Season 2, Episode 16- Domino Effect

In this week's episode of "Diehlman at Halftime," I discuss:

Highlight: Cleveland Cavaliers
Lowlight: Chicago Bulls
Random Stat: All-Star reserves
Game of the Week: Orlando Magic @ Sacramento Kings

Also, listen to the perspective of our featured guest, Derek Jones! (Follow him on X at @derekjones79 and Instagram at @djones716).

"Aurora" interlude music written by Jeff Kaale
https://uppbeat.io/t/jeff-kaale/aurora
License code: HJ6W88QKKUB00FNS

Intro/outro written by Larry Diehlman

Release date: Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025

Chapters

• 0:15 Introduction
• 1:00 Overview of the NBA this Week
• 4:36 Highlight
• 6:12 Lowlight
• 8:10 Derek Jones Interview
• 22:08 Random Stat
• 24:01 Game of the Week
• 25:13 Conclusion

Transcript

**NOTE: Full episode transcript is below except the interview**

Introduction: Hello everybody, and welcome to episode #51 of “Diehlman at Halftime,” the NBA podcast that tops all others! I’m your host, Larry Diehlman. If you’re joining us for the first time, welcome abroad. And if you’ve been a loyal listener, welcome back! We have much to get to today and not a lot of time to do it. We have five sections that we’ll get into: a general overview of the NBA this week, and our usual “Highlight, Lowlight, Random Stat, and Game of the Week.” 

Overview of the NBA this Week: The NBA saw a seismic shift on Saturday night. Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić was traded to the L.A. Lakers for Anthony Davis! As they say in the military alphabet: Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Dallas sent Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to L.A. The Lakers sent them Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz were the third team involved, receiving Jalen Hood-Schifino from L.A., a 2025 Clippers second-round pick, and a 2025 Mavericks second-round pick. Reports said that no one saw this coming, including Dončić and Davis. Neither requested a trade. One report said that Dončić’s conditioning was becoming a major concern for Dallas, and they no longer viewed him as the franchise cornerstone. I’ll have more to say on this next week for our trade deadline special, but there are no words for this news.

Another deal dropped on Sunday night. Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal that netted the Kings Zach LaVine from Chicago! Fox and Jordan McLaughlin went to San Antonio. Sacramento received LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks, and three second-round picks. Chicago got Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and their own 2025 pick from the Spurs. The Fox trade rumors have been floating around, especially with the Spurs. Well, here it is. I’ll have more to say on this next week for our trade deadline special.

Oh boy, here we go again. We might have a sequel to the Jontay Porter betting scandal. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and then-Charlotte Hornets guard, is being investigated by the feds for unusual betting patterns during a 2023 game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played just under 10 minutes, left the game due to a foot issue, and remained out for the season. Charlotte wasn’t in playoff contention at the time, so being out for the season wasn’t unusual. However, fans thought the prop bets for Rozier that night were questionable. A few sportsbooks took down the prop bets hours before the game, despite Rozier not being on the injury report. One bettor even posted that he received insider information about Rozier being subbed out early on. The bettor profited $100. Porter was recently banned from the NBA for life after subbing out of games early so that bettors who took the under would win bets.

This episode is entitled "Domino Effect."

So, who’s raising eyebrows at the moment?

Highlight: This is the time of year where contenders start to solidify themselves, while pretenders start to fizzle. The Cleveland Cavaliers chose the former. The Cavaliers are 40-9, have the best record in the NBA, and they’re on a four-game winning streak. They are on pace for 67 wins after posting 48 last year! It’s crazy to think that Cleveland essentially has the same roster from last season, and they’re this good. As in, they didn’t add LeBron James in free agency or something. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 23.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per night. He and backcourt partner Darius Garland make a great combo. Dealing with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the paint is a nightmare for opponents. The bench unit has good shooters. Outside of the lineup, switching out J.B. Bickerstaff for Kenny Atkinson at head coach was an underrated move. My main concern is whether they can dominate like this in the postseason. Even though it was Boston’s year last season, the Cavaliers struggled in that second-round series. We’ll see if they can copy and paste their winning ways at the end of this season. Their next game is tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. They will host the Boston Celtics.

Lowlight: What a fall from grace for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are 21-29 and 10th in the East. The Michael Jordan days seem like 100 years ago. While their NFL-counterpart Bears have optimism going into next season, the Bulls... eh. Before his departure, Zach LaVine was the star in Chicago, averaging 24 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per night. The Windy City has been in a tough spot. They have pieces on the team, like Lonzo Ball (who came back from a 2.5-year injury absence), Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu. The Bulls even got a young forward in Josh Giddey from Oklahoma City... at the cost of All-Defensive player Alex Caruso. However, something just hasn’t clicked lately. They have two playoff appearances in nine years (the last being a five-game series loss in 2022). The Bulls are actively trying to trade starting center Nikola Vučević. Over the years, they’ve had Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, LaVine, and who could forget about that one year of Dwyane Wade? For now, Chicago is barely hanging onto a play-in tournament seed. If they trade Vučević too, the play-in tournament might be out of reach. That might be a good thing, though. Their next game is tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. They will host the Miami Heat.

Interview Segue: To get more insight into our “Lowlight” this week, we have our fifth guest on “Diehlman at Halftime” season two. Let’s get into it!

Derek Jones Interview

**NOTE: Interview was recorded before Zach LaVine trade on Feb. 3, 2025

Random Stat: It’s that time of the year, folks. The All-Star reserves were announced on Thursday night. For the East, it’ll be Damian Lillard (Milwaukee), Darius Garland (Cleveland), Tyler Herro (Miami), Cade Cunningham (Detroit), Jaylen Brown (Boston), Pascal Siakam (Indiana), and Evan Mobley (Cleveland). Over in the West, we have Anthony Edwards (Minnesota), Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City), James Harden (L.A. Clippers), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis), Alperen Şengün (Houston), Anthony Davis (L.A. Lakers), and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio). Remember, we announced each conference’s starting five last week. Some of the snubs from the All-Star Game entirely were Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia), LaMelo Ball (Charlotte), Trae Young (Atlanta), and Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento). Ball and Maxey are near the top of the league in points per game. Young leads the NBA in assists per game. Sabonis leads the league in rebounds per game, double-doubles, and he’s third in triple-doubles. Some of the obvious choices for Eastern reserves were Brown, Mobley, Garland, and Cunningham. In the West, same goes for Edwards, Williams, Davis, and Wembanyama. But hey, it’s the All-Star Game. It’s a popularity contest for the most part. If everyone got in, then it would be a participation award. We’ll see how the starters and this group of reserves perform on Sunday, Feb. 16, as the NBA debuts the new tournament format.

Game of the Week: For this week’s “Game of the Week,” let’s try Orlando Magic @ Sacramento Kings. This game will be on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 10 p.m. Despite both teams being in the middle of their respective conferences, the star power on each side should make up for it. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have both made returns for Orlando after extended injury absences. For Sacramento, the question was whether De’Aaron Fox would be on the team at the end of this week. Spoiler: the question has been answered. Even then, the Kings still have Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan. Zach LaVine will join them soon. This is the first of two games in the season series. The other will be in Orlando on March 29. Both teams have good rotations, so it’s not like either are “top heavy.” However, the Magic have had more struggles on the road this season than at home. Give me the Kings 120-115.

Conclusion: Well, that’s all the time we have for today. If you haven’t already, make sure to follow me on social media. I have two X (or Twitter) accounts and two Instagram accounts. The podcast accounts are under @Diehlman_NBA for both X and Instagram. My personal X account is @LarryDiehlman18, and my personal Instagram is @mr_sports18. They’re also in the description on Buzzsprout, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And thank you to Derek Jones for being our guest this week on the podcast. Remember, you can follow him on X @derekjones79 and Instagram @djones716. And don’t forget to spread the word about “Diehlman at Halftime!” Make sure to especially for the next two episodes, as they will both be special editions. Next week, we will do our trade deadline special. The following week, we will do the All-Star Weekend breakdown. Make sure you stay tuned for that. See you next time, fellow hoops fans!