Ja Morant Trade Incoming? | Pistons, Pacers, Thunder Trade Plans? | Rudy Gobert Remains UNDERRATED
Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.
In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their 3 biggest takeaways from week 11 of the NBA season.
00:00 – INTRO
05:31 – Ja Morant Trade Market
45:08 – Pistons – Buy high, low or not at all
1:05:30 – Rudy Gobert Remains Undervalued
1:19:54 – Pacers – Sneaky sellers and buyers?
1:39:02 – Blazers Check In
1:56:20 – Thunder – Need a shakeup move?
2:13:21 – OUTRO
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34 Comments
The Thunder need a shakeup? The injury bug hasn't been kind to the reigning Champs so far this season. Â
They are 33-7.
"Make believe" Sam Presti, What would you do to "shake things up"?
If I were Sam Presti, I'd stand pat and trust the process.
Gobert was on the bench when the T-wolves made their comback. underrated DOE!
Thanks for the great content!
Regarding Avdija and the Trail Blazers: since the injuries to Grant and Jrue, the team really needs to be viewed as a different group. It took roughly three weeks for everyone to adjust and understand their new roles. During that period, the mental burden placed on Avdija to carry the offense was significant. That load affected his defensive impact and, more broadly, the team’s overall field-goal percentage.
Over the past couple of weeks, however, things have stabilized. The team has settled into its structure, and Avdija’s defensive intensity has returned—clearly lifting the team’s defense as a whole, most visibly in Camara’s growth on that end of the floor. With greater clarity around roles and improved offensive organization, Avdija’s kick-out reads have been setting up Caleb and others more effectively, boosting three-point shooting and, in turn, overall confidence.
One important element I think is missing from the analysis is Avdija’s character—his personality and unselfishness. That trait arguably cost him years in D.C., and tens of millions of dollars, as his $55M contract hardly reflects his true on-court value. But its impact on the locker room and team chemistry in Portland has been enormous.
Love the homie Bryce !!! Diehard piston pulse fan !!! From the dark era of piston fandom !!!!
01:56:20, you are right about the trade but will be dieng, okc always trade when they not gonna renew
I’m a Pistons fan and we def need a #2 option. We need to add another legit shooter at least this deadline. I really hope we go get Trey Murphy some how. I think pairing him next to Cade long term would work out fantastic. Oh and I’m totally good with them shipping Ivey out but he’s at his all time low value so I don’t think they do it, unless they don’t think they can get a deal done this offseason. Trade Levert too, he doesn’t fit this team at all. Monk/Levert trade id love. I us wanted to get his over Levert. He’s a much better fit on this team. I’d be happy with White from Chicago as well.
Longer contract, Worse injury history, Declining stats over a longer period, and possible Team Chemistry problem(s)… Ja's market value is worse than Trae's, and we just saw how the market didn't value Trae…
I agree Gobert is a workhorse.
He has the best body type / conditionning for a Center.
He is buff enough not to be moved and thin enough to run and cover the whole court for 36Min.
I don’t think Monk is that terrific of a trade up from LeVert.
But I will say, Bryce is right, you need Tobias Harris. His positional value isn’t easy replaceable.
I like Ayo from Chicago… though I don’t see Chicago as sellers.
Coby white injuries and current splits are not very enticing IMO. Idk.
So the wolves should trade a cheaper, better player plus more for morant? Gtfoh
Calling Gobert top 30 is underselling him. He’s the foundation of a top 6 team they would crumble without him
As a Raptors fan I'd be disgusted by that Morant trade. IQ is a willing screener, off-ball mover, shooter and defender, all traits Morant lacks. It would clog the lane for Scottie and make his, RJs and BI lives a lot more difficult on both sides of the ball. If you include this season, Ja is still owed $125M, while IQ is owed $130M, so to include a promising young wing in Walter and a first is a lot to save $5M. As you guys said Morant isnt available either and hasnt been an Allstar since 2023. Doesnt make any sense why they do this, if a big move is there in the summer just include Walter and the 2026 pick then for the big move, no need to pull the trigger early for Ja.
Thank you for giving Rudy flowers he gets so much hate but he should win DPOY again. There's no world where Chet is better
I’m sorry but Barnes is the better player between him and BI…..yeah BI is more skilled and is the better scorer…. But Barnes has a higher IQ, better passer, better initiator and better court processor….. y’all just sleeping in Barnes.
Jalen Duren broke out in november when tobias was out, usage changed when tobias came back combined with trying to give ivey reps. To add on to that, teams are zoning more often which limits Durens lob threat ability.
Pistons need more shooters to open up duren again
Excellent Blazers takes as usual thank you guys. A few thoughts:
– So glad to hear Clingan getting some love, his growth this year has been monumental but overshadowed in the media by Deni's all-star calibre play. His 3 I'm not sure is sustainable, it's already falling off again, but he's showing real promise as a two way player, his all round agression has really ramped up, he's using his physicality better, playing more post offense and driving more with great success, he's really thriving in this offense and mentality wise he's looking like a monster. I suspect haivng an NBA center for a coach is really helping.
– Shae's shot is definitely better this year (in fact a lot of the team is shooting much better so props to the coaching staff), but as you mentioned his on ball decision making is appalling and that and his mediocre handle are causing super iniefficient shot selection and bad turnovers. I think he'll thrive more when shots are being created for him rather than him forcing contested shots on his own. Jrue coming back should help as he'll not bring the ball up so much and will have more catch and shoot / cutting opportunities that he really thrives on.
– Caleb Love was beyond brutal to start the season in terms of efficiency but now honestly his shot looks legit (41% from 3 on 11 shots a game in the last 15 games) and a lot of those are deep threes. In a team that desperately needs shooting he's a lock for a full roster spot by the deadline based on his form.
Bryce, the story of those November/December splits for Duren is a very simple one: the opponents were total garbage for a dozen games in a row!
That stretch covered most of November, and that's why the stats were so good: Duren being good against shitty teams and shitty against good teams is just what he does, it is a continuation of a trend from LAST season.
The Rudy offensive improvement is absolutely real and a big part of the local coverage for the last month. Props for being on of the first national guys to hit it. His short role play and passing has been better than average for bigs recently and really elevated the wolves ceiling
I don't think it's benefit of the doubt. Look it up, when was the last time someone scored 26-7 and 7 and didn't make the all-star game? Deni is an all-star.
If Wemby doesn’t get to 65 games Rudy should get his 5th DPOY.
A niche subject I’m curious to explore.. when trying to decide on DPOY should the player’s impact on offense be a tie breaking factor? Basketball is a continuous sport and you are expected to play both ends.. if for example, it’s that close between Vic Wemby and Gobert in terms of impact (just for arguments sake) do you factor in the overall impact of the player on the floor?
Bucks or Kings are the ones that would be desperate enough to trade for Ja. Kings should trade Sabonis just doing the same thing year after year. Send him somewhere else and use the money to get more athletic and try something new. Wolves should try to trade for Giannis. Rudy, Randle, Dillingham, Shannon, Beringer have Conley and his contract if needed to match salaries and include a pick or 2(2nds also maybe) and get Giannis plus filler. Maybe pick up Conley after he gets waived. Maybe Gobert goes to Spurs or Hawks or Randle goes somewhere instead for a couple picks and salary send the picks to Bucks. Something like that. Giannis, Naz, Jaden, Ant, DDV, and a couple bench additions would be a threat.
Kings have 4 guards teams should be trying to get. Schroeder(FA), Monk(2-3 yrs) are bigger deals and Westbrook, or Keon Ellis(FA) are smaller numbers. Depends what you are looking for. White from Bulls on Wolves would be awesome for like Conley and Dillingham or Shannon. Maybe they can resign him for midlevel money or something.
Are we going to get a mock draft at some point?
I hope the draft show doesn’t go anywhere.
I love the Rudy appreciation
Sharpe has actually improved a lot on defense this year he’s not elite or anything but he at least contributes now and gets steals
As a thunder fan i absolutely want them to make a trade. getting a coby white disumo or quentin grimes is exactly what this team needs. Isaiah joe is just not working his shot is just too unpredictable for the role hes supposed to have. He was unplayable in the playoff run last year
Bryce’s accent
OKC's most likely to move contract is Dieng, I don't think OKC moves anyone else. Their biggest weakness is inconsistent 3pt shooting, and looming salary cap issues. What if they went after someone to address both like Vit Kreji in Atlanta? Vit is on a dirt cheap contract for 3 years and could replace Joe's role on a league min salary going forward.
Can the tank actually be screwed up by the Pacers getting better? Like with the lottery odds flattening, is it really important for the Pacers to be like a 20 or less win team as opposed to high 20s or low 30s? Or is there like a talent drop off in the draft that makes getting the 5th or 6th pick really important?
replace Ja'Kobe and with Gradey and we have a deal
Hey guys, I just wanted to leave a comment about Porzingis and the health issue, POTS, because not too many people know about it, and I actually had this when I was in my early teens. Granted, a lot less was known about it then, and he obviously has access to resources that I didn't.
The main symptom is major swings in your heart rate and blood pressure when switching from standing to sitting, and vice versa. But impacts your life in many other ways. For me, I had chronic migraines and exhaustion, and would consistently faint when trying to get out of my desk at school. In terms of basketball, this essentially stopped me from playing/training for 2 years. Ultimately, it took me about 3 years to make a full recovery from it. During the first year, I did no school & no athletics, during the second year I took maybe 2 classes and did some B-team practices to work back in, during year 3 I was then in HS going to 4/7 classes and playing some minutes on the JV team. It still impacts my life a bit today, mostly in the form of unexpected migraines. Wanted to share this because people seem a little confused about what's happening with KP, and POTS isn't too well-known. Maybe things have come a long way, but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes at least 2-3 years before he's 100% of what he was before. Each game he plays is super taxing on his body currently.
the injury trajectory is pretty wild with Ja.