A Clippers Rebrand, an NFL Mini-Mailbag, and Best MLB Story Lines With Rob Mahoney, Anthony Dabbundo, and Billy Gil

Key takeaways

• The Clippers' Kawhi Leonard trade to Toronto returned two unprotected firsts and a swap, which Simmons and Mahoney call a shocking haul given Kawhi's age, injury history, and role in the scandal that got the team stripped of five picks and its owner suspended for a year. Mahoney notes the return is complicated by having to absorb Brandon Ingram's $81 million, two-year deal, a player he calls irrelevant to any real Clippers rebuild.
• Both agree the Clippers' path back to relevance is absurdly convoluted: they need incoming picks just to make future trades that might eventually net a real difference-making player, and even then it's several moves removed from actually fixing the roster. Simmons floats scenarios like flipping $61 million in expiring contracts (Max Strus, Hachimura, Derek Jones, Lopez, Grady Dick) for a disgruntled star such as De'Aaron Fox or Paul George, but calls it wishful thinking given the circumstances.
• Rookie Kobe Wagler carries outsized pressure for a non-lottery prospect. Mahoney counters that expectations should be low regardless, since the Clippers are widely projected as one of the West's worst teams alongside Sacramento, with FanDuel pricing the Clippers at 11-1 to even reach 20 wins.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong is having one of the best position-player seasons of the century by measurable value, joining a list that includes Bonds, Judge, Trout, Bobby Witt, and Mookie Betts, making the Cubs' 2021 trade of him for Javier Báez look increasingly lopsided for the Mets.
• The AL West has been historically bad: no team is above.500, and even Houston, the division leader, has a negative run differential, a level of collective mediocrity Simmons compares to the 2005 NL West.
• Jordan Alvarez is quietly chasing a Triple Crown while leading baseball in adjusted offensive value by a wide margin, a feat the group says should lock up AL MVP even without the counting-stat milestone.
• The Dodgers' financial and roster issues, including owner Mark Walter's reported debts, opt-out clauses tied to front-office stability, and the polarizing Alex Scoobie trade-deadline addition, have made them the sport's clear villain heading into October, with the hosts noting the irony that their roster-building tactics have drawn far less backlash than the penalized Clippers despite arguably bigger stakes.

Notable moments

• Simmons on the Clippers' identity crisis: "They don't even have a retired number, Rob. They've never made the finals."
• Mahoney on the return for Kawhi: "This was quite a coup under the circumstances."
• Simmons proposing a Clippers rebrand to the "Hollywood Knights" as a clean break from 50 years of dysfunction.
• Mahoney's blunt take on the current roster: "It's Darius Garland. It's Keaton Wagler... and then Brandon Ingram yet again is at a waystation before he gets flipped to yet another team."
• A listener's Justin Herbert/Jordan Love "Nerd King" question sparks a debate landing on Trey Murphy as the NBA's version—until Simmons notes LaMelo Ball might qualify by pure advanced-stats hype.
• Dabbundo on Pete Crow-Armstrong's historic year: "There are only 13 position player seasons since 2000 that have had 10 WAR... Bonds, Judge, Trout... and then PCA this season."
• The recurring bit about umpires punishing teams that run out of ABS challenges by tightening the strike zone against them; illustrated by a blown call at home plate that couldn't be reviewed.
• Billy Gil on the Dodgers' muted playoff-clinching celebration: a quiet champagne toast with "no one looked particularly happy to be there."
• The Joe Adele saga: a viral three-home-run robbery in April leads to the Angels giving away his bobblehead in September, a month and a half after trading him away.

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