Trade Deadline Reactions With Trysta Krick

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Copyright 2026 Applebee's Restaurant. LLC. Welcome to the Ringer WNBA show. I am Syrit Sohi and today I am joined by a guest that I have been longing to have on this podcast for quite a while now, Trista. Crick, she is the co-founder of The Daily W Sports where she co-hosts the Let Her Shoot podcast with Sarah Chovnik. And, okay, I have to ask you about this, Trista. I was going through your Twitter and you were doing the alt-cast with Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein the other day for the Fever game. Like, you are based in Portland and this is. So, like, tell me about that. Like, that's just so cool. Yeah, so I think Carrie, she started following me. Hi, also thanks for having me. I'm so glad we've done this. It's been a long time coming. But, so, yeah, Carrie started following me online which was one of the greatest follows I've ever had simply because my mom loves her. And anytime my mom can be impressed, I feel like, you know, I'm doing something. And apparently, actually I found out the other night, she re-downloaded Instagram onto her phone. To follow. So that's actually, like, a huge win. We started. Yeah. She wanted to follow you so bad. She was like, I am going to just reheat this social media addiction right now. I'm going to go back to Instagram. I've deleted it from my phone altogether. Someone sent me this person that gets her takes off and I'm willing to re-download it and then go back into the algorithm. And she DMs me on there as well. So she's. She's, like, back, like, cook crack on Instagram. It wasn't, like, a follow and then disappear kind of a thing. But then she's, like, a big Portland Fire fan so I would see her at games and, you know, it's always. I don't know if you feel like this, but when someone follows me online, I don't assume that they know who I am in real life. No, especially, I think, in our position, we get to. We are the recipients of follows that, at least I'll speak for myself, that I don't feel. I don't feel like I deserve simply because I'm a vessel through which they get to learn more about the sport that they like. So, like, I just feel like a nameless, faceless, like, machine that's giving them information and I don't assume that they know anything about me. Like, they are here for basketball. Yeah, and for me, I assume that if they see me, they won't know who I am or remember. Maybe if they hear my voice, they will. But I came up to Carrie and I introduced myself to her. And she was like, hmm, I don't know. And I'm like, you follow me on Instagram? I do the video. And I was like, I'm not a fan, I promise. She's like looking around. Security! She's like, where's my handler? Yeah. And then the president of the fire introduced us, like, the next game. And she's like, oh, yeah, I remember, yes. And, like, we had DM back and forth after that. And so then I saw her one day, probably, like, a month and change ago. And she was like, hey, I have some news. The fire asked me to do an alt cast. And I was like, amazing, that's great. And she's like, and I told them I wouldn't do it unless you were on it with me. Wow, that's awesome. So they were forced to do it. I don't know if they would have done it on their own, but we made it happen. It was super fun. She knows. She knows a lot more basketball than I think she gives herself credit for from, like, a comedy standpoint. And we talked a lot about not just hoops, but, like, Portland food, Portland vibe, how Portlandia got started. It's an incredible story. She actually did, like, a big, long interview about it with Fred Armisen that you can find online. But, yeah, she's. We're going to do more of these, I guess. Oh, sweet. We're going to do one that's live. Maybe we'll have some folks on as, like, guests while we do it, because it's kind of hard to do an entire broadcast without any stats or any computer or any communications. And you're literally just like, I think Asia's got 20. You're like, I think, was that a foul or was that a block? Like, yeah. Yeah, she's like, is that Jordan Harrison? I don't know. And the screen's so small. But it was a fantastic time. It was definitely, like, a top, one of my top professional moments. That is so cool, dude. That is so cool. Well, it's actually your second top professional moment, because obviously this was, like, super high on the bucket list, but you're forgiven. You're forgiven for forgetting. It's okay. We're going to rank some other things today. Well, now, it's now happening. Now this is here. This is true. This is true. I'm kidding. I do love how much the Fire have incorporated Portlandia, because I just feel like it's such a good fit with, like, women's basketball as well, which is cool. But today, so I wanted to have you on. I wanted to have you on for a while, but today is perfect, because we are coming off the trade deadline. Kelsey Plum was dealt to the Phoenix Mercury in what was otherwise a pretty quiet deadline. The only other move was Anissa Morrow to a Toronto, and we're also coming off of what was I think maybe an instant classic, maybe the best game of the season between the Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever. Trista, I'm coming out of this game with really, like, three big takeaways, one of them being a question. Honestly, a lot of different takeaways. A, we are in a golden generation of guard play. B, we are in a golden generation of just general offensive talent. Right now, the new rules are clearly working. Olivia Miles at 28 points, six assists. Kelsey Mitchell, 37 points. Courtney Williams, 27 points. Kaitlyn Clark, 19 points. Ten assists. High-scoring collective first quarter of all time. Indiana shoots 46% from beyond the arc. Minnesota shoots 44%. Given the way that game ended, with Indiana making their comeback, changing the lineup, Kaitlyn missing the two makeable threes, Kelsey missing a makeable three, I'm thinking less about, like, the result and more about the offensive explosion. Are the Minnesota Lynx the best team in the league? How close are the Fever at number two? And just how awesome was this game? Or, like, an August 2nd Sunday ABC showdown, with, like, nothing else to compete against it? I just, I feel like this is, like, kind of like the, you know, like, every season, like, every season is, like, you know, Christmas is, like, the NBA starting. Really, for, like, mainstream fans, I feel like this is kind of, like, the flashpoint. Yeah, and we were waiting for this game. Like, I know I've been waiting for this matchup, especially post-Nafisa Collier coming back. Like, listen, like, you've got Kaitlyn Clark in 24. You've got, uh, uh, Paige Beckers in 25. You've got Olivia Miles in 26. You're gonna have, probably, Juju Watkins, Madison Booker, Hannah Hidalgo. Who knows who will be the best of those three, but I think there will be a transcendent player in that draft, if not multiple transcendent players. Then you've got Sarah Strong in the following draft. Michaela Blakes, too. I think you're so right. And, yes, and Michaela Blakes, you've got players who are professional bucket-getters, but have such high processing speeds. The way that Kaitlyn Clark and Olivia Miles can see the floor, can see where the open man is gonna be, get it there, lightning fast, on a string, in such spectacular ways. They manipulate defenses extremely well. The shot-making is incredible. You kind of, like, nailed it on the head in the sense that how are these rostered? The rosters that we see, you mean, you've got A.B. who's got crazy footwork. You've got Kaitlyn Clark. Kelsey Mitchell's probably the best player right now on the team, and she's not getting nearly enough MVP shine as Kaitlyn Clark is elevating up the MVP conversation. You've got the links that are loaded, right? Like, Kaitlyn McBride is never talked about. Courtney Williams, never talked about. Olivia Miles has taken up so much oxygen that now she's got to go to the Now, and as well she should, Nefisa Coyier doesn't even have to do really anything. Natasha Howard, like, these rosters are crazy stacked. Both of these teams could not guard each other. The other thing I forgot to mention, too, is everyone's talking about Indiana Fever. They are putting it like their offensive output is the best that it's ever been in WNBA history. You know who's right behind them if you go on her hoop stats? The Minnesota Lynx, by a decimal point, too. Like, we just watched two of the best offenses that we have ever seen. Like, this is a new frontier, and they're at, like, the frontier of that frontier. And it was a funny game because it was really one of those, like, first team to play defense and figure something out on that end is probably going to win. It ended up being Minnesota, which, you know, it makes sense because they are a much more reliable defensive team. But then on the Indiana end of it, like, in the fourth quarter, when I think they started playing their actual best lineup defensively, putting Sophie and KK next to the big three, that's when they started to make their way back into the game, too. I'm curious what you make of, what you made of, obviously, so the Lynx, cream of the crop, right? Already the number one team in the league. Getting a FISA call, you're back. She looks, for someone who hasn't played basketball in, like, what, 10 months, nine months, looks incredible, right? But for Indiana, this game was kind of a measuring stick, right? So where are you at with them after watching this? I think they're right there. I mean, it's just going to be a matter of tweaking. These two teams were neck and neck. I'd love to see a seven-game series between them. I mean, you have the Aces, and you can never count them out, despite the fact that they've got old-ass role players, right? Like, Chelsea Gray is still doing her thing, but she's getting up there. And Jewel Lloyd clearly has declined a bit. Jackie Young is still the pure scorer that we know her to be in. Asia is always MVP Asia. But in terms of reliability, reliability, putting up 100 points, I think these two that we saw today are the best at that. And listen, we'll talk about Sydney and her game winner against the Aces later, but you can't lose to the Sky pretty much in August without me feeling like you might be a slight cut below in power rankings in August. Now, I'm not going to do the same thing I did last year, where it's like, oh, are the Aces maybe not the same team? Because then they rattled off 19 straights. 19 straight wins, and they won the title. And so they're looming always, always looming, kind of like the Golden State Warriors were when, you know, they were fully loaded. You can never count them out, even if they look dead. And then we saw them win the title in whatever it was, 21. But to me, the Fever, the Lynx, and the Valkyries, defensively for the Valkyries, are the three best teams in the league. Valkyries are interesting, right? Because they're kind of a zig away from what we've been talking about so far. And then with the. With the Aces, yeah, you just can't count them out. The Atlanta Dream are fascinating to me, now that they have Bree Jones back. I think the game I have circled on my calendar this week is tomorrow's matchup on Monday against. Between the Aces and the Dream. Because the Dream has sort of been that. They just haven't been able to get past the Aces, right? Like, the Dream have just. They had that comeback game. They weren't, like, fully able to complete it. And now that they have Bree Jones back, I feel like they're going to be able to contend with some of these title teams that they haven't been able to. And the last time that that matchup happened, too, it was, like, a sort of. I don't know where the game is this time, but it was, like, in Atlanta. And it was sort of, like, first time ever that Atlanta played Las Vegas and the South Carolina fans were actually there to cheer on Alicia Gray. And that's sort of, like, the Angel Reese effect part of it. But I just love that matchup. And I'm looking forward to seeing it. But it's so. It's cool that we're now in this part of the season. You know, 15, 14 games left for most of these teams, like, where we've got maybe a third of the season left. And we're really kind of in that place of, like, okay, what do you have to figure out to get to where you need to be? And when I look at Minnesota, I'm like, you already have everything. Like, the seamlessness with which Nafisa Collier has fit back in with Olivia Miles. Olivia Miles, in general, just being sort of, like. Like, everything I've seen from her this season, she's obviously the rookie of the year. She is, like, a veteran type of point guard. She plays with this old-school flair. She has every single pass that you could imagine in her bag. But she also can hit threes off of pick-and-rolls. She's a good mid-range scorer. And the biggest thing to me is the layups. She leads all guards in layups made this season. And Natasha Howard, her pick-and-roll partner, leads all players in layups made this season. She's just relentless getting to the hoop. Like, you saw some of the finishes today. Like, the up-and-under scoops in the air, the reverses, using the rim as, like, as a shot blocker. There are things that she does for this Minnesota offense. That kind of put them on a level, of course, historic, given just, you know, the changes that the WNBA has made this year. But you also think about, like, you know, titles. Like, who wins titles in the WNBA? And it's usually some combination of big and guard, right? Like, Asia and Chelsea. And then, like, Jackie Young slash Kelsey Plum. Like, that's. But it's really, like, for a long time, it was, like, it was kind of like one of those guards is going to be the one that pops at a different moment. And Indiana hopes to see that with Caitlyn and Kelsey and Aaliyah Boston. Nafisa, Olivia, Courtney, and Natasha Howard, like, kind of take your pick there with Kayla McBride as the best floor spacer you could possibly imagine that situation. Like, definitely has the opportunity to be up there as far as, like, the ones that you think about, whether it's, like, those ones that I just mentioned or, like, a Sue Bird and a Brianna Stewart. Like, this really could be a foundational, you know, duo for the rest of, you know, like, for the rest of their tenure together, right? And it's notable, too, that Nafisa didn't get traded at the deadline. Like, now you're Minnesota. If you're Minnesota, you're, like, smooth sailing ahead. And, yeah, sure, there's some kinks to work out. But, like, they're pretty reasonably a championship favorite, right? I think so. And I think they better win it this year because I don't think that the Nafisa Collier smoke is gone. I don't think that them not trading her means that they don't believe that she's going to look around. There's a reason that she chose to sign a one-year deal. And I don't think it was just because she wasn't sure what this team was going to look like. I think it was legitimate issues with the Minnesota Lynx. And that's what I'm being told. And that I, I mean, I spoke to some people at the game today, and they said, they would still put their money on on Nafisa to leave after the offseason, even with the way that Olivia Miles has been playing, which is, would be an absolute travesty. Like, to be honest, as a W fan, I want to see Olivia Miles and Nafisa Collier for the next decade, at least, right? Like, we want to see them get busy. My question for you, because you're right, all those things are true about Olivia. And I think on top of that, the thing that sticks out about what you see with the Lynx, based on the stats that you gave so eloquently, but also, like, what we see, easy buckets. When you can get easy buckets in the W, it's just a much better road for you to be able to win not only regular season games, but playoff games. When I talked to Stewie, and I went on her pod, she mentioned something that continues to stick out with me for everyone that I see that struggles at this, is if you have to play the majority of your game in the half-court offense, and against a set defense, you're just playing a losing proposition, even with the new refs, the new rules from the refs. So, like, the thing that they do so well is they just get a ton of easy buckets, even in the half-court set, but also in transition. And I don't know how, and they have the ability to lock up. Like, we saw them be, earlier on in the season, the number one defense in the league. So, they have that in them. It's just a matter of, like, do we want to lock up? Do we want to play that style of defense and that level of defense in August? Or do we want to wait until, you know, the playoffs? But my question for you is, how long until Olivia is a top five player in the league? Ooh, that's a great question. Okay, so, best players in the league, Asia Wilson, Nafisa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Paige Beckers, I think is still better than her by just a hair. Who's your fifth best player in the league? Who's your fifth best player in the league right now? Is it Olivia Myles? Could be Kelsey Mitchell. Could be Olivia Myles. Could be Kaitlyn Clark? It could be any of the three players that we saw play? It could be, I mean, depending on the day. Yeah, depending on the day, number five. Yes. When Stewie, when Stewie takes any level of decline, then maybe, I mean, Stewie's playing phenomenal basketball. When we, what we just saw this weekend from Stewie in terms of shots, making is, is, is incredible. I don't feel like we're talking enough about her either, just because I think the Liberty have been so up and down, but yeah. She's probably my biggest loser of the trade deadline because they weren't able to get her any help and they, and they desperately needed to, and they should have. I wanted to, I wanted to. Is that damn, is that damn Clara and Joe Psy divorce? Yo, okay. I am actually so curious about how this plays out for, for, for, for, for the Liberty. because it does feel like, like, this is. is like Clara Wu's side project, you know, like, obviously, Joseph, Josiah is involved. I do think that part of the reason that Clara is more front facing is because a she's a woman, B, she's much more, like involved in Brooke in sorry, oh my gosh, in, in, in the Liberty. Also, there's some sports washing going on there, too. Like, I feel like Josiah is the face of a franchise that has WNBA fans that are, you know, very progressive is just like, kind of one of those things that they don't want to necessarily get into. But honestly, kind of like a bigger breakup to me than Kelsey Plum and the Sparks in terms of what it could mean for the WNBA. Not saying it even means anything. But like, I definitely I'm watching. I'm watching that space. Are we going to talk about how insane this Phoenix decision was? I, I actually like the trade. But before we do that, before we do that, I want to for a second here. I want to circle back to Fi and her not getting traded. Because I think this was a fascinating choice. And you're right, it was a win for WNBA fans. Because we all want to see the Olivia Miles, Nafisa Collier pick and roll for the rest of our lives, if we possibly can. I think that this was a fascinating decision for Cheryl Reeve. And I think that we're kind of we've gotten to this place with Cheryl Reeve, where we are forgetting that she is like the most ruthless person, in basketball, like she has survived every single era, she has more institutional wisdom than just about anybody in the WNBA. And she thinks, she thinks in centuries, that is why the Minnesota links have always been on top. How did they get Olivia Miles? It was from the Angel Reese trade, which we'll talk about later. And this was an opportunity for them to try to get a huge haul for Nafisa Collier. And get around the possibility of a huge haul for Nafisa Collier. And get around the possibility of her leaving. And I think that they made a decision for the present in hopes that it will benefit them in the future. But I just think that this is one of those things where, like in, in a time where we think of that executive position as being about the future more than we ever have. Because we're sort of, we're almost more obsessed with fantasizing over potential than we are with like, what is actually going on in front of our faces, oftentimes. I think that was very interesting. And I agree with you. Look, she almost got traded this offseason, this last offseason. I think it got pretty loud this week. I think that there were some teams that made some very enticing calls. And I ultimately feel like if you have an opportunity to win a championship in the moment, you kind of have to stick to your guns and just not worry about it. And I think that's a very interesting call. The asset retention aspect of all of this, but I think, I think, silently, this was a huge flashpoint in Minnesota Lynx franchise history. And they decided to stick with Fee, and we'll see what happens. But I support it. Yeah, I do too. Like you think about, you, you think about the haul that you believe that Fee is worth. And then the reality is, the reality that a team is going to have to get some sort of assurance to give a haul to trade for Fee. And most teams don't want to do that. Because we don't want to give all this up. And then her end up deciding, I'm going to go and survey the market and go wherever I want to go. Yeah. So Minnesota was sort of in a tricky spot. And I think a lot of that obviously comes down just the way that the CBA timing went. And so people are either doing one year deals this year or long term deals, just based on how it all shook out. But yeah, I mean, I think if I'm Cheryl Reeve, I'm like, listen, she may be mad now. She may not like being here now. Or maybe she just wants a different change of scenery now. But get busy in the pick and roll with Olivia Miles for more than three games. Yeah. And win and get easy buckets. Yeah. And get back to me. And let's, let's win a title. Yeah. And get back to me. And if we lose you for nothing, we weren't probably going to get a huge haul for you anyway, because you were quote unquote a rental. That's a good point. That's a good point. There's also the matter of, you know, you can fix some of the things that she maybe wants to see be different. Like they waited a long time before having her come back from her injury. This time, I think they're doing a much better job of managing her minutes as well. Which is, you know, kind of one of the things I heard. There's, you know, there's, it's kind of a list, but that's one of the things I feel more comfortable saying. It's the Cheryl Reeve of it all, right? Like Cheryl Reeve is just like, is Tom Thibodeau on. She's Tom Thibodeau. She's, she's Lydia Tarr. She's like, she's Miranda Priestly. Like, she, she is every highly demanding person who simultaneously gets the most out of you, but then also grates on you. And I think that more than the people she's met, we we've mentioned, she's one of those people with a heart of gold. Absolutely. But she's a killer. She's a winner. And sometimes, yes, sometimes I can conflict with other things. This episode is brought to you by weather tech, whether it's a pumpkin spice coffee that goes splat in your seat or a weekend tailgate that leaves your trunk full of gear and who knows what you're going to want weather tech in your vehicle, whether you call it fall, autumn, or spooky season, whether the mess is your fault, the kids, the dogs, or the weather's fault, you're going to want weather tech for American made floor liners and a cargo liner that laugh in the face of fall weather visit weathertech.com today. This episode is brought to you by whole foods market. Fall is here and whole foods market has everything you need for cozy meals, seasonal treats, and easy entertaining elevate your hearty dishes with tasty bone and beef short ribs or New York strip steaks with no added growth hormones or antibiotics. And as the fall evenings draw in, why not get ahead of cold season with immunity shots, herbal teas, lozenges, and supplements. 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He didn't love the way eventually that Steve Kerr was going to run. And I think that work-life balance was pretty good. And he ended up going and doing whatever he wanted to do in Brooklyn based around his happiness. We see LeBron go to the Sixers for happiness. Right. And so, um, I think he should win a title before choosing happiness. Mm. Yeah. No, we should, we should all accomplish like the, the highest achievement that we can in our respective fields before we choose happiness. That's, that's how I was raised personally. So I will also project that onto her for sure. Um, you mentioned, you mentioned the rental, right? Um, Phoenix, they make this trade for Kelsey Plum where they just do not seem as concerned about all of that. They trade Monika Komakani, a first round pick and a second round pick for what is Kelsey Plum. Um, 14, you go 14, 14, you go first. What would you make of this? They, they better have had some sort of assurance that Kelsey Plum is going to stay, or at least is a high likelihood of being open to staying because the only reason you make this move is, uh, it's a win. It's a win now move, but you're not going to be able to make the playoffs. Like you're six games back of the playoffs. You're not going to be able to make the playoffs. And you can go reasonably 14 and zero and for the rest of the season, go undefeated. Like we saw the Las Vegas aces go and still miss the playoffs. You go 12 and two, you got 2% chance of making the playoffs. We've had Kelsey Plum played 12 games this year. And so to me, the only way that you can really make sense of it from like, what is Phoenix thinking is number one, they have some sort of assurance that I'm going to make this a shot. And, and I really will take this into account and evaluate Phoenix with real consideration. Number two, like this is a signal to Kalia copper, to Alyssa Thomas, that we are still trying to win. We are not going to tear it down. We still value you. We're still building for that. It's a Matt ish, be a special, right? Like we're going to go ahead and try to cash it all in and win right now. And number, and number three, Cause like those players are very expensive. Number three, DeJuana Bonner's probably retiring after this season because you're not going to be able to afford all four of those players next year if you can keep Kelsey Plum. And number five, I think Phoenix doesn't have any faith in this 2027 draft outside of the top three. They won 27 games last year. And the way that the rules are with the draft lotteries, it's smooth between two years. So even if they don't win another game, you're talking about 38 wins over the course of two years, and you're still maybe, and hopefully more, right? And so you're probably not getting a top three pick in the next year's draft. And so you're like, well, so we're giving up a pick that's maybe not even a player that conveys as a WNBA player. A second round pick, which really is even less valuable than in other years because we now have these new expansion teams. So a second round pick is now even deeper into a second round pick. And so we're really just giving up Monika Komakani for Kelsey Plum. And like, whatever that does to signal to our stars, like, at least they know we're doing everything that we can to show them that we still want to win. Yeah. So ESPN said that they have shared excitement about the future in Phoenix. I always love like the verbiage that comes out of these trades as well, because that is just the most noncommittal thing I've ever heard. And then like, that's what I say when I'm trying to like keep a situationship a situationship. I have shared, we have shared excitement about the future. It's like when, like somebody asked me about a situation that I'm not necessarily ready to say anything good or bad about. Like, yeah, we have shared excitement about the future. Annie Costabile says that she still plans to explore free agency. So if you're Phoenix, I think what you're paying for here is essentially to be the first team in the line of teams that are going to be pitching her this summer. And maybe that's worth it. If you get her, like if you get her to stay, then this is absolutely worth the price to be only giving up a high level role player and Monika Koma Connie, somebody who's shooting 44% from three is one of the best defenders in the league was all WNBA caliber. She's only 25 years old. She's in her second year in the WNBA. There's still a lot of upside for her. I think she's a great get for a Sparks team that just has like very little perimeter defense. Totally. And that first round pick is really interesting. Sabrina Merchant made this great point on their podcast, but with this new Colorado ruling and the five-year rule, maybe this 2027 draft isn't going to end up being as good as people expected it to be. What if Juju Watkins is already a question? Because she has extra eligibility because of her ACL tear. I could see a universe where if USC doesn't win a title that she decides to go back, I could also see a universe in which if a team that she is not necessarily excited about doesn't win the lottery, she decides to go back. Maybe she decides to hold out for 2028 when the Sparks have a better chance of being in position to have the number one or the number two pick because then you're kind of going up against Sarah Strong. To me, Juju Watkins' only reason to go in the 2027 draft is if she's absolutely married to being the number one pick. But she has plenty of options, especially if USC doesn't win a title. So that's already a huge question, already was. Now with this new ruling, who the hell knows what's going to happen? And you have this draft where, to me, top three generational potential. Then you have Smiah Nichols and Mikayla Williams who are definitely all-star potential. After that, you're looking at some really high-level role players. You're looking at the Clara Stracks. You're looking at Tessa Johnson. You're looking at Ashlyn Watkins. You're looking at Chloe Kitts. Players I would love to have. Players that are part of the growing modernization of the game in a number of ways, but they're not Kelsey Plum. They're not Kelsey Plum, who is having a historic season isolation-wise, who is having the best season of her career, who is kind of number one across every scoring metric that you could possibly have. Better isolation score even than Paige Beckers when she's healthy. So this is. We just talked about top five. If she was healthy, she would probably be that fifth player. And it's not like this is somebody who I worry about a long list of injury history. She has an injury. It was an overuse injury because she had to do everything for this LA Sparks team. Now she's joining Alyssa Thomas. And I have issues about the age thing. That's my second biggest gripe with all of this, other than you just don't know if she's staying. I think 35, 32, and 32 for your big three is tough. But the fit with Alyssa Thomas, that's gorgeous. The best guard screener and scorer in the league with the best inverted pick and roll big that we've ever seen. The player who invented that, but that play in the WNBA. So I kind of like, if you're Phoenix and you just decided, hey, we went to the finals last year. It's going to be hard for us to rebuild. Nobody's going to value Kalia or Alyssa Thomas the way that we value them. I generally don't like moves like this, but I kind of get it. I get it too. But isn't this to a degree the same situation that Kelsey Plum wanted out of in Las Vegas? Yes. Oh, in Vegas. Okay, sorry. Go ahead. Well, I think the big difference is she'll have the ball more, I think, here. Yes. But the thing that I felt like outside of, you know, sharing the rock with Jackie and Chelsea that she wanted was to be like the focal point of a team. And maybe she's just not that type of player to be a focal, focal point of a team. She's an insane ISO scorer, but she's also 5'8". She's also not a great defender. You know, she's also such a heliocentric player in general that like you have to build a specific type of a team around her. But more to the point than that, because I feel like that's not really as big of an issue as from what I have heard, and people got very mad at me on the podcast last week for saying this out loud. This is not my opinion. This is what I'm being told. Okay. But Alyssa Thomas is really hard to be a teammate with, except for maybe the Dewana Bonner. I have heard from multiple people on multiple teams that Kalia Copper does. Have you heard any. You have your hand to your face. Have you heard this too? AT a little bit, yes. I was mostly just laughing at your Bonner joke. Yeah. But I mean, yeah, like she's tough. And I heard that, you know, Kalia Copper just doesn't enjoy. All the time. You talk about like what joy is and how people can get the most out of you, especially in the early part of the season when Kalia was playing some of her worst basketball of her career. I was like, what's up with Kalia Copper? And two different people in two different cities said, can we just say what it is? It's Alyssa Thomas. Honestly, not that hard for me to believe, just considering the way that. Even if you look at the way that she, the way that she responds when you pass, when she passes you the ball and you're a shooter and you don't make the shot and she rolls her eyes at you. Like, I think that would just be incredibly frustrating when she can't score. Like, you want me to do the thing that you can't do. And then you want to get mad at me about it. I thought that was a huge issue in the finals for them at a time when they already had so much pressure on them to make shots that now you also have, like, a lot of pressure on them to make shots. Like, this external, like, this, like, internal, rather, in your locker room pressure of, like, your best player is going to look at you weird when you miss it. Yeah. And I don't know why she just won't go ahead and get the labrum surgery. Because if, like, her shoulders were totally healthy and mobile, like, she probably wouldn't be able to score in a lot more facets than she can right now. There's got to be a statute of limitations on when you can actually finish. I don't know how to fix that, right? Like, I don't, like, I don't know what it is. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty, like, that labrum, that labrum tear was, like, almost a decade ago, right? Like, I think if, at a certain point, if you don't get it fixed, you're kind of just dealing with what you're dealing with. You're right. It's been calcified. I mean, it's very clearly the shoulders have been calcified. They're kind of where they're at at this point. Yeah. Oh, bad. Yeah. I, so, I like the best part. I like the basketball fit, though, with her and Alyssa, though. Yes. With Kelsey and Alyssa a lot. She's an incredible passer. But it does, it's an interesting thing. And when she gets down hill, when A.T. Go ahead. Sorry. Oh, no, I was just going to say, yeah, it's an amazing fit because when she's, when she's out there getting you open shots and, you know, you're going back door and she hits you for an easy one. And, I mean, when she is getting downhill, I mean, she's one of them. Even A.T. with the calcified shoulders, like when she gets downhill in clutch situations, she's really hard to stop this. I'm really curious to, to know how much of this decision came down to like the last two to five Mercury games that we saw because they've been kind of hooping. I could see them having like the result, like especially the results of that Liberty game and just being like, you know what we could really use here? Kelsey Plum. Like, I would not be surprised about that. I also think, you know what I'm saying? thinking about what you said about Kelsey is like the number one peak. I just think she's a much better player than when she left Las Vegas like I think we look at these years in LA like they were lost years for her and we can talk about the LA part of this in a bit and yeah by and large you know you go to this team you put your faith in them you end up falling two games short of making the postseason then you come in this season you're better than ever as from a from a scoring perspective from like your individual bag work your I love the decel that she's added that's like not really a travel when she like goes to the rim and she just stops at the top of like at the top of her follow-through and then shoots like she's just at she's just added even more of a craftiness to her game this year I think the leadership is just a lot better I think there's a lot of things that she had to learn in Los Angeles that will ultimately serve her in this quest to hopefully be a number one player on a title team right like I just think that it's a lot of things that she had to learn in Los Angeles that will ultimately serve her in this quest to hopefully be a number one player on a title team right like I just think that it's a little bit different for her at this juncture and when you look at sort of where Ka is I think it is a little bit easier for Kelsey to go in and be like yes I am like the number one option here um so I do think that aspect of it sort of makes a difference for like how I how I would see this trade if it was like her going like that version of Kelsey Plum like leaving the aces to who she has become now you know yeah the unrivaled the unrivaled work that she's done and the development work that she's done in these last couple of years I watched her in the finals down in Miami when she put up what was it like 47 and it's just unguardable she's she's really added so much to her game like her pop her explosiveness her change of speed and direction I mean she's just like a little jackrabbit out there her shooting uh off the dribble specifically that step back like she's a bucket um no no question and her and Kalia together when Kalia is playing really well and she has been recently those two as your primary scorers I don't know pick your poison I do find it fascinating though like you look at sort of the big three structure um like the aces are doing it the fever are doing it and in this cap environment it feels like that doesn't lend itself to having a lot of depth and I do find it interesting that they've decided that this is what they want to do maybe it's just the issue of it all but two different leagues and but the same problem right totally yeah I 100% agree I also think though there are good there are really good players that are trying to get into the w like say for example a Sydney Taylor where all it takes is the right situation good coaching good development and all of a sudden you have a hundred seven hundred thousand dollars and she's getting paid the minimum and I think there's a lot more of I mean Odyssey Sims um you know players like that Aerie McDonald that have been bouncing you know uh Zaya Cook players who have been bouncing in and out of the league that now you can use when you have these superstars and build your depth that way along with rookies um I think that's like a a unique thing to watch out for yeah I think that's that's kind of why I don't hate this trade like especially in the WNBA it is so much harder to get a high level star like a superstar a top 10 type of player like Kelsey Plum is than it is to find even a high level role player like uh Monika Koa Makani is yeah but I do love I mean I do love her for for the spark so and I do like them getting the first round pick is is great like that you know hopefully it can be somebody like the player that I mentioned earlier like those Clara Strack types but to me the bigger thing now is that they actually get to be bad um and they could potentially like I'm really watching I'm watching the playoff standings but I'm really watching this lottery race now like you've got Toronto my agenda I'm Canadian so my agenda is full let's have Toronto show us something promising and lose games like they just did against the Valkyries I love that stuff I think it's hilarious that the Sparks finally won a game after trading Kelsey when you when you're like up against the fire who are also in that lottery race were you is that what you were rooting for you were at this uh Sparks fire game were you like let's you got the perfect result you get like four quarters a good basketball and then a Portland fire loss at the end yeah and I know that Juju will never come to Portland unless it was like a pure Nike play so but I think Madison Booker would like I think she'd be interested you know I think uh a Hannah Hidalgo in Portland would be interesting the clashing of styles um would be incredible but yeah I think as a fan I'm rooting for them to have the best overall pick that they can get but like as a fan of the organization and people and knowing people who are in the building like I do want them to develop they should have been in the building they should have been in the building they should have been in the building they should have been in the building they should have been in the building they should be the Sparks today like they were up by 10 and they're just allowing the Sparks to walk into open threes get easy corner you know get into the paint spray out nobody even notices that someone's over there and they're like oh yeah I need to go over and contest and then it switched so that part was like playing basketball yeah and like very slow to rotate very and this is a team that kind of prides itself on effort and so to to that degree they made it interesting you I mean you're talking about a game that went down to the wire outside of you know Bridget Carlton got fouled down three and probably should have gone to the free throw line and they called it an out of bounds and and that sort of ended the game but yeah I think for me as a fan rooting for this team to have an excellent draft position I'd be totally down with that and I'd be fine with trading this year's pick and I'd be fine with trading this year's pick and I'd be fine with trading this year's pick and I'd be fine with trading this year's pick and I'd be fine with trading this year's pick because I actually think Sarah Strong is a Portland Fire type player she would make so much sense in the Alex Arama system like I think she would be absolutely perfect for it now Sarah Strong would be perfect in any system but one that relies on feel and empowers players as much to be able to mold Sarah Strong that would be really cool the spark side of this they traded Dominic Malanga essentially for Kelsey Plum two years ago in hopes of making a big bet on the rise of women's basketball that they were completely unprepared for that they just kind of I don't know they were just sort of asleep at the wheel while everybody else was getting their ducks in a row for 2024 and then they make a spate of impatient and rush decisions to try to catch up to this moment and it has caught up with them in the worst way possible like they really to me feel like a parable for what has happened to some teams in a modern WNBA they were sort of like the ultimate marks Chicago is also one of these teams as well and Seattle is the beneficiary teams like the Mystics are the beneficiary and I don't know it's it's fascinating and it's sad because the Sparks are a flagship franchise they're one of the original franchises they're in a huge market that is obsessed with basketball that has you know two very passionate and high level women's basketball programs in the college level and USC and and UCLA and I feel like they just botched it and they botched it in a way that was so specifically LA coded like it was just all DeLulu California manifestation optimism it was all just like let's just make this move cross our fingers pray and hope that it works out like there just wasn't ever a level of realism about the situation um and ultimately like that's that's why this era that's why I think that's a big part of why Reagan people he is gone like I really like Reagan I think that she's really smart and I think that it's really one of those interesting situations where the execution was great but the vision was wrong it's like I think about this about Kelsey to about Lynn as well like those three were going to ride to the wheels fell off and those are really admirable characteristics unless you're driving in the wrong direction and I don't think there was ever a world in which Reagan people he was going to give up on this LA Sparks team and Kelsey Plum so they needed to bring in somebody who would and they have and as sad as that is like this is the most excited I've been about Sparks basketball in a really long time because it's like I'm no longer just squinting my eyes and seeing oh this is how you guys could potentially make the playoffs it's like now I'm just I'm looking at this draft I'm like you guys could get a star and you guys get a high level role player then you could really go for it in 2028 like and that's a real one I told I totally agree I think it all started when they fired Kurt Miller like this is a guy who should have had enough goodwill accumulated as being a high level coach a high level decision maker and this team was got injured and then they then they tanked for page which is totally fine i don't think you should get ever get fired for tanking for a generational talent period like if you're tanking for page for caitlin for juju i mean hell like in olivia miles um sarah strong that's a let's just let's see what it is when you actually want to win because that that player is so transcendent that it will change everything about you for the next decade and so once they fired him i was like this is not a serious organization they they don't believe in him this is very very rushed this is like you have cam brink cam brink gets injured you don't want to wait for her to develop or see what you have in her you just believe she's going to be some cornerstone for your franchise franchise right away and like i love cam brink but i didn't think she was that girl even at stanford not not to the level where you push all your chips in and and you trade the female wemby the pick that looks like is the cornerstone or one of the cornerstones for seattle's young core and you don't have any infrastructure around that i mean you traded the pick that would have become awa farm or whatever who knows like you probably i i don't i don't think if i had don malanga i would trade for awa fall i mean i would you know draft awa farm but that's you know what seattle did but so you you could have had her but then you traded that pick for rakia jackson and then like okay i love rakia that's a great that's a great move but then you trade rakia for ariel atkins straight up and so everything that you did that could have been this another player that has the potential to be transcendent you you trade for a player that like every time she's in a trade it's a bad trade for the person for the team that trades for her every time like if ariel atkins is in the trade and you receive her you lose the trade um so i was looking at some of the worst trades in wnba history and i was curious where you would rank now looking at it the kelsey plum for dominique malanga swap so we've got and we can also do the ariel trade as well the rakia for ariel but we've got i don't have these ranked but we've got angel reese to chicago for a 2024 pick swap and the un and an unprotected uh 2026 first round pick that was olivia miles um we have or rather it was the other way around um we had ariel atkins to chicago for a 2025 first rounder which became sonia citron and the 2027 pick swap that is currently projected to be number two or number three in this draft um angel reese to angel is involved in a lot of these angel reese to for two first round picks from chicago marina to chicago for a 2025 first round pick and a 2028 unprotected and then jc sheldon oh my gosh and then after that so chicago one's really tough that's a really tough one really really tough one that was a big haul um as well for for connecticut but then connecticut then trades jc sheldon again back to chicago for the 2028 unprotected first round pick you also have sylvia fowles to minnesota in 2015 alissa thomas washington that was washington that traded jc sheldon for 28 so they have chicago's 27 oh yeah because you said son because they have their 27 and 28 now yeah right yeah okay that's my bad okay i've named enough trades there's some really horrible trades where do we put the kelsey plumb dominique milanga in that probably probably three maybe two here's the thing that i also heard i i heard this from a pretty reliable source but i don't know if it's true but i don't know if it's true but i don't know but only one source i know how you you journalists like to be with multiple sources that olivia miles might not have gone back to school if she would have been like guaranteed to go to la so it could have not even been don milanga that you traded the pick for it could have been olivia miles wow oh my god yeah well if you're olivia miles in that situation you're weighing all of your options you are probably like a lot of her considerations were financial so yeah why wouldn't you consider whether like you you would put la on that market i did i've not heard that but that's very interesting i think it's like two or three i think that the ariel atkins for the first round pick and the first round pick swap with washington has to be number one because it could be sonia citron and madison booker or juju walken yeah that one's a tbd it's kind of dependent on where it falls and where like what ends up happening with this draft right now i think the olivia miles trade considering that you don't have angel reese anymore is probably the worst trade because olivia miles is a generational point guard we're already seeing she is having the best rookie season that we've ever seen a guard have she's having the best offensive rookie season of all time for a team that needs a guard for a chicago team that by the way has sydney taylor and carlos so who are so damn good who has gabby hawk as um as well even aisha cool ball like they have some really interesting young players um and it sure would have been nice to have olivia miles be part of all of that and to then still have um your draft assets coming up as well but that's not the situation that they are in at all and honestly like the first the sort of like these bad moves compound on each other right like this happened this happened with la as well like you make one bad move then you double down on it and then you have to make one bad move and then you double down on it and then you have to make one bad move and then you double down on it and then you have to make one bad move and then you double down on it and then you have to make one bad move and then you double down you double down this all starts with the marina maybe mabry trade if they didn't make the marina mabry trade they would have had their own first round pick in 2024 which means they never would have had to trade up to to get angel reese in the first place like good decisions compound and so do bad ones because they chose camilla first and then they took angel yeah they took they took camilla with the fourth pick or the third pick and then yeah then they would have had the fifth pick they would have had the fifth pick and instead of the seventh pick and so they would have never had to make the trade if they didn't trade for marina mabry i mean they would have fucked it up somehow anyways so yes yeah sorry go ahead yes no you're you're right and then the way that the marina mabry trade out went down was odd as well like the and like just chicago anytime we talk about chicago there's like a myriad of problems i think the jc sheldon pick trade trade is like also right there right right there unprotected first rounder for a player who's like yeah exactly for like a very marginal role player barely in the league yeah and you got and you just took gabby hawkins who's a better young version of her they're all chicago chicago is very heavily featured a lot of these um you know i feel i feel bad being so mean to chicago they had one of the coolest weekly i wanted to talk about sydney taylor and honestly i don't know i don't know if i'm going to be able to talk about sydney taylor but honestly i feel like they're doing a really like like for us for what's going on on paper like it's actually kind of a nice time to be a chicago fan in the building itself because sydney taylor just had a game-winning three against the las vegas aces coming off of a series of different attempts to like try to win it at the buzzer including the uh game against liberty and i was watching the game against the liberty and i was watching the game against the aces and you know she has that drive before the actual shot against asia wilson where you know she kind of collides midair with asia and she and she doesn't make this this driving shot and this is in a fourth quarter where she has gotten the back of the game with you know three pointers with floaters just aggressiveness like all the things that we've come accustomed to seeing from sydney taylor who was in freaking poland like very recently like this is just a player who's such an incredible developmental arc so for her to cap it off and actually like get redemption for you know the the missed game winner um and you can just see how much she cares and all of that too it was just really cool it was really cool so that that was awesome and also shout out to tyler marsh as well i think he's been doing a good job lately yeah that was she just looked incredible uh and the efficiency was there i just i just love her game like when you watch her i don't know if this is what you see but like her handles really smooth her ability to come around and she's just so good on screens and get to her spots she's got a step back in her bag she's got the catch and shoot she's got off the dribble she's got tons of runners she's got the floaters the up and unders like she finishes really well in traffic she finishes really well under pressure she's a great cutter she's a relentless defender and that game winner against the aces kind of remind me reminded me as a blazer fan of that first game time against the houston rogers you're coming around that same spot on the floor same sort of setup come around the screen and swap and um yeah i mean she that like the game winner she tried to to make what was it against the liberty a minute back ago like she wants to have the big shots it's kind of like wow you guys fucked up so much and yet the basketball gods gave you sydney taylor and a vet like natasha cloud be her auntie. I love that relationship I love that relationship and she continually feeds her too and the team has faith in her too like that's where like the the developmental aspect of this it's a real feather in the cap for Tyler Marsh who's quietly I think been doing a pretty good job like he's been able to coax some aggressiveness out of Camila Cardoso who's leading the WNBA in restricted field goals right now like we just wanted to see that out of her I think some of the defensive stuff that they've done has been really interesting as well they really like kind of leaned on their defense to win that game and it paid off for them um like I think he's doing the best he can with the ingredients that he has right now um and the Sydney Taylor sorry go ahead yeah and sometimes like unfortunately uh you got to make you have to make tough decisions and like it feels like he said it's kind of addition by subtraction and people may say like oh Skyler is is got into the WNBA and he's like oh Skyler is is got into the WNBA and he's like oh Skyler is is got injury management but like let's look at the timeline she was fine she's playing she was hooping he had her come off the bench said she was going to come off the bench she didn't play then it was a statement about how she was now not going to play through pain or was going to play through less pain because of the way that she was being treated and she hasn't played since so and and the Chicago Sky are winning games yeah and they were not able to deal her at the deadline like I feel like that's just one where you're stuck with each other because like her contract is too big and nobody wants it and she's probably not going to want to suit up for you guys again like I imagine that pretty soon here we will hear about how she's starting to feel better yeah like she wants to go somewhere else yeah well she's not going to get to this this time around but maybe try to drive up her own trade value a little bit here but yeah I think she's feeling a lot better very soon here um you mentioned Dame time I have to run this by you because you're uh you know you're you're you're in Portland you're at all these fire games Carla late in these fourth quarters at times is just doing Dame coded stuff so I wanted to run a run like a passing of the torch slash like nickname synergy behind uh by you here so we have Dame time how about the late arrival I could get one gas here I love the late arrival oh yeah like she's been here but also like fourth quarter that's when like that's when it's the late show yeah she's doing and the thing is it's not easy the the way that the the Alex has these rotations it's not easy for her to get into the flow really she had seven points in her first stint out there which was like four minutes and 15 seconds and I was paying very close attention to her because I'm about to be knocked out of my fantasy league and she's on my team and so I needed a big need a big game for her so I was like really locked into when she was on the floor and not and so she had she had a great first you know stint four four 15 or whatever and then the second quarter when he brought her back in maybe I think end of the first like nothing it's just hard when you're hot to get taken out and then get brought back in and then have to restart it up again and she's she's done such a phenomenal job not only playmaking but off the dribble the and ones the transition buckets but also like the the demonstrative stuff that she does she's incredible she's she really is one of the bright spots of development in this WNBA season on top of obviously you know the the rookie in Sydney Taylor yeah I mean honestly every Portland player could win most improved player at this point I am curious if Alex Rama is going to have to eventually move off of this style I mean it's very much in line with the evolution of the WNBA like he wants them to be playing with pace he wants them to be playing with effort Carla late when she does come in the game is running more pick and rolls than anybody in WNBA history has she's running more than Olivia Miles more than Caitlin Clark both those players are in the top five like she but she is number one and she's going to have to move off of this style I mean that is obviously like if you are watching like that's what's probably a little bit of a surprise um but at the same time like I feel like it's kind of like it's kind of like his formula like you get in the game and we're going to use you on the ball over and over again which is also why we're going to rest you um but you're right like the fever just went through this with Caitlin Clark in her short stints as well um she's not playing those shorts since anymore she played seven eight minutes in the first quarter of this game she's able to get into a rhythm and that's the sort of like tricky thing with she's not playing those shorts since anymore she's able to get into a rhythm and the analytics and like what's on the spreadsheet versus like what players need for their feel as well and I think that that like I think the rubber is going to hit the road maybe not this season yet with with this but kind of maybe like you know how 10 like this happened to Tennessee this last year with Kim Caldwell as well where it's like okay the hockey subs are cool for a bit um but eventually like you're just going to want your best players in the game and you're going to want to be able to mix and match um and great players generally don't like to get subbed in and out of the game so I think that's a good thing to do and I think that's a good thing to do and I think that's a good thing to do and I think that's a good thing to do and I think that's a good thing to do a lot they just don't like just a thing yeah and I I was watching her closely on the bench and I couldn't tell what was happening with her in terms of what was causing the visible frustration she was playing great so I thought maybe it had something to do with her beating herself up a couple of her teammates patted her on the back maybe I have no idea but maybe it wasn't her beating herself up maybe it was like yo I'm not going to be able to do that I'm not going to be I can't get into a fucking rhythm getting out of here in three minutes and 45 seconds and then like a minute at a time I'm not even playing with the starters I'm playing with you know uh Holly Winterburn and I'm playing with you know these these other rotation players like Sarah Williams and it's like can I just can I go and hoop for longer than three minutes um because with stoppages and getting into the flow and who knows if you have any chance of getting into the flow any transition opportunities which is I think where she gets a lot of her rhythm um you know it's a it's a tough situation but she's a she's a phenomenal passer and I think Bridget Carlton is a lot better when Carla late's out there than when say a Taya Obloch is out there and I like Taya this team's going to be scary when Ayanna Martin comes over yes Spain who was oh my gosh some incredible dimes to to all well farm for the national team yeah and for Valencia yeah yeah yeah she played with uh with Valencia um I think I mean I'm excited for free agency for this team I actually think that they would make a really sneaky nice Kelsey Plum destination like I think so too they they did they both do the CLA thing that like Kelsey has been doing CLA for a long time and she's just such a CLA coded type of player like I was she was gonna before she got traded from the Sparks she was gonna come off the bench in a minute's restriction and she was like oh well that's what I used to do like I'm actually really excited for this like I think Kelsey Plum's the type of person where you give her like any sort of like obstacle or something that's going to make things a little stranger off kilter and she truly is like okay challenge accepted like let's see how I can benefit from this and that's truly like the whole philosophy behind CLA like and then you consider the fact that like you know it's you know she played in Washington like you got the Pacific Northwest connection um you know it's not that far from Southern California where she's from as well I think like Portland Fire was for her would be like a really good free agency fit if they can get somebody else to play for like a free agency fit if they can get somebody else there to convince her that like they can make a real run thousand percent plus Susan Borchart is her um can like her performance coach who really like if you watched Kelsey play at Washington and look at her body and the way that her frame is now like and how she moves like Susan was a big part of that and she lives Susan lives here in Portland as well I think the two most CLA coded players that are free agents that would change this franchise overnight and I know it's very much a dream and a fantasy it would be Kelsey and Nafisa Collier both can do everything both feel like they've got the ability to play on the fly a lot more than in like scripted situations if you could get one and then the other to convince that second player and then maybe you end up saying okay like maybe you have a Juju or a pick as well and that player says well they got Fi and Kelsey Plum I'm not going back to school and I get to play with all these Nike execs watching me every night and I want a signature shoe like it's a great great situation for women's hoops yeah no that's that's very true the Nike connection is super interesting and just Portland like I think I think like for a player like Juju you're also coming off of an ACL tear and one thing that Portland has really dedicated itself to is the health and performance side of things um that is part of the reason that Alex Sarama runs these short rotations they're always doing like they're they're checking their players loads like in practices and stuff and with the Thorns as well because they own the Thorns they are trying to very much be on the cutting edge of understanding in a much more nuanced way why professional women's athletes are going through the injuries that they're going through and actually trying to find a solution to it and they're one of the few places that has test cases in two sports that involve a lot of of stop and go movement. do so like they're just a very interesting petri dish like for everything I don't think that we've been talking about them enough as like a free agency wild card or a trade market wild card potentially but they very much could get into the mix yeah I mean think about like what the Valkyries were their first year they had longer to explore free agency nobody really knew what they were going to look like they create an identity their coaching staff is awesome like and players like Gabby Williams want to go there and I think that you know got a lot of people from the Valkyries organization that are now with Portland Fire I think you can look and and see a lot of those same patterns play out this offseason yeah just super interesting super interesting like sneaky potential powerhouse in the making Trista thank you so much for making the time is there anything that you want to plug other than you know the Let Her Shoot podcast and the Daily W with Sarah Chovnik I'm a huge fan of that pod I always have been I love that you guys are just straight shooters like you're not too concerned about the blowback or like trying to apologize for takes like I think there's a lot of that in the women's basketball space so I've always found you guys refreshing and funny as a result of that and then of course I know there's the Portland the the the alt cast that you have with Carrie Brown scene which is so so cool but is there anything else though no I mean I would say in general right now the the biggest things that I'm doing in in August our Let Her Shoot twice a week comes out on Tuesday and Friday we got to have you on as a guest soon by the way I'd love to yeah and then the Daily W as a whole you can find not just basketball coverage there but everything so find us on Instagram on threads on TikTok mostly the meta platforms we're big on and we're going to be doing a lot of stuff and we're going to be doing a lot of stuff and we're you're big guys yeah big big no don't don't paint us in that way um that's just where we get traction find us anywhere no but uh we got to have you on soon for sure because like even just being on a pod with you I get smarter no me too man I appreciate this um I appreciate you thank you so much for making the time thank you to Stefan Anderson for producing and we will be back later this week before this there's this as you celebrate the game take a deeper look at its roots the people grow in the grass bathing the lots welding the goals goalposts inspecting every football the hard-working people that make every Sunday possible Carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game visit carhartt.com slash join the trades to learn more the Mosquito Bowl is the incredible true story of four college football stars who walked away from NFL careers after Pearl Harbor to enlist in the Marines from Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg and starring Nicholas Gallatin, Bill Scott, and the rest of the Skarsgard Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis comes a story of brotherhood and sacrifice four men who traded the gridiron for the battlefield the Mosquito Bowl in theaters October 30th