NBA Trade Deadline 2026: The Seven Most Interesting Players and Why They Were Traded

Untitled project from SquadCast === [00:00:00] Jose: Right on Super Bowl Sunday, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBaskets.net. He is Steve Purciello, longtime educator, vice-principal, high school basketball coach, athletic director, and also the host of Celtic Chalk Talk. Celtic Chalk Talk is a pod dedicated to the latest news and opinion surrounding the Boston Celtics who made a trade a couple of days ago. We might talk about that from a lifelong fan, Steve. That pod will drop new episodes every Monday, but this is the shot. Clock pod the best 24 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere. This podcast was born outta the content in 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 BA thoughts article where he share article yeah, where he shares his random thoughts after week 16, which obviously saw a lot of movement. Lots of teams, made some moves, lots of players swapped jerseys. And we're gonna talk about [00:01:00] as many of the interesting ones that you called out in your latest article. Before we get started, if you made it this far, we're grateful, please subscribe, follow, comment, all that stuff means the world to us. It helps us grow. We like our content and we hope you do too. And let's get it out there to more people. Alright, Steve, are you ready? Clock is ticking. We'll start with a defensive player of the year making a move. Jaron Jackson Jr. To the Utah Jazz. I it, I was baffled by this one at the start, but then you called out in your article that the tank is over. The Utah Jazz have been notoriously tanking, it seems like for two, three seasons back. They're building a good team now. Steve: This year, the tanking is over. They'll tank again this year, Jose: Okay. Steve: but they've got to. Some solid players, Lori market has been Jose: Yeah. Steve: Kete George is a good young player. naturally Walker Kessler has been out all year as the big, [00:02:00] him and Jackson make you really good in the middle and really hard. Jackson could defend a lot of different people but Kessler just is a good anchor around the rim. And then they've got, don't forget Ace ACE Bailey. I believe they drafted. They've got a bunch of people that can play. Are they good enough to win it? I don't think so, but they'll be in the playoffs and they'll be, a tough team to be reckoned with. I think they might need another score to really get them over the top. And maybe if face bail, if Bailey develops, maybe that'll be the person. Jose: Right. Steve: As presently constituted I don't. See them playing with the Oklahomas and the San Antonios, and those type teams. But I, but they're gonna be a solid team that has to be reckoned with. Jose: And good for Utah, right? I've said on this show before I went to a game, just a random Tuesday game against the not good Orlando magic at the time. The place was packed. The crowd was energized, it was snow on the [00:03:00] ground. They love their team in Utah. And man I'm happy for that franchise and I'm happy for those fans. And I'm hopeful that, as you said in your article, that there is no more tanking. Let's move to the east. Majority of the moves happened in the East and one of the most intriguing ones for me is James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So I got two questions for you because you called out. James Harden doing what he tends to do, right? He left another franchise, although he left in good terms with the Clippers. He initiated this move, but does his, and his first game yesterday was great. I thought he played really good and the calves looked really good with him. Does this elevate the calves to the top tier in the east? Steve: Yeah, of course. It'll make them better because the one thing Garland didn't have was the ability to play all the time. He's been hurt so often. So naturally it does. It'll be interesting to see how he and Mitchell can interact, because both of them like the ball in their hands. That will be a, an interesting thing for them to figure out. The other [00:04:00] piece to that with James Harden is this, if you're a fan. Of a team. There is probably nobody I can think of in the NBA who's a bigger mercenary than James Harden. Just, he plays, gets his contract plays. Then when the contracts are running out, he moves on to me and I think this is really what bothered me. Clippers were a great story. They really turned it around and did. All of a sudden he decided no more. Personal reasons he was out. And obviously the Clippers wouldn't renew his con Guarantee his money next year. He 13 of the 40 million. what does he do? And there's no regard for the Clipper fan or the Clippers. you're a teammate, you say they all went away happy. You tell me if you're a teammate, are you happy about this? Jose: I mean that, that question was posed to Kawhi Leonard and he in typical Kawhi fashion just basically said, [00:05:00] essentially the guy did what he had to do. We need to get younger. So if there's some animosity there, there might be. Yeah. 'cause CI made a good point. He said, listen, we know we weren't as constructed with Harden. He said, we know we weren't, he didn't say these words, but he alluded to the fact that, listen, we're not gonna win a championship with this team, but we really thought we were gonna make some noise, right? We thought we were gonna at least ruin some people's seasons. But now we've pivoted. So I think Kauai understood that even with Harden, they weren't gonna go far. But I think that there was a hint of disappointment for sure. Steve: I understand players supporting what he did because they want the money too. I It. I got all of that, I just look at it. A friend of mine said to me yesterday, after the heat played the Celtics the other night, Mitchell had a three wide open from the corner and he missed it at the buzzer to cost the game he makes the, so on and so forth. However, after the game was over. [00:06:00] Davion Mitchell was, smiling and talking with Jalen Brown and so on. Now, I understand that there's 82 games. These guys know each other from the a U Day. They're, they know each other. I don't like it in a big way, but if you are a fan of the Miami Heat. And you really have been rooting for the heat for 30 year, 20 year, whatever it is. Jose: Yeah. Steve: happy about this? Are you happy seeing the guy missed the big shot that can win the game? And he's yucking it up with the Celtics. Jose: Yeah. Steve: what players need to understand. It's not gonna kill the game by him doing that. But the casual fan who sees that. Is not happy. My friend is a heat fan and his biggest complaint, okay, he missed a shot. What are you gonna do? But to see that it it's and these players need to understand that. And if you have definite thoughts about something, you don't [00:07:00] say it. Or don't smile and play. You could talk to Jose: Yeah. Steve: you know, in, in the locker, whatever, but not out in the open is the point. And that's what I think. These players are not understanding. And with James Harden's a mercenary. He's gonna go in the hall of fame. But you know what, here's a great question. What hats he gonna wear? Is he gonna wear 10 different hats? Because it, it's a joke. And this is what he does. He holds teams up and moves on. How could you be a fan of that? Jose: Yeah I understand. I can't say being in la right? And having covered the Clippers for a time and having, at the Peach Basket, we have two credentialed creators that are at every Clipper game. This exit was not like harden's other exits. He didn't burn bridges. He left saying good things about the clippers. He left saying he wished them success. That, so there I, I think there, there will be a smattering of positive applause when Harden comes out. Steve: way, as long as he gets his way, he'll say anything. Jose: I got [00:08:00] you. Steve: That's who the guy is. Jose: I got it. Steve: and it's a shame 'cause he's a great player Jose: Yeah. Steve: It's just, it just, the casual fan sees that and sits there. And this, this goes on all the time. The NBA, oh, those guys don't care. Jose: Yeah. Steve: the last two minutes. What better example than James Harden? Could you hold up if you are that casual fan, and as a person who loves the NBA. It's very disappointing. Jose: I got you. Okay. Okay. Let's see how things work out for Harden in in Cleveland. I do think it's funny, it in quotes, you mentioned garland's. What he didn't have is health and so they brought in a 37-year-old man. Who has been healthy, but it's so weird, right? 'cause we talk a lot about this being a young man's game, and there's really a pivot to youth. But the answer to a healthy off guard is James Hardener. He's really a off point guard, but I think that's funny. But let's see what it does. Let's talk about another guy who's a little injury prone who also moved. I'm gonna bounce around a little bit. In your [00:09:00] article you talked about seven interesting moves. This is Christoph, who to me, is just an just. The potential there is incredible. This is a guy who was weby before Weby and not the same exact skillset, but he could shoot threes. He's nimble. He did some amazing things in New York and you called him a very talented big, but like Garland, he can't stay on the court. The Warriors needed something. Is Christophe's pingus there something to make any noise in the west. Steve: Obviously he is gotta play. Jose: Yeah. Steve: He's talented. He really is a talented player. He can shoot from anywhere. He's also a presence at the rim. He's so big that if you get him in switches. He's just so big he can shoot without anybody bothering him. It's just a talented player that just can't find the court. He's got a lot of problems. He's getting a little older. He is 30, I believe, and naturally, more injuries start happening. And for him, playing two days in a row, two [00:10:00] games in a row is a big thing. So it, yeah. If he's healthy for the last 30 games or 20 games, whatever's left. Golden state could be a problem, will he be healthy? Jose: Yeah. Yeah. And it's sad that it always comes down to that. But golden State's got another old guy who's been healthy in, in, in Steph Curry, who can, change a game on a dime. If you get anything from Kristas Forus. Yeah, I think that they could probably be with the Clippers and Vision being with James Harden, and that's a disruptor, a team that can knock somebody out right in the early rounds and really wreak havoc in in the west. All right. Good. Let's see how that plays out. Hoping for health for Christas Pius. Let's talk about a former warrior. That's a great segue. Jonathan Minga now, he finally got out. That was the longest divorce proceeding in the history of the NBAI think. But he's out and he's got a great opportunity at Atlanta. He's gonna get extended minutes and this is where we see if he is who he thinks he is, and who a lot of people think he is. Is [00:11:00] he a star? Is he a really good player? What do you think of Minga and the hawks and that fit? Steve: First of all I don't quite understand and I'll never understand why he didn't get more time state, it'll never, you play your five best players. If he's one of your five best, you use him. And if you need him to play a role where he is not scoring a lot of points, you gotta explain that to him. And you gotta, and, but if he's more talented, you have to use him. So I don't understand that. The only thing if and this is Steve Kerr's credibility with this is on the line really because if he goes to Atlanta and really does well, doesn't make colonel look good and it doesn't make golden State look good for getting rid of this guy. When with Jimmy Butler hurt, you need him. Jose: Right. Steve: so it's really it's a very interesting thing. I have no thoughts, if he's good enough or if he's not. I don't know. I don't, I can't I can't even guess. [00:12:00] but we'll find out. The interesting thing also though, Atlanta, they've got some, they've got, they're starting to stack up some talent. Jose: Yeah. Steve: And I don't know how much time he's gonna get. Because, they got all they got Jalen Johnson is not a bad little player, and he's more of a three, four type Jalen Johnson. But point being, they got some players and it's gonna be interesting to see if he gets a lot of time, 'cause he does need, he, ideally he should have gone to a team like Sacramento and they can throw him out there for 30 minutes. Jose: Right. Steve: What's there. He's not in that, I don't think he's in that situation in in Atlanta. So that's interesting. And by the way, and I don't know if Atlanta will ever get rid of the stigma 'cause they've always been talented, but not good enough. Jose: Yeah. Steve: has got, if you look at them, they've got some players they could become a problem for the East Eastern [00:13:00] conference in the future. I don't know about right now, but in the future. Jose: I think the, it's unfortunate for the hawks, but they, you, there was such promise with Trey Young, and just they couldn't build around him. He wasn't the right fit. Who knows what happened. But yeah, they have been stuck in that perpetual mid tier for as long as I can remember the last Hawks team that and this will age me. But I know, the last hogs team I remember being excited to watch play was Dominique Wil Wilkins team. Those teams were fun and they made some noise, but they haven't really been they haven't been a threatening since then, have they? Steve: Speaking about Trey Young and just that what the NBA is starting to trend towards needing guys that are six four or bigger. A six, one guy gets picked on too often. you're Jalen Brunson, it can go out and get 25 in your sleep. Jose: sure. I. Steve: going to, you're gonna give up more than you're getting. It's exciting. Trey Young's fun to watch, but is he helping [00:14:00] his team is the point and that's what you know, I think this is really about. Jose: Yeah. Steve: With, with the hawks, they figured out how to defend. They're getting better because they got Walker in place of young and Trey Young and he's a much better defender and he is not a bad shooter when he is open and he can play. Jose: Yeah. Steve: They've improved themselves in that way. Jose: Let's talk another, about another team that's been actually not as good as the Hawks. Stuck in a lower tier than the Hawks, and that's the Washington Wizards. And for a long time we wondered what the heck are they doing? What's the plan in Washington? They ended up with. Anthony Davis, who is a phenomenal talent, but Christoph Pingus like Darius Garland, recently. He just can't stay on the court. But you said some good things. You said the wizards are putting together a nice group of young players. Do you see some light at the end of the tunnel? A very long, dark tunnel that the wizards have been in for years. Steve: They've been getting, they've been doing okay with their [00:15:00] picks, but the unfortunate thing is they're in the lottery and they never get pick or some, future star, Alex Starr is a pretty good player. Jose: Yeah. Steve: Keshawn George is a pretty good player, but, and so is, but those aren't guys. Like you put a group of that together and that's not a great team. They're good, but they're not great. They're taking a the wizards probably because the crowds aren't good, are taking a gamble on these two guys and they figure that maybe that will push them over, making them legit. At least for a year or two. don't know what they're gonna do with Anthony Davis if they're gonna resign him. If they don't, Davis has got two choices. Do I go out and play and shut up and prove to the NBA that I can still play and get my contract? Or do I moan and complain and [00:16:00] then he's gonna shoot himself in a foot. But if he does come out and play, interesting, and same with with Trey Young. Now what you're doing is if you're gonna build a team, you gotta have a philosophy. I don't know what the Wizard's philosophy is, but I you're getting a real good defensive player in Davis and a Jose: Yeah. Steve: defensive player in young, so it looked like they're just grabbing whatever's out there. that's not a way to build a team. You've gotta have a thought and you've gotta work around that. And let's go back to the Hawkes. decided Trey Young couldn't defend and wasn't worth it, so they brought in defenders Jose: Yeah. Steve: and the thought being, we're gonna be better defensively. What exactly is wa Washington's just trying to get a bunch of guys, throw 'em out there and hope it works. That it, sometimes it doesn't but you're not really thinking of, how do I wanna construct a team? It looks like the general manager I can't think of his name right now, but the GM winger the, he's the president of the [00:17:00] organization. He's just trying to throw things against the wall because maybe he's getting a little pressure let's get better. We, we gotta stop tanking and become a better team. So this probably will be the last year when they tank, unless they fall apart. But they're gonna try to win after this year. Jose: So I'm gonna put on my my Washington Wizards cap and say, listen, if we get a phenomenal all offensive type player like Trey Young, we've gotta balance that out by getting a phenomenal defensive player. That's what they did. So I've got the offense and Trey Young and I've got the defense and Anthony Davis, they balance each other out. Doesn't that make sense? Why not? Steve: Why? Because if you have two bad defenders, I've said a million times, you're not gonna do well. And Trey Young is six one. He's susceptible he loses interest defensively. If somebody cuts through or something, he'll just stay at the Jose: I. Steve: And he does things along that line. You want, yeah, I guess it sounds good, but I don't see it. I think [00:18:00] Trey Young is is a talented, very talented player, fun to watch, he's of yesteryear in the NBA. NBA is changing Jose: Yeah. Steve: unfortunately when you're six one, it's hard to change. Jose: Isn't it possible? And I think that this answered that question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. Isn't it possible that you are such a good offensive player that you can do that defensively. I'm thinking of Luca ic, who is an absolute gateway, right? For some of offenses. By that I mean he's just go on ahead, go to the hoop. I've seen it. He's not a very good defender and there's points when he's engaged, when he is. But he's a phenomenal all world talent. Are we saying that Trey Young is just not good enough offensively to be that bad defensively? Steve: There's a difference for an organization. You need to decide, do you wanna have the exciting player that people will turn out for? Win a title? Jose: Wow. Steve: back to you is, how many titles has Luca won? Jose: He was in a Steve: many[00:19:00] Jose: final. Steve: How many, a lot of people have been in the finals? How many titles has Trey Young won? Again for Washington bringing Trey Young. It's gonna, they're probably gonna sell more tickets next year. Jose: Yeah. Steve: and that's probably because the owner's been taking a beating for the last three or four. Ted ~Leonsis,~  Leonsis, , ~we what, I'm not gonna try to pronounce it but ~he's taken, ~he's, and~ I'm sure, Hey guys, Jose: Yeah. Steve: get this, we gotta get better here. And this is what they do. But I don't know. I, like I said, how many titles do you want? And for the Lakers with Luca, it was a common sense trade. If you're giving up Anthony Davis, you're Jose: A court. Steve: It's no brainer. However, let's think about this. LeBron's on his way out, so you gotta get an the Lakers. You have to have a star, you want stars. They have new ownership now. They want stars, Jose: True. Steve: titles. That's the question. Jose: Yeah. All right. Interesting. Interesting. Certainly hoping for the best for AD in [00:20:00] Washington and for the Wizards, but. Let's take, let's talk about another Los Angeles Center who ended up in the east. That's azu bots. A just an absolute beloved player here. Clipper fans just loved this guy. He played here seven years. He was a throwaway, right? The lake had just gifted him to the Clippers and he just blossomed. So there's a lot of love for zoo bots, but that was a great trade for the Clippers. But let's talk about the, the benefit to the Pacers. You said that the Pacers should be back. Because they've got that replacement for Miles Turner now and Xbo, and they got hired Halliburton coming back next year. This isn't for this year, right? This is for the next couple years. What do you see for the patients down the road? Steve: The Pacers, they didn't wanna pay Turner 'cause he would've put them in the tax and they don't like going in the tax Jose: Sure. Steve: Z Bot's Salary is low enough that they stay out of the tax. So that's important to them. That's important to their ownership. But also the Pacers now have a, the only thing they lost is Mathre, who's a good player, Jose: Yeah. Steve: they have pretty much the same [00:21:00] group that got to the finals. So they're in business and they'll be okay if Halliburton comes back in a decent way. So for me. The first thing the Pacers had to figure out was how do we get somebody that can do it, that can be the big, that can Miles Turner and he's better than Miles Turner. The, and they also made the deal where I believe the draft pick they gave up. It's like weird. I think they get to keep it if they get picked from five to nine. But anything else I, maybe I'm wrong, but anything else goes to, goes to the Clippers Pacer's figuring that they're not horrible to finish, in the first four or five picks or some I don't know the exact, but they're gambling that they can, finish in that second. Tier where let's say sixth or seventh, and they get the seventh pick, that's theirs. So if they do that, they can replace RIN as well. And all of a [00:22:00] sudden, you got something there. Jose: Yeah, it's a very odd protected pick. If, and I'm going off memory here, but I think if it's one through four, the Pacers keep it five through eight. It's the Clippers. Anything after that it's very oddly Steve: Yeah. Jose: yeah. Steve: and the pacers are figuring and I'll tell you what, you watch the teams that are tanking and the pacers are, they play hard and that's Rick Carlisle. They play hard every night and every team that plays them has got a game. they might not be good enough to win. But they've got a game and AKA is playing hard and he's a good player and he keeps him in games. Yeah. Yeah that that's who the pacers are. And they probably figure they will be able to keep it, 'cause they'll try to fit in the right spot. Jose: Outstanding. Li listen, we got in just under the clock I think probably the third time we've done it, but there's one other player that you called out and we're just gonna talk about it. Because, he's a Boston Celtic. He's, I think a [00:23:00] really solid player. He's like zoo bots in a way. A kind of player who fall, is under the radar, a little bit different type of player than zoo bots. But a guy I like that's Vukovich, who's now with the Celtics, what does that mean for Boston who had a, to me a much better season this year than anybody would've expected. I. Steve: First of all, Caden Garza were playing a lot of minutes, way more than they ever played, so they were gonna wear down. Now you've got somebody who can get you 25 to 30 minutes a night. score. He doesn't like to defend real well, but he can score. And also he's thicker than cda. CDA is not, thick. Although again, Garza is not, VU Vukovic is not a good defender, and the and CDA is a better defender. rim protector. other night he had 19 rebounds, I guess that was against Houston. Jose: Geez, Steve: Cada can do a lot of things. So now you've built something and Garza can shoot the ball, but you've got CDA and vu and the two of them can, if they're used correctly, [00:24:00] one can get you the offense, the other one Jose: right. Steve: ball. You got something cooking here. The negative is losing Anthony Simons. Jose: Yeah. Steve: To me, it looks like they're saying Tatum will be back this year. Yeah, you don't make that deal. Although Boston got under the tax and did all the good stuff in the, in all in this week. Anthony Simons is a pretty good offensive player, and gonna guess he'll make between 18 and 20 million next year. And as a free agent, you, I would love to see, him, come back to Boston, but I don't think that'll happen. he, for Boston, he was well worth it 'cause he single handedly won a couple games for him. Jose: Yeah you called him out earlier as the new Vinny the microwave Johnson a throwback to the great piston player. And you said about Simons is that every. Championship team needs a player like this, Steve: right. Jose: and now he is not on the team anymore. So you gotta draw that line and figure, listen, we know we need a player like [00:25:00] him. We got him coming. It's Jason Tatum. Steve: That's what you've gotta, you gotta think that he's coming back this year. 'cause there's been a lot back and forth about him coming back. But you gotta think that because V Vukovic contract is up at the end of the year. So where are you? So you gotta figure this is what they're doing. Jose: Right? Steve: Boston figures, they can get vukovich cheap next year in, in this contract. But it just it, what else? Why else would you go for it? Don't know if Boston has enough talent to win the east so they, they need with Tatum, you are in the game. Jose: yeah. Oh, for sure. Oh, for sure. E even 50, 60% Tatum. It's gonna be enough, which is probably what you're gonna get at the start, right? Steve: I Jose: Yeah. Steve: I, who knows the, naturally you worry about him fitting in with this team and all the other stuff. But he's, what makes, you are a fan, Boston fun is because most of those guys really like playing from Boston. Jose: Yeah. Steve: Where, again, we talked about Harden earlier, harden doesn't care. As long [00:26:00] as there's green involved in it, he's happy. And that's not Boston Green. It's green, and these guys are really, they like Jose: Yeah. Steve: and that's Brown and Tatum. And that's a rare thing I think in the NBA. Jose: I think that is absolutely true. Alright, that's it. You heard our buzzer went off. We we went through it. Although we could have stopped and had no shock clock violation, we kept going 'cause that's what we do. But our time is up. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Please make sure to read Steve's entire 13 rules. Randy, maybe Thoughts article, we'll link it wherever you're watching or listening to this show to get. All of his thoughts on all of the seven players, and of course, join us next week for more NBA random thoughts as we recap week number 17. All right, we'll talk then. Thanks Steve. Steve: Take.