48 Minutes

0:00 ... Ross hello and welcome .... introduces panel, and dedicates show #258 to "B-Ball Paul" Reed, who was the #58 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

0:50 ... Lu Dort is traded from OKC to the Atlanta Hawks in a three team deal ... the guys discuss how Dort's grit and persistence will be a great asset to the Hawks' defensive schemes.  World B wonders if this is the beginning of a new era in OKC where players are traded for financial reasons.  Ross agrees and feels this was a salary dump by the Thunder.

7:25 ... Bruce is really shocked at how soon the Hawks gave up on Zachary Risacher who was the #1 overall pick in 2024, an All Rookie first teamer in 2025, and is only 21 years old.  Ross and World B also comment on how Risacher's role was reduced in his second season.

11:52 ... LeBron James' indecision in choosing his next team is now causing Commissioner Adam Silver to level some sharp comments about how King James is holding up a lot of the decisions the league needs to make because they need to know where he will be playing.  Bruce feels LeBron is putting his ego ahead of the league and it may come back to haunt him if he pursues his ownership aspirations in the future.  World B agrees that it's an ego thing for LeBron and Ross feels he should finish his career in Cleveland.

15:57 ... The Heat officially introduced Giannis Antetokounpo last week and while they will need more outside shooting, there are some veterans out there like DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook who might fit into Miami's "win now" plans in spite of them not being long range shooters.   Ross liked that Giannis is changing his number from 34 to 7 and leaving 34 behind in Milwaukee.

21:25 .... Will Jonathan Kuminga ever find a team?  The whole situation is bizarre due to his status as an "unrestricted" free agent who still needs to be in a sign and trade deal in order to find a new team since only teams under the cap can sign him without doing a sign and trade.

26:47 ... Yaxel Lendebourg led the Warriors to the Summer League championship and talked serious smack to the Grizzlies, the team the Dubs beat in the championship game.  Bruce was so inspired that he game Yaxel a nickname: "Yakkin' Yaxel."   Ross pointed out that Yaxel and Draymond Green have been talking trash to each other on Dray's podcast so the rookie is learning from the master.

30:33 ... Speaking of the Warriors, Stephen Curry has become the first active player to have a major exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame due to the way he revolutionized the NBA with his shooting skills.  World B and Ross feel it is well-deserved.

33:46 ... Bruce promotes the Hoop Hall Hangout session he will be hosting with Spurs legend Bruce Bowen on August 5th at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

35:00 ... The guys examine the crazy contract Gary Trent Junior signed with the Bucks and how the league is investigating the Bucks for salary cap circumvention.

37:04 .... The Kawhi Leonard trade from the Clippers to the Raptors is on hold due to the NBA investigating the endorsement deal Leonard signed with Aspiration for $28 million last year.  Ross feels for the others involved in the trade because their lives and careers are being negatively impacted by the freezing of the transaction.

40:21 ... Bruce shares a story on Keaton Wagler of the Clippers and how he led the team in a bonding experience in Las Vegas where they went to an escape room and his experience in previous escape room visits helped him guide the team to a succesful escape.

41:56 ... Ross wraps the show and says goodbye.

TRT 42:08

 

 

 

 

 

 

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0:00 Intro

1:16 The Bam Adebayo/Tyler Herro altercation in Vegas

4;36 The Miami Heat’s current offseason situation

7:46 Milwaukee Bucks resigning Gary Trent Jr to an interesting deal

12:22 Our favorite free agent signings

15:55 The free agent signing that was the best value

20:27 Our least favorite free agent signing

26:51 Our favorite offseason trade

32:31 Our least favorite offseason trade

39:01 Where is the position of power next season: The West or The East?

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0:00 ... Ross welcomes everyone to the show and introduces the crew.

0:32 ... Show #256 is dedicated to Nikola Jokic, who had a triple double last Christmas that included a 56 point scoring night.

0:48 ... Ross begins with the Jaylen Brown trade from the Celtics to the 76ers ... Bruce starts the discussion off with his thoughts on the deal.  It was a salary dump and it also allowed the team to avoid having to discuss another super max extension with Brown.  World B felt it was a move dictated by Brad Stevens' bosses.

5:20 ... Bruce discusses what it feels like to see Brown going to Philly, an ancient rival of the Celtics.  And it was set in motion by Brad Stevens' failure to deal Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

7:19 ... Ross feels like Paul George is nothing special at this point of his career.

7:54 ... Should the Celtics be worried about their outlook next season?  Bruce feels like Boston could be anywhere between a 4 and 6 seed and Jayson Tatum as the new "Alpha" will be challenged in the area of leadership.

9:40 ... World B wonders if the Celtics will change their "3 Point Happy" offensive style.

11:08 ... Where does Philadelphia stack up in the east?  Joel Embiid is no longer "The Franchise" and his slow pace may be detrimental to the faster style that Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Brown will want to play.  The Sixers should seriously consider a future move to offload Embiid and his monster contract if possible.  World B feels the 76ers are a very thin team even though they look much better on paper with Brown.

16:23 ... The Lakers took a huge swing on Walker Kessler to be Luka Doncic's center.  Doncic lost his running mate in LeBron James and with Luka now expected to be the leader of the team, Bruce questions whether he has what it takes "from the neck up" to be a legit team leader and he explains what Luka needs to address in his own performance to become a better leader.

18:01 ... World B feels if LA is a top 4 seed in the west, Luka could be a solid MVP candidate.  Kessler has missed a lot of games the past two years so his reliability could be an issue.  Ross feels like some of the other signings by LA will help coach JJ Redick implement the type of style that will be successful.

20:45 ... Lots of free agent signings ... John Collins goes to Detroit and replaces Tobias Harris.

22:56 ... Marcus Smart reunites with his former coach in Boston Ime Udoka as a member of the Houston Rockets.  Smart fits the Rockets culture perfectly.

24:41 ... Norman Powell leaves the Miami Heat and heads to Chicago ... none of the panelists feel particularly strongly about this move for the Bulls.

36:28 ... Tobias Harris joins the Spurs and brings his experience and mentoring skills to a young team that showed its inexperience in the 2026 Finals against the Knicks.

28:11 ... Andre Drummond replaces Mitchell Robinson with the Knicks as the backup to Karl-Anthony Towns.  His rebounding provides similar skills as those of Robinson.

30:24 ... Two interesting Summer League rules will be tested this summer.  The "one free throw" experiment is worth a try but Bruce has major issues because at the end of games, there is a lot of strategy surrounding free throws that will be lost if this rule ever becomes permanent.  World B questions why there is any need for this rule change AT ALL.

33:07 ... The "connected" basketball is another experiment by the league.  Bruce questions how it will even work and if players' fingerprints are part of the equation, the Players Association is likely to have major issues with the use of data like that being used in this way.

35:00 .... Final Thought: Bruce on Lebron James' future.

36:56 ... Final Thought: World B on whether the balance of power is gradually shifting towards the east.

38:39 ... Final thought: Ross on early Summer League standouts so far.

40:26 ... Ross wraps it up and says goodbye

TRT 40:41

 

 

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0:00 Intro

1:08 LeBron James notifies the Lakers to move on

6:09 Kawhi Leonard traded back to Toronto

11:22 Ja Morant traded to Portland

16:29 The Charlotte Hornets have been some busy bees

26:02 The Golden State Warriors remain in win now mode

30:50 The Miami Heat making some moves

35:59 Knicks retain some key role players

37:08 Spurs pursuing some depth in free agency

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0:00 .... Ross hello and welcome, introduces the panelists, and dedicates show #254 to Sam Mitchell, who was drafted #54 overall in the 1985 NBA Draft.

0:58 ... Giannis Antetokounmpo is now a member of the Miami Heat after the Bucks traded him on Monday night.  The guys react to the trade and feel like the Bucks took a better deal from Miami than Boston was willing to offer with their package involving Jaylen Brown.

5:35 ... The Heat will need to add some shooting if they want to put a team out there that can compete even though they've added a Hall of Famer in Giannis.  Ross feels that Miami can't go "cheap" and has to stay aggressive.

10:14 ... The Heat have been excellent at developing talent over the years and they will find some diamonds in the rough to complement Giannis and Bam Adebayo.

10:55 ... Ross shares his "wish list" of guys he wants the Heat to go after during the next few months.

12:00 ... The guys discuss the future for the Bucks after losing their best player.  Ross feels like they may even improve on their record from last season under new coach Taylor Jenkins.  Bruce was having flashbacks to 1975 when Milwaukee traded another superstar player who went on to great success with his new team.  World B does not share Ross's optimism about the Bucks prospects next season.

17:10 ... Now that Jaylen Brown knows he was on the trading block, can he return to the Celtics feeling good about his relationship with the team and with fellow star Jayson Tatum?

21:49 ... Julius Randle is traded from Minnesota to Brooklyn in a three team trade that also has Nik Claxton going from the Nets to the Bulls and the Wolves shedding salary and signing Ayo Dosunmu to a contract extension.  The deal frees "Nuclear Naz" Reid to start at power forward for the Wolves.

26:01 ... The guys examine the first round of the draft on Tuesday with an extended discussion of AJ Dybantsa to Washington, Darryn Peterson to Utah, and Cameron Boozer to Memphis.

30:12 ... The guys discuss the big winners in the first round ... Bruce likes OKC drafting 7'3" Aday Mara, who could develop into a defender that can battle Victor Wembanyama more effectively than Chet Holmgren did in the playoffs.

31:14 ... Bruce liked Sacramento choosing Alex Karaban, who reminds him of former Kings sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic.

32:38 ... World B liked the draft choices that Charlotte made with Christian Anderson from Texas Tech and Zuby Ejiafor from St John's.  He also liked Kingston Flemings going to Atlanta as their point guard of the future.  Ross really liked how Memphis snagged Karim Lopez at #21 along with Cam Boozer at #3 and also stockpiled some additional picks with some trades.

36:06 .... Biggest losers?  Bruce cited the seven teams that did not have draft picks in the first round.  World B felt the Nets messed up their first round pick by passing on Darius Acuff and choosing Mikel Brown.

38:21 ... Bruce has a final thought about his work on the NBA Draft between 2003-2017 when he was at ESPN.  Watching the fantasy become a reality for the draftees and their families is something that he never got tired of witnessing

39:21 ... Ross wraps the show

TRT 39:40

 

 

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