The Back Pages 2/12 Show Notes

I had to miss last week's show with a personal matter so here is the topics and show notes that would've been covered during that show

Major Headlines

Kevin Durrant traded to the Suns

• The superstar era in Brooklyn is officially over as the Nets trade Kevin Durrant along with TJ Warren to the Suns in exchange for, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027, 2029), and a pick swap in 2028

• I’m shocked the Nets moved Durrant before the deadline

• I’m would’ve thought that Durrant was going to play the year out because the Nets are still in playoff position

• Like they’re fifth in the East, 3.5 games up on Miami

• Yeah things were falling apart with Durrant hurt, but when Durrant and Irving were on the court this season this team look unstoppable

• It was the team we’d been waiting for, for the past four years

• However here we sit, just 5 days after Kyrie Irving demanded a trade, and the Nets roster looks completely different

• Listen I don’t understand why the Nets traded Kevin Durrant right now, like they’re in no rush to trade him

• He didn’t demand a trade, he wasn’t sitting out creating a distraction like Irving was

• He was rehabbing an injury

• He could’ve come back and the Nets still could’ve been in title contention

• When Durrant is on the floor he’s that could and the Nets roster isn’t that bad, we’ll get to that in a minute

• But here we sit and if you're a Nets fan, you're allowed to be disappointed

• Like think back to the summer of 2019 with Durrant and Irving came here, we wondered how many championships this dynasty was going to win

• The Nets for the first time really were the talk of the town, and there was this idea that they were going to take over the city

• This especially became heightened when James Harden came in

• Now here we sit, four years later, and only 1 playoff round win to show for it

• A complete total failure

• However although you allow to be sad Nets fans, this team is still decent

• Will this team win the NBA title probably not, but they will still make this playoff, and this team still helps it

• Mikal Bridges is a good young player averaging 17.2 points, 46.3 FG%, 4.3 rebounds, 37.6 3 point%

• That’s a nice piece to build around

• Cam Thomas is 21 years old and is playing out of his mind right now

• Since Kyrie left he averaging over 40 points per game

• Now he can either be the next Linsanity or but he’s so young I think he showing us that he can be a big piece for this team to build around

• And he seems like a great guy talking about how he followed Iriving and KD and tried to learn from them

• He flourishing without them, and if I was a Nets fan I would be putting all my eggs in his basket, he’s the future of this team

• Then you have Dimwiddie and Claxton who give two decent guys that round out the top 5, there is Ben Simmons but we don’t talk about him he basically a nothing

• Cam Johson and Jae Crowder are decent bench guys so there is stuff to be excited about

• But what you should be most excited about is those 2027 2028 2029 draft picks

• By then Durrant and Paul should be gone and who knows what Booker is going to be

• Those picks could be lottery picks and give this team some really good talent

• So right now the Suns are the clear winner of the trade, but Brooklyn isn’t broken

• There is a future to this team and something to build off

Josh Hart traded to the Knicks

• Look nothing special, Hart is going to be a nice role piece, maybe starting 5 but probably going to be a guy off the bench

• Traded away Cam Reddish which we’ve been talking about since November

• Look it’s a fine move, just felt like the Knicks could’ve done more but I think they’re going to be focused on the next few seasons, and go for it in a year or two rather than try to go for it this year

• It’s a process that they’re not trying to rush

Segment 2

Rangers trade for Vladimir Taresenko

• The Rangers have made the move of the deadline so far trading for winger Vladmire Taresenko from the St.Louis Blues

• Once the cornerstone of the Blues Organization is heading to New York

• The full terms of the deal is Vladimir Taresneko, and Niko Mikkola to the Rangers in exchange for Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, A conditional first-round pick, and a conditional fourth

• The conditions are first will be whichever one of the two rangers picks is worst and the fourth-round pick will become a third if the Rangers make the playoff

• So baring some collapse it’s a third-round pick

• Look this trade is a major upgrade for the Rangers

• Like this so far is the move of the trade deadline, and might become the move of the deadline

• It’s unknown whether Kane would move

• I say less likely now because there were rumors floating around that Kane only wanted to play for the Rangers but we shall see

• Taresneko look is here the player he was when he was leading the Blues to a Stanley Cup championship no

• There is definitely been some regression in his game but he is still a great player

• This season he has 10 goals, 19 assists for 29 points

• Then on his first shot as a Rangers, he scored his first goal

• But he has been playing for a bad blues team so you know the points can be construed

• And pairing him on a line with Panarin and Zibanjad will only increase scoring opportunities and chances for him to score points

• Look no one is expecting Tarasenko to come in here but this team on his back and lead the Rangers to the promised land

• He’s not that type of player anymore

• He’s here to reinforce that First line, to get Jimmy Vesey where he belongs down in the bottom 6

• He’s a sniper that is going to make this first line one to remember

• Plus the Blues are eating a big chunk of his contract how can it get better than this

• Oh I’ll tell you how, not only did Chris Drury upgrade the top 6 with this trade, but he upgraded the defense as well, something that was desperately needed

• No offense to Ben Harpur but if you're a team that has Cup aspiration, Harpur can’t be one of your top 6 defensemen

• 7th defenseman who plays like 5-10 games a year, maybe but he can’t be a guy you constantly rely on

• Niko Mikkola is going to slot right into where Harpur was and play with Brendan Schneider

• He’s a big physical defense that’s going to check that box of what the Rangers are looking for

• Since Drury took over grit has been what this team is looking for, they don’t want to be pushed around

• Plus playing with a guy like Mikkola, an established NHL defense is going to be good for Schneider's development

• And having him and Trouba on the same blue line, well that might be one of the hardest hit groups in the NHL

• Like your adding strength to your strength

• Also, they didn’t really give up anything

• Like Sammy Blais has done absolutely nothing for the Rangers all year

• Hunter Skinner is going to be an AHL lifer, he might scratch and claw his way to the NHL, but he’s going to be nothing more than a bottom 6 forward

• And the draft pick, well the Rangers have the better of there first and give up a third

• They made a huge improvements and fortified this roster without giving up anything

• They kept guys like Brendan Othtman, Zac Jones, Matthew Robertson, etc.

• Like there was concern about when Gordon was fired will Drury be at the same level

• He’s not he’s better

NFL awards

Garrett Wilson won OROY

Sauce Gardener won DROY

Brian Daboll won coach of the year

Stock Rising/Falling

Rising: Islanders

• What a difference a week makes for the Islanders

• Two weeks ago we talked about how this season was over, and how the Islanders need to overall the front office and the roster as a whole needs an overall

• Then the Islanders go out and make the trade for Bo Horvat, and it seems to have changed things

• They’re currently on 4-1 in the last five games

• They’re currently tied with Pittsburgh with the final wild card in the east

• Like I wrote about this on thebackpages.online on Tuesday night every Islanders fan got a glimpse of what this team could be in the future

• When Bo Horvat scored his first career goal with the assist coming from Matt Barzal

• Not to mention in the Cancuks game Barzal had a goal and two assists and Horvat had a goal and an assist

• I mean that is what every single Islanders wanted

• That’s what they imagine

• Like yes it would’ve been fine if they would’ve done Barzal on the first line and Horvat on the second

• Try to separate their two big offensive pieces, and try to suffocate you using those lines

• However, a line of Barzal and Horvat is just more fun

• Those two are the future of the Islanders

• No matter what people say the success of the Islanders is going to be defined by what those two are able to do

• As you know when those two are on the ice together something huge can happen

• Now as good as this all is for them and as fun, as it is to watch Horvat and Barzal seem to click automatically there is still work to be done

• They need another depth forward someone to either play a top 9 or bottom 6 role

• And they need a puck-moving defense to give them some type of production from their defense

• But Horvat seems to be paying off huge

• Hey sometimes all you need is a new face to try and change the feeling around a team and a locker room

Falling: MLB Owners

• Listen MLB owners knew that Steve Cohen coming into the league was going to make the Mets spend big money

• However, I don’t think they expected him to spend the way he has

• Not only is Steve Cohen running circles around the rest of MLB in terms of spending, but he’s now calling out other owners for not spending as well

• I’ve heard what everyone else has heard: that they’re not happy with me,” Cohen said in an interview with ESPN. “I hear things from people who are maybe more neutral — that they’re taking a lot of heat from their fans. I kind of look at that like, you’re looking at the wrong person. They’re putting it on me. Maybe they need to look more at themselves. “I’m not responsible for how other teams run their clubs. I’m really not. That’s not my job. And there are disparities in baseball. We know that to be true. I’m following the rules. They set the rules down, I’m following them.”

• Now if you want a transition of this, MLB Owners stop being poor and spend some money

• Stop blaming me when what I’m doing is perfectly legal

• How can you not love Steve Cohen

• Like James Dolan said give Cohen times people will hate him, he clearly not watching what he’s doing

• Like even if you hate the Mets you have to admit that what Cohen is doing is good for baseball

• He’s providing a blueprint for how every owner should be acting

• These guys are billionaires, the Oakland A’s are always crying poor about how they have no money and they need help, the guy is a billionaire

• He’s worth 2.5 billion dollars

• Shut up, you can spend some money

• You can spend a little more than 40 million on your payroll

• Cohen is just proving how bad and cheap MLB owners are

• To quote the We Gotta Believe podcast Steve Cohen is the fox in the hen house, and guess what the door is locked, and he’s going crazy in there

• So I’m glad Cohen put these owners on blast, maybe it will inspire something to change, or at least continue fanbases to pressure these horrible owners, until they conceded and spend or just sell to people who actually care

• If there were 30 Steve Cohen owners, baseball would be the number 1 sport in America

Rumor Mill

Yankees still interested in Jurkson Profar

• We talked about this I believe before the break, or the first show after the break that the Yankees were motoring the market for Jurkson Profar

• Guess what they’re still motoring the market

• It’s like every single day it’s the same update the Yankees continue to look into Profar, considering if they should make a move or not

• Like I’m tired of it, poop or get off the pot

• Sign Profar, or come out and say you're not interested it’s one or the other

• Stop playing this limbo game where you are interested but your not signing

• I doubt the Profar market is this extremely competitive market with multiple teams making big time to offer

• If Profar got something longer than a two-year deal I would be stunned

• Like this is a 4th outfielder, bat off the bench, platoon option at best

• We should had this type of song and dance with him

• But there is a reason why the Yankees haven’t made this move yet

• They're trying to offload the salary

• That’s right guys like Josh Donaldson, IKF, and Aaron Hicks are the reason that we’re in this weird limbo with Profar

• Look no one is going to be up in arms about money preventing the Yankees from signing Profar ok

• He’s not the type of community that people go into bidding wars for

• If this is Ohtani or Soto, there would be riots outside Yankees Stadium if money wasn’t the reason

• But still, it’s just that reminder of well two things

• 1 money controls everything there is a strict budget for the Yankees and they’re at it right now and guess what they’re not going over it so no Profar

• 2 Cashman has made some terrible moves put this team in a bad spot

• Like we talked two weeks ago about how nobody wants to take on the Donaldson contract, and how that will go down as one of the worst moves he could’ve made

• IKF and Hicks are different stories but still, they’re holding this roster back

• These guys have absolutely no value and you're stuck with them

• So I would just stop talking or thinking about Profar to the Yankees

• It’s not happening without at the very least Hicks being moved and it’s slim and none that he gets traded

James Bradberry Opens to Rejoining the Giants

• After being cut from the Giants last summer

• Along with tormenting the Giants during that divisional round game

• Eagles CB James Bradberry said he would be opening to returning to the Giants this offseason

• Now if you're a Giants fan this is music to your hears

• Listen I was very against cutting Bradberry last season

• Like I understood why they did it, it made perfect sense

• He had a huge cap hit and the Giants had no cap space

• Scheon's main goal was trying to get the Giants into a healthy cap number, trying to undo all the damage that Dave Gettleman had done

• So Bradberry from an economic standpoint completely understands cutting him

• However, from a talent standpoint, he is still a really good corner

• Like put him on any team, and he’s instantly CB2, maybe CB1 in some circumstances

• He definitely is CB 1 on this team

• I thought the Giants would do everything in their power to either trade him so at the very least, the Giants would’ve received some compensation for Bradberry

• Or try and restructure his contract so you could keep him and his talent and not have such a huge cap space

• Whether that be turning his salary into a signing bonus, or there is probably something creative they could’ve done to try and keep him in East Rutherford

• But that’s all in the past, it’s time for the Giants to look toward the future, and a reunion with Bradberry would be something the Giants should be very interested in

• Like this team is desperate for help at CB

• When Adoree Jackson went down, there was basically no one there to replace him

• Yes they had some rookies and young guys like Fabian Moreau who showed some promise, but not a guy who could take over CB 1 duty when Jackson went down

• Adding Bradberry, or bringing him back makes this Giant's defense better

• The secondary becomes less of a weakness and more of a strength

• They have two legit guys at corner and will allow them to look in the draft for other positions like the interior offensive line, a big-time linebacker, or a wide receiver

• It’s all stuff Joe Scheon is going to have to consider when building this roster for next year