NBA Trade CHAOS: Cavs deal Garland for Harden, Anthony Davis to WIZARDS, JJJ to Jazz | Nerd Sesh
The nerds react to a number of chaotic NBA trades, breaking down whether the Cleveland Cavaliers or Los Angeles Clippers won the James Harden-Darius Garland trade, diving into why the Washington Wizards decided to get Anthony Davis, and analyzing what the future holds for the Utah Jazz after trading for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Timeline:
0:00 Garland-Harden swap
34:52 AD to the WIZARDS
1:03:07 JJJ to the Jazz
1:24:40 Thunder add McCain
1:32:08 Vucevic to Celtics
1:37:13 Sexton-White swap
1:39:53 The weird three-team trade
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42 Comments
I promise you this is the happiest day for Mavs fans since the Luka trade happened
Edit: 2nd happiest after getting Coop
No Chris Paul trade?
Cavs got better. Period.
TINGUS PINGUS TO THE WARRIORS FOR JK AND BUDDY
What NBA team is Carson a fan of?
Im SO sick of hearing they traded DG at an all time low value… mother Fers were praying for JALEN SUGGS trades.. and they got JAMES HARDEN instead. Bro is an ALL NBA PLAYER. In what Fing universe is that low value?
9:25 Carson with a take so egregious I had to say something. Mobley is best offensively, defensively, and impactfully at the 4. It's not even close. He's not a primary rebounder an there are plenty of bigs as adequate offensively inside while lacking his skills on the wing which makes his fit at the 4 so much better. For example: Allen can't hit 3's, Mobley can; Allen is an ORB/DRB beast, Mobley is a DRB liability; Mobley can run the floor as a ball handler, JA can't… and the list goes on. It makes so much more sense to have Mobley alongside a competent specialized big like JA because it lets him breathe and focus on his strengths vs having to grind for rebounds etc. Mobley is a better fit with a dedicated 5 100 times out of 100. No chance he's a better fit offensively at the 5.
Logan is so clueless with the Mavs situation. You basically want the team to be stuck with the second apron and pray that AD plays more than 5 consecutive games? That is dumb
Could do NFL awards reaction tomorrow instead? If nothing happens trade wise.
Anthony Davis is not worth anything more than 2 years worth of FR picks. He’s gonna eventually retire due to injury at some point if he doesn’t cut his minutes down to 20-25. Wizards are taking a big gamble on Trae and Davis possibly being healthy which can make this team a possible playoff team. Shutting them down and hoping they hit the sweep stakes for the top 3 pick and add AJ, or Peterson can turn this team to a 2nd round+ team if fully healthy. Dallas got what they could with AD, and now they move on with Flagg as the cornerstone.
Carson forgetting that AD not playing consistently means that the Washington young core is going to be getting PT anyways in the games where he’s injured
Ajay and McCain on the books for something like $7mil combined is straight robbery
Harden is a huge improvement for cavs over mostly injured garland.
Logan has such a chad like face, inspirational
GOATed shark tale reference
Logan is missing the point of the AD trade. It’s a new general managerial era. Nico Harrison made a terrible situation out of an incredible situation, and the new regime is making a clean slate. The new regime didn’t have Luka, they had AD.
Cavs got off garland contract and got better they won by far
Every team deals with injury esp if you’re competing over multiple yrs. The Cavs haven’t been good enough to overcome injury.
Take the Celtics:
‘18 – kyrie gordon jaylen (hamstring) ECF
‘19 – healthy 2ND RD
‘20 – gordon kemba ECF
‘21 – jaylen 1ST RD
‘22 – rob smart tatum FINALS
‘23- brogdon jaylen tatum (g7 ecf) ECF
‘24 – porzingus CHAMPIONSHIP
‘25 – jrue jaylen jayson 2ND RD
We’ve had an injury almost every yr but the structure of the team was sturdy so we’ve been to 5 ecfs 2 finals n a championship
I’m with Logan on the mavs thing Carson is right in what he’s saying but nah I’m not even a mavs fan and seeing that notification for the trade almost ruined my day😂😂😂
Like the the wiz’ moves:
Trae is a stabilizer for the offense
AD is a stabilizer for the defense
N the only opportunity cost I see is maybe the ability to tank. But there’s a risk with tanking too…
N it’s a developmental philosophy thing. To me the best teams develop guys in the context of winning basketball – at least pushing to meet that standard. I think that’s when you see guys take real steps forward. It’s easy to build bad habits on a tanking team when the team’s best option is to over task guys n lower standards in the process. Your players lose value in that context too. Look at how ppl talked abt Cade b4 n after adding Tobias n some shooting.
So I like that they didn’t give up their core and I think they created a better developmental environment
Also bought so low that they could end up flipping these guys for value at the end of a short couple yr run after which they’ll have to start paying their young guys. You should be able to get something for their expirings at least but more than that if they building a winning organizational infrastructure from the front office to coach to all the talented young guys they have.
It’s tru ad n trae get hurt so much it’s easy to pivot n shut it down for a yr if things don’t go well too. They still have their picks so the tank isn’t necessarily off the table.
But tanking isn’t the only way to get a star. Bc they have their picks n good young players they have the ammo to trade for a star player when the young core is ready post the Trae ad era
Logan is right, Trae n AD will create excitement n sell tix for dc too.
Good move for wiz imo
Still a DG fan but ending 3 of your last 4 years in the league breaking down and starting this season even worse than the previous ones it’s not just bad luck anymore. Cavs can’t keep betting on maybe this year he will be healthy while be a second apron team. I’m still gonna root for him just like I do Kyrie but I understand the move
Who knows what Nico wanted but from day 1 of Luka trade I said their best bet was to trade ad n kyrie n tank for the ‘26 draft.
I thought the trade n the timing of it was good bc it allowed them to take advantage of their last team controlled picks and avoid the 2nd apron. I thought they could be better off as long as they got a generation prospect in that draft n replenished draft picks by trading off vets AD Kyrie klay maybe gafford.
Id argue it turned out even better bc they ended up with coop even if ad the asset depreciated since the trade. And they still might get another generational talent in the upcoming draft
So essentially they traded Luka for:
– Cooper Flaag
– A top ‘26 draft pick
– Max Christie
– AJ Johnson
– Marvin Bagley
– 3 1sts
– N hundreds of millions in luxury tax savings.
Def didn’t max out the return but thats not the worst trade of all time n I think mavs will end up better for it.
I’d bet mavs win more playoff games in the 7 yrs following the Luka trade than they did during Luka’s 7 yrs with the team
They’ll compete next yr if the team is:
1. Kyrie
2. Flemmings/Wagler
3. PJ
4. Flaag
5. Lively
Aj, bwill, Christie, naji, gafford Bagley, cisse
Who is Carson and Logan favorite nba team
I think yall thinking abt the jazz move wrong too.
Kessler-jjj-Lauri front court is a floor not a ceiling. Makes the a rly good team minimum. The ceiling comes from keyonte ace whoever they get in this draft and whoever they can trade for down the line when they figure out what they have in key ace n the ‘26 pick. Like the wiz Utah still has ammo to make more moves so it’s ok if they aren’t title contenders right away
Lost respect after you being loud on the Minnesota deaths, but saying absolutely nothing when Charlie Kirk, the Ukrainian girl, or the white guy who got stabbed by a black guy for absolutely no reason died .
Absolutely no consistency.
The world is falling apart but at least we have Carson and Logan
How can AD mess up the development of the wizards young talent if in the same breath you say he won’t play much
The pessimism is always entertaining as are the fits but there’s gotta be some more imagination lol
The lack of imagination in this vid really resembles what led Brunson & Draymond to fall into the 2nd round when they were top 5 picks all along
It’s always interesting to see people’s inclination regarding what is & what could be
Looking for a genuine answer.
Why isn’t Chris Paul on the rockets right now?
To a few of Carson’s points, I think he’s overblowing the wizards financial flexibility with AD. Sarr, Kyshawn, and Tre wouldn’t have their extensions until after AD’s contract is up. I envision AD helping their development more than hurting it. He also mentioned that they could trade for a star in the offseason rather than now, but with what contract? Middleton’s expiring felt like the only pathway to add a player of AD’s caliber
Take a shot every time Logan mentions toes or feet
Once in a while the jazz have never moved up in the lottery in their franchise history.
Idk how these guys show no love to the Knicks when they consistently put BTA to the Cavs in the yoffs and would have the best player in the series
Carson is right about the Wiz-kids but also think that AD won't hurt the core and will at worst do nothing. I understand taking away touches from the players but other than Ky I think the pros outweigh the cons. It's simple enough, we got Trae and AD for nothing and we have the chance to flip or hold on assets we bought at rock bottom or at worst we sell on a cheap investment that means nothing for our future, even more so that we still have our picks and if things go bad we can reroute.
lol clevland will loose in first round, mark my words…
“No one wanted AD” (per your own words) goes on to criticize a team for getting insane cap flexibility and ANY draft comp (while dumping 2 additional bad contacts) for a dude who played 29 games in a calendar year on a super max. At least be consistent
Idk why everyone is saying Harden demanded out. The only reporting I've seen has been that the trade was mutual between the team and him. I get he has the narrative around the fat suit and stuff, but I'm just not seeing any actual reporting that's what he was doing/planned to do. Lmk if i am just missing sumn.
Mavs fan: this was a good trade…. we NEEDED to get AD out of there for the vibes. Now we have a few weak picks we can use to trade up for players our scouting dept finds and we draft pretty well! We need to gather as many moveable assets to make sure we have as many shots of getting Coop a legit, time appropriate co-star in the next 3 years… ive blocked the Luka trade out of my mind- the ghost of David Stern gifted us a lifeline in Cooper Flagg and giving him a competent team by the time he’s on his first max is KEY…
Wizards young core is full of cool players but not a bunch of stars which is why they traded for stars
kink shaming logan in the first 5 minutes… wow…
Incorrect takes regarding Harden trade:
1) it messes up their future:
Mitchell has stated he didn’t enjoy playing with Garland & requested Harden personally. Mitchell has already been frustrated with the teams lack of playoff success. Without bringing in Harden, you risk losing Mitchell down the line (worse for the Cavs’s future than trading away Garland)
2) The Cavs should’ve gotten more 3&D guys & solid role guys:
The Cavs have Mitchell doing way too much on offense. This is why he’s been statistically one of the worst defenders in the league this year. You cannot expect him to be a 30 ppg guy and the lead facilitator. He isn’t gifted enough offensively to do both of these on an elite level. You bring Harden in. One of the highest floor raisers in league history. It will allow Mitchell to lock in on scoring while allowing him to have more energy on defense. It raises the floor of the bigs (which you said) but also helps the shooters (Tyson, Merril, etc.)
3) Harden playoff inefficiency:
This mainly occurred during the years on the rockets where his usage was unsustainable. He’s able to be a different player on this team (facilitator-first, score second). Poor efficiency in playoffs will not be an issue here.
4) it doesn’t make the Cavs much better:
Wrong. It makes the Cavs tremendously better. They were not winning the east with their precious roster. Would’ve lost to the Pistons, Knicks, even Sixers. Now there is a reason they are 3rd best odds to win a chip. Come back to this comment in 4 months.
Horrible take by Carson on Pat Spencer. He is absolutely a goat of lacrosse. Maybe the Thompson twins can compete but that’s it.