An Icy Tatum-Brown Reunion, Plus Most Screwed NBA Teams With Rob Mahoney

Episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast · November 11, 2026 · 1 h 50 min

Bill Simmons reacts to the Celtics' rout of Jaylen Brown's 76ers and the NFL trade deadline, then ranks the NBA's most screwed franchises with Rob Mahoney.

Summary

Bill Simmons opened with a solo reaction to the Boston Celtics' blowout win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the first meeting between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown since Boston traded Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George and two first-round picks. Simmons praised George's season, criticized Brown's pregame decision to spin a basketball and ignore Tatum, faulted NBC for missing the moment, and remarked on the declines of LeBron James and Joel Embiid. He then briefly reviewed the NFL trade deadline, including Kirk Cousins returning to Minnesota and Jacksonville's costly trade for Jordan Davis.

In the main segment, recorded earlier that day, Rob Mahoney joined Simmons to examine struggling NBA teams. They began with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Mahoney argued James Harden was no longer a high-level player, and discussed the second apron, which Mahoney said had not been good for the game. They then went through the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns, cataloguing each team's assets, bad contracts, draft history and possible trades.

Simmons called the Bucks' five biggest recent moves all failures, and Mahoney said Milwaukee was years from relevance. Both were upbeat about the Bulls' Caleb Wilson and the Bucks' Brayden Burries. Mahoney favored trading Franz Wagner over Paolo Banchero in Orlando and warned that Phoenix's rebuild might take more than a decade. They concluded that the Kings were in the worst situation, with Darius Acuff as their main bright spot.

Chapters

  1. 0:06

    Intro and Rewatchables plugs

    Simmons previews the episode and plugs Rewatchables episodes on Air Force One and Nine to Five.

  2. 2:22

    Celtics rout the 76ers in Tatum-Brown reunion

    Simmons reacts to Boston's win, Paul George's resurgence, Jaylen Brown's icy pregame snub of Tatum, and the declines of LeBron James and Joel Embiid.

  3. 20:05

    NFL trade deadline

    Simmons reviews Kirk Cousins to Minnesota, Josh Downs to Kansas City and Jacksonville's expensive trade for Jordan Davis.

  4. 25:50

    Cavaliers and the second apron

    Simmons and Mahoney discuss Cleveland's stagnation, James Harden's decline and whether the second apron has hurt the league.

  5. 39:15

    Sacramento Kings

    The pair catalog the Kings' long history of mismanagement, with Darius Acuff as their lone bright spot.

  6. 48:28

    Milwaukee Bucks

    They grade Milwaukee's post-Giannis moves, the Miles Turner signing and the Damian Lillard stretch, and praise rookie Brayden Burries.

  7. 1:00:12

    Brooklyn Nets

    They discuss the Nets' poor shooting, Julius Randle's negative value and the distant draft picks Brooklyn could use in trades.

  8. 1:06:19

    Utah Jazz

    They examine the Jazz's 1-9 start, their lack of cohesion and the missed chance to trade Lauri Markkanen.

  9. 1:16:13

    Chicago Bulls and LA Clippers

    Mahoney calls Caleb Wilson franchise-altering, then they assess the Clippers' assets and the Garland-Wagler fit.

  10. 1:26:02

    Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets

    They debate whether Orlando should trade Franz Wagner or Paolo Banchero and assess Charlotte's post-LaMelo Ball struggles.

  11. 1:36:51

    Phoenix Suns and the worst situation

    They criticize Phoenix's roster construction and name the Kings the franchise in the worst predicament.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons rated Paul George's start with the Celtics as flawless relative to expectations.

    “He's been a 10 out of 10. He's been an A plus for whatever you could have expected going into the season”

    Listen from 3:07 · Boston Celtics

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said the Celtics traded Brown because they believed the Tatum-Brown pairing had run its course.

    “they felt like they had just reached the end of the line with Tatum and Brown with the your turn, my turn stuff and the lack of ball movement”

    Listen from 4:04 · Jaylen Brown trade to the Philadelphia 76ers

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons criticized Brown's pregame snub of Tatum and NBC's failure to capture it.

    “The spinning the basketball thing, it was just lame. And it was a weird moment”

    Listen from 7:45 · Jaylen Brown trade to the Philadelphia 76ers

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons criticized Jacksonville GM James Gladstone for trading away premium picks, including a first for Jordan Davis.

    “This general manager, James Gladstone, he's basically doing the Matt Ishbia. I'm going to set all my picks on fire and try to win this season move”

    Listen from 20:05 · 2026 NFL season

  • Linked moment · 25:50Skip to 25:50 using a listen link in the info box.

    Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney argued that Harden's decline is the clear limiting factor for the Cavaliers.

    “James Harden is not a high-level player right now. And so long as that's the case, they're just not really going to be going anywhere”

    Listen from 27:35 · Cleveland Cavaliers

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said he believes LeBron James would have signed with Cleveland had the Cavaliers traded Harden.

    “I will be convinced for the rest of my life LeBron was going there but thought they were going to trade Harden and they didn't”

    Listen from 29:38 · Cleveland Cavaliers

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney argued that owners hide behind the second apron to avoid paying players, and that the rule has not been good for the game.

    “that owners should just fucking pay people. And so the idea of like, we're going to create the second apron so we can then hide behind it in fear is just like embarrassing”

    Listen from 34:59 · NBA second apron

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney noted that despite lottery reform there are more bad teams ten games in than a year earlier.

    “there are almost twice as many teams right now with one or two wins than there were a year ago”

    Listen from 39:36 · Tanking in the NBA

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney said the Kings got where they are through mismanagement unmatched by any other team.

    “I think it's by mismanaging every move, major or minor, to a degree that no other team in the league can match right now”

    Listen from 45:39 · Sacramento Kings

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney said that without their own picks, the Bucks are years from relevance.

    “We are a long, long way out from the Bucs being any kind of relevant”

    Listen from 53:33 · Milwaukee Bucks

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons graded the Bucks' five biggest recent moves, including the late Giannis trade and the Lillard stretch, as total failures.

    “These are five F minuses. Those are the five biggest moves they made. All of them are an F minus”

    Listen from 56:15 · Milwaukee Bucks

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney called Julius Randle a negative trade asset.

    “I think he's a negative trade asset. And some of that's just he has a funk around him at this stage that is really hard to get rid of”

    Listen from 1:02:36 · Brooklyn Nets

  • Bill SimmonsPrediction · due Apr 2027

    Simmons predicted that the 1-9 Jazz would not make the play-in tournament.

    “Maybe you're not going to be a play-in team. I don't think they're even going to be a play-in team”

    Listen from 1:13:48 · Utah Jazz

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney argued that Utah waited too long to trade Lauri Markkanen but should still consider it.

    “I think they really missed the boat on trading Markin at the peak of his value”

    Listen from 1:15:47 · Utah Jazz

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney called Caleb Wilson a star-level prospect and said being bad is a hopeful position for the Bulls.

    “I think Caleb Wilson is a franchise-altering prospect”

    Listen from 1:19:00 · Chicago Bulls

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney projected Keaton Wagler as a complementary player who needs stars around him.

    “I feel like Wagler's fate is probably going to be as a win-more player”

    Listen from 1:24:30 · Los Angeles Clippers

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said he would keep Paolo Banchero over Franz Wagner.

    “I would keep Paolo personally. I wouldn't mess with that”

    Listen from 1:27:23 · Orlando Magic

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney said Orlando should trade one of its two forwards and leaned toward trading Franz Wagner while his value is high.

    “I think this might be a good chance to trade Franz for as well as he's played”

    Listen from 1:29:14 · Orlando Magic

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney said Brandon Miller's struggles show he is unsuited to being a primary offensive option.

    “the dream of Brandon Miller as a primary offensive option is like dying in real time right in front of our eyes”

    Listen from 1:35:10 · Charlotte Hornets

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney warned that Phoenix's rebuild has not even begun and could keep it out of contention for a long time.

    “it could easily be over a decade before something like that happens again”

    Listen from 1:42:16 · Phoenix Suns

  • Rob Mahoney

    Mahoney concluded that the Kings are in the worst situation of all the struggling teams.

    “I think we still have to pick the Kings as the worst situation”

    Listen from 1:43:48 · Sacramento Kings

People

In the conversation

  • Bill SimmonsSportswriter and founder of The Ringer, host of The Bill Simmons Podcast
  • Rob MahoneyThe Ringer NBA writer and co-host of The Ringer NBA Show

Discussed

Topics

More from The Bill Simmons Podcast

From the publisher

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reacts to the Celtics’ dominant win against the 76ers before discussing Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. Then, Rob Mahoney joins to talk about the dregs of the NBA this season. (0:00) Intro (2:13) Celtics-76ers reactions (20:08) NFL trade deadline (25:49) Most screwed NBA teams (26:17) Cavaliers and the second apron (40:53) Kings, Bucks (01:00:19) Nets, Jazz (01:16:24) Bulls, Clippers (01:26:08) Magic, Hornets Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Rob Mahoney Producers: Chia Hao Tat and Eduardo Ocampo This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Create a Personalized Price Plan® today. https://www.statefarm.com/lp/football/ Download Uber Eats and order now. http://ubereats.com The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on November 12, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Basketball·Sports News