Season 2, Episode 17- Pending Transactions

In this week's special edition episode of "Diehlman at Halftime," I discuss the top five trades from the NBA trade deadline. I also throw in an honorable mention:

Honorable Mention: Dalton Knecht-Mark Williams trade rescinded
#5: "Mr. Middleton Goes to Washington" (Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma trade)
#4: "Heading Up North" (Brandon Ingram trade)
#3: "You Better Not Pout... Unless You're Jimmy Butler" (Jimmy Butler trade)
#2: "Victor Wembanyama has a Co-Star" (De'Aaron Fox trade)
#1: "Rewriting History" (Luka Dončić trade)

Also, listen to the perspective of our featured guest, Josh Hennig! (Follow him on X at @joshhennig and Instagram at @joshuashennig).

"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: Monday, Feb. 10, 2025

Chapters

• 0:16 Introduction
• 0:58 Overview of the NBA this Week
• 3:15 Honorable Mention
• 4:17 #5 Trade
• 5:40 #4 Trade
• 6:39 #3 Trade
• 7:54 #2 Trade
• 9:17 #1 Trade
• 14:06 Josh Hennig Interview
• 36:34 Conclusion

Transcript

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

Introduction: Hello everybody, and welcome to episode #52 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 a few sections that we'll get into, but they may not be the normal ones you're used to hearing.

Overview of the NBA this Week: Former All-Star and former Brooklyn Net Ben Simmons is signing with the L.A. Clippers following a buyout from Brooklyn. Simmons didn’t play more than 42 games in the three years with Brooklyn. He’s dealt with back issues, and he hasn’t looked anywhere close to his Philadelphia form. Simmons is set to be a free agent this summer, but I’m not sure who would want to sign him long-term at this point.

Legendary NBA head coach and broadcaster Hubie Brown announced his final game on Sunday, Feb. 9 between the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. His first NBA assistant coach job was in Milwaukee, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson played in 1972. Brown was the head coach of the Hawks, Knicks, and Grizzlies. He has been with ESPN since 2004. Brown is in three Hall of Fames: the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor (class of 2005), the College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006), and the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame as a broadcaster (class of 2022). He won Coach of the Year in 1978 and 2004. In 1994 and 1999, Brown was nominated for a Sports Emmy. And he was awarded the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

As we get closer to the All-Star break, we can start bracing for the second half of the NBA season. But first, this week’s “Diehlman at Halftime” is a special edition! Instead of our usual “Highlight, Lowlight, Random Stat, and Game of the Week,” we’ll dive into the top five trades of this past Thursday’s deadline. Before my analysis, however, I threw in an honorable mention. The trades are in reverse order, from pretty good to super important.

This episode is entitled "Pending Transactions."

So, who’s raising eyebrows at the moment?

Honorable Mention: We’ll get to the Luka Dončić trade in a minute. However, the Lakers went out and got a center to join Dončić and LeBron James…for all of five seconds. Rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected first-round pick, and a pick swap were off to Charlotte for Mark Williams. Then, a report on Saturday night came out that the trade was rescinded because Williams failed a physical. Williams is having his best season as a pro, averaging just under 16 points on 59% shooting in 25 minutes. Without this deal, L.A.’s options at center are bleak. Fan favorite Knecht returns to L.A., while Williams stays in Charlotte. Imagine the awkwardness in the locker room!

5. Mr. Middleton Goes to Washington: It’s the end of an era in Milwaukee, as the Bucks traded three-time All-Star Khris Middleton to the Wizards for Kyle Kuzma. Milwaukee received Kuzma, Jericho Sims from the Knicks, and draft compensation. Washington got Middleton (my condolences), AJ Johnson, the draft rights to Mathias Lessort, a first-round pick swap, and cash. New York received Delon Wright, Hugo Benson’s draft rights, and cash. The Spurs got Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash. Middleton has a player option for next season, so he might stay in Washington. Milwaukee, meanwhile, gets younger with the addition of Kuzma. Kuzma is by no stretch a top option on a contender, so being next to Giannis Antetokounmpo might do him good. Although, I’m not sure how this trade makes the Bucks better, like against Boston in a hypothetical playoff series.

4. Heading Up North: While the New Orleans Pelicans continue their free fall, Brandon Ingram goes from the warm South to the freezing North. Ingram is going to the Toronto Raptors for Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. Reports are saying that despite Ingram’s expiring contract, he will be resigning over the summer. This deal pairs Ingram with forwards Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett. This season doesn’t matter for Toronto due to all of their injuries, but next year could be interesting. New Orleans didn’t want to give Ingram a max contract. He’s not a top 10 player or anything, but he might be able to thrive with Barnes and Barrett. The Pelicans, though…yeesh. They better pray one of their upcoming draft picks hit.

3. You Better Not Pout…Unless You’re Jimmy Butler: The Miami Heat made the right move by ridding themselves of Jimmy Butler at the deadline. Butler was sent to Golden State with two second-round picks and cash in a five-team trade. The Heat received Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell from Toronto, and a protected Golden State first-round pick. Utah, Toronto, and Detroit were involved with role players, second-round picks, and cash going everywhere. Butler declined his player option next year and resigned on a two-year, $121 million deal. Wiggins to Miami is a good move. He’s a younger forward who can experience “Heat Culture” as a championship-winning veteran. The Warriors, though, wanted to pair Steph Curry with a star. They got one. A trio of Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green should be interesting. They’re all at least 34 years old. And they’re all signed until the 2026-27 season. After that, who knows?

2. Victor Wembanyama Has a Co-Star: San Antonio understood the assignment. Victor Wembanyama can’t do everything by himself. The Sacramento Kings sent star guard De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to San Antonio. Sacramento received Zach 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. (After being involved in another trade, the Wizards waived Cissoko). I like this trade for the Spurs because Wembanyama finally has a star on his side. While San Antonio has guys like Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, Fox is a former All-Star and All-NBA Third Team player. Fox just turned 27 a few months ago, so the timeline with Wembanyama fits nicely. With LaVine out of Chicago, the Bulls can begin (or keep trying to begin) a painful, but needed, rebuild. Sacramento somehow got more first-round picks than the Mavericks did for Luka Dončić. With DeMar DeRozan and LaVine going from Chicago to Sacramento, the Kings are currently the “Sacramento Bulls.”

1. Rewriting History: Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka might have pulled off the heist of the century. Dallas sent Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to L.A. The Lakers sent them Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino from L.A. and two second-round picks. Time will tell if Dallas general manager Nico Harrison outsmarted the league or himself, but Mavericks fans want him launched into the sun. ONE first-round pick?! A report came out that Pelinka asked Harrison if he was joking when the latter offered Dončić. The Mavericks were reportedly concerned with Dončić’s conditioning because he was hovering around 270 pounds, and they no longer viewed him as a franchise cornerstone. The idea of giving Dončić a super-max contract of $345 million wasn’t in the Mavericks’ interest either. Thanks to the trade, he’s no longer eligible for that, and it’ll cost him over $100 million in his next deal. Who cares about the conditioning when he took your team to the Finals last year?! While Anthony Davis is still a great player, Dallas’ core is now at least 31 or older. And Davis got injured in his first game in a Dallas uniform! He’s out multiple weeks with an adductor strain. Meanwhile, the Lakers can easily transition to Dončić for the next decade when LeBron retires. Dallas won the trade in the short-term, but the Lakers are long-term winners. If the Mavericks don’t win a title in the next two years or so, it might go down as an all-time bad trade. And it's interesting to hear how Harrison and Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont have been defending this trade. When you make a move this big, you kind of have to defend it. But just the way they've been describing it has been very... bizaare. Harrison was saying about how defense wins championships, they're excited to bring AD in. And... nobody knew about it, and... we're just going forward. Amen. Dumont, however, here's what he had to say. Quote: “In my mind the way teams win is by focus, by having the right character, by having the right culture, and having the right dedication to work as hard as possible to create a championship-winning outcome. And if you’re not doing that, you’re going to lose. If you look at the greats in the league, the people you and I grew up with — [Michael] Jordan, [Larry] Bird, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O’Neal] — they worked really hard, every day, with a singular focus to win. And if you don’t have that, it doesn’t work. And if you don’t have that, you shouldn’t be part of the Dallas Mavericks." It's been really interesting how this trade went with literally nobody else knowing about it in the league. It was only the Lakers and the Mavericks. And just the backlash that this trade has received from the fan base. The fans have been protesting outside of American Airlines Center, which is the Mavericks' home arena. They've been chanting with picket signs, and Nico Harrison has been receiving death threats. He even hired a full-time security staff because of it. And I am in no way supporting that. Obviously, sports is never that serious where you have to hire a security staff and you're receiving death threats. Obviously, we don't support that. But, this trade has gone down as just a horrible trade in the minds of Mavericks fans and NBA fans too. Literally, fans are clowning Dallas to the point where people are saying that the Cowboys are no longer the worst-run franchise in Dallas. We all know what Jerry Jones has done to the Cowboys in recent years. But, when Nico Harrison might be one-upping you, that's not good. So, we'll see how this plays out in the new few years. Anthony Davis already got injured. If they can't win a title in the next two years, this might go down as one of the biggest heists, and one of the worst trades, in NBA history.

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

Josh Hennig Interview

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 Josh Hennig for being our guest this week on the podcast. Remember, you can follow him on X @joshhennig and Instagram @joshuashennig. And don’t forget to spread the word about “Diehlman at Halftime!” Remember, since today was a special edition for our trade deadline, next week will be our other special edition in the month of February. We will cover the All-Star Weekend. See you next time, fellow hoops fans!