The Raptors are about to make another mistake...| Trade Deadline Preview

Welcome to Pensar Basketball. And the last time I made the title, the Raptors are about to make a huge mistake. During that live stream itself, the Toronto Raptors traded for Yaka Purle. Let us pray that something that crazy doesn't happen during this live stream.

But that live stream was very close to the trade deadline, and this one is 3 days away from the trade deadline, so hopefully I'm skipping it out. The Toronto Raptors have a problem, which is they have a lot of bad contracts and they have a pretty good team. Usually when something like that happens, you try to leverage those bad contracts plus some future assets to get better players.

And obviously the Toronto Raptors have a player in Emanuel Quickley who albeit the analytics love him. He is top 50 in the NBA, actually top 31 in value of a replacement. He ranks pretty well across a lot of metrics. He's a pretty well-rounded player, but a lot of Raptor fans, myself sometimes included, have kind of talked themselves into this idea that Emanuel Quickley is this is this just terrible player and is just massively overpaid. And in this live, I want to talk about what the Raptors can do during the trade deadline. And I want to walk back something crazy that I said, which is that I said that the Raptors should explore trading their 2026 first round pick. I said this out of ignorance having not watched a lot of the 2023 uh 2026 draft class and having done about a week and a half to two weeks of catch-up scouting at this point watching a ton of collegiate basketball now that we are about 20 games into the college season.

I must walk back my take. I do not think the Raptors should trade that 2026 first round pick. I think that 2026 first round pick might be the most untouchable asset not named Scotty Barnes on this roster if I'm being honest. And that is because I don't think it is fairly valued. I think the Raptors are a pretty good team. I think teams are going to lowball you for that pick. They're not going to value it for what it really is. I think this draft is insanely deep. And I think the Raptors have a need for a player exactly like the one who might be available in this draft.

Now, of course, drafts are a crapshoot. Historically, you might, you know, some team out there burned a 14th overall pick on Ochi. Some team out there burned a 13th overall pick on Grady Dick. and they didn't amount to very much. And you know, in that same draft, 15th overall or 14th, 16th overall was Keonte George and he's amounted to something quite significant. I think that this draft yields couple of player archetypes that are missing on the Toronto Raptors. And given the Raptor's cap situation, I believe there is a bit of an echo chamber going on on Twitter and online communities, YouTube comments, YouTube content creators where the obvious solution is, okay, let's dump R.J., let's dump, you know, IQ, let's dump Yakob, and let's go all in on something bigger, something better, something shinier. or maybe simply clear up the cap sheet a little bit, dump Yako Purle, get off his contract, get an expiring, dump the draft pick.

But the truth is, what is the real problem with Yaka Purle? He's not a bad player. He's a little bit overpaid, soon to be overpaid. Next year he'll be a little bit overpaid, and the next year after that, it'll be significantly overpaid, but the real issue is a lack of depth, a lack of roster flexibility. You know what helps with roster flexibility? Hitting on that 2026 first round pick. that would help tremendously with roster flexibility.

So, as the Raptors walk into this draft or walk into the trade deadline, they are also technically walking into the draft because Chief among their key assets that every team will ask for is that 2026 first round pick. There is an immediate gratification of that 2026 first round pick. There's a lot of buzz around the 2026 draft. GMs are definitely more familiar with this class than they are with the next class. And so, yes, GMs, maybe one GM or two GMs who are thinking like I'm thinking are thinking maybe Yakob Purle is not so bad if getting Yakob Purle also allows me to draft say someone like Cameron Carr or someone like Bennett Stirts.

And if you look at this Toronto Raptor uh team, obviously they are not in a position to draft these top four or five players who everyone is talking about right now. Darren Peterson from Kansas who has gone through tons of injury issues, lower leg, you know, lower body issues, cramping issues, but still looks very much the part. And if the Raptors had a chance in the world to get him, they'd be crazy not to. AJ Debonsa, who I have been on record for two years saying that I would pick him over Cooper Flag, sight on scene. He's one of my favorite prospects of all time. Cameron Boozer, who has just been a man among boys, right? Will his career really materialize into superstardom? Don't know, but he's going to be a starter in the NBA for sure. Kingston Flemings, who really, we talked about him in our first and only draft episode this year when Erson brought him up and he's just like, "Look out for Kingston Flemings." Oh boy. At that time that brought him up, I think he was like 14th or 15th on most draft boards. And this year playing for the Houston Cougars, he has really risen up. He's a shot creator. He's dynamic. He's extremely fast and just looks the part of the type of guard that the Raptors just don't have on their roster. A guy who can get two feet in the paint. And then there's Caleb Wilson, the monster out in North Carolina who is just an athletic freak and is just wowing people one play every single game.

Remove these five from your mind. You're not getting one of these guys. They're not going to be available. You're not falling into a draft pick. You're not We're not going to miss the playoffs and end up with a lottery pick most likely. So, in most cases, you're going to wipe these five out, and you're just going to pray that three to four of them end up in the Western Conference. Okay? Probably not going to happen. Indiana's probably going to get one of these guys. Washington's probably going to get one of these guys. Let us pray that nobody else gets one of these guys cuz Indiana's going to be a contender next year if they get AJ Deansa to pair with a returning Tyresese Hallebert. Like, they're going to be right back to contender status.

So, remove the remove these five from your equation and move one tier down. Okay, Katon Waggler is in my opinion one of the most impressive uh young players that I've seen. I've watched a lot of Illinois games because I'm personally invested in Andre Styovic who is the highest usage player on that team. Kind of ironic. Pedro's son. Uh I I've told this story before that my ex-girlfriend is actually Pedro's uh first cousin. And so yeah, like I'm very deeply invested because I've been seeing Andre growing up since he was like 5 years old. So, this is a very interesting team. The Illinois um this Illinois team is very interesting. And their best player by far is Keen Wagler, who is a freaking freshman. And he is putting up like unseen, unheard of like type of analytics. Like his his numbers have been insane. Yeah, he's on a pretty good team. It's a pretty, you know, veteran laden team with a lot of help, but he's the best player on that team and he has no business being the best player on that team. It is really interesting to see him. Leberon Phylon is another guard who the Raptors just don't have on their team, right? A scoring guard who can get two feet in the paint, physical, right? And and again, the comp to Tyrese Maxi, I'm not sure if he'll ever hit that all-star, you know, all NBA type of level, but he looks like at worst case, he's going to be an instant bucket off the bench. And again, the type of player that you would want to pair with Scotty Barnes. Every player that I have mentioned right here would immediately jump Colin Murray Boils as the best young player on your team, not named Scotty Barnes. And in the case of AJ, he might honestly jump into franchise or franchise player territory very quickly.

You go one step deeper into the draft, at least by the NBA draft room, and then you get Darius Akuff, a player that a lot of people have issues with because maybe he doesn't take enough threes or whatever, but man, this is a wiry physical player and honestly has a lot in common. You know, today on on the panel, Swiper was talking about Diary Seaf and he said, "Kind of reminds me of Keonte George and I'm like, honestly, I like his feel a lot better than I like Kee George's feel at Baylor. This is a player who if he slips and one of these guys, there's a good chance that someone at 10, someone within this top 10 is going to be available at 15, 16, or 17. That that happens almost every single year. So, you got to just find that player. Mikuel Brown Jr. is another player who has elite point guard skills. We're we go down we Okay, avoid avoid these combo forward types like Kap, Nate, Aunt, whatever. Henry Visar, you you've got a backup center problem. Henry Visar is going to solve that problem very quickly. He's very physical, very NBA ready. Pretty quickly NBA ready. This is not a Kamano Malawatch type of prospect, you know, where you're going to have to wait five years for him to to develop like he's going to be able to give you something right away. Chris Sak, I'm not sure if he's going to come out right away. Uh got a lot of issues with him, but there's upside there for sure. their shooting upside, mid-range upside, defensive upside. He's playing at Houston. I think it's a huge thing that he chose to go to Houston because it's a very, you know, good program for your development. And we're seeing it right now with Jamal Shed, you know, and and you go, again, Cameron Carr, this is one that surprised me. This was like one of my big catch-up scouting u sessions last last week. And watching Cameron Carr for about 250 to 300 offensive possessions this year, I'm just like, damn, the Raptors need this. He can create his own shot. His shot is all one motion, super smooth. Totally see everything that this guy does working with what the Raptors want to do with Scotty MBI.

Move down the list to a name that a lot of people who were looking at draft boards last year, shout outs to you by the way. Uh if you're off work, not if you're at work, but if you're off work, salute. Join me for a for an afternoon beer. Sorry, I feel like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Okay, so Bennett Sts, you know, after transferring from last year he was at Drake and this year he is at Iowa and honestly that is a huge step up in terms of conference, you know, going to the Big 10 playing with Iowa and he's held up. He's held up really well. The fact that he's a little bit lower is because he's a senior. He's 22 years old already. But we are watching this happen all over the NBA right now where guards like this are shining. There are so many examples in the NBA of guys who have like 98% similarity scores with Bennett Sts as a collegiate player. This guy's going to be a hooper. This guy's going to be a rotation player in the NBA. He might be a starter in the NBA. You can get him in the 20s potentially if he stays there. I'm I'm pretty sure he'll rise up once teams get a chance to really get him in their gym.

Go further down, man. You got Neoclas Abdales going through a generational cold streak in terms of shooting right now. So maybe some people are a little bit lower on him, but this is a big, you know, rangy playmaker with some guard skills, right? Adara, right? a player that I saw last year just 7 foot three huge uh huge wingspan just good touch around the rim there's so many players and then of course Dyson Daniels brother Dash Daniels who I thought shoe top 12 pick before this draft this draft class you know started going and Dash is all the way down to 28 right now because people have concerns about his jump shot.

Okay, so what am I trying to say? We're going to do deep dives into this draft as we get closer to the draft and maybe do a little bit of draft coverage when we get into March Madness because I want to talk about this. This is the best draft class I have seen in my lifetime. Not joking. And my lifetime extends well beyond many of your lifetimes. This draft class reminds me of 2003 except 2003. I'm thinking 2003. I'm thinking TJ Ford, Kirk Hinrich. This is close. This is close to that. You know, I'm I'm looking at man. But even in that draft class, there were some real duds, you know, in the in the later part of the lottery. Whereas like this draft is like that draft, but it's deeper.

Now, I have said this many times, drafts are not uniform. Okay? There's nothing that says 14th means 14th means 14th. Sometimes 13th is Ed Davis and Grady Dick. Apparently, when the Raptors pick 13th, it's one of those guys. Sometimes 13th is Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, and Kobe Bryant. Kind of depends on the draft class, depends on the evaluator, and depends a little bit on luck. But I will say this, the expected value of a 15th or 16th overall pick in this draft is about as high as a 15th or 16th overall pick has ever been in NBA history. Sounds like hyperbole. I don't know anyone else who's saying that right now, but I feel it in my gut right now that this draft is absolutely loaded.

So, controversial take. I don't want to trade the 2026 first round pick for Dron Sharp. I don't want to trade it for Damont Sabonis. I don't want to trade it for Anthony Davis. I don't want to trade it for Kyrie Irving. No matter what you think this roster that you have right now can do in the playoffs, find a way to do it without trading that 2026 first round pick. 2020 27 first round pick, top 10 protected, I am game. 2028 first round pick, lottery protected. I am game. 2029 lottery protected. I am game. Even 2029 top six protected. I am game. I am okay trading those picks. I am not okay trading this 2026 first round pick. And if the Raptors end up trading this 2026 first round picks or suspect they might because I've heard through the grapevine that they might actually do this, I am going to be pissed. Unless of course what you get back is something that I expect to be as valuable as what I think that player will be worth.

So why is this player worth so much? Few reasons, man. Few reasons. Number one, if you do get a Bennett Stirts, I'm going to make a case right now that Bennett Stirts as a basketball player right now is better than six or seven players on your roster today. Yes, those are NBA players. I don't think that AJ Lawson is a better player than Ben Stirts. I don't think Elijah Martin is a better player than Bennett Sts. I don't think Jonathan Mo is a better player than Bennett Sts. I don't not sure Grady Dick is a better player than Bennett Sts right now. Not five years from now. right now. That 22-year-old dude who I saw last year, Drake, who I'm seeing this year at Iowa, this dude is a [ __ ] baller. I'm sorry. There are dudes who are in collegiate basketball right now who are significantly better than a third of the league. AJ Debonsa and Darren Peterson would cook up. People want to act like there's some massive D. Oh, there's the collegiate players. Cooper Flag was a [ __ ] collegiate player turning the ball over against pressure less than a year ago. And people were screaming that he's never going to develop an offensive game. And I was saying this guy's going to be Kawhi Leonard. I don't remember people saying that before I said it.

Which brings me to a bigger point, you know, which I want to which I I'm going to address the bigger point in about 10 15 minutes as I get through this central point. The bigger point massages my ego a little too much for me to make it a central point of this video. So let me just get to the main point. The main point here is why do you keep this 2026 first round pick? because it immediately becomes the type of asset you can actually grow with because it immediately balances out your roster potentially because it may if you take an NBA ready you know senior like Bennett Dirts or whether even you take a very advanced sophomore it could be a rotation player very early very early we're seeing rookies like Colin Murray Bole Cedric Coward contributing this year these are these are both guys who weren't freshman last year but we're also seeing Coniple and Cooper Flag become top 100 players in the NBA and these were both freshman last year.

So what is happening in collegiate basketball that is allowing this to happen? One, I think collegiate basketball is getting better just across the board. I think there is a population pyramid in the world where the majority of the population is a certain age. And so when we're talking about drafts where 60 players are always selected regardless or 58 to 60 players depending on you know what the pick situation is with penalties and [ __ ] 58 to 60 players are selected in every single draft in my lifetime. It doesn't matter if the collegiate class is terrible shout outs to 2000 or whether the collegiate class is loaded. Shout out to 2003. 60 players are selected regardless. Sometimes an undrafted player falls through the cracks. Shout outs to Fred Vanble, Ben uh Ben Wallace, Brad Miller. Sometimes in a very deep draft, you miss these types of guys. Sometimes guys are picked at 27 who are out of the league within a year. It happens. But not all draft classes are uniform. I believe the draft class is getting stronger. This is a point that I have made in many lives before and I will make it again. Draft classes are typically on average on a 5-year average span getting stronger and stronger. We were told 2021 was the best draft class ever uh or potentially was the best class. Then we were told 2023 with Victor Wmanyama was one of the best classes. Now we're being told 2026. You notice the frequency of these events happening. By 20 by 2032, you might have two more of these anomaly classes because we don't know who the [ __ ] these kids are. There's a kid who's 14 or 15 years old right now in Somalia who's going to be the next Victor Women Yama and you don't know. You don't know who that kid is. There's a kid in Greece right now who's 15 years old and he's about to hit a six month a 6 inch growth spurt and become the next Giannis. We don't know. But kids are getting bigger. They're stronger. They're taller. There's a lot of countries that are developed that are having access to nutrition for the first time ever. Countries like China are growing aggregating. There's there's less of an agurial uh what is the word? progalial society, developed societies, more money. You you you can get the picture. And the population boom is making it, you know, increasingly harder for these players to stand out. There's increased effort and knowledge on training younger and younger and younger kids. Shout outs to Brian Min who trains 5-year-olds, sixy olds, seven year olds. Kids were not trained by professional trainers at five and six. My point is, the players who are in the league today represent dinosaurs. The players who are coming up represent a new breed of player. Longer, more athletic, bigger. Okay, these point guards that I mentioned, almost every single guard that I mentioned was 6'3 or above. There's no 5'11 guys. Those 5'11 guys are D2 guys now. So, this means that at some point there will be a great displacement in the NBA at which point the league will get younger and younger and younger. It is getting younger already. There are so many, you know, veterans right now like Udonis Hasslam and Vince Carter who are petitioning for, you know, teams to get more veterans. Where? How? Right. We We don't have space. We don't have space for 37year-old Garrett Temple. We don't have space. We We don't have space for Yianis Hassle. We don't have space for Sergio Baka. We don't have space for Marcus. We don't have space for Danny Green. We don't have space for these guys. We got young players coming in. We've we've already expanded the roster spots to 17. The Raptors should not trade future picks. If they have to trade a future pick, it better be for like a 23 to 24 year old and it better not be the 2026 pick. That's what I'm going to say.

There's a really coherent argument from a cap building perspective that a player picked around 20 in this draft will immediately become one of the highest value players within a few years if you hit it right. Examples include the pick that the Raptors traded for Thaddius Young could have become, and I play I hate to play the could a should, would a game, but it could have become Peyton Watson. This dude Pton Watson right now, I was crying for Pton Watson. Please give me a hell yeah or an amen. If you remember my 2022, 2023 draft coverage around that area where I was screaming for the Raptors to get Pton Watson. And unfortunately, the Raptors couldn't get Payton Watson because that draft pick had been traded. I'm so frustrated. Nicole Yoic, Andrew Nemhard, all these players you're crying over right now. We're right there. We were right available for us. Walker Kesler, Walker Kesler was right there. Negates the entire need to trade this pick, trade picks to get Yaka Purle. Anyway, you would have had a Walker Kesler even the next year choosing to be good in a year where you know Victor Womenyama is available. Okay, cool. You know, you're crying for a center. Oh, Scotty doesn't have a lob threat. Scotty doesn't have a lob threat. Okay, cool. Derek Lively. Oh, we don't have a pesky guard defender. Oh, Case Wallace. Oh, man. We don't have a young core to build around Scotty Barnes. Assar Thompson, Amen Thompson. I don't know. The list continues. Get my point. So, the Raptors just don't understand what these picks are worth when they hit because they don't hit their [ __ ] picks. When's the last time the Raptors hit a pick out of the park? You can say Scotty Barnes. I think a lot of people would disagree. I would say Scotty Barnes, but that's really the last time. That's that's 5 years ago. He's in his fifth year. So, you got to give me more than Scotty, right? You got to you got to do a better job of building around Scotty. Otherwise, you're going to be in the same boat as the Bucks with Giannis, except Scotty's not as good as Yiannis, right? So, this pick represents potentially a silver lining or a lifeline. It's a go. God's giving you a lifeline. Okay, this pick is a lifeline. You've chosen to be good before you're ready to be good. Fine, because you saw an opening in the East and your boss is Keith P and you're a new guy with the job and you want to be good. Cool. You get Brandon Ingram. You play your starters a lot of minutes. Guys don't miss games. You keep playing teams that are completely injury depleted. You build up your roster. You fool fans into thinking you're a contender. I don't know what the [ __ ] the Raptors think they are right now. You're playing above your head completely because your team is entirely bought in and you have probably the best chemistry in the entire NBA that I've seen other than the OKC Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. I don't see a team that is maybe the San Antonio Spurs that are disconnected. Charlotte Hornets a little bit. There are teams that are super connected and they just win more games because they're super connected. And there's teams that are disconnected like the Sacramento Kings and they underperform their talent every night cuz they're not locked in. They don't communicate. But communication ain't going to get you through a playoff round. I hate to tell you that. The Atlanta Hawks would bud, they were very, very communicative and very, very bought in and very well coached. They couldn't beat talent. Talent gets you through. Talent is very important. Something that I often didn't appreciate enough when I was younger, but I appreciate a lot more today, is that talent matters so much. You can coach yourself in circles. You can build a perfect scheme. You can trick teams with your little, you know, zone defense, spot zones, and, you know, trick out of bounds plays. Dude, when everyone focuses, talent stands out, right? You got to find talent, though. You got to find actual talent. Talent that can dribble past a high school press by the worst team in the NBA. Talent that can penetrate a zone. This team has holes. This draft offers solutions to beat those holes because Bennett Sturs has no issues beating a zone and neither does Darius Seikov and neither does Darren Peterson. There's a lot of guys in this draft who learen fil can beat a zone. Like maybe not perfectly, but they they can do a good job of it. The Toronto Raptors desperately need a talent infusion. You're not going to find a talent infusion by trading this 2026 first round pick to get Ben Mathan because I would argue that right now there are players in collegiate basketball who are better than Ben Mathan who might be available between 10 and 20. It sounds crazy at to to any person listening to me right now. They're like this guy has lost his mind. Is he saying that dudes who are playing collegiate basketball are actually better than dudes who are playing professional basketball? Yes, sometimes they are. Sometimes they are actually better and and most of the time they're much worse. The average collegiate basketball player is worse than the average G-League player. The average G-League player is worse than the average Euro League player. There are obviously tears and no one is saying that the average NBA player wouldn't whoop ass of everybody. I I get that. I totally get that. I'm not stupid. But the point here is that there are seniors who are very very suited to exactly the type of player you want. You want to trade for Derek White. There are three players who have a lot in common with Derek White in this draft. Norman Pal is a 42nd overall pick. Am I Am I wrong? He's 42nd overall pick. Norman Pal was traded for Gary Tren Jr. Then Norman Pal was traded for Eric Bledsoe. Then Norman Pal was traded to make room for the corpse of Bradley Bill. Which means this is where talent evaluation evaluators need to eat some humble pie. I need to eat some humble pie. I can victory lap all day over Coniple and Peyton Watson. All of them. Like I have had a lot of hits in the draft guys that I said this guy's going to be good. But I've also had my Jordan Hawkins. I've also had my Kee Georgees. I've also taken the Rayon Rupairs of the world. Talent evaluation is not perfect, but you must bet on high value outcomes. And trading this first round pick for Damont Sabonis is not a highv value outcome. It is a treadmill move. The Raptors must do everything in their power to avoid becoming a treadmill.

Now, am I opposed to trading for Damont Sabonis and eating that contract if all it takes is RJ Barrett and Yaka Purle? Hell no. Would I be open to trading a couple of second round picks to see if we can rehabilitate the value of a twotime AllNBA player still in his 20s? Yes, I am open to that. There is a line that I draw in the sand and that is the 2026 first round pick.

Now, that's my thoughts on the 2026 first round pick. I think this draft is full of bigs who can shoot, who have touch, and guards who can get into the paint and are big and can shoot. Combined total, this draft possesses, especially in the range that the Ravage expect to pick, exactly the types of players that you don't have on your team. Not a lot of Scotty Barnes and Colin Murray Boils in this draft, per se, but there are a lot of guys who have similarities to guys that you have been targeting, and that's important. It offers a huge benefit to your cap sheet. As I mentioned before, the Raptors are very expensive with Emanuel Quickley going forward, Brandon Ingram, Scotty Barnes. You need somebody to offset some of that expense. You'll get lucky maybe if you can sign Grady to a cheap extension this off season and maybe he blossoms for you on a second contract. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. I still have some belief that Grady can be okay. I am starting to buy some Elijah Martin stock even though I wouldn't necessarily see him as anything more than a 13th or 14th, you know, guy on a roster. Maybe Elijah Martin surprises us all this off season. It can happen very quickly. Nobody saw Fred Vanley becoming an all-star right away. So, these things can happen. These unexpected development pops happen. But most importantly, the central theme of this video is the Raptors cannot, should not, and will be very stupid to trade that 2026 first round pick. Um, and it is the most likely asset to go out in a trade. I will say this though, I will be upset if that 2026 first round pick is traded. Period. So, regardless of whether it's traded, who it's traded for, unless it's being traded for Anthony Edwards, I'm going to be I'm going to be pissed. Okay? There's a significant primer uh significant premium that I put on that pick based on where it is and the draft that it's in. But if so help me God, the 2026 first round pick is either swapped or traded to clear salary. I'm done. Like I am going to crash out for 24 hours straight. I don't even have 24 hours. I'm going to try crash out. So you'll understand that I'm a little bit anxious going into the trade deadline.

I want to say something and this is like the second main point of this life. Don't be a parrot in life or in basketball. Never be a parrot. A lot of people are really worried about chat GPT taking over content, you know, like, oh my god, how am I going to make videos? Chat GPT can make videos. If you can be replaced by Chat GPT, then you probably shouldn't be making videos. Is that fair? There's a lot of writers out there who are like, "Oh my god, Chat GBT is taking my job." Cool. You suck at your job. That's why Chat GBT is taking your job. I listen to a podcast today. I'm not going to put names on it because the other side never puts names on things they say about us. So, I'm not going to put names on the other side. And I listen to a person who is supposed to be plugged into this team and knows about this team and what stuff. And I listened to him speak for about 20 minutes cuz that's all I could take. And I heard him talk in circles like I heard him say about 85 different things that I had already heard word for word being said in pockets of space. This pair problem is a really big problem because that's really what chat GPT does, doesn't it? Chat GPT cannot give you an original dot. It can synthesize previous dots. It can arrange previous strands of information. Chat GPT is what your teachers were trying to teach you to be in school. That's not creativity. That's not analysis. That's nothing.

You'll often hear me shout out certain content creators on this channel. You've heard me shout out God. Cool. You've heard me obviously shout out um Samson, you know, Lewis to some extent. You've heard me shout out shout out the NBA storyteller. There are very few people in this world, you know, in basketball world that I really respect what they do because the vast majority of people are just parrots. They go and they want to sound smart. So they listen to somebody say something and they listen to another person say something and then they think that they're [ __ ] slick and then they combine the two things and then they're just like Trey Murphy's a bad defender. You don't know that cuz you haven't watched him. But pro a little deeper and ask them why is Trey Murphy a bad defender and they are done. They don't have this surface level knowledge. The problem with surface level knowledge is it gets regurgitated, repeated, recycled, repackaged, and interpreted as factual. Factual without any critical thought.

There's a thing going on in this in this world right now with ICE agents, right? I don't want to get political. This is not a political sentiment. I want to make a perfectly logical sentiment, though. ICE agents are terrorizing Minnesota and the United States because they're trying to get rid of illegals that were let in through the Biden administration. And Donald Trump has galvanized his support and, you know, basically turned American people against immigrants and illegal immigrants and saying, "Listen, illegal immigrants, that's why your dollar is tanking." Okay, cool. So look, [ __ ] aside, bipartisan politics aside, understand that the Grammys, right, which happened, I think yesterday, and all these, you know, [ __ ] puppets going on stage saying like no one is illegal on stolen land. Really? Are you sure about that? Prod a little deeper. Think a little bit deeper. Don't Don't become a [ __ ] like, you know what? Like like we used to put [ __ ] slogans and stickers on fridges. Don't become a fridge. Don't become a bumper sticker. Like think about it for a second. The sentiment can be right, perfectly right, that the land belongs to everybody. Everybody should share. Cool. I get it. That we should be tolerant of people, new ideas, new cultures, that we shouldn't discriminate, that we shouldn't be, you know, racist, homophobic, uh, xenophobic. Got you. But the idea that no one is stolen on uh no one is illegal on stolen land is insane. First of all, all land is stolen, you dumbass. Second of all, if you really believe that, why do you live in a gated community? Can someone please answer that to me? Like, Billy Isish, if I walked in to your [ __ ] concert without paying, would I be illegally there? Yes. Would your security kick me out? Yes. If I walked into your [ __ ] I don't know, if I walked into your dressing room, would I be illegal? Yes. Would I be trespassing? Yes. Would I be shot by your security? Yes. So, I guess no one is illegal on stolen land that doesn't belong to me. There we go. That's the truth.

This [ __ ] applies to basketball, too. Emanuel Quickley is not a point guard is something that I have said. I have my reasons for saying it. I don't think they're the same reasons that people are saying it, though. Emanuel Quickley is overpaid. Yes. By how much is what we disagree on. Some people think Emanuel Quickley is a [ __ ] minimum minimum contract player, mid-level exception player. Emanuel Quickley is a good player. He's a really good player. He's a really good player. Okay, I don't know what to tell you. He's a really good player. He is still a 22 to $25 million player. I I netted him as a neutral asset. Neutral largely because of how the Raptors use him. He might even be a positive asset if the Raptors properly used him in the right role. Emanuel Quickley is not a bad player in as the cap goes up. He's definitely not a bad player. And I was I will go to my grave saying Emanuel Quickley is still a more valuable asset around the league than RJ Barrett. And yet I prefer RJ. If I had to keep one, it would probably be keep RJ because he fits better in in a lot of ways. But as an isolated asset, I don't want I don't think you all want to see Emanuel Quickley go to like the Boston Celtics and see what he would do. I don't think you want to see that.

So, it's the same thing with this like Damont Sabonis stuff, Anthony Davis. People, I don't know what it is, but it's like people want to have three things to say about everything. It's almost like Israel, Gaza, Egypt, history, Democrat politics, Billy Isish. These are all like like I don't know, sweat shops. People want to have three interesting things to say about everything. It's like, how are you any different than Chat GPT? Then you're just like a really shitty version of Chat GPT. I think that's the best insult that you can probably give to somebody and you should try to use that as often as you can when you meet these puppets. You are a shitty version of chat GPT. You are like a preloaded backroom floppy disc version of chat GPT cuz that's what it is. That's what it comes down to. You are regurgitating facts about a player that you've never watched. Oh, Bennett Stirts is good. How many Bennett Sts games have you watched? Why is he good? What does he remind you of? I'm not saying you got to have in-depth knowledge about everything. You'd go crazy. There's only 24 hours in a day. You can't have in-depth knowledge about everything. This bothers me. I don't know. It might be the icebergs, but it bothers me. The second thing that bothers me is this double standard and rewriting of history stuff. That's really annoying to me. I don't know what the hell it is. Maybe it's a little cathartic for you to hear me like kind of like just vamp my feelings a little bit. It's very annoying to me how quickly people are able to walk away from things that they said. You can have a person saying Yakob Purle is amazing, great, great trade. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Finally, the Raptors have a sevenfooter. Didn't care how many how many picks it cost them. This is great. And then a year later, two years later, when it doesn't work out, there's no mention of that first thing they said. They're just like, "Yeah, you know, uh, it was a rough, it was it was a tough, you know, deal at the time. The Raptors mortgage the future." And it's like, where were you? Where the [ __ ] were you?

People don't want to be original because there's no value. There's not a proper I want to say like there's not a proper credit or value system assigned to being first on things or being early or being right at all. Right? Like 8 months ago, I said this thing on PC which went crazy viral. I said that she Alexander was having one of the best guard seasons in NBA history. That I thought that it was up there with peak Steph Curry. that I thought it was better than most Kobe seasons and people thought I was crazy. I then doubled down on this by saying that Kobe Bryant, sorry, Shay goes Alexander is closer to Kobe Bryant than Kobe Bryant was to Michael Jordan and people thought I was insane. And and once again, I'm not saying all these takes age perfectly because that Cade Cunningham take sure sounds really stupid right now and I acknowledge it. But this doesn't work for me because now everyone's like it just kind of is. And everyone acts like it just was. And and and and I kind of was like, "Okay, well, I have 63 I have a video with 63,000 views of people telling me I'm the dumbest person on earth for saying this 5 months before y'all were willing to hear it." But now everyone's like, "Oh my god, he's so Kobe." Like, is this a necessary evil? Is this something that people just need to go through? Do I just have to be the first idiot who says the earth is not flat and then everyone just gets to, you know, punch me and beat me up and then later on no monument is built? It's not it's not an ego thing necessarily, but it is a little bit, you know, annoying, right? It's annoying to be able to say something it be completely right. Like all last year on player strikes, I'm like Scotty Barnes is going to be allstar. Scotty Barnes is gonna be really amazing. Scotty Barnes is a top 15 player. Scotty Barnes ain't even a top 50 player. Well, how the [ __ ] is he an all-star now? How is he in Dpi conversations? I don't know. Magic. I guess I'm going to continue to hold myself accountable. When I'm wrong, I'm going to say I'm wrong. I said Emanuel Quickley could be an all-star when we traded for him. I said the Otaiabaji trade was okay. I'm not going to walk away from that. That's truth. That's honesty.

Now, I think Pensar basketball has introduced a lot of cool things to the Raptor space. We introduced post postgame shows in in live format, right? I I don't like I think it was MBHV and Pensar basketball that were really doing that back then. I know we introduced the calling callin portion of it and that's unique to us. The film breakdown stuff is pretty unique to us although like a lot of other channels for other teams do it and you know what we've introduced a need to go a little bit deeper and I do believe that that's a positive thing. I do. And I don't care how many of these things that people are able to bite and mimic and beat and and because they have a bigger team or they have more dedication or a more likable personality, they're able to do it better. I'm happy that the Raptors have better content today than when I started, period, across YouTube. Yo, it's not just me. I know the quality of YouTube content that I got as a Raptor fan in 2016. And it was [ __ ] And I see the quality that I get now, and it is way better. The Raptors have, in my opinion, one of the top three to four YouTube coverage teams sum total. I'm talking to everybody who covers the Raptors on YouTube. It's about top four in the world among basketball fans. I'm not talking Arsenal. I'm not talking, you know, uh, Inter Milan. I'm not talking international teams. I'm not talking, you know, that international probably some much better podcasts. No offense to to us, you know, North Americans, but yeah, like Philly, New York, Toronto, maybe LA, maybe San Antonio. I mean, there's some teams that have some good coverage, some good, you know, some good people, but for the most part, I'm really happy with where where Raptors, you know, content creation has come over the last four or five years. I'm happy for it. But I'm going to say one thing and you know this is just me venting. I don't think that the authenticity can be mimicked because authenticity in and of itself cannot be mimicked. Nobody is about to come up there and you know no one's going to come up there and be like I was wrong 85 times this past year. I I'm assuming no one's going to like say this thing that I said two years ago. Here's a clip of me saying it. This is why I was wrong. And I'm going to take that as this is why you're not going to grow. This is why you're not going to get better. This is why you're not going to aspire to the next level. This is why your audience will never form that kind of bond with you. They will never follow you outside of basketball. They will never care about the fact that you have a mortgage to pay. They will never invest that deeply in you because they don't know you. Because you don't know you. You've never shared who you are. I don't think everybody needs to vent about their personal feelings online. I think they probably have a little bit too much of that to be honest. But I do think I hope that everyone can just have the integrity to say when they were wrong and when they were right. Um, and when they're out of pocket, apologize. I think that's just like basic human decency. And I hope that we could have more of that as as podcasters. I really do.

Anyway, that being said, I'm going to stick to my word. If the Raptors trade this first round pick to dump some salary, especially if it's for Nick Richards, I might have to just crash the stream. We're going to do a trade deadline show on Thursday. The Raptors deadline is at 300 p.m. I will do a Oh no. Oh no. I'm on Players Choice on Thursday. [ __ ] Okay. Well, it seems like we are going I'm going to message Players Choice and ask if I can dip out at 1:30. Um, I'll do the stream at 1:30. So, I'll jump right from PC right to uh right to our

live stream. It is at 3 p.m. So, what we'll do in that stream is in the in the hour and a half leading up to it, provided there are no Raptor trades ahead of 11:00 a.m. Buddy Terrific saying Nick Richards for a first round pick. Terrible. It would likely be a cap clearing move, right? Uh Britzy saying, "No spoilers, please." What spoilers? Sorry, what are you saying? This is not a movie. What spoilers? Can you help me understand what you're saying? Are you the same person who keeps telling me to like stop putting the result of the game in the title?

Also, some potentially exciting news before I get out of here. Somebody really cool reached out to me today and um they're an editor and I saw like some of the work that they're doing with other YouTube YouTube creators and they're like really great. So, they really like the work. They're actually from Serbia which was very very cool, right? And uh your titles seem to spoil results says Breitzy. Well, can you Okay, I'll make you a deal. No, I'm not going to make you a deal. I was going to say if you stop typing in all caps, I'll stop ruining t uh ruining games, but I'm not going to do that. I got to be honest, that that's that's great. You you should keep this up for the rest of your life. That's awesome. Uh I will not, but you're you're free to just unsubscribe, dude. That's perfectly fine. It's the post live of the results. What do you expect? Oh. Oh, wow. We don't negotiate with a terrorist. I'm sorry. Am I the Am I the terrorist in this situation? I'm the terrorist. That's I I gotta hand it to you, man. That's That's pretty amazing. Have Have fun with it. Anyways, you're banned obviously, but this is I don't think I've ever banned anyone with a smile on my face. This This is growth. This is positive. This is great.

Okay. Uh going to do a trade preview. Hold on. So, there was a question here from ESPN. First of all, like we have it's a 46 minute live right now. How about this? I will devote the next five minutes to any questions you you guys have. No super chats, member chats required. Just ask a question. I'll I'll pin it and answer it as quickly as I can if you have questions. Um Armen saying, "Rob, really in a good mood." I mean, I did just vent for about 20 minutes about how content creators are [ __ ] hacks, but yes, I am in a good mood.

Okay, so first question is from ESPN's IKD. Worst player you'd give up a 2026 first for? The worst player I would give up a 2026 first for is think about this. Okay, so I would give up a 2026 first for Okay, let's let's just do this. Let me highlight all the players in the league that I would trade a 2026 first for. And I think this will be a really fun exercise in just futile time wasting. Okay. But also a really cool u just thought experiment on exactly what we're trying to trying to measure here. Hold on one second. Okay. So let us Okay. pull up the screen right here. Share this instead. Okay. Sort by value replacement. I'm going to highlight every single player that I would trade a first for. Trade a 2026 first for. This is These are so obvious. It's ridiculous. But yes. I'm not highlighting Scotty because he's already on the team. I'm going to keep going. So, so far we got Shay, Yokic, Donic, Maxi Cunningham, Mitchell, Wbeyama, Antto Dumpo, Giannis, sorry, Durant, Ant-Man, Jaylen Johnson, Denny Aia, Steph Curry, Alprren Shenen, Derek White. That's [ __ ] like I'm so tempted to say no to Derek White, but if it was RJ plus plus a first. Yeah, I would have to do it. Chat, Brunson, Amen, Con, Evan, Jaylen, Trey, Payton, Pritchard. Yep. Nas Reed. Yep. Tieran Fox. Yep. LaMelo. Yep. If we can get Pascal Seakim back, I'm not even kidding. I'll probably do it. That's the stupidest thing ever. But yeah, if we if we traded RJ, Oi, and Grady for Pascal, I would be I'd be cool with that. That's that's it sounds so stupid, but I don't think you all understand. Like I am much higher on Pascal than the vast majority of people in Toronto Raptorland right now. Lori Markin. Yes. Norman Powell. Uh, I'm a little bit hesitant on Norm because he's 32. But yeah, I I I guess I would have to if it was Norman Powell. No, he's a free agent. [ __ ] it. No. Okay, that's an all-star. Devin Booker. Yep. Although he's 29, so it's getting confusing. Austin Reeves, multiples, yes. Bamio, yes. Cooper flag, yes. Santiel Dama, yes. Donovan Klingan. Yeah, I would. Assar Thompson. Yep. Khal Wear. Nope. Okay. AJ Mitchell. Yep. Fron Vagner. Yep. OG. Yep. Alex Sar. Yeah, I guess I'm not a huge fan, but I I I get the value for sure. Jaylen Tyson. Yeah, I'd have to go for it. Yes. Jared Allen. Sure. If it was Yaka Purle for Jared Allen, straight up get that contract. Oh, yeah. I would do it. Naji Marshall. This is where I draw the line. I think this is around where I'm starting to get like very trepidacious about this. I don't think I would do it for GoGo Bataz. I would do it for Kase Wallace. Yes. Tyson Daniels if it was for RJ Barrett. Yes. Yes, I would. Uh, there's Dron Sharp. One of my favorite players, but I don't think I would do it. Brandon Miller. Sure. Yes. Desmond Bane. Yes, he's a really good shooter. Jon Suggs, no actually. So, no to Desmond Bane and no to Jay Suggs. I'm just going to be off that. Who else? Who else? Who else? Haime, no. Aongu, no. Max Christie, no. Isaiah Hartenstein. If it's for Yaka Purle, yes. Uh, Jay McDaniels, yes. Jon Suggs. Again, if it's RJ for Jay Jaylen Suggs, I have to say um I don't want to throw in that pick, but I would throw in a pick. It just it wouldn't be that pick. Ryan Cocker, no. Russell Westbrook, no. Anthony Black, yes. Haime Hawz Jr., no. Going down the list, Cochr Bunner, no. Zubat, yes. Tobias, no. Sexton, no. Caruso at 31. Man, I'm tempted. I'm very tempted. Your defense goes to a completely different level, but no. Tar Een, yes. Cedric Coward, yes. Steph Castle, yes. Jaylen Williams, yes. Nil Alexander Walker, yes. Okay, I think this might be the end. I don't think there's another player. Ah, VJ Edgecom. Yes, Isaiah Stewart. Yes. Okay, I'm wrong. There are more players. I continue to go down the list of players that I would trade that 2026 first for. Jiren Jackson, yes. Tyler Hero, yes. Again, if it was Payton Watson, yes. If it was RJ Barrett as the salary going out, yes. Dylan Harper, yes. Shaden Sharp. I would consider it. Yes. And I would pray on the defense getting better. Daniel Gaffford, no. Carris Levert, no. DeAndre Aton, no. Jake Laravia, no. Montas Bazellis, yes. Deont Sabonis, I'm inclined to say no. Honestly, he's so he's so highly paid. Adding a first round pick just feels like insult to injury at that point. Trey Young, Klay Thompson, Dylan Brooks, no. No, no, no. Keeshan George. Yes. Jaden Ivy. No. Again, my caveat here is make either the player is super young, i.e. below 25, which I'm perfectly fine with trading for them, but these players that I'm highlighting, none of these guys are tradable. Masalles and Keshan George are basically untouchable. That's why like that's why I'm saying like I don't want to see this pick traded. Uh Jor Dilman, yes. Oso Iguodaro, yes, believe it or not. Uh Walker Kesler, yes, I would. Zack Edy, um a little less sure on Zack Edy, but probably Tan Salon. No. Ryan Dunn, no. Uh, Nicholas Batum, no. Draymond Green, no. Going down the list, down the list, down the list. We are at 230 players deep. David Jones, Garcia, one of my favorite young players, no. Vince Williams, no. Tristan Silvin, no. Zack Lavine, hell no. Malik Monk, no. But I would like Malik Monk on this team. Love Malik Monk, but I do not want to trade a pick for him. Uh, Jaylen Green, no. Trendan Watford, no. Kelly Olen, obviously not. Blue Dort, nope. Tatai Washington, Jonathan Isaac, Mason Plumbley, Derek Lively, yes, I would roll the dice. Uh Darius Garland, honestly, at that contract, no. I Yes. [ __ ] me, man. I'm I'm a sucker for talent, man. Sucker for talent. I would roll the dice on Darus Garland. I wouldn't feel good about it though. Anybody else? Anybody else? Anybody else? Any anything sticking out? I heard a lot of Vit Cr yesterday on but no, I don't think so. I go further further further. Scallic. Oh, that's funny. Uh, yeah, I think we are officially out of options here. Like is there anybody else here that's like striking me as oh that player's really good, but they're just really young. LJ Crier, Kobe Brea. Nah, none of these players. League has a lot of players, man. And none of these players. Keon Ellis. Nope. I would have traded something for Keon Ellis. I'm not sure if it was a pick. Uh, Eve Mei again at 21 years old. No, because I believe that the average big picked in next year's draft will be around the same value as MCI and around the same skill as MCI except that player will have four years left on their contract and Eve will only have three or or he will have like one or one left. So that's hell no. Uh, Hugo Gonzalez, yes, believe it or not, yes. There there is one little diamond in the rough sitting through this entire thing. I would I would trade for Hugo Gonzalez. Let's see here. Jad Howard, nope. Noah Si, nope. Chris Young Bloodood, nope. Chucky Hepern, he was already on our team. Jaylen Clark, I'm sure there's like young players somewhere that's just going to stick out. I do love Aducio, but I'm not trading a future first, especially a mid first in a in a strong draft to get him. I also like Yannik Yanik and Nanhazer. I'm not trading a first to get him. I'll trade a second. I'll trade a couple seconds, you know, to get him. Uh, someone told someone said yesterday in the Twitter spaces that Christian Koko's been cooking up. Are you insane? He has not been great at all. Watched two of his games with the Hawks. Uh, Christian Brown. Um, no. That sounds crazy to say, recency bias maybe, but no, I I wouldn't. Would I take a flyer on Balal Kulabali? I would love for the Raptors to take a flyer on Bal Koulali, but I don't think he's worth a unprotected first at this point. I do like Gershan Yabaselli as well, but again, Kaman Malawatch is still a player that I do believe in from a prospect perspective. These are all players that I would at least think about trading multiple seconds for or even a highly protected 2028 first, but I cannot just part out the 2026 first for these guys. Aaron Nesmith. This is very tempting given what I watched him do last year. Aaron Nesmith and Nicole Yoic are fringy, but I don't think I would say yes for Yovic. He's already got his extension. Herb Jones. Herb Jones is a very interesting case study in just the falloff has has been very real. I don't think I would trade a first to get Herb, but I would trade a different first. Maybe I would trade a 2029 first. By the way, anyone curious about where Grady ranks in value for replacement, just just to get a perspective on this, here he is at 467th in the NBA. Shout outs to Grady Dick, man. Uh, for for whatever it's worth, I wouldn't trade a first round pick for Grady Dick either. Carter Bryant. H my draft evaluation failed me again. Nope. I I I refuse to believe that Carter will be anything other than an AllNBA defender. I am 100% in. Yes, I would trade the 2026 first for Carter Bryant. Rob Dillingham, hell no. Uh Jaylen Wilson, no. Gabe Vincent, no. Ben Saf, no. Maxim Reno, no. But I would trade a couple seconds to get Maxim Reno. Yeah, I would. Cody Williams, Reclamation Project, no. Ace Bailey, yes. Believe it or not, I I would I would look at Ace Bailey. Ace Bailey would be fringy, but just so you know, according to this, Ace Bailey, and there's my guy Jordan Hawkins. Shout outs to Jordan Hawkins, one of the worst players in the league right now. But he doesn't have the dubious honor of being the worst player in the league. And that is Bub Carrington. Uh, 520th. But by replacement estimates, it's just because he's the worst player who actually plays. If any of these other guys actually played this level of minutes, like if Nolan Trayor played, I don't know, 30 minutes a night, he'd be the worst player in NBA history. Ochai Baji's here, too. A shout outs to Ochai. Shout outs to Ochai. So, we got the 502nd worst player in the NBA according to Valer Replacement. And, you know, we got we got uh Grady Dick at 400 and something. So, you know, shout outs to us, man. Former lottery picks. Jesus Christ.

Anyways, I hope that answers your question. That took a really long time. That took 15 minutes, but we we kind of played a game there. Okay. Carter might be as good a shooter as CMBB. You're high. Carter's a much better shooter than CNB. Uh, without Ingram, it basically looks how it looked last year. I mean, no, not really. Goon Queen forever. Why are you looking at analytics, bro? Watch the game with your eyes. Um, the analytics were just to sort the players. I obviously am watching it with my eyes, which is why I selected the 485th player and said yes, even though I had rejected the 100 prior players before him. It's because I do watch the games. We are worse with Ingram when he's on the floor. Speaking of analytics, yeah. Uh, without Ingram, we would have 14 wins this year. Are you Are you insane? You think we would have 14 wins? So, we would be on pace. We would be 14 and what? 37? You think we would be on pace to be the worst team in the NBA without Brandon Ingram? Are you insane? We had 30 wins despite resting starters and tanking games last year in a stronger Eastern Conference. We would have been a 36 to 38 win team without Ingram. We will be a 46 to 48 win team with them. He is responsible for about I would say he's responsible for 5 to eight wins depending on how you look at it. He is not responsible for 20 wins. I don't know what I don't know. Like sometimes I look at Ingram fans. Goon Queen forever said, "I love Scotty. He's one of my top five favorite players. What's wrong with saying he's a role player?" Um, he's an allstar. I don't know. You're right. All stars can be role players. I don't know. But I think Scotty's got a lot more in his tank than just role player stuff.

Anyways, we've danced a lot around a lot of topics. I got a little bit of beer left. I'm going to go get to get to some Pendance stuff. We just finished selecting all of our films. If you haven't checked it out, definitely check out Pendance Passes are on sale. Films should be announced tomorrow and the next day. Get a good chance to see all the cool films that are coming to Pendance this year from all over the world. Very, very cool films. I'm very excited about our program. All right, Scotty. Definitely top 60 or 50. See, like I do like to create space for dissenting and perhaps, you know, different ideas because I feel like if you don't create space for different ideas, you create a cult. Uh, but that being said, like what top 50, top 60, like I don't think you're a real person. I think you are Windows 98. I think your chat GBT betamax like version, you know, like I'll be at pendants. No, you won't because you're banned. Okay. I I actually don't mind dissenting opinions, believe it or not. I like, you know, high intelligence, rational dissenting opinions. RJ Barrett should not be traded because he is great for rim pressure. I like that. It's cool. We can talk about it. RJ Barrett is better than Kobe Bryant. We can't talk. We just we there's nothing nothing to say. You know, I can I can try to, you know, direct you to a helpline maybe, but you know, beyond that, it's like this is this is like I can't save you. God can't save you. The Bible can't save you. The Quran can't save you. Nothing can save you if you think that, right? So, it's just like, you know, there's there's gone and then there's like full gone. You never go full gone, bro. You never go full gone. That's the big mistake. You can't go full gone. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? See, you can go partial gone, but you can't go full gone. You never go full gone. Peace.