Basketball
S6 Ep69: INSTANT reaction to Kawhi returning to Toronto, LeBron leaving the Lakers, Duren to the Kings?!
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Jun 30, 202635:17
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Episode Notes
Free agency hadn't even opened yet, and the NBA was already on fire. Mo Mooncey and Coach Brendan Suhr sit down two hours before the market opens, and by the time they're done recording, a Kawhi Leonard trade breaks live on the show.
Mo and Coach open with LeBron James informing the Lakers he won't be back, and make the case for why Golden State, not Cleveland, makes the most sense for his next move. From there it's straight into the Lakers' brutal center market, a tense staring contest between the Pistons and Jalen Duren, and then, mid-conversation, news breaks that Kawhi Leonard is heading back to Toronto. Mo and Coach react live and immediately start building out what the new-look Raptors could look like.
The back half covers the Ja Morant trade to Portland and whether Damian Lillard can be the veteran voice Morant needs, plus a full breakdown of where every team in the Eastern and Western Conference stands heading into free agency.
Topics covered in this episode:
- LeBron James leaving the Lakers and the case for Golden State
- The Lakers' search for a starting center around Luka Doncic
- The Jalen Duren sign-and-trade standoff between Detroit, Sacramento and the Lakers
- Kawhi Leonard traded back to the Toronto Raptors, live reaction
- Building the new Raptors roster around Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard
- Ja Morant traded to the Portland Trail Blazers
- Precious Achiuwa re-signs with the Sacramento Kings
- Eastern Conference power rankings heading into free agency
- Western Conference predictions, including a breakout call for the Utah Jazz
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S6 Ep70: Jaylen Brown got traded, and it's worse than you can image.
Jul 2, 202624:31
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"S6 Ep69: INSTANT reaction to Kawhi returning to Toronto, LeBron leaving the Lakers, Duren to the Kings?!" is an episode of The Hoop Genius Podcast. Runtime 35 min. Published June 30, 2026. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.
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- June 30, 2026.
- How long is this episode?
- 35 min.
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- The Hoop Genius Podcast. Browse the full back catalog on the show page.
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- The Hoop Genius Podcast covers basketball. This episode runs on the show's regular cadence.
