REPORT: Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to stay in the East — could the Toronto Raptors be in the mix?

REPORT: Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to stay in the East — could the Toronto Raptors be in the mix?

on your Thursday episode of Locked on Raptors. Of course, we don’t talk about Giannis on this podcast because there’s no way he’s going to end up on the Raptors. Unless, of course, there’s news about him maybe ending up on the Raptors. You are Locked on Raptors, your daily Toronto Raptors podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hey, what’s going on and welcome to another episode of Locked On Raptors, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. It is Thursday, May the 15th, and I am your host, Sean Whipley. I’ve been covering the Toronto Raptors now for 11 seasons on various platforms. You can find all my work over on Blue Sky. You can also find the show on Instagram, and you can join us over on the Locked On Raptors Discord server, link in the description of the podcast, free to join as always. And on the Instagram side of things, I’m trying to be better at like, you know, promoting myself and stuff. You’ll find more clips over there. Please go follow the account. Like the clips, share them around. Let’s get that algo going, baby. Thanks in advance. Today’s show, we’re digging into uh some smell tests, various reports. Of course, it’s summertime. It’s the off season. There’s all kinds of subtrafuge and stuff flying around. The combine is going on. The whole league is in Chicago. And so we’re going to dig into a couple of reports from yesterday from various levels of insider and just sniff them a little bit, see how real or not real they may be. We’re also going to talk a little about the prospect of a Pascal Seak emoji and an OB conference finals, which is going to leave us feeling all kinds of emotions. And we’re going to do it all, of course, with our emotions correspondent. It’s Katie Hindel. Katie, how the hell are you? I’m doing really well, Sean. It’s nice to be back. Actually, you know, I will say coming back to Canada from Europe, you are like, “This place is a dump.” It is still nice to be back. Uh, summer is here. The trees just like busted out over the last couple days. It’s nice. Trees busted out just like uh everyone’s calves are because as you have declared with your little lower third on the screen if you’re watching on YouTube, shorts are in season. Yeah. Bust your get your shorts out. You know, take what pleasure you can. Even if it’s a little bit chilly like today. I I’m wearing shorts. Get some sun on them gams. Uh G that’s is that are gams legs? I always confuse that. Yeah. So get some sun on them gams. That’s uh the the party line of today’s podcast. All right Katie, we’re going to get into a report from Mark Stein regarding Messiah Jiri and the Atlanta Hawks, which is pretty funny. We’re also going to talk about that OGC AAM stuff later on, but let’s start with the big one. Of course, uh I’ve made a pledge to not really talk about Giannis on this podcast because uh it doesn’t feel terribly likely that the Raptors actually end up there. But of course, we got to give the people what they want. And there was at least a report yesterday circulating around that everyone was talking about and making reaction videos to, so we got to play the game. Giannis apparently wants to stay in the Eastern Conference. This comes from Scoop B, a guy who does report things. wouldn’t necessarily say those things end up always being true and accurate. It certainly doesn’t qualify as like one of the four to five inner circle insiders who are to be trusted when they post stuff immediately. Uh but he’s not a total nobody. He’s, you know, got some experience in radio, NBA broadcast production, things like that. So, he’s, you know, I’m assuming there are some actual sources going on here because I don’t think people in the biz just make stuff up. Uh the premise of his article is essentially that Giannis is his preference would be to stay in the Eastern Conference with the Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets being named as the two teams that are kind of zeroing in as targets based on the ability to kind of be in a big market that can attract free agents, the opportunity to have some cache in terms of team building decisions and things like that and you know I guess sort of like business interests out east as well. Uh, so Katie, get the sniffer going. Uh, what do you make of this one? Do you think there is anything to the idea that Giannis might want to stay east? I’ll say like looking at the Western Conference, the gauntlet that it is as like a work smart not hard guy that I am. I understand like this is like wanting to willingly go out west feels like the equivalent of asking your landlord to raise your own rent because you’re on that grind. Um, you know, to each their own. But I could totally understand if Yiannis wanted to stay east for just the competitive reasons alone. Competitive reasons. And I think like the optics of star power, you know, to your point, you’ve got a much better chance of staying a bonafide star if you’re staying in the east. Um the west is pretty clogged with them. Though a lot of them, I think in the west are kind of aging out of the picture. Uh which is something that I think Giannis is also looking at too, right? Like when you see obviously Dame got hurt, but when you still look at the the the impactfulness of stars in these playoffs, they haven’t really been the reason why the the teams that we’re now seeing, you know, in the Wolves case like make it into the conference finals and in the East like whichever of these teams does. It’s not because they’ve got a Giannis size star. So that’s quite interesting to me. So I think his longevity I’ll just say I think his longevity stays intact if he stays in the East. Sure. Um, and then you know they are like the the simplest the simplest uh answer the simplest explanation is usually true. I I only realized about 10 minutes before we started recording that they that he and Bam Adabio share an agent. I’m like oh yes okay now that east specifically Miami specifically no Florida state income tax. Uh, Giannis is a little bit cheap. So, all these things combined, I’m like, Miami makes sense. I know you’ve got your qualms with that, but I do think, yeah, he’s like made his mark in the East. It makes a lot of sense to me to stay. Why go into a Western Conference where you’re basically going to have to almost like renegotiate your dynamics and your poll as a star and like what role you’re going to have to play on any of these like big hitting teams. Even a team like the Rockets, I feel like he still have to sort of renegotiate what kind of player he is. And I don’t think he’s at a stage in his career where he really wants to do that. Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, the article itself, I mean, you know, there are reasons to be skeptical as there is with any article that gets brought out these days with uh you know, any kind of subtrafuge or rumor because that’s just how the operation works. This is the transactional transaction industrial complex at at full tilt. Um, but I think the the concept of him wanting to stay in the East does pass the smell test a little bit to me where it kind of loses me is it still doesn’t change the fact that the Raptors don’t really have a package of stuff that would be I think on par with what a team like the Rockets or the Spurs could offer up. And I guess it just comes down to how much does Milwaukee want to take care of their dude after 12 years of you know him being the face of the franchise. like do they care about sending him where he wants to go? Uh and then if that’s the case and it is he wants to go somewhere in the east, do the Raptors have enough to compete with the Brooklyn Nets when it comes to just like pure pick equity. I think the big reason why I’ve just like kind of ruled the Raptors out of any bidding war unless he just handpicks the Raptors and the Bucks say, “Okay, buddy, we’ll make it happen because we love you.” I I think it’s just because the Raptors picks are all all the picks they have. And if you’re trading your own picks to Y to the team that has Giannis and then employing Giannis, like the Bucks, they’re not standing to gain a whole lot from that because they’ve seen what having Giannis on your team means. It means you’re drafting very low and they also don’t have their own picks to tank with. And so the Nets have picks from other teams. You know, they have their own picks as well. And like I think they’d have a less sort of clear pathway to contention if they got Giannis and the Raptors would just because the rest of the roster is pretty bare. And so, you know, how does that change how the Bucks feel about those picks? They have, I think, a Sixers pick in there as well, which might be a nice, you know, juicy thing to throw in. Like, it’s it’s just tough, I think, to find like a way for the Raptors to come out on top of any bidding war, whether it’s with teams in the West or just teams out east. Um, the Miami thing is interesting. They always seem to get the star that they want. I don’t think they have nearly enough stuff to trade and, you know, they’re out picks. They What are they going to throw in Tyler Hero? Like, is that what the Bucks are restarting their franchise with? Um, I guess go further into the heat thought for you, Katie, because it does like it would be an extremely heat thing to do, but I I just I don’t quite see the avenue to it happening despite like you mentioned the the shared agents between BAM and and Giannis, which by the way will come up when we talk about the Atlanta Hawks in just a second as well. Well, first I realize I didn’t mention the Raptors at all on our Raptors podcast. uh in terms of being in the running. I mean, we all know that like this is an area that young um rather Messiah Jiri has kind of like he’s worked this avenue for seasons now of rather obsessive one would argue. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean to be honest like I’m kind of for that like he also does like as a as like a as a as a GM he also does he pulls a lot of like strings behind the curtain but I’m also for like when front offices just like put their cards on the table and you want to shoot your shot in a very open way like sometimes it’s okay to be despo like the league moves really fast and sometimes like stars like stars like to be wooed. Yeah. And they like to be wooed in public. Right. Mhm. Anyway, um anyway, I’m just going to pull up some of those videos of Greek fans cheering on Giannis in Toronto. Uh yeah, look, like other than the tax thing, speaking of someone who just who did their taxes and is now a libertarian for the next month because of that. Uh anyway, that obviously is not as sweet as some place like Florida, but there’s a lot of other reasons. Sure. You know, from like the jokingly like, well, he’s lived in Milwaukee and he understands what winter’s like to the more I think um honestly like prevalent and pressing things. You could get into the politics of it all right now, like the feel of the states versus, you know, a place like Toronto and Canada. Mhm. Anyway, and I don’t know, the team is kind of equipped to other than what they’d have to give up, I guess, is is equipped to play to have someone like that quite easily slotted in. Anyway, yes, to the Miami point, Miami and Pat Riley specifically are very used to getting what they want. I think there’s a reason they were very, you know, the season was sort of a write-off. Yeah, sure, they made the play and it was really not um that was sort of by fluke, I think. Um, I think there’s a reason they didn’t really make any moves and they let the Jimmy Butler uh saga unfold as long as it did. There was no urgency to really get that done other than Jimmy landing on a team for what he hoped would be playoff contention. Uh, and I think it’s because they sort of saw the cards of this offseason, which is going to be a tricky one because of the the final like CPA, you know, like this is a bad se this is a bad off seasonason for free agents. Like there’s a lot to be said for a team that might want to make some major moves with someone like Giannis becoming suddenly available because he’s unhappy. Um they have a lot more to woo someone with. Yes. I don’t know who they’d give up. Just Tyler Hero seems like a kind of a the Bucks. I don’t know. One Tyler Hero does not make. So there have to be I think some other guys in consideration. Would that be like a Tyler Herro and a Himeme Hackas? That’s still so not enough if it wasn’t enough game. I mean I think what’s going to be actually interesting with this and this is a little bit of an aside but I’ll go through it quickly is just like this this sense that we touched on before this like valuation of superstars and sort of where they’re at. And this is going to be a really interesting barometer for guys in um Giannis’s sort of generational class I think to like their pull versus a pull of like the nextgen guys like a sha just Alexander not to he’s not going anywhere. I just mean like in terms of you know next contract sort of thing. So I’m actually quite curious about that because he’d have an opportunity to sort of dictate what that is. Yeah, because Giannis is in a is in a position of of power for sure, I think, because of who he is. But like that experiment really failed in Milwaukee with Dame. And Dame’s going to be out at least a season probably. Um Dame is really the one that gets the short end of the stick in this entire thing. Yeah. Which I like I feel quite bad for Dame. Um but there’s something that we haven’t really touched on. I think you know we’ve like talked around it, reported around it. Um, but I don’t think it’s worked. And I don’t know if that’s because of personalities or just like the way that they play. A combination of both most likely. But there’s some real I think gloominess and unhappiness there, which is I think the only reason he’s entertaining this. This doesn’t feel to me like a Giannis thing of like I’m going to dangle this so the team will give my the Bucks will give me this. Yeah. And I think the Bucks front office feels that too. I think there’s only so far you can kind of extend somebody uh even if they are Giannis. Mhm. But yeah, Milwauke I mean not Milwaukee, Miami to me just kind of feels like that gravitational they still have that pull to stars in this in this specific uh era or of their career. And I think like to your point of this being a pretty good test case of like how teams view superstars of this age bracket now and like the changing CBA like yeah there’s every possibility that you know we all think that there should be an immense bidding war for Giannis and that everyone should be putting all of their cards on the table because it’s freaking Giannis. Of course you do that, but we have seen teams get burned by doing that in recent years. And so maybe that does kind of tamp down the market and maybe that’s where the Raptors again, you know, to bring it back. Like maybe that’s where they kind of sneak their way in here and end up getting Giannis for something much less than you would think. I still think there’s other teams that are going to be able to still beat them out even if it is like a dim down market. But certainly uh we’ll we’ll keep talking about Giannis on the podcast. Okay. Uh, as much as I I think it’s still far-fetched, we’ll we’ll still I mean, we got a whole off season of pods to do. I guess reminiscent of the Kawaii stuff of the Kawaii situation. Not in terms of like how you know things haven’t of course fallen that far between Giannis and the Bucks as they did between Kawaii and the Spurs, but it does feel like the sort of ripe opportunity that Yugiri is very good at identifying. However, I know we’re going to talk about what’s up with Eugiri. So, yeah. Well, let’s get to that here, Katie. We’ve run a little long, but that’s okay because Giannis talk is what we’re here for, baby. This is a Giannis podcast now. Uh, we’ll come back on the other side and we will talk about the Mark Stein report regarding the Atlanta Hawks and their interest in Messiah Jiri. I would also love a million dollars. Does that mean I’m getting it? Probably not. We’ll get into that coming up in just one sec. Today’s show is brought to you by friends over at Wayfair. The days are getting longer. It’s short season of course as officially declared by Katie Hindel and people are spending more time outside in their outdoor spaces means it’s a perfect time to refresh your outdoor space and you can do that with Wayfair. Whether you got a big backyard, small balcony, whatever it might be, Wayfair has everything you need to make it more feel more like you and make your outside time relaxing and enjoyable all summer long. Wayfair’s massive selection of outdoor essentials makes it easy to transform any space into your ideal summer setup. From comfy conversation sets to sleek dining tables and outdoor decor, they’ve got it all and at prices that fit your budget. I love sitting outside. I love to take calls outside. My favorite thing to do in the summertime, post up under umbrella, an umbrella, maybe get some, you know, nice a nice bowl of like fresh cold fruit that I eat while I sit and do conference calls on my outdoor couch. It’s a beautiful thing. 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He’s not really mentioned all that much in this report from Mark Stein. It is essentially the Atlanta Hawks are interested in trying to hire Toronto’s Messiah away. Uh, this is Messiah’s CV. He’s done all this stuff. And also that they’re interested in these other guys. I I don’t feel like this one has a whole lot of smoke to it, Katie. Um, not just because, you know, there’s no mention in there of like Messiah’s contract situation in Toronto or any potential discontent. In fact, there’s just quotes from Messiah about how he’s uh stoked to try to win again in Toronto and how he’s stoked to pick ninth in the draft and all of this stuff. Um, there’s a lot more talk in there about other potential candidates, including uh, as you mentioned, Giannis and Bam Adobio agent Alex Seratis who is apparently in the running here. Uh to me, Katie, this feels like some bluster from a franchise that has no sauce. Of course, uh their owner, Tony Wrestler, very very much up in people’s business. A very hands-on owner. That makes it uh you know, not so pleasant for those making the decisions on the team. His son, Nick Wrestler, is very much in control and has a lot of sway over personnel and player decisions as well. That does not feel like a Messiah jury landing spot to me. Katie, does this one pass a smell test for you at all? You know, I would I realize I I can text someone like now and find out about this. Get in that source. You got Okay, get test your reporting. I’m not built to be an insider. Like, I love the gossip, but it’s like, no, I’m not built to be I don’t need to report on it. I just need to react to it and post, you know, sometimes to like know and then be like, oh, it was true. Okay. Anyway, um what I will say is I think I think I don’t know if it’s like unhappiness and I don’t want to like report on other people’s feelings or whatever, but I think there’s some it’s fair to say there’s some friction and I think that’s known between new ownership specifically of the Rogers ilk. Uh and who does Rogers not have friction with? Am I right? Yeah. You ever seen your phone bill? That’s friction, baby. You ever switch to the only other provider because of that one provider? Do you know? And then switch back two years later because the other one is leaving you high and dry. Literally been there. We love living in Canada. Uh carry on. There’s I think there’s I’m here that the telecoms are great. Yeah, we we play for big telecom. I think there’s truth to that. Uh however I don’t think that it has infiltrated the way Messiah makes decisions and I think the most important to thing to him has always been the freedom and autonomy to make decisions for the team without having a meddling ownership group you know sort of looking over his shoulder. Larry Tanibon let him do that. It does seem at least thus far that the new ownership board is letting him also do that. So I think that’s an important thing to look at. Um and then the other thing about a report like this is like yeah what other team any team that’s looking for you know which is a lot of front offices are in a bit of chaos mode uh would all be like considering I’m doing quotes for people not watching considering Msiairi you know like you would consider stability if you were in an unstable relationship you would be thinking about it all the time so I think that’s probably where the truth ends. It was very This is You’re right. This is where I learned about Bam and Jana sharing an agent. The idea of having a player agent like they don’t really know what they’re doing if that’s how extreme they are. Like we’re going to let a player agent be in charge. No, nothing against player agents, but Bob Myers for a hot second there. Yeah, sure. Yeah, there sometimes you take Steph Curry maybe. I don’t remember when he started, but yes. But I think there has to be a certain bedrock of um consistency and proof in a franchise and the Hawks don’t have that and haven’t had that for quite a while. Like bless you Quinn Snyder, but they they don’t really got they don’t have a lot of like a plan going for them, right? And I think that’s been pretty clear. I know that can be quite enticing to a potential like GM to to swoop in and be like, I can fix them, but I also think there’s a big reality check involved. So I would say take this at just the extreme literal face value. You know, as I said, like any team would consider someone like Messiah Jiri. Yeah. And that’s where it ends. Yeah. Like I said before, I’d like a million dollars in a better public transit system. Does not mean I’m just going to get it because I want it. Like Yeah. Great. Report that away if you want. It means nothing. Um Yeah. And I mean to your point like yeah maybe Ed Rogers and Messiah have buted heads over the years. It seems like maybe things have smoothed over a little bit over the last year or so. There’s been less noise um as you know the team is kind of seemingly right at itself when it comes to front office decisions and seems to be heading in like a clear direction which is nice. Um, but if like if you think Messiah and Ed Rogers have a tough relationship, like imagine that dynamic but without a boardroom involved and like another fail son involved. Like it’s just like that does not seem to be the kind of environment Messiah is going to be seeking out. Like I’ve always thought that if Messiah’s going on to a different job, it’s probably, you know, a kind of a higher level job, honestly. Maybe it’s like running the bal or it’s uh you know kind of investing further in Giants of Africa running for political office or something like that. I don’t think he’ll actually do that. I think he likes hoops too much to do that um as he kind of outlined at his end of season presser but like I don’t think it’s going to be for some rinky ding franchise like the Atlanta Hawks who yeah I get it. They’re in a big market but also they’re the Atlanta Hawks. Have you seen their last 30 years of track record? Like what are we talking about here? Um it’s akin to like when the Wizards were like ah the Raptors won the championship. We’d love to sign that guy away. Yeah, man. Cool. Great. Awesome. Keep on dreaming big, man. Um, yeah. And look, Messiah’s contract situation, I think it’s up at the end of next year. He very well could be going somewhere else. It could be coming to an end. There’s no doubt about it. That’s always a possibility when a guy’s been around for this long and the team has not had a ton of success over the last 5 years or so. But I do think that there’s a lot of, you know, like this. I mean, if you kind of compare it over to the baseball side of things, which Ed Rogers obviously has a big hand in as well. I mean, they’ve valued stability and consistency with a front office that just can’t get out of its own way over the last nine years, almost 10 years now. Like, they’re all right to have a little bit of patience, I think. And when you’ve got the track record that Bside does, I think that patience is only going to be increased. And so, um, yeah, he he very well could be done at the end of next year. And, you know, this report has nothing to do with that. He could go somewhere else. Don’t think it’s going to be the Hawks. Don’t think it’s going to be this summer. I I think it’s very much all the talk about him wanting to win here again in Toronto. Like I believe that when he says it, I don’t think that’s just bluster. I don’t think that’s uh contract leverage uh creating or anything like that. I think it’s just a guy being earnest about his wants and desires. And so um and especially if there’s a chance to get Giannis in Toronto this summer, there’s like a faint wisp of it. I can’t imagine him being like, “Oh, now’s the time to leave.” Like it’s it does not line up to me at all. Um, we’re going to come back, Katie, talk about a couple of guys that Messiah drafted and helped oversee the development of who might be playing each other in the conference finals, unless the Celtics do something really hilarious. We’re going to come back on the other side, get into the prospect of Seakum OG conference finals and the motions that are very much tied into that. We’ll do that coming up in just one second. It’s emotions corner here on your Thursday edition of Locked On Raptors as the Eastern Conference playoffs are seemingly headed towards an Indiana Pacers who have already clinched. They are there. They beat the Cavs in five. Your Cavs Katie, I know tough stuff coming out of Jared Allen’s uh end of season press that made you feel some things yesterday. Anyone who wants to mention Froto in the ring in relation to their basketball journey, I’m all for. or we love Jared Allen. Um people who were going to roast him for that, there will be some because people are dumb and losers, but uh don’t do it because he’s cool as hell. Um either way, Pacers are there. The New York Knicks, assuming they take care of business in game six against the nonJason Tatum having Boston Celtics, who I think, you know, maybe it’s not surprising they had a stirring emotional performance without Tatum, win one for the Gipper, all that stuff in game five at home, push it back to game six. you would assume the Knicks are going to close this out at some point. Um, and if not, it’s some of the funniest uh content we’ll ever have. Um, but the prospect of a Seakoji conference finals is very much on the horizon here, Katie. Something that uh is I think for Raptors fans, you know, there’s going to be some like sick pleasure in it. Hey, those are our guys. Those are our guys. Look at that. There’s also going to be maybe some uh remorse, sadness uh that they’re doing it for other teams. How do you feel about a Seyakum OG conference finals and all the sort of emotional equity tied up into that? Yeah, it’s uh I like it. I like watching the the two of them play. So like it’s so it’s just very cool to see the way that their games have evolved, you know, and they’ve been free to to take them in such completely different directions, you know, on both these franchise and also how integral they are to these teams. Um, I’ve been thinking a lot about playoff experience and like what makes this Pacers team feel a little bit different than last year’s. And I, you know, it was actually Dylan that reminded me of just like Pascal is the one that’s bringing playoff and like championship caliber experience to the Pacers. Like he’s the one lending that, which is a very cool thing to think. Um, OG’s doing OG like by peripheral. I know. Poor guy. um he wasn’t involved in that. He was, but he wasn’t. But like, you know, is is is that with the Knicks? And it’s also just very cool to see OG still be playing this kind of like pop up and scare the heck out of people kind of brand of basketball. Yeah, I do think the Knicks are going to best the Celtics. I just feel that way. The Celtics had to take one for Tatum, of course. Um but it feels untenable to go and win in the Garden. So, yeah, this is if it goes back to seven. Oh, that game seven is real spicy. Yeah, that’s true. Which is kind of the reason they have to get it done. Anyway, but you know, crazier things have happened, especially in these in these um playoffs. Totally. I think to me, this is kind of the epitome of the the chaotic basketball I want to watch. You know, I know there’s a lot of people that complain that like you want to see a quote like big team in the playoffs, but like a playoffs where you’re genuinely like I don’t at this point I I could not tell you who’s going to win at all. Do you know what I I can’t even tell you like who’s going to come out of either conference. I not with real confidence. I think that is like one of the coolest things and one of the reasons why I love watching basketball and I why I especially want to watch, you know, these playoffs and not skip games because there’s like a I just like I know what’s going to happen, right? The idea that I don’t know is an amazing one. And I think the idea that I don’t know, especially between these two guys, like they’re going to be going like up against each other like possession for possession because that’s what these games have been. These have been like possession one games, you know, like they’re not no team is out for like a big stretch. No team is like really taken a confident sort of lead aside from like a game here or there. Um, but like Pascal and OG, I think there’s I think when you see there’s going to be a moment when watching you see that recognition between them. It might be just like they might both laugh like knowing them. Um, but I think that will be a very cool sort of like I don’t want to say full circle because nothing in their careers is finished yet. Sure. But I picture like Kyle Lowry watching that and it’s like that’s a good feeling. Yeah. Just balling. Just just balling thinking about the idea of it. just unbeliev his two beloveds. Uh yes. Um yeah, I I mean I I’m very excited for it, too. Look, I’m generally a person who does like when there’s like, you know, not necessarily like a big market team. I don’t care about the market size of the teams that are involved, but I like it when there’s a team that everyone’s trying to knock off the mountain. I find that to be very compelling theater. Sure. Um but I’m also quite enjoying this parody ass playoffs. It’s really fun and it is kind of cool having It’s nice that you can have both and and maybe we’re not going to have both going forward. Maybe the league is kind of going in a direction where it’s just too hard to win back toback as we’re seeing with Boston and every other team since the Warriors won their second with Kevin Durant. It’s just damn hard to play two full seasons of a 100 plus games and keep everyone healthy and fresh and um on task and everything. And so, yeah, if it means that we get this kind of unpredictable sort of fascinating run through the playoffs where any team can kind of talk themselves into, oh god, we’re like a couple wins away from the finals all of a sudden. This is crazy. Like, that’s cool to me, too. I like all forms of hoop. Um, when it comes to the Seakamoji thing, let me ask you this and maybe we bust out an old favorite here as you respond, but uh oh, do you find there’s any sellers remorse on the Raptors end of things? You know, you you move on from OG and Pascal. These two guys are clearly key cogs in conference finals level teams. Seakum two years in a row now. Is there a way the Raptors could have achieved similar success had they just kept these guys around and not made all the trades that they did? Was it always just kind of the end of the line for that that that group of that that that duo of guys? You know, Fred Manley obviously part of that as well when he walked away things got real tricky. But I don’t know. Maybe we should ask our pal Hot Take Heindle what she thinks about the Toronto Raptors situation and whether or not they should have Stellar’s remorse moving on from Seakum and OG. Hot take Hindel take it away. Oh, this is more of like a simmering take. Um, I don’t think, uh, no, I don’t think the Raptors were ready to hang on to these two guys and like they didn’t have that dog in him is what you’re saying, Katie, yield the same results. I mean, look, like when you’ve already I will say that I think the declaration of of Scotty Barnes as the one was maybe two seasons premature. Sure. But in declaring that, you cannot backtrack on it. And in declaring that you sort of cast you you start this domino sequence falling that looks like and does then become the jettison of you know Ojanobi uh and Pascal Sakum and I think Fred as sort of the one who held that last iteration of the team together. You got a clean house right a little bit that is like what is it the phrase cutting cutting off your ear despite your face. Yeah, that’s I think bad at knowing what the actual you’re going through with the decision. Yeah, like you’re going through with a decision. You know, you’re a little bit like, oh shoot, like this is not the best decision, but I’ve already declared that this is what we’re doing. Um, and you got to live with it. You got to do that in the NBA because there’s a credibility issue, right? If you don’t do that, then like you just look like you’re a fair weather franchise, which I would argue they became anyway for a little while. So there’s the hot take on the week. Let’s go. No. And like to my earlier point, we wouldn’t be seeing this kind of success and growth and maturation and you know, everything in Pascal Syakam and Ojanoi’s games um separately if they hadn’t left. you know, they were freed up to do that in other franchises. There was a lot of emotional weight. There’s a lot of weight of season after season on them and staying in Toronto. The plan just did not include them. And also, that’s just like that’s not a place you want to play when you’re kind of told like, “Hey, your time’s up.” Yeah. You know, you don’t want to be there anymore. Yeah. Yeah. I think uh Hot Take Hindle, thank you. Um, look, the heat on that one doesn’t feel like there’s more to be tapped into. I didn’t use the voice. I’m sorry. Yeah, maybe we’ll come back to you for a little bonus hot take at the end of the show on the ongoing NBA playoffs or something like that just so that people are satisfied with the heat level. Um, but yeah, I I I I’m with you. I I think really the only path that would have been there to make the Seakum OG thing work would have been to trade Scotty Barnes for a star, right? and they kicked around obviously Kevin Durant it seems and Damen Lillard I don’t think Scotty was ever in that deal that might have been an OG thing um which maybe makes a Barnes thing work better who’s to say or obviously the thing with Dame hasn’t worked out very well for the Bucks maybe it’s best they or probably is best they kept clear of that one um as unfortunate that as that whole thing has gone with Dame and so yeah I think it would have had to been some other star that they make that deal for and ultimately yeah it might have just been time and both Seakum and OG get to move on and be uh you know like crucial figures on really cool important teams and the Raptors I think have themselves a pathway to get back into that range as well with their current setup although it’s a little bit less clear how they’re going to do it though maybe a little clearer because the Eastern Conference everyone’s just like dropping like flies. Um so we’ll see I guess. Okay, here here Katie let’s put the flames back on the screen. Who you who you who would you prefer to see win past DelC or OG Anobi? Who you got? Pitt them against one another. Pick one, Katie. It’s hot take Hindle’s time. Do the voice. I mean, that’s easy. That is easy. This is an easy choice. It’s OG Anobi because he didn’t he didn’t he had a curse. Like he didn’t get to get to any of these moments in his past playoffs. I’m sorry. That’s not a hot take. That is a very emotional one. Yeah. But he deserves it more. I need to get some water to put on the screen instead to pour on this heat. Yeah, we’ll work on the production. Yeah. Um, no, I think that’s fair. Doesn’t deserve it cuz he’s healthy. Yeah, he was too healthy. Didn’t try hard enough. You know, had he been trying harder, his his appendix might have burst, too. Uh, yeah. All of that. Perfect. Uh, that feels like a great place to leave this one off, Katie. Thank you. Hot take handle has reappeared and the people are just shouting at home. Yeah, it’s wonderful. Uh, Katie, thank you for being back on the show. Lovely to have you return from your uh, beautiful looking trips overseas and everything. Uh, where can people check out all your fine work? Blue Sky. Blue Sky. Yeah, yeah, I logged into Twitter the other day. shouldn’t have done that. Um, don’t do it, man. Yeah, I had to find sometimes I have to go in there to like check a work message and it’s a hell experience and I couldn’t. Anyway, um, you can find me there. And then I will say exits exits is is in its fifth season series. The season series is in its fifth season of basketball feelings. So, it’s a retrospective look on every team as they’re eliminated. Publishers are eliminated by myself as well as a lot of really cool guest uh writers, thinkers, talkers, everyone go and do that. It’s uh much appreciated when you support all of our work, Katie’s work in particular, because it’s really damn good. Uh you can follow, subscribe, hit review, join the podcast uh Discord if you want, link in the description of the podcast, follow on Instagram again, trying to post more clips there and stuff like that. Uh, and we’ll be back again on Friday as we continue not talking about Giannis with a crossover episode with Camille Davis from Locked on Bucks to talk about Giannis. So, yeah, that’s to look forward to on Friday. Uh, thanks so much. I got to pick my basketball up off the floor. Katie, at the end of yesterday’s show, I absolutely nailed the shot. I’m trying to hit it again. Keep it going. Thanks so much for hanging. We’ll talk to you soon. Bye-bye. Damn it.

Wednesday was a day full of offseason scuttlebutt regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo and his potential desires to stay in the Eastern Conference and land with either the Toronto Raptors or Brooklyn Nets, and the Atlanta Hawks reportedly being interesting in poaching Masai Ujiri to run their sinking ship. In Episode 1868, Sean Woodley and Katie Heindl link up to talk about the Scoop B Robinson report that Giannis may have an eye on staying in the East, why that does make some sense considering how loaded the Western Conference is, and where the Miami Heat might factor into this summer’s superstar pursuit. Next, they get into Marc Stein’s report about the Atlanta Hawks having an eye on hiring Masai Ujiri, and why that doesn’t seem like a particularly Masai Ujiri-like landing spot. Lastly, HOT TAKE HEINDL is here to talk about the impending Pascal Siakam vs. OG Anunoby Eastern Conference Finals, whether the Raptors should have seller’s remorse, and who she’d be rooting for in that Knicks-Pacers battle for the East title.

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