control over both of them for Mel Bridges for two years they already have two very highly touted

Prospects and cam Whitmore and amen Thompson that they can’t even play that much they just went through four years of tanking they really need two more young guys that they have to develop like they’re ready they want to win now they made that deal for Van vet brought

In Jeff Green brought in all these vets because they wanted to win now so I I’ll counter that and say okay if that’s the case and you think they should move those picks then yeah is male Bridges the best you can do by moving those picks that that is a better

Question yeah I think the answer is and I love again big big big Mel Bridges fan I think he’s outstanding it’s been weird to see him struggle a little bit on defense this year uh you know again as you pick up offensive usage sometimes those you know struggles can happen a

Little bit more often but yeah like I I think that you can do better than Mel Bridges if you’re offering that kind of high upside pick value like get traded somewhere else then all of a sudden now you have like the most valuable picks in the league correct and

We just saw like Pascal seum get traded for three first round picks that might not be all that valuable right yeah and SE yakum is a better player than Mel Bridges uh he’s gonna be more expensive than Mel which is a factor that matters too but like I would rather have seum

Than Mel Bridges so if that’s the kind of player that you can get for three first round picks even if he’s expiring whatever uh there are factors why those picks were those picks I’m thinking if I’m Houston I can probably do better than Mel Bridges for those

Picks and if they’re offering me Mel Bridges it means they’re probably offering Mel Bridges elsewhere yeah that’s kind Game Theory that’s right this is what I think through here uh no but um in terms of like the other stuff with the Nets to continue to answer your question because

Now we’ve talked about the nets for a while seriously the Nets are like the most interesting team at the deadline to because and by the way teams around the league like don’t really know what they’re gonna do at the end of the day because they do tend to get involved in

Like Star conversations when these guys come available because they do have all of these picks but also they’re bad so what do you how do you square that circle is difficult for them uh I don’t know what they’re going to do like they have a lot of guys that I

Think a lot of teams would really like uh Royce O’Neal I think would be a really nice addition for a bunch of teams uh you know a guy that can knock down 37 to 39% of Threes give a ton of defensive energy and effort on an expiring contract that’s a valuable

Player for somebody Nick Claxton is on an expiring contract and you know was one of the six best defensive players in the NBA last season uh this season he’s not been quite that but he’s a guy that is really valuable uh you know Dorian finny Smith has proven in Dallas in the

Past that he can be a really valuable player uh for a number of different teams he’s hitting 40% from three this season he’s versatile defensively he’s big he’s long he can take on guys two through four consistently there’s just a lot of guys that I think can be valuable uh on that

Roster to teams across the league so if they did sell I think they would get real pick Capital back it’s just that it wouldn’t be their own pick capital and at that point you’re tanking and you’re tanking for nothing then yeah yeah yeah I truly think that like the Nets are

In probably the worst position in the NBA right now is where I’m at yeah yeah I don’t know where their win is yeah like Detroit at least has Kate Cunningham what about the Wizards the Wizards are a fair argument against this all right okay but they own all of

Their own picks they do yeah yeah yeah which is a big deal they do but the Nets I mean as as you mentioned like those at if they are trading them they have their the value of their trade assets dwarf what the Wizards could get if they if they decide to

Trade their guys 100% agree with that but I don’t know that any of the assets that the Nets have outside of bridges bring back like significant significant like highend high upside value yeah yeah I that’s fair it’s more going to be like good like cost control and like team

Control over prospects draft picks Etc yeah uh you mentioned the p Pistons let’s talk about the Pistons for a second they’re up to four whole wins on the season I’m so proud of them they’ve already made one big trade to bring back Mike muscala ginari okay I okay the the script said

One trade Andrew added one big trade to be clear there’s some big guys going back and forth here okay talking about the the size of the people you know uh what do you think is realistic and advisable for the pist at this deadline given their overall lack of draft assets

Should they be willing to trade any of their more valuable young pieces no because I don’t if I am running the Pistons and owning the Pistons I don’t want the person in charge to be the person making those decisions so yeah no I would not want I

I I would want to keep all of those assets and move them forward into the summer and look like James Edwards has written a couple of times that like it seems like Troy Weaver is going to get the summer uh I believe he wrote that

Yeah maybe I’m out to lunch on that and that’s just not a realistic outcome here yeah but if I’m yeah like if I’m the Pistons ownership I’m just like honestly like I would have moved on already and tried to bring somebody in and and you know hope that they can do

Something but no I would keep all of those guys and see where it goes yeah I I don’t disagree at all uh okay before we go any is there any big names sakam is obviously a giant name that was moved but are there any other

Like big names or any guys that you like think could be moved you know here as the deadline gets closer yeah like I mean I mean like de Jon Murray Zack LaVine you know Demar de rozan I think those are the ones that you know that’s

The size of name that makes sense I I mean look like Phoenix has not been very good uh they’ve been a little bit better of late but you know they they’ve won four of their last six I mean like if if it was to turn for

Some reason like you never know I guess but think that they I think they’ll be fine and keep this thing locked in and look the warrior like you look at the teams that are like under hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on were

You just like were you about to say Kevin Durant or what were you gonna say like what was like no no no no I wasn’t I wasn’t going there I’m not specul I’m not naming any names with Phoenix I truly don’t know what they how to that

Up I’m just I’m just saying you made a little pit stop in Phoenix without saying any names I just didn’t know I made a pit stop in Phoenix because because they are an underperforming team that probably uh could use some sort of shakeup yeah and it’s very difficult for

Them to shake things up I think without any tradable draft capital and with very minimal interesting young players so I I look I’m not naming names here it’s just okay I wonder uh if this was to turn right like for some reason if it was to go from them you know

Having won these last three games against the Lakers Blazers and Kings to this big road trip that they have before the deadline where they have to play Dallas Indiana Orlando Miami Brooklyn Atlanta Washington all on the road uh and then Milwaukee at home like if that if that run was to cause some

Issues for them I just I wonder what they would do because Matt ishbia seemed like a relatively uh impatient person maybe as an owner and like I they they’d be in a really tricky spot at that point I refuse to name names on uh what exactly they would

Do because I don’t know is my point uh the like the Warriors too like you just yeah I I do not think they will move Klay Thompson or Draymond Green yeah but this thing is not going well they are 18 and 22 and they are 12th in the west and

They’re getting further and further back like I I just don’t I don’t know what is like a reasonable expectation for them like they are currently two games out of the playin tournament which isn’t a lot but the Rockets are ahead of them the Lakers are

Ahead of them the Jazz are ahead of them in theory like you could say oh yeah like Houston and Utah will fall back but Utah’s been great recently and Houston I think is like a tough out for teams most kns because they really sit down and

Defend so if you made me say like yes I think the Warriors will make the play in right now but like again if things turn here and continue to turn poorly before the deadline maybe something crazy happens in terms of their core yeah I could see that hey go read San

Vini on the athletic go listen to The Game Theory podcast wait wait wait wait wait we don’t even get trivia my God the whole reason I come on this show and we’re not even it next time I’m sorry Eric name it’s it’s all bucks trivia this week all bucks trivia to be fair

Eric will be a better trivia uh guest than me H thanks so much Sam go read Sam go listen to him subscribe to the game theory podcast on YouTube and on Apple podcast and all that you won’t regret it it’s a great show thank you Sam all

Right Andrew it is time for the wheel of fandom our weekly segment where we spin a wheel it lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week last week the wheel landed on the Milwaukee Bucks it was a roller coaster week for

The bucks first they scored 46 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Warriors they followed that up with a wild overtime game against the Kings which ended with a Damen Lillard three at the buzzer and finally without Giannis in the lineup the Bucks ended the week with

A 40o loss to the Cavs only the 13th time in Bucks franchise history that they’ve lost a game by 40 plus the Bucks are now 28 and 13 with the fifth ranked offense and 2 first ranked defense per cleaning the glass Andrew if our favorite team is the Bucks who is our

Guest oh man it’s our guy Eric name ever since ever since that wheel hit bucks I was like man I’m excited to get to talk to Eric name about the Bucks this week uh Eric how’s it going man uh it’s good it is uh snowy here in the Midwest I’ve

Been uh had delayed flights I’ve had uh try not to slip every time I go outside uh all of that but you know that is uh January in the Midwest and I’m just gonna keep it rolling when I go to Detroit here later this afternoon so

It’ll be great oh yeah more the same I assume hey the best highlight in the NBA this week happened in Milwaukee where Damen L Lillard hit a big buzzer beater three in overtime to beat the kings first of all you’ve been to a ton of NBA

Games and this was only a regular season game but how would you compare that moment to other big shots that you’ve seen and was there anything unique about that experience in general I mean man I’ve I have seen some good ones that’s true like you you kind

Of go through it and honestly it was fun because after the game you got to go through it with one of the best players in League like it Giannis takes a long time to get ready but so we’re talking an hour after the game has ended 10 minutes into his like his postgame

Session and he’s telling us like you know you think about the buzzer beaters that have been hit since I’ve been with the team Giannis has one of them in mass and Square Garden a fade away jumper from the elbow uh Chris Middleton has two of them uh both like and he’s

Breaking down why Dames was so much better he was so excited to like talk about it and he’s like you know like after it I’m like I’m sitting there hugging him I choked him out a little bit I think he was suffocating like you you just have like this insane

Excitement from Giannis and it’s like if that dude’s that excited I mean that means I just saw something pretty special like if if one of the the best players in the league one of the 75 greatest players in the history of basketball uh is that excited I just saw something pretty special and

Yeah I mean it was it was really cool to see um um obviously you hear about Dame time before he comes to Milwaukee you know that he’s he has a pension for hitting big shots uh he has hit some big shots like not a buzzer beater yet but

He’s hit some big shots this year and you know that was it’s just kind of crazy to think about the the thing in the locker room the guys kept talking about was like this dude need they’re down two he needed to go 94 feet because they didn’t have a timeout in 5.2

Seconds and the thing all of his teammates kept talking about is this man needed to go that far get to the rim to maybe tie it find a shot and he’s slowed down like he got the ball and he’s slowed down so that he could set himself

Up for a step to the side 35-footer leaning and he lets it Go and everyone in the gym thought it was going in like that’s just how good Damen Lillard is in those in those situations and as a shooter off the dribble in those moments

Just being clutched so I mean I mean it was really it was really an incredible shot it speaks to kind of what he is capable of in the player that he is uh and also it was a good way for the bucks to sneak out a win in a game that they

Probably shouldn’t have been in like shouldn’t have been in that situation they probably should have just closed it out against the Kings instead of you know blowing a lead and doing all those things so uh you know there are some some real problems in Milwaukee uh so

That was a nice way to paper over a potential loss and instead get a win yeah there’s a lot of talk after the trade about how quickly Giannis and Dame would mesh and learn to play together how would you assess their oncourt relationship at this point in the season

I mean I think it’s still growing I think one I mean I wrote about this about 20 games into the season so about a quarter of the way through the season them working on their pick and roll um you know relationship and how often they’re doing it and and I think overall

We haven’t seen jannis stain pick and roll nearly as much as we thought we were going to see it going into the year like both here in Milwaukee and then I think anytime you watch the Bucks as an outsider you go don’t they have Yannis and Dame and

Like aren’t those guys gonna just like run pick and roll together all the time like you think of you know with the Warriors and Stephen Draymond you turn a Warriors game on you’re going to see some pick and roll like those two are going to be in those actions together

And yes they’re going to run their split cut action and all the the cool stuff that Steve Curry has installed over the years but you’re going to see some pick and rolls and with the Bucs you just don’t really see a ton of it and I think

That’s kind of been one of the interesting things both of them are putting up awesome numbers Giannis is putting together the best Rim finishing season of his career uh to this point he’s just putting up insane efficiency numbers uh he he’s been able to score at

And just I mean when we’re talking about the three best players in the league all those guys are doing ridiculous things yic embiid and Giannis like those three big men are pretty Untouchable as far as like the MVP conversation goes but while a lot of the focus has been on MB joic

And we just had an MB joic game Janis is right there with those dudes like if you’re looking at the numbers and the fact that they got a first year head coach things haven’t been like the smoothest I mean if you’re thinking about an MVP case rannis it’s pretty impressive that they

Keep winning games and a big reason they keep winning games is just his individual Transcendent play um so he’s been great Dame has struggled a little bit he hasn’t been as efficient as he has been in previous seasons uh he’s struggled to find his role a

Little bit how does this all work when you know you have the greatest transition threat in the history of basketball and Giannis um okay so if he’s bringing the ball up what do I kind of do in these situations how do how does this work I’m used to bringing the

Ball up the floor and you know being a threat to hit a pullup three or or have defenses worry about me from the start so we’re halfway through the season and and I think the the Bucks are still trying to figure out a lot of that like

They’re 41 games in second best in the Eastern Conference four games behind the cel Celtics 2018 and3 record so things are going good from a from an outcome perspective but I think from a process perspective uh they’re really to me still just scratching the surface of kind of what they can do offensively

With those two guys together so one of the games we saw this week was the win over Golden State which featured rookie Andre Jackson Jr’s best performance to date a 10-point 10 rebound double double which included six offensive rebounds in 27 minutes uh Jackson’s minutes have been steadily increasing over the season

What kind of development have you already seen in Jackson’s game from the beginning of the Season until now I mean Andre is a fascinating player um you look at kind of what he did at Yukon if you talk to people around Yukon they feel like he’s the reason why they won a

National championship last year like him figuring out his role and kind of how he functioned as like a point forward type it was a lot of grab and go and then he starting the offense and you hear all those things and you’re likeoh my God he must have been putting up insane numbers

And then you look and he barely scored like that’s just not something that he does he’s not a scorer that’s not how he does things he pushes in transition throws amazing passes he has incredible floor Vision sets great screens does all those things but scoring isn’t really

His thing aside from the highlight dunks that he gets because he’s got a 44 inch vertical and he’s got this insane athleticism so he’s just this really interesting package and I think the the things that he’s grown into a little bit as this season has gone on is

Remembering that in the NBA you do have to be a scoring threat like you do have to to show some of that ability if you can’t teams just aren’t going to cover you they’re not going to treat you as a threat um they’re not going to worry

About you even if you’re trying to set screens they’re just going to go over or under or Leave You wide open uh and I think what we’ve seen in the last couple weeks is starting to look at The Rim more he’s starting to be more of a

Threat as an attacker and that has been really big for him uh on the other end I think man uh his foul per 36 rate is out of control he just fouls and fouls and fouls and some of that is a rookie whistle I’m not I’m not trying to deny

That some of it is the Bucks consistently put him on the best player on the floor um and then some of it is just trying to figure out how you can use your hands in the NBA and how you can you know he’s super strong and he’s super athletic and sometimes if he

Throws a hip into somebody and that person flops they’re gonna get that call or they embellish it however you want to say like he’s he’s just trying to figure out all these things and you mention his his best game against uh over the weekend and it was undeniably great game

Uh the next game he played 10 minutes because he was in fou trouble the entire time and that is part of the you know up and down roller coaster of of being a young player getting a chance to to kind of contribute on a really good team but

The Bucks are going to need him to figure some of those things out because when you look at what they can do on the wing uh if you’re trying to figure out how they’re going to have Wing Defenders to go up against the Jason tatums of the

World Jaylen Browns of the world uh they probably need Andre to be that guy uh and that is a lot to ask of a rookie so uh the learning curve is going to have to go quick and and he’s going to have to find a way to stay on the floor stay

Out of f trouble and really make it hard on some of these guys effort through the season and the Bucks are 2013 which is their best start since 1920 for a team that’s been so good when it comes to winning games the conversation around the Bucs this season

Both nationally and amongst Bucks fans has seemed to skew a little bit negative overall whether it be the coach the defense Brook Lopez or any other topic are the common concerns about this team overblown or is this or is there like validity to like The Angst that’s in

Like some corners of the fan base I think it’s it’s really difficult to try to figure this team out after watching the team for the last five years for five years under Mike booler you knew what game you were watching every night by the end of that

Five years I had seen I’d seen every episode that we were on reruns by the end of year five like yeah single night they were going to be great defensively they weren’t going to fall they’re going to have incredible Rim protection they were going to control the glass and

Sometimes could teams hit a bunch of Threes yes yes they could that that could happen those outlier shooting games could happen but that was going to be the way that you were going to beat the Bucks was you’re gonna have to hit some threes tonight that’s it because if

You don’t get those threes you’re just not going to score at The Rim because Giannis and and Brooke are there and it’s not going to work uh that that’s not the case this year Brooke is still amazing leading the league in Blocks he’s he’s really put together a really

Strong Rim protection season but their perimeter defense is just not good you look at kind of the way that and again this is a decision that you make the the tradeoff that you make when you trade Drew holiday for Damen Lillard is you’re probably going to be a little bit better

On one side and a little bit worse on one on the other like that’s just how this works and they’re not as good as a def on the defensive side and it’s not just that it’s Dame I think you’ve also had a downgrade from Grayson Allen to

Malik Beasley uh so now you have two poor on ball Defenders uh you know both six- two-ish uh at the guard position and teams just kind of get where they want and then on top of it you have Adrien Griffin trying to apply more pressure on the perimeter and that has

Led to even larger gaps between you know back in the day it was Drew holiday top blocking Grayson Allen top blocking and you really shrink it into a confined space where this guard is going to have to try to force it up over Brook Lopez

And it’s going to be a really tough shot now they have 15 feet of space 20 feet of space from where they pass the initial screen to Brook Lopez waiting at the rim and it’s put Brooke in some really tough positions and it’s made Brooke maybe look look not as effective

But I just don’t think he’s been put in a position to succeed and that’s both from a Personnel standpoint and a tactical standpoint uh and you combine those two things and then all of a sudden the defense is out of whack uh you know Seth partner and I got together

At the athletic last week and wrote a story about their defense and and why it’s failing and and we talked about that uh that aspect of it but also this year they’ve decided to switch Giannis a lot more Giannis is switching one through four uh way more than he ever

Did under Mike buzer and with Giannis you think of him as this great defensive weapon and there was a lot of Bucks fans that really bemon the fact that Giannis wasn’t a switcher like why is he just in drop coverage all the time like he’s he’s the greatest athlete in the league

He’s a freak why is he not doing this thing switching that is supposed to show all those things and the big reason is because if he’s doing that if he’s at the three-point line and you have and you guys are both familiar with this watching Stephen Adams over the years if

You have an elite box out defensive Center yep like you do in Brook Lopez someone needs to grab the rebound Y and the the genius behind the buen holer system was Giannis was always there because he wasn’t switching he could just stay on the backside he could

Help with the rim protection but also when Brooke blocked out three dudes which he does every possession he’s he’s so massive that he’s the one that’s like in the way of these people someone has to swoop in and right now because Giannis is switching Giannis is on the

Backside jannis is covering a shooter he’s out by the three-point line and that means it’s 6’2 Damen Lillard trying to grab rebounds it’s 6’2 Malik Beasley trying to grab rebounds it’s 67 Chris Middleton triying to grab rebounds they just don’t have Sizer on the rim and their defensive rebound rate has

Plummeted and you you get to these spots where you know it feels like oh wow they switched all these things they might be they put together a great defensive possession well they didn’t finish the defensive possession because they were out of position for all the rebounds

That they needed to grab and you’re in this spots so I I think the the concerns defensively are real that is something that they need to figure out um they’re both Personnel problems and there are tactical problems and and they’re going to have to work through that because I

Think in the playoffs you have to be a lot more solid uh than you are right now I think the you guys I think it’s 21 uh at cleaning the glass right now maybe it’s 22 in defensive rating um they just aren’t good enough defensively you need

To see that number if you’re going to be a lead offense that number’s got to be 15 and then in the playoffs you got to be able to flirt with top 10 type defense and I don’t know if they can do that right now so I think The Angst

Around the Bucks is one they’re using a different formula this year they used to be a team that was great defensively and scored enough points now they are a team that is built to be a great offensive team that gets enough stops and obviously with a 28 and 13 record

They’ve done that on many nights but also there has been nights where there aren’t enough stops they they just aren’t getting enough defensive stops and that’s to me where this is going to get interesting the their first half schedule was a lot easier than their second half schedule I think they had

The third easiest schedule uh to start the season in the first 41 and depending on what you look at you’re looking at a top five toughest schedule in the final 41 um and when you look at some of those things and you look at like the the

Underlying numbers as we have just done you you look at the second half of the Season you wonder okay like what what’s going to happen and kind of how is this going to play itself out over a tougher schedule tougher opponents more games on the road like how is that going to play

Out kind of as the season unfolds you mentioned that uh the piece you did was set apart now breaking down some of the issues with the Bucks defense there was a really interesting section in that about opponents recovering the ball after being blocked by Brook Lopez which is a stat that you

Asked Seth to track for you this season what made you initially reach out to Seth about that specific scenario and what did you learn from his analysis I mean thank you for asking me about it because I’m I’m really proud of that nerd [ __ ] um like I do a lot of nerdy

Stuff like I’m not that’s kind of my thing but that one I’m proud of um so I mean initially kind of what I thought was um Brook Lopez rather than being stationed right at The Rim they’re asking him to do more it feels like like the blocks that Brooke is getting and

The blocks have stayed about consistent they’ve stayed steady is he’s he’s flying from out of position and maybe not out of position but the position that he’s in is not just at The Rim waiting like really come on try me here at The Rim because you’re GNA get

Blocked instead it’s like oh my gosh I gotta get to the rim and to me my my initial hypothesis was that rather than being able to just tip it and block it to himself uh since he’s flying more balls will be flying out of bounds um so

That was what I asked Seth to to track initially and Seth told me no it’s about the same amount going out of bounds but what is different is how many of these blocks they’re actually recovering and and I think to me the the fun part of

That number is it’s really hard to break down NBA defenses in ways that people can understand um it’s it’s confusing you just see numbers you see plays on the floor and I think a lot of times Bucks fans see someone shooting over the top of Brook Lopez people see Brook

Lopez boxing someone out and the rebound going somewhere else and the thought is Brook is washed Brooke is too old Brooke is has lost a step like whatever it is because they’re used to seeing Brooke block those shots or tip those rebounds to someone or or whatever it may be and

And I think that number helps illustrate that it isn’t that Brooke has necessarily lost a step it’s that structurally around Brooke things don’t make as much sense that you you haven’t put the support behind him in the way that you need for the great stuff that he does these blocks this Rim protection

To sustain the defense because his blocks are going to the other team or someone else isn’t helping him after he makes the initial play um so honestly thank you for asking about that number because I’m really proud of that number because again I think it’s really hard

To find statistics that can like explain to people this really complex thing you’re watching which is NBA because it can be incredibly confusing to figure out what I’m looking at out on the floor yeah yeah that makes a ton of sense uh okay so trade deadlines coming

Up the Bucks aren’t really talked about a whole lot just as they don’t have a ton of assets to deal it they did make a trade what kind of player would they be looking for and are there like realistic names that are out there maybe that you’ve heard or maybe that fans talk

About a lot yeah I mean I I think the the tough part is Jay Crowder has been out for the last nine weeks I believe it was he came back in the buck blowout loss in Cleveland uh on Wednesday I think that is kind of the archetype of player that you’re thinking

About for the Milwaukee Bucks and this is any Contender right like you’re always looking for more Wing Defenders big Wing Defenders small wing Defenders like you’re just looking for Wing Defenders like that’s that’s kind of what you’re after um and and the Bucs have been looking for one of those for

Four years at this point this is every trade deadline comes around if we recorded this podcast last year one year ago I would have said the Bucks are looking for a wing Defender uh and two years ago I would have said the same thing and three years ago I would have

Said the same thing so that’s always what you’re looking for um but this year I think it’s it’s maybe a little bit more concerning you don’t have one of the best defenses in the league and you know you’re looking at like oh it would be a real luxury to have this great Wing

Defender I I think this year it’s it’s more of a need like I I think Malik to be clear Malik Beasley is I mean he’s putting together the best shooting season in the league at the moment like he’s shooting near 50% I think his volume’s at five and a half

Per game he’s just he’s hitting all the wide open Catch and shoot threes he’s hitting Jack step threes on people like he’s just having a really incredible season offensively but defensively he doesn’t really bring that type of tenacity that intensity that the Bucs have had over the years so I think it’d

Be nice if they had another pitch to throw and again maybe that is Jay Crowder maybe that is Jay Crowder comes back and all of a sudden you use some small ball lineups that would be like Giannis at Center Jay Crowder at the four Chris Middleton at the three uh and

Andre Jackson at the two and then all of a sudden outside of Dame Lillard you’re six seven and above and you’re massive and you can you know try to eat up space that way that isn’t something we’ve really gotten to see thus far just because Jay Crowder’s been out for the

Last nine weeks so um I’d be curious to see kind of what that does but I I think that’s largely what you’re looking for what really hampers the bucks on the trade market right now is they don’t because of their topheavy roster and this is is true of a lot of teams around

The League this is what modern roster building is you have a topheavy roster you have three guys eating up a lot of your salary cap and in the Bucks case four guys because Brook Lopez also has a big contract the middle area which to me is where in season trade deadline trades

Happen is between 10 million and 20 million in salary maybe up to 25 now or maybe it’s 15 to 25 however you want to look at it uh as The League salary is grown that’s where trades happen and the Bucks just don’t really have a lot of

Those contracts um you know you have a guy like Bobby ptis who’s in that the lower end of that range you have a guy like Pat hon who’s even lower um and then all of a sudden you got to figure out like all right if if I put together Bobby

Poris Maron Bo champ and a second round pick I think salary-wise you know you get into the teens like the low teens uh and then are those assets good enough also do you feel like you can actually go around with only two big men in Giannis and Brook Lopez is that enough

Size is Jay Crowder actually a four and that’s fine or is he too small and you don’t have enough size and I think that’s kind of the the tough part like if the Bucs want to make a trade here at the deadline it it probably has to be

Ponon or Bobby poris is your your salary cap like lead right like how you’re going to get to the spot where interesting players are available um and then you know do teams still want Maran bamp like has he done enough is he developing in the way that still makes

Him interesting and uh you know desirable do you look at that second round pick that they have that’s the Blazers so that should be a high second rounder this year um is that enough so it’s putting that package together and then as far as players that you’re

Looking at I mean I think you probably have to with those realities in mind be thinking about you know like a guy in Brooklyn like Dorian Smith um that’s you know in that salary range where you could potentially make a deal um I mean you look at a guy like in Cleveland like

Isaac okoro okoro has been more important for them recently because Darius Garland’s been out but maybe in another month when we get close to the deadline he’s not as important in someone that they want to move um in Phoenix Joshua kogi hasn’t played Grayson Allen who Bucks fans ironically

Really hated for the last year is putting together a season on par with Malik Beasley like he’s he’s he’s been really really good um but because Grayson Allen has emerged josha kogi has not you know been quite as impactful as he has in previous years and those are

To me like if you’re looking at how the Bucks do stuff um that’s kind of got to be the range of player that you’re talking talking about and when you’re talking about that player that’s not a new starter right like that is not someone that’s replacing Malik Beasley

That is another pitch that you can throw that is just another way that you can go in the playoffs and then I I think when you get to that level and you think about it in that way you have to be thinking about like all right is that

Actually is that worth it because you know you got Pat conon at home like maybe maybe Pat conon can do that maybe Jay Crowder can do that maybe I mean if you’re trying to find a young impactful defensive Wing you got some Andre Jackson at home why why not just just

Try that out and that to me is kind of where you got to go through all of this and try to figure out like all right we we could potentially make a move and John horse has always been very aggressive he always wants to add to the

Team but you gotta figure out if that is actually worthwhile is that something that you know is going to increase the likelihood of of you winning a championship or are you g to get that person and it’s just not gonna work like I know the Bucks have been connected to

PJ Tucker on the buyout market and it’s like okay yeah you could get PJ Tucker but it’s another situation where don’t you ready have some PJ Tucker at home like isn’t Jay Crowder five years younger than than PJ Tucker in I mean would guess in the exact same

Mold in the exact same role uh so that to me is where this is why you’re not hearing the Bucks connected to a lot of people because when you add up every part of the situation whether it’s salary cap assets uh actual roles that are available for the team you got to go

Through all this and figure out like how much sense does it make to make a trade like what are you actually adding what are you trying to find and do you already have that on your roster and it just needs to be used in a different way

Or or coached in a different way or deployed tactically in a different way um and that’s why I think it it gets a little bit difficult uh to try to figure out and and maybe it’s as simple as all right we got to figure out our own stuff

First we we have a bunch of guys here we have a bunch of things here that we could figure out on our own before we go and make a trade for something new well Eric thank you for answering all of our question questions about the

Bucks but it is now time to play Andrew versus the beat our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head to-head with an NBA beat writer this week the Challenger is Eric name Bucks beat writer for the athletic Eric you’ve played this before I’ve come up with eight questions about

The Bucks you’ll give me a number between one and eight some will be easy some will be hard and if you get it right you’ll get at least two points if you get it wrong Andrew have a chance to steal and we’ll go back and forth till

All the questions have been asked and answered so what number would you like to start out with uh let’s go with two question number two my favorite question I don’t like that uh oh if you added Brook Lopez’s career high in points in a game and Robin Lopez’s career high in

Points for a game how many points would you have now you get to choose who answers first Eric so you can make Eric or you can make Andrew answer first and then you can go higher or lower or you can answer first and then Andrew will go

High or lower if Andrew gets it exactly correct though he will get a bonus point so this is the two Lopez brothers career high in points added together um Wow Let’s go with 72 72 Andrew do you like to go higher or lower gosh I just don’t know what Robin

Like Rook is is probably high right like he did some crazy stuff in in New Jersey um I’m trying to think what Ro what a realistic thought for Robin would even be I’ll say I’ll say under but I don’t feel good about it well Eric you got within three

Points of the correct answer oh my gosh the correct answer was 69 Andrew you get the point yes all right that was really close it was very close uh I’ll go number one okay Damen Lillard hit a buzzer beater is high uh so Brooks was 35

So 34 for Rob really is that right wow I know it does sound ridiculous now I’m saying it out loud but did look it up uh Damen Lillard hit a buzzer beater for the bucks this week in a win against the kings in the last 20 years there have

Been seven bucks to hit a game-winning three with two seconds or left in a game and we’re going to name them all okay so once again this is just game-winning threes from a Bucs player yes Eric you have a question I have a challenge you have a challenge what’s your challenge I

Believe Brook Lopez’s career high is 39 Oh Yeah actually that is correct Robbins is 30 okay good sorry um okay so these are bucks players they had to have hit a game-winning three with two seconds or left there’s been seven in last 20 years so we’re going back to like

0405 okay okay so how this works Andrew will give me a name then Eric will give me a name we’ll go back and forth till one of you stumbles so Andrew what’s your first guess Michael red Michael red is correct Andrew he did do it Eric um and Dame

Lillard is off the list because he was dam is off the list and it has to be a three a game winning three uh Chris Middleton that is correct Andrew oh boy a game winning three I don’t I’m trying to think when Ray Allen went to the sonics like I

Don’t think think he was there in 405 um okay I don’t think it was what about Brandon Jennings Brandon Jennings is on the list Andrew there are four names to go uh Mo Williams Mo Williams is correct he is on the list Andrew back to you Mo Wills was

Awesome three names to go oh boy now this is this is this doesn’t feel easy now um did Drew holiday do it I don’t know Andrew Drew holiday did not do it which means Eric Gets the point the other names any guesses is Carlos Delino on there he is

Not I did like Carlos Delino though Brandon Knight Monte Ellis and Ruben Patterson the KOB yeah Kobe stoer Ruth and Patterson wow all right we have tie game and Eric you have control of the board uh three question number three which of the following is not an official basketball reference nickname

For one of the Bucks players so I’m going to give you five nicknames four of them appear on basketball reference one anything can appear on basketball reference they’re not real that is that’s false if they’re on basketball reference they’re real and official false okay here are the names Big Bob the mutant haboob

WD40 and aqua dagger once again that was Big Bob the mutant haboob WD40 and aqua dagger and it’s current bucks uh not necess oh yeah yeah yeah yeah these are current bucks players WD40 I believe aquad dagger is a former Buck aquadag I believe aquad dagger so I’m gonna go with aquad dagger

Because it’s who’s yeah your your instincts are correct Eric because that was a former nickname name of Eric bledo although it was not basketball reference official it was just a random nickname generator on Reddit and they came up with aqua dagger all right very good uh Andrew very good control the

Board number four question number four there are only two teams in the NBA that have two players averaging at least seven free throw attempts per game each one is the Milwaukee Bucks Dame and Giannis who is the other team seven free throw attempts two players that have at least seven free

Throw attempts per game yeah goodness I would have said Philly last year but I don’t think that Maxi is doing that this year um goodness who would that be a lean Lakers but I don’t know if ad is doing it or I don’t even know if LeBron is doing it

Um yeah this is a hard question out this is a really hard question I think like Clippers are another one because there’s a lot of iso there those guys get fouled I just don’t know if they get fouled enough in La I guess I’ll say the clippers but I

Just don’t I don’t know that just that’s just definitely not right no not saying it there’s no way that’s right okay I take it off the table um God this is a really hard question this is breaking my brain any guesses Andrew I know that time ising shooting there’s no one else

Shooting that many on the Thunder golly ow I don’t I really really just have no idea I’ll say Orlando but I just don’t even know I have no idea uh you don’t know Andrew and that is incorrect uh Eric any guesses like know it right away I think I’d go with the

Lakers it is not the Lakers LeBron only averaging five and a half free throw attempts would you believe and I did not know this it is the Miami Heat Jimmy Butler and Bam aabo gross are averaging over gross Andrew it’s not gross it’s impressive that’s disgusting it’s a it’s a career high for

B wow yeah seven is a lot seven is a lot 7.3 per game W okay so no points there back to Eric we got four questions left five question number five the Bucks beat the Celtics by 33 points last Thursday it was their third win this season with

A scoring margin of at least 30 points there are three teams in the NBA who have had four wins with a scoring margin of at least 30 points name all three you get a point per correct answer so teams that have been really good at blowing other teams

Out Boston Celtics that is correct for one point Philadelphia 76ers that is correct for two points can you get the third and final Point uh Indiana Pacers that is incorrect Andre chance to steal you can get one point here you can name the team out with a scoring margin of at least

30 scoring margin of at least 30 goodness is it the this doesn’t feel right is it the Kings I don’t know that doesn’t feel right doesn’t feel right because it’s not right Andrew uh correct answer which was the really hard one Charlotte New Orleans New Orleans

Pelicans in the end I was trying to flip it in like if they lost by 30 or more like multiple times a trick at the end that’s a good point that would be actually a fun question as well because there’s a lot of bad teams feel free to

Use it I’m giving you I’m giving you that thank you thank you uh Andrew you’re down five to one you’re getting shellacked shell shell shellack uh uh three questions left six okay here we go Andre Jackson Jr was the 36th pick in last year’s draft he has already started

Seven games for Milwaukee in the past decade there were two bucks rookies who started at least 25 games as a rookie who are no longer in the NBA name them both wait say it again so last decade yeah two bucks rookies who started at least 25 games during that season no

Longer in the NBA in the last decade bucks rookies started that are no longer in the NBA started a lot of games as rookies no longer in the NBA um one point per correct answer by the way in the wait in the last decade said Jabari Parker correct for one

Point can you get the other one Andrew last de a names I just don’t know how much these guys even started or even played the start the starting thing is throwing me off for sure I’ve got two names that I think two names but I just don’t know what about th Thon

Mcer Andrew that is correct for the other answer it is now five to three with two questions left that was really well done Andrew I also had DJ Wilson floating around my brain but DJ Wilson I don’t think started enough no I didn’t uh seven question number seven among NBA

Players who have played at least 30 games this Milwaukee Buck has the highest average speed while on the court according to nba.com this is gonna be weird isn’t it this be a weird one campaign campaign is incorrect Andrew you have a chance to steel pull it to within one heading into

The final question is a Bo man in the league what’ you say Andrew you said Bo champ I don’t know I have no idea uh that was also incorrect the fastest man in the league at least by average speed Andre Jackson Jr dang it now Andrew you

Still have a chance to tie the game up okay final question okay question number eight there are 13 two man lineups for the bucks that have played at least 500 minutes together this season all 13 have a positive net rating which Twan pair has the highest net rating together at plus

12.2 and you get one point per correct answer wait what what I thought you’re asking for a single one that has the highest uh yeah you have to name both players though in the two got it got it got it yeah yeah yeah um I just feel really confident that I’m

Gonna get this wrong um good place to start from what about Giannis and Malik Beasley Giannis is correct for one point Andrew is the other name Malik Beasley I don’t know no it’s not Malik Beasley which means Eric gets the win this week five to four the other name Chris

Middleton it’s like classic I mean it was a straightforward one a little straight forward usually they’re wonky usually they’re weird to go a little bit weird it wasn’t that weird he’s shooting the ball lights out hey go read Eric name on the athletic please he’s very good writer he

He writes um like definitely writes stuff for like mainstream Bucks fans but also like the most super nerdy stuff that you could ever dream of it’s it’s great great work um go check it out Eric thanks for coming on the show Absolutely thanks for having me all right Andrew

That was bucks week what a week it was uh but we got to choose a new team because this is the wheel of phandom where every week we spin a wheel lands on a team we become fans of that team there are 20 teams remaining I’m I’m listen this isn’t a

Shot at Detroit but we just watched the Bucks and their next two games are against the bucks right do we need more bucks I don’t think so do we need more Pistons I don’t think so did I just guarantee that we will get the Pistons okay let’s spin the wheel see

Who our team is to be will be Charlotte Hornets owners of the worst or the longest losing streak currently in the league wow hey Hornets at least lamelo’s back yeah let’s see they got any games oh hey you know their next game Friday night against the Spurs okay that’s a

Pretty good one yeah we got win considered maybe maybe they’ll sell off some of their pieces for the trade deadline we can talk about that that’s a great Point uh then they play Philly on Saturday they play at Minnesota on Monday and then we didn’t Escape him completely Andrew at Detroit Wednesday

January 24th that that’s could that be the Detroit’s fifth win yeah it’s actually a good matchup because they’re both teams I mean if you’re going to get one of the teams at the bottom you want games where they’re playing the other bad teams so you least feel like you’re on some equal footing

You get to see some of the young players for both teams so we did pretty well honestly all things considered Spurs and pistons will take it hey you can do pretty well too if you leave us a festar reviewing Apple podcast we’ll read it on the show this one comes from Josh

Gonar he says five stars slam and jam faithful slam and jam is an incredible mix of NBA recap analysis on stats stat points on an interesting player team and just straight entertainment with great guests and who could not love Andrew versus the beat you are sure to get a

Healthy dose of anything you’re looking for from an NBA show overall a great pod and led by two of the best PS a proud downto dunk crossover Thunder are back baby thank you Josh for that and for listening to to both of our shows yeah

If you want to hear more from us you can go listen to the down to dunk podcast on Apple podcast part of the athletic podcast Network and then this one from Lance and Wisconsin five stars well Andrew it all started a few weeks ago when I was remodeling my bathroom in true NBA

Podcast sicko fashion had already listened to the other 11 shows I had downloaded that week then on came the Saturday slam and jam thank you so much for that review if you leave us a review on Apple podcast we will read it on the show hope you guys enjoy your weekend

And the basketball we will talk to you guys again next week

Slam & Jam on The Athletic NBA Show discuss:

0:00 Intro
7:10 NBA Trade Rumors
53:01 Milwaukee Bucks