Explosive NBA Trade Deadline Drama: Giannis, Lakers, and League-Wide Impacts

Shotclock Pod Feb 1 2026 === [00:00:00] Jose: All right. ~I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBasket.net. I forgot it's time to talk basketball. Let's start that over. I don't even know if that's a thing, but I enjoy saying it. Take two. I don't. That's the first time I've ever goofed ~it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBasket.net. He's Steve Purciello, a longtime educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, athletic director, and also the host of Celtic Chalk Talk. So it's a Chalk Talk is a pod dedicated to the latest news and opinion surrounding the Boston Celtics from a lifelong fan, Steve. That pod drops new episodes every Monday, but this is the Shock Clock Pod, the best 24 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere. This podcast was born out of the content of Steve's 13 Rules, random NBA Thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly. Steve and I have exactly 24 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA today. We'll discuss his latest 13 rules, random NBA thoughts article where he shares his random thoughts after an interesting week 15 of the 20 25 26 NBA season. Now before we dive in, this is normally where I would ask Steve if he's ready, which is a silly question 'cause he is always ready to talk basketball. But I do wanna say, listen, if you got this far, please subscribe, [00:01:00] comment. It means a lot to us. It goes a long way in helping us get more ears and eyes on this. So please, if you don't mind, we appreciate it very much. Thank you. Now, Steve, are you ready? All right, let's do it. I'm gonna start the timer. And we're off and running. All right, we're gonna start was something you wrote about k twice. And that's Giannis, atten, Cumbo, right? There's a lot of trade rumors. This is that time of year. Giannis is the biggest fish in the pond. He's great. There's a but there, and I wanna talk about that, but Right. What, what do buyers or people who are interested have to be w wary of? And then let's talk about one potential suitor, and that's the New York Knicks and what's going on in New York. This is a team that's 30, 18, 30 and 18, second in the East playing good basketball. Why would they be in the market for somebody like Giannis? That's a disruptive change. So let's talk about both of those things. First [00:02:00] off. What do people interested have to be careful of when they think about bringing in Giannis? Steve: He's a 31-year-old man over the last six seasons. He's averaged 65 games a year. He plays, he's missed some playoff games over those years of injury. This year he is played 30 out of 46 he's gonna be out for another couple weeks. But even if let's just that. He was healthy from now and played every game till the end of the year. That would be 66 games he's gonna miss a lot more. So a team is gonna give away half of their franchise This guy who's a great player, there's no question if he could be on the court, but they're gonna give it away. and he's missed playoff games. You get to the playoffs and you know what, if you don't have them, and when he's been going down, now he's got the calf. These aren't, like one week injuries. These are long term and that's a gamble when [00:03:00] you give away as much as what the bucks deserve to get for him. 'cause he, let's face it, think he's the best player right now in the Eastern Conference. That's part of what goes into it. That's not a great thing. To me it's not a something that you wanna do. The other thing about this is and I mentioned it, Giannis being on the market has stopped, there was a smaller trade last night, but nobody's gonna wanna go out and get a JA or a Davis. When this guy's out there because they wanna save up their powder for this for that. So I don't know unless Giannis gets traded before the deadline and with enough time, I don't know if there's gonna be any big trades. There'll be trades Jose: Yeah. Steve: big trades. 'cause nobody wants to empty their team out without taking a shot at this guy. And right now, the way the NBA is this year, I just want to add this. You get Giannis and if you don't lose in too much, is hard to do [00:04:00] unless you give away draft picks, are in it Because if you don't lose a lot because it's wide open right now it's anybody's lead it. Jose: I thought you were talking about the east, you're talking about the league as a whole, right? You don't see the thunder as the overall as the lock in here anymore. Steve: I see them as the favorite, but I don't see them as like the way they were what when you're real good, like the thunder, when other teams see a team stand up to them and beat them, especially in their gym, or Charlotte beat 'em the other night, Jose: Yeah. Steve: They start thinking they have a chance. The biggest thing you have when you're good is that invincibility. Team guys go into the game thinking they're in trouble. I don't know if that's all there anymore. And once you begin to lose that, things start to fall. Jose: Okay. Interesting. Alright, let's get back to to, to Giannis. Obviously if there's going to be a big move, this is probably the biggest move. It [00:05:00] changes everything where wherever he ends up, depending on what it costs to get him there. We're not anticipating a Luca dci trite trade. Nobody's just gonna hand 'em a bag of. Potato chips for Giannis. Like they, like the Lakers got for Luca. Had no offense to ad. But the Knicks are in play now. I find this super interesting. Carl Anthony Towns came into that town and had some success seemed to really enjoy playing in New York. The Knicks are 30 and 18. They're second in the east. They're a good team. Why would they mess this up? Why are they really interested in Gianni? Steve: First of all, I think they're the most talented team in the Eastern Conference, Jose: He said that? Yeah. Steve: you go through a stretch that's three and nine, like they were. You wonder, you, in other words, they're not invincible. So that's the first thing I and we'll tie this together the other night, Mike Brown sat towns out in the fourth quarter down the stretch Jose: Right. Steve: against, I believe, [00:06:00] Sacramento. When you think about that, and there's a lot of things, still a lot of pieces to it. First of all, Mike Brown's a new coach. He's only been here for a little more than half a year. He goes out and does something like that. he better be right because if he's wrong, he'll get paid, but he won't be working. first. Jose: Yeah. Steve: it also tells you that Mike Brown isn't real happy with this guy and he doesn't feel, he comfortable using him in the tough situation. That tells you something else Now. the rest of the league, they see that. And let's use the bucks. And the bucks. Don't want towns, but if you try to pedal towns for Giannis, which the salaries match, the bucks are gonna sit there. Wait. You don't wanna use him down a stretch. And now you wanna give him to us for Come on let's be serious. the Knicks I said are the best, probably [00:07:00] the most talent in the Eastern Conference. Now, mean you're the best team? In both conferences? No. Jose: Right. Steve: If they won the title, this would not be one of the best teams to ever, to win the title in the last five years or 10 years, or whatever you wanna say. So they know that the one benefit they have in the playoffs is they're playing in against the East and it's not as loaded as the West. So to come outta the east might be a tad easier than coming outta the west. The west is so loaded that, you wanna play the Clippers and they're gonna be in a playing game? No, Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Steve: it's a whole different thing. I think I'd rather play the Chicago Bulls than the Clippers, and that, Jose: Yeah. Steve: the Bulls are in a similar situation as the Clippers. So the point being. That might be an advantage, but I have to guess that the Knicks just don't feel there's enough there win the whole thing. And so this is what they [00:08:00] wanna do. Jose: Yeah. Steve: again, if you're gonna trade for Giannis, it's gonna take a heck of a lot more than Carl, Anthony Towns. So there, there's a lot of variables in this that make it interesting. Don't forget. Yeah, Giannis can bring a title to any team. He gets dealt two that's decent. Jose: Yeah. Steve: you gotta measure how much they lost. And I guess Jose: Okay. Steve: way to do this, there's a trade out there they're talking about is I believe hero maybe And clear wear and all that. Okay. When the trade is done, what are the heat left with? They lost hero. Kalia Ware is, and Wiggins is a decent player and you've lost your draft picks. Do you have enough with Norman Powell, Giannis, and Bam. Is that enough to, I, I don't think it is. Jose: Yeah. Steve: You gotta look at what a team, what's extracted from a team Jose: Yeah. Steve: well as the other stuff.[00:09:00] Jose: And we've talked about this several times, right? How hard the job of a GM is. 'cause it's his job to put this team together in a way that's going to succeed and bringing in Giannis in and of itself doesn't do that. You've gotta have the pieces around. And so it's tough, which is why Trey's like this generally don't have. They're just talked about, but they don't happen because it's just too hard to get all the pieces right and make it a win-win, which is what everybody who was involved in the trade wants. Steve: rarely do you get a team, ~excuse me, do you get a team~ close? To winning that has a lot of draft picks. In other words, if Miami were to go out and get Giannis, they're gonna empty all the draft picks. So they're gonna have some problems how they, how are they going? And they're gonna probably be near the cap. So how are they gonna bring in some talent to go with him? Jose: Right. Steve: that's what makes Oklahoma so unique. I believe I just read this, I believe there's seven teams in the NBA that have 50% of the draft picks over the next two or three years. Think about that means [00:10:00] 23 team. Yeah. Jose: Wow. Steve: one of them obviously, Jose: of course. Steve: but number one picks when I said that. But the point being, you're gonna empty that out. And if you need that player down, one more guy, how are you gonna get 'em? Jose: Yeah. Steve: that becomes a factor in this and Milwaukee. Look, when Jabbar got traded years ago, they were terrible for a while. They don't wanna empty it completely, so Jose: Yeah. Steve: going to try, to get as much as they can in draft picks just so they can begin, and it gives the fans something to hope for when you have young talent. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. And we talked about this as well before, it's tough for teams like Milwaukee to bring in free agents. So the way they're gonna grow after they get rid of a jabbar or after they get rid of a a Giannis, if that happens, is to bring in another one via draft, right? Because that's the only way you're gonna grow, unfortunately in, in cities like Milwaukee. It'd be very interesting to see how this plays out. Let's bounce around a little. [00:11:00] And we're doing this a little different today. Instead of hitting every topic Steve discussed in his latest article, we're gonna hit some. So if you wanna read everything that Steve wrote about, you're gonna have to click that link. But let's talk about a team that we've talked about before. We'll jump to the West. This is a team I have a soft spot for. You wrote some nice things about him. This is a team of the great fan base, a great arena, a great stick with the, like the beam. This is the Sacramento Kings. And they have, they've come close right in their history, but they've just never, ever been good enough. They made a trade. You referenced it today. You wrote about them being dysfunctional. Now the person that was traded, Dennis Schroeder wasn't listed in the article, but does moving him do anything for the Knicks, for the Knicks, for the Kings, does this help them or is this just more of the same? Steve: Deandre Hunter is having a bad year, but he's a good player, Jose: Yeah. Steve: However, when you have a mess like Sacramento, there's only one way out of it. You gotta start over. Jose: Yeah. Steve: you can't try to patch in guys. That's what they've been [00:12:00] doing. Talent there with Malik Monk and De Rosen and Saboni. There's talent, but it doesn't work together. And Jose: Right. Steve: in guys, that's the risk you're taking. If you can start something at the beginning, then you do it. Now they have a problem. They have an owner that's overindulgent, I guess would be the best way to put it. Involved in everything. And two years ago, after they came off the third place, finish in the west, a couple a portion of the season in Mike Brown was fired. It just, there's things they do that don't make sense. Now he's gotta sit down as the owner and do two things. If he wants to bring somebody, first of all, he is gotta decide, is my general manager, Scott Perry, good enough? And is my coach good enough? If it's yes, okay, then he's gotta just pull himself out of it. Because what name if they're not good enough? What name general manager or coach wants to work in a place [00:13:00] unless they can't get another job, know that this guy is so impulsive and wants to make decisions. So there, there's more to it in that but when you look at it, look Monk and Saboni, these guys can play Levine. they're not winning. It doesn't work. Jose: Yeah. Steve: time to, to start over, get what you can for each of those guys. And let me just exemplify something. Levine is making $46 million a year. Many general manager says he can't, he's just not a winner. He could score, Jose: Yeah. Steve: a winner. So he's got an option for next year. He's not gonna get 46 million on the market. he's gonna take it? Yeah. Do you think anybody out there wants him? I doubt it. I doubt it. And if you're going to trade him, you're gonna have to probably add a draft pick with it when you get something back, because nobody wants to take [00:14:00] that money on. From a guy who doesn't win. So there's such a mess that the only thing you can do is start over. And like I said it's a They got a Jose: Yeah. Steve: arena, they got great fans, they like the beam, they do all that good stuff. Jose: Right. Steve: And I'll just simply is Scott, Perry and Christie, the people that you. If you were a, I'll ask you if you were the owner, are they two people you think compete with the best thinkers in the NBA? Jose: IY I don't know. I don't know them well enough to answer that question, but I'll tell you something. I, because I've given it a lot of thought. If I were to ever own a team, I would. I would hire the best GM I could at the time. I would hire the best coach I could at the time, and I give 'em three years to me. That's enough time. Now after three seasons I do you connect with the players? Are you that good mind that I thought you were right. Did you build the right team as a GM After [00:15:00] three years. Now obviously there's there, there'll be very few situations in my team. Where between one and three years, I'm gonna, I'm gonna change 'cause I'm gonna give 'em those three years unless something horrible happens. But after three seasons, if I haven't seen increased performance every single time out then no I'm making a change. So based on that criteria alone, I haven't seen this team get. But is it then where's the fault? Is it the coach who can only do what the GM put together, or is it the GM who put together this mishmash? I think it's the GM's fault, so that's where I would start. Steve: Scott Perry is relatively new. I kinda look at it as an owner. Who likes flashy objects Jose: Yeah. Steve: goes out and brings them in without thinking. Jose: Right. Steve: point Jose: I. Steve: he's gotta sit there and realize, my God, the way I do things. Again, how did he made a lot of money, obviously, to be able to buy a team. the heck did he do it? If he was in business like this, he would've been [00:16:00] broke. So he's gotta sit down and say, I gotta back off and just cheer. And hope that it gets better because it's bad. Jose: Yeah. Steve: I'm gonna emphasize something, what general manager, unless he gets a ridiculous amount of money, is going that's a as a good one is gonna work there. For an owner that's have a great reputation, Jose: Yeah. Steve: and if they're gonna, if they're getting deandre Hunter's a nice player, but if they're gonna bring in these guys, it's gonna be more of the same, only different names. Jose: Yeah. We know you well. I shouldn't say no, but it seems certainly makes sense that success is business doesn't necessarily mean success as an NBA franchise owner. I did wanna call it one thing before we move to the next topic. You said that not very many teams would want Levine, and I wanna understand what I think you meant. 'cause a lot of teams would love to have him. Nobody wants them at that price. That's fair. Steve: I guess it is, but I think there's his [00:17:00] reputation s precedes him he, Jose: they're not winning. Steve: That's a big thing. And 46 million. Now what is that? That's probably what more than 25% of the cap. You are giving it to one player, now you need 15 players. So are you going to, would you give him 46 million or would you give Reeves on the Lakers, 46 I'll give it to Reeves. So that's my point. Jose: Yeah. Steve: he's more of a $25 million player, $20 Jose: And that's the thing. The price tag is too high. Yeah. Yeah. Steve: Yeah. Jose: enough. And no argument from me. Alright, let's let's bounce back to the east. This is a team that has really overperformed. I didn't think they'd be this good. There were a couple teams that fall into that category for me, I think, I didn't think Miami was gonna be this good. I didn't think Boston was gonna be this good. And I didn't think Toronto was gonna be this good. But you mentioned that they have a pretty big problem at the center position, right? They made a mistake going into the season and now they're seeing, the [00:18:00] fruits of that mistake. What's the way out for Toronto to get that center? They need to make some noise in the east. Steve: They have a good center in Jose: Sure. Steve: he's Jose: it. Steve: He's been hurt so much that it's really, it's just wrecked him. He's missed a lot of games. There's no sign he's coming back. He's got a back problem. but here's the mistake. They went out and they got one guy and I'll mess up the name, but it's Sandra Mamo. Shelly or whatever pronounce it. Jose: Yeah. Steve: Yeah. Mamo. They brought him in. He's six nine. He's more of a shooter and more, not a physical player. There's no big behind pearl. Now Jose: Moses Malone was six nine. Steve: A little different player than Memo. But. wanted, they've got some talent. RJ Barrett's a nice player. Scotty Barnes is real good. Ingram's a great offensive player. Jose: Yeah. Steve: quickly can play. They've got shed who's a physical good defender. They've got some players, [00:19:00] without that center, they're just a tad short. Now, if Perle were healthy. I would think they're gonna be, they'd be in second place, maybe second or third in the east. I, I, there's so much good talent on that team, but no bigs and it's just it's malfeasance that they didn't see this and do something about it. And it's a shame and hopefully they make a trade that brings in a big guy because. You got some talent finally and Toronto's been down a long time, but and again, another place with great fans and supportive and all that good stuff, right now they don't have a bake and that's the shame of it. Jose: Yeah. And with the east being, wide open, right? Again, I, not to discredit the pistons who've been phenomenal the calves seem to be getting better, you get a good run, you're in it, right? And you could definitely make some noise. The fact that Toronto is that close. It is crazy. The only centers I hear [00:20:00] out there that might be available, there's a lot of talk, we talked about this last week, about Zu bots. That'd be a great fit, I think. But he clogs up the, he Steve: I Jose: Clogs up the lane, right? Steve: him. I don't think they'll trade him. Jose: Is that right? Steve: He worked my guess, unless they get overwhelmed. But if you think about it. For the Clippers, he's perfect because their offense isn't going to the basket. It's Harden and Leonard making threes and Jose: Yeah. Steve: footers He can station himself down there. I'm gonna think, they need more of the Daniel Gafford type. Who can, roll and set screens up high that's not Xbox. Jose: Yeah. Steve: that's what they need. And Perle was perfect. Not a good offensive player, A good shot blocker, good guy in the middle rim, protector, all that good stuff that they needed. He was ideal. And he could, from 12 feet, 10 feet, he had a little push shot that was pretty good. they need, that's what they need. That type of center guys, like Z [00:21:00] Bots who's a good player. good defender. However, they require a special kind of team around them to be effective. If they're gonna post you're taking away the driving lanes and you're gonna change in offense 'cause everybody plays driving kick. Now do you drive when you got the big guy in, in the paint? Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. Alright, let's see how things play out in Toronto. We've we're, the clock is dwindling and got just a couple minutes left. Lots of topics left. I'm going to land on this because it's a bit of a rarity. Steve is east coast. I'm the West Coast. And he doesn't hate the Lakers, but he, he didn't have a soft spot in his heart for them. Let's call it that. Let's put it out that way. But he did prop up the Lakers. He did call them out. They're saying they're winning close games. You called out a real oddity about the Lakers. In that they're they're giving up. No, they're scoring 116.5 points per game, but giving up 116.4, which would generally put them at 500. But they're winning [00:22:00] games now, conversely, when they lose, they're getting blown out, which is why you see that odd point differential. So what does that mean? Is this a good team because they're winning close games or is this a bad team? 'cause they're getting blown out. What are they? Steve: I I think JJ Reddick is a very good coach. Jose: I agree. Steve: I think, when you. Law of averages mean you'll be 500 and games down a stretch, and that means any game within 5.5 points or less inside the last five minutes. what he's doing is he's winning these games. Any close game. The Lakers, I think they're 14 and two, I mentioned they're record and in, in close games down the stretch. Jose: Yep. Steve: when you're doing that must mean something. And I'll just say this, JJ Reddick. He's a figure. If he's on your team, you like him. If he's not, you don't. Because he, he was, as a player, he was like, oh, he is, he's nasty. I guess not dirty, but just and a good offensive player. [00:23:00] Not a great defensive player, but just Jose: True. Steve: a, just a tough guy. Not a tough guy, but a just a, not an easy guy to Jose: okay. Steve: and the one thing he always had, he was considered a very bright, very intelligent young man. Jose: Yeah. Steve: Now he's a coach and I give him a lot of credit. This guy walked in, coached before, except this kid's fifth grade team or fourth grade Jose: Isn't that crazy? Steve: and he's done a great job. And think of He's done. He's got guys like LeBron and Luca and. I'll be nice. They probably have very healthy egos he's gotten them to play as a as a group and to do well now, and also the Lakers outside and LeBron's 41 he's on the downside. He is only averaging 21, which is low for him, Jose: Yeah. Steve: but he's got those two and Reeves has been out a lot. Jose: Yep. Steve: much there on the rest of the roster. And, and I think they're about to give up. I not give up, but Deandre ate and they're [00:24:00] not in love with anymore. Jose: Ru's on the block too. Steve: Yeah, rule. Because he is 18 million a year and is expiring, so somebody might take him, Jose: Yep. Steve: again, he's not somebody that I would, jump up and down over. So there's not a lot there. Outside of those three, they're using Marcus Smart, who was a very good player in his day. Great defender, defensive player of the year. But he's on the downside of a career and that's what they're hoping, he's one of their starters and one of their mainstays, Jose: Sure. Steve: it's not a great situation, but there's Reddick. He's figuring out how to win those games. Jose: Yeah, no doubt. I what's unique about this year's Lakers over last year's Lakers, is that they're fun to watch, right? Because they put a little effort into it. They n not now I have to qualify that say not always. They're stretches where this list looks like last season's team, where they just look disjointed, not interested. But I think, you called it out when the game is on the line. That's [00:25:00] when JJ Reddick, makes it sure that this team is at their best and that's something. Steve: I saw a couple Sacramento games this week. What? I'll say this reddick, it works with Reddick and the players, and they will play hard for 'em. Jose: Yeah, Steve: When I Jose: I. Steve: It didn't look like they were really they were Jose: Right. Steve: Philly, it looked like they were, it's like playing defense was something different for them. And Jose: yeah. Steve: trying down the stretch, and against Boston. They were just like, letting people do whatever they wanted. Boston Jose: Yeah. Steve: Pritchard was just everything, it, it was ugly for Sacramento and the point being. Are these guys playing for him, but they're playing for JJ Reddick. Jose: Yeah. Steve: last thing on that, the NBA's got. A bunch of new, not new young, good coaches coming into the league. I'm thinking of Phoenix with Jordan Knot. [00:26:00] I'm thinking of Boston. They've been lucky. They've had Joe Missoula and he's good. Charles Lee down in What he's doing down there. So there's a bunch and there's more I, I have to think for a while, but there's a bunch of young coaches and I think the way to go now is bringing in the young coach work with these guys. Jose: Yeah, that's certainly proven successful. It's a young man's league, so it stands to reason. That's it. Our shot clock went off. We had another shot clock violation. It's what we do. But this was a lot more interesting to me 'cause we'll talk about it a little bit later, but being able to just free flow a little bit I think was certainly fun. We'll talk about that. But thank you as always for listening. Thank you for watching. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 rules, random NBA thoughts article, where you'll get his thoughts on. The Denver Nuggets. We talked about the Kings, the Nicks, the Raptors, and a few more things. So make sure to read that. We'll link it wherever you're listening or watching the this today. And make sure to please join us next week for more random NBA thoughts as we [00:27:00] recap week number 16. We'll talk then. Thanks Steve. Steve: Thank.