NBA x Pokèmon roundup - Kawhi Leonard is a Toronto Raptor (Again)

Wagwan Generals, welcome back to the first Emergency Shift Gear episode we've had since Pokemon announced those awful changes that ended up actually not being so bad. What was it, like, a year and a half ago or something? We switched the leaderboard. I think that. Right. Yeah. I think the. I don't think we said those were awful. I thought we were like. I forget why we had the first emergency episode, but we were, like, panicking. But I don't think it was bad. I think it was just emergency episode. They announced stuff. All right, fair enough. It wasn't as important as what got announced today, Neil. Yeah. So today is a big day. The Toronto Raptors have traded for Kawhi Leonard, and as such, we brought on our Shift Gear Raptors correspondent, Jake Dadton. He's here on the pod with us this week to discuss and analyze the trade deeply. He's had several internships at SportsCenter and has a deep sporting background. So, Mr. Jake Dadson, we're going to start a new segment because it's gonna be called Bless or Not Bless. Just off the top is this trade Bless or Not Bless? I'm gonna say it's pretty bless. That's pretty bless. Okay. Yeah. I think the Raptors were in a very tough situation with their contracts, and they've somehow managed to land a top 10 player. So I'm gonna have to give it a very solid bless on the scale. Tree out of tree. Tree. Yeah, it's a straight tree out of tree. We can hop into what is exactly the. The trade entails and stuff. But maybe let's go with our opening thoughts first. I know the people come here for Pokemon and we drown them in sports. So we're going to continue to do that this week. Guys, this is a disclaimer. If you're here for Pokemon, you're in the wrong place. You're not getting nothing this week. This is a straight filler episode. But what we are going to do towards the end of the episode is kind of show some of the early results from the Shifties. So I know a lot of y' all have been voting on that, so we'll kind of show some results on that. Well, I'll put a timestamp in there so you don't have to listen to none of us. None of our yapping, but there is no Pokemon content in this video. We're going to be yapping, having fun, be laid back episode. But start off, Kieran, what are your initial thoughts on the Kawhi Leonard trade? Not of 2019 or not of 2018. Sorry. Of 2026. I, like, made my day, bro. I'm still smiling. I've been smiling all day, man. Like, elite hoops are coming back to Toronto. Like, I've had to suffer through some. Some tough watches. I mean, it's just exciting, I think. Like, I mean, obviously it's seven years later, but, I mean, last time Kawhi was here, just magic. Like, it's, like, hard to explain what watching this guy is like. Just when this guy's on your team, it's like. It's just like, I have the best guy on the floor. Like, I don't have to, like, worry, like, and, like, the team legit. Like, the NBA. Like, the way the second apron is kind of implemented. Like, you don't have to be that good anymore to compete for a title. Right? Like, I think we've seen the last five or six champions. Like, they're good teams, but, like, none of them, I'd say, were, like, amazing champions. Like, I think this puts us back in contention. Like, minimum, like, coming out of the East. I think we're up there now. I think you still have to give New York their respect as a champion, but I'm stoked for this. We didn't have to give up anyone too good either. I think, like, our defense is good. We kept cmb, we kept Jacoby Walter. So for me, I'm also giving this tree out of tree. Yes. So going. Going back the other way. Maybe we can start with that. We're, like, breaking this down. Like, we're real sports center. And I think this is incredible. Going back the other day the other way. We got Brandon Ingram. That was our boy. He came in, kind of did what he was supposed to do. Got signed to an extension last year. Bald out, kind of disappeared in the playoffs, but he was there, and he was pretty good. In addition, we have Grady, male genitalia buddy, or whatever we're calling him. We have. He is the best name in the league, so really gonna miss that guy. Maybe not missing that guy, bro. No. I thought he was great offense. He's just not a serious player. But I have to watch his, like, Gillette commercial, like, he's doing. Yeah, that's why I like him, bro. Like, he did not progr breath at all. Exactly. No. When you're balling. When you're balling on the court, you can do all that stuff. When you're not, I'm like, yo, get off my screen, bro. I don't want to see this. Who else is doing Jersey Swaps with Anthony Black after the game, bro. Who else is doing that? I will miss. I will miss that. And like the LaMelo ball jersey swap. Like, yeah, there's a lot of good combos out there. Derek White. Yeah, there's. That was a good one too. I think he got fined for one of them eventually, but he did, he did a good job. His tick tocks are pretty hilarious. He has like a Toronto penthouse with his girl. His tick tocks are pretty good. But you know what, man? In that like that season, I think it was like what two years ago where we were like legitimately awful. He wasn't that bad. Like there was a, there was a point in time where like for a solid two months or so he was, he was good for 17, 18 a night. He was pretty good. But yeah, obviously as your depth gets a little deeper, you lose playing time and stuff like that. So we lost him as well. Which we'll also get into then. The concerning part of this whole thing that we got to talk about are the draft picks. So as. As for. It was first reported by NBA correspondent Kieran Farah around 3pm that the first round picks were 20, 27, 29, which felt okay. Where I was okay with that. I was happy. Who fed you that information by the way? I think some random guy on Twitter. But it was ended up being a quick swap. Okay. So at that point I was really happy. But then it came out later and maybe this, maybe it wasn't your fault. Maybe the trade didn't get finalized till later, but now it's an unprotected 31 and 33 first, 20, 27 first round swap which shouldn't be that big of a problem because their team's still competitive. And then two second rounders. So fellas, let's start with our. Start with Mr. Dadton. How are you feeling about these unprotected firsts? Keep in mind they are down the line. This is when Kawhi is 41 years old and 43 years old. So he's probably gonna be kicking it up somewhere in Yorkville not playing basketball no more. How are you feeling about these first round picks that we're giving up? Honestly feel I feel very conflicted about the picks. I think one of the biggest factors with them is the new lottery odds. They've made it so that like if you're. Even if you're a play in team, you have like an extremely high chance at getting the first overall pick, which is very annoying considering that's where like we've been Hovering around for the last couple of years until last year, obviously. But at the same time, we've seen, you know, Bobby and Masai trade first round picks for Thad Young and Goran Dragic and you know, just like really throw them around like candy and Halloween. And it's just like, you know, if you're going to make a trade with your picks, do you want it to be for a top 10 player or do you want it to be for more filler so that like we continue being out in the first round of the playoffs? So it's, it's less than ideal that they're unprotected and they're so far out. But at the same time, like, I think this puts us in a place of contention and I think it's worth, worth the risk. Yeah, I agree. You have to put the chips in at some point, right? It's like you can't just like sit there forever. Like, you have to go for it and like in sports, like, like you just have to give yourself a chance. Like last time when Toronto did this, like we definitely did not have like a great chance of winning and then like it just ended up working out, right? So it's like you can sit there forever and do nothing and like, yeah, you can trade for like Yaka Purdle and like become an okay first round team, which I think is like the worst place to be in sports is when you're like in the middle. So here you go for it. If it works out, great. If it doesn't work out, like, I still think it's fine. It's like a calculated risk. Right. So the other thing is, you know, Shay is a free agent in a few years when these picks are conveying, I think he wants to be a raptor. So this is perfect segue, you know, like Kawhi is here, he wins the second chip. He goes retires. Scotty's in his prime. Shay comes over for the second act of his career. I think it's all planned. I think, I think the script is out there. I think that's what's going to happen. Exactly. Well, speaking of all planned, okay, so here's another thing that we got to consider. So I don't. You guys see the Sid6 rant today? I hate that guy. I hate that guy too. He's the worst. He is genuinely the wor. He's like. So for our American fans, he's like the Skip Bayless of Canadian or Toronto sports, I would say. Yeah, yeah, like, he's like the Skip Bayless of us. And he goes off on this rant. He's like, they're acquiring Kawhi. But he actually laid out a concern that I found that kind of got my mind going. So he was like, so last year, Kawhi played exactly 65 games. That is the minimum amount of games you can play before being considered for NBA awards and for before appeasing any of your contractual bonuses. Right? So he. He's a bag chaser. We know Kawhi is a bag chaser. And so we brought up a good point. What if Kawhi knows that we're like, we're willing to do whatever he wants and he's like, you know what? I'm forced to trade to Toronto. I'm gonna give him one year, maybe two, and then I'm going to retire, go off in the sunset. Is there any concern from you fellas that we are being used by Kawhi in some sort of facet? I do not care, bro. As long as this guy plays basketball, like, he just. Bro, he can like sit half the games again, bro. He's a 16 game player. That's all I care about, bro. Like, play the. Like, last time he was here, he didn't want to be here. He told us he was going to leave and he did. Right? But he literally played injured in the playoffs, like, gave it his all sort of. I'm not worried about it. I think he's a professional. I think he wants to win. Amber, like, he deserves the bag, bro. As long as he shows up to play, that's all I care about. I have some concerns, I'm not gonna lie. So I don't know if you guys saw the Shams. Shams did like a report on ESPN or something about Kawhi wanting to retire here. I saw that one, which I initially saw and I was very excited about. But at the same time, the way that Kawhi negotiates with teams, as we saw through, you know, his case, that was investigated and probably still investigated. And there's also reports that this is maybe his way of dodging that case out of America. So I'm just scared to negotiate with KAWHI Leonard at 38 years old, like hobbled, and he's got Uncle Dennis in his corner and he's trying to extract every last bit of value out of us. I think it's a little bit concerning. But also, if we win another chip, then who cares? Exactly. At the end of the day, like, I still think back to the Raptors parade as like one of the best moments of my life, and, like, one of the best summers of my life. And, like, it's gonna stay that way for, like, a long time. And, like, anytime I see, like, other teams win, like, when I saw the Knicks parade, I, like, immediately thought of the Raptors parade and, like, I understood how all those fans felt and, like, how much happiness they felt. So if we can run that back, like, yo, send them more picks. Like, if we win the ship, like, give them four more picks. And I'm happy, bro, that that parade is crazy. I think we actually outdid the Knicks parade, I think. But I was watching that, like, I don't think anyone's ever going to reach, like, the greatness that the Raptors parade, like, reached. Like, yeah, yeah, it was legendary. I actually was really, really surprised. As somebody who didn't grow up watching a ton of NBA, I was really surprised. There's only two rounds the NBA draft, because, like, I think it's the only sport that does that. So the draft picks are actually worth a lot. I'm kind of used to, like, NFL, where there, like, seven rounds. In the MLB, there's like 14 or 15. Like, there's a lot of rounds. But in the NBA is very, very pinched up and, like. Yeah, no, I have my concerns, too. Trees don't grow all year here in Toronto, so we might be okay on the tree planting service thing, But I was worried that he might just come here and he knows he'll get whatever he wants. Larry Tannenbaum is on the board of governors. He's not gonna be the owner in a few months. Yeah, that is true. Okay, that is true. Maybe he's trying to get in Larry's good books. I don't know what's going on here. It just seemed very, very suspicious to me that he goes to his camp. He says, the only place I is Toronto, Canada. And you know what the. You know what the. The, like, the stories are down in the States about going to Toronto. People don't want to do it generally, and all this stuff. And then you have one player who says, I only want to go there. And we know how great this place is. We obviously live here. We love it. But it just seems a little fishy to me. Look, they tampered to get Kawaii off our team in the first place. So this is reparations. Like, that's fine. Yeah. I don't know. And Neil's kind of convincing me. I'm not gonna lie. But at the same time, like, he is. I think he was a top five player in the league last year. Like, I thought, like, the defensive impact. I'm also a huge, like, believer that, like, defense wins championships. And if you have, in my opinion, the best defender of his generation on your team, like, you know, anything else doesn't really matter. So if he wants to scam us, you know, scam us all you want, just, like, deliver when you actually play. Yeah, exactly. Quine and died. I'm fine if we bring that back. Like, yeah, I think the big thing, too, for me is that, like, we saw Scotty, like, elevate to, like, legit, like, top 20 status minimum this year, right? Like, but he's not a number one offensive option. Like, I think to me, like, this is the big, big thing is now Scotty Barnes is going to that number two role. Like, the idea was with Ingram to do that, but, like, Ingram just, like, could not play in the playoffs this year, so Scotty had to get elevated. So I think seeing him in that, like, secondary role, like, I think he's just gonna be, like, a monster this year. Like, I think the floor is gonna open up for him, like, more on, like, guarding the best guy on the other team. So I think that's the real thing that, like, raises the ceiling of our team. I think Scotty Barnes is legitimately, like, a top number two guy in the league right now. I do think that if you were to create the prototypical player that the Raptors needed to acquire this offseason, you sat there and you get. Put all the traits in a blender. I actually do think you come out with KAWHI Leonard, like, nine times out of 10. Like, he is the perfect guy that you need to plug into this roster. And you get. Almost getting BI off the team in this sense is a good thing because you don't have a primary ball handle or, like, kind of competing with him. You have. I know how much you guys love RJ Barrett, truly loved RJ Barrett in this podcast. But he is a legitimate third, fourth guy, I think. Like, he's not. He's not the worst guy in the world to have at that spot. He's not Pascal, obviously, I guess. God, he's our Pascal now. But, you know, he could be a good role player going down the stretch. I have concerns at the center position. I think you guys do, too, but I don't know how we address that just yet. Trade rj, bro. Get him out of here, bro. Trade him. All his value is still, like, positive. I think that's like, me. I think me and Kieran Actually have different views on rj. Like Kieran is much more anti rj especially because of like how RJ plays for Team Canada. I'm. I really like RJ as a player. I think like his mold of like a guy who can always get you 20 points and like not on like Zach Levine shot chucking three like style points but like through like slashing and getting offensive rebounds and stuff. I think that's extremely valuable. But at the same time he's like probably our only valuable bad contract. Like Pertle and Quickly's contracts are so bad and have been like like we were in for Lamelo and I don't think we could have got that done because we were offering bad contracts. Same one. Like there was reports that we were after Jaren Jackson Jr. And it's the same thing where like other teams don't want Pearl and they don't want Quickly. But like Barrett I think has value and that's where you find your five who ideally can be essentially what Marcus all was for us with Kawhi. Somebody who's like defensive can pass a little bit, like space the floor a little bit. But that's an extremely hard market to find nowadays. So I am a little bit concerned on how we fill out the rest of the roster. But like the hardest thing in the NBA to do is to find a top 10 player and we've done it. Yeah, I mean like also like as the season progresses like teams like start being disappointing, whatever the guys get on the market. Right. So it's like you don't have to do it right now. Yeah, I think my thing too with RJ is like I may be a bit hard on him. It's just like on a championship level team, like is he a guy who like gets enough touches to score 20? Like he's a very high usage guy. He's not like a pass first type of guy. So for me like I just, I just don't know what his role is now with Kwai here. Like maybe if he's willing to be a six man. I actually think he could be a really good 6 man if he's willing to step into that role. So I'd be happy with that. And then maybe you see where he's at and then we see where the center market is at the trade deadline you kind of make that Marcus all type move. I don't know who it would be but if we need, if like the team is looking good, like it looks like there's a chance. It's like maybe just put all the chips in. Like, we still have some more picks you can trade. Like, you just. You go for the upgrade. You go for it. So. Yeah. So I know now there's a lot of teams that get into the playoffs, and we're not like, super uber concerned about making the playoffs, but we do need someone to shoot the ball when Kawhi is inevitably load managing. And that's kind of where I see, like, RJ having real value to this team because he will have to be your Brandon Ingram. And like, you obviously do not want the ball in RJ Barrett's hands at the end of the game, but you don't really have a better choice if, I guess, Scotty, if. If Kawhi is load managing heavily again. Right. So I think you do need to value your depth just to get through the regular season, especially with this one. I guess my follow up for you guys was like, let's say there's like, a hypothetical trade scenario right now where like, let's say the Kings call you. The Kings call you. They're like, hey, Sabonus is on the block. He is right. No. If they say we want RJ and Jacoby in a second, are you saying yes? No, probably not. Because you still have Pearl's contract. Like, if they'll take Portal's contract, maybe I would consider it. I think we'll have to pay somebody to take Pearl's contract. At this point. I would not touch Sabonis. I. I think he's kind of soft. I'm not gonna lie. Like, every time he's played, like, real playoff basketball, he just, like, gets ripped through. And I don't really like that. That mold of, like, big who just, like, passes a lot but can't shoot. Like, it just feels like you're really limiting your spacing. And yeah, I would not touch the bonus, but I'm interested to know who will become available as the season progresses because, like, you never know what team is just going to, like, suffer injuries and then, like, you know, I don't even know an example of a team, like, if the Pacers, like, start getting injuries, can we bring Pascal? Yeah, why not? Like, like, reunite the whole team? Kyle come out of retirement real quick. I don't know about that one, dude. I was hoping. We're getting warm, bro. Looking a little thick. He is looking a little thick. That guy's looking like cake. I don't know about that guy. I was hoping for Powell, bro, but it isn't like, I guess they didn't. They didn't pursue him. Just off the. The off chance we have no space, I think, for Powell now. Like. Yeah, my concern now, guys, is that we end up, like, filing out this, like, beautiful roster, and then we're like, oh, we just do not have a five and we got to sign some guy, like a vet minimum. And then suddenly, like, Ken Birch is our starting five. Just want to jump off a bridge like that is. That's my concern right now. Yeah, I mean, you can get away with CMB playing the five for, like, the key stretches of the playoffs now. You have to just get portal to buy you the minutes. But I think, like, you can probably find a guy in the trade market if you're willing to trade another first. I think we can get a serviceable center. So I think we'll probably see, like, how the season plays out. I saw them talking about, like, trying to get Miles Turner, but, like, I don't know, he seems a bit over the hill a little bit. So I think that's just the last piece. Like, if we get like a center, especially like a stretch five, I think then like, the team is, like, perfectly constructed to, like, go on a run. So, yeah, I guess my question is maybe, Jake, I'll post you first. Like, where do you put us now in the East? Like, are we right below the Knicks? Are we above the Knicks now? Are we still below some of the other teams? I would say, I don't know. We'll have to see. I think the CMB piece is very undetermined because the way he played in the playoffs was, like, phenomenal and gave me a lot of belief in him and in. In this team. I still want to see what the Celtics look like after, like, Jalen Brown has, like, torched their team by, like, just hopping on Twitch Stream and talking like Bear Gaza about Jason Tatum and about. He even talks like, smack about Scotty. I don't know if you guys crazy. Yeah. Like, why, like, you can't be saying that on Twitch Man. Like, you're an NBA player. You make like 200 mil and you're like, you know, simping for dudes in the Twitch chat, like. Yeah. So to answer your question, I think it's basically, I'm looking at the standings right now. I think the Pistons, who finished first, I don't really believe in them. Like, Jalen Duran looks like he's going to Sacramento, which is really weird. Celtics again, they're kind of a mess. I think the Knicks are probably. Obviously they're the champions and they have kind of like, on paper, like a Very good matchup against us because they also have the wing size and they have Brunson, who's incredible. I think the Cavs are, you know, they're fake. Evan Mobley, fake guy. Very fake guy. Exactly. And then, yeah, I think, like, it's. It's basically us and the Knicks, and then it really depends on, like, how high are you are on the Hawks, who had, like, a good playoffs and have some interesting pieces. And then Giannis in the Heat, which to me, again, like, I don't really think they've made a lot of changes around the edges to, like, improve that team. But it's also Giannis who, you know, I think Kieran, again, that's a guy who you're not like, super high on all time. But I think, like, peak Giannis is like, one of the most absurd, like, basketball players ever, and I think, like, his trajectory has definitely stalled, but he was definitely on that, like, top 15 all time trajectory. And if he can find that rhythm again, then, like, that's very scary. But I would say it's us and the Knicks who are, like, kind of pushing away now. Yeah. I mean, the Heat, like, I like their management. So good. Their coach is so good. They find these guys on the margin normally. But, like, Giannis needs, like, shooting. He needs guys to help him on offense. I just, I don't think their roster has it. Like, Khris Middleton, like, another guy who I don't love, but, like, he was, like, a good compliment for Giannis, so. Because, like, Giannis, like, we've seen like, in the playoffs, like, if he doesn't have, like, a guy to shoot or like, take the ball for, like, one on one, like, he has trouble. The Raptors, like, shut him down. Like, the Celtics have shut him down. So, yeah, the Heat are actually the probably the biggest question mark, like, what they end up doing. Their defense is good. One, no. Mexico. Yeah. One, no. Let's go. Yeah. I just heard it in the background when Kieran is talking. I was like, I feel like you guys would want to know this. Mexico is my second team for World cup. So. Yeah, there you go. They're a wagon dude. They're so good. I don't know what, like, they lost Lozano and suddenly their team became incredible. It's funny how that works. They got a, like, insane home field advantage. Like, that altitude is, like, so different. Yeah, they're going to be a danger. When. When do they lose home home field advantage? Like, when does it all shift to America, the top eight? It's a quarter yeah, they play the next round. Next round should be them in England at the Azteca, which is, like, going to be. That's going to be such a game. And then I think after that, it's all America. Okay. Dude, it is crazy how, like, the host nations don't get to host throughout the. The playoff rounds. It's so stupid. Why are we playing in Houston, dude? Or. Sorry. I think we're playing, like, Dallas. We played in la. Is it Houston? Okay. Yeah, we're playing somewhere in Texas. It's so dumb, bro. Like, I get it. Like, you want to get, like, a lot of, like, profit revenue for those stadiums, and you got to book these things, like, times and times in advance, but really stupid. I really don't like how that works. And I know it's. We weren't expecting to get this far, but I guess I don't. I get it, cuz, like, the top 16 game is in Vancouver. But, like, that was. If you won the group. But, like, why wasn't our round of 32 game in Toronto? Like, they have one, so it's like, you can literally just be, like, right, second place again. This group goes there. I mean, it doesn't matter because we won, but, like, yeah, that made no sense. Like, dude, this Portugal, Croatia. The game, though, is gonna, like, fuel tourism for years to come. That's what they want. Man, it's gonna be crazy down here. I'm gonna go and try and witness the Portugal walk. I live, like, basically really close to Little Portugal, so I'm gonna. Yeah, maybe I should just, like, sneak in that walk. Just experience it. You should do it. Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be crazy. I would. That's a match that I think I'd pay a thousand dollars for, like, just to experience that just once. What, 2600 right now? I checked yesterday. Let's see. We were looking this morning, and someone I know was offering them one ticket for 900 bucks. I was gonna swipe it, but someone else swiped it before I could. That's actually a good price. Yeah, that's also, like, Portugal and Croatia is, like, probably, like, a nightmare Toronto matchup because, like, that's such a huge diaspora on both sides. Like, I'm trying to think of, like, what would be if it was, like, Portugal, Jamaica, or, like, Jamaica, Italy. Jamaica, Italy, Yo. Jamaica, Italy and Toronto would be wild. Dude. That'd be. That would be the best cookout of all time, bro. Like, yeah, the Italian man's whipping up some food. You got the Jamaican man's open up some food. We'd be eating so good that week. Week, life would be all right. Yeah. Oh, actually, that's Toronto Stadium, actually, Jake. Oh, my bad. Right? They didn't. They didn't pay me for that. All right. We got 2400 get in price, so. It's ridiculous is what that is. Yeah, that's insane. It's because our stadium's just too small, man. Like, for, I guess, for those listeners who don't know, like, dad Tim's the guy who I split my TFC seasons with, and we go every week for like 15 bucks. So it's like really hard for me and dad Tim to look at this screen and ever justifying spending more than 15 bucks, let alone 2,400. It's tough. There are times where we, like, try to sell our tickets for like $11 and they don't sell. Yeah, dude, a hot dog costs more than their tickets most week. It's. It's insane, bro. What was the combo? It's like two hot dogs, two sodas. It's like $56. I think I saw on Twitter. Yeah. Something stupid like that. The concessions are such a scam. It's nonsense, but yeah. Anyway, sorry, looping right back real quick. Just. Let's finish our NBA thought. We can hop into the World cup stuff, then we'll call it a day. So we talked about who we thought is going to come out of these. So what I want to talk about real quick is the other side of the trade, what the Clippers did, which I think we are equally fascinated with as a team who just rebuilt recently. At least I am. I find it so fascinating to watch teams rebuild well from our side. I still have concerns with the point guard positions. That's a whole other topic for another day. But for the Clippers, they kind of liquidated. They did really well in the Zubots trade. Obviously they got destroyed on the Paul George trade when he came in. They're trying to recoup those picks. Overall, how do you fellas feel about what they've done with the return of this? Do you think they're a team that maybe we can look at contending next year with Ingram or, like, where do we kind of think we're on this on this wavelength here? We'll start with Dadton, I guess. I love the trade for the Clippers. I feel like Steve Ballmer is, like, kind of an egomaniac, so for him to, like, accept that, like, like, we need to rebuild and we've just like, they just made this, like, huge stadium and they need to fill seats. But they still recognize this. The better strategy is for them to rebuild and I really respect that as an organization. I feel like that's something that Messiah and the Raptors really missed out on for a long time is like having humility and knowing when it's time to like actually adjust. So I think like I don't think Grady really does anything for them, but it's like a piece where you can maybe see what you've got there. I think the first round picks are amazing for them and then Ingram is kind of a guy who like if you can flip for another first, that's great. If you can flip them to a contender and get a couple young guys, that's also great. If he has to play out his contract and you're just like a play in team with the new lottery odds, then it's also fine. So I'm very impressed by what the Clippers did and you mentioned the Zubox trade, like that was also like a masterpiece by them. So I think they've done really good job. Yeah, I think, I agree. I think like I would actually give them like an A plus for this trade. Like objectively like taking the homer goggles off Toronto overpaid a little bit. It. Yeah. And I think too like the Ingram contract, like it's a bad contract but like next year, right. He's an expiring if you want to keep tanking. Like that's a huge contract that can absorb other teams, bad contracts if they're willing to give you picks. So if they're going that route, I think it's fantastic for them. Like Grady, like again you can see if he like has a recoup some value. Maybe you flip him for like another second round pick or like, like a late first. So I think it's the path they need to go on. Like they tried the Kawaii Paul George thing. It didn't work. Like people clown them but like you still make that move 10 times out of 10, right? Like you go for it. It just didn't work out. So yeah, I think like, like Jake's saying like cutting your losses instead of just like riding out like like a pipe dream of like it working out anymore. Like I think they did well, like really well for like a guy on the last year of his contract who they don't want to extend. So A plus for them. Yeah, I couldn't believe we reached so far. I agree with you guys. I think it's, it was time to go in on a superstar. It's just we, we paid a lot, guys. And like initially when the, when the ask was like first being rumored, it was like Grady, male genitalia plus bi plus first round pick plus one other guy. And even that I was like, we're talking a lot of stuff here. Now there's two. Sorry, there's four total picks involved and a pick swap next year with a team that I don't think they'll pick swap with us because we're going to be better than them. So I don't really know why that was part of the trade. But there is a first round pick swap in there, plus those two players. Like, there's a lot going the other way, guys. And I think like, like this could be a home run for us. Sure. Right. It could be an A plus for us, but I think on paper it is an A plus for them. I think they win the side of the trade. At least that's my take on it. I think so. I think you and I kind of talked about it either last week before Neil, where it's like, like sports is very results based, but I think you have to be like process based as well. Like, I think you make this trade every time for Toronto, right? If, even if it doesn't work out, like, I'm fine with that. Like, you got to take the risk sometimes. So like, yeah, we could be sitting here like five years from now being like, oh, we're bad now. It didn't work out like we lost our pick picks. But I'm happy with this. I give it stamp of approval. I think most Toronto fans, like, I think the reception has been like, amazingly positive from like everyone I see who are Raptors fans. I guess maybe we're all a bit nostalgic for 2019, but I'm excited. I think we're gonna be a great team next year as long as Kwai, like knock on wood, like can make it through the season, which he has the past couple years. So I know, I think it's good and I think that that conversation we had started. Not to cut you off, dad Tim, but I want to get your opinion on something that actually we talked about two weeks ago. It's like that conversation you brought up where like sports is very results oriented versus process oriented. Me and Karen were kind of on different sides of that and I think you're more on his side just from knowing you, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts. So. I have always viewed sports as a process oriented thing and I think that deep playoff runs that don't result Result, particularly in chips, are still successful seasons. And I think, I think of it as more of a business. Like I think about like even the Jays last year, how much money Rogers brought in. And like, if I was Rogers, I was the head corporation. That is a very successful season for me and I would never want to go and trade out a bunch of picks to rebuild and have one successful season when I could just have multiple successful seasons and maybe have a chance as a chip. Here is more like ring based oriented, which makes total sense. The goal of sports is to win, but we come from different places. I'm just curious what kind of what side of the fence you sit on. I feel like I'm more process orientated. Like I think like the teams that I think are the best run in all sports are ones that like know their situation constantly and are able to like make smart decisions based off that process. Whereas the worst teams are always ones that like overestimate how good they are and always are trying to win or trying to like, you know, like the Chicago Bulls for example, are a team that have been like floating around like that playing spot because they are a historic NBA franchise and they want to fill their arena. Whereas if they just took a couple years to tank and like embrace the process of things, I think it would have ended up like way better for them. But I actually have a counter question for you guys because I think this is a really interesting like Pokemon question as well in terms of like the decisions that you guys make when you're playing the game. Like, I think in Pokemon sometimes you have to take risks knowing that like you're at a disadvantage in certain situations. And I think this kawaii trait is kind of an example of that where like the Raptors recognize that they have really bad contracts. Let's say they're at like, you know, they're at two prize cards and their opponent has one left and they have to make a risky move to try to like recuperate that balance. And I think like, I'm interested to know what your guys thoughts are in terms of in Pokemon. How you balance the risk versus knowing that like if you play it a little bit safe, you may stay in the game. Yeah, I mean, I talk about this actually a lot with my students. Is like one of the hardest skills is to understand when to gamble or to push all the chips in a game. So I say like when you're in an unfavored position or you're losing, right? That's when you have to take more risk. Like that's when I'm more willing to go like, okay, like, let's go all in to try and draw a card. If I hit it, I'm back in the game or I win. If I whip, I lose on the spot. Right. Versus when you're kind of in control. Or like even my approach to a tournament, like Worlds compared to like a regional, it's like, at Worlds, I'm more willing to play like a deck that's more inconsistent or more matchup based because I'm like, like the skill level between players is so much tighter. Whereas at a regional, like, I'm probably significantly better than the average person I'm playing. So I think there's a lot of context that you have to like, decide when like, how much risk comes into the game when it comes to Pokemon. But like, yeah, like, I think like, sports is like one of those things where it's like, it's kind of similar. Like the Raptors, like their championship equity is probably sub 1%. It's like all of a sudden now you've raised it to 10, might even be high. But it's like, yeah, you're improving your situation where it's like you could stay steady and you could probably get your equity up to like 5% or maybe like a few percentage points or you can just like try and like spike it. So, yeah, I think you just have to kind of like guess where you're at and like what your tolerance for risk is at and like, what the situation is. So very interesting conversation. I actually, like. It is really fascinating how both of our ideologies, like, kind of stick with us through like our other aspects of life. Because you're always like a go for it and just like, go in kind of guy. I think of Pokemon 3, four years ago when I would like answer this question. So there was a point in time where caching an event didn't mean that you necessarily spiked the event. Like, cashing the event was a decent outburst. And so when I think of like the Raptors going all in and I think about cashing the event and playing Pokemon and playing to win the tournament or playing to cash the event, I think there were times where I would take a safer pick to go and try and catch that event or go and try and do well for my world's invite or something like that without taking the high risk pick, like, I'm either winning or I'm bombing out. So I think that's like a very interesting thing to think about. Your ideology is kind of transferred through different Facets of life. And that's why I like your question for the Raptors right now. I think you're in a point where you have gone and you've hit your head on the wall and you kind of know where your ceiling is. And if I as a player knew that I was not the strongest Pokemon player, then I would play something more risky, something more aggro, so I can go and try and spike an event because I know that I'm not good enough to get past the first round, so to speak. Right? So I actually really like this question because I think the Raptors going all in here makes total sense. The Raptors know that they are not beating the. The Henry Brands, the Bonds, the Henry Chows of the world with their current roster. So what are they going to do? They're going to go play something nonsense. They're going to go play hops trevenant to a major and try and spike it and try and beat all these people that were not prepared for it. I. I like it confirmed. We're gonna win. The built the same for real. I think the other things, like Jake's question too is like, it also depends, like, what you've achieved before. Like. Like, for example, when the Raptors made the conference finals, like, actually 10 years ago now, right? Like, that was amazing because, like, we'd never got there before. I think for a lot of Pokemon players, like you talk to them, it's like reaching day two is the first big goal or reaching top eight is the first goal. But it's like once you've got there, it's like, like the Raptors have won before. It's like the expectation is win. Right? Whereas for some teams, it's like just making the playoffs is like, fantastic, right? Like, or making the conference finals, like, so I think that also probably factors into it as well. Like, kind of like, you know, like you're saying if you just want a day two, or like cash, so to speak, like, you're fine playing a bit safer. Yeah, right. Or like, for a great example, is like playing out your last round of day one. Like, let's say you're five and two, you can tie to make day two, or you can play it out if you're there to win. Like, you play it out if you're there to make day two, like, you tie. I think that's kind of actually a very good analogy for this type of question. So I go back to my Leafs man, my Leafs, how. What has it been 10 years of us just like out in the first or second round, and we have never made a big splash. Like, we are always like, all right, we're gonna trade a first round pick for like, Nick Foligno or something like random Duster. That was good 10 years ago. And we think this is going to put us over the edge. We traded one year for Thomas Placandage, who was like a fourth line dude who wore a turtleneck. And we traded a first round pick for him thinking he was going to change our team. And we hit our head against the wall again. We wondered, why can't we get over the hump? And I think that's a great example of, like, that is a time where you need to put your first round picks together and go all in, because you are clearly there. The nucleus of your team is strong, just like the Raptors, but you need that extra piece to kind of go above and beyond. So I think it is a good time to go all in. And you see a lot of NBA teams doing that now. Right. Like, the summer has been insane. Like, there's been so many trades, so many things going on, and, like, first round picks just fly off the shelves. Now there's a point in time where people are very frugal with them, but now you go and people are trying to win. Yeah, I think even the Knicks are like, a great example of this kind of question. Like, they've had, like, some decent teams, they've had some very bad teams, but this recent iteration of them, like, they threw like, the whole bag at Mikhail Bridges, and that was a serious overpay. But now if you were to ask, like, anybody who works for them or anybody who supports them if they care about those picks that are like eighth graders right now, none of them care. And I think, like, that risk, like, really pays off. And it's kind of like in Pokemon. It's like if you're constantly making day two and you're never, like, getting past that, you know, that kind of barrier, maybe sometimes there is a level of risk that you need to, like, reassess in how you're approaching games and how you're approaching deck building and how you're approaching tournaments as a whole that can, like, push you over that hump. Even if it, like, costs you a day, a couple day twos to start, maybe the long term game is worth it in the end. Yeah, I agree. I've actually been, like, working already. Like, my season reflection, like, article, and I have, like, all my terms. Like, one of my, like, takeaways is like, I think I need to be more aggressive with my deck choices or, like, take some more risks if I want to change, like, one of these trophies into, like, a champion one. So. Yeah, I think I agree, like, you have to go for it. It's like, like you said, like, you're probably gonna, like, like, lose some trades or, like, have some seasons that don't work out how you want or some tournaments that won't go the way you want. But you gotta risk it for the biscuit. Right? Like normal, like, yeah, it's like, it's hard to play, like, in. To use Pokemon, like a very standard deck and, like, win a tournament. Like, you can do it. It happens. But a lot of times we see people innovating and, like, getting rewarded. So I think it's the same thing with sports. It's like, like, yeah, like, sometimes a trade just doesn't work out, but sometimes things break your way and it works. And like Jake said, like, you're. You take the, like, five years from now, the Knicks being horrible, but you'll always have a championship. Like, that's how I feel with the Raptors. Like, we could never win again in our lifetime. And, like, I'll still have fond memories and be. Be happy. Yeah. There are times too where the contrary is true though, as well. Right. Like, there are times where you might have a really good team for multiple years in a row and you are hitting the low side of variants. You might be playing your gardevoir deck to eight tournaments, and obviously, like, you're playing as other really good gardevoir players, but you may be towards the upper echelon of that and you're just not getting the things to go your way. So I do think there is value with keep a core group together as well. Like, I don't want to say that all the time. You need to go all in instantly. I think of, like, the Bills. Like, the Bills is the first thing that comes to my mind because the Bills love to keep their core group of guys together and then change some of the external pieces around them, and it doesn't always work for them, and it just seems like they're consistently hitting their head off the wall. And the wall is Patrick Mahomes just over and over and over. And eventually I do think they'll break through. So I think the contrary can also be true. Like, it. It. It does help to be battle tested and go through with a. With a group of guys that, you know. And so I don't want to make it sound like I'm saying, hey, every team go trade 10 first round picks for the best guy in the league. But there's, I think, value to it. Yeah, but I mean, like, you look at the Raptors, like, let's say the last time they won a championship, or even the Knicks, it's like you keep the same team. Like, you don't have to go all in all the time, but like, when you're ready, like since you've been smart and you've had the same team, it's like you just have to like change like one piece or two pieces. Right. But there is something to be said about continuity and not like always trying to like, like push right away. It's just like timing it. Like, when do you kind of go for it type of thing. Or like, like Pokemon, like, when do you take a Crustle out for a tournament? Right? Like something like that. Yeah, hopefully never, but we've seen it a lot lately, so. Yeah. Yeah, we'll have to see. Good talks, boys. It's a good discussion. Actually. That's a really good question. Very good to wrap us up. Pokemon this week, actually. I know I. I snuck that in. You snuck it in? Actually, that was Luke's mix. I thought we had an agreement. I had to give them a little bit of something. Something. Yeah. All right. Respects. He's making a really good case for the people to want him back, actually. So that's. That's always a solid thing. Yeah. Jake Dadson might be coming back quickly. Before we hopped off. This is supposed to be a quick episode so we can go watch this game, which I think is a barn burner. It is two nothing right now. Yeah. How are you guys looking at the World Cup? I want to hear your top five teams who you think is going to win it all and maybe a dark horse at the bottom if you have one. One. All right, Jake, you go first. You're more knowledgeable. Yeah, you go first. This is kind of. This is sprung upon me. Top five. Sorry, I. I kind of. You want me to start? I can start if you want. No, no, no, I'm good. I'm good. Number one is France, obviously. I think Mbappe at the World cup is like one of the scariest players that we've ever seen. Like, the way that he scores and the intensity that he plays at is like incredible. So I put France 100% first. I think Spain are also interesting. Like Lamina Mall. It's his of step into the. Into the spotlight and prove that he could be the face of the sport. Other than that, I think it's like, kind of a huge drop off from there. Like, I think there's definitely, like, England and Argentina who are in that second tier. For me, I think England is, like, very dependent on Kane and like, his really unique role as, like, kind of this, like, deep line forward who, like, sprays these, you know, paws. Sprays, like, crazy out. Yeah. But I think, like, it's definitely him. And then Argentina, it's obviously Messi, but we'll see if he holds up. And then I will put my fifth team as my dark horse. I'm going to say Norway. I think, like, Holland. Holland is like, one of the biggest freaks of nature in sports right now. He's like. It's like him, Ohtani Wembanyama. Like, these are guys that, like, once in a generation come around and just like, completely shake up the way that the game is played. And I think when you have that kind of guy on your team, you can do a lot of things. And I think one of the cool things about Norway is a lot of their players came from, like, the same domestic league where they play, like, a very specific kind of style. So they've all kind of, like, grown up together in a way, and they're all around the same age range, so there's like, a lot of familiarity and continuity there. So I think, I mean, they, they, they're. They're definitely my team to watch as well. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. Sorry, just to touch on his last point before I let you give your list there. I think continuity in national teams is so underrated. Like, I think your point is spot on. Like, there are so many. Because there so many clubs in soccer and like, there's so many different leagues that they, they play differently. It's not like a North American sport where you're taking, like, the best NBA players and going to the Olympics. They all play in the same league. Everything's mostly the same in soccer. What people don't realize is you go to, like, the. The Swedish League versus the Premier League versus the French League, whatever, they all play relatively differently. And you could close your eyes. Well, I guess not close your eyes, but not look at the teams that are playing on the top of the scoreboard, sometimes watch a game and almost instantly know what league that you're watching. Like, they are, like, completely different. And so I think the. The continuity of them all being domestically is important. So that's just. That's a great point from you there. Yeah, I was just gonna say, like, I don't watch soccer as much as you guys. Obviously. But like, Jake's point of like, Norway's continuity, like, I watch like a lot of basketball and you actually see at the World cup often, like, countries like Germany, like, win without like a lot of NBA talent, like, they'll beat teams like USA because, like, yeah, they have that continuity. Like, the guys know their roles. Like, I think it is actually hard sometimes when you have international sports when you have a lot of stars who are like, used to being like the 1A's on their team or like, they're having to like, kind of like take a secondary role. Right. So I think, yeah, I think, like, continuity and I think especially like in like a knockout style tournament, right, you can catch teams off guard for sure. I mean, I don't really have much to say about, like, analyzing soccer. I just like watching the games. I. I mean, from what I've watched, like, yeah, France seems like the best. I watched their game today. I mean, I do like Holland too. Like, he's actually as someone who's like a. I guess, like a casual soccer fan. Like, I like watching him play a lot. So I've seen like all my reels. Like, this is. Have you guys seen, like, they like, turn like, him and like Mbappe into like, anime characters? They have like, dictator. They have like, dictator Mbappe and then like Viking King Holland. I like the memes of like, Mbappe in English versus Mbappe in French. Like, oh, yeah, yeah. So I don't know. I'm not about yet, but I'm sure I'll get there. My dark horse is. I'll. I'll be a homer. I'll say my. My dark curse is Canada. Even though, like, when I watch them play, I'm like, it's been some, like, awful soccer every game I've watched from them. But yeah, I've been very uninspired with the Jesse Marsh football I've been watching the last little while. But I. I agree with that. Sorry. We should circle back to Canada. I feel like we can have a good discussion on that. Yeah, we will. Real quick. I think France is my number one team as well. That that offense is so high octane. The last time an offense scored three goals in five straight games was like 1930 something. So that doesn't happen. You put Elise up there with Dembele and Mbappe and good things happen. They're just insanely good. Like, some of those passes, man, just like beautiful stuff. Other than them, I actually have Portugal figuring it out. I think once they realize that Ronaldo's not the focal point I think they'll figure it out. I am very scared of Mexico. Like, very, very scared of Mexico. I think they're a fantastic team with a fantastic coach. And we talked about home. Home field advantage. It's a big deal. Other than that, I was very uninspired from Norway today. Like, very uninspired. Holland looked disinterested, to be honest. Like, he barely moved that that goal was off of his boy literally shooting the ball at him and he still almost missed. I thought at first he didn't mean to shoot when I saw the first, like, replay. Yeah, yeah. And like, bro, I'm a Holland fanboy, man. Like, I'm a Dortmund fan. He came up through us. Like, I love that guy. But, like, right now, at least in this, like, last game, he looked uninspired. I think if he finds a form where he is the guy and he's inspired. And I was even watching, like, Brazil play yesterday or the day before, and Vinicius also looked very uninspired. Like, he was in it and then out of it for 20 minutes. That one run he had is like the most inspiring thing I've seen all tournament, bro. Yeah, that was. Yeah, yeah. But then he stopped moving for the next half hour. Like, that's my concern with some of these guys. It's like, as a. As a false 9 or as a striker, especially if you're playing a one striker system, you've got to be the guy. Like, you got to get back and like, you're kind of alluding to how Carrie Kane plays. Like that highline, like, striker thing, right? That is what you have to do. If you are the singular striker, that is what you have to do. And I know Vinnie's playing on the wing, but Holland's playing up top with. With some other dude I don't even know. Sorloth, he's like. Yeah, he's like a whatever guy, right? Like, if you want. If Norman wants to go far, Holland needs to be involved in the game and get up and down the pitch. And him, like, just chilling in the box and not even moving is very uninspiring to me, so. So I do hope Norway goes far. I'm not as hopeful as. As maybe you guys are, but we'll see. Other than that. Yeah, Argentina looks terrifying. I have nothing else. In terms of dark horses. The USA looks surprisingly good as well. Yeah, but they look. They look really good. And I know you guys have a lot of American viewers, so I'm sure they're happy to hear it. But like, Pochettino, like, His ability to make a team, like, believe in themselves. Like, as a Spurs fan, I saw it firsthand and some of the games they played were terrifying. So that. That's a worrying team for me as well. Yeah, they're pretty good. They have an easy bracket too, right up until top eight. Yeah, they do. He reminds me a little bit of like Claudio Ranieri that one season with Lester Bro, like right now it just seems like he's got the troops. He's just. The troops are going and like, it doesn't matter who's in front of them. They're like, we can beat whoever. And that is terrifying. But it is, I will say, really, really cool that all three host nations are ballers in this World cup right now. That is very cool. Speaking of which, let's segue into Canada, then we'll call it a day. How are you guys feeling? We're playing against Morocco. We've played them before. I thought we played okay against them last time. You neutralize Hakimi. Are we winning the game? Is it maybe? I don't know. But how do you like this matchup, Dadton? Is it bless or not bless? It's. It's not bless. I'm. I'm gonna be real. I have not been terribly impressed by Canada this tournament. I think a lot of it is like, situational. Like, we've had some terrible injuries. Like, obviously what happened to Kone was brutal, but he's also like our best midfielder. I think he's, you know, maybe not as important as Davies in terms of like being our captain and such, but in terms of actually controlling the midfield. Like, he's such a huge piece. And Morocco are really good. Like they are the best team in Africa and I think they have this kid, this 18 year old kid in midfield, Bodi, who's been incredible the whole tournament. He's been like dictating tempo. He was amazing in the last game. Like, I think this could be the end of the tournament for us, but I think like Canada should be really proud of how far we've made it. Like, I think maybe the rest of the world doesn't realize, but Canada is not a soccer country. Like a lot of people like growing up play soccer, but it is not like huge professionally here. We only got our own professional league in like 2019. A lot of our like dual nationals will often play for other countries over us. Like the fact that we're in the round of 16 of the world cup is like a phenomenal achievement. And I, you know, bringing it back to Jesse March, like, I don't think he's done a great job coaching, and he's a very controversial guy, but I think you need, like, somebody like that to, like, make the country believe and to make the players believe. And I think, like, this has been, like, such a great, like, endorsement of Canada soccer and like, what our country could be at the World cup. And I think, think it's probably going to come to an end against Morocco, but I think we have a lot to build on and we should be really proud of how we've done. Yeah, I agree. As someone who's like, not a huge soccer fan, it's like, I think I like, it's more as like, the expectation was like. Like, hopefully get out of the group. They did that. They won one round of 32 game. It was against an easy opponent, like, whatever. But you're all right. Like, I think this is like, the start of something being built. Like, you know, you look at the, like the Raptors, for example, like, when they came to Canada, like. Like, you do have to give Vince Carter credit and like, now the championship team credit that, like, I'm sure, like, 10 years from now, like, you see, like, basketball gets even bigger than it is already. Actually. Basketball's already. I think, like, if you look in the actual city, like, basketball is debatably, like, the most popular sport with, like, the youth. So I think soccer is going to go through its renaissance now. I think we had a really strong women's program always growing up. We had Christine Sinclair, right? So, like, now just that we have, like, both the men's and the women's program. I think at that level now, I think you're going to see. See kids growing up now, like, you know, idolize the men's team. And like, the kid who's like, eight watching the first World cup, like, he's. He might be our best striker like, 15 years from now. So I think it's really cool, like, you know, living in Toronto, like, seeing the vibe in the city. Like, it's already such a diverse city in the country. So, yeah, I think we're, like, primed like, 30 years from now to like, be one of the best, like, soccer nations in the world, I think, for sure. Like, I don't even think that's being Homer. Homer ism there. I think it's gonna change everything too. Like, me and Dadton grew up with soccer being our, like, our primary sports, right? And like, that is. That is not difficult, I don't think. I don't think it was difficult for Us as kids, but we were definitely in the minority, like, in that sense, like, everyone played puck. Like, I, I obviously, like, we both kind of grew up knowing puck as well, but most guys were playing hockey or basketball or not soccer. And like, we, in our town, we didn't even have a rep team for our age group. And our town had a hundred thousand people in it. Like, it's not a small town. Like, and that was just not a pathway that we were able to go up. So, like, at least for myself, when I started playing rep soccer, I had to go to the town next to us. Like, I had no choice. Like, we didn't have one. And I think that is something that is going to help a lot. We're going to get a lot of programming, a lot of funding, all stuff that we need to grow the game from the grassroots level. And for the longest time, we were playing on nets without mesh. It sounds like we're obviously not in poverty, but support just was not there. And so I think this will help a lot. And you guys are absolutely. You hit the nail on the head. You just need awareness, and then more kids are going to start picking up the sport. It's obviously a cheap sport to play, too. And it worries me for the future of our hockey program with how much basketball and soccer are blowing up. But, like, we're going to have some good athletes all around, and I'm really happy it's going this direction. The biggest thing is just, like, the cost of playing soccer. Right. Like, sports, especially like youth sports has been, like, rising in cost a lot. It's becoming unaffordable. So it's like, soccer is like the cheapest sport. I think that's also part of the reason why I think basketball, like, is doing so much, is growing at the pace, is growing as well. So, yeah, when I was working at. When I was working at the university, like, a couple years ago, we did our, like, a grassroots program for the kids, and we had like, $2,000 in budgeting, and we were able to give like, a hundred utes, like, all of the equipment they needed to play soccer with that, to that $2,000 alone. That. That was a hundred youths. Like, that is crazy. That's $20 ahead, right? Like, it is really cheap how, like, to get into soccer. That's shin pads. That's. That's cleats. It's everything. Yeah. For hockey, that's gonna be like three or four kids. What's that? Can you guys hear my fire alarm? No. No. Oh, is it going up on yeah. Oh, your voice. Your voice. ISO is unreal. We can't hear anything. You should probably evacuate the building. I should probably evacuate the building. That would be a good idea. Okay, you go evacuate. Thanks for being on. We're gonna plug your stuff for you at the end. Okay. We got. While Jake's leaving, he's midnight showing on YouTube. You're gonna get him burnt down, bro. Let him, let him. He's fine. All right, there you go, Jake. Appreciate you. All right, bro. Be well, be well, be well. Well, take it easy. All right? Hopefully it doesn't burn down. You know how to use discord. How do I leave, bro? There's like a. A red hang up button. Okay, I can. I can hear the alarm now. Okay. Hopefully. Hopefully Jake's okay if we post this episode. Jake's okay, so don't worry, guys. Yeah, yeah. He didn't die if we posted this. Yeah. All right. What we're gonna do. Oh, yeah. Okay, let's give the people a couple ideas of like, who's winning the shifties? And then we'll call it a day because I want to watch the second half of this game. All right, so here we'll give Jake a shout out first. This is his YouTube channel. Midnight Show. Hell yeah. You know, does film reviews. Looks like his last one was about Studio Ghibli. I love Studio Ghibli, so maybe I'll have to go watch them after. He's also very big on Twitter, but I don't know if he wants us to plug that. That's his. Yeah. All right, are we gonna show y', all, like, the full voting results or should we just say who's winning? Let's just say who's winning. All right. Okay, so guys, I can walk us in real quick or you want to do it? Okay, yeah, I'll walk us in real quick. So if you're watching this right now, voting is open for another two days. So we're going to close voting on Friday and that's going to be it. And then shifties are going to come out next Wednesday. That's going to be the episode and that's going to be the big one. So if you want to vote, the link is in the description. Please go vote. We're almost at a thousand already, so it's been a great turnout, but we want more, so vote. And also on top of that, we're still open to ideas for different categories. So if you guys have ideas for different categories, throw them in the. In the comments below and we'll get to them. What we wanted to do here is essentially just like kind of show you guys who's winning. Well, not show you guys. Tell you guys who's winning on each category. So you know to vote for them or vote against them based off how you feel. All right, we'll start. Yeah, we'll start with mvp. This one's actually pretty close. Like Torrid is winning, but his margin is actually like very thin. Liam and Justin are right behind. So this one I could see flipping over the next couple of days for sure. All right, next category is Breakout Player of the Year. Karis. She actually has a sizable lead in this one. I think she might run away with that one. I was a bit surprised. I thought Emma was gonna like, actually win this award, I think. Yeah, me too. I voted for her on my ballot, actually. I mean, she's not that far behind, actually. I shouldn't say Carrie's running with it. Emma could have a last minute push here. Then we have Ted is in third right now and Noah's in fourth. Rookie of the Year Justin Templer has a lead, I think. Definitely big name in seniors who age up this year. Deck of the Year Dragapult is in the lead right now. I'm not actually surprised by that one. I think Gardy wrote if Gardi didn't rotate, Guardi would probably, probably win. But yeah, 60 of the year Guardi is winning in that one with Mr. Chow. I thought the dragon pulled Dustner from Alexander might also be a contender. That's what's in second right now. So we'll have to see which one ends up winning there. Card of the Year right now. Lily's is in the lead, but a Bonds Monkey Dory is right behind. We could see a comeback victory. Rare Bonds Monkey Dory, Rogue Deck of the Year is pretty close as well. We have. We really only have three decks competing for it. We got Absol, Slow King and Hops Trev. I voted for Hopstrev. So did I. So, I mean, absol's in the lead right now. I mean, absol is obviously the most competitively successful, but would love to see Hopstrev Yapper of the year. I mean, I've seen like, people are really campaigning for this award. Yeah, this one's actually fairly close. Like, I think anyone who. Who gets a big push from there, I guess fan base could take it. Austin is in the lead right now, but it's a slim lead. Of all the awards, this one's the closest. So. Yeah, and it's. It makes sense. That we hear the most about this award given the nature of it being just. Yeah, boy. Guys, we cannot let Austin win. Please go and vote for literally anybody else. Thank you. All right, so Yone's in second right now, and then, I mean, Blitzel's right there. I mean, Pokedouls. I think Poked was asked to be taken off the ballot, but, I mean, really, the people vote for you. Yeah, we have Anthony still there. She know we put she on the ballot. She's also there. But, yeah, that Greninja guy is getting up there too. We should start voting for that guy, bro. That was so fun. Okay, I actually have a take about this, and I don't know if this is, like, a hot take or anything, bro. Like, every time I go on Twitter, there's, like, someone like, the Greninja guy who's obviously, like, posting none nonsense, but it's like, I would never hear about or see about this guy if, like, a hundred people didn't start, quote, tweeting and, like, giving this guy exposure and, like, making him, like, a big name, right? Like. Like, just, like, guys just ignore these people, and then, like, nothing will happen. Rage bait is so good in 2026. It's so good. It gets you everywhere you need to go. It's ridiculous, and, like, we're not the kind of guys to do it, but I bet you we could, like, 10 of out X our podcast if we just started rage baiting this. I. Sorry. I almost just swore Rage meeting the hell out of absolutely Everybody we could 10x the podcast. Dude, I. I couldn't believe it. I was. I was in my buddy's metafi account because I bought a guide off his account because it was like a. He had a discount or whatever. And I'm looking through it, and that guide was at the top purchased guide. I'm like, bro, you got to be kidding me. Like, there's no way. I'm saying no publicity is bad publicity for that. Like, that guy went from, like, unknown in the scene to, like, now pretty much anyone who's on Twitter knows who that guy is now. Yeah, well, apparently, he's like, my boy's boy bought it. But still, no excuses. Like, someone bought it. That's ridiculous. Like, oh, my God. And, like, I read it, too, and I'm not gonna. You know, I don't want to get involved, but I read it and. No. Well, my thing. My thing, too, is, like, people are, like, calling it, like, a scam, and I'm like, the AI, like, using that to write your Guide. Yes, that is. But, like, for coaching, it's like, we're like, he could charge $1,000 an hour. Like, if that's what he values his time at. Like, that's what he values his time at. It's just like, they're like, oh, we're doing, like, we're making awareness so no one gets scammed. I'm like, bro, like, no one is paying for this guy. Like, if you're looking to get coaching for Pokemon, like, you're informed already, right? You probably have someone in mind of who you want to get coaching from. So you would not pick. I don't even know what the guy's name is. But you wouldn't pick this guy. Yeah, like Grenada guy. So I don't know. I just think the community, like, sometimes, like, let's. I don't want to call this guy, like, a bad guy. I. I don't know. He seems like, fine, just like, rage baiting. Like, they just let these, like, random characters, like, become big Twitter Pokemon characters just because everyone feels like getting engaging in the rage bait. So, I mean, at the end of the day, none of this matters. But, like, that's just like, my take on this whole situation. We need to introduce Rage Bait of the Year. I think that's a good one too. But, bro, Sunny tried to rage bait me today. I don't know if you saw that, bro. No, I didn't. I. I don't really use that account much because when every time I go on that account, it's that Greninja guy talking, and I cannot stand it. So I literally just try and stay logged out. We're like. He was. Well, he's basically saying, like, the Raptors are like a first round exit playing team. He said, the Magic are better than the Raptors. I'm like, all right, I stopped. I have a rule where if someone doesn't know ball, I don't talk with them. So I'm like, I. I disengaged at that point. I was like, all right, we gotta. We gotta stop. I'm getting rage baited. That's what I'm saying. If you're getting. If someone's rage baiting, you just gotta walk away. Don't engage, move on. My problem with that guy, dude, like, not. Not Sonny, the other dude. It's like, like, there's so many. There's so many people in the Pokemon community that are very new to the game, and it is so easy to take advantage of these newer players. And, like, I think that is what is Happening. And I, whilst I do agree with your point, like, yeah, you can list out a thousand dollars and if someone buys it, it's kind of on them. I also think there are people that just legit do not know what's going on. And, like, they're gonna hop on Twitter and maybe that guy's like, rage Baity tweet is the first one up there. Like, oh, a coach. And they buy it and then it's just like, AI coaching. Right? And like, I agree with you. I don't. We should not feel terrible for those people because it's on them for not doing their due diligence. But I do think these scams kind of work and I think that's where we need our boy metafy Corey to step in and reintroduce the, you know, the. You need to be qualified to be on metafy thing. Well, I mean, I think the. I don't think you should be allowed to, like, AI guide. Like, I think metafy, actually, maybe I'll message Corey and just be like, yo, you guys should make a policy. Like, no AI guides. Yeah, just take it down. Yeah, I mean, like, individual coaching, like, as long as you're present. But like, I don't know, like, to me, it's just like, that guy would have tweeted into the void. No one would have ever saw saw it. And now, like, I don't know, he's just like, he's got all this exposure, all that, like, more people might get scammed because everyone was just like, talking about this guy. So I agree with you. Why is someone like that even allowed on metafy? That is my first question. Like, I just don't think, because remember back in the day, we used to have to, like, beg to get on. Well, not beg, but, like, it was a lengthy process, right? It was like, you gotta know Zach, who knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy. It was like, invite only. But, like, that was just like, have like, the prestige. It's like Raya, right? Like, bro, you. I like. You know what that is? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, like, from what I hear, like, it's actually not that hard to get approved. But like, people, they have to, like, do the exclusivity. So, like, people, like, go on it. So. But that's fine. If there was exclusivity, this guy would not be on there. Like, period. Like, there's if. If you're applying for Medify and I'm the guy looking at this and I see your best result is 8, 1 in an online tournament, bro, you're not touching my platform form. Like, most respectfully, like, I think there is space for everyone to share what they want to share. Okay. And I think that that can be done through means that are not behind a paywall. That is my concern with this whole thing. I'm not saying his opinion is trash. I'm saying your opinion should only be behind a paywall if it's worth what the paywall charges. Yeah. And that's why people pay, like, a hundred dollars per tort, because it's worth it. I mean, there is something to be said, like, I don't think you need to be an elite player to, like, be a good teacher. Like, I think, like, even, like, someone who just plays locally. Like, you can be a good teacher to other, like, new players and stuff. But, yeah, like, there should probably be a little bit of a stricter quality control also. Do you see the. Yeah, we haven't updated everybody. Jake Datson's building has been evacuated. So this was a real fire alarm. There's. Here's a picture of the outside of his building. He has been evacuated, so it's a good thing he didn't burn down. I hope he's blessed. Yeah. That's ridiculous. He risked his life to have an extra couple minutes on. On Shift Gear, which I really like. Your shift. Your NBA correspondent. Yeah. So, I mean. Oh, yeah, we're doing Shift Gear Awards while we were talking about that take. But, yeah, actually, I'm actually curious if you guys have takes on the Greninja guy or just, like, Twitter characters in general. Yeah. So I don't know. Yeah, you and I both, I think, like, I don't tweet a lot or, like, I just. I don't know. Like, I. I go on Twitter and I look at it maybe a couple times a day, but it's like. Yeah, not. Not that. Yeah, I try to stay off that side, man. It's. I just. I've ranted about it before on shift here. I find it so exhausting. Pokemon Twitter, to me is so exhausting. Someone's always mad about something. So much negative energy. I literally just stay on my other account. My, like, sports Twitter. And I'm happy all the time, and I like to keep it that way because I think things like this happen when people are bored. And I think people are just bored. I mean, I think too, like, if you spend too much time online, like, there's always going to be people complaining about stuff or negative people. Right. It's like. Or it's a bit of an echo chamber. But like in real life, like when I as you say, like when I touch grass, when I go to tournaments, like for the most part it's like a positive experience. So. Yeah. Yeah, I think Twitter can be like overly negative sometimes. Like it's still good and like fun. Right? Like when we have the app of the year with people who make it fun. But yeah, sometimes I think it can be a bit much. For sure. And it didn't used to be peachy either. You remember the days of hey Fonte and like PTCG hell, like Twitter. Yeah. Like it wasn't like this is a new thing. Thing. Yeah. Okay, back to the shifties right now for stream moment. Liam's game is winning where he won with like a blood vegan. It's cornerstone. But it's close. There's some other things there. We. We definitely forgot some stream moments. I should have added people added to the ballot. There's the guy who like ripped the. The briar. That happened recently. That was. Was good. What else was there? There was one caris itchy pollen to like deck out. I forget who it was, but she decked out somebody, buddy. It might have been Justin. I think Rowan's like six prize turn where he like flipped the Kangaskhan heads. So lots of good. This is always the hardest award for us to like, remember what happened. Like, honestly, we should probably like do better with this. But yeah, that was a good one. And then with the most. This is actually the closest award in terms of what it can be flipped. Who. What is the best Pokemon podcast? Shift gear is barely winning right now. It should not be winning. You guys are feeling. If you guys want the other podcast to win, you can vote for not shift gear gear and you can probably push us out. Yeah, you better. The hell we should not be winning this. Be honest. And then we just made an hour long episode on Kawhi Leonard. Dude, you think we should be winning the shift Gear Shifty ballot? It's just because we have home field advantage. It's because they're here anyways. Yes. And then, you know, for best tournament location. I'm just scrolling through. We got a lot of Peorias. Do we need. Is this the biggest upset of the Shifties Could Peoria best tournament location. We'll have to see see it is also in contention for worst tournament location. Could we see the rare double shifty victory on both ends? The 2p. Yes. You guys better get down there and start voting, man. Like if you. If you can vote with different accounts, too. I don't care. We're not policing it. Just go crazy. Oh, don't bought. But if you have two Google accounts, that's fine. I don't care, bro. Bot all you want. I think it'll be funny. All right, Neil. But the one award that is actually right now like a runaway, like, I don't think it can get over to return for the Waste man of the Year. Right now, you are actually in the lead, Anil in parentheses for the first eight to 10 minutes of the pod. So written in by guess who, Austin. Shockingly right. But the people agree, and that's what we want. If I win the Waste man of the Year award, I'll be so happy. I will go get it framed. I'll put it on my wall behind me. Maybe it'll be awesome. So, guys, please keep voting me for Waste man of the Year. I think I deserve it. I rant and I. I take this podcast off the rails every week when it just doesn't need to. It could be such a good, concise podcast and I ruin it every week. So please vote for me. Right? There you go. That's Anil campaigning for Waste man of the Year. So those are all the awards that are on the ballot. And, you know, and I sometimes make some other ones that him and I just give it out for fun. So we might have a couple more next week, but definitely get your ballots in. If you haven't, if you've already voted, campaign for your favorites. And yeah, we're excited for next week for the Shifty. We have updated graphics this year. Big, big thanks to to Friend of the Pod. Power of the peak. We're gonna be looking snazzy and you'll not get our suits out. So, yeah, excited. Anything else, Anil? This is a great, no man killer episode. Yeah, we took our 20 minute kawaii episode to an hour or something, but it's good, it's good content. Thank you all for being here. We appreciate you guys. Whether you're with. Whether we're with you on your commute or wherever you are, we appreciate it. If you're Canadian, happy Canada Day today. Happy Canada Day. Right, Data comes out. Let's hope the Jays can pull off a win. But other than that, vote down below, let us know if we missed anything down below. If you have new categories, put it down below. We're going to be monitoring those for the next couple days. Shifty's voting will close on Friday and we'll have an episode for you next Wednesday. But thank you for being here. And we'll see you next week. Peace. Later.