The Step Back – Episode 9 – Trade Deadline and All-Stars

>> Welcome back to another episode of the Step Back. I am your host, Brad GM of the Predators 4, joining me in his triumphant return to the pod is my co-host, Coach Martin of the Devils 4, Ryan, how are we doing today? >> Brad doing well, it's going to be back. I had some technical difficulties earlier, so you take a week off and you forget how everything works. That's crazy. >> It's just, you're like an absent-tea father, just, you came back with your back as cigarettes. >> Holy cow. >> Hey, at least I came back. >> That's true. >> No, I'm pretty pumped for this one. This is going to be a fun, there's a lot of stuff that happened. Things got a little crazy there. >> Yes. >> And I was happy to be a part of it. And it was, you know, we started with some moves. We had a flourish in the middle, and then we finished with a bang. So going to be a lot to chat about tonight, and then I'll talk a little bit about the all-star game too and everything. >> Yeah. I mean, you were very active in the trade market, which, I mean, you're a rebuilding team. You had some options out there to give certain teams first round picks back to them, which I think you navigated well. You had the option to take on some salary and get some assets, and then you did that too. So yeah, you were heavily involved. So I can't wait to talk about those trades. I think I want to start off by talking, if you don't mind, with the elephant in the room. And that is the trade that was reversed by Komish. And there's a lot of context involved in that trade. And then there's a couple other trades that almost happened. One of which was mine and then another one for an attempt for the same player. It was another GM. And I got his permission to talk about it because nothing ever actually happened, nothing materialized. But we both tried to make offers for the same player. So I want to talk about these three trades that were kind of almost trades. One that was actually accepted and processed and reversed. And then these other two that were rejected. So the first piece of business that was accepted and then later reversed. So the scorpions made two trades that day. And we'll get back to the first trade that they made, which was perfectly legal. And then they tried to make a second trade. And that was a massive universe altering deal where they were trading Andre Wright and CJ LeCruz, the reigning MVP, 24 year old MVP, and their own first. So they're 20, 20, 52 first to be precise to the nights for all JBL perennial. I think he's 10 consecutive all-star games and title winner Jason Cheney Jr. And he was also getting back a couple of good young pieces in Cole Stark, whether in Umberto Gilly. So there's a lot to analyze with this trade. It got a lot of attention at a lot of conversation. I certainly understand the concept behind Jagatour deciding that he didn't want to rock with CJ LeCruz because as soon as he climbed over that line where you can't uncheck the take three's box, he has been a chucker and not in a good way. I mean, 28% from three, just a crap ton of chucking. So he is playing like a very different player. I'm not sure if the engine changes had anything to do with that, but certainly getting over the line where you can't get him to stop shooting threes definitely has something to do with that. So he went from an MVP to an EFG under 50%. That is a massive change. I've heard a lot of people comment and say in other leagues as well that this is something they're running into, but that he's a former MVP and there's got to be a way to fight through this and he's still an incredible talent. But Jagatour decided to move on from him and he tried this first move and then later he eventually did a different move, but he did trade away CJ LeCruz, Ryan, I wanted to get your thoughts before we get into the details of the trade about, you know, his decision to move on from CJ LeCruz in the first place. How do you feel about him going half a season and then just being like, you know, what? I'm done with you. Yeah, you know, like, I can understand the frustration because I sit here and I watch, you know, operating system pull up and shoot a bunch of threes and stuff. But it doesn't matter for me because I'm losing and I expect to lose. You know, I think it's you're pulling the plug too soon. I think that even if you necessary, the thing is is like he's still in the West. So to me, you've got a lot of talent. You're in the weaker of the two divisions or the two conferences. And you have all this playoff experience and you have these studs. So I think at the very least, you got to write it out because he's probably going to get in the playoffs. You know, I don't know what he was doing on the back end. So to an extent, you're kind of talking about this blindly because what was he trying to do and did it actually work, did it not work. So you don't really know necessarily like if he's doing it the same way that you would and maybe he did and maybe it wasn't working at all. And he just was like, now is the time because it's only going to get worse. Right. You know, because he was going to have to resign him. So yeah, the problem with that then being you're, you're going to take on all those years and if he just totally sucks, I mean, but he's never going to toy sucks. So I think it was too soon, I still think it's too soon. You know, luckily for him, we got, he had his first trade get reversed because I do think he did better the second time around. Yep. So, you know, that's good. I think the thing that really shocked me was he was so disappointed with CJ La Cruz that he was not only willing to trade him, but he was willing to trade a 20 52 first round to go with. Yeah. And I mean, like, yeah, that's kind of crazy to me because I, you're thinking to yourself, like, if it doesn't work out when he brings in the next one and he starts cutting his depth and everything, you know, that's the pick that's going to end up being potentially worse something because you're going to have to blow it up and with how you're set up, your blow up is immediate. You have to just trade those guys right away because the value is only over the next three years or whatever it is. So, yeah, I mean, even with the second deal, I still think he went out and he did it too soon. I think you have to play out the entire year, at least, especially with we're so new. I mean, to trade the reigning MVP from the doose, I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have taken a lot more than this, I think, to do it. I agree. And at the end of the day, this trade was reversed because so he made two trades on the day, the one he made first and was properly executed was executed correctly, where he traded a first, we'll get to this trade later, but he traded a first for Tray Stevens in a couple seconds, basically. That was a little puzzling, but okay, but because he traded that 2053 first, now he has to maintain one of his firsts in the next four seasons. And so he could not trade the 2052 first and the trade was illegal and therefore it was reversed. But let's talk about it as if it wasn't. So he traded at 2052 first and CJ the Cruz and his plan was to get JCJ. And I can certainly understand the appeal of trying to get JCJ. He kind of fits your timeline, you know, you're two guys, you're two big guys on your team besides the Cruz are tuna and JC3. And so you're sitting at 31 and 33 years old right now getting 32 year old JCJ kind of lines up. So I can kind of see that, but you just traded away your 2052 and 2053 picks, assuming that this deal went through. So you've created a situation where your build is going to implode within the next two to three seasons and then you've made it impossible for yourself to recover because when you would want to blow it up, you can't because you just traded away those two picks. But I think that's one thing that I find highly questionable is the years that you're trading because if you're looking at like a two to three year window to compete and I think those three players are a strong core that can compete in that window. So I don't mind that concept, but I don't like attaching these 2052, 2053 firsts to any of your deals. If you're planning on a build that is going to expire, just due to age, you know, within the next two to three seasons. So I think that's super, super questionable. I think getting stark weather in that trade is questionable. You want to talk about a guy that's been hit by the ugly stick. He has any FG that's under 500 as well. So you're trading one guy who can't shoot this season for another guy who can't shoot this season. Like what, you know, what are we doing there? The only part about that trade that I really like, you know, for them was he got him to throw in Glee and I think Glee is looked really good so far since coming to the league. So I wouldn't have minded that part of it, but I mean, yeah, I'm sure the night's GM was devastated, you know, when this got reversed because to get the crews and a first and give up stark weather, who has been atrocious, JCJ, who is, you know, 40 million for the next four seasons. So if you're going to be rebuilding, he's, you got to get out of that contract. He's got to be really excited about that. So that was devastating for the night's GM. He didn't do anything wrong. You know, it was, he didn't know that the, the squarps were, were trading away at first that they couldn't. So, you know, thoughts and prayers go out to the night's GM who, who almost did an incredible piece of business. But he later on, both of these guys were still able to achieve what they wanted to achieve just to be clear. The scorpions did eventually trade to Glee crews with a different team and the night's did eventually trade JCJ to a different team. So we'll talk about those trades later and kind of compare them to their returns. I actually end up kind of thinking it worked out okay for both teams, but, but yeah, it's, it's certainly very interesting what both of these guys were thinking. So yeah, that trade got reversed. No deal between the squarps and the nights. And JCJ at that point in time was remaining on the nights. And CJ, the crews was remaining on the squarps. Okay. While that was going on. Yeah. Okay. I do want to say one thing about that too. Yeah. So, you know, not only, so the reason I really hated also from the scorpions point of view is to make that trade, you're weakening yourself in the postseason because you're also giving away Andre right. Yeah. So, you know, I don't think you actually made yourself better or more competitive in the West this year to compete with the top teams by making that trade. And then on top of that, you have also traded off a future asset. So, you know, I don't like it. I think the scorpions got lucky that they got saved by commission for that one. The nights, you know, they made a good deal, I think, or, you know, a decent deal later. But obviously they preferred to take the reigning MVP in a 20 52 first round or, of course, I think compared to what they ultimately got. But yeah, yeah, I just, I understand watching the game or watching the streams of your Sim and saying, like, man, this is the most frustrating thing ever. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Shooting 28 foot, pull up three, he's old for seven. He ends up like two for 13, like, believe me, I get it. As a matter of fact, in the college side, I actually tried to get one guy to do that earlier in the air and it worked. But, yeah, I just, if you're going to do it, you still have to get the actual value that comes with a guy like C.J. La Cruz, because, you know, it's like you just, you got, you would have been better off, yeah, you just keep him. I don't see how you're ever going to get the value for him at that point in time in season. So, that's a problem. Yeah. You got lucky that he got lucky that he made an illegal trade and that commission was able to reverse it for him. Yep. And no penalty because it was reversible before any games were played. So, no penalties assessed, everybody ended up walking away from that situation, okay. While that was going on, commission had made a post in channel that basically said, you know, the pilots are under a caretaker, but for any trade requests, paying me and also admitting to the AI, to the trade calculator. And as long as the AI wins the trade, you know, you can make trades with the pilots. And so, I was one of, at least two, that I know of, me and the New Orleans hurricanes. I'm not sure if anybody else tried, but we both tried to get Tyrone George from the Washington pilots. And neither one of us was able to pull it off. I tried to do something completely ridiculous and I tried to trade Kenny Holba, who is, you know, an all JBL level power forward for me. And I was going to try and straight up replace him with Tyrone George. I offered Holba the 21 stone cutters first and a bunch of seconds to see if maybe the all JBL, you know, Holba would, would sway that needle a little bit. And it did not. So it was probably dumb of me to even consider this with how well my team was playing. That Tyrone George is a freak. So, you know, it's hard for me to try and pass up the chance to put together like a team that is insanely set for the next like four or five seasons if I could have gotten, you know, Tyrone George. But I couldn't. So now I've got to figure out how to handle contracts and whether or not Kenny Holba is still worth keeping at the age of 30 and 31 stuff like that. So that's fine. I probably should have never considered it considering how well my team is playing. But I track Deacon, my big rival for the number one overall seed right now who just beat me at his place. So we split our regular season matchup, which I think is awesome and should hopefully make for a fun finals if we can make it happen. He tried to trade Hensha logins and four firsts, the Hurricanes first in 2015, in 2002 and the Bullets first in 2021, in 2002. So he tried to trade those two players and four first rounders for Tyrone George and that got rejected. So I think it's interesting that the two teams who are like right now, you'd have to say are probably the odds on favorite to meet in the finals. I mean, anything can happen in the playoffs. You know, the seven game series are always a good time for that reason. But it's interesting that the two teams that are doing the best are the two that tried to shake things up and go after Tyrone George. I think that's kind of interesting, because both of us are probably you would say are the two teams that should not be shaking things up with how well our teams are playing. But we both decided that Tyrone George is so good that we tried. If he had gotten George and his team now included Machi, Ogide, George and Hawes, I probably would have thrown up a little bit. I could probably play wing for that team and they would still win a title like that's disgusting. So fortunately for me, neither one of us got that deal done and Tyrone George remains on the pilots and definitely fortunately for Chris, who just took over the pilots and is now filled our league, shout out Chris, congratulations, welcome to the league. You still have Tyrone George, because the AI calculator rejected both of our deals. So Ryan, what do you think about the two top teams in the league trying to go after Tyrone George? Yeah, I mean, they're definitely interesting deals. You know, if I was looking at the two, I probably would like yours better. But the hurricane's deal is actually interesting. I was curious as to what he was going to try to do to get Tyrone George just looking at what he had. So I will say in terms of the rest of the league in just a little bit of competition, I'm glad that neither of these trades were accepted. I think it would have made, especially, you know, I like your team a lot too, but I really think it would have made the hurricanes just who yeah, I agree. It would have been surprising to me if they wouldn't have won it all if they were able to get that. I agree. So yeah, but I think one thing to look at what these deals is, especially like the hurricane's trade, is just the way that you can kind of look at like first rounders and how to value them because, you know, you look at it and it's like, oh, that's four or first round picks. But you know, the hurricane's pick is going to be number 35 or number 36. The bullets pick next year is going to be like number 30. And it's got to appreciate a value because you have to wait a year to get any sort of value back from it. Yep. And they just pushed in for Richter. So they're only getting better. And then the 52 picks are you're basically again in this exact same boat because both of these teams are going to be still in their competition window. Yeah. So, you know, you look at those picks and it's like, all those really are are four kind of cost control assets for teams that are trying to compete more than anything. Like, you know, you're not going to get a lottery pick from any of those four. Even if somebody were to get hurt on one of those teams, they're still going to make the playoffs. Yeah. So, you know, it's and then we're going to talk a little bit later about the flip side of that where we saw some first round picks get dealt for some teams trying to make a push that have younger players in a younger core. And maybe they will be able to jump into the playoffs and remove that pick from a lottery selection. But you're taking the risk of that happening because you don't have the core of the predators, the hurricanes, where if something were to happen to your team in the middle of the season, you know, it's not all going to fall apart on you. You know, some of these other teams are young. You take away one of these young guys that are having a breakout season for 30 games. And their margin of error to get into the playoffs is already thin. If they miss 30 games, it's probably not existed. So, you know, I think there's just some things to maybe think about in terms of how some guys valued some picks, or at least in terms of how I think about them myself. But having said that too, you know, we're going to see some instances of people taking first round picks that are going to be later in the draft right now, pushing in, trying to make their team better for the playoffs. So I think we had a lot of kind of fun deals to look at here that actually got completed. And then we, you know, we got a few that are real lopsided. I think some that you think are more so than me, but I think one that we all agree on for sure. Yeah, yeah, there's some interesting ones. So let's start by navigating this first trade that Scorpion's made, which was, and I'm going to go, I'm actually going to go chronologically in order of when these trades were all done. So the first trade that happened was the Cincinnati Kings sent Tracey Evans, Ryzeon, Elimimian, who any of you out there listening, you know, wherever part of the MVC, that name brings you nightmares. In two second round picks, the 2051 drone second, and the 2052 Calavera second, which actually might end up being pretty high seconds to the Scorps. And the Scorps traded back to the Kings, Fullamar, Rubin Miramantes, and the 2053 Scorpions first. So once again, when you trade CJ the Cruz, the core of your team is now older than dirt, you know, Tunis 31 and JC3 is 33. So that 2053 first look in real juicy. And I'll be honest, I don't really think any of the four players involved in this trade are significant. This kind of just feels to me like the Kings found a way to flip two second round picks for a first that could be a high lottery pick. So I think this deal is insane for the Kings. So shout out to BT, what a great piece of business. I think this is a really good deal. I could be wrong. And Trace Stevens could end up becoming the second coming, but I don't think I am. I think all four of these players are bit pieces at best and are not consequential. And so you flip two seconds for a first, well done BT. But yeah, I'm not sure what was going on here with the Scorps. And what's really sad is that if they hadn't made this trade, their other deal would have been legal. So they would have had JCJ. So you know, this one hurts a lot from multiple reasons Ryan, what do you think? Yeah, it's funny that you say that because for how bad that deal was, it is 100 times better than this one. And you know, not trying to dump on anybody, but you know, let's just talk through the pieces that were obtained by the scorpions here. So Trace Stevens is a 27 year old point guard who is in his eighth season and has only played two years where he started more than, you know, eight games and actually averaged starter minutes. Everything else has been 15 to 18 minutes a game. So over eight years in the JBL, nobody's really looked at him as being even a starter level player. And then if you look at the other player that he sent, um, Eleminian, he doesn't even play for, he doesn't even play. Yeah. So I mean, yeah, I don't think he's, he plays, he's like, he's a bench warmer for his entire career. So you've traded for two guys that I agree, have zero value, like you have a backup point guard. You have a Brian Scalabrini and then, and then I got the 51 drones pick, uh, Charlotte. So maybe we're looking at like 48 to 56 or something like that. Yeah. It will be a decent second. In in 20 51, though, yeah, and then I got to wait until 20 52 for the Calaveris who have Killing and Fontaine with that point time is going to be getting to the end of the runway on his way to Atlanta, ready to become a future seven time MVP. And if you got that guy, the Calaveris are going to be great. So that's probably pick number 72. So you know, I mean, yeah, I, what I don't know what he's doing. And then he gives up the 53 pick, which exactly like you said, uh, at the time this trade was made, even if you had something brewing on the side for CJ La Cruz, and it was the deal that you did, um, or yeah, because he needed like a piece from that one or whatever. Um, yeah, it just, it actually makes even less sense to me because now you've traded your 53 and your 52 to an old core and you have no idea if it's going to work out and you've actually gutted your depth. So yeah, I mean, I like everything that BT did for the Kings, yeah, even the ones that got reversed or rejected, um, or I guess he wasn't part of that one. He was, oh, yeah, he was this one. So I mean, watch out when you're dealing with BT because he seems to be fleece in everybody whenever he's making a deal. He's a shark, he's a shark. This guy has been playing the game for 25 years. It is. Yeah. He has done great work. Um, so yeah, I mean, I just, uh, when I watched this trade come off, I was like, looking at it kind of like, what's going on here? Yeah. Um, and then you know, as you move forward, I think it just looks even worse. So yeah, just to be clear, so I, even though I didn't assign grades to either one of the entire own trade trades because they didn't happen, I did assign grades to the Scorps trade for JCJ that got reversed because it technically was a trade that happened for a brief moment. And I gave the Scorps and F and the Knights and A plus. And this is the second trade and row where I'm giving the Scorps and F and the person they traded with an A plus, um, not all trades needed, need to be one or lost, right? Like there are some trades we're going to talk about that I think are even, um, or are good deals for both teams, even if they're not like perfectly even, um, they're definitely some of those trades that happen and those are my favorite kind of trades where you find two teams that work together to help, you know, two teams on, on different paths, um, achieve goals and like everyone wins. That's a great thing. This is not one of those trades. Um, so, so yeah, that is unfortunate. Um, for, for Jagatore, I think he's going to regret some of these moves, um, but we'll, we'll see what happens. My favorite kind of trade is Reath for Culver in a first look, Trevor, ooh, look, we don't need to get into other trades that have been reversed because of absolute shenanigans. Okay. We did that on the last bod. It's fine. Um, all right. So, we also had another deal that's kind of slid in under the radar that was kind of a low key deal before some other explosive deals happened. Um, and that was the Hurricanes, uh, Deacon traded a throwaway player Edwin Gilchison. And they're 20, 53 second round pick to the Scorps for Jorge Tomas, uh, who is the 75 center. Um, he is the second tallest player in the league behind, uh, the god himself, uh, who snows the blood of Englishman CZ top. So, uh, it's actually funny. If you, if you guys are looking for a great piece of content, um, as much as it kills me to plug my direct rival for the title of the season, go read the article that Deacon wrote for this trade. It is hysterical where he basically outlines the reason he did this was because ZZ top smells the blood of Englishman and is like this freak. And so he needed to find his own freak to guard the freak. Um, it's a really funny piece of content. So I hope you guys all read that and appreciated how good, how good that was. But to me, this just seems a little questionable. Um, I gave both teams a C for this trade because if you're the Scorps, you're competing for a playoff spot right now. You have tuna, you have GC three, you have an aging team, um, Tomas has been reasonably efficient and he's a seven five guy and you're in the West and you've got to play me. Why are we trading him? Like what, you know, what are we doing? Why? Why, why trade him? And if you're the Scorps, I, I understand the reasoning of trying to get a giant to guard the giant, uh, for a potential finals matchup. But here's the thing, ZZ scores most of his points from the three point line. I, I don't know if Tom, I mean, Tomas is pretty slow. I'm not sure if that's the best way to guard ZZ, uh, and also on top of that, the guy who he's probably going to steal minutes from Devon Walton, he's been playing really well. He's been actually more efficient offensively than Tomas. So I'm not sure why we felt the need to replace him necessarily. I think Devon Walton's been playing pretty darn well. So, um, I get it, you know, why and your article specified this that you went out to get him because he's a super tall guy that came matchup was easy and I'm sure that makes sense, you know, in terms of, of guarding post touches and rebounding, but ZZ spends a lot of time beyond the art. So, so I'm not sure, you know, if this Tomas trade makes a lot of sense, but I, I, I think you actually like this trade, Ryan. So tell me why, tell me why this is good. Yeah. So, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say, I think this guy is a difference maker for the hurricanes in the playoffs, um, because he's not, you know, he's not going to play a lot. Um, I think the first game and the sim that he played for the hurricanes, he played like six minutes in knowing how good the hurricanes are. They probably just blew somebody out by 55 points and he played the last six minutes of the game or something. You want me to tell you what happened? No. Cause it was against me. Oh, yeah. Go ahead. What happened? Yeah. He got hurt six minutes. Oh, he did. Oh, nice. Okay. Just trying to guard ZZ and ZZ said that's cute and then poked him in the eye, uh, and then I'm just kidding. No, he bruised his foot on something and it was a huge ass foot. So, you know, god only knows what he injured his foot on, uh, is he stepped on him Trevor? No, he did not. He did not step on him. That'd be pretty funny. Uh, he was playing fine. You know, he hit a three before, before he got subbed out. He was playing pretty well, but, um, and threes are not hit normally his game, by the way. He's a career 25% three point shooter. So let me tell you how much fun I had reading the play by play when that happened. I was like, what the fuck, um, but, but no, I mean, it's, he just never got a chance. So we still don't know what's going to happen with him, um, but if he's got this guy chucking threes, just like ZZ does, that's going to be pretty funny. Uh, and I hope that's what he does, because that's going to be great. Um, but yeah, I mean, I would assume he's probably going to get rotation minutes, you know, maybe 18 to 20 something like that, um, so, so yeah, he just didn't get a chance because he got hurt. So, yeah. So, we'll see, uh, you know, how it all goes down. But to me, the one nice thing about him is he's played in the playoffs before, um, so he does have some playoff experience. And then the best part of this deal for the hurricanes is they literally traded nothing for Tomas. So Gilkerson is an undrafted free agent that's on a one year deal for the minimum salary. And they traded their 53 second round pick, which is very likely going to be, um, way at the end of the draft, anyway, and the odds of a lottery ticket popping up at like 70 is very unlikely. So, yeah, I just, to me, the hurricanes, I don't mind giving them like a C plus, more like a B minus, because maybe something works out for them with this. But I think the scorpion side of this is an F because I don't know what you got out of this. I mean, you know, it's the same one as the one before. I just, I'm not sure what we're getting from this other than, um, you know, the other two seconds maybe are a little bit more of a lottery pick, or yeah, maybe you can find somebody that could turn into something. But yeah, I just, you know, to me, the hurricanes win the deal and I like the deal for them simply because they turned what to me are too worthless, basically assets into something for a guy that he was playing pretty well for, uh, scorpions and like 14 minutes of games. So, yeah, you know, you know, he's at least he's not going to be a negative probably for you if you put him on the floor. No, he's definitely not going to be a negative. I think he's fine. I just think Devon Walton was also playing really well. So I didn't understand the need for this move, but you're, yeah, I think it's, you know, maybe he's a little worried just because ZZ is so tall and those other guys are basically a foot shorter than him. So, you know, I mean, like, it's funny to think about, but his front line is 6 10 6 11 6 11. So, you know, ZZ being, uh, seven eight is basically a foot taller than all those dudes. So, you know, I kind of get it, maybe, uh, maybe he's thinking like that just the fact that you can put another, uh, seven foot nine inch wingspan in front of an eight foot wingspan, you know? Yeah, I think we just want to see two guys on the court at the same time that can dunk it without jumping. That's what we want. Yeah. And we want that in the, the, the JBL four finals. I mean, I'm down. I, I, I, I couldn't agree more. I want that in the JBL four finals as well. And I want to play by play to say that. I wanted to say ZZ top just dunked it over Tomas and he didn't even jump off the floor. I mean, it'd be, it'd be just as fine for me if I'm playing somebody else in the finals, just to be clear. Like, that's perfectly acceptable result, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think I think the hurricanes are an insanely strong team. Um, okay. I think you swayed me a little bit. I'm more okay with this deal for the scorps than I am for, I mean, the, the hurricanes than I am for the scorps because I think the scorps, you know, just why are we trading away a solid rotation piece when we're trying to compete for a, for a title and the West is weak. So yeah. And you're looking at what you're trading away and you're thinking to yourself, you know, Edwin's never going to play. I mean, we literally signed him because we had to sign a guy that was zero to four in experience because we needed like a $1.75 million salary to decide that this guy looked like he was, okay, like comes it on the bench, you know, and then the 53 second round pick is just, it's so far out in the future. And, you know, the best thing you can hope for as the scorpions with that pick is there's some needy team that financially is up against it. And in a couple of years, they're willing to trade you something back for the hurricane second, like your second, just because they need min salary deals for three years to be able to get their books in line. Yeah. So, you know, I just, it's just, it's like you're, you're hoping for something that you have to go find. And I just, to me, you know, they're basically worthless. Maybe in a couple of years, it looks okay, because you find something with it, but right now, I just don't see the point of the deal. I agree. All right. We beat up on the scorpions enough for a minute. We'll come back to it. Don't worry. Let's, let's talk about, let's talk about the Charlotte drones and the Detroit Mustangs. The Charlotte drones traded Geron Hyde and the Detroit Mustangs traded Adrian Schwartz, Henry Patterson, and two first round picks, they're 2050, and 2053, which I think is incredibly relevant. I understand wanting to shed salary, and Schwartz had a deal that was 18 and a half mill and it was for the next three years. So this year, and then 2015, 2021, Hyde's deal expires this season. I don't think Hyde is that much better of a player than Schwartz or Patterson, who were both getting minutes in your rotation that way. And I don't think that you want to be paying a guy long term that amount of money for a sixth man, because it's not going to start ahead of Alexic or Kessie, right? We know that. There's no way. That back court of word, Alexic and Kessie is locked in stone, like they're playing out of their minds, that's the best offense in Quattro, don't touch that offense, right? Like in my mind, I would just let them do their thing, because they are reigning threes at an unprecedented level. So I don't like this for a lot of reason. I don't like it because it shakes up your rotation, and your rotation has been playing incredibly well. I don't like it because you're giving away two firsts. And sure, this 2050 first is probably going to be like pick 34, right? But the other one is 2053, who knows what happens between now and then. And you're giving away two first rounders just to get rid of 18 and a half mill. I mean, this, I know for a fact, this trade was almost vetoed because of how lopsided it is. So, you know, I mean, this just seems like a massive overpay. It's not like you're trying to get rid of a 40 million contract for three years, right? You're not trying to get rid of a JCJ contract. It's 18 and a half million. And it's for three years. You guys getting playing time for you and he's playing reasonably well. So it's like, I just think this is a massive overpay. And do I like Jerome Hyde? Yeah. He's a good player. Is he two firsts better than Schwartz and Patterson? No, not even close. So, so I, yeah, I'm not a big fan of this one. I understand why he did it. He's trying to get off from one of that contract. I just don't think it matters enough to get rid of 18 mill to go up two first drum picks. Ryan, what do you think? Yeah, I mean, so I'll start off by saying, I think the drones get an A plus for this trade for sure. Yep. I mean, they're going nowhere. You know, you're trading a guy that's on the last year of his deal. So there's no control of this player after this season and you're, you're trading him for two first drum picks, which that's pretty good for almost anybody. And that's really good for Geron Hyde. So yeah, so I think the drone and actually then you had Deandre Patterson onto it too, who I think is not too bad looking at my player. I think you've gotten three really nice players or you're going to get three really nice players from those two picks and Patterson being on your team. I don't dislike it as much for the Mustangs as you do. You know, I do think Geron Hyde is an upgrade over what Schwartz or Patterson's going to bring in the playoffs for him. To me, it looks like they're just trying to push it all the way in right now and see what's going to happen. It's an interesting team in the future because of how their contracts lie and how some of their players are aging together. So I'll be interested to see how the Mustangs kind of work as they go through it. But you are right. I mean, to leverage the 53 pick when your books are literally clean, starting that year is a tough pill to swallow and you know, looking at that, I guess I didn't look at their financials as closely. Originally, I said it was like a B. I probably would give them like a C. You know, everything is going to, this trades value for them is what happens this year. I think Hyde is, he looks better defensively just in terms of what it's on paper. So I didn't dive a lot into that. I do think he brings the shooting and everything consistently in his career where I think he really fits in with what they're trying to do. Now whether or not I think he's the piece that gets them over the top, you know, I would say no for like 99% of teams, but just the way that they play in the style that they play in the potential variance that I could see them having in the playoffs. You know, that's a team where if they get hot and they're riding a wave of momentum, like they can just pour on so many points that they could, they could truly beat anybody. But I don't think it puts them in the hurricanes contender. You know, I don't think it puts them anywhere near them in general. So, so yeah. So I think the drones did fantastic with this trade, A plus and then the Mustang. You know, I give them like a C. I do agree that they're definitely overpaying and they're overpaying for for this season and to get off shorts for the future, but yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure if they're going to be able to reassign them either because the cap is going to be a concern for them because he's not the only guy they have to resign. They also have to resign, Alexic, who was part of that court trio that is absolutely destroying people. So, you know, I think that's the reason why they did this trade to me is let me, I got to pull them up here real quick. I mean, that was kind of the one thing I was thinking is that they were trying like they're going to get rid of a couple of these players at the end of it or like they don't really watch shorts. They want to start trying to retool it a little differently. And this is really the best way to do it for them because you know, they should, they're going to be able to keep Ward, Cassie, and Demetrius Burns. So that's a nice core three for them. Like I don't think they're going to fall off the map but I don't think they'll fall off the map by 2053, but that definitely has the potential for to be a lottery pick right there. And with so much uncertainty going into that, I think it's tough to part ways with it. And again, like you said, Geron hides not going to be a difference maker on the level of the hurricanes level. So yeah, so I like the aggressiveness by the Mustangs. I don't really love the deal, but great deal for the drones as they're looking to continue that rebuild. Yep. I had the Mustangs graded out as an F. I think you ended up saying C is where you're going to land. Yeah, I'm going to move down from what I was getting with that B. I do think that there's higher potential for that 53 pick to be a legitimate lottery pick than what I kind of anticipated. I mean, there's two factors that factor into whether or not this is a good trigger for the Mustangs. Is can you get yourself to a point where you can challenge the hurricanes for the, you know, to make it to the finals and, you know, how long does this build have? Because if it ends before 2053, then this trade looks a lot worse. So that's yeah, those are the those are the two things to keep in mind going forward to look retroactively at this deal for sure. Let's stick with the Mustangs. This is another small piece of business right after this deal was concluded. They traded their second round pick this season, which would have been, oh, no, I'm sorry, not theirs. The crusaders second, but the crusaders are also towards the top of the conference. So this is going to be a very late second that the crusaders are in fifth right now. And they have been climbing there on a tear. And they were the team in the finals from the East last season. So this is a very good team. I think that's going to be a very late second. So you're not really risking or losing much here. And they got Aiden Clark from the stone cutters. I need a rotation wing Clark is solid production, you know, for a min sale. I think he's a good option. I gave both teams a C here because I don't think the stone cutters really gained much in the second round pick. And the stone cutters are trying to compete right now. So again, just like we talked about before with the scorpions trading away to a Moss. Why are we trading away rotation piece on a min sale who is giving you good minutes for basically nothing. I don't understand if we're in competition mode, why we're doing that. And then for the Mustangs, you wouldn't have had to do this if you didn't trade away two of your wings in the first place. So I gave them a C, not because of this deal. If I'm grading this deal independently, it's probably an A because I don't think your second is worth anything when it's at the end of that second is worth anything when it's at the back of the round. But I think Aiden Clark is a good piece. I just think you have to take it into context. And they wouldn't they wouldn't need to make this trade if they didn't make the previous one. And overall give them a C, but if we're just talking about this trade in isolation, I think it's an A. I think it's a good grab. Yeah, so it's a necessary trade just because of the previous one. To me, actually, look at this the other way, Aiden Clark had dropped out of the rotation for the stone cutters. So he wasn't playing. I don't think the stone cutters have any shot this year of like winning the whole thing, that they've surprised me in terms of their stain power. It looks like they're definitely going to make the playoffs in this crusader second. While it's definitely going to be late, you know, it still has the opportunity to be in like the 60s somewhere and considering the fact that Aiden Clark's not playing or he was playing like one side of every five games for you towards the end before you traded him. You know, I think why not take a shot on a pick because the, let me bring up the stone cutters here because the stone cutters are going to start to have to pay some players, you know, in the future. So why not get a second round pick for three years at 1.75 and if it all works out for you, he turns into something pretty valuable. So yeah, you know, I don't mind it, I guess to me, Aiden Clark's totally out of the rotation, getting anything for him at that point in time is an A plus and it just kind of fell into your lap because Aiden Clark's probably not going anywhere if the Mustangs don't trade those two pieces for Geron Hyde. So, you know, to me, I think the stone cutters just kind of took it because it was something that was there and that he wasn't going to play for him anymore. That's fair enough. I don't understand why he's not getting at least some playing time. I mean, he's got a 50, 80 FG, 58% of the FG, I mean, he played well and if you look at his defensive ratings, he's a good defender and that's this team's weak spot. There's 17th in Quattro and defense and sixth and offense. So the scoring hasn't been a problem. I like his defensive ratings as a wing, but I mean, what are you going to do? So it's interesting. I didn't, I hadn't done like a real deep dive into the stone cutters and then I started looking at him and they're actually playing Kellen Lane who was on the Devils last year. He's kind of playing all those two minutes. So he took Clark's minutes, which was interesting to me because I didn't really see Kellen Lane as much of anything. So for him to be able to pop, especially when he's giving up some size to Clark, I thought that was a little surprising. But it's working for him, Zach's doing a great job. Again, a team that I thought looked like the Mustangs light has continued to shoot the ball really well. And they look like they're pretty much a shoe in, especially with some of the moves that took place here in the East. I think the stone cutters will definitely make the playoffs. And it's a, you know, it'll be a fun team to watch as they build because I really like Javana Mitch. So, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Javana Mitch is a freak of nature. Yeah. And to think that they got him at 22 in the doose at that last straights or at that last draft before ours. So yeah. Yeah. So I, you know, in terms of just how this all ended up working out, I don't mind it really for either side, I think Aiden Clark for a late second makes sense. And then, you know, the big thing is whether or not Jaron Hyde works out for him. So. Yeah. Yep. I agree. I think it'll be interesting to watch to see what happens to that stone cutters team. I mean, they're clinging to the last playoffs, bought in sixth. And the bullets and the stars are below them. And the bullets just got Richter and they obviously have Souter and Greenaway. So like, that's a strong team. I expect them to push up into the playoffs. And then the stars have this year's MVP, probably in Keon McCoy. And he is dragging that team into playoff contention. They're playing very well lately. So I am a little bit worried. I think the stone cutters might drop into the planes, which is where I predicted them to finish to start the season. They still have a lot of talent. They still have Reagan. They still have Javanovitch. They still have a lot of good players. But these other teams that are charging are like hitting their stride at just the right time. And that's a scary thing. And I'm not sure if there's much room for the teams ahead of them to drop because of how good those teams are. Their crusaders made the finals last year. The Viper's have fight for who's playing out of his mind. Now that he's healthy again. So they're charging. The Huskies have big rig as the most efficient offensive player in all of Quattro right now. And then we talk about the muskens in the hurricane. So I don't know these like the trimming to six is going to be like insane in the east. Whereas in the west, there are some teams that are like, yeah, I could trip and fall and land in the playoffs. It's fine. So the tale of two conferences for sure right now, that is, is a very different beast in the east. So I'm curious to see what happened to the stone cars. So you make a great point there. The east is crazy. I mean, just to even think about being 39 and 20 and having to worry about falling out of the, like actually having to worry about falling out of the planes is kind of crazy. But in the west, you know, if you're 39 and 20, you're in third place to, yeah, you're locked into a playoff spot and you're almost locked into home court advantage. Yeah. 100% right about the stars. I think the Nashville stars, you had them called right away and they're charging up. I mean, what did they start out as they were way, they were in like 15th or something to start the season because McCoy was over, they were like six or seven games under 500. I mean, they're playing like, they're like 20 games over 500, some games over 500 since he's come back. So, yeah, they're, I mean, that's, they're going to be a team that I think is going to definitely get into the top six when it's all said and done. I think the bullets, you know, you're going to have to take a little time to implement Richter even if he's that good. So maybe the stone cutters get a little bit there. I do think that they're a better team than the renegades and I also think they're a better team than pilots. And then I think what the giants moves. So I do think they'll get in, but yeah, they might be the eight seed and wouldn't that be something to see them play the hurricanes in the first round, especially with the way that they play? Absolutely. And it'll be interesting to watch. I'm glad you brought up Richter again. We've talked about it a couple of times already because Richter went through a journey at the trade deadline. He was traded twice. It was really kind of a three team deal, but it got processed in two separate traits. Because you were on the ground floor of those negotiations, because those two trades had to happen before you could do your trade. I want to give you some kind of room to talk about how this deal materialized and kind of what happened. Yeah, sure. So you know, just one thing before I go into this, it's just amazing to me looking at the east and those playoff matchups that are going to pop out of that. One versus eight, two versus seven, three, I mean, every single one of those is just going to be a slugfest, so it's going to be a lot of fun to watch that. Yeah, you know, the Skyhawks and the Giants and then the Skyhawks and the Bullets and all this, it kind of came up just by the Giants GM reaching out to me and asking what it would take to get his picks back. You know, initially, I said probably it wasn't going to happen because I didn't know he was going to trade Richter, I didn't know he was going to blow it all up. You know, I didn't necessarily see two pieces on his roster that were going to make a ton of sense. And it didn't look like he was wanting to trade his future picks because why are you trading those to me to get back these ones right now, like kind of what the thought process was. So initially, you know, it didn't seem like it was going to work out like he didn't have the assets to give me something that I would want. And then he, you know, he told me that he was basically looking to blow it up or at least to start the process because the East is just so loaded and you know, I don't blame him. When he first said it to me, I thought to myself, wow, because I think the Giants are actually a lot better than where their current standing is. I agree. You know, I've said this since we started doing the pods. When I took over the Devils, you know, we had some nice draft picks. We had two and 50 and then two and 51 and the second pick was the Giants pick. So initially, I was like, okay, let's go look at the Giants roster and then you start looking at and you're like, oh shit, like these picks, they're not going to be that good because this is a pretty good team and you know, when you look at them and they're sitting like fifth or sixth in net rating in the East, you know, they've played way better than their record. You know, it's a team that to me looks like they were poised to make a run. I was hoping and praying that they were going to sit in the planes and then maybe make it or drop out into the lottery, but you know, at that point in time, I'm just praying for it to happen because there's way too much talent for them to really be playing that type of basketball. So you know, when he said he wants to blow it up, he's the one that controls everything, you know, he's the guy that has to make the moves to blow it up. So we just kind of started talking of what it would take and who he was talking to to see what they had that maybe I would want. And the team that really popped up in the discussions was the Skyhawks. You know, a young team playing pretty well in the West for considering their youth, not a great record, but in the West in order to make the planes, you don't need to have a great record. So a team that, you know, is looking at it as, hey, maybe we can make a push into the playoffs and get these guys some time there. And so I started looking around and, you know, to me, it's I'm trying to recoup what I consider to be the value of the two giants picks. So if he doesn't blow it up, to me, the 50 giants pick at the very best is, you know, the last pick in the lottery. That's pretty much where it would end up. So the odds of winning the lottery are pretty much zero. You're looking at getting picked 19 or 20. So, you know, what can I find as an asset that's 19 or 20? And again, that's best case scenario. It's likely he's going to make the playoffs, in my opinion, and it's going to end up as like 26 or something like that. So I want to piece that to me is worth, you know, more than the 26th pick in the next draft. And so, you know, that's kind of when I looked at Bureau or Bureau or whatever his last name is. And you know, you and I had some chats about him. I had to kind of warm up to him a little bit. He's got some flaws. But when you look at it as, you know, what's a mid 20s pick worth? He's definitely a young guy that's worth taking a shot at. And then, you know, the real stickiering point for me was I wanted to recoup that 51 pick. So I wanted to get something that was similar to the giants pick where I thought, maybe it could fall in the lottery, but maybe it won't. And when he said he had a deal working with the Skyhawks, you know, that looked like a good one to me. Now, I was wondering what the Skyhawks were going to do. So, you know, obviously, we started chatting about all this and basically, they had worked out what was more or less a three way deal. I don't think they submitted it like that to commission, but like he got Austin back for Richter, which I'm thinking, okay, that makes sense, but he's also a little younger. So if these pieces kind of take some time to coalesce and, you know, gain cohesion and maybe they don't fit exactly perfectly right away, you know, that 51 picks got some value. And to me, it fell similarly to the giants. So that was kind of what I told him I wanted back. You know, I think Joe went and drove a hard bargain with the Skyhawks to get what he got. And I think he got a haul, you know, so kudos to that. And then I don't think the Skyhawks got enough back from the bullets, but I think everybody got what they wanted for their build in the future. You know, the Skyhawks have a group of players now that are the same age and he's got a lot of pieces fitting in there that you want to find, you know, in terms of like those guys on the wings that can score and he's got Austin and Austin was all star in prime. So, you know, he's a great player in four or two. So it makes more sense than Richter in terms of timeline. You know, but I think they give up a lot of value with Bonsu being the guy that they just drafted this year. And then those two first round picks, you know, it's more than likely that that 50 pick that's going back is going to be a lottery pick. And then, you know, 51 has a shot at it too. So a couple of lottery picks. Just real quick for the listeners to give a breakdown of these traders that we're talking about. So the first trade that went through was between the Skyhawks and the Giants and the Skyhawks traded Bonsu, three players that don't matter. The 2050 first for the Skyhawks and the 2051 first for the Skyhawks to the Giants for Richter and the Giants second in 2052. That pick probably going to end up being pretty good in the second round. It's like that's a solid second rounder because the Giants are imploding. But you basically traded Bonsu, who is your number seven overall pick, I think, this off season. So your first draft pick and your next two firsts for Richter. And then they immediately flipped Richter to the Bullets, which makes a ton of sense for the Bullets because they need a center next to Souter and they currently have are playing 6-9 Echech Austin, who is a power forward and should be playing power forward at center. So it's a great deal for the Bullets. They traded Austin, Germain Clark, and then three second round picks of their own, which are going to be very late seconds. So aren't really even worth talking about that much because they're going to be super late to the Skyhawks for Richter. So the Skyhawks, in essence, flipped Bonsu, three players that don't matter. And two firsts for Austin, Germain Clark, who isn't relevant because he's old and is not going to be part of this build, and four seconds. So we took Bonsu and two firsts, your two firsts, and you're still rebuilding. So like you mentioned, probably lottery picks for Austin and four seconds. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Yes, I am. I'm very sure how I feel about that. Trevor, I know you're listening. I'm sorry. I hate this deal. I understand that you needed to get younger, and I understand that Austin fits your timeline. I do. I think Richter is great. And I think that the giants and the Bullets could have worked out their own deal and figured it out without you giving up a bunch of your picks in the middle. Or you could have just worked with the Bullets to get Austin another way. But giving up your next two firsts, when you've picked up another young player who is good, you only have, I mean, I would say tentatively, you probably have three pieces right now. You know, in terms of what's going to stick long term for this build. So I don't think you're there yet. I mean, obviously, you know, your LCJ is the future star, and Jerrica is a future star. And now you have Austin. But beyond those three players, I don't know if anybody else in this roster is still there, to be honest. They might be. You know, you might find some value out of Kendrick's or out of Petrovich or out of Porter, who knows. You've only got three guys that I think are, you know, going to stick on this build for trying to compete for a championship in a few years. So if you're in that spot and you need two more pieces, at least, and you're giving up your next two firsts round picks, I don't know how I feel about that. That's, that's, Trevor's doesn't chat, fuck them picks. I mean, that's fine. You can. We'll see how it works out for you. I think Austin, LCJ and Jerrica are a great, you know, start for, for a core three. But yeah, I don't, I don't know, I don't know, I just don't think we're quite there yet. Maybe you can make some moves in for agency and get there. You know, that's certainly a possibility. But you gave up a lot for you, Shack Austin. So Austin has to be worth it, basically, is the summary here because you basically gave up a top 10 pick in Bonsu. He was number seven overall and two lottery firsts. Who knows whether they're going to fall, but probably run the lottery for Austin and some seconds that aren't going to matter. So it's like, you know, Austin has to be real good for that to work out. So that's, that's kind of like how the whole thing shifted. I gave the Giants in a plus for getting that much value out of Richter. They got Bonsu and two lottery firsts. The Giants made out like absolute bandits. This could not have gone any better for the Giants. The Giants should be doing a backflip. I know they're still stuck with the Lion King and this Aryan and they couldn't get a deal to get those guys out to complete the blow up. But still, this is a great start, super happy for the Giants. This is a great deal for them. I gave the Skyhawks an F for the first trade and a D for the second trade because I think the Austin deal, the Austin for Richter part in its own kind of dease, like Austin and three seconds for Richter. That's pretty good. That's actually, you know, you did okay. But the amount that you traded away to get Richter before you moved him on, that's questionable. So I could absolutely eat my words in three seasons. If Austin becomes, you know, all JBL, I just don't know how I feel about, you know, how I feel about all of this, this early young draft capital or players going for Austin. Like we're just putting a lot of, a lot of our chips on Austin. That's, and that's kind of scary, you know, that's, that's kind of scary to do. So we'll, we'll see how that works out. But yeah. And then, and then this transitioned into two deals that you made in quick, you know, quick succession after each other, one of which depended on this deal getting done. Like you mentioned, because you needed that 2051 skyhawks first to end up in the hands of the giants so that you could trade with the giants. So talk us through, well, I guess you kind of already have, but so you got the, the giants first in 2015, 21, going back to the giants, obviously really important for them to get their own picks back if they're going to rebuild and blow it up. And then you got the 2051 skyhawks first, that was part of that deal. And you got Demoncus Biro. And you mentioned that we chatted about Biro a decent amount. We bet we did. I am very high on Demoncus Biro. I love Demoncus Biro. So if it, if he flames out for you, you can partially blame that on me because I know that I was definitely in your ear saying, I love Biro. You should get Biro. Biro is great. This is a great trade for you. Get Biro. So if this doesn't work out, you know, I will totally do a make up 100% but Biro is one of those colluder guys with 6/10 length and a 7/2 wingspan that as a 3 just provides you even if his offense is bid with an incredible defensive profile. And to combine that, 17 pick and roll already, 17/3 point shooting already and he's 23 years old. So I have a pretty good feeling about how I think Biro is going to turn out. I think if you can get him to stop trying to secondary create and play off ball, I think you are going to have a very, very good time with Biro. And I think that will come with, you know, with time figuring out line ups and figuring out how to do that. But yeah, he is, he's a freak defensively. And you have to have one of those in your build, especially if like you are Ryan trying to build around Bryce Ham as an offensive weapon, somebody's got to cover that defensive black hole. And I think Biro does a great job. So Ryan, it's were a couple days removed from the trade now. How are you feeling? Yeah, no, I mean, I liked it from the start. You know, I never had the ability to hold these Giants picks while he was going to blow it up. You know, he was never going to trade Richter if I wasn't going to trade him those picks. Yep. So, you know, I could have been an asshole and let him trade Richter. He's still got a hell of a hell of a hell for it. If you would have let him trade Richter had an agreement and then just been like, oops, never mind. That would have been insane. Yeah, he actually would have made out fine just making that deal with Skyhawks. Yeah. But, you know, he did a great job to get. So he got Bonsu, which you just said was a number seven pick. And then he got the 2050 Skyhawks first, which he's going to keep. That's going to be a lottery pick. Yep. So that has an opportunity to be the number one pick. So he got Bonsu Skyhawks first. He got his own first back, which now is most likely also going to fall into the late lottery. Yep. Also have a shot at being the number one pick. And we'll probably be even better lottery pick in 2021 because he's going to continue to tear it down. And then in 2021, he's probably going to have, you know, depending on how much he actually tears it down, he's probably going to have a pick that's in the lottery because the east is so good. He's not going to be able to make the playoffs, but he's going to be like 12 to 16. But still, that's a lot of chances to win the lottery. So, you know, I mean, he made out with two lottery picks, I think, this year. And then a lottery pick next year on top of, and then he only traded Richter in that second. So I mean, I think considering where he is, and only trading one piece of his build, that's a pretty nice, pretty nice return right there because three lottery picks, you know, it gives you the opportunity to win the lottery, and that's really what you want, you know, you need to, you need to, and those picks with the uncertainty of where they're going to end up being, they can carry even more value or less value, you know, depending on how things look at any given time. So if the giants next year start off horribly, well, you know, now his picks look amazing. And maybe he can actually trade on the fly and jump right back into something. So yeah, he did a great job. You know, the skyhawks, I'm not going to hate on it too much. I do think you traded away two lottery picks. So, you know, you want to do your own build, do your own build. I don't think you got anywhere near the value that you could have. To me, a deal that would have made sense for the skyhawks would have been Bonsu, those three players, and then their 51 pick because, you know, I don't know how much he knew about them blowing it up and stuff, but, and I don't know how much of a market there was for Richter. You know, the bullets didn't have enough ammunition to get Richter directly from the giants because he had brought the bullets first round pick to me. And I said, no way, you know, like, I don't want to late first round pick, that's a guarantee. So he was forced to go back and work with the skyhawks. Yeah. And the giants, we're not interested in Austin. So, and that's, that's the other part of it. So on the bullets can't even move the first Trevor saying so. Yeah. But I would never have been interested in that one anyway. You know, to me, either you give away the two picks for Richter, or you give away Bonsu and one of them, but you don't give away both. Yeah. And that's, and that's why out of this, out of all of these shenanigans, do you want to know who won the, the trade between the giants and, and your devils, right? Well, the giants won that trade between the giants and the devils, your trade. Oh, oh, just the trade between the two of us. Just just you two. Yeah. I think that's a pretty even trade. Yeah. You both won. This is the rare A for both sides trade, because the giants had to get their own picks back. They're blown it up and you had their picks and you knew that you weren't going to get full of value for them if you held them because you wouldn't blow it up and you knew that this was the only time you were going to be able to get good value out of them. So you flipped them into that skyhawks first and bureau. So I think both of you made out like bandits. I think the big losers here are the skyhawks, sorry, Trevor, because you give up too much value. You're not working out because Austin still could turn into an absolute stud. And I do think that L.C.J. and Jerecker are both freaking great pieces. So this could all end up working out anyway, but like Ryan said, I think you just gave up more value than you had to or than you needed to or maybe you were being extorted. You know, I don't know what happened, but I just feel like that's too, it was an overpay. I don't mind like the direction that you're going and what you're trying to accomplish. I just wish you still had some more assets left so that you can make some more moves. And I think the bullets made out just fine, you know, I gave them a B for their involvement in this whole cluster of trades because they had to do something. They have a great team. They have Briggs. They have Souter, you know, they're contending in that impossible to win East right now. And they didn't have a center. They were playing Austin at center and that's not going to work. And they were playing Souter a little bit at center and that didn't work either because both of those guys are really need to be played at the four. So great move from the bullets recognizing that as a team building weakness, you know, getting their center. And I think Richter is a fantastic choice, you know, he's a mobile, he's tall, he's going to do all the things that you want him to do in the pick and roll. He's a great player. So I think that was a really good pick up for them. And I think the bullets are definitely scary as long as there's not a really bad adjustment period and he doesn't have trouble settling into the team. That's a great player and he fits like a glove into what that team is trying to do. So I think it's a great pick up for the bullets. So yeah, I think, I mean, everybody at the end of the day is kind of okay within this cluster of trades. I just, I just wish the sky oxygen that to give up so much. Yeah. I mean, so to me, I say, if I was going to grade this and I am part of it myself, I'm going to give myself an A plus because I did a good piece of business on both of them. I got a little bit more value out of my 51 pick, I think, with the Skyhawks pick versus the Giants pick, if they were all in. And I think Bureau is a little bit better than a mid 20s 50 pick, even if I have to pay him because I have so much salary cap room. It doesn't matter. He's a restrictive free agent. I can't lose him. I can match any deal. So he's a guarantee to be on my team for a little bit. So I, you know, I'm giving myself an A plus. The Giants I'm going to give an A plus plus to or an A plus plus plus plus, however many pluses you want to put on there, I think he did a great job. He got a lottery pick and bonds who he got three draft picks back or from the Skyhawks that are going to be in the lottery. And he got that for Richter. So that's basically four lottery pieces for Marcel Richter. I think that's as good as you could possibly do. Yeah. Richter and Bureau. Yeah. Yep. And so, you know, oh, yeah, sorry. Then he had to trade Bureau too. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, yeah, two pieces to the build still enough where, you know, he's lost enough that he's going to take a step back. The Skyhawks, I would give them like a D plus because Austin is really good. So out of all of the players involved in this deal and all of the picks that will be turned into players, he could end up being the best player out of all of them. So if that's what ends up happening, you know, what Trevor won the deal. And it doesn't matter probably to him. So, you know, good for you because you know what, you already got two wings and you got a nice looking team. So if he turns into that stud, maybe he pushes you up and over the top and you can tell us all how wrong we were while you hoist your second and third championships in a row. That's going to be a beautiful day. But I think right now, you know, we'll give you a D plus because I want to give you a D plus. All right. And then for the bullets, I agree with you. I give them a B. I mean, I think they needed to find a piece to push in. I don't know if it takes them all the way, but they had to do it because they have the pieces right now. And in Richter, someone that's going to age into this with them. So it's not just a one year shot, they're going to get a couple of looks at it. So yeah, so yeah, good for them. Yeah. What is that timeline, I mean, Soudre's 29, Richter's 29, Coleman's 29, I mean, you know, you've got the Venezuelos, you want to your rotation wing. So I'm a big fan of is 29, John Ford is 30. I mean, you know, Nicholas Harris is 30. You got this clump of guys that's on the same timeline. So that that's certainly a good thing. And then you have Briggs Greenway carrying up the, you know, the volume shooter role at 22 who doesn't necessarily fit your timeline, but it's Briggs Greenway. So you're not getting rid of him. So that, you know, that's, that's perfectly fine. You know, I like the roster that these bullets have assembled. It looked a lot different to start the year. I mean, if you look back on how different this team looked, now it's got Soudre and Richter in the paint. This is a very different look in team, you know, than the team that he started with. And time will tell if it pays off and he wins a title or not. But I think he's put together a really good roster and a really good bill. So, you know, I'm not sure if he's going to be able to go all the way or not. But he is, he's put himself with the fighting chance of winning a title. And I think that's what you want to do, especially when a couple of your core pieces are older. So, so yeah, good piece of, and he only traded those second round picks. So yeah, I mean, you know, to me, you're giving up a piece that, yeah, he's an outstanding prospect for the future, but your time is right now and you're finding a guy that fits into that. Right, you know, you got to do it. He's doing the best that he can. And I think he's got a good team. There's a lot of good teams in the East, I guess the question is, does this make him a great team on the same level as the Hurricanes? And that's to be seen. Yeah. Well, we'll wait and see. I, if that playoff series happens, I cannot wait to watch it. I am going to watch so many of the play by plays of these playoff series. It's going to be disgusting because the every series, like you mentioned in the East, it's going to be ridiculous. Like you're going to have home court and in the first round of the playoffs, be playing a team that has like MVP, Keon McCoy on it or, you know, playing a team that has Deon Souter and Richter on it. Like these playoff matchups are going to be so ridiculous. So yeah, I'm stoked. The West, maybe not as many I'll watch play by playoff, but, you know, for the East, when the playoff start, I'm going to spend like four hours watching games because it's just going to be so crazy. Good. The East is going to be must, must watch Sims. I cannot wait. Okay. There's one more deal that you made and before you get into it, I want to give a preface. I had been very effusive with first criticism for the drones GM for his deal to get Machie in preseason because I did not think that that was a good idea. So I was pretty critical of saying askle in the preseason for getting Machie. And I was effusive with praise for the deals that he made first to get rid of Machie, but then a couple other deals that he has made that has really extracted value and gotten a ton of assets back. He has done a phenomenal job of accumulating picks and assets and kind of, you know, turning that, that mistaken trade in preseason to get Machie into a treasure trove of picks. I mean, he has four first round picks, you know, in the upcoming draft. Now, two of those are the Mustangs and the Bullets and the other two. So those are going to be like, you know, in the thirties and then the other two are tritons and renegades who are pushing in and trying to win. So those are probably going to be, you know, teens, but still, you got four first rounders back, you know, you've done a great job of accumulating assets. So I want to be very clear about that and your earlier trade to get rid of Geron Hyde and to get a couple of firsts from the Mustangs, great piece of business. So you have just been pumping out Banger after Banger. I wanted to say all of that because I don't understand this trade at all. I don't understand this so, so you are 18 that is blowing it up. You are rebuilding and so your main objective is asset accumulation. That's it. You want to accumulate as many assets as possible. Do you care about salary? No, you don't, you really don't give a crap because you don't even have any players on your roster yet that are going to be part of this rebuild. You don't care about development money or any of that stuff yet. And yet, you traded with the devils who are also in the same mode that you are of trying to accumulate assets. You traded Josh Vickery to get out from under his contract and the devils were like, let me scoop that contract up because don't care about salary and you got to hit the floor anyway. Plus, he's probably going to be a pretty good mentor for operating system. Now that I think about it, I like this trade even more because Vickery will just be over operating system shoulder going, yeah, chuck it, shoot it, shoot it, chuck it. So you love that. But you got, you basically traded Vickery to get out from under his salary and it's a sizeable salary. I'm not questioning that. I just don't think you care at this stage in the game. And a 2021 Triton's first which looks worse after we found out that Triton's pushed in for JCJ. We'll get to that trade later. So I'm going to lower, I had you grade it as a D. I'm going to change that to a C now. If you knew that the Tritons were going off to JCJ ahead of time, then definitely a C because you knew the Tritons were going all in. And that's going to be the bill for at least two seasons. So the 21 Triton's first is probably not going to be great and the Triton's playing the West. So they're probably going to skate into the playoffs. So I don't think this is a huge deal actually now that I'm reevaluating it in my head. But you're still trading away at first for a second at the end of the day to unload some salary. That's what you're doing. A little second. Going to be top of the second round. Yes. Is that first going to be mid to late? Yes. But it's still a down grade of an asset. And I don't think we, I mean, good ridges just to throw away. He's going to get dropped in the end of the season, right? So I don't understand why we felt the need to get out from under vicarious salary because we don't care about salary right now. It just doesn't matter. But yeah, that in particular is what I find interesting. And I think this is like a solid B, maybe even an A for you, Ryan, because you upgraded an asset and took on salary. And that's your plan all along. You know, so I think a great piece of business there. I'm just not 100% sure why the drones decided we had to get away from vicarious right now. And lose an asset for it. Because I just don't, if it were me, I wouldn't give a crack about his salary. Because I'm not trying to sign more, you know, people so it wouldn't matter. Maybe I'm missing something. And that's perfectly fine. I don't know. Ryan, did you get some background? This is your trade. This is your deal. Do you know why he did this? So I initially I actually approached him about a different player. And he came back and was asking if I had any interest in vicarious salary. And then, you know, obviously I did because I knew I could get some for it and I had good ridge to match. So, you know, I told him, yeah, sure. You know, we, we discussed some things. He didn't want to just give like a straight up first for it. Initially I asked for like the bullets 50 first to basically take vicarious salary on. And so he said no to that, but we talked a little bit. We ended up dropping the player that I initially wanted, which at the time I felt okay about because I thought this triton's pick might potentially have some lottery potential. Unfortunately, now I don't think it does, you know, maybe something happens and it does. But I doubt it. The tritons look like they'll at least make the playoffs in the West. Yeah. I do think it'll be a pick that ends up in the early 20s just because the East is so good and their records are so much better that, you know, the picks number 20 through like 24 or going to be the bottom West teams. So you know, in my mind, the way I looked at this was in the way I explained it to him when I was pitching the deal, he's going to get my second in 51, which let's just say, for an estimation, is going to end up being like 42. Sure. You know, and then his 51 tritons pick, like I said at the time, you're basically looking at anything from like 15 to 25. So you're dumping that salary on me and you're losing 17 spots, give or take to 27 spots. So, you know, to me, that's why I wanted to do it. It's going to give me a chance to pick a player that I, for sure, I'm going to get now that I, if I would have wanted them in the second round. And then the most valuable piece for me is the fourth year of the deal because I'm hoping to try to accelerate some things a little bit if I get lucky in the lottery. And then, you know, having those cost-controlled rookie deals, especially if that player is going to be something for you, you know, that's a, that's a big piece of it as you kind of move a few pieces into different spots. And then, you know, you hope that that piece explodes and then now I'm resigning that guy for 25 million while I'm trading away this aging veteran who's made a 25 million. So you know, that's kind of my thought process in terms of why I wanted to move up. Obviously, at the time, I thought the tritons pick was going to be a little bit better. Now it just looks to me like it's going to be a 20-ish-type pick. So I still like it for myself because I get the extra year of salary and then I get that pick. And then, you know, for him, I assume he probably wanted to try to have a little bit of room to make some moves in the off-season and moving that salary. He didn't end up parting ways with Raul Lazano is who I was initially looking for. Just trying to add some size on the wing and he was, he wasn't playing for him. And then I figured, you know, I could give him a shot in Atlanta for a second. So that was kind of what we ended up with. You know, you'd have to ask him specifically why he decided to do it. But yeah, for me, it was just to get a guarantee of a fourth year for that salary and then I move up, you know, what it is at least 15 picks. So. So he added a comment and chat that basically says that he has enough talent on the team to still win some games. And so one of the reasons he wanted to trade Vickery away was to help him tank. Yeah. Sure. And I can agree to that to some degree. It doesn't help you at all this year because you don't have your first, but you do have your first from 2021. So all right. I can see that. Okay. Okay. So let's say that Vickery being gone, you know, accelerates you and gives you, let's say five to six more losses. I don't know what is when shares would have been, but I still think Vickery is having a veteran like that as always a good thing. So if he saves you a few losses, you get a few more lottery balls. Maybe your pick is fourth instead of seventh or something like that is that kind of increase worth dropping from, you know, 25th to 42nd or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I would. Okay. So all right. Okay. Yeah. So you know, in the end, it works out for both of us. It does. I had this as a devil's B drones B, er, sorry, devil's B drone C. I'm still going to leave it at drone C until I see, you know, kind of how the rest of the rebuild blow up works. If you're able to totally suck and make that 21 first, you know, a top end lottery pick, I think you'll probably get there. So, you know, Brian, I know that you can't bench him, but you can't have him come off the bench and play, you know, 60 minutes a game or whatever. You don't, you don't have to start him, especially if he's behind a rookie, which is what's going to happen on the devils is he's going to play behind Oscar Salatia is going to play behind operating system. So, yeah, he's got to play at least, I don't know, 60 minutes a game, probably 20 minutes a game, Brian. That's the rule. Okay. There you go. 20 minutes a game. Yeah. It is. He can play a little time at the two and, you know, four minute block at the two with Oscar and he can actually, he can play a little Oscar plays of the two and get some of those sweet veteran XV minutes. Yeah, yeah. Right. Switch him off there. But yeah, I mean, you know, actually watching Vickery play a little bit in the Sims, it was kind of like, oh, this is what it's like to have a good player on your team. You know, he's still got a little, he's not what he was, but he's not too bad. So, you know, you, it's kind of funny just because he is, he's definitely more talented right now than the most of my roster. Oh, for sure, but here's the thing. I think you have three guys that are going to get there. I think, Dan Lee, Biro and OS are a frickin' awesome core. And if I wasn't, if I didn't have like either the predators or the hurricanes, I would probably want your team. Your team are the Thunder just because the Thunder have 47 draft picks still. I don't know how that's possible, but they have more draft picks than you can shake a stick at. Yeah. And they're good ones too. They are. So, yeah. Those are the two rebounds. You guys, because you had kind of a blank slate with Dan Lee and I think what you've done with it is awesome. And I like Ficago as well. So, you know, I like a lot of your players, but no, yeah, super stoked. Excited to see that stuff. Okay. I've circled all the way back around. Thank you for clarifying in San Ascle. I really appreciate it. I always like seeing an insight into what you guys are thinking when you're doing moves. Because sometimes you think of things I don't even think about. And I'm like, ooh, and I'm going to pocket that. I remember that for later, for when I rebuild. And I blow this team up in, you know, four to five seasons. So let's circle all the way back to the Scorps and to St.J. La Cruz. And the Scorps, after their previous deal for La Cruz, because they wanted to get JCJ, that deal was rejected. So what the Scorps did is they instead traded St.J. La Cruz to the Denver Dragons. And they got from the Dragons, Irvin Reinhardt, who is, you know, okay. But they got the 2021 Vultures first and the 2052 Dragons first. I like both of those picks. I think the Scorps got better value here than they did with the trade with the Knights. And I think if you have made the decision that you do not want St.J. La Cruz on your roster. And he is inhibiting your chances to win, which I think is a bold statement, but I certainly understand it like we talked about earlier. We get the frustration of watching him chuck threes and miss. If you make that choice, you got pretty solid value. The Vultures are in a rebuild. The Dragons are in a rebuild. You know, the Dragons are literally at the very start of their rebuild with guys like, you know, Fort. So I think, you know, this is a great place to be trading La Cruz and getting those two first round picks that I think are going to be good lottery picks. However, it adds an element of spice. This is in my opinion the most fun trade because I don't know how to grade. I gave the Scorps like a C because like we don't know what's going on here in terms of where these picks are going to fall. But they got good value. The C is because I don't think they should have traded La Cruz. But I think they got good value, especially with all of the publicity around the fact that you didn't want him anymore, you still got pretty good value. But I don't know where to give the Dragons an A or an F here. I think it's one of the two because you have to because yeah, free agency is going to be insane. Like C.J. is either going to resign in Denver, the 17th place team in the last or he's going to walk. And if he walks, you just traded two lottery firsts and that 20 52 dragons just became real juicy because your build just got set back. So if C.J. signs, this trades like an A because I still think C.J. La Cruz is a good player. He's a reigning MVP. You can help him figure it out. You can train 100% shoot less threes. You can train 100% shooting in the you can pick a direction and you can go. You can figure this out. C.J. La Cruz, he draws so many vowels that in the right build, he can be completely insane again. And he's a great facilitator for his teammates. So I think he's still got some value. So if you can resign him somehow and keep him in the mountains, keep him out, you know, mile hive, whatever stated, I'm assuming it's some sort of plan words for that. Then you got an A because you traded two lottery picks for an MVP caliber player. That is insane value. But if he doesn't resign, it's an F because you gave away two firsts for nothing. So if I'm the scorer, if I'm Jagatore, I'm sitting there, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I've got like a Ouija board and I'm having a say on and I'm, I'm making a shrine and I'm doing all these things, hoping that C.J. doesn't resign because then that 22 dragons first becomes incredible. But yeah, this is such a ballsy move from the dragons. I'm so excited to see what happens free agency's going to be nuts because I mean, think about how many teams, the only reason I won't offer an XLE is because I already have bell. There's like 30 teams that could offer, you know, a max deal or an XLE to see the other crews if he tests like, could you imagine how many offers this guy is going to get? It's going to be nuts. What do you think, Ryan? Yeah, I think this is a trade that it probably never happens if we're not in the first season because I don't think, you know, I think knowing that he's unlikely to resign or at least he's unlikely to want to play for a team that's losing so badly because I think I'm going to pull up C.J. on the cruise here real quick. His contract, by the way, we got the data because he posted it in chat says he is 45% likely to stay after he has the roster. And so his personality traits when you look at him is the play for winner trade. So when I was making my trades, I always went and looked at their personality traits because I wanted to make sure if I wasn't signing somebody that was like a restrictive free agent that I was going to have a shot at him. And so his play for winners win at all costs. So I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to hit the market in that the dragons are not going to have any shot at getting them back. And unfortunately, I think Blake mentioned that this was, there was a similar occurrence to this with Rayner, he got traded to the Bullets and then they actually made the playoffs. If I remember what Blake, etc., they made the playoffs and then he signed with Kansas City or somebody. So C.J. on the cruise is going to be somewhere and it's not going to be Las Vegas and it's not going to be Denver. I mean, I don't know. Part of his reform, just because of the absolute stones to make history winner, play for winner is win at all costs. Yeah. He can offer him the max, he can offer him the max, he's not going to sign on day one. There's going to be a team out there that is going to need him and they're going to offer the XLE and they're going to give it to him and because that can take you up to the $150 million limit, that's not even to the 135. Yeah. So there's going to be tons of teams that are capable of working the math out if they want to do it to fit him in and you don't have to give up any sort of a pick or anything to do. Yeah. The only top teams that are like out of these sweepstakes are me because advantage of Bell and the Mustangs because of Kaden Ward. The other top teams, I mean, the Hurricanes, if they could figure it out salary wise, I can see it. From his 30, he's not getting any younger, you know, they could pick up CG of the crews and put him next to that insane team. The Huskies, the Viper's could pair him with the fight for, I mean, the Crusaders are probably out because they have MDL, so they don't want him. The stone cutters, the bullets, could put him next to Briggs Green away. The stars are out because of McCoy and McCoy is the MVP, so that's not going to happen. They renegades are out because of Kavanaugh, so out of all the top teams in the East, you know, like that's more than half of them are interested. Then on the West, I would say everybody but me, the, if the Jax can get off of Blackman's contract, they should be interested. The Tritons have DPJ, so they're probably not interested. Fireballs, lightning, blizzards, Jaguars, all could be interested. I mean, like, this is a who's who of, you know, the Calaveras are starting a rebuild. They could, I mean, even the rebuilding teams are going to be putting, I don't think they have as good of a chance because he's not going to want to go to those teams. But look at all the competitive teams that, that could use C.J. LeCruz. I mean, there's going to be a bidding war for sure. Right. Here's the team, here's the team to watch for C.J. LeCruz next year, assuming they can make the playoffs this year is the Indiana stone cutters because they have Darius Blackwell on a team option. If they wanted to, they could go sign C.J. LeCruz and now you got a guy that's on the last year of his rookie deal that's got some value that you can flip for some assets. And, you know, I mean, that's a team that can fit a man just looking at everything. Yeah. Yeah. He's getting upgraded, Blackwell. Yeah. Right. And just thinking about him, Giovanna Vitch, Santos, Rainer together, I mean, there's a, you know, but he's not going to play for Denver. I will, I will be wrong on that. And you can create a meme of the dragon lighting me on fire and turning me to ash because what's Denver's record? They're like the second worst team. Aren't they like the, aren't they the second worst team behind you, only I'm, only I'm worse than them, I think. Yeah. No, sorry. No, the walls. Cooler. Yeah. So, yeah. They're 13 and 47. He's win at all costs. They could win every single game for the rest of the season. And he wouldn't resign in Denver. Yikes. Okay. Well, there we have it. Did the dragons light to lottery picks on fire, only time will tell. Right. And that's the thing they did. Oh, that I mean, what is, I like the dragons too. That does hurt. That hurts a lot because, I mean, man, I mean, his team is, I like it a lot. Quantez Franklin. And maybe, maybe him and for it, save it, and it's not like super good, but, I mean, yeah, that sucks. Yeah. I mean, I like a couple of his pieces. I mean, obviously, I like, you know, I like Franklin, and I like for it, but this, this would hurt. I like Ruben Smith. You know, he's still not playing DuBar. Why don't you trade me Gordo DuBar? You should have DMed him. The deadline's passed. What's going on? All right. Let's move on. We've talked a lot about the squarps today. And I don't want Jagatore to feel like we're ganging up on him. So, you know, you know, hey, that was a deal. That was a good deal. In terms of the deals that you made, yeah, that is going to be, that's a good deal. And maybe you actually can reassign him, I don't know. Wouldn't that be ridiculous? If the crew is hilarious, he would, it's what he has good relationships with Tuna and JC Green. Yeah. Strong relationships. How funny would that be if he just resigned with the squarps after, oh my God. I traded you to him for, I traded him to a 15 win team for 25 games. So he would come back on his knees, begging us to resign him. I didn't know how bad it was on the other side. I wonder if there's a rule actually against being able to resign a player. There's probably something. Yeah. I don't know. But, but that says not all the engine works. He's going to hate them forever. Okay. That's fair enough. Okay. There you go. That makes sense. Right. Unless you were able to do like a quieter type of deal in the, the, under the table payment. Okay. We have one last big trade and then a couple of nothingburgers to talk about. So the last big trade happened, you know, we knew that the Knights wanted to move on from JCJ and start blowing things up because they have had a torrid start to the season. And we knew that the Scorps were interested in JCJ. But then we watched the Scorps after having that deal to get JCJ get reversed. We watched them trade JCJ to, you know, to somebody else. They showed it to the dragons. So we're thinking, Oh crap, like, you know, are the Knights stuck with JCJ now? Are they not going to be able to get off under this? No. They are not. They've marked out a deal with the Oakland tritons, Ben's team who have had some very public struggles. They've made a couple of moves, brought in some players, tried to figure things out, and nothing has really clicked kind of the way that he wants them to. I'm not saying they've had a terrible season. They're in seventh. They're in plans. And this is the West. So if you're, you know, if you win three more games, all of a sudden, you're in fifth. So like this is, you know, he has a chance to compete. He decided the build that I want is I already have DPJ, who is a proven, very clutch performer. I was looking at some of his stats in a prime for his like efficiency scoring in clutch moments and it's ridiculous. So DPJ is one of those guys that you can count on down the stretch. And he also has, I mean, hack, he's got stuff on Ramos, who is one of my favorite players in the game. He has Andre Sawyer, who's a great slashing wing. And now he has DCJ, excuse me, JCJ, who is, you know, an all-time great 10 All-Star Games in a row, won a title, you know, he is that volume score. So he bends the defense for everybody else around him. I think DPJ, JCJ, Sawyer as a slasher, especially with more space to slash now, with JCJ on a team, and then also Ramos with more space to shoot from those corner 3s as a big beefy center, he's shooting really well from beyond the arc. I think this whole team just gets better. I'm a pretty big fan of this trade. I'm not going to lie. I think the tritons have been struggling to find a connection of players that works well. I think he's going to need to figure out a way to rein JCJ in a little bit because JCJ likes to chuck. And I think his offense can be really efficient if he can stop JCJ from taking 20 plus shots a game. If he can get him to calm down, I think this is a great offense. And I think JCJ is still really good defensively. So I mean, is he slipping a little bit? Yeah, he's old, but he's still a great score. And I think he's a proven winner and he's won a title before so we can do it again. So the tritons are basically saying this is our build we got to go all in. So because of that, they made a trade and they sent Javi Rivia, who I have a very public hater of. I think that guy's trash. So yes, get him off your roster. I think he's a net negative. And a couple guys, they don't really matter that much. Ben, it's fine. And then the 2051 Hurricanes first, which is going to be like a 35th of 36th, you know, pick. So that's not that big of a deal. But you're giving up your 2053 first from the tritons. That one hurts because your build includes JCJ, who is old. I mean, he's really kind of the only super old piece, you know, Ramos is only 26. I think DPJ is 29, 28, 29, 29, yeah. So yeah, so I mean, this build may still be mostly together by 2053, but you're not going to have JCJ anymore or you will and he'll be 35 and dragging your team down, you know, getting paid 40 million a year. But I'm questioning what this team looks like in 2053, but he just decided, you know, what? I got to go for it. The West is weak. And that's a point of view I can respect. So, you know, he pushed in, he picked up the biggest name, who we thought was going to be the biggest name of the trade deadline as it turns out, CJ La Cruz was also available. And so was Richter. But, you know, definitely a huge name, changing places, staying in the West, which sucks. I wish that was not the case. But I think this Titans team, after a settling in period, it's going to be pretty good. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, it's a, it's a big swing for him. I'm looking at his financials a little bit, you know, I didn't get a chance to review this one entirely in depth before this. So I'm doing a little bit on the fly here. But the one silver lining I'm looking at right now is next year. He's got four guys under under contract, Cheney, Ramos, Parker, and then his draft pick Marcus Pendleton. Those four guys are going to get paid $95 million combined. And then he's got Andre Sawyer. He's coming off of his expiring deal here. And he's going to pretty much add, I would guess, he's going to be eligible for 30 million. So he's going to probably at least get paid 25. If he hits, I'm sure somebody will be willing to pay him 30 and he can resign him because he's going to have 10 year, right? So I'm sure he'll come back. But if you add those guys together, he's going to be already at like 120 in terms of salary and that's on five players. Now granted, that's a starting five. Well, I guess it's not because Pendleton's not a power for it. So probably play somebody else. But now, you know, fortunately for me, the only good thing is he's going to be looking at adding the taxpayer mid-level exception. And then he's going to add in, he's going to add in min style players to fill out the team. So I'm, I'm an injury to Ramos or Cheney away from that pick falling back into a lottery for me. That's terrifying. Yeah. Yeah, that's not too bad. Now having said that, I still like this trade for the tritons because I think with the way that things were going for them, I think they needed to try to make a splash like this. And if everything holds up, there's a lot of good min style veteran players that are available. You can 100% create a bench off of going into the, you know, him using his taxpayer mid-level to get a power forward and then going in and using min cells to complete his bench with Pendleton. I think he's got a second round pick. You know, he can find the players to form a team that's going to be good enough to compete for home court. Assuming everybody stays healthy. So you got to like it in terms of that view. The timeline does give him a little bit of opportunity to retool as things come off. But I'm not sure, you know, who he would end up ultimately trading. So yeah, I mean, I think it's, I think it's good for him to do it. But I would agree with you. I think both teams did pretty well for this one. But that, that, you know, 20, 53 Titans pick for the Knights, I think that's pretty good. Because at 20, 53, JCJ is gone and he would be, he's going to be like, what, 35, 36. And then, you know, so you're going to have to start dropping some people off. And the fortunate thing for the Knights in terms of picking up that 53 pick is the Titans only have their 52 pick left in between two. So, you know, they don't have a lot of draft assets to hit on something to kind of pop up and be really good for them. Yeah, he's going to have to do a lot of business in the MinSal pool, a free agency. Have no doubt Ben can do it. Is this Ben's team? I think, right? Yeah, it's Ben's team. Yep. So, you know, you know, good luck. I think he definitely, I think I think he made his team better. So I think he did a good job in terms of making his team better especially for this year and the future. And now he's just got to kind of figure out how he's going to create everything around him to potentially push the Predators, you know, the Jags and the Blizzard. Yeah. And I think, you know, like I said, I don't think Zabi Rivia is any good. So that's part of the, the hall that the Knights got. And so I'm not sure if that part's going to work out, but the two picks are great. And the Triton's getting a JCJ is great. I gave him both a B. I think both, both of these guys, you know, this is another trade where both teams win. I don't think both teams win quite as much as you're trading with the Giants, but I think both teams are pretty happy with what happened to you and it's a good piece of business for both sides. Yeah. Yeah. Right. To get that contract off, I mean, he's got a completely clean slate from a team that's sitting 24 and 35. So he wasn't going to do anything with him as it was. So yeah, great, great job. And I think, I think by the time he wants a piece to potentially hit, it would be that 20, 53 year, you know, where he could potentially have some guys, some things cooking. Yeah. And that Triton's pick could end up being one of the pieces that puts him over the top. Could be. Could very well be. Absolutely. We'll be coming back to talk about some of these and where they all end up in a few years game. Oh, yeah. We'll have, we'll have a photo back episode. We talk about old trades and, and, and what they, how they turned out later. For sure. Um, okay. We have a couple of minor trades that were made. One of them was yours. You traded Jalen Armstrong to the, the Triton's who needed some, some depth in the paint. Jalen Armstrong is 34 and was never going to see the court for you. I don't think the two guys that you got in return, Kate Buckles or Colley North are going to see the paint for you. Does this trade matter at all for your team? I mean, I, I took north because he's got some size and he's under contract for men's sound next year. So he'll get some minutes this year because we're not good. But yeah, unless he shows something while he plays these last 20 games, um, he's not really part of the future. But you know what? He's, uh, he's a piece that you can just put at the end of the bench and, um, I have him next year guaranteed for the minimum contract. There you go. Uh, and then we have one more minor trade, uh, the King's traded Quentin Dietrich to the Cyclones for the Cyclones, 21 second, which will be a pretty good second and Von Cook, who was relevant. Um, Dietrich is, is, I mean, I've heard his name. He's been traded a few times. You know, this is his third team. He's been on this season, uh, and he's just been trash. Uh, he's been bad. So, uh, the Cyclones picked him up and are going to put him in their rotation. I assume and see if he can maybe become good over time. Um, but the King's basically get what I think is probably going to be a high second, uh, because the Cyclones are in the east and they're tanking and that division or that conference is very punishing to teams trying to tank. They're just getting slaughtered. So, uh, as you know, so the, the, that's probably going to be a pretty high second round pick, uh, for, in my opinion, a guy who has been terrible, uh, massively underperformed. So I mean, he could take a leap and become good in the future. Who knows? The Cyclones, they have the minutes to give to give some people some runway. So I guess I don't mind it that much. But I think the King has got a high second for somebody who's just not going to work out. So I think it's a pretty good piece of business. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, I agree. I think anytime you can take something that, um, is not working out for you or that you see no future, uh, on your roster and you can get, um, you know, a fairly early second on pick. Um, I think that's more than worth it because you know why it's really a lottery ticket. Um, some, you know, European falls to the early 40s or, you know, the, uh, Andrade, uh, fell to the mid 40s and he was a Brazilian sharpshooter. You never know how these guys are going to turn out, um, but that's kind of the whole point of that pick anyway. So, yep. Yep. So I mean, again, the Kings, everything he's done, I just think is good. I think he, I think he, it makes a lot of sense and he's got a ton of assets and he's got a pretty nice team and, um, you know, I think he did a good job with the Woodward trade. I think he did a good job at the deadline. I just, I really like the moves that he's made. I agree. I agree. And he's in your conference so you can stay over there. Yeah. And he, you know, and he unfortunately for me is one of these guys that's going to be on my timeline with me. Yep. So, you know, watching him do this, it hurts a little bit, especially when I see some of these guys, you know, because I see some of these guys, uh, really, really, really hurting themselves in the future. And, you know, maybe we'll talk about it next time, but there's some teams in the off season that are going to have some decisions to make that are going to be, uh, really painful. And I don't think right now they understand how painful they're going to be. Yep. I agree. Uh, like commissions, the commission and chat the other day, you know, they're going to be some serious regret, uh, this calendar year, or I can't remember if he said regret. What word he used, but that, that's the general concept. So, um, we'll, we'll see what happens when that comes around. We're all learning together. So, you know, even if we roast you a little bit in this podcast, I'm trying really hard to still always be respectful, um, and, and mindful of the fact that we're all new and we're all going to make mistakes. Maybe it was a mistake for me to trade for ZZ. I don't think so because he's seven, eight, and he shoots three, and to me, that brings me joy. Um, so even if he's not the best player on the court, that visual in the back of my head, I find hysterical. Um, but, you know, we're, we're all going to learn together and that's, we're all going to make mistakes. None of us are going to be perfect from the jump, um, although one could argue maybe the hurricanes have pulled off something pretty close to perfect, uh, in trading, sour in flowers at the start of the season and still being the best team despite trading to all star caliber players, like that's, that's kind of ridiculous. But well done. Um, okay, we, we've already been potting for a while, um, I know the trade deadline was so exciting. It was. Oh my God. It was, uh, totally we're talking about for that amount. Yeah. I don't think we need to go too in depth into all stars. Um, I think the majority, uh, let's talk about some snubs more than anything. But yeah, go ahead. Yeah. I was going to cover one starter than I think. So like the AI did a pretty good job of picking players overall. Um, I, I agree with all five of the East selections. Um, McCoy, five, first, Souther, Haas and Rago. Um, I think, you know, big rig is the best and most efficient offensive player in Quacho right now, 68% true shooting, um, 44% from three, uh, he's a freak. He's just a freak. 94% from the line, um, you know, he's just absolutely insane. And he's the reason the Huskies are in the home court. I wanted to give big rig a shout out because we haven't talked about the Huskies at all because they haven't made any moves at all because their team is clicking, you know, so I, I, I don't blame them at all for do for standing path. Um, in the West, however, I think there is one questionable choice. Um, I think Devonte Bell is obviously the right choice. He's the other good point guard along with McCoy, um, towards the top of the league in terms of efficiency, um, and he's the engine behind my offense and why it's playing so well. Seder Rogers is having an insane season. He, he would probably be, uh, MVP, if not for McCoy, um, they've gone back and forth in the charts and in top two along with big rig, um, they've become other players. But called, you know, Rogers is playing insane, um, Carlton is having an insanely efficient season. Two of his having an insane the efficient season. So like all these starters I agree with JCJ, however, he has a negative nine net rating and is having his least efficient season. Uh, he's still scoring a lot of points, 25 points per game. But he, he wasn't on a great team. You know, the, uh, the Knights did not have a lot of fun at the beginning of this season. And now that he's been traded, he's got a chance to kind of rebound, uh, with the tritons. But up until this point, I do not think he deserves an all star spot. I understand he scored a lot of points, so that a lot of other players, they did it more efficiently. Um, so, so yeah, I don't, I just don't see it. He's the only all star starter with a negative net rating and it's negative nine. Uh, I think that is a little bit of a travesty. So I don't think JCJ should be an all star. That's, that's my hot take. Um, he is, uh, he's, Mr. popularity for the pick, you know, he is, uh, he's, uh, he's, he's, you know, easier. He's easier. He's your star. Okay. That continues to get voted to the all star game, even though everybody knows, he's been the scoring leader. He just was a scoring leader last year. Yeah. You know, stuff like that. And like we said, when we talked about his trade, he's still a good player. Uh, and he has the chance to help carry a team. It's just that team was not functioning well and he was trucking a lot and it was not super efficient. So, so yeah. Um, the other thing I'd like to talk about, uh, I'll just take one more and then I'll pitch it to you. Um, I want to talk about, uh, Martinez root cascus. Yeah. For sure. The fact that we voted him in is ridiculous. It's criminal. Uh, if you voted for him, you're a crazy person. I took this kind of seriously and I did a lot of research. Um, and, and some people were just like, I see a rookie scoring 25 points a game. Um, you know, let's, let's vote for him. And I think to myself, um, why, uh, he, he's shooting, uh, 51% effective low percentage. And he has a net rating of minus 14.4, um, his assistance turnover is like 1.5 to one. I, I just don't see how you can do this. I just don't, he is, he is a great rookie and he is going to be a great player. And I'm a big fan of his. Uh, I wanted him. He got picked two picks ahead of where I traded in, uh, to get Machiaf. He was a guy I was looking at. So I, I don't take this as, as a ruttroll, hey, I love root cascus. I think he's going to be a phenomenal player, but he should not be in all stars or rookie. That's it. That end, end of conversation. Like it just, it shouldn't have happened. Um, there are a ton of players who had significantly better seasons that got snubbed, you're about to talk about, um, everybody else on this all star list, except for maybe Javanovic, um, is kind of a no-brainer, uh, Velcro, Coppallani, Lynch, Bonham, D.P.J. Sutherland, Flowers, Cassie, I mean, everybody on this list, um, I certainly respect the night. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be on this list. Um, Javanovic has been hyper efficient and he's one of the reasons why that StoneCutters team is, is, even in the conversation right now, um, he's helping that team get there. So, uh, I'm okay with him as a really young player, being on the, in the all star game because of how efficient he's been. I'm not sure if he should have been in there because of some of the players that got snubbed, but I'm okay with it. Like I'm at peace with it. It's fine. It's nowhere near as big of a problem as ruttroll. Ruttroll is a problem. I, I said ruttroll when I saw that ruttroll was an all star, um, so, so yeah, I'm not a fan. Javanovic, it's fine. Um, I, I think, you know, he's, he's a definitely most improved player of the year or really exciting story. You know, a two star young big just pop it off. It's a great story. It's super cool. Um, but I'm not sure if he was quite at all star level, but I'm okay with it. I can, I can, I can, I can come to peace with it. So, um, what do you think about those two Ryan and then go ahead and give us your snubs? Sure. I will say, uh, for ruttroll, uh, 100% agree that he had no business, uh, being an all star. He's definitely not an all star. I mean, this is a guy that's scoring, um, you know, 40 points, but he's taking 35 shots to do it. So, um, you know, I, I don't know that he's the type of guy that deserves a spot. And we'll talk about who got snubbed, uh, who could have fit into that wild card spot in a second. Um, but yeah, I, I just, he should have gotten zero all star votes. He's probably going to be the rookie of the year, um, you know, he's taking on such a load that I don't see him probably falling from the top spot, hopefully operating system can pick it up enough to do it, but we'll see, um, but yeah, he just, he shouldn't have been an all star. Um, you know, in terms of Jovanovitch, I kind of want to take a little credit for him getting that nod because I think I tutored his horn a little bit early on in a pod. I was talking about how good he was playing. Yep. Uh, he didn't paired, uh, prime and, and tray and, uh, you know, and then I, I threw that name and the, the chat too, because I wanted, uh, I didn't think he would get any votes. I actually thought I'd be the only vote he would get, uh, but I wanted to just throw him out there just because I think he's a guy that, uh, the stone cutters deserved somebody. And, uh, you know, I didn't know if Rainer was enough in the back court with how good the east was, um, but I thought Jovanovitch was, you know, not a terrible fit in, in the, the front court. And I do agree. I don't necessarily think he's the most deserving. I think he's a fun story and I think the stone cutters deserved an all star, uh, he was the guy I picked, um, and I think that the stone cutters, you know, again, I doubted them. And one of the reasons why I like Jovanovitch so much is because I doubted them and they continue to play well despite some of his limitations. So I think that there's going to be a little juice about him, um, just because, you know, he just, I didn't expect it. You look at him and you're like, oh, my goodness. And then you go and look at what he's done this year and you're like, wow, this is the guy that's, so, um, you know, yeah, I like him a lot as a player. So I was, I was one of the votes for him, um, you know, at the start of the year, he was in the MVP discussion. He's fallen off of that. He definitely should be the most improved player. I don't know how many years you probably need to get that if any, um, but, you know, him and ZZ top are the two guys that have really kind of popped to that just in terms of, you know, the eye test compared to what you saw before. Um, so fun stories there, um, you know, but talking about some snubs, some guys that could have made the west squad, if, uh, rut road didn't make it, you know, we're looking at, uh, Kenny Holba, uh, Darius Stevenson, coastus, zonus, uh, you know, CJ, like crews got left off. And then, uh, jahari Whitaker for the Jags. I mean, all those guys are snubs when you're looking at it for rut row. But I think the biggest snub there is one of those two Blizzard's guys, um, because let's look at the team, it just in terms of where we're at here, starters. We don't have any blizzards on the starters in the, uh, reserves. We don't have any blizzards on the reserves. But that's a team that this season, they are sitting, what, a third in the west. Uh, so, you know, I'd rather see them with a player, especially when they have two guys that are more than deserving, um, Stevenson by the advanced metrics is having a fantastic season. Yeah. So he would have been the guy. I think I would have slided in there, um, but yeah, I wouldn't have given it to rut row it all. Uh, so I just feel bad because, you know, those guys deserve the nod. For some of those guys, it would have been a first time, uh, you know, you would like to see it. Yeah. I thought, I thought dubstep was very deserving. I agree. Yeah. One of the reasons I voted for Lotton was, uh, just because it was, it would have been his first appearance too. So kind of like, uh, get him in there type of thing. But yeah, um, I guess the two guys that I really want to shout out are the two guys on the east from the Detroit Mustangs, Caden Ward and, uh, Demetrius Cassie both making their first appearance. Uh, I voted for both of those guys. And I think they are the two that make that team, you know, really hum. So I think that's well deserved. And I think they deserve a shout out. The Mustangs, if you compare them to the Duce, you know, they're way above water, uh, in the Quattro and, um, he's doing a great job with them. So kudos to the Mustangs. Agreed. Agreed. Uh, I, the Mustangs are the best offense in Quattro, uh, and it is, um, very impressive. Uh, you know, Caden Ward is leading the league and assist by a country mind, uh, you know, he's, he's playing out of his mind, uh, and that team shoots a lot of threes. So, um, yeah, well, well done on how well they're playing Demetrius Burns. We were both kind of, I mean, a lot of us were like, wow, he got paid, uh, and then he's making us look like idiots because he is raining threes. So, sorry, I just need, okay, um, yeah, Lon and I didn't think was, was quite as efficient. I mean, negative net rating, EFG of like 53%, I wasn't quite a lot of metrics guy. I just like the scoring, you know, it's the, yeah, no, he scored a lot of points. Uh, I wonder for Kavanaugh and I, I think you did as well. I did. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He should have been on over flowers, I think for sure. Um, yeah. Kavanaugh was so good. In terms of the two second ear players that I shouted out for the East, um, Kavanaugh was the more deserving of the two to get a nod. So, you know, I think, but Jovanovic filled a slot in the front court where in the east for the reserves, you could kind of make an argument for him. Um, yeah. You know, so, yeah. I mean, Kavanaugh is like, what, like 11th on the MVP list right now. I mean, it's, it's kind of insane. Uh, oh, yeah, and he said he's fantastic. He's so good. And that's a really young renegades team that is pushing up. I mean, you know, they're, they're playing so well. Um, you know, he, he has a better net rating than Lawton. I mean, you know, he's actually in the green, um, despite having 32% usage. You know, we always talk about how hard it is to be efficient, uh, and to have a positive net rating when you have usage that high and Kavanaugh is doing it for that team. And he's, it's his second year. God, he's going to be so good. Oh, he's going to be so good. If you like flowers ended up getting the nod because you had to fill those three, uh, front court slots. Yeah. Because initially when I was filling out mine, I actually had flowers in for, uh, in the slot for Javanovic. Yeah. And then I elected to actually take him out, put Javanovic in and then I had Kavanaugh as my wild card slot. Um, so, you know, I think if, uh, there would have been a little bit more flexibility, like three wild card slots or something like that. I think Devon Kavanaugh would have probably gotten in, um, but it's just so hard with all those guards. Oh, yeah. Spot, you know, I think, uh, it's hard to say he got snubbed because Makai, Caden Ward and, um, Cassie are also good that it's like, you know, it's, it's hard to say that he's like a real, real snub, but I definitely think he deserved to make the Oscar again. You heard it here, Elias, we love Kavanaugh. Um, I was clearly trolling about T.L.K. Brian, just, just so we're clear, I'm not trolling about O.K.C., foul merchants and, and, and paying off the written, I'm just kidding. Uh, but no, I, I didn't even know who T.L.K. was when we started that, somebody else made fun of it. And then I was like, oh, this is a fun bit. And then I just ran with it, although the giants are blowing it up. So actually, I'm curious to see where your guy is going to end up because T.L.K. is, is almost for sure going to be one of those guys just like Nazarian, um, who, who ends up leaving that team in the off season. So, um, yeah, T.L.K. is hopefully we'll go to a contender, um, but, but yeah. Um, I think, I mean, I voted for MDL. He doesn't have quite, uh, as, as strong as stats this season. But he's so good, um, and I did, I think it's crazy that he doesn't make the, the all-star game, but the East is so fricking packed. It's, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Yeah. Like all of these guys would be all stars in the West. Like, O.K.D.A. would be an all-star in the West. MDL would be an all-star in the West. Kavanaugh would for sure be an all-star in the West. Um, I mean, O.K.D.A. in terms of just looking at the advanced profile is probably the biggest snub, um, in terms of what he brings on that side. Yeah. If he wasn't on the same team as Hawes and Maki, he's, that's what it cost him. Yeah. He just, he gets, he unfortunately is the, you know, and then they even had like, read from who, uh, is an, uh, advanced metrics merchant, too, not as much as O.K.D.A., but, um, similar. So, so maybe you kind of discount him a little bit because he looks the same way. But yeah, O.K.D.A. tough to leave him off because he's, uh, he's really good player. I agree. Anything else you want to touch on, uh, on all stars? No. I think, uh, I think I had on everything I wanted. This was, uh, this was a fun one to do and we had a pretty fun trade deadline. So, uh, hopefully it's just a start, um, for what's going to be in the, the future. And I think we're going to have a massive off season because, oh my god, yes. Um, some really good free agents out there and then we got some teams that have put themselves in such a financial pickle that, uh, they're going to have to trade a couple of pieces at least. And, um, you know, I don't know that they're going to get the returns that they think they're going to get. Um, and there's going to be a lot of, uh, X, L, E, terrorists out there, myself included. Um, so, you know, I got money to spend. And I, I built my cap in a way that I can, uh, take on, you know, uh, a contract and I'm not worried about it. So just be aware, you know, in every, you know who you are, I've told you I'm coming, I told you I'm coming. Uh, but yeah, I know it'll be fun. It'll be an explosive off season and it'll be interesting to see what happens. I'm really hoping I win the lottery, uh, because I want to put Kyrie and Craig on my team next to operating system zero and then we'll find a power forward to and if it's not ham and we'll, uh, play them with Dan Lee and it's going to be a wild time. But, um, but yeah, no, I, uh, I'm looking forward to the home stretch here. I think there's going to be some incredible playoff matchups. And yes, I'm very much looking forward to the entire Eastern conference playoffs because, um, from the first round to the finals, they're going to be some dandies. So, um, I'm excited to see what guys do when you get in the playoffs, house some things change, um, you know, rotations change, stuff like that. So yeah, absolutely me too, because I'm going to be one of the guys figuring it out. You will. I'm going to be one of those guys sitting there begging, commission to sim the game faster so that we can get to the draft lottery and I can, uh, oh, yeah. Um, we just, it's a last thing before we wrap up, um, I'm not going to do it tonight because this episode was pretty lengthy, um, but, uh, I have still been periodically getting questions from people, um, for future pods or for mailbags. Um, so I'm not going to like stash them all the way until the mailbag episode next year, uh, next season, but I'm going to try and fit them in at the end of pods for all of you guys. Listen to the hopsteppers kind of what they've been doing. I'm not going to do it to that extent. Just if people ask questions that I think are interesting, um, so, so if you guys have questions that you want us to talk about on the pod, don't hesitate. Let us know, you know, we'll try to add them as we have time, but obviously this was a pretty long pod already, um, and I don't want to hold you guys hostage here for any longer than we already have. So, um, with that being said, once again, thank you to my co-host, um, welcome back, um, Coach Martin, it's always a pleasure and to everybody who listened live. We appreciate you, um, thank you so much for for making the pod as fun as it is and contributing in chat and having a good time and for everybody who will listen, I hope you enjoy it. Once again, for, uh, Coach Martin, uh, thank you again from Brad. This has been another episode of the step back. Thank you.