Brian Windhorst is starting to carve out a niche as someone who frequents an NBA subreddit but actually has sources. He was mocked at the NBA trade deadline for comments he made about James Harden before Harden was swiftly dealt to the 76ers.
Now, in NBA free agency, Windhorst went viral Friday for a pontificating, speculative rant about the Jazz trading Royce O'Neal to the Nets. He talked about Danny Ainge, Quin Snyder, and somehow Kevin Garnett. And then, when he had built his entire narrative, he leaned back and said "a very strange trade." If you watched the viral clip, you probably laughed.
Look who's laughing now.
In an utterly shocking twist, Windhorst's tea-leaves reading rant turned into a premonition: Danny Ainge is a masterful tactician, and the O'Neal trade was just a precursor to a massive deal that sent Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves for a bevy of young talent and picks.
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Here's the speculation in its glorious entirety.
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Here are some of the highlights.
"And so you're going: 'What about Royce O'Neal?'"
A legitimate question. What about Royce O'Neale? O'Neale was dealt to the Nets for a 2023 first rounder by the Jazz, but it was more or less buried in free agency news when it happened. But Windhorst is posing a more important question. "Why would the Jazz do that?"
Windhorst is breaking out the yarn now. He's positing the question of why the Jazz are salary dumping a player who has been popular. While O'Neale may not be a "star" as Windhorst suggests, he was a very good role player for Utah. It's a weird mood, and Windhorst wants us to know it.
"Why did Quin Snyder walk away from that job?"
An underrated part of this clip is Windhorst denying or straight up ignoring possibilities about why the Jazz would make that trade. He's in his bag, and he's on to the next point.
Windhorst leaves the Snyder question dangling. He's got bigger fish to fry.
"When Danny Ainge last hired a coach... It was Brad Stevens."
Windhorst draws an interesting through-line here, albeit in a very weird way. He notes that Stevens was hired to a six-year deal with the Celtics. Will Hardy got five years from Ainge. Curious!
Windhorst spells out that it's very rare for an unproven, young rookie head coach to get a five-year deal. And yet Ainge has done it before. Why?
And how does this clip end?
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With Windhorst asking: "What's going on in Utah."
But wait, Windhorst has an ace up his sleeve. A macguffin that rivals the statue of the Maltese Falcon in The Maltese Falcon.
"Danny Ainge traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce."
In a crime movie, this is where Windhorst would be asked to turn in his gun and badge. He's going rogue. What are you saying? Then, after all of that, he just leans back and goes, paraphrasing, "yeah, weird!"
Windhorst was roundly mocked for this early in the day. It's bizarre to watch.
Yet what happened, mere hours later? Ainge did exactly what he did in Boston! He traded Gobert to the Timberwolves for a haul. Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Lenadro Bolmaro, three first round picks, a pick swap, and a top-five protected quick.
RUDY GOBERT TRADE GRADES: Full trade details for Jazz and Timberwolves
Time is a flat circle. This is Windhorst's Rusty Cohle moment.
