Same Old Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers are back in the mix. At 38–32 and still sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference, they’re suddenly within striking distance of the top six—just half a game behind Orlando and one game behind Toronto. In this episode of Second Round Syndrome, hosts DJSportsZone and Jordan Sabel break down a pivotal week that may have kept the Sixers’ playoff hopes alive and possibly saved them from the chaos of the Play-In Tournament.

Inside the Sixers’ Resurgence

• The Rookie Explosion – A statement win over Sacramento is fueled by career nights from VJ Edgecombe and Justin Edwards, with Edgecombe becoming the first Sixers rookie to hit 38 since Tyrese Maxey.

• The Injury Waiting Game – With Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Kelly Oubre Jr. still sidelined, the hosts discuss Embiid’s “doubtful” status and circle a potential return date against Chicago—the same night Paul George becomes eligible to return.

• The McCain Homecoming – All eyes turn to Monday’s matchup against Oklahoma City, as Jared McCain returns to Philadelphia in what the hosts call the most anticipated game of the season, complete with expectations of a huge performance and a loud fan reaction.

Around the NBA

• Pistons & Celtics Shift – With Cade Cunningham sidelined due to a collapsed lung, the hosts declare Boston the clear favorite in the East and question how the injury reshapes the conference race.

• The Giannis Debate – Milwaukee’s situation takes center stage as the hosts debate whether the Bucks should shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo for draft positioning or continue pushing for contention—and whether a split could be coming.

• Expansion & Realignment – The NBA’s expansion talks heat up, with Las Vegas and Seattle as frontrunners. The hosts also explore the possibility of a Pittsburgh team and debate which franchise should shift to the Eastern Conference.

A mix of analysis, reactions, and bold takes, this episode breaks down a Sixers team clawing its way back into relevance—while asking whether this late push is the start of something real or just another twist in their unpredictable season.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to Second Round Syndrome, your talk for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. I'm your host, DJ SportsZone. With me is my co-host, Jordan Stable. Jordan, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

It's going pretty well. It's been a heavy basketball week for me with a lot of following the college sports game, March Madness Purdue. Um, but yeah, let's focus on the association now. Let's let's let's go and dive and discuss.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Yeah, we're definitely gonna talk to you a little bit about March Madness, maybe later in the show, because as you said, you were at a couple games yesterday. You're supposed to be at a couple games tomorrow. I've been watching a little bit of March Madness. I'm not as into it as you are, obviously, but as I do, as a lot of people have, I have brackets going. So, you know, it's definitely an exciting time to even be remotely interested in basketball because of the college troops. With the Philadelphia 76ers, though, uh, it's a little bit of a different story. Now, right now they're 38 and 32. They are still ninth in the Eastern Conference. This is kind of an interesting week for the Sixers because yeah, I'm I'm a little bit more positive about them because, okay, since our last show, they beat the Portland Trailblazers at home. They did get blown out by the Denver Nuggets, and then they had a pretty nice win over the Sacramento Kings, right? You look at that Kings game in particular, it was a nice game, right? BJ Edgecombe had a career high, 38 points. You also had Justin Edwards with a career high, 32 points, 11 of 18 from the field, 7 of 11 from three. I mean, he had a great game. Quentin Grimes, 27 points, Bona, eight points, 10 rebounds. Overall, it was a great game. But then you look at it. This this is kind of the problem with the Sixers right now. And uh, as of recording this tonight, they will face the Utah Jazz at 9:30. Joel Embiid still is out, still no Tyrese Maxie, still no Kelly Ubre. Paul George will return from his suspension Wednesday next week, March 25th, against the Chicago Bulls. We'll see if he ends up actually playing or not. But when the Sixers play a solid team, like for example, the Denver Nuggets, they will get blown out. It's just gonna happen. And Denver had pretty much all the players, right? I think the only player they were missing that game was Peyton Watson, who is returning, I believe, today, uh, if not very, very soon here. But when they play a team that's pretty bad, right? When you look at the Sacramento Kings, when you look at the Utah Jazz, like the Kings, for example, Tamar DeRozan is their best player, and he didn't score at all in the first half. I mean, Russell Westbrook is way past his prime. I mean, you know, DeRozan ended the game with 13 points, six of 10 from the field. Westbrook 11 points, four of 10 from the field. But I mean, their best players were like Maxime Reynold, if I even said that name correct, and then like Daquan Plowden, who on the broadcast they wouldn't stop bringing up that he's from Philly in this Philly matchup between Plowden and Justin Edwards. I didn't really understand it. It's not quite the hype between a Steph Curry versus LeBron or a Wembin Yama versus a Chet Homegren, or you name some of the great rivalries in this league. I don't think anyone is, you know, anticipating the Justin Edwards versus Daquan Plowden matchup. I just I don't think anyone on Planet Earth is thinking that, but they made sure on that broadcast to keep reminding you of that. But they didn't have any other players. Utah, Keontae George is out, still no Laurie Markinon, no Walker Kessler, no use of Nurkage, no Jaron Jackson Jr. I mean, they're missing all their guys. So do I think that they're gonna win tonight? Absolutely. Because once again, when it's a team that's not trying to go anywhere, they're gonna win. Now, the only real difference, I was actually at the Portland Trailblazers game, and I thought that was solid. Now, Portland is a decent team when you have guys like Denny Abdia, Drew Holiday, Jeremy Grant, uh Donovan Klingen. Great team, but I feel like the Portland Trailblazers this year, they're they're a surprising team. It's kind of like Utah a couple of years ago when Laurie Markinen first got there, and he ended up being like a first-time All-Star, and he was even a starter that year. Actually, I believe the All-Star game was in Utah that season, so it made sense. But Portland, again, it's it's a team that you didn't expect to be as good as they were, but they're not good enough to do anything this year. Now, next year, when Damian Lillard returns, I think they'll be solid. Are they gonna be a top team in the West? Of course not, but I think they'll kind of be in that seven, eight seed range, kind of like what the Phoenix Suns are this season. But it was still a nice solid win. They I think they played great defense against Denny Avia. I mean, you know, Jeremy Grant played great late, but the Sixers did enough where they were able to get past that game. But the question is always going to be no matter what happens, no matter no matter what happens with the Sacramento Kings game or the Utah game tonight, it's gonna be when Joel and Bieber turns. Like, yes, it's super exciting that VJ Edgecombe scored 38 points in an NBA game. The last Sixers rookie to do that was Tyrese Maxie. I believe that was against the Denver Nuggets when there was only like what seven players available. This was during pandemic times. So, you know, Maxie showed up 39 points that game. It was insane. I mean, he was playing against play you he was playing with players that you probably have never heard of. Like I was looking at it before we even started recording, like Dakota Matthias or something was in the story lineup. Purdue legend. Oh, Purdue Legend, there you go. I mean, you know, but he never played in the NBA ever again um since then. Uh these these are the players now. Maxie was was it was not even close to you know the player he is now, but that was definitely a breakout game for him. But it it's great, it's great seeing that Justin Edwards is playing well lately. It's great seeing that we're getting some nice production from Quinton Grimes, but it only matters if you're doing that against a good team. I mean, you know, uh Sacramento is not a good defensive team at all. I mean, you look at some of their best players again. Russ doesn't play defense, DeRozan does not play defense. I mean, they're also a horrible three-point shooting team, you know, even back when they had Levine and Sabonis early on in the season. They're just not a good team at all. Um, but can we see them do that against, you know, one of the top teams in the league? Like on Monday, can we see them do that against the Oklahoma City Thunder? Probably not. Right? They're probably gonna get blown out, whether or not Joel Inbi returns. Um, that game in particular, we'll we'll talk about in a little bit because I think that's gonna be the most anticipated game of the season, just because we're gonna get the return of Jared McCain to South Philly. But the question is gonna be when does Joel return? Now, the the interesting part with that is they actually upgraded him before the Sacramento Kings game. He's been out obviously the last several weeks. I think he's missed 12 or 13 consecutive games since he got hurt against the Miami Heat when Khalil Ware you know gave him that oblique strain. Um but they upgraded him from out to doubtful. Now, doubtful isn't much better. I mean, you know, doubtful as it suggests, means that he's most likely not gonna play. It's usually when they upgrade him to questionable, it's okay, he's more than likely to step on the floor, right? They're never just gonna put him as active. That's just kind of how they they worked with Joel Embiid for the last two, three seasons. But in in this Utah game, they just set him as out automatically. Like they didn't put doubtful, they didn't tease Sixers fans at all. He's just out. Obviously, we don't know what's gonna happen on Monday yet. They'll probably give us an idea, if not tomorrow, then early Monday, um, because they can't wait too long to release the injury reports anymore since Adam Silver has been on top of teams a lot more this season when it goes when it goes into things like tanking or load management. Um, I don't think he's gonna play against the Thunder, Jordan. I think if anything, the earliest we're gonna see him just because this is just how Joel's been this season, is against the Chicago Bulls game. One reason being is because Paul George is eligible to return then. And also two, it's not a tough team to go against. Like he's gonna get annihilated against the Thunder, you know, when you're playing against Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, and even the other Jalen Williams is a great player, too. You know, uh, I don't even know who their center is in Chicago anymore. I mean, I think they have like Jalen Smith. I don't even know who any of their other bigs are. I think they acquired, if I'm correct, Nick Richards at the trade deadline as well. I think those are the few centers they have, but it's nothing, you know, it's nothing hard for a Joel and B to go against. I mean, do you agree that that's probably the earliest we're gonna see him? Obviously, the latest we'll see him is never, but I'm talking about the earliest.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

I would tend to agree with you. I I think that he's probably not gonna he's not playing tonight. He's not gonna play on Monday. They're gonna probably let him rest some more until Wednesday against the Bulls. And I guess I I hope we hear things possibly on Monday. Maybe he gets upgraded, doubtful, kind of then pushing towards that ability to then play on Wednesday. But it wouldn't shock me if they're just gonna put him as out again on Monday and then he'll play on Wednesday with the return of Paul George, and you know, kind of get the team back into where they were in the middle of the season when everyone was coming back from injury. Um, I do think like what you said with the Bulls, they're not they don't have that significant starting center like the Thunder does with Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, who are gonna dominate and beat in possibly uh I'm not saying they're gonna dominate him, but MB is gonna have a tougher challenge against the Thunder, and that's probably a guaranteed loss compared to the Bulls, where I think that's a a chance to win and push ourselves back up in the standings. But um, I do think that he will probably play on Wednesday, and I'd hope he'd play on Wednesday. I just hope he doesn't keep sitting out. Like we need him to get back and reintegrate into the team before playoffs. So that's that's what I'm thinking. Do you think he'll play Wednesday? He won't play Monday, he's obviously not playing tonight.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, it it's I feel like there is some hope. And last episode I was very negative about it, and I had every right to be. I don't take back anything that I said in the last episode. By the way, if you haven't checked out our previous episode, make sure to do that because I think it was a great show. But when you look at the overall standings, right? As I said, the Sixers are 38 and 32. The sixth seed right now is the Orlando Magic. They are 38 and 31. They're only half a game behind the Orlando Magic. And then when you look at the five seed, the Toronto Raptors, they're 39 and 30. So it's not, you know, it's not that far away. Now, I think that's the furthest they could go because the four seed is the Cavaliers right now. They're 43-27, they're not getting there whatsoever. That's not happening. But I there is a possibility, and I want to try to be positive a little bit more so than last show, just because it's the only way to keep, at least for me, myself sane going through the rest of the season. Now, obviously, if they continue put putting up this BS that they've been doing for the last several weeks, I'm gonna continue to call them out because that's who I am, that's what I'm gonna do uh for both myself as a fan and for the fan base in general. But if they can win enough games, especially if Joel and Bede can return on Wednesday, because as I said in our last show, I don't think they're gonna win many games. I think I said out of the 15 games that were left at the time, they were only gonna win about six of them without Joel. Now, if Joel does come back, that can get bumped up a couple. I don't know by how much, but I think they're more likely to win some of those games. They could possibly make a push. I mean, you look at today, for example, as I said, the Sixers face the Jazz, I think they'll win that game. Miami faces the Houston Rockets. Now, Miami hasn't played well as of late. Houston isn't a great team by any means this season. I'm I'm actually pretty negative about them as of recently. I mean, the their cracks are starting to show. Um, just because they don't have a point guard. I mean, Fred Van Vliet has been out the entire season. Their depth at big is pretty bad behind Alfred Shen Goon, who is not even a shooter as it is. I mean, their their backup center is Clint Capella because they lost Steven Adams for the remainder of the season as well. Um, so but I still think just because you have Kevin Durant, you have Amen Thompson, you have Alfred Shen Goon, Jabari Smith Jr. can put up some good numbers. Maybe they're able to beat Miami. And if the Sixers win, obviously they they can pass the Miami Heat there. You know, and in Atlanta, I think they're playing better as of lately, just because of the emergence of like Nikhil Alexander Walker, Jalen Johnson, and even like a Jonathan Kaminga. But they could get up to that five or six seed, and that's all you need, especially the sixth seed. Um, you know, obviously if you do that, you would end up facing the New York Knicks in the first round. But at this point, if you're the Sixers, you could go one of two ways. You can lose games, as many games as you can. I mean, the lowest you're gonna get is the 10 seed. We discussed this last episode, too. The lowest you're getting is uh is 10. You're not going to 11. Milwaukee is not gonna win enough games. And you still have a shot to get the a top pick because they have their pick is top four protected, they still have a chance to possibly add an AJ to Bonstor or a Darren Peterson or Cam Boozer, whoever else will end up in that top four. They they do have a shot to do that if they drop down to the 10 seed and lose that play-in game, or which I think you know you obviously were suggesting more, and something that I hope they end up doing is they can win enough games or they can skip the plan because the plan, I understand why it exists, it is entertaining to watch when your team isn't in it. When your team is part of the plan, it's like torture. And if it wasn't for Nico Batum a couple of years ago against the Miami Heat, I think Sixers fans would have been pulling their their hair out of their heads, like it just Batum saves Sixers fans in that playing game, but it's it's torture to watch because it turns into that March madness that that pool play, and that's not what the NBA is known for. They're known for those, you know, best of seven series. So if if they could end up getting that five or six seed, I think they're very solid. What what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

It really depends on the health of this team. Uh, and we've kind of focused on that on multiple occasions since I've done the show. I mean, yeah, seriously, this team has never been healthy. I think it's only been at one show where we talked about a team that was all together, everyone playing, and it's just it's super dependent on the health of obviously the full team, but obviously our star player, Joel Embiid. It's that's the serious point there. He has to be healthy in order for this team to move up in the standings. I think we're gonna be in the playing game. I just think just as a result of um him not playing, you're gonna drop games. You should be um we're gonna drop games we're we're supposed to drop, you know. We're not gonna beat top teams in the east or the west, whichever versa we play. We're gonna be the teams that are below us in the east and below us in the west as well. Um, that's just kind of how that the NBA is. There's there's games you're gonna win and lose. You're not gonna win everything. If you were to win everything, we'd push ourselves a higher up in the standings. That's just how things go with the back-to-backs and everything. I think we'll be in the playing, the playing games. Now, the ultimate goal would be, and I I never want to see a player are seriously injured, um, stay out for obviously a significant amount of time in the playoffs. But if we were to have to, you know, get in the playing game and then kind of force our way into this matchup against the one seed Pistons, if they're without Cade Cunningham, there's a serious chance, if all of our team is healthy, to put some serious pressure on them and possibly force a competitive series against them. I that's what I think. I think that's a possibility. I wouldn't want to play many other teams. I wouldn't want to play the Celtics, I wouldn't want to play the Knicks in the playoffs. I think both those teams are dangerous in their own right, and I think both those are the the cream of the crop in the East and will absolutely destroy us, whether we're healthy or not. If we're not healthy, it's gonna be even worse than if we are healthy, but I still I if we can kind of push ourselves into that one eight one versus eight matchup, whether however you that gets us through in the plan, if we lose the first game and then you have to go into the next round. I I'm not sure. I'm not 100% too sure on on how the plan works, but if we can get ourselves into that 1-8 matchup with the Pistons Celtics, sorry, Pistons and uh Sixers, if Cade Cunningham is not playing, I we have a serious chance of possibly, like I said, putting pressure in that series and and could cause some chaos there. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 17:19

I like that you kind of mentioned the Detroit Pistons. I mean, for those that don't know, Sean Shrania put out two days ago that Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung and he's expected to miss an extended period of time. And I even mentioned this back when the Pistons blew out the Sixers a week or two ago. Their Achilles heel is playing without Kate Kate Cunningham. The minutes that Cade is not on the floor, the Pistons are not a very good team. And that's just because when Kate is out, who is that guy that's going to score for you for you? Who's gonna be that guy to get you a bucket? And they don't really have that. I mean, the idea last season and even going into this season is that guy would have been Jaden Ivey. Now, obviously, that didn't end up working. He's not with the Bulls, the Bulls are not even really playing him much. But who is that guy now? Is it Debias Harris? Is it Duncan Robinson, Karis LeVert, Dennis Jenkins? I mean, you know, Javante Green. I mean, they have a lot of good scoring options, but none of them you can, you know, say that this guy, Asar Thompson, is your number two. Really, your number two is Jalen Durin, but Duren is not known as a scorer. He can get you 30 and 10, right? But he's gonna play hard, he's gonna be physical, he's gonna get you those boards that you need, he's gonna play elite defense alongside Isaiah Stewart as well. But he's not gonna be the guy to get you a bucket. If obviously it all, as we always say, it depends on the on the health of this team. If Embiid is back, Paul George is back, Maxie's back, Ubre's back, you have your full roster, you know. I I think the Sixers could take the Pistons without Cade Cunningham. Now, if Kate is back, I don't think that's gonna happen, no matter no matter what happens with the health of this team. If Kate is not there and Joel Embiid is not there, I also think that the Sixers will not beat the Detroit Pistons because I do not believe, and we've seen it already, that Andre Drummond and Adem Bona can match up to Stewart and Durham. It's just not gonna happen, right? This team already stinks in terms of rebounding and and protecting the rim. And when when pressure is put on these top scores right now on the team, and I say top scores and quotation marks when you're talking about, you know, VJ, who's in his rookie year, but especially when you're talking about Quentin Grimes and Justin Edwards and I don't even know who else, a campaign, you're not gonna have luck when you have those two bigs, two of the most physical bigs in the entire NBA right now, protecting the rim. So it's definitely a toss-up because it all depends on if/slash when Cade returns. Now, because Cade is gonna be out for an extended period of time, that gives the Boston Celtics a boost. I think now I I could safely say that the Boston Celtics are coming out of the east, right? We already we've talked so much on how Jalen Brown has carried this team and he's in MVP conversations, they should be in MVP conversations. You know, Jason Tatum's back. You you got great play from Derek White and Peyton Pritchard, you're gonna get Bucevic back. I mean, do you think at this point that Boston is is now going to come out of the Eastern Conference because of Cade Cunningham being out?

SPEAKER_01 20:51

I don't think it's exclusively because Cade Cunningham is out. I think they're gonna position themselves and they're gonna start to dwindle that four. I think they're four games back currently. They're gonna that's gonna start to dwindle. Um, I think you're gonna see like a drop-off in um in wins in re in the next few games for um the Pistons, but I think the Celtics are gonna continue to win. You add in, like we've talked about this in previous episodes, you add in a high-quality all-star player in Jason Tatum to this team. Uh, it's pretty much a free agent pickup. We've talked about that. Um, and then you add that into an already existing really good core that's played together for a pretty significant amount of time in terms of the NBA. All been on the team for more than a few years. They know the coach, they know the system and all that. And you add in Tatum to that, and it's just I've I've said this since Tatum came back. I think this they had they're gonna cement themselves as the number one seed in the East. So do the Sixers want to play that then? Absolutely not. They have they I will not want to ever play the Celtics in the playoffs just because that exact fear of just getting honestly sad. Sadly, and honestly, and sadly, it is. We've been destroyed every single time we played the Celtics in the playoffs. But I do think they will end up coming out of the East. Whoever they played, they're just on another level. Um, and credit to them and their organization. They um have some of the best minds in basketball, and it sucks to say that.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

It's hard to compare the last couple of years, though, because they faced the Celtics, I believe, with with the Joel and Bat era. Let me be specific. I think it's three separate times, and it's against three separate teams. I mean, the first time we faced the Celtics in the second round, that was the first full year of Ben and Joel together. So they were still figuring things out. I mean, that's when you had Dario Sarge and Robert Covington in your starting lineup. Uh, and then you look at the next time they faced them, that was in the bubble first round. Ben Simmons didn't even play. You had Sheikh Milton as your starting point guard. That was with the Kembo Walker, Boston Celtics. They got swept in that series. And then the last time, I mean, the Sixers took the lead, that was with James Harden on the team. You know, they had that 3-2 lead. They were up in game six, and then they let Jason Tatum get going in that fourth quarter. And then obviously, game seven, we know they didn't even show up at all. This time around, again, I don't know what we're gonna kind of expect. I mean, obviously, I think the last time we played the Celtics, that was the most competitive just because of those big games we got from James Hart in particular in game one, and I believe it was game four. And you know, Joel Bede had great moments. You know, I don't know, Tyrese Maxie played well in certain games, Tabias Harris played well in certain games in that series. We'll see what it is this time around. Now, I think we face the Celtics, the Sixers have no chance. It's gonna be interesting to see as we kind of get further and further along. I don't think the the Celtics are gonna end with the one seed, I think they're still gonna end with the two seed no matter what happens. Um, you know, I think they're more likely to end with the two seed than the New York Knicks, for example. But, you know, once we start getting into the playoffs, especially depending on how long it takes for KD return, I think this we're gonna see the Celtics in the NBA Finals. That's just my prediction. Um, but we'll we'll keep you posted, we'll keep giving you our thoughts on different playup matchups as we hit closer. There's only about like a week or two before we start getting into the playing, and then we can start figuring out figuring out the different type of matchups. But you know, we'll keep you imposted on that. Um, but as always, if you love Sixers game reactions and news, I do videos, multiple videos every single week. You can find me at DJ Sport Zone on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And also on those platforms, you can find clips from the show at second round syndrome. We're gonna do a couple quick topics before we end the show here. One quick topic, uh, we actually didn't talk about this pre-show, Jordan, but uh I forgot that Giannis Antecupo, they actually were trying to rule him out for the remainder of the season. Um, he's been out many times with this calf injury since even going back to the playoffs last season. This season, again, calf injuries, and he is recently out with a hyperextended knee. They want to shut him down, they want to try to get a top draft pick. Giannis doesn't want to sit. Do you think that's fair or foul on Giannis?

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Hmm, that's a good point. I don't know. Hmm. I think it's I think it's pretty foul on Giannis, but at the same time, doesn't he want to get traded as well in the offseason? Or is he like, does he want to stay there?

SPEAKER_00 25:21

I don't even know. This is the confusing thing at this point. We could date it back to last offseason when there were conversations that weren't confirmed, but they were looking to trade him to the Knicks, right? They they had a trade that was possibly set up and it didn't go through. But Giannis has never officially requested a trade, he was never clear about it. Anytime he's spoken to the media, he's basically shut that down because he didn't want to look like the bad guy. And kind of after the many trade talks we've had, and it didn't actually turn into anything, it kind of seemed to me like at that point Giannis didn't want to leave and the Bucs didn't want to move on from Giannis. Now, you could look at it from many different angles, Jordan. Number one, I don't know, other than like I understand that Giannis is a competitive player, he's easily a top three player in the world. Like if you had to rank your top three, top five, Giannis is gonna be on that list. I mean, you have guys like Shay and Jokic on the list, but Giannis is pretty much right after those two. Maybe you throw Wemby into the mix as well. But Giannis is still a top player in this league. The Bucks are not going anywhere this year. I mean, right now they are 20 and 41. They're what about eight games from the plane at this point? There's no way that they're gonna make the plan when you have guys next to him like Miles Turner, Ryan Rollins, Kyle Kuzma. It's just not gonna happen. They're not good enough. And even when Giannis returned, they still weren't winning games. I mean, I think they won maybe one or two games since he returned, but obviously now he's out again. Giannis is, I think he's 31 years old now, and he's already going through all these injuries. Him playing does nothing. I mean, his trade value, if anything, will I think decrease if he plays. Because if he continues to get injured, teams are gonna get scared to trade for a guy that's on a massive contract. Now, it is all gonna depend on this offseason if he signs that extension. Because I I saw a report that uh I think it was the owner said if Giannis signs the extension, obviously he stays. If he doesn't, they're gonna look at moving him, which makes sense. I don't understand though, if you're the Bucs, why you would want to sign Giannis to a huge extension. I think that just holds you back as a franchise. Not because Giannis is a bad player, but because Giannis is one of the best players and you can't build, you know, around that because Giannis is gonna win you games and you need to lose games and get top picks in the draft over these next two, three, four seasons. So I understand, but I think at this point the organization needs to put their foot down because Giannis is never gonna say, okay, I'll sit back. I don't think he's ever believed in load management before, and and I don't think he'll ever believe in load management, and he shouldn't, because that's just not who he is. He's a competitor, he's always gonna compete, but the Bucs need to put their foot down and say, you are sitting. We need to lose games, we need to get a top draft pick, which obviously, you know, I know people don't like hearing that. I know the tanking discussion has been a hot topic in the last several weeks, couple months. But the Bucs have to. You're not gonna be able to build around Giannis anymore. There's just no point. And if you're Giannis, I understand you don't want to be the bad guy. And at this point, I just think it's very tiresome where nobody's gonna think you're the bad guy at this point. You you just need to break it off, right? If you end up on the Lakers and you win a chip with Luka Doncic, nobody's gonna be mad at you for it. You you were in Milwaukee for, I mean, how many years has he been in Milwaukee? It has to be about 10 seasons at this point. I mean, he's been in Milwaukee for a long, long time. He won them a championship, the first championship since Kareem did it. And, you know, he even stayed years after that. It wasn't just like a let me win a championship and then go to the Lakers, kind of like what Kareem did. Um, which he could have left even before then, and he didn't. But Giannis stayed, he even, hey, won them an NBA Cup, if that means anything. I mean, he he stayed with them for a long, long time. One MVPs, one defensive player of the year. He's done so much with them. And I think at this point, with the back half of Giannis's career, he should move on. And the Bucs should want that. So I think both are in the wrong here, but I think at this point the organization needs to put their foot down and say, Giannis, we understand, but at this point, it's not up to you. This is what's gonna happen. And this offseason, if you want to sign an extension, we would love to have you. If you don't, it's time to move on. So, I mean, uh, those are at least my thoughts on on this Giannis situation.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

No, I agree. I think you come from a pretty uh fair perspective there for um the team and the player. I just I I would tend to agree with what you said. Just if Giannis wants to stay, um then I I still think anyway, he should be sat out the rest of the season. They're not playing for anything. You you mentioned that there's no chance at play in. I mean, there is technically based on the management. But you would need a crazy switch of uh in terms of the teams above them losing everything and and them winning everything, but that probably won't happen. Um, I do think Giannis should probably sit the rest of the season, um, just for his health perspective. I know he's had these injuries recently, and it's just like it's kind of affected him and it and his play. Obviously, when he's back in and in good fitness, he's one of the best players in the world. Um, so I think they should protect the asset here and you know, sit him down, tell him rest out the rest the rest season. I know he might not want to as a player and a professional, but they I think both sides need to come to an agreement here. And I think for the best thing to protect the asset, at least from the team perspective, would be to sit him down for last season and then reassess in the offseason. Now, for the fans in Milwaukee, it's gonna suck because there's a chance you'll never see him play in a Milwaukee Bucks jersey again by the time next season starts up, because he could be traded in the offseason. Um, but that's just the business of basketball, and these things happen and it's it sucks. But I I think for from the Bucs perspective, you're gonna have to lock him down and sit him out the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

I mean, it's not like Giannis is gonna be forced away from the fan base, kind of like you know, obviously Luca was pulled from the Mavs fan base well before they were ready to move on. I mean, when Dirk retired, it was time to move on and pass the torch to Luca. Now, the torch is now passed to Cooper Flag, but it wasn't supposed to be that way. Um, I I think Bucks fans, and obviously I'm not one, so I I can't speak for that. I mean, any Bucks fans, make sure to let us know in in the YouTube comments kind of what your overall feelings are on Giannis moving on from Milwaukee, what what your opinion would be on that. But you also gotta look out for any potential major injuries that could come from a a calf strain, because typically Achilles injuries come from that, and that's the last thing you want is for Giannis to push it harder than it needs to be. I mean, like Tyrese Halliburton did that, he was already hurt and he put himself back out there. Now, there's a difference because his team ended up in the NBA finals. He was gonna do whatever he could to be out there and help his team win, which he almost did. I mean, if that Achilles tier didn't happen, they they almost I think they would have beaten the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, this season with the Bucs, there's literally nothing to compete for. Nothing. So I understand, you know, what why Giannis wants to be out there, but again, I I think the Bucs need to look out for the best interest of both Giannis's health, but obviously the team comes first, and then they'll kind of figure out what happens in the offseason. So again, it's gonna be one of those things that we're gonna have to look out for. They're never gonna agree. I just think that's gonna be what's gonna happen with the two. I mean, the agreement is gonna come when the extension is offered to Giannis, right? They're either either gonna agree on signing it or they're gonna agree on moving on, and that's why this offseason is very critical for not just the Milwaukee Bucks, not just for Giannis onto Takumpo, but also for the entire NBA, because just like the talk was all about Giannis during the trade deadline, the talk is gonna be around Giannis unless he signs that extension, right? And the other topic that is a big talk in the NBA right now is NBA expansion. Now, we've heard so much about expansion over the last couple of seasons, but I think it's actually gonna happen now, Jordan. Um, the the owners are gonna meet up and kind of they're gonna put in a vote. Basically, the vote is to look at making a vote. It's like the vote before the vote of whether or not this is going to be something that's considered. Now, there's a couple things to look at in terms of expansion teams. It looks like they are going to add two new teams. One of them is looking to be in Las Vegas, the other one is looking to be in Seattle to hopefully bring back the Seattle Supersonics. Now, each of those teams, they're looking at like a seven to ten billion dollar purchase for each of those franchises. The question to you, Jordan, is do those two locations make sense? Do you think expansion is gonna happen? We've also heard many past and present NBA players, like Draymond Green specifically, say that there's not enough talent in the NBA to expand, which I don't know if I necessarily agree with. What are your thoughts on kind of overall expansion?

SPEAKER_01 35:09

I think overall expansion is good. I would love to see them back in Seattle from a historic perspective perspective to have like the Supersonics name, that would be amazing because that team of the Supersonics, the franchise has so much history that when they moved to OKC, obviously they continued it on. But um, that city is passionate about their sports teams and they desperately would love to have an NBA team back. They had it with the they have it with the storm now and WNBA, they have an arena already ready for them. Um, it's just about getting getting them in there and getting it going. They've added the Kraken recently to it, the NHL. So um that city is craving an NBA team. Um, obviously, for historical purposes, that I would like for them to go with the Supersonic's name and keep that franchise going. But in terms of Vegas, obviously, it seems like every single league is pushing to start up a new franchise in Vegas or move a franchise in terms of the A's and in baseball, which I personally disagree with, and I think that's a terrible decision from their owner. But obviously, I'm not really I don't have too much of a opinion. I I can make an opinion on that. I can't really uh disuade anyone or persuade anyone, but um yeah, I think Vegas from a financial perspective, the money's there. It's incredibly every single league's going there. The Raiders move there, the Golden Knights now the franchise there, the hockey team. The NBA was gonna be there eventually, and I think they're pushing for it now. Um, with sports betting taking like a huge, huge rise in this country. Obviously, that's the capital of the world, capital of the United States for betting and and uh gambling and stuff. So they'll they already have an arena built there. It's just as simple as you know getting the ownership group, who's gonna spend the money to buy the buy the expansion team, because that's an extremely expensive thing, and that gets dispersed to all the other owners, obviously. That's how these things work, but um whichever owner comes in and and or whichever group of owners comes in to grab that team and uh start up, it'll be highly lucrative for the league itself. And um I think it's a good thing. I think expansion is a good thing, good thing, brings more people into the sport. Um, I don't agree with that idea from Draymond, who said that there's less, there's not as much talent in the league. I don't agree with that. I think if there's more teams in the league, there's more opportunities for players to shine and grow and develop at starting positions. Uh, I think a lot of people and players get kind of stuck in the the slog of whether that's like going through the G League and getting up there. Like the I would like to see more of like a pathway from college and going through the G League than up the ranks. Um, obviously that's just kind of how things are. I I would like to see more players in the league, and I think as if you add two more teams, you add more roster spots and more opportunities for players to shine. So I'm all for it. Like I said, I like expansion a lot. I like expansion in any league possible. Obviously, some are more established than others, but I think the NBA needs these two teams, and I think those two cities that they've picked so far are pretty solid choices.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

I think there's easily enough talent, more than enough talent in the NBA. How many times do we see a role player or you know, maybe that second or third option move to their own team, become a superstar, or even just an all-star? I mean, we saw that with Jalen Brunson going from the Dallas Mavericks to the New York Knicks, having his own team when if you told people years before that he would be a star, a top 15-20 player in the league, people probably would have laughed at you, right? We saw Tyrese Halliburton go from the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers and almost lead his team to their first NBA championship. We see this all the time where players blossom. We see Laurie Marking going to the Utah Jets. We see Denny Avdia going from the Wizards to the Blazers. We see this all the time. I mean, we're seeing this right now with Jared McCain, and we'll see what happens when he when he comes to Philly on Monday. But there is more than enough talent. Like, what if uh an Austin Reeves moves to his own NBA team? You don't think he could possibly blossom into a top player in this league? Maybe, right? There are there are so many players that we're probably not even thinking of. Maybe like a Jonathan Kaminga. I don't know. But in terms of those two teams, like Vegas, it's 1000% gonna happen. I would be shocked if Vegas didn't end up with an NBA team. As you said, there are so many teams that are there right now, especially when you're talking about the Raiders and you know, uh, the the A's moving, the Golden Knights, they have the WNBA team there. I think it is a huge opportunity, especially from a financial standpoint, when you could put things like casinos in the arena to drag, you know, uh fans in there as like a tourist attraction of hey, hey, you could play at the casinos, or hey, you can, you know, watch the NBA game, right? I mean, I saw a clip of like a fancy restaurant in the Washington Wizards arena coming up here, which that I think is stupid. But when you're talking about, you know, uh a location that's known for gambling, why not? I mean, I just think that makes total sense, and you you'll get a fan base easily for that. Seattle, as you said, for a historical perspective, I think it makes a ton of sense. But at the same time, is there gonna be an investor that wants to pay seven to ten billion dollars for a team in Seattle? I mean, we just saw the Dallas Mavericks sell for what three billion dollars. I mean, you know, the Lakers sold for 10, but they're the Lakers, right? They're the most historic franchise in NBA history, unless maybe you're talking about the Boston Celtics in there. Um, so I think it makes total sense. Now, if it wasn't Seattle, I mean there there's a couple other ones that have been talked about. I know, like Stephen A. Smith has brought up Nashville. I don't love that, for example, just because you already have a team in Memphis and Memphis can block a team entering in Tennessee like a Nashville. So I think that makes zero sense unless Memphis gets relocated, which maybe that happens. Other teams, I mean, um, maybe they add another team in Canada, maybe they add Vancouver. One team that I wanted to bring up to you, Jordan, that I think would be interesting. And I'm surprised nobody has really brought this up. But what about a team in Pittsburgh? Right? Like Pittsburgh, and as much as like Philadelphia sports fans hate Pittsburgh teams, whether you talk about the Pirates or the Steelers or in particular, like Flyers fans, we we hate the Penguins. Why isn't there an NBA team, you know, in Pittsburgh? Like basically, when you look at Pennsylvania as a state, like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, I know they're not really, but they they feel like two different states. Like you're either from the Pittsburgh side of Pennsylvania or you're from the Philadelphia side of Pennsylvania. So, like for me, I think it would be exciting, especially if you could put, you know, that Pittsburgh team in the Eastern Conference or in the same division as the 76ers. I think that'd be like a fun matchup between a Sixers team and a Pittsburgh team. What are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 42:22

I would agree. And then we come back to the expansion costs that it's gonna cost someone. I does someone really want to spend seven to ten billion dollars to put a team in Pittsburgh or someone or some group of investors or people. Maybe you get the Steelers owners. I don't know. They're it's a family thing. They possibly could get enough people in the Pittsburgh area to fund this team. It's possible. They have an arena, they have a passionate Penguins fan base. I would guarantee that there would be fans there that would be willing to support them. Uh, right now it's just Pitt Panthers basketball that runs that that city in terms of terms of basketball. Um I I don't know. I I really think in terms of you know where because the people who are gonna go in and buy these expansions, they're coming from a business perspective. You buy a team to obviously get revenue out of it and get the revenue streams that the NBA provides, whether it's through TV money or all these different things, they'll get they get they'll get their money through that. Does an investor want to put this much money into this into a team, which Pittsburgh is not a big market? You look at LA, you said LA, you mentioned LA. LA is being sold for$10 billion. That is a completely fair price. They are one of the biggest markets in in the country in terms of like TV viewership. They have probably one of the most lucrative uh local sports broadcasting deals, probably uh up there with the Dodgers. The Dodgers and the Lakers, I would say, have two of the most expensive like sports property deals for like local media. Um, Pittsburgh is not gonna have that. I know the Pirates are. Struggle with getting that. And the Penguins have a more of a passionate famous than the Pirates because the Pirates are considered consider poverty in MLB, just based on you know recent history. But I think Pittsburgh is going to struggle if they were to get a team in terms of you know generating revenue like other teams around them. Obviously, they're gonna have a tough time competing against Philadelphia, bigger market, New York, way bigger market, DC, bigger market, Boston, bigger market. They're gonna be in that region too, in terms of just these how these things work. Now, I think they could compete against a Cleveland team. I think they'd be on a relatively similar standing in terms of the size of market and things like that. But I I do like your thinking. I think that would be an interesting choice uh if the NBA were to go there, but I would not expect to be high up on their list.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Plus, I think they've had they've attracted great talent in Pittsburgh. I mean, you look at the NFL, you look at Ben Rothesburger, for example. Obviously, they have Aaron Rodgers now, who obviously isn't the player he once was years ago, but that's still a big name. You know, the NHL, Sidney Crosby's looked at one of the top players in the entire league, right? I mean, they they have so much talent that they could use that to bring, you know, maybe a top player or so into the city of Pittsburgh. Now, I think no matter what city you recommend, the cost is gonna be a problem. I even saw a rumor that LeBron's camp may have pulled out of the Las Vegas interest of owning the team there. I don't know. It's it's gonna be very interesting to see. I think expansion needs to happen. I don't know one thing that will also be interesting about that is we're gonna have a team moving from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. The three teams that I saw would be either Minnesota, it would be Memphis or New Orleans. I personally would like to see Minnesota because that gives like Anthony Edwards, for example, uh a better chance to get a title because the East has just been a way easier conference to compete in than the West for many, many years. I don't think adding Memphis or New Orleans in there is gonna make it a more interesting conference. And I also think Minnesota is a lot closer to some of the teams in its region. So I think Minnesota makes the most sense. Do you agree with that, or do you think it would be better to see Memphis or New Orleans in the Eastern Conference?

SPEAKER_01 46:15

The Timbergolves make sense. It's a traveling partner for the the Bucks and the Bulls as well. I think that would at least like bring them closer in terms of there is that regional rivalry there between like the state of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and and Illinois. So uh that would be a that would be one I would say. But also I just think on just general like geography, it wouldn't surprise me if they were to move the Grizzlies over just based on like the proximity of how close these teams are to each other. Personally, I would say New Orleans would be that team that would probably still be stuck in the West.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Yeah, I mean again, it will be interesting to see if we get, you know, what what team or teams move over to the Eastern Conference. We're definitely gonna kind of give our thoughts as we find out more information. We're probably not gonna find out much more about it until the offseason happens, when they they have those discussions, when they put that vote in to kind of discuss this further. But I'm definitely excited. I mean, obviously, we got so much going on in the NBA going into the playoffs. The Sixers, they only got a couple games left. I'm especially looking forward to Monday's game when Jared McCain returns back to the city of brotherly love. I think Sixers fans are gonna let Daryl Morey, Nick Nurse, Josh Harris hear it when McCain scores 25 points over our Philadelphia 76ers. I think he's gonna have a mega game. I don't know what he's gonna say, how he's gonna react, but I think he's gonna put up a big shot and scream something about being sold high or something like that. It's gonna be a fun matchup, but we're definitely gonna react to that game and all the other games that are coming up. Thank you so much for listening. If you liked it, make sure to hit that like button. Get us up to a hundred likes, even more. Why not a billion likes? Why not? You can listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, and Amazon on DJ Sports Code. We got Jordan David here, and as always, we will see you next time.