Draft Lottery Chaos

Draft Lottery Chaos

Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast. Shooting the [ __ ] about the Suns since 2019. What’s up you beautiful jamsters? Welcome to another edition of the Suns Jam Session podcast. Draft lottery chaos. since we last talked to you a week ago, uh the NBA draft lottery happened and obviously the Phoenix Suns had a lot of uh stock in that knowing that they didn’t have any stock in that. But you know, Matthew, it’s funny because we saw I saw you over the weekend. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and we’re standing around the kitchen eating bacon and pancakes with sugar-free syrup or waffles, I’m sorry, waffles with sugar-free syrup. I was I was talking to him like, “What the [ __ ] are we going to talk about this week?” But you know what? The NBA always gives us something, doesn’t it? Yeah, it does. Especially being off of Twitter, you know, I didn’t even know the results as fast as you did. Did you actually listen to it on the way home, the results? I worked from home that day and I had an article I had an article ready to go for brightside.com and once we got the you know the the Rockets got the 10th pick, I just typed it in there, pressed send, and yeah, I was all over it. I was counting down that day. Yeah. And it’s uh it’s one thing that, you know, a lot of these teams you think it’s fixed because, you know, it just lines up perfectly with the teams that need a star, but this one didn’t really come out of nowhere, right? It’s gonna be interesting to hear your thoughts on how it all ended up with the Dallas Mavericks getting number one pick. Well, I mean, let’s talk about it. So, the Dallas Mavericks get the first overall pick. They had a 1.8% chance to get that pick. They were originally slotted to be 11th overall. Uh, and this brings me to some trivia time. You know what time it is. Trivia time. All right. So, the Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA Finals last year. When is the only other team that a team was in the NBA Finals and the next season ended up picking first overall in the draft as a result of that season? The last time it ever happened or the only time? The only time. The only time I would say the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s a damn good guess, but it’s not it’s not correct. It’s the 99 Bulls. So 98 the Bulls with Michael Jordan go to the championship. 1999 happens. The Bulls are horrible. They win the NBA draft lottery. They select Elton Brand out of Duke as a result. But there you go. The Dallas Mavericks win the champion or the championship the championship for Cooper Flag, you know. So, obviously there’s a lot of conversation around this and eventually we’re going to circle this back to how it affects the Suns. Yeah. But I mean, the question everybody’s asking, Matthew, is the NBA rigged? Absolutely. And where are the pingpong balls at? Where are these things? Like, do we have You can watch it. You You can watch. You can watch it. You can watch it. So, so the reason why they don’t they don’t show it’s on NBA.com. You can see it. the reason they don’t show it. So, actually leading up to the to the draft, I was watching uh Kevin Smith’s podcast. I forget the name of it. Uh and he was saying like the reason they don’t broadcast is because it’s unbelievably [ __ ] boring. Because essentially you have four different containers that look like a fivegallon jug. They got a bunch of ping pong balls in it. And what happens is a ping-pong ball comes up on one and then it’ll have a number and then it’ll come up on the second one, the third one, the fourth one. And each one of those based on those numbers equates to a combination. And those those those number combinations equate to who’s going to get the pick. And if you really want to know how the draft lottery went inside the room, listen to the new Zack Low Show because he talking to Bill Simmons breaks it down exactly how it happens. How the first number that came up was 14. And obviously, you know, the the teams that like the Utah Jazz, uh the Washington Wizards, the Charlotte Hornets, those are the teams that had the highest probability of getting the first overall pick. And even then, it’s only 14% because they flattened the curve, right? They flat in 2019, the year after the Phoenix Suns won the NBA draft lottery and got DeAndre Aton, that’s when they changed and shifted the odds. And so when it went up, the first number was 14 and then it was like 11 and then it was like 12. And once that happened, all these different combinations came into play where pretty much anybody had a chance to do it. And actually, the team that had the best chance, they had if three different numbers between one and 14 came up on that final ball, the Spurs would have ended up with the first pick. But the number seven came up and it happened to coincide with the number combination that was the Dallas Mavericks. and the gasps inside the rooms, the murmuring, you know, because obviously the reason why everybody thinks this is rigged is because if you trade a highvalued asset to LA, history has shown you the next year you’re getting the number one pick. Anthony Davis, you’re going to go play with LeBron. Guess what? You get uh Zion Williamson. You know, I mean, history repeats itself. So, it it’s valid to think that it’s rigged, right? Yeah, it definitely is. And I I’ve always been on the side of that. you know, when the trade did happen, I thought it was rigged automatically. I think a lot of us might have thought that. Um, after seeing Luca play in the playoffs and it didn’t really work out with LA in the first season, a lot of people chosen to win the championship, but you can kind of see how Luca was annoying, was out of shape, wasn’t the guy to actually lead that team and hit the big shots to even force a game six or seven. So, the fact that, you know, we’re talking about the ping pong balls and it’s maybe like a magic show or something like that, you know, panning out to be the Dallas Mavericks isn’t a shock, but also the Spurs were actually my pick to win the number one pick just because you get Win Vinyama and Cooper Flag and San Antonio. Like, that’s automatically one of the better teams to watch. It’s already a great team to watch, but I feel like the Spurs need two stars over there. So, they were my actually number one pick. But for it to go to Dallas, it’s uh it’s it’s interesting, but it’s also one of those things, too, like you said, that the ping pong balls like you can actually watch that separately. Like they don’t broadcast it, but that kind of just reminds me of like when people were into flat earth. I think there’s still flat earthers out there. They’re like, “Well, how come we don’t see like any satellites or anything like of showing the Earth or like moving around the Earth?” It’s like, well, actually, they do provide that and it’s on the internet. Don’t look at it. They don’t broadcast anymore because it’s so [ __ ] boring. But you can go on the internet and you can watch it. So, I’m like a flatearther in this thing where I’m like, I don’t even know where the ping pong balls are at. But I didn’t even know that they actually do have a live stream that’s not broadcasting. It’s not It’s not a live stream, but they record it because they want the drama, right? They want to try to take this. But then again, do you even trust that? Because it’s a magic show, right? I do. Yeah, I know. But like, come on. I don’t know. Like everybody’s coming from. Of course, my first reaction is the exact same. I’m like, “This is [ __ ] rigged.” And I like me sitting in my office four months ago talking to a coworker after Luca tra gets traded to the Lakers to make the the Los Angeles Lakers relevant again, which happened right during Super Bowl week. So somehow someway the NBA hijacked Super Bowl week news. No one gave a [ __ ] about the teams. I still couldn’t tell you who played in the Super Bowl. I just remember today until schedule released. I was like, “Wait, who won last year?” Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. you know, and and of course the Cowboys play the Eagles to start the season, so have fun with that. But but I I’m like, I guarantee you that they get the number one pick. Now, we all said that facitiously and then it comes to fruition, but it’s a reminder that every this is this is the NBA’s draft flattening occurring the way that they want it to to negate teams from like you look at uh teams like Utah nailed it in this year. I mean, they were coming up with fake injuries just to sit guys because they were trying to stack the draft balls. But again, you only have a 14% chance and they ended up being fifth, you know. And if you look at history, again, this this started in 2019, this flattening of the curve, if you will. So, in 2019, the team that was projected to get the eighth overall pick, which was the New Orleans Pelicans, ended up with the first overall pick, and the New York Knicks were the team with the worst record, but Zion went to New Orleans. And we know that well because the Suns were the team that had the second overall pick in theory projected because we had the second worst record. Yeah. And we were I remember we were like, “Oh man, we’re going to get Zion or John Morant to put next to Devin Booker and to Kelly Ubé and to uh I don’t think I don’t we didn’t have Kelly by then. Uh maybe we did, but DeAndre Aton and Male Bridges in this draft that we just had in 2018. We had a [ __ ] season, but you know what? This is going to be our comeupp.” and we ended up with the worst possible situation was we ended up with the sixth overall pick. That was the last pick that we could get from a combination standpoint. We had a 40% chance of getting the sixth pick and that’s what the Suns ended up happening. And then you know 2020, the Minnesota Timberwolves had the second worst record. They got the first pick. Detroit Pistons in 2021, they had the second worst record. They got the first pick. Orlando the same thing in 2022. The Spurs the same thing in 2023. So for five consecutive drafts lotteryies, the second worst team ended up with the first overall pick. But then last year, the Atlanta Hawks were projected 10th overall. They got the first overall pick. And I’ll ask you this question. Who was the first overall pick in last year’s draft? Bonidi. Yeah. See, nobody [ __ ] remembers. Yeah. Uh Zachariah dude. Yeah. He actually turned out better than people projected, I felt. Yeah. But still like in such a [ __ ] draft. Who who won rookie of the year? Um, Zuani, no. Stefon Castle, San Antonio Spurs. So, the Spurs have won two consecutive uh uh rookies of the year. That’s why in the the worst case scenario in my opinion was the Spurs getting it. Well, obviously the worst case scenario was the Rockets getting it, which we’ll get to here momentarily, but the Spurs now have it there now, but they got the second overall pick. So, the moral of the story here is there’s there’s a couple things I want to hit. One, the West is getting stronger. Cooper Flag is coming to Dallas. Lucas stayed in the Western Conference with the Spurs getting the second overall pick. That opens up a plethora of opportunities for that organization. They have assets. They’re a team that can pursue Giannis Ant Takmpo if they see fit. Trading that pick. They can say, “Hey, we’re going to go ahead and take that pick.” Although the guy who’s projected to go second overall, Dylan Harper, as a guard, and they already have De’Arren Fox and a guy who just won rookie of the year and Stefon Castle. So, they have a decision that lies before them is whether or not they want to cash in right now and try to build a contender around Victor Manyama or continue to go down the road of we’re going to continue to develop through the draft and and when the time’s right, we’re going to make that decision. But they have the second and 14th overall pick. And so potentially, Giannis could come to the Western Conference potentially. I mean, not potentially, but Cooper Flag is coming to the Western Conference. This sucks, man. Yeah. I mean, this is who this is who the Suns play is the [ __ ] Western Conference. Yeah, it’s brutal. I mean, the Spurs not making the playoffs. I mean, they get the second pick. Um, you know, Mavericks make the play and they get the first pick. That’s brutal. Um, you know, I’m surprised Houston landed so far outside of the top 10 or top five where they are top 10 right now. But I think the fact that, you know, all the teams that miss the playoffs, we actually have to be scared of going into next year, like are the Suns better than any of these teams? And right now, obviously, we don’t know the moves. But right now, I’m saying no, they’re not, right? I don’t have confidence in any of these guys on the roster, including Devin Booker. So, as a fresh start, which the Mavericks got a quick reset, right? That’s exactly how you want to draw it up. Get rid of the star that probably is out of shape, whatever. Then you get the new superstar and Cooper Flag, who’s absolutely going to be amazing. isn’t there. They got a good roster around him. A little bit older, injury prone, and obviously Kyrie Irving is not going to be back, but you have Cooper Flag, Anthony Davis, who’s going to be on and off the bench. But you’ve just you have these teams now that are going to come out every night in the West just knowing after last year, this last season, how difficult it is to even make the playin and if you actually want to make your stamp and make in the playoffs and be a top six seed through the and just stay a top six seed all season long. That way, we have to worry about the playin. like you have to actually come out and probably play the whole season in full strength and actually full effort. So that’s one thing a lot one a lot of teams don’t do. But you also want to look at like the top six seeds of last year and the fact that those teams are still really really good and going into this playoffs. You didn’t really know who’s going to make it out of the first round. Like it was really up for grabs in each round or each each um contest because the first round was just that brutal. And if you’re actually looking at the Suns and you’re comparing yourself to those your your team to those teams too, it’s difficult because there’s nothing the Suns team can do to really kind of match unless they do make a big trade for somebody else. But every other team has the young guys. They all have the picks. They have a superstar. They have guys they can rely on to make a push. Guys that are exciting that you want to get behind and just root for that team because that’s what they have. The Suns have none of that right now. That’s the scary part about all of it. And out east, I mean, it’s gonna be a little bit difficult because I feel like, you know, Jana’s coming over to West, it’s gonna be even more worse. You know what I mean? Like, how can it even even be possible for these to be worse? But it’s going to be, it’s crazy how they even ended up. And that’s what’s so scary is with the West getting stronger, you know, obviously I’ve been making the case this entire off season, uh, this entire month. It’s only been a month. It’s been a month since the Suns last played. I think almost to the day. it might be to the day um that the sun shouldn’t blow it up. That a soft reset is the modus operande I believe they should pursue but then something like this happens and you start to really look at the overall landscape not of your team but of the entire Western Conference. Oklahoma City is not going anywhere. Obviously Houston is a damn good team. They’re going to be looking to improve. uh whether that involves a trade for with the Suns or a trade somewhere else or if they just kind of stay the course. Uh you know, they got our our draft pick. So, they do have draft capital up there. But like you said, the teams that didn’t make the draft outside of Portland and Utah, maybe Sacramento, everybody else got better, and they’re going to get better. And this Western Conference is really tough. So, as I sit here and I and I look at the landscape, uh, you know, what are we doing? Is this a chance to like, do we have to blow it up? Not because of our own situation, which definitely is a a big factor in this. our situation’s not great in any capacity. But do you just go, you know what, we are we are in a situation here where we don’t control any of our assets and even if we trade Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, those draft picks that we get aren’t even in our control, right? If we trade them to Houston, Houston has those picks or or Houston controls their fate. So if they’re really good, we’re drafting at the end of the first round or in the middle of the not in the lottery. if they’re making the playoffs. We don’t have any draft picks that are of our own doing until 2032. And you look at like the teams like Dallas, right? Like Dallas controlled their own pick. They made the playin and they got bounced and they somehow won the draft, right? Whatever. Let’s say you’re the fifth worst team in the NBA for a couple seasons. If the Suns are the fifth worst team in the NBA for the next two seasons after blowing it up, it doesn’t mean they get a great pick out of it either. We’re in this ultimate kind of catch22 where we don’t have what it takes to compete in this stacked Western Conference. And if we’re choosing to blow it up, to send Kevin Durant somewhere for a ton of assets, to send Devin Booker somewhere for even more assets, even the assets we receive in return aren’t controlled by our ultimate performance. And that’s just an unfortunate place to be in. We’re not going to be in a space where we can be the ninth worst team in the NBA and somehow luck into the first overall pick and or or even a top three pick because I believe you need a top three pick and I it’s not a belief, it’s statistically proven you need a top three pick in order to change the tide of your franchise and we’re not even in that case. So we are we are in this ultimate catch 22 and I don’t know what the [ __ ] to do, man. Yeah. And even after all of that, like the NBA changes so much. Like we have no idea what’s going to happen with the other teams, right? I think we go into this saying like everyone has that player like I’m saying that’s, you know, you can get behind, you can root for that’s going to play you into the playoffs that you can actually feel as like an actual legit maybe star, even sometimes a superstar. But these teams are going to make moves. Like Jaw’s going to be on the move. Zion’s going to probably be on the move. Uh, you know, I mean, Kevin Durant obviously is going to be on the move. So where does Kevin Durant go? Who knows? Like Kyrie probably won’t be with Dallas. Who knows? like maybe they trade him to the Suns or you know what I mean just cuz we know Kyrie’s not going to be back next year but the Suns are right now on an island where they’re away from the Western Conference. I mean obviously from everybody the Utah Jazz I think are like the one team that I’m just like all right out on the West I feel like they’re one team that might be moving like the NBA is trying to build an empire to be more sexy, more entertaining and they’re doing a good job ever since the Luca trade like the gains have been that way. the refing, the fouls, um the intensity of the games have been great. The movement of the players like coming up in the offseason, like they’re really building something great here, right? So, I think they’re trying to really just like, you know, the Jazz, where do they where did they finish the fifth pick? So, it’s like that’s worst record, got the fifth pick. Yeah. So, you would think like, hey, they’ll get the the player, but you knew they weren’t going to get the number one pick because that’s not a sexy place to play. That’s not a sexy team to ever watch no matter what they do with those uniforms and stuff. I just think the NBA is really just looking at these these group of teams where you can xnay the Jazz, you like we have a solid Western Conference here and we can build this up to be even better. And if they even go to the thing where they cancel out the conferences and they just have everyone grouped together like the way that I don’t know if it’s if it’s um if it’s the NBA the executives or whoever is really kind of manipulating this thing to kind of control things but they’re doing a good job to where everything is kind of forming as like hey that’s a hot spot. Oh that’s a great team that’s like you just want to watch every game now in the playoffs because these teams are just built perfectly and I don’t know who orchestrated it but they’re doing a hell of a job. Well, I mean, if if there were NBA oligarchs, I think Phoenix would be a team that would be relevant because you have an owner who is ready to spend money left and right, and obviously that benefits everybody involved. So, although there’s this underlying oligarchy of the NBA that we all believe exists, I don’t think it exists. I think that the Suns have put themselves in a bad situation. I think that the situation continues to compound itself. And unfortunately for this team and this organization at this time, they have a brand new general manager who has never been a general manager before. And I just don’t see a way out. The only I mean, like I’ve said it before, the only way out of these things is through them. But going through this is going to be painful as a Suns fan because there’s going to be probably a situation. Again, my belief is this will be a retool year where you’re going to buy out Bradley Beal and that’s going to hurt you next year relative to cap because you’re still going to have a cap hit on him. Let’s say they buy him out for $80 million, right? Uh because that’s probably if you’re going to buy out Bradley Bill, that’s what it’s going to be. He has $110.8 million left on his contract. And if you buy him out for 80, that’s essentially going to put him in a situation to where he can go to any team in the NBA for the mid-level exception. He’ll still make the same amount of money that he would have if he stay in Phoenix, but that’s going to hit your cap to the tune of probably about 41 million next year and then 39 the the year after that or vice versa. 4951, I think, is what it comes out to. And that hurts that hurts you if you trade Kevin Durant, which I’m not sure if the Suns are going to. I think they’re definitely going to test the the market. They’re going to see what’s available. Uh, and if not, they’re going to hope that trading Bradley Beal or I’m sorry, buying out Bradley Beal coupled with a couple other moves is going to get them under that that tax apron and give them some flexibility. But these next couple years are might be bad Suns basketball and then the rebuild will begin. And so seeing, you know, bringing it kind of back to the top, the the the draft lottery chaos, all the draft lottery chaos did in my mind was further fortify this bad position that the Suns are in because had Charlotte had the number one overall pick, had Washington had the number one overall pick and second pick or, you know, vice versa or Utah gets the pick, like I don’t care if Cooper Flag goes to Utah, but Cooper Flag goes to a team that has Anthony Davis on it, that has Kyrie Irving who’s hurt, but Kyrie Irving is still on that team and could be backed by the back end of next season. Uh the San Antonio Spurs lucking into the number two pick. You know, again, I I was having a conversation with my Spurs buddy today and you know, he was talking he was trying to tell me uh a bunch of different situations. I’m like, “Yeah, but you got to understand your team has been unbelievably lucky in the draft.” And like he wouldn’t acknowledge it. I’m like, “No, you lucked into Tim Duncan. You shouldn’t have gotten that one.” He’s like, “Well, this is the draft process working.” I’m like, “It is, but it works in your favor quite often, doesn’t it? It doesn’t work in the Sun’s favor. The only time we get the number one overall pick is when we’re put into a situation where we should have drafted two or three other guys, but we went with the one guy because he’s a local guy. I mean, it’s just so unfortunate and that’s just, you know, it’s it’s the unlucky sons. We’ve been unlucky since we called uh heads on a coin flip once upon a time. If you’re Cooper Flag, you come to the draft and it’s like, hey, the Wizards or the Jazz are the number one pick. Like, that’s not exciting. So, no, the NBA might be thinking like, hey, it’s a player driven league. It’s it’s it’s it’s enough of the whining. It’s enough of like I want to I want to play here, play here. Like maybe we just make this easier for these players to be like, “All right, I’m going to be a Maverick. Great. I’m good for 10 years, right? Unless I don’t win a championship in five or six years, then maybe I move elsewhere or whatever.” But I think they’re like kind of setting these guys up in good positions. Like Victor Winyama with the Spurs before Pop left. Like that’s a perfect spot for him. Mhm. Um, but it’s just, you know, these are player friendly places and I just I think that that’s smart if the NBA is doing that because you throw these guys at the Hornets or the Jazz, like no one’s going to be [ __ ] happy. No one’s going to be watching those guys. I’m I’m I’m telling you, I don’t watch the Hornets or the Jazz because they’re because they’re just [ __ ] they’re they’re basically owned terribly and they don’t they don’t throw anything out there that’s any good to watch and their uniforms suck. Well, the Jazz do. Hornets are okay. The Hornets are good. Yeah, I like the Hornets are okay. Yeah, I like it’s trash. It reminds me of Jerry Springer as a basketball team. The Hornets like it’s just like trash. It’s [ __ ] trash TV. They’re just chanting instead of going Jerry LaMelo LaMelo who’s also kind of a trashy player, right? Like your dick. Let’s see them t. Uh but obviously the crisis was averted for Suns fans at least, you know, outside of the Western Conference getting much better potentially again the Spurs getting the second overall pick or having more draft capital to land a Giannis Antmpo, which it would just be horrible. Like I could totally see him as a [ __ ] Spur too. But the thing that we all went into the draft lottery wondering about is where’s the Suns pick going to end up? You know, the Suns ended with the ninth worst record in the NBA. Obviously, they don’t own the pick. They traded that to the the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Kevin Durant a couple seasons ago. They had since traded it to Houston. So, the lottery balls fell and Houston actually dropped back to 10th overall instead of ninth. So, they hold the 10th pick. Uh what are your thoughts on them getting 10th? Was, you know, had they got the first overall pick, would that been like worst case scenario? Yeah, I think so. For sure. I probably would stop watching basketball. Well, you know, I think that’s what Houston need is a Cooper flag. You know, they’re not going to get anything else. I don’t feel like coming up. I mean, they have to pay some guys like Van Vit if they want to run this back. Like, everyone thinks Houston’s so young. They are, but there’s also talented guys like a lot of teams don’t want back that are young on that team. So, they’re led by Singon and Singon is younger, but it just seems like he’s more well established. But guys like Fred Vanble and that punk ass that’s on their team, too. I forget his name. Dylan Brooks. Dylan Brooks. So, I I think if they’re number 10, it it eases it a little bit, right? You don’t feel as bad as the Suns fan when it comes through as number 10. I feel fine. I mean, obviously it sucks because we could have had that 10th pick. Uh but the 10th pick is also, you know, it kind of again, it fortifies my case and it’s one of the reasons why being a Suns fan for my whole life has kind of sucked is whenever we’re not good, we’re always just not good enough, right? Like now granted there’s a few years in there where we had the worst overall record. We got one number one pick out out of it, the only number one pick in the history of the franchise, but whenever we’ve missed the playoffs, we’ve missed the playoffs and always end up picking between like 10 and 14th, right? Like that’s how we got Deon Booker. That’s how we got TJ Warden. It’s like every year we were just outside. So the 10th pick isn’t something that I feel changes our destiny. But I’ll ask you this. Is it something that you would ever want to trade to get back? Like if you had if you could send Kevin Durant to uh to uh the Houston Rockets in exchange for a player a Jabari Smith. They’re not gonna get Aman Thompson, you know, Jabari Jabari Smith in the 10th pick. Would you do that? No. Absolutely not. I you know what I think getting a draft pick outside maybe a top six or seven in this draft like it’s just not as sexy, right? That’s why I’m saying 10th pick. It’s like I feel a little bit better. Um it’s just it’s hard because I feel like a lot of these teams are just not going to help the Suns anymore because they know how bad everything went. So when you’re even saying Jabari Smith and the 10th pick, it’s like I don’t even think we get that much for anything because we know how I think the locker room just [ __ ] up and they know the other teams know. It’s like we don’t have to give up anything for these players if we’re going to get rid of Kevin Durant. like we don’t have to give anything. Well, and a lot of teams are also shorting the Suns. They don’t want the Suns to get better in any capacity and they’re not going to do anything to help them. So, so why are they going to do that? So, yeah, I don’t think that if there was some perfect trade that came through to get the 10th pick, maybe because you want to get young, but I I just not a fan of it. Just not a fan of it, you know. But speaking of the Houston Rockets, uh they’re a team that has been tied to uh one Devin Armani Booker. I’m so used to I can’t find [ __ ] drops anymore. I don’t do this enough. Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Big Dick Booker. So, the Houston Rockets do not want Devin Booker per reports. Uh, the Rockets, I forget who tweeted this out, uh, but it says the Rockets have previously held serious interest in the son Booker, but team sources said that is no longer the case. Not only do team officials still have faith in Jaylen Green, who is five years younger than Booker and 66 million cheaper over the next three seasons, but also Booker’s struggles last season shifted the thinking on this front. What are your thoughts on that? I’m going to think kind of like Bill Simmons in the future on this one. So, Jenn Smith, obviously, everyone’s like, why would you not trade for him, right? Get rid of him. Get Devin Booker. But it’s like this is a young team at some aspects. But like the two young guys, Jabari Smith and Jayen Smith, those are the two guys that’s like they suck and let’s just try to get rid of them and get some a superstar star. But it’s like why don’t you just hold on to them and see how good they develop. All right, we can be looking at this team next year and those guys are just solid and they come through for this team and they’re the number one seed in West and they’re unbeatable in the playoffs just because they spent another year together and they developed, right? So, I’m always been on the side of the Houston Rockets. Don’t do anything. Keep this team the way it is. Give it a few more years. Don’t give it up for Kevin Durant or even Devin Booker, even though I think he’s a better fit. Just continue on the pace that you’re at and see where it goes. That’s what I think Kon should do. Yeah. And you’ve been saying that for quite some time and there’s there’s merit to that because teams have looked at what like the Suns have done and realized that’s not the path right now. That you don’t take a young competitive team that’s learning to win together and then blow it to pieces for the sexiest star that comes down the pipe. And Devin Booker is a sexy star. He’s a team that could help Houston because Houston needs scoring. If there’s anything that was apparent in their series against the Golden State Warriors, they did not have a halfcourt score and when the t the game got tight, so did they. Jaylen Green had a horrible series. He averaged, I think, 13 points a game, but part of that’s inflated because he had one game when he he scored 28 points, but he shot like 29% from beyond the arc. And so, you hear these comments about Houston doesn’t want Devin Booker. They have faith in Jaylen Green. And you got to remember one thing. We’re in the season where everybody’s [ __ ] lying. Houston, if if the Suns went to De So, so let me just say this. The Suns have adamantly said that they don’t want to trade Deon Booker. So how great does Houston look when they go, “No, man. We believe in our guy. We don’t want Deon Booker.” They know we weren’t going to offer Deon Booker. So they use it as a political move to turn to their guy who just had a horrible series. A young guy whose confidence is certainly lacking. that the only thing he does well is show up on Wingstop commercials and pound some wings and they go, “You know what? We got faith in you. We got faith in you, Jaylen Smith. We don’t need Devin Booker. [ __ ] a man. You’re the man.” And so, they use the fact that the Suns don’t want to trade Deon Booker to fortify their position with their youthful player. And simultaneously, if we were to offer them Deon Booker, I bet you they would change their [ __ ] uh uh tune, right? like King Nacho says like, “Yeah, Houston doesn’t want a perfect fit on player on their team. It’s just it’s just a matter of them posturing at this point.” And it’s a reminder that as we go through these next few weeks, as the draft is now a, you know, a month and a week away, we’re going to start to hear a lot of this kind of stuff, the false rumors, the statements from the organizations saying one thing, but then ultimately, just like the press conference with Brian Gregory where he was talking about us having an identity, being aligned, and having a vision, you can say those words all day long. Actions prove everything. And organizations are going to to prove whether or not they are truly interested in somebody or not. And it’s the g it’s the shadow game, right? We’re in the shadow game of people saying one thing and doing others. You know what I mean? Yeah. No, I know what you mean. And the only truth is a sham’s tweet. Really? That’s all it is, right? You can’t believe anything you’re hearing. You’re right. So, I think it’s it’s going to be fun when the when it does start to happen, when these teams start to roll out with what they want to pursue or who they want to pursue and you’ll get little snippets here and there, but there’s always the trades and there’s always a player like Giannis like, “Oh my god, he went to the Nuggets actually.” Like, “Oh, why did I not see that?” Like, he’s teaming up with Joic like like, you know what I mean? Like, we just are always blindsided by these things. And we could be blindsided by Booker going to Houston ultimately after whatever they’re saying back and forth. like it doesn’t matter what we hear from inside sources and that’s just the reminder this time of year and again I don’t I don’t believe a word they say again I think it’s just a political move uh focusing back now on our team the Phoenix Suns because we’ve kind of went a little bit around you know Houston Booker things of that nature but we do have a little Suns news and now ladies and gamsters news about the Phoenix Suns all right the head coaching update the Phoenix Suns are without a head coach. Uh this time last year we had Mike Boonzer. This time two years ago we had Frank Vogle. So those are pretty quick hires right now. Reports from Arizona Sports Suns insider John Gamadoro. The Suns are going to they’re in the process of interviewing 15 to 20 candidates. Next week second round interviews will begin, but we shouldn’t expect an announcement until late May or at at latest early June. With the draft coming up and free agency coming up and an identity that needs alignment and vision coming up, is this a wise approach? Matthew, what are your thoughts on this? No comment. No, I mean I honestly, dude, I I think uh if they take it too slow or go too fast, this team’s going to burn out anyway. So, I don’t know. I I think it’s it’s okay to go slow because that’s what they said they were going to do. So, we just have to kind of follow them and just kind of wait and see what happens and be okay with it because right now I think this team with the identity they’re trying to build is around Booker and it’s something where they get a coach in here obviously like the draft and stuff wants to be a part of it but I think they have other guys underneath Ishbia. Maybe it’s just Ishbia where they know who they’re going to get and what they want to go after already before the draft even starts. Yeah, I think that what this does, one, you’re right. It it fortifies what Ishbia had already stated that they’re not going to rush into anything that they’re really going to take their time on this. Uh, but what it also tells me, so let me back up here. One of the reasons the Boston Celtics have been unbelievably successful uh with their previous owner, and I forget his name, but he’s owned the team for quite some time, is he’s the one who wrote the checks, and he let the [ __ ] team do its job. He didn’t impose or or have any voice on player decisions. He trusted the guys underneath him. He trusted Brad Stevens. He trusted Danny A as general managers. The Suns, what they’re doing here, Matt Ishbia put in place Brian Gregory who has zero general manager experience. He’s going to be learning on the job. He’s got James Jones next to him as an adviser. You got Josh Bartlestein. So essentially what that tells me right there is instead of taking the Celtics approach, they’re taking more of uh the owner is going to be the guy who’s who’s, you know, again, he played basketball, man. He played Michigan State class of 2000 champions. Jason Richardson. Uh God, who else was on that team? I forget. Uh so it’s like the anti-eltics. And the fact that they’re taking this long to hire head coach tells me a couple different things. One, they are doing due diligence. They’re vetting 20 people, 15 to 20 guys, and they’re getting ready to start the second round of interviews. But my assumption is, and of course it’s pure speculation, it’s pure, you know, I’m just somebody who is thinking about this and and thinking about what this process entails, is what they’re looking for is somebody who’s going to, again, they they’ve stated they want like a first-time head coach, a former player, right? They want somebody who’s going to come in and continue with that philosophy of Brian Gregory of I’m a yes man. And so when they talk about trying to find somebody who aligns the and and fits the vision of the team and the identity of the team that vision that alignment that identity it’s of somebody who who who’s not going to question them who I mean if you’re taking this long to hire somebody if it’s not till June and think about it the first week is just [ __ ] orientation. You’re just learning where the [ __ ] to park the first week. You’re not sitting there making decisions on who you’re going to be drafting in two weeks. You’re not making decisions on what player person. And again, the coach isn’t supposed to do that. But in a good cohesive organization, the coach has a voice because he’s the one who has to motivate these individuals. He’s the one who has to, you know, you’re the guy who brings them in, but I’m the one who’s got to work with them. So, like, when I hire people, I don’t just hire them and hand them off to my supervisor and be like, “All right, there you My supervisor is a part of the hiring process because I want them to see what I see in that individual or have them give me input on where they might see a difficulty relative to managing that individual. And so the Suns by by being quote unquote meticulous in this process are inadvertently or maybe purposefully cutting out this person’s voice at least for this first off season. And maybe that’s by design and maybe that’s okay. Yeah. Yeah, but it’s something that does worry me in the short term and I just don’t know I I don’t know what to think until again words are words actions will ultimately determine how I uh absorb this team because again this is all speculation the the with the lack of in of act of action right thus far leaves room for assumption and assumption leaves opportunity for misinterpretation and speculation and that’s where I’m at right now I’m just speculating. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the only thing that would have calmed us down too and just kind of believe back in this organization like to have some belief in it, excuse me, is if Matt was like, “Hey, I [ __ ] up and I did take over and I got to let James Jones take control again.” Because he should have been like, “Hey, look what he did up to the part where we got Kevin Durant, right? He built this team. They were a title contender. They needed a few more pieces maybe, but he knew what he was [ __ ] doing.” Right? Right now, like you’re saying, with a new head coach, that might be his first job. first time on the job. Uh, and then also, you know, just a guy at a GM, first time doing it. It just makes you think like, is he still just owning it like a Jerry Jones or is he kind of going off Twitter or is he going off of, oh, what other teams are doing and succeeding? That’s one thing we talked about last podcast that’s hard to face if if your team and your owner is kind of looking at around them, what what should we do? Like I wish we had some guys that are very confident and could find love within themselves and this organization to trust who we have below them to really take over. Yeah. And do what they know what to do like where they’re skilled like a Yeah. And it’s you know if it’s going the other way which we assume it is because everything this team is doing since the start of last season has been a laughing stock of the NBA. It’s continuing that way. So, like there’s no moves, especially in the coach hiring process. Like when we hire somebody, I’ll be like, “Okay, all right. Uh, awesome. Let’s see like if he has any say on this.” And why is Devin Booker wanting to stay here? Like what is what is he seeing behind the scenes? Maximum extension that’s 150 million for over two years. Like there’s other motivating factors. You think like Booker, these guys have a feel for other teams that might want them though before the season? I’m sure they do because they talk to all the players. They have relationships. But you also look at Deon Booker and like I believe that Deon Booker really likes it here. He likes it here in Phoenix. He’s comfortable. He’s got a he’s got a beautiful house. He goes up to Flagstaff for the summer. He’s got a good rhythm to his life. He gets paid a [ __ ] ton of money. He’s worshiped in the city. Why would you want to leave that to a place to go to a place where you’re going to be even more criticized like he gets criticized here, but not nearly to that level and he never will. And he never will. He never will. He’s the chosen son. And as it pertains to the Ishbia factor, you’re right. the the the challenge and Ishb has mentioned this a couple times like he talks about how he’s going to be owning this team for the next 50 years. So, he might look at it that long term and go, you know what, I’m going to [ __ ] around. I’m young right now. I’m going to [ __ ] around with things. I’m going to do it my way. You know, Mark Brooks makes a great comment in the chat. And again, thank you to everybody who’s watching along live or watching later. We truly truly appreciate you hanging out with the Suns Jam Session podcast here during the offseason. But Mark Brooks says Ishbia is assuming that since he’s amazingly successful in one business that he automatically knows the NBA. And that is a challenge that any successful person has. It’s like, “Hey man, people couldn’t tell me I could dominate the mortgage business and look at what I’m doing there.” So, he’s coming to the NBA, he’s like, “You know what? I’m going to do things different.” I see the Celtics winning the way they are. I see Oklahoma City winning the way they are. I’m going to zag against that. And he’s already zagged once, right? When the NBA said, “You can’t spend money,” he’s like, “I’m going to spend all the money.” And then we’re [ __ ] And now you’re looking at organizations that have strong general managers who know how to conduct transactions and and be forward thinking and build organizations. And again, a lot of this is speculative because we haven’t seen the action yet. We’re not given a chance yet. But as Phoenix Suns fans who have been watching this team our entire lives, we know how, as we mentioned earlier, how bad the luck is for this team. How if you make one little decision, it’s going to compound itself. It’s and it that’s ringing true. And you combine that with all these ex these factors that are occurring as we speak that taking a long time for a head coach, which could be a good thing. A new general manager, you know, again, we’re going to have a new head coach who’s never coached potentially. They want a first-time coach, a general manager who’s never been a general manager, an owner who’s in like his third year and just like, “Hey man, check out the size of my wallet.” And they’re like, “Cool, man. Nobody cares about how the size of your wallet anymore. We need to be strategic.” You know, and it’s like David Yolovich says, peaks and valleys, we are the valley. Yeah. Perfectly said. Yeah, you know, it’s it’s a tough one, dude. Yeah, I mean, that’s just kind of the state of where we’re at. So, we’ll continue to update this as the offseason uh progresses. Last thing I want to talk about before we get out of here tonight, Matthew, the playoff update. Obviously, the playoffs have been unbelievably fun to watch. I don’t know how much you’ve been watching, but like that game last night with Oklahoma City and Denver. Did you happen to see that one? Yeah, I’ve been watching quite a bit. Yeah, man. Did you see that turnaround jumper that [ __ ] Joic pointer? That was unbelievable. just keep doing that all night long, dude. That’s the only option they have. You need to score 50 to win that game. I honestly felt, and we’ll get to Jason Tatum here in a bit, but like I honestly felt that that game, a game five with Oklahoma City winning the way they did, coming from behind, Denver control the majority of the game, coming from behind, sticking true to their identity, sticking true to who they were, and just trusting their own internal processes. I felt they won the championship last night because I can’t see I mean they might Minnesota might get a couple on them because Anthony Edwards is that good assuming that they beat the Warriors but they’re going to beat the Warriors. Uh and then obviously everything that’s happened in the East which we’ll talk about momentarily but I mean OK it’s it’s Oklahoma City’s to lose at this point right? Oh yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Um I think that uh you know that win was a good win and it also showed me too you know the Nuggets just like not surrounding Jokic with anything like Michael Porter Jr. I swear like he’ll hit a shot big. Oh, that is pretty. But I his form and everything it looks nice, but he can never hit any shot. I think he hit one big shot this playoffs, these playoffs. I think he did, but I’m telling you, I don’t believe in him. I I believe in Jamal Murray, but there are just guys like Braun, it’s like Brown where I’m like, who else does he have on this team that he can count on? Like he has he’s had some bad games where he missed some shots and Gordon, I just think they got to get him some good pieces. Like that’s that’s why I was saying Giannis are being stupid about that, but they had to put some another star next to this dude because that’s a shadow that’s a shadow situation. Giannis to there could happen. I saw somebody talk about that today. I mean, it’s possible. They don’t spend any money. They have assets. They have everything. They don’t do make any moves. So, you know, it would be surprising if it happened, but I also wouldn’t be shocked. But I I I love the fact that OKC did get that win though, you know, cuz if they lose that, then my whole Giannis to OKC thing, maybe it has a little bit more steam because Shet looks a little stinky at times and it’s like how much longer do you want to ride this guy in the playoffs? So yeah, I was I was definitely going for Denver last night for the same thought process for as it pertains to the Suns. It’s like man, if OKC gets bounced in the second round after the season they had, maybe they throw a couple things our way and they feel like a homecoming for Kevin Durant is something that could help the team. He’s a scorer, yada yada yada. Uh, but obvious too much pressure for for KD. He can’t go there and have that much pressure to win a championship there. Do you think that let’s say the Suns keep KD, but they get a new head coach who’s never coached before. Like, we’re just [ __ ] toast because KD’s not going to listen to that coach. Oh, yeah. I don’t think he listens to anybody, does he? I know. the the fact that he’s the only player last year that said anything about a head coach or the the scheme being too busy for him like it’s too much. I don’t remember hearing one other headline from another player talking about the head coach like coaches got fired but the fact that he just flat out said that like and maybe make it a little bit simpler next year with the offense like what the [ __ ] is that? Like so obviously I don’t trust him with any coach moving forward. Did you see that Kevin Durant won the 2024 25 Magic Johnson award? It honors the NBA player had hiv he survived something killed him. Uh it it honors the NBA player who best combines excellence on the court with cooperation and grace in dealing with the media and fans from the professional basketball writers association. That’s just that’s just funny. Isn’t that the funniest thing you’ve ever heard? You’re just sticking to him with that. That’s not He’s won it twice. Like a real thing. Yeah, it is. It’s a real thing. Steph Curry won it last year. Giannis the year before. Lillard, Dwayne Wade, Steve Nash won it in 2012. These awards are ridiculous. That’s a st the stupidest award from personal experience. I think it’s ridiculous. Yeah. Defensive player of the year and MVP. That’s the only ones I care about. I’m with you there. I’m with you there. Yeah. Well, let’s talk about the Eastern side of the bracket. Obviously, Jason Tatum did. So, I You know, I’ve been watching basketball, a ton of it. And a couple nights ago, it’s really nice out. My wife’s like, “Hey, you want to walk the dogs?” I’m like, “Yeah.” You know, I’m like I I kind of figured I could plan it out to where I could see the end of the game. Um, but it didn’t work out that way. And as I’m walking, all a sudden my phone just starts going crazy because I’m in a text thread and one of my good buddies is a Celtics fan. And I get home and I start reading and it’s like 43 missed text messages. I’m like, “Jesus Christ.” And Tatum done. I mean, Achilles injury and like we’ve seen Achilles injuries, right? like when Kevin Durant got his, when Kobe got his uh god, there’s one other one that uh when it happens it was God, who was it? It was I forget, but when it happens, they kind of look back at their ankle like somebody tricked me. Yeah. I mean, Kobe shot free throws after his. But with Jason Tatum, I mean, it was [ __ ] brutal seeing him down there. Obviously, with everything that’s going on in Boston, I mean, they won tonight as I believe they were going to over the Knicks. It’s a home game right after that happen. It’s going to be highly emotional. I mean, you lose your best player for potentially the next season. and he’s not going to be right for the next season and a half, right? I mean, that’s the same thing that happened to KD, obviously. KD being older, you know, but when when that goes down, what do you think about like like what goes through your mind relative to the Celtics and their situation now? Oh, well, I picked him as champions. Um, but I more It’s funny because it’s one of those teams that might have won this year and still might have broken up next year, right? Might move a few pieces here and there. Um the Achilles thing is interesting because I’m thinking like those players that tore there like you said Kobe and KD like maybe it was just barely hanging on and it’s like bing but the but Tatum is maybe a little bit thicker. I don’t know the real injury just because he is younger and I’m like okay maybe it was just like have much more of an impact because he is younger but um I think it sucks because well just about the series like I think the Knicks might have still even had a chance to win this series because the Celtics are playing like a-holes. Well, I mean, even in that game, they they went up 3-1. That injury happened at the end of the game. Happened in the fourth quarter. Yeah, they were up five or seven. Yeah, they were on the way to a 3-1 victory. And then Celtics come back to win obviously a must-win by 25 points. But I could still see the Knicks losing this series and being like 10 years from now be like, man, remember the Knicks could have went to the finals, you know, because they just had the Pacers to beat and they just they just beat the Celtics or they were about to beat the Celtics up 3-1. I could see the Celtics actually winning this and still going to the finals. I still think that’s a possibility even without it’s a possibility. Yeah, they they’re a deep team. Uh obviously without Tatum it hurts and they’re up against it. They have to still win two more games. They’re going back to Madison Square Garden. But to your point, they win that game six. Anything can happen in game seven, right? So it it’s going to be interesting. But you know, you talk long term, you mentioned a little bit this was already a team. This is kind of like the last hurrah for the Boston Celtics because they their cap is projected next season to be more than the Suns and they have decisions this upcoming offseason as to how to kind of clear some of that that cap. Now, this might be somewhat of a blessing in disguise because the Celtics can now apply for the disabled player exemption and with that they can save I think 36 million on the cap. I I was doing the math on it earlier today as I was researching a little bit. Do you know the last time the Suns used the disabled player exception? Do you remember what player it was? No. Question. What’s that? Rodney Wright. White. Rodney White. Who the [ __ ] is that? Rody White, the wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons for a bunch of years. No, it was Dario Sar the year after the finals. Ah, yeah. So, that might relieve some cap uh g give them some cap relief, but this was kind of the last run. And so again, one of my good buddies is who’s a Celtics fan. Shout out to Jeremiah. I feel bad for you, man. I know you. I know. I don’t know if I can empathize what you’re going through because I was trying to think. I’m like, have I ever had a team where my the best player just had one of those season enders and I’m like, “No, it only happens in my fantasy football. That’s the only time, you know, you draft a running back like he blew out his ACL. You’re [ __ ] me.” You know, like your team just let you down in full strength. Exactly. Exactly. No injuries. you know, but but what they’re going through, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens there. Obviously, if the Knicks can win this series, they’re going to face off in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers. That’s really [ __ ] That That’s fun, man. Like, I grew up in the 90s. I grew up watching the Pacers and the Knicks every year. Reggie Miller, you know, the choke thing to Spike Lee. Uh that’s the team that eliminated the Knicks last year in route to the Eastern Conference Finals. They’ve never won a championship. The They haven’t been to the finals since 2000. I think the Knicks were last in the finals in 1999. I think they lost to the Spurs. So, I mean, it’s been 25 years for both of those teams. So, that’ll be a fun exciting spir series if it’s comes to fruition. But, again, I don’t think any one of those teams have beaten either Minnesota or Oklahoma City. I don’t know, man. It’ll be interesting. I’m going to say I don’t want to rule out any of these teams winning the championship now. I just don’t because I think the Pacers and the Knicks, like the Pacers especially, like they’re all out effort and the way Halleurn’s just killer right now. Yeah, next level [ __ ] That’s scary to play. Like I thought maybe maybe two rounds they can win if that. But if they go to the finals, I still wouldn’t be shocked just because the Knicks might [ __ ] up the Knicks. Well, exactly. And the Knicks, the challenge with the Knicks is one, you got Cat on the team, so that alone I feel it’s just like its own issue. But like Brunson again, guards like Brunson wear down. That guy takes a [ __ ] beating on purpose. That’s what he by getting elbowed in the back tonight. So yeah, and he jumps into people constantly. So it’s like at some point, and we’ve already seen it thus far in this playoffs, he’s he’s been limping around a little bit. So you don’t know what can happen in the Eastern Conference Finals. And to your point, the Indiana Pacers is a team that nobody really recognizes, but you want to talk about the word identity. They’ve had one for the past three or four seasons. Ever since Hallebertton came over there, they know who they are. They went out last year, uh they competed for the NBA Cup and they lost to the Lakers and then they went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and now they’re back. They handled they handled the Cavs. I know there was some injuries in there for the Cavs, but they came back and they handled them because they’re relentless. They pressure defense and they play with pace. So, they’re a fun team to watch. And that’s like if that series happens, just like when I was a kid, I used to always root for the Pacers over the Knicks. I couldn’t stand the [ __ ] Knicks. I hated Patrick Eu. I hated John Starks. Hated Charlie Ward. I was pissed off at Charlie Ward. Do you know who Charlie Ward is? Yeah. Yeah. got carried. Didn’t he get carried out one game now that he’s older out of Madison Square Garden? No, that’s Charles Oakley. That was Charles Oakley. Yeah. So, Charlie Ward won the Heisman for Florida State in 1993 in route to beating Notre Dame in one of those in a in a huge game for Notre Dame that would have given him a shot at national championship. And so, Charlie Ward beat them then won the Heisman and then like a prick, he didn’t go to the NFL. He went to the NBA. I was so mad at him. I was like, damn you. And then he ended up on the Knicks. like I hate the Knicks. So, uh that’ll be exciting. And then last but not least, we haven’t talked at all about Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves and how the addition of Julius I mean Julius Randle looks great. And it’s the one thing that I find myself shocked about because a lot of people kind of on the back burners and and the people hitting up the trade machine are like, “All right, we send Kevin Durant to Minnesota, we get Julius Randle back and maybe an asset.” Like, I’m not completely opposed to that. Julius Randle’s like legit in these playoffs, man. Boy, he’s come through when it matters and that’s the kind of player you want, right? What the He’s the anti Michael Porter Jr. Exactly. The first part of the season, they’re like, we’re like, what the [ __ ] did they do? Right. The Knicks won it. But the Knicks and Wolves both won this trade. I don’t think we’ve seen that in a long time where both the players are succeeding on these teams. They might meet in the finals. Who knows? It’s a possibility. But during the season, Julius, he was hard to watch on that team, but get him to the playoffs. He’s the second guy you can rely on offensively, defensively. Like, he’s big. And I think he’s just a good rebounder. I just think this the fact that you have Julius Randle on this team with McDaniels and when you got Rudy Goar in there, it’s it’s hard defensively to do anything. Like this team was already with Anthony, but you get a different kind of dominance with Randall. Um I think it’s kind of it’s difficult to choose like between them because obviously right right now the Warriors are losing by 15 at a half. So it looks like Minnesota will probably move on and and face the Thunder if the Thunder move on. I just between them or the Thunder or even if the Nuggets come back like those three teams, I think any of them can make the finals. Yeah, I know. I And then one of them will. I uh Julius Randle obviously we know how good he was early in the season. You know, he wasn’t great, but when he pushed off on Joshi and hit a buzzer beater on a Sunday afternoon that ruined my Sunday. I’ll never forget that one. Uh yeah. I mean, I’m trying to think of the last time both teams won the trade. Uh maybe it was like Jared G or Matthew Stafford, you know. Oh yeah. Interesting. Yeah, I’m trying to fix it because usually it’s a little lopsided. Usually it’s about assets. Players feel like a superstar. So, Suns lose every trade. This is correct. Nothing’s really worked out for us. All right. Well, anything else you want to talk about before we get out of here today? I farted. Now I got to poop. Oh god, I can’t wait to fart. I think uh you know, these are probably the best playoffs I’ve watched my whole life. Yeah, it’s really so much of it. Like I just I love watching the ending of the Eastern Conference when I first get home and then later I’ll watch like the the fourth quarter, third, halfway through the third and the rest. Yeah, exactly. So you see like the great part of one game and then the next one. Yeah. How’s Luke doing with the Cavs being out? Oh, he’s fine. He switches teams. Oh, who’s his team now? Oh no, I’m just going to be the Wolves. Oh, all right. Well, appreciate everyone who decided to hang out, whether you’re watching live or or listening later. Thank you for supporting the Suns Jam Session podcast. Those who’ve been popping off in the chat. You guys are the best. Thanks for hanging out with us. Remember to subscribe, rate, review wherever you’re consuming this content. And just tune in every Wednesday. We’re here every Wednesday. We schedule for 8:00, but sometimes we’ll go earlier if we can. So, that’s why you turn on those bell notifications if you happen to be on the YouTube uh stream. So, on that note, Matthew, tell them what to do. Go family. Hey, you’re listening to the Sun’s Jam Session podcast. Shooting the [ __ ] about the sun since 2019.

The NBA Draft Lottery was absolute chaos. Unpredictable. Maybe rigged (we’re lookin’ at you, Adam Silver 👀). We’re breaking it all down and what it means for the Phoenix Suns — because of course, it always somehow affects us.

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