The Bill Simmons Podcast
Five NBA Trade Ideas, a Sleeper NFL Playoff Team, Eagles-Packers, and Week 10 Picks With Joe House
07 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
the bill simmons podcast brought to you by the ringer podcast network where i have a new rewatch was coming for you on monday it was me and sean fennessey and van lathan and we did snake eyes the brian de palma movie with nick cage that is just um just a time capsule of what it was like movies in the late 90s just to kind of the kind of chances they took
Chapter 2: What are Bill Simmons' favorite NBA trade ideas right now?
And also movies that were less than a hundred minutes. So great times all around. We cut out a piece of that podcast that we ended up running on this podcast on Tuesday, if you missed it, um, coming up today. So house is going to come on as always on Thursdays to do NFL pick, but picks, but, um, Picasso had to go into the art studio and, uh, do some trade machine work.
There's a lot of unhappy teams. I don't know what's going on with John Morant. Um, Even though it is November 6th, it's feeling very trade whiffy. So we're going to make up some fake trades. Well, I made up some fake trades. I'm going to throw them in house. And then we're going to talk about the NFL slate, ringer 107, complicated week. It's all next. We're going to take a break. Then Pearl Jam.
This episode of the Bill Simmons podcast is presented by State Farm. Having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like needing the protection offensive guard on the football field, but getting an elementary school crossing guard. Sure, they're both guards, but you can only trust one to keep your quarterback safe when the game is on the line.
Chapter 3: How is the NBA trade landscape affected by the new CBA?
So don't settle for just any insurance. When you can have State Farm, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. All right, we're recording mid-afternoon East Coast time. I'm on the East Coast. Went to the Celtics game yesterday. Joe House is here. We'll talk NFL a little bit later. A lot of stuff. This is a good House Simmons pod because it's just NBA, NFL, just a vortex.
I went to the Celtics game last night. I saw your terrible Wizards team. Not that the Celtics were much better. And, uh, you know, the trade machine Picasso has, has definitely bought his easel and bought some paint and bought some brushes once the John Moran news happened. But, uh, going to that Celtic game yesterday, the wheels started turning.
I don't really know what the point of this Celtic season is. I don't mean to be a dick. It's fine. Jalen Brown's good. Derek White's good. Simons is okay. Pritchard is okay.
Chapter 4: What is the current NFL playoff picture?
Kate has been fun. He's a double-double guy. You won money on that yesterday. But it's probably a below 500 team. And the question is, what's the point? And if Tatum is going to be out, maybe with this legendary draft class, maybe you start audibling. And that got me thinking about Trades House. And here's the problem. Really hard to make trades this year.
the new CBA, first apron, second apron, big contracts, teams that just like, we can't take more money. It's actually against the rules for us to add even $1. Is this good? Because I was arguing with Bobby Marks about this today on text. Bobby Marks, like the league is, he said this on ESPN, the league's in better shape. This is all good. We have like a better balance now.
I feel like a lot of teams are stuck with who they are. What do you see?
Well, you have to define good.
Chapter 5: Which teams are potential sleeper NFL playoff contenders?
What goal are you seeking to achieve with ESPN? the parody that is the, the, the, the world that we live in right now.
I mean, if you're Adam Silver, what's your goal or like the league, what do you think their goal was? You think it was just parody across the board and no high payrolls and that's it.
Yes. Yes. Parody above all else. Not that dissimilar. from the NFL where a team like Washington can be really bad for a number of years, lucky to something in a lottery, uh, in a draft, get a franchise changing quarterback and then make it to the NFC championship game or a team like new England.
which has been bad for four or five years, gets a great addition in a draft, and all of a sudden, New England, not just a playoff threat, but potentially, you know, it's okay for the good people of New England to dream.
Chapter 6: What are the Week 10 picks and analysis?
Let me hear it. If you get your quarterback, you can still spend money around him, and you can still push money forward into the future and pay for shit. You can do what Casey has done. And like Casey was trying to trade for Brees Hall at the trade deadline. How do they have money to do anything?
I look at some of these basketball teams, and the Knicks and Cleveland are the two best teams in the East. They also can't make any sort of trade that would improve whatever situation they have now, which maybe that's a good thing. I don't know.
They made the trades. I mean, the Knicks made four trades, five trades, like franchise altering. Mikael Bridges, a cat acquiring Brunson, stealing Brunson away from the Mavericks. convincing Brunson to take an under-market deal. That's how you build up a nucleus that's competitive. Most teams have not done that.
And also the way they sprung these rules where instead of saying, these are going to start three years from now, they just kind of, they just kind of jumpstarted it. And I just, I look around and it's not just that I see teams that are probably upset about where they are, kind of stuck with their roster or whatever, but I also don't see a lot of options for fixing it. And that's what's,
That's what I don't remember before.
What needs fixing? Like, you don't like the way that the West lines up competitively with Houston, Denver, Oklahoma City.
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Chapter 7: How do injuries impact the NFL playoff race?
Houston needs a point guard. They can still get that point guard. They have an asset in the form of Fremantle Leeds' contract sitting right there for a team that has guards.
The problem is the guards are either really expensive. Or not quite expensive enough.
That's a complaint about a guy getting hurt, which happens in the NBA and the NFL and everywhere else.
But one of the things I was looking at is the Lakers really just can't trade LeBron. He has no trade clause anyway. But even if they decided, you know what? We're having a better time without you. You don't really want to be here anymore because it's Luka's team now. Let's figure this out. There's nowhere for him to go. Like, he can't go to the Knicks.
He can't go to Cleveland because of the rules. And then I look at some of the other guys that are already available, like Morant, I'm assuming, Trey, you've been on this Hawks thing. You love the Tuesday game when they look great without Trey Young. And it was like a little, hey, look at us. Look how long and happy.
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Chapter 8: What are the key matchups to watch in the upcoming NFL games?
And you were in on that.
It wasn't me. It's just, you know, I wish that we had gambled on the over-under of when the first story's about, hey, we kind of have a chemistry here without Trey Young. Oh, it's so interesting. We still love Trey, but it's interesting that we can also play without him. You knew that story was coming. The first one hit immediately after that Orlando game.
I loved it so much. So you seem like you like these new rules more than I do. I wish there was some sort of hybrid version of... both of them. Like I look at, for instance, your team has CJ McCollum and Chris Middleton, who I got to watch in person last night. And Middleton, whatever life he's leading this year is just the ideal life. He's making like 33 million.
He kind of jogs around, takes a couple of threes, pass some dudes on the back. And I guess they're just going to buy him out in February, but they can't really trade him. They can't trade McCollum. McCollum's a guy that, you know, is still a good offensive player. He's going to be on the team and get bought out in February because nobody's going to trade for him.
And I don't know if that's a good CBA if you have situations like that.
Yeah, don't fill in the blanks. I like a version of the NBA where trades are possible. I mean, we've been living, you and I, nobody better than you, but I've enjoyed it along the way as well. 25, 30 years of imagining trades to improve teams along the way, on the fly. And quite a bit of... the way that I've enjoyed the NBA over the years is getting through the first month of the season.
Okay, now that we have that under our belts, let's really sort of start seeing what kind of moves can be made, what kind of stuff is out there, how can teams get better, who's expendable.
Now we're two weeks in. Now it's two weeks in, it was like eight teams that would immediately make a trade if they could.
But that, if you can't make the trade, then that's not a good version of the NBA. In my humble opinion, the trades are an elemental part because you know, this, this version of the NBA as has been talked about sort of ad nauseum over the last 12 months, people don't watch the NBA. Like I'm watching the games and then I'm going to talk about the games afterwards.
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