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The Ringer: “From what I heard, they made an offer in the past week.” @BillSimmons and @ZachLowe_NBA discuss the latest on the potential of Boston making a move for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Bill Simmons: “I think they dove in. From what I heard, they made an offer in the past week, a couple of days before I mentioned it on Thursday. I don’t know what the offer was, and I don’t know who’s in it. But they are in, the hat was in the ring, which I was really surprised by, as I said on Thursday, because I thought they were sitting it out. And I don’t know… Do you think something changed? Do you think they looked at this from every angle, or that they realized ‘oh, that’s it from the Miami offer? We can beat that.’ Like what would have changed their mindset? Because I do not think they were in on Giannis at the beginning of the offseason. Zach Lowe: I don’t think they were ever out. I just the safest bet is always inertia, right? Like the safest bet is ‘We know that the nucleus we have works really well, and there’s some degree of risk in shaking that up for a 31 year old who’s been injury prone, and we’re gonna have to sign him to a ginormous extension.’ That’s a big pivot for a team that has a pretty large window now of being one of the best teams in the NBA when everyone’s healthy.
However, Bill Simmons has changed his tune on that stance on Thursday. In the latest edition of the Bill Simmons Podcast, he now views the Celtics as a team will be going after the 31-year-old forward. “I thought Boston was out of this,” Simmons said. “I know Boston was out of this. I was wondering if they were playing possum or not. I think they were playing a little possum. I think they are in on Giannis Antetokounmpo. I’m not recanting what I said before. I don’t know the reasons for it. Maybe they felt like Miami’s offer is an offer they could beat. Maybe they want to drive the price of Miami’s offer up and don’t really have interest in him.”
Bill Simmons also reiterated his earlier claim that Boston is a preferred destination for the Bucks star. “Giannis Antetokounmpo is pushing for Miami or Boston,” Simmons said. “Those are the two locations and really wants to end up in Boston because he would have the best chance to win a title. Boston is not ruling out the idea is my intel. In general, I’m prepared for anything with Boston now.”
Doc Rivers may have some grudges to settle. The longtime NBA coach appeared on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” following the Knicks’ Game 1 NBA Finals win over the Spurs. And as he praised the Knicks’ team-building, he took the opportunity to criticize some front office executives around the league. “I don’t wanna take shots at anybody, but I will say this. There are a lot of front office guys who can go out and get the stars,” he began. “There’s very few of them that can then build a team into a championship team. That’s what you have to do.” He continued: “You can go out and get these names. But can you make the other moves? You look at Danny Ainge, he’s done it a ton. Brad Stevens has done it, Sam Presti, it took him a while… and he finally kind of figured it out.”
NBA Courtside: Bill Simmons and Doc Rivers think Wemby looked tired and sped up last night: Bill: Wemby looked tired. I don’t know what the answer is. Doc: I texted you in first half and said Wemby looks sped up tonight. I think he had 6 or 7 turnovers Bill. A lot of them were putting the ball on the floor. (Via @BillSimmons).
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Garland Gillen: Bill Simmons on the Pelicans trading Trey Murphy: “We assume he’s probably going to get traded over the next three weeks. I think Boston is a possibility. We thought whoever lost this matchup (Spurs and Thunder) is a possibility. You have two to three weeks to trade for someone like that.”
Instead, he took the increasingly popular position of applauding Bam Adebayo, Erik Spoelstra, and the entire Miami Heat organization for going for it. He also channeled Bill Simmons in calling out the Washington Generals (Wizards) in saying that’s where anyone’s hate should be directed for their inability to stop him. “I don’t care if it’s your local church league. You get a chance to go for history, you go for it. And I’m so tired of all these podcasters and all these guys who never played the game talking about ‘oh the sanctity and they ruined basketball.’ I do not care. 83 is 83 and for Coach Spoelstra and for Bam to be getting a lot of hate from this, your hate is misdirected. Because it should be towards the Washington Generals. I know they’re the Wizards, but the way they were playing they looked like the Washington Generals. And that’s where your hate should be,” Miller said.
NBA Base: Bill Simmons on the state of the NBA and Adam Silver’s leadership: “It’s the first time I’ve really wondered like, do we have the right guy running the league? Because he doesn’t seem interested in actually fixing real problems that everybody can see. And it’s not about like, look at the NBA Cup... Your schedule is too long. You have to fix this.” (Via The Bill Simmons Podcast)
Mat Ishbia: 32 wins for the Suns and all before the All-Star break… think that puts us above your season prediction/bet of under 31.5 wins @BillSimmons ! 👀 You guys usually have great content and good stuff… thanks for all you do. But also keep your eye on the Suns, like I told you… we have a different culture and team in PHX these days. We still have a long way to go but we are working hard to get there. Go Suns!
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🎙️ Kon Knueppel: "We're playing our brand of basketball. We want to play fast, unselfishly, and together. We're a good rebounding team and we can hang our hat on that... it's a fun brand of basketball to play." 🎙️ Bill Simmons: "Yeah, everybody seems like they give a crap. Likable team, good future."
Erik Slater: Tim Legler says Michael Porter Jr. has "completely changed" his trade value: “I really believe in just conversations that I’m having, I think the guy’s completely changed his trade status. In terms of attractiveness to teams. I think people thought, ok, you kind of knew what Michael Porter was. The fact that he can do this offensively... I do think now there’s probably more teams that would look at him that are sort of those middle-of-the-road playoff teams, and go, man, that would be nice to add that kind of scoring punch.” (Via The Bill Simmons Podcast)
Tim Legler says Michael Porter Jr. has "completely changed" his trade value:
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) December 27, 2025
“I really believe in just conversations that I’m having, I think the guy’s completely changed his trade status. In terms of attractiveness to teams. I think people thought, ok, you kind of knew what… pic.twitter.com/xWFESnm1QW
Mat Ishbia: I'm putting myself out there. I'm going to stand up for our guys. What we're going to do differently in Phoenix is, I'm going to stand up. You talk bad about Dillon Brooks, or Devin Booker, or Jordan Goodwin — I will stand up for them. I'm the owner. I'm supposed to be... No, no. I'm here. I'm here with it. "If you say we’re going to have the worst defense in the league, I’ve got to say — everyone can... I feel like the national media sometimes doesn't really know what we’re doing. "By the way, we deserve to not be looked at highly. We didn’t have a good couple of years — I get it. I’ll take the blame. But you know, Bill (Simmons) made a comment, and I thought it was way out of line. And I have no disrespect — all respect — for Bill. But he was wrong, and I told him that. And I have no problem putting that out in public. "And guess what? If I’m wrong, I promise — everyone will point it out, as you pointed out. And when we started 1–4, I think people thought it was fun to talk bad about me again. And I... I enjoy it. I relish in it. Because I know we’re doing the right things in Phoenix, and the results will show. It might not happen day one, but it will happen over time. And I’m excited for it."
Zach Lowe: I started at Sports Illustrated, then I went to Grantland. Bill [Simmons] was my boss for a long time. Made glorious fun of many people—including David Kahn. Some of those people took it well. Others did not. And some of those others liked to take out their rage against Bill… on Bill’s subordinates. At the Board of Governors meeting one year in New York, I was there. David Kahn was there representing the Timberwolves. Glenn Taylor was also there, but Kahn, I guess, was an alternate governor. I don’t know. I said, ‘You know what, there’s David Kahn. I’ve never met him before. I’m going to go introduce myself.’ Walk across the room. ‘Hey David, Zach Lowe, Grantland. Just wanted to put a face to a name, all that.’ I don’t know if I had made fun of him at some point, probably. He just looks me dead in the eyes and says: ‘Tell your boss he’s a f*ckin a**hole.’ And walks away. And I was like… ‘Okay. That’s how it’s going to be.’