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🏈 The Perfect Match

🏈 The Perfect Match

January 19, 2023

Good morning BTP family! We had another action-packed Wednesday night in the NBA as the red hot Grizzlies won their 11th game in a row. Similarly, the Denver Nuggets won their 15th straight home game last night. It is going to be fun to watch these two red hot teams battle it out the rest of the year.

Today we break down Sean Payton's new potential head coaching destination, moves the Mavericks should make before the deadline, and a throwback Thursday story on how this former NBA #1 over draft pick lost over $60M!

Finish the week off strong!

ALL IN

Sean Payton & The Broncos Look like the Perfect Match

Sean Payton is the hottest name on the head coach carousel, and it’s looking like the Denver Broncos are going to win the bidding war. The NFL Network reported the two sides conducted a multi-hour interview earlier in the week and that “everything is lining up" for the legendary coach to sign with Denver.

This news is somewhat surprising given all the media chatter linking Sean Payton to the Los Angeles Chargers and their budding star Justin Herbert. It was widely assumed that the Chargers ownership would move on from coach Brandon Staley after his epic playoff collapse, but that has not been the case, forcing Payton to look elsewhere.

So far, Payton has interviewed with the Texans and has plans to interview with the Panthers tomorrow. Payton is said to covet a team with an established quarterback, and even though Russell Wilson appeared to regress last year, he represents the best QB of those three teams.

It’s important to remember that because the New Orleans Saints control Payton’s contractual rights, any team that signs him will need to trade for him. Earlier in the week, Payton revealed on The Herd that he expects the compensation will be a mid or late-first-round pick, which conveniently, the Broncos have as a result of the Bradley Chubb trade. While coaching trades don’t happen very frequently, Payton will join a pretty impressive list that includes the likes of Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Herm Edwards, Mike Holmgren, and Bruce Arians.

HELP

The Mavs Need to Get Luka Some Help

The Mavs are wasting Luka’s brilliance. Dallas is averaging an impressive 115 points per 100 possessions, good for fifth in the NBA, but they are barely hovering above .500. The reasons for this are twofold. One, they’re still missing a secondary ball handler with the loss of Jalen Brunson, and two, their dramatic drop in defensive efficiency, which has fallen from 7th best last year to 25th this season.

The Mavs have lost three straight games, allowing 130 points in each contest, and rumors of Luka’s discontent have begun circulating. Earlier in the week ESPN reported that Doncic “has strongly indicated” to Mavericks brass that he wants the roster to be upgraded ahead of the trade deadline, but fortunately for Dallas, both Doncic and Mark Cuban flatly denied the report.

But while Dallas fans can breathe a sigh of relief that Luka appears to be happy, just because he didn’t demand moves doesn’t mean the Mavs should stand pat at the deadline. The West is pretty wide open, and a talent like Luka’s can take you far into the playoffs, but he can’t do it alone.

While it’s true Dallas’s defense should improve as their defensive stalwarts Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Green have returned from long absences, while their other defensive anchor, Maxi Kleber, eyes a return within a month, there’s still work to be done. The lack of a secondary ball handler is still apparent, and they’re just one injury away from sliding back into defensive mediocrity. The Mavericks can’t afford to just roll the dice on this current version of the club and hope for the best. Dallas, get your franchise player some help; he’s earned it.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

How This Former #1 Overall NBA Draft Pick Lost $61M

Joe Smith is a former 1st overall pick and a 16-year NBA vet, but he might be best known for blowing through his entire $61M career earnings. Here’s how he lost it all within just seven years after retirement and how he’s slowly building himself back up.

Joe Smith may not have had the career everyone expected after going first overall in the 1995 Draft, ahead of future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, but a 16-year career is still a major accomplishment. Unfortunately, when 20-year-old Smith joined the league, he simply lacked some fundamental wealth management skills, and it ended up costing him dearly. His biggest mistake was not realizing how much of his contract would go to taxes and agent fees and then spending above his means. Smith operated as if he had earned $61M when, in actuality, he “only” made around $18M. You can see how that might get someone in trouble!

The other big reason Smith fell into debt was his reckless property spending. In his 16 NBA seasons, Smith played for a whopping 12 teams, and each time he got traded, he bought himself a new home. But buying a new house usually meant selling another one, something that was a lot harder for Smith to do. Speaking about his home-ownership struggles, Smith said: “it was always tough to unload those homes. I was always losing money.” All of these issues, compounded with things like buying luxury cars, meant that by 2018, Smith had lost everything and then some. Reportedly he owed over $157K and only had around $3K in the bank.

That’s where Smith got a surprising helping hand from baseball great and soon-to-be NBA team owner Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hosted a show that helped financially-struggling athletes get back on their feet called “Back in the Game,” and on the show, A-Rod helped Smith cut down on unnecessary spending and revamped his private coaching practice to grow his business. While the show itself didn’t last very long, Smith left with a plan to eliminate his debt in just three years.

THE RUMOR MILL

Who Will NBA's Worst Teams Unload Before the 2023 Trade Deadline?

NBA trade rumors: Spurs set high price for Celtics target Jakob Poeltl

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

January 19, 2000: 6x NBA Champion Michael Jordan returns to the NBA and joins the Washington Wizards as part owner and President of Basketball Operations