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What is track rack in Hardward Knocks. Listen, there's I Am Dancer Valley

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coming out you and out my fantabulous
co host Adam Funnel, and on my

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very own for a mailbag? How
about that? If you haven't done a

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mailbag in a while, so we
wanted to get to your questions. We

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have a ton of them before we
get started, though, just the usual

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housekeeping notes. Please please pretty please
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charts. Also, please be sure
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Knocks. People come up. You
can check out our clips that are posted

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there. We're also on TikTok ig
and Twitter, the links to which are

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in the podcast description. I do
post original content on TikTok and ig,

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so there is a method to the
madness over there. Join our discord.

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We have good discussions in there.
Still, it's actually been a little slower

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start to playoffs. So if any
of the discord members are listening, and

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you guys ask a ton of questions
every time, let's ramp that up.

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I'm mostly around during games so we
can chit chat. New members are welcome.

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The link to that is in the
podcast description as well. If you've

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done all of these things, we
would ask that you please recommend us to

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someone that you know who likes basketball. A coworker, friend, family member,

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maybe a random person on the internet
who you know likes basketball. Is

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there any shout outs requests for podcasts
randomly on the internet. It's always fun

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when we appear in one of those
threads or reply things about which basketball podcasts

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are the best. You don't even
know how to think we're the best.

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We're pleasantly not the worst, is
how I would call us. That's all

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for me. The other note here
is there are questions about out the playoffs,

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and Adam and I will be going
a little bit deeper into the playoffs

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soon. I believe we'll be having
a guest on next week to talk about

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maybe surprises or just takeaways. But
we also recognize that you guys are getting

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that content of elsewhere a lot in
droves, especially from the team's specific podcast

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that do a great job covering these
these singular matchups or the singular organizations themselves,

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and so we want to make sure
we're putting at least some bigger picture,

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evergreen content stuff up throughout the postseason
as well, which means that you

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will be seeing that from us.
Whether if you don't like that model,

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you can let us know. But
that was just the thinking here is that

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we don't want to be putting out
the analysis that other people are are already

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doing. And so with that we
can canonball into this podcast, and I

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think we probably have to start with
the Suns. I'm recording this about an

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hour and a half after Suns Pelicans
Game two ended. To answer your question,

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yes, I am fucking delirious,
but that doesn't matter basically the question

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here from It's not basically it's from
our discord member renewed is the best way

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for the Suns to win this series
against the Pelicans to just throw out all

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the weird strategies to catch Willie Green
off guard. Seems like they always knew

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what the Suns were up to in
the regular season. Willie Green, of

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course, hailing from the Suns themselves
to before he was coached, the Pelicans

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might have an inside track on what
they are thinking. This is also just

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especially pressing it because the Suns did
lose Game two after Devin Booker injured his

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right hamstring in the third quarter.
That is not the same hamstring he injured

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in the middle of this past regular
season that cost him seven games, by

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the way, so we're still waiting
as of this recording for an update on

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that. We don't know the severity
of it. I was watching the I

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forget his name, but I really
watched quickly the clip of the doctor who

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posts immediate reactions to these injuries on
YouTube, and he said, based on

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where they were massaging and how little
Devin Booker was limping, his initial prognostic,

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his initial prognosis from afar be that
hopefully it's sort of the meat and

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potatoes of the hamstring, and so
the severity of it would actually not be

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that detrimental. The Suns really should
have used Devin Booker they were trailing at

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the time that he left, but
things got worse after he left. He

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was really the only consistent shop maker
for them in game two. To this

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question's overarching point, should the Suns
get weird? I don't know what weird

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looks like for the Suns, to
be honest with you. Is it when

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the Pelicans are going with those sort
of Larry Nance Junior at the five lineups?

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Are you going to throw Tory Craig
and as you and Jay Crowder is

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your front corn with Michael Bridges and
then Devin Booker and Chris Paul are just

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some other different combination where Tory Craig
or Jay Crowders effectively your center. Are

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you going to try and match their
duel big lineups with McGee and Ayton?

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I just don't know what getting weird
for this team looks like, because it's

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just so well balanced and their best
lineups make so much sense that I wouldn't

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deviate from them. We did see
a little bit of Landry Shammitt in Game

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two because of Devin Booker leaving the
game. I just don't know if downsizing

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really plays to their advantage. Again, when Larry Nis Jr's at the five,

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maybe and those lineups, you know, a couple of them, but

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the Larry Nis Jerior Trey Murphy combination
with Brandon Ingram in this series is faired

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pretty well. I'm just basing this
completely off the eye test through the first

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two games, so that would be
something to consider. You can't call duel

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Biggs with DeAndre Mnage. It's just, you know, the Jackson Hayes minutes.

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With the starting lineup. They've played
the Suns to a net neutral in

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this series so far, and so
maybe that's concerning given how much more talented

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the Sun starting lineup is supposed to
be. And Jackson Hayes had some really

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big moments on the glass and big
buckets, some big defensive plays in this

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one, but he still provides a
week point to me for the Suns when

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when they're on offense, I think, what for the Pelicans, excuse me,

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on offense, I think what the
Suns really need to focus on here

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is I guess you know they're probably
going to lose the rebounding battle, but

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you can't lose them the transition battle
as well. And what the Pelicans seem

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to do is even if they're not
getting if they get an offensive rebound,

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that's an extra possession. That's time
you can't get go back out and transition

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and get So that's just that sucks
if you're the Pelicans. But also even

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where they're not getting the offensive rebound, like they're around the glass so much

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that they're just going to have bodies
and hands able to contain the ball a

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little bit or slow down the Sun's
offense, that they can't get in those

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transition or semi transition opportunities as much
as they're used to. It feels like,

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I don't know how you necessarily change
that. Are you making more aggressive

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outlet passes maybe rather than trying to
find a specific person to dribble it up

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the court, or you know,
if it's a CP three rebound and dribble

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up the court himself. But that
that could be one suggestion there for them

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to try their own transition defense,
though, is probably the larger concern.

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In Game two, specifically, they
were outscored by second chance points and fast

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break points combined. They lost that
battle thirty one to eighteen, and so

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to be a minus thirteen in those
and then on top of it, you

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lost the three point battle by a
substantial margin this time because you had,

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you know, CP three, Cam
Johnson and Jay Crowder combined to go three

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of seventeen from downtown in this game. That is not great and you expect

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better. Even though CP three three
point percentage has been lower than normal this

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season, just an FYI, that's
not going to happen again. And so

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in most games, certainly against this
Pelican team that wasn't a good three point

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shooting team in the in the regular
season, you're not going to be a

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minus fall from beyond the arc as
well. Seventeen of thirty they shot from

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three fifty six point seven percent.
I know that they've done some really nice

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things with We've seen Jose Alvarado.
You can trust him off the catch.

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Herbert Jones is steady history point percentage. You have CJ and brand Ingram,

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both of whom can kill you if
you're gonna drop or just give them any

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sort of room. But like you
know, seventeen of thirty is just egregiously

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high, and it's it's not going
to continue. So you can look to

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that, but you can't you know, if you're gonna know that into this

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that you're probably gonna lose the rebounding
battle. And I would think if the

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Suns had like a basic fundamental weakness, it would be there based they're essentially

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an average defensive rebounding team. That's
a concern there. So I think you

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have to make more of an effort
to get back in transition. That's a

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lot of the times going to fall
on the guard, the perimeter players,

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just because you're going to have eight
and even Jay Crowder is going to be

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around the basket a little bit more, or Mchael Bridges depending on who he's

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defended. And so that's on CP
three, that's on Devin Booker, It's

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on Cameron Payne. It's also it's
on Michael Bridges as well. And it's

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not that it's not on everyone,
but you have to be able to get

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back in transition. The Pelicans offense
is going to be worse when you slow

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it down as surgical as CJ and
Brandon Ingram are. And that was the

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other thing in this brand Ingram hit
just some like astronomically tough shots in Game

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two. This is all of which
is to say, I'm not actually worried

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as someone who picked the Suns to
win the title, and I don't mean

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to dismiss what the Pelicans have done
and I had to exchange with core Board

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Twitter user core Board. We talk
all the time, and it was it

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was just a pleasant exchange. I
appreciate anyone wants to call us out on

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takes and if we're just going to
have level head of discussion. Who thought

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that we were being too dismissive of
the Pelicans in our preview and we tried

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to make the point that we weren't
when we were talking about their future,

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but perhaps you were too dismissive of
them. Were Adam and I are both

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very high on their future, and
I was higher on them than most like

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PreCG. Mccollumn trade. After the
CG. Mccollumn trade. It's clear that

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we underestimated them in this series.
Though again the Devin Booker injury helps you

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out towards the end of Game two. But the Pelicans were winning at the

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time you went down, and they
were having some real offensive success in the

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first half. Their ability to come
out in third quarters in this series and

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just make adjustments with their personnel some
of just the the defensive stuff that they're

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running where I'm not going to be
the one to identify like the specificity of

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it, but if you're looking at
certain cross matchups, or knowing who would

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put bodies on when you're around the
glass, knowing who CP three is going

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to look for coming on screens.
They've done some really just a great stuff

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where it feels like, oh,
this team is actually taking into account what

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happened during the first half and figuring
out ways to stop it. Willie Green

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descerns just a ton of kudos for
that, as do the players obviously.

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So I'm still just not concerned.
If I'm the Suns. You want Devin

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Booker to be fine and not to
miss any time, but they're deep enough

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to withstand this where you slide Cam
Johnson into your best five men unit even

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if you don't want to start him. You do have Cameron Payn who's familiar

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with this team. You do have
Tory Craig, who's, like, you

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know, just the Phoenix Sun version
of Tory Craig is just so freaking good

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in general, not that he was
great in this game. He was scored

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zero points in his eight minutes of
action. So they have options, and

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I still think that their top end
talent or the balance of their roster,

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it just checks more boxes than New
Orleans right now. But New Orleans is

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playing with some force and ferocity,
getting great minutes from Trey Murphy the third.

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Like I said Larry Nane Jr.
As well, they've completely They've essentially

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completely taken DeVante Graham out of this
series, and hopefully Jose Alvarado remains a

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past who can make some just good
pocket passes. Has been hitting his standstill

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threes two of two in the in
game two. But I don't know,

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to get back to Newt's question,
what getting weird for the Pelicans would look

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like, and though knew you were
free to let me know what you think

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that is, but I would say, like those are the focuses. My

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main one is it'd be cool to
see them be more aggressive on the offensive

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end to where they're you know,
they're a team that can play with varying

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paces. I know that a lot
of people look at Chris Paul and even

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Devin book or sometimes I think the
Sons are slow. They're not slow,

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especially with the speed off ball of
DeAndre and Mchaal Bridges. The other thing

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is just they have to be able
to neuter the Pelicans transition opportunities a little

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bit better as far as line ups
go, though, I just don't know

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what they could do to really get
weird. This is still a series.

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I don't expect them to win.
If you told me, Brat, if

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you told me Devin Booker doesn't play
again, I'd probably the Suns in six

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or seven. To be honest with
you, I said, Devin Booker not

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play again. Sorry tripping over my
words here. I probably still pick the

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Suns. But the fact that I'm
hesitating is really testament to the Pelicans,

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who, by the way, we're
missing Zion Williamson. It's not oh,

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they're so lucky that Devin Bookers out. They don't have Zion Williamson either,

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00:12:16,919 --> 00:12:20,000
and so that's like a transcendent talent
that every team has not had to go

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up against this year. So this
is going to be a series I'm watching

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for sure. We actually should dovetail
this question with Noah Odage, longtime listener

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and friends of the Pod, ask
how bad did the New Orleans Pelicans overachieved

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this season? How likely is it
that this team will contend when Zion is

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healthy? And they overachieved? I
mean, they started the season three and

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00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,399
sixteen, and from that point they
essentially had the best transition defense in the

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NBA. A lot of people brought
up how well they played in third quarters.

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You don't look at this roster preseason
mccollumn trade, postseason McCollum trade and

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just think that they're built have one
of the best transition offenses in the NBA.

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And so they overachieved a shit ton
because they did all of this without

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Zion Williamson, while also kind of
reinventing their identity and the fact that their

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defense, if you go and look
at the numbers, like you wouldn't call

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them an elite defensive team since the
CJ. Mccollin trade, but they haven't

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regressed. They've been better in some
areas. So to get this team to

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defend at a high level with the
personnel, it's taken some tweaks. It's

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come at the cost of some offense. When you look at what they've sacrificed

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to really hit the offensive glass during
the Jackson Hayes and you want to sound

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Tunis minutes, I still I still
don't love that pairing, but there's no

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argument that it can really dirty up
games and hit the offensive last. So

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that's just absolutely huge imagining this team
with Zion, just to put him beside

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you want to sound Junis instead of
Jackson Hayes, and Zion has an incredible

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second jump and he's going to hit
the offensive last just as hard on his

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own attempts, and he comes with
the benefit of being able to run the

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offense. Yeah, there'll be some
adjustments that need to be made when you

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look at having CJ and Brandon Ingram
integrating next to him. But this team,

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I think they could be top four
in the West next year. And

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that's with a healthy Zion if he's
healthy all season, which as we know,

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is a big fucking if. And
I don't mean to sound hyperbolic with

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that. I know that your mom
are and Michael Porter Junior should be healthy

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in Denver. I know that the
Clippers should have their full cast with Kawhi

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Leonard. What happens if the Lakers
rebound, the Warriors and the Suns aren't

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going anywhere, I mean Utah,
Utah's probably going somewhere, and the Dumpster,

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it feels like, are the Mavericks. They're not going to go anywhere

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with Luca so and then Grizzlies certainly
aren't going anywhere. But I think with

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Zion, this team, based off
what it's done this season has a realistic

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chance of being a top four team
in the Western Conference. I have legitimate

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questions about them preserving their defense long
term. Again, they were not an

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elite defensive team overall, even if
they were exceptional in transition, and Zion

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was part of their defensive problems last
year. That's someone who's not away from

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the ball. Didn't feel like he
was when he's in rotations. He's not

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making the right decisions or slow to
close out to the corners. I don't

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know how the yannas Vali juniors,
Zion Wlliams and front corp pairing ends up

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faring defensively, and to that end, if they can get like a and

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it has to be better than Larry
ANNs Junior. I think he's just super

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versatile. He's not like this shutdown
rim protector. If you can get a

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rim protecting five to put, you
know, and maybe you want to go

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with you oannas Vali Juni is still
you have him. And he's a very

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good underrated player. I'm not trying
to underrate what he does. But if

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you have that rim protecting center coming
off the bench, someone who's a higher

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end than Larry DNS junior and Jackson
Hayes or even if you're going still full

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Born trying to get into the Miles
Turner or discussion, or I wouldn't recommend

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going after Rudy Gobert Gobert if or
should I say, when he becomes available

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this offseason, that team becomes I
won't say transcendent, but they become special.

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And they're already special in my book
just because of this mid season turnaround,

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so they even puzzant watch with Zion
though Noah, I'm just gonna call

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it now. Let me top five
team in the West next season, let

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me branch it out to that.
But if you're forcing me to pick,

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whether they're top four or not,
you give them fifty eight games of Zion

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just he can miss twenty four twenty
five games, give me fifty eight games

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of Zion next season, and that's
when I'm that's the trajectory I'm picking for

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the Pelicans, and I would expect, you know, Jose Alvarado especially to

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be a big part of what they
do. But also Trey Murphy the third

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has really shown something as a shooter
during the second half of the year,

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essentially just ever since he joined the
rotation, he's been, yeah, the

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highest three point percentage of all rookies, but he's been shooting like forty four

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something ridiculous from three since he entered
the rotation for good. And he's really

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showing some moxie on the defensive end
as well, and hitting on those types

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of players like that subtly deepens your
rotation. And they've had some missus,

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DeVante Graham being being one of them. But like when you hit on Trey

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Murphy the third, you have Herb
Jones, you have Jose Alvarado, and

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now Sezy McComb and Brandon Ingramman and
eventually Zion Williams didn't run the offense.

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The DeVante Graham miss is not as
blasphemous, even though it's it's less than

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ideal. And I would still expect
this team just to be aggressive looking at

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its first round pick equity on the
trade market as we lead into the offseason.

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And so if you can add like
a really it doesn't have to if

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you can just add a plus room
protector, or if you go the elite

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route. Again, I wouldn't be
against Miles Turner on this team just because

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they have Joannas Valancunis. He's probably
not an upgrade as an individual player,

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but as a fit yeah, maybe, And so if you can get him,

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but it doesn't it won't take that. If you told me that they

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went out and they signed Chris Bouche
for some backup minutes, maybe that's a

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little bit too lower end. I
don't want to see, really Mitchell Robinson

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get a like a Nicholas Claxton maybe, although he kind of falls in the

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school of Larry Ann's Jr. But
like those the players of that caliber,

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if they're checking the box that I'm
talking about, I do think Nick Nick

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Claxton probably comes pretty close to doing
so comes to the cost of spacing obviously,

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but he's if he's your backup five, maybe it's not as big of

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00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:02,920
a deal that. Like the team
is special, that's the word I keep

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coming back to with Zion. They're
going to be special and there's a pathway

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to them becoming even better. Let's
move on to this question from j T.

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What's the roadmap for OKAC to actually
use their picks to be a competitive

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team? Who or what are they
waiting for to become available. That's an

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00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,920
interesting question, and so when you
look at we know they have a boatload

283
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of picks moving forward, and you
can't get too bogged down with the future

284
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,000
commitments because those are future commitments,
like they can be moved in the middle

285
00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:41,160
of the season. They're not taking
up a roster spot right now. And

286
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:42,960
if you want to use them in
trades, you're not at the point where

287
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,319
you should just be swinging on these
role players or non stars. And so

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00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:52,000
the right star needs to become available. And that's not to me, even

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00:18:52,039 --> 00:18:53,720
though I think he would be great
in Okay. See, let's say Bradley

290
00:18:53,759 --> 00:18:56,039
Beale, there's a sign of trade
and he wants to go to Okay.

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See if the cost is low enough, maybe because it's a signed trade rather

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00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:06,039
than a flat out trade than yet
you look at it. But someone who

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aligns more closely with Shake Gildest Alexander's
timeline or the thunders larger timeline, because

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they're still a very they showed some
real, just like energy on the defensive

295
00:19:15,079 --> 00:19:18,559
end this year, and I think
that people who didn't watch them regularly or

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watch them at all, look at
their record or look at the way they

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00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:26,000
were sitting players and think they're this
flagrant, ugly stain of a tank job,

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and in some ways, again the
benching players towards the end of the

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season, I think they're bad enough
as is to where they didn't need to

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do that. I get the frustration
over that, but they're so far away

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from a finished product. We don't
know they have Shake Guilders Auxanders their Blueeship

302
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,400
cornerstone. I don't think we can
guarantee that Josh Giddy is even that co

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00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:48,559
star the passing. I Q that
he showed some moments on defense as a

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00:19:48,599 --> 00:19:55,200
rebounder, yes, but sub fifty
true shooting that's certainly not encouraging. Even

305
00:19:55,279 --> 00:19:59,200
there's plenty of time for him to
improve upon that. So you don't want

306
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,880
to rush it for the wrong player. And I the way to frame this

307
00:20:03,279 --> 00:20:06,880
and I don't know who to like
what identify as this. You need the

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00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,279
next Shake Gilgris Alexander to become available. You got him, yes, while

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00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:14,559
you were giving up a star in
Paul George, But you need a team

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00:20:14,599 --> 00:20:17,599
to be willing to move a superstar
on that type of a timeline. Like

311
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,480
if Karl Anthony Town's all of a
sudden wanted out of Minnesota, which I

312
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,839
don't think he does. Let's just
make that clear, or a Devin Booker

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00:20:23,839 --> 00:20:26,759
in Phoenix who clearly is not gonna
want out of Phoenix. You have to

314
00:20:26,799 --> 00:20:33,039
look for that age of a player
unless there's such a megastar that it really

315
00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:37,359
doesn't matter. And again that's most
of those times, like Jason Tatum's not

316
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:40,440
just gonna want out of Boston,
and Luca Dante's is in that timeframe,

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00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:41,680
but he's not just gonna want out
of Dallas at least I don't think.

318
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:47,480
Maybe it's some Maybe you could aim
a little bit lower if the player is

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00:20:47,519 --> 00:20:49,119
young enough, very plug and play, and you know they want to be

320
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,960
at Okay. See if Boston was
ever open to moving Jayson Tatum would be

321
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,640
a good example here. Again,
I do not know why Boston would want

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00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,559
to do that. That's those are
the opportunit as you're waiting for whether the

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00:21:00,559 --> 00:21:03,680
Pelicans were actually use them. As
a different story, we saw them do

324
00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:07,799
it with the Paul George trade,
except they didn't give up any higher end

325
00:21:07,839 --> 00:21:10,559
assets there. He was viewed as
sort of a rental. It's like what

326
00:21:10,599 --> 00:21:15,440
the Raptors did with Kawhi Leonard.
Paul George's happened to resign in Okay see

327
00:21:15,519 --> 00:21:19,440
they're going to be more reticent than
other teams to go after any stars that

328
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,680
become available on the trademarket, even
if they really wanted a Bradley Beal,

329
00:21:23,759 --> 00:21:27,720
he's entering free agencies and maybe that's
just like a bad example. But they're

330
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:32,279
gonna be more You know, they're
not gonna go full tilled after a Damian

331
00:21:32,319 --> 00:21:33,839
Lillard because they don't know if he's
gonna want to be their longer term.

332
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,200
It's different, sees so much time
left on his deal, but you do

333
00:21:37,279 --> 00:21:41,319
age up your timeline quite a bit
there without really ensuring yourself of anything.

334
00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:45,839
So it needs to be a perfect
storm of circumstances in my book of oh,

335
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,240
this star is young enough to where
we don't necessarily have to care because

336
00:21:48,279 --> 00:21:52,799
either Stone is rookie deal or just
on that sign that first extension and we're

337
00:21:52,799 --> 00:21:56,640
getting him, or they just have
to be confident he really wants to be

338
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,960
in Okay. See, now with
that being said, they have three picks

339
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,559
the top thirty four of this year's
draft. When you look at their salary

340
00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:07,079
commitments for next year and take in
and take into account non guarantees and options

341
00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:11,359
and all that jazz, they have
thirteen players that you could project to be

342
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,119
under contract, So the mass starts
to get tight if you think there's a

343
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,720
chance that they're going to bring back
Mike Muscala as well. Like all these

344
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:19,640
picks are probably where all these players
that are currently on the Russer are not

345
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,519
going to just being okay. See. I would bet against them though,

346
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:30,200
making this really big time move at
least right now, unless again, there's

347
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,559
a unique situation where a player who
has a ton of time left on his

348
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,599
deal and is maybe also young enough
to align with Schek Gilder's Alexander for them

349
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,400
to go all in in that route, or at the very least, you

350
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,559
need to be a playoff team before
you're making that move, rather than trying

351
00:22:45,559 --> 00:22:48,839
to get the player that's going to
make your playoff team. I think that's

352
00:22:48,839 --> 00:22:52,480
what they're thinking with all these first
round picks, is we're eventually going to

353
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,119
hit strike gold on someone to Paris
Schek Gilis Alexander. Maybe they did with

354
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,319
Josh Giddy already. They're probably gonna
try and hope that they do so again,

355
00:23:00,319 --> 00:23:03,400
though, because Giddy is not what
you'd call of the shore things in

356
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,799
this draft class. I do not
believe that he is one of them,

357
00:23:07,839 --> 00:23:11,880
and so that's where I'm at with
the Thunder. I do wonder what the

358
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,440
timeline is for them to become super
competitive. We get in the next season

359
00:23:15,839 --> 00:23:19,559
and we're in late February March and
they're still just benching all these guys because

360
00:23:19,559 --> 00:23:22,759
they want to be so bad.
I can understand the frustration, but this

361
00:23:22,839 --> 00:23:27,400
is a rebuild more than it is
the sixer style process because they do have

362
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:33,880
Shakilgis Alexander they put together in identity
this season, So I don't have an

363
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,079
issue with what they're doing. And
you do have to be more methodical in

364
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:44,079
the smaller market because bad decisions can
come back to haunt you harder and longer

365
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,160
than in certain other markets. And
I would almost I almost, I don't

366
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,359
want to use the word admire,
but I respect what Okasey has done over

367
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,960
the past couple of seasons in a
market such as theirs, because I don't

368
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,680
know that they're Yeah, they built
up goodwill with those teams that were great,

369
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,920
down to Russ and Kevin Durant,
having James Harden for a minute,

370
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:07,160
Serge Ibaka even making the trade for
Paul George, agreeing to take on mellow

371
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,119
like showing that they were aggressive at
one point. You do get that inbuilt

372
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,680
goodwill. That being said, it's
tough to stomach two seasons of really bad

373
00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:21,400
basketball and the look going back to
getting Chris Paul and the Russell Wester trade

374
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:25,880
is still being good right after that. So I respect that they're willing to

375
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,960
take such a long time to go
through this process. And maybe I would

376
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,720
have a bigger issue with it if
they turned around like everyone wanted them to

377
00:24:33,799 --> 00:24:37,319
last year and traded shake Gil Saxander
rather than paying him. They didn't do

378
00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,039
that, though at least definitely not
yet. His extension kicks in next year,

379
00:24:41,079 --> 00:24:42,680
so we can wait and see,
but I wouldn't expect them to do

380
00:24:42,759 --> 00:24:48,720
that. So that's where I'm at
with the thunder. Next question from Discord

381
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:55,480
Bones Thugs and Highland, which GM
executive is under the most pressure if their

382
00:24:55,480 --> 00:25:00,079
team underperforms in the playoffs without the
obvious ones like Utah and Philly, And

383
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,440
we do kind of have a Utah
question later so we don't have to talk

384
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,759
about them, but yeah, Utah
and Philly are certainly the obvious ones.

385
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,200
I would be interested to think,
like, oh, is this a travish

386
00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:17,559
lank situation, just because Atlanta has
fallen off so hard from their Eastern Conference

387
00:25:17,559 --> 00:25:21,519
Finals appearance last year, and they
do have some injury excuses that are part

388
00:25:21,519 --> 00:25:23,599
of it. But the Cam Reddish
experiment was a wash. Who did end

389
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,000
up getting good value in that trade? I think, what are you doing

390
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:33,680
with the Collins Capella front court?
Does that make sense having Collins Capella around

391
00:25:33,039 --> 00:25:37,119
Trey Young? DeAndre Hunter hasn't really
progressed this season, even if he's still

392
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:42,720
like your top wing prospect. That
Kevin Herder contracts should end up being sort

393
00:25:42,759 --> 00:25:47,200
of net neutral. So that's a
team that I could see being under just

394
00:25:47,839 --> 00:25:52,160
a ton of pressure. They're not
in a series that you would expect them

395
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,960
to win. But at the same
time, it's like, Okay, we

396
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,039
were just in the Eastern Conference Finals
and now we had to go through the

397
00:25:59,079 --> 00:26:03,240
play and to make it through to
the through to even the first round where

398
00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:08,240
we just lost there. I don't
know that anyone else stands out to me

399
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,839
on that. Shawn Marks would be
a big one in Brooklyn if you lose

400
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,720
to Boston. Yes, it's oh
we Kyrie wasn't playing for most of the

401
00:26:15,839 --> 00:26:19,000
year. The James Harden stuff cropped
up. We didn't have Ben Simmons,

402
00:26:19,039 --> 00:26:22,319
or maybe we will have Ben Simmons. We're gonna get to that in a

403
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:26,000
second, but he's coming back.
If you're not playing basketball for a year,

404
00:26:26,039 --> 00:26:30,039
the supporting cast isn't great. We
dealt with inconsistent availability from Nick Claxton,

405
00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:34,079
did Joe Harris injury? It sucks
Seth Carrie has been banged up since

406
00:26:34,079 --> 00:26:37,480
they acquired him. That being said, you get to a point when you're

407
00:26:37,559 --> 00:26:41,000
kind of paying all this money for
a team that's supposed to be a championship

408
00:26:41,039 --> 00:26:45,160
inevitable and it didn't make it out
of the first round this year, and

409
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,000
it had to go through the play. In Kyrie's entering free agency, I

410
00:26:48,039 --> 00:26:49,880
would expect him to be back.
Kevin Durant already extended. It seems like

411
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:55,960
those two are attached at the hip, But I don't know. I wouldn't

412
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,160
what I say, Sean Marks's job
is on the line. I don't know

413
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,160
that you're gonna get someone who has
done a better job. You do look

414
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,599
at this roster, though, and
go, Okay, they're really limited in

415
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,559
what they can do with the supporting
cast. You hope Paris is healthy next

416
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,480
year. You'll still have Steph Curry. What are you doing sort of after

417
00:27:11,519 --> 00:27:14,559
that? Are you bringing back Nick
Claxton, who's a restrictive free agent who

418
00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:17,839
could wind up getting a nice little
offer seet or you're willing to go in

419
00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:21,599
to the tax deeper into the tax, so that's that you're you're already in

420
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,319
the tax to facilitate that. I
honestly don't know the answer to that question.

421
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,119
But he would be just another person
that another executive excuse me, that

422
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:36,640
would be under intense pressure to do
something this summer. I would be it's

423
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,279
pointless to say the Warriors here because
Bob Myers has carte blanc. Like if

424
00:27:40,319 --> 00:27:44,079
they did Vault of the Nuggets,
I think there would have been a push

425
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:45,599
for, oh, we need to
start cashing in some of these youngsters for

426
00:27:45,599 --> 00:27:49,640
an established start. But they clearly
seem like they're doing the balancing act to

427
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,720
perfection with Jordan Pool emerging that they're
going to be able to plan for the

428
00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:59,440
future while competing in the present,
And so I don't really have anyone after

429
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:00,680
that. I mean, it's like, you can be disappointed if Memphis falls

430
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,799
to Minnesota for lack of adjustments,
but Taylor Jenkins went away from Steven Adams

431
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,880
in Game two. This is a
team that's a head of schedule as well.

432
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:12,240
They have some other equity draft equity
when you're looking at picks that they

433
00:28:12,319 --> 00:28:15,559
have all their own, as well
as some extras from other teams that they

434
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,640
could make a move if they wanted
to. They can also have cap space

435
00:28:18,759 --> 00:28:22,559
this summer if they really desire,
but I don't think they'll go that route.

436
00:28:22,799 --> 00:28:26,279
You probably could maybe a case that
David Griffin and New Orleans will be

437
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,920
under a ton of pressure regardless of
the outcome of these playoffs, and you

438
00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:33,960
expect the Pelicans to lose in the
first round, and there's no shame in

439
00:28:33,039 --> 00:28:37,119
doing that to the sixty four wins
Sons, especially when you don't have Zion

440
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:41,440
Williamson, particularly after you started the
season three and sixteen. That being said,

441
00:28:41,799 --> 00:28:45,119
you did kind of make or you
did make a win now trade with

442
00:28:45,359 --> 00:28:48,799
CJ. McCollum and Larryette Jr.
That ends up working out for you just

443
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,079
fine, but you've described some sort
of immediacy to your timeline with that move.

444
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:57,440
And then also just the buzz surrounding
Zion's future where he's not enthralled with

445
00:28:57,559 --> 00:29:02,960
the franchise where everything's just not hunky
dory. There, you're perpetually walking this

446
00:29:03,119 --> 00:29:06,920
tight rope of team building, and
so he's going to just be under a

447
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,599
ton of pressure leading into the off
season. There. That's a great question,

448
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,799
though, if I had to pick
just the one I think it's gonna

449
00:29:14,839 --> 00:29:17,440
be, I mean, David Griffin. I feel like it's probably the answer.

450
00:29:17,599 --> 00:29:19,079
I'm just gonna let's just roll with
those three, say Sean Marks,

451
00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:26,440
Travis lankin Atlanta, and David Griffin
in New Orleans. That that was a

452
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:33,400
good question though. Next question comes
from Luke Jay at thirty seven, also

453
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,519
of Discord, Which of the lottery
teams do you expect to be the best

454
00:29:37,839 --> 00:29:41,880
next season? Not counting the Clipper
since they would be the obvious pick.

455
00:29:42,039 --> 00:29:45,640
Shame on you for taking away what
would be the obvious pick for me.

456
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:52,319
This is a great question. I
shouldn't be so. I think most people

457
00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:57,519
just believe it will be the Calves. The Calves, I'm not so certain

458
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,319
it could be. You're gonna I
assume you're you should be healthier because you're

459
00:30:03,319 --> 00:30:06,440
gonna have the option to bring Colin
Sexton back. He is a restricted free

460
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,480
agent. I'm just curious as to
what their offense looks like next season.

461
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,559
Darius Garland clearly made the leap,
Jared Allen busted out some different moves.

462
00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:18,599
He's just more dynamic on offense.
I'll put it that way than people really

463
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,599
think. Evan Mobley watching him,
I think I've said it on this pot

464
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,440
before. He looks like an eventual
hybrid of Kevin and Kevin Durant wily be

465
00:30:25,559 --> 00:30:30,000
that in year two they could just
use some extra real wing depth. Isaaca

466
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:32,799
Coro was fantastic for them defensively,
but they don't really have a wing who's

467
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:37,160
going to generate offense unless you consider
caruslaverna wing. How does that dynamic play

468
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,480
out between he, Colin Sexton and
Darius Garland if they even move forward with

469
00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:44,680
it? Do you like sort of
having this ultra huge front court with Kevin

470
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:48,880
Love, Lowry Market and Mobley and
and Jared Allen. We saw that in

471
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:52,440
fade this year. I think that
had more to do with injuries than anything

472
00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:57,200
else. So they could they could
be the pick. I'm not going to

473
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:03,079
pick the Knicks anyone way. On
that. I apologize. I'm intending to

474
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,720
pick the Pacers more than I should
be there's the rumor for Mark Stein that

475
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,799
they have made it known they're going
to trade Malcolm Brogden, and so if

476
00:31:10,799 --> 00:31:12,160
you're gonna move him, I'm going
to take that to mean that you're open

477
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:17,880
to moving Miles Turner, even though
Turner's younger and doesn't necessarily have the injury

478
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:19,920
history, that you'll also be open
to moving Buddy Healed. And if you're

479
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:26,960
gonna approach the season as quasi sellers
again, if they left this roster alone,

480
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,759
no, they could be really good. Bring back to t J.

481
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,160
Warren if he tends to be healthy
or figures out a way to be healthy,

482
00:31:33,279 --> 00:31:37,079
that would be absolutely monstrous for them. So I'm tempting to pick them

483
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:42,400
more so than you would think.
But I do believe that the answer is

484
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,359
going to be the Calves. It
could be the Lakers. I just don't

485
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:49,359
know what the move is based on
the reaction of fans. When the Pacers

486
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,680
not wanting two picks and two swaps
for Brogden and Healed in exchange to take

487
00:31:53,759 --> 00:31:57,119
on the one year of Russell Westbrook
leads me to believe that you're not going

488
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,599
to be able to turn him into
an impact player. And I won't move

489
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,759
out a team that has Lebron James
and Anthony Davis, if they're both going

490
00:32:04,799 --> 00:32:07,000
to be fully available. That being
said, I don't know that they would

491
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,440
be my first choice, and so
my top three would probably be some combination

492
00:32:10,519 --> 00:32:16,920
of the Cavaliers, the Lakers,
and the Pacers. I'm just I'm enthralled

493
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,079
by them. You look, if
you want to pick Charlotte because you think

494
00:32:21,119 --> 00:32:24,519
that they're going to make some nice
decisions after the ending in the play in

495
00:32:24,599 --> 00:32:29,960
as the in that first game once
more more power they have Lamello. There

496
00:32:30,119 --> 00:32:34,400
there's a base. I don't understand
why the fans seems so up as upset

497
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,279
as they did. At least I'm
not trying to single out any Charlotte hornsman.

498
00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:39,839
To me, they met expectations,
if not exceeded, winning like five

499
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:44,599
or six more games at least the
equivalent of this year, while not getting

500
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,839
better availability from Gordon Hayward will not
really having a center of the future in

501
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,720
play if you want to put them, that's fine. Detroit by way of

502
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:54,759
having Kake Cunningham, Yeah, that
certainly matters. Could you see the Spurs

503
00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:59,400
doing some weird things this summer,
like they have the assets to go out

504
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:04,039
and make a tray. They have
something special with Kelvin Johnson, Jaco Peartle

505
00:33:04,079 --> 00:33:07,279
Dejantay, Murray, Devin Vassell.
I really like Josh Primo and Trey Jones

506
00:33:07,319 --> 00:33:12,119
as well. Josh Richardson played kind
of well for them after the trade deadline,

507
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,160
So could they be that team again? I laid out what my three

508
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,400
picks would be the Pacers just if
they leave their roster roll, and they

509
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,960
won't be my singular pick, I
would go with the calves of the Lakers

510
00:33:22,039 --> 00:33:24,920
first and foremost. I don't think
the other teams really have a chance,

511
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,960
though. I'm just riding off the
Kings in perpetuity at this point. They

512
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,720
don't deserve any of my faith anymore. As much as I love the darn

513
00:33:31,799 --> 00:33:36,480
Fox Portland they have Damian Lillard,
I'm still just not sure what the plan

514
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,799
is there. Houston and okayc are
not on those timelines, neither as Orlando.

515
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:44,279
Like I said, Detroit by way
of having Kate Cunningham. I don't

516
00:33:44,279 --> 00:33:46,839
really know what to do with the
Knicks. I think they're not going to

517
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,599
be able to take a step forward
that than even until they move on from

518
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,200
Julius Randall would be my I don't
even know if that's a spicy stance,

519
00:33:53,279 --> 00:34:01,119
but that that is my stance.
Strops As from Discord favorite announcers broadcast teams,

520
00:34:01,559 --> 00:34:06,519
this is always a good one.
The Nets and the Timberwolves are probably

521
00:34:06,559 --> 00:34:08,519
my two favorite. Give them a
lot of credit. I really do enjoy

522
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:14,400
the Sun's broadcasts as well. The
Knicks one can have some really good moments.

523
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:19,719
I also shout out to like the
game operations staff for the Grizzlies.

524
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,440
They consistently have just the best mid
game stuff going on. Their broadcast is

525
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:28,320
like fine to listen to as well. It's not too homery for my liking.

526
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,679
It's not on the level of like
a I really just I can't stand

527
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:35,800
the MAVs broadcast. No one can
stand Warriors broadcast at this point. So

528
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:42,119
yeah, I think Minnesota, Brooklyn, and I'll go Memphis. Like shout

529
00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:45,039
out to that New Orleans has a
pretty good one as well too, but

530
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:50,519
Memphis just the all around experience is
you know, again for the in between

531
00:34:50,559 --> 00:34:52,960
the timeouts, and I'm getting like
the NBA feed because I cover the league

532
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:58,360
and that's something I've accessed to,
so I'm not like, not everyone's able

533
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,639
to see that, which is like
seeing what's going in the middle of the

534
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:05,079
game. There's really some pageant.
Try to just like these small swats of

535
00:35:05,199 --> 00:35:08,119
time. It really impresses me.
And so if you have the ability to

536
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:12,400
those are that's a broadcast, I
would recommend checking out as well as Phoenix,

537
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,880
Minnesota, Brooklyn, New Orleans is
a good one. And I don't

538
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:21,159
know how you couldn't love wal Clyde
Frasier rhyming on the next one when he

539
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:24,599
and Mike Breener calling games. It's
it's still a lot of fun for me.

540
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:29,880
Caveman from Discord asked how should the
Nets integrate Ben Simmons if he becomes

541
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,760
available by game four or five?
Is he better than Bruce Brown in the

542
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:38,639
short term in Saturday coming and then
in the long term? Who As far

543
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:45,039
as integrating him, I mean tether
him to the Kyrie k D minutes.

544
00:35:45,079 --> 00:35:47,199
I think so you just lighten his
load as much as possible on offense,

545
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,239
or maybe you don't want to do
that because he's so used to having the

546
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,360
ball. I would say, I
don't know what the lineup should look like,

547
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:59,159
but you need to probably can't have
a true big next to him.

548
00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:01,039
I don't think the Simmons nick Claxton
lineup is gonna fair. You probably have

549
00:36:01,079 --> 00:36:06,280
to stagger him from Bruce Brown as
well, so you certainly can't have there

550
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:07,760
needs to be at least three shooters
on the floor of Ben Simmons at all

551
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,000
times, and so you can't play
him with both, with both Bruce Brown

552
00:36:12,199 --> 00:36:14,960
and then a big it's one or
the other. And I wouldn't even recommend

553
00:36:15,079 --> 00:36:17,880
going that route. On defense,
I guess you could just hope that he's

554
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,000
ready, so you're tethering him to
the Boston's best. But is he going

555
00:36:22,079 --> 00:36:27,760
after Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown.
We know that he'll be on a minutes

556
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,440
cap if he comes back, So
I don't really know what the solution is

557
00:36:31,599 --> 00:36:35,519
here. After giving this a lot
of thought, I ended up on,

558
00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:38,760
like, you know, Seth Curry, Kyrie k d or probably the three

559
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:43,559
players you need to play alongside him
most. You can throw Patty Mills in

560
00:36:43,639 --> 00:36:46,599
there as well if you're well.
I mean, that could be a lineup

561
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:49,800
if you have Ben Simmons and Katie
on the court, and maybe you could

562
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,159
get away with those three guards.
I just don't I think you need to

563
00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:57,199
set him up on offense to streamline
his role and to be as successful as

564
00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,079
possible. As for whether he's better
than Bruce Brown in the short term and

565
00:37:00,159 --> 00:37:04,480
long term, short term, we
don't know. Bruce Brown has been pretty

566
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:09,039
streaky slash on fire from three,
so there's that element. He also does

567
00:37:09,119 --> 00:37:13,039
not need the ball on offense.
We've seen him make plays out of the

568
00:37:13,119 --> 00:37:15,280
short role. He's not gonna have
a problem hanging in the dunker spot.

569
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:20,880
And while Ben Simmons has done the
dunker spot stuff in smaller volumes, it's

570
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,960
never just been his full time role. It's it's happened in the playoffs,

571
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,599
I guess, but like that's just
never been something he's done. He's never

572
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,239
been the primary screener for a huge
amount of time. That is something to

573
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,840
consider in all of this is why
I think, no matter what you're doing

574
00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:37,920
with him, surround him with as
much shooting as possible. But defensively,

575
00:37:38,119 --> 00:37:42,800
is Bruce Brown gonna be better for
you right now? Ben Simmons is gonna

576
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,679
give you more positional malluability there.
I also think he's by far the higher

577
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:49,840
IQ passer, and if you're willing
to get out and transition a bunch,

578
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:52,440
I don't know it's been that's the
I mean, that would that would be

579
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:57,480
a great question to really ask.
Is Ben Simmons at back going to hold

580
00:37:57,559 --> 00:38:00,559
up in transition? And it should
if you're going to play him at all.

581
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,639
But you look at his next team
as a team that doesn't generate a

582
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:07,960
ton of pressure on the rim,
and they're also just not going to spend

583
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:13,639
an inorminate amount of time in transition. They were twelve in transition frequency this

584
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,440
season. That was the number that
was actually higher than I was expecting.

585
00:38:16,199 --> 00:38:20,679
But get Ben Simmons off and running
is what you could also do. So

586
00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:22,840
put him in lineups that are going
to promote that, and so as Seth

587
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,840
Curry is going to help you there, even if Patty Mills is going to

588
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,519
help you there. Katie and Kye
are gonna like to slow down the game.

589
00:38:30,559 --> 00:38:31,920
But if Ben Simmons has the ball, like yeah, they will fan

590
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,760
out or they will Katie especially will
get up and down the floor. That's

591
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:38,480
probably the best way to integrate him
on offense, though, So just put

592
00:38:38,599 --> 00:38:43,719
him into that the position to be
both simple and succeed, which I don't

593
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:45,280
know is easy when you look at
the rest of their roster because a lot

594
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,000
of it, some of these lineups
were talking about, are gonna be predicated

595
00:38:49,039 --> 00:38:52,960
on Ben Simmons being ready defensively to
hold up under his usual, if not

596
00:38:52,119 --> 00:38:57,639
heavier workload. Otherwise you do have
this intrinsic needs for playing him with Nick

597
00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:01,199
Klaxton and or Bruce Brown. They
might do not play him with Andre Drummond.

598
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:04,760
Please, for the love of God, do not play Ben Zimmons with

599
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,880
Andre Drummond. Steve Nash. That
better not be a thing here, But

600
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:12,320
that would be my stance. I
also personally don't think he should play I

601
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,079
know that that ends up hunting.
You can call it on a season of

602
00:39:15,159 --> 00:39:17,840
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irvy's prime.
I would argue that that already happened by

603
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:22,119
Kyrie not getting vaccinated earlier in the
year. Also with the James Harden stuff

604
00:39:22,119 --> 00:39:25,519
just going belly up, you've kind
of already it would be a nice story,

605
00:39:25,599 --> 00:39:28,800
I guess if you beat the Celtics, but the road that you have

606
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,480
to go through in the playoffs probably
the Bucks after this and then like my

607
00:39:32,679 --> 00:39:36,000
god, like Matt, I mean, oh wait, they don't go through

608
00:39:36,039 --> 00:39:37,280
the Bucks after this, because they're
the two seven, So you're playing the

609
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:42,679
winner of three six, Like,
okay, your gift just going through the

610
00:39:42,679 --> 00:39:46,760
playoffs is still just going to be
super difficult here. So that's just like

611
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,840
it would be the Bucks. It
is three. I'm just I'm my matchups

612
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:52,719
wrong. So if you're in the
that you're going through the Bucks and then

613
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:58,119
after that like, oh, who
could have waited there, Philly or Miami,

614
00:39:58,639 --> 00:40:00,159
Like that's a really it's a tough
path, and then you get to

615
00:40:00,199 --> 00:40:06,119
the left or you're gonna face Phoenix
or going to State. So I just

616
00:40:06,199 --> 00:40:08,760
would rather see Ben Simmons get a
training camp with this team, have some

617
00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:13,159
more off time to be integrated,
to make sure that his back is okay,

618
00:40:13,199 --> 00:40:15,159
because back injuries can be fickle.
If he's going to play, though,

619
00:40:15,639 --> 00:40:19,039
I just laid out what I would
do, No, No, Andre

620
00:40:19,119 --> 00:40:22,199
Drummond, Ben Simmons minutes. I
would prefer to surround him with four shooters

621
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:27,039
and any given lineup, two of
them being Katie and Kyrie Irving. I

622
00:40:27,079 --> 00:40:31,199
would also look at what you could
do is and probably becomes harder because Kevin

623
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,400
Durants one of the best shooters of
all time. It's around him with enough

624
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,119
shooting in these lineups. But the
Kevin the no Kevin Durant minutes have given

625
00:40:37,159 --> 00:40:42,000
you some issues in the past,
even though you did win them in Game

626
00:40:42,079 --> 00:40:45,239
one of this series. Maybe look
at pairing him with next to Kyrie Irvings,

627
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:49,639
specifically during those stretches, and so
then you know that there's only one

628
00:40:49,679 --> 00:40:52,480
person he's kind of jockeying for touches
with, and so far as Ben Simmons

629
00:40:52,599 --> 00:40:57,679
is actually jockeying for touches, but
that might be sort of another gap there,

630
00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,880
and then round out those lineups as
you see fit. Maybe you can

631
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,840
squeeze Bruce Brown into that lineup,
but you can't really play It would be

632
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:07,719
Bruce Brown or Nick Claxton for me
again, I'm gonna I'm gonna be pretty

633
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,639
bullish on that. Element of this. Next question comes from do nationally televise

634
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,840
games really determined end of year awards? That was Dark Wing Duck from Discord.

635
00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:22,519
I'm gonna scroll down to my Google
doc here because we have some other

636
00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:28,559
like thoughts that are questions that are
tangentially related to this. I'll look those

637
00:41:28,599 --> 00:41:32,239
next two together. So Nick Wright
ass on Twitter. Will Nick Wright ever

638
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,519
be right? That was from Paul
I might have just wrote down a wrong

639
00:41:37,599 --> 00:41:44,480
name there, and so like,
there's just this who there's I'm assuming this

640
00:41:44,599 --> 00:41:49,199
pertains specifically to Rudy Gobert and Nicole
Yokich. The awards were talking about our

641
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:55,199
regular season awards, and so I
can't like view what's happening in the postseason

642
00:41:55,719 --> 00:42:04,360
as something that has this transcendent impact
on who I would choose for MVP or

643
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,440
Defensive Player of the Year. If
you're using it as a tiebreaker as who

644
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,400
would you rather have in a playoff
series, if it really was down to

645
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,800
that and it was Yokich or Yannis
for you and that's what you wanted to

646
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:19,000
use as the tiebreaker, I don't
think I would fault you there. I

647
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:23,079
also think, though, that we
tend to oversimplify these nationally televised games what

648
00:42:23,199 --> 00:42:27,920
happens in the playoffs. We make
these referendums on ultra small sample sizes,

649
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,159
when in the end, the MBA
for the good teams is an eighty two

650
00:42:31,199 --> 00:42:37,119
plus game sample size across the season, and so the macro picture matters here.

651
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:43,760
And if anything, what's happening in
Denver with Nuggets going up against the

652
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,320
Warriors and kind of seem like they're
up for slaughter. I don't mean to

653
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:50,320
say that before we go through a
Game three in Denver, and only to

654
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:53,519
me makes it more impressive that Yokich
put them drag them to forty eight wins

655
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:58,679
there. I just don't understand what
the problem is with that or why it's

656
00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:02,800
so hard to separate. There are
the people, the paid employees, the

657
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:06,679
fans that have their agendas, and
some of them are pretty just obvious about

658
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:08,679
it, and it's all in good
nature, which is fine. But this

659
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:14,719
idea that Nicole Yokich is a foe
MVP, or that the computer skewed the

660
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:21,039
returns and his favor it's just it's
not fair and it's lazy and it's oversimplified,

661
00:43:21,199 --> 00:43:22,559
and I get tired of it.
That being said, like, there

662
00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:28,159
is higher end analysis out there,
and we have to remember that the talking

663
00:43:28,199 --> 00:43:35,920
heads on TV they're paid to whether
it's in specific those these exact terms or

664
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,400
not. It's an engagement at all
costs type of industry now, and we

665
00:43:39,519 --> 00:43:45,880
can bemoan it. I've bemoaned it
privately at times with people that I trust.

666
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:50,119
I've had just wholesale conversations about it. But however, you want to

667
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:54,920
watch or consume the league that avenue
is essentially available to you. MBA media

668
00:43:55,280 --> 00:44:00,440
is flawed in just so many ways
when it comes down to the still just

669
00:44:00,519 --> 00:44:06,960
a glaring lack of diversity, but
it's also sort of a golden age of

670
00:44:07,079 --> 00:44:12,559
options when you just look at the
localized coverage. I think team podcasts and

671
00:44:12,639 --> 00:44:15,880
writers have just become so important this
day and age, especially ones. I

672
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,039
have infinite respect for beat writers,
but also those who are more detached from

673
00:44:19,039 --> 00:44:27,199
the teams and their their opinions.
Their livelihood isn't show tightly more to access

674
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,039
that maybe they could be just a
little more honest or a little bit more

675
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,000
punitive with their coverage. And there's
just a nice mix of everything. I

676
00:44:35,079 --> 00:44:37,679
try to consume as much of it, and look, I'll even admit that

677
00:44:37,079 --> 00:44:40,280
I do at times just feel like
and I don't want to. I'm not

678
00:44:40,519 --> 00:44:45,159
conventional national media, but as someone
who talks about, writes about puts a

679
00:44:45,199 --> 00:44:49,320
lot of effort into trying to cover
the MBA at large as fairly as possible.

680
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:52,000
I don't I hate when it feels
like I'm being looped into, like,

681
00:44:52,079 --> 00:44:55,079
oh, the national media doesn't talk
about Rudy Gobert enough for the national

682
00:44:55,119 --> 00:45:00,199
media is against Nkoliokich. Some of
these, like ad serial takes against Jokis

683
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:02,960
and Gobert, I don't even see
them, Like I'll see someone tweet about

684
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:07,159
it. Oh, but they told
me that NICOLEA. Yokis couldn't pass or

685
00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:09,519
just something stupid like that, And
I'll just be like, is my Twitter

686
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:14,280
bubbles so insulated that I just didn't
even see this take? Is it an

687
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:19,920
actual take? Who are you following
or listening to or watching that is saying

688
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,760
these things? And if you're that
fundamentally disagree or you think it's unfair,

689
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:25,920
like there are other ways to go. And no, I promise I'm not

690
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,440
bitter that poor poor me who doesn't
get like enough recognition for the work he

691
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,800
puts in the Harbor Knox and Bleacher
Report. That's really not what I was.

692
00:45:35,119 --> 00:45:39,559
What I meant, It's just like
I I don't want to be looped

693
00:45:39,559 --> 00:45:44,320
into like the lower brow analysis.
I'm not like the x's and osavons that

694
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,800
you're gonna get if it's like an
akaias jump the Duncan. No. But

695
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:51,000
I do put a ton of effort
into covering the league at large and going

696
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:53,639
deeper and trying to have a pulse
on every team. And also what I

697
00:45:53,719 --> 00:45:59,519
do think we forget and this is
the localized coverage is so important, but

698
00:45:59,679 --> 00:46:02,800
it's I've come to view my job
as one very un serious. Is anyone

699
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,239
can tell, like, I cover
a fucking game, but also to have

700
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:12,679
a pulse on the entire league better
than the localized people. And it's not

701
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,320
to say that I'm better at my
job. And the thing that's beautiful about

702
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:19,199
the localized podcasts and writers, they
are seeing every team because the teams that

703
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:22,639
they cover go up against them,
but they do a great job like stepping

704
00:46:22,639 --> 00:46:24,320
into the national waters. And I
know a lot of them are watching and

705
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:29,599
covering more than just their teams basketball. You look at Caitlin Cooper and the

706
00:46:29,599 --> 00:46:31,639
Twitter thread she does and some of
the podcast topics that she covers. The

707
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:36,119
guys the Timeline podcast to a fantastic
job of having a pulse in the entire

708
00:46:36,199 --> 00:46:38,639
league. But for the fans in
general, it's my job to have a

709
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:45,199
better pulse in the entire league than
even not just the fan of a singular

710
00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:47,840
team, but of the general NBA
fan. And that's what I'm there for.

711
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:50,800
That's why I've come to view my
job and so I put a lot

712
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:53,000
of effort in doing that. I
get bitter to myself. I don't really

713
00:46:53,079 --> 00:46:57,599
voice it unless it's to this podcast
at this very moment about when I see

714
00:46:57,639 --> 00:47:00,800
those things about the national media,
there's like inside of me and I have

715
00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:02,320
to remember if you if you don't
think you fall under that umbrella, then

716
00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:06,920
it's not about you. But that
is something I struggle with. I do

717
00:47:07,119 --> 00:47:09,320
think though, that we have to
remember that some of this is whether you

718
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:12,800
want to. I won't go as
far as to say it's an agenda,

719
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:17,079
but it's for the sake of drumming
up conversation. Those are the easiest talking

720
00:47:17,199 --> 00:47:22,119
points to have, or the easiest
talking points that will incite reaction, and

721
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:24,280
that's what a lot of people want
at the end of the day. That's

722
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:30,679
how that's just their job, whether
it's in specifically stated in their description or

723
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:35,519
not. You look at Rudy Gobert
specifically, which I think this question was

724
00:47:35,559 --> 00:47:39,039
also aimed at. It's just when
the discourse around him has just been fucking

725
00:47:39,119 --> 00:47:44,079
absurd because he is not the problem
for the Jazz's defense. You go back

726
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:46,119
and look at Game two against Dallas. Yeah, there are some things that

727
00:47:46,159 --> 00:47:51,360
I guess he did wrong, but
he doesn't adjust to what I would consider

728
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,519
their base defense and time of the
time because they don't make the adjustments,

729
00:47:53,559 --> 00:47:55,800
Like is it on him to decide, like, oh, I have to

730
00:47:55,960 --> 00:48:00,920
change up my coverage here, and
instead of help towards the driver, that

731
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:06,159
I need to be closer to the
guy in the corner. The Jazz have

732
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:08,840
been designed to funnel people towards Rudy
Gobert all season, the amount of ground

733
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:13,199
he has to cover on certain possessions
to where he's around the ram, but

734
00:48:13,239 --> 00:48:16,159
he can be pulled away from the
basket he's covering out to the corners.

735
00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:21,960
Like it's just it's overwhelming and their
failure to put the right perimeter defenders around

736
00:48:22,039 --> 00:48:25,519
him, people who can contain the
ball not get that consistent effort from Donovan

737
00:48:25,559 --> 00:48:30,480
Mitchell. That's the issue. And
it's even the Donovan Mitchell blowby, it's

738
00:48:30,519 --> 00:48:32,199
like there's an element of that.
Yes, it's not by design, but

739
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:37,280
like you built your defense around funneling
people towards Rudy Gobert. Is it his

740
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:42,360
fault that it's falling apart when teams
are better built to attack it and work

741
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,480
the corners or put your entire team
in rotations that they're not built to handle.

742
00:48:45,519 --> 00:48:51,360
Shout out boyon Mardonovitch. So it's
just I don't understand why we can't

743
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:54,880
look at that and identify it,
even as someone who's such a basketball idiot

744
00:48:54,920 --> 00:49:00,400
as myself can understand that. How
do you look at the game and say,

745
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:02,679
oh, he's such a liability when
they go small, then somehow you're

746
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:07,119
not watching the game properly, or
you're just saying something for the sake of

747
00:49:07,199 --> 00:49:09,599
saying something at some point, And
so yeah, I get that it can

748
00:49:09,639 --> 00:49:13,320
be mega frustrating on both sides of
the fence, and then all of a

749
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:19,320
sudden turns into like this war between
analytics versus the eye test, when it's

750
00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:24,239
just anyone that matters. I have
never seen only rely on one anyone that

751
00:49:24,360 --> 00:49:30,239
I respect or that is really has
an impact on the way that people think

752
00:49:31,199 --> 00:49:36,320
about basketball. I've never just seen
him point to one catch all thing,

753
00:49:37,079 --> 00:49:40,159
eye test, analytics, whatever,
one one stat, one play, one

754
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:45,159
singular game referendum. So I don't
even know why that has to be a

755
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:50,000
discussion. If you're complaining everybody Gobert
didn't win Defensive Player of the Year,

756
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:52,159
or if you're even you know,
you think Yanna should have been the MVP.

757
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,920
We also have to do a better
job of recognizing that there are multiple

758
00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:00,440
deserving candidates and that a lot of
this stuff comes down to a matter taste

759
00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:04,559
or preference, which we're gonna get
into with these two questions, which I

760
00:50:04,639 --> 00:50:07,920
thought were fascinating. So the first
one comes from Henrik Ahmed Statistically, who

761
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:13,079
is the best defender Gobert or Smart? And then Ryan Mortenson asked thoughts on

762
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:15,920
Smart winning Defensive Player of the Year
over Rudy. I'd love to see a

763
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:19,800
side by side comparison of all the
defensive stats. And so here's the thing.

764
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,239
Defensive stats are going to be inherently
flawed anyway. There's just at least

765
00:50:23,559 --> 00:50:28,039
maybe there's you know, internally,
teams have proprietary metrics that do a better

766
00:50:28,159 --> 00:50:30,119
job of measuring the impact, but
the ones that are publicly available, the

767
00:50:30,199 --> 00:50:36,239
ones that I even know of that
aren't publicly available, there's just it's impossible

768
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:40,519
to quantify the defense in the same
way that we do offense. What also

769
00:50:40,599 --> 00:50:45,800
gets tough, but let's go let's
look at the Smart Gobert date debate specifically,

770
00:50:46,199 --> 00:50:51,360
so in estimated defensive estimated plus minus, Rudy Gobert ranks fifth in the

771
00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:53,559
league this season. Smart was thirteenth. This is just the regular season.

772
00:50:54,039 --> 00:50:59,239
In defense of Lebron, Gobert was
first. Smart was sixty fourth in luck

773
00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:04,800
adjusted regularized adjusted plus minus. Rudy
Gobert was sixteenth. Smart was fifty seven

774
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,760
in defensive raptor. Rudy Gobert was
fourth. Smart was forty first. So

775
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:12,960
you look at some of those kitchen
sink metrics and you think it's outrageous that

776
00:51:13,039 --> 00:51:15,199
Smart would be the defensive player of
the Year discussion. But their roles are

777
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:20,280
so different. You look at the
matchup difficulty ratings of these two. Because

778
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:23,840
Smart is tackling more primary ball handlers, more explosive perimeter guys, covering more

779
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:29,559
ends of the positional spectrum. He
ranks thirty ninth in matchup difficulty for this

780
00:51:29,679 --> 00:51:32,440
past season. That was among anyone
who logged at least a thousand minutes.

781
00:51:32,639 --> 00:51:37,480
Rudy Gobert was one hundred and eightieth. So Rudy Gobert's trash because he is

782
00:51:37,519 --> 00:51:38,719
matchup difficult, like are we going
to go that room? As well?

783
00:51:39,159 --> 00:51:43,519
Their roles are so different. Rudy
Gobert contested six point nine shots at the

784
00:51:43,559 --> 00:51:45,400
room per game this year, Marcus
Smart was at two point one, which

785
00:51:45,639 --> 00:51:50,400
is actually high for someone his size. There's such a fundamental difference in what

786
00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:52,800
they're responsible for. And it's fine
if you want to make the case that

787
00:51:53,119 --> 00:51:58,360
bigs are always going to be more
pivotal to the defensive model, and so

788
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:00,119
they should get the bump in the
defensive Play of the Year discussion. If

789
00:52:00,159 --> 00:52:05,840
that's a philosophy that you ascribed to, it is perfectly fine. I won't

790
00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:08,119
argue with you against it. I
mean, if you like, there's been

791
00:52:08,199 --> 00:52:10,320
support out there, which is why
I'm accepting. And I'm not just saying

792
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:14,039
someone should come up to me and
say I'll only vote for a big and

793
00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:17,719
that's that. But what did we
just talk about with the Jazz two seconds

794
00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:23,800
ago about how the lack of perimeter
defenders or quality help defenders around him have

795
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:28,320
really fucked the Jazz over and made
it easy for people to think that he's

796
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:35,039
the problem. So if perimeter defenders
are that important to Rudy Gobert's success or

797
00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:39,480
let's say failure in Utah for certain
stretches, doesn't that kind of make the

798
00:52:39,599 --> 00:52:44,920
case that a Marcus Smart or Mcal
Bridges is super valuable on defense because they

799
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:51,079
have to pick up the toughest singular
assignments. They're going to be at guarding

800
00:52:51,119 --> 00:52:54,320
the primary actions more than he is. Yeah, he's responsible for more.

801
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:59,920
He's calling out coverages. People point
out that Marcus Smart does that in ball

802
00:53:00,239 --> 00:53:02,000
I would also like to point out
that Michael Bridges, aside from just covering

803
00:53:02,079 --> 00:53:05,960
the toughest assignment on a night to
night basis, is one of the best

804
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:10,360
transition defenders that honestly I've ever seen, but also just makes the job easier

805
00:53:10,719 --> 00:53:15,880
on a big like DeAndre Ayton because
it shrinks the scope of what DeAndre Ayton

806
00:53:16,239 --> 00:53:22,320
is responsible for. And I'm not
saying even though I thought people thought that

807
00:53:22,679 --> 00:53:25,519
the pick for Marcus Martin Michaeale Bridges
as defensive Player of the Year was fucking

808
00:53:25,639 --> 00:53:30,880
stupid, and I just I won't
subscribe to that. I believe they were

809
00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:31,880
my top three. I can't remember
who I had third of my ballot.

810
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:36,199
I should really look at that.
I'd go beart second behind Bridges. If

811
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:37,880
Rudy Gobert would, I want I'm
not gonna give you any pushback. Could

812
00:53:37,880 --> 00:53:40,199
it have been voted for tigue on
some level. Maybe it could be the

813
00:53:40,239 --> 00:53:45,360
fact that people look too much into
teams stats or success in general, rather

814
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:49,039
than the team's success or stats with
that player on the floor, and the

815
00:53:49,159 --> 00:53:52,480
Jazz w elite defensively with rigal bart
on the floor. Maybe is there too

816
00:53:52,559 --> 00:53:55,039
much value even placed in that because
the Suns were technically better defensively without Michael

817
00:53:55,039 --> 00:53:59,360
Bridges on the floor, but that's
only because of he's going up against starter

818
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:02,039
competition, the level of individual competition
he faces, and also the Suns were

819
00:54:02,079 --> 00:54:05,920
still elite with him on the court. It's just that the other line up

820
00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:09,280
se weren't in posted better defensive ratings
against lesser competition. For the most part,

821
00:54:09,599 --> 00:54:13,719
there is context and reasons for everything. You just have to date a

822
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:16,119
little bit deeper. So I do
think some of the coverage, I'm not

823
00:54:16,119 --> 00:54:20,760
going to call it national coverage or
localized coverage or TV coverage, some of

824
00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:25,639
the coverage has gotten lazy and frustrating. But the right coverage, or the

825
00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:30,519
one that aligns with how you want
to view the game, is out there,

826
00:54:30,679 --> 00:54:35,639
and we just don't have to pay
the ones that are truly out there

827
00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:42,440
too much credence. I don't think
no one I know is taking what Nick

828
00:54:42,559 --> 00:54:46,199
Wright specifically says, or even what
stephen A says and allowing it to shape

829
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:52,639
their basketball opinions. Those are people
who are responsible for covering the full breadth

830
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:57,360
of sports and rather than just basketball. And so if you're just a fan

831
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:00,119
of the NBA specifically or a team
in the NBA specific basketball in general,

832
00:55:00,599 --> 00:55:05,280
throw the WNBA college basketball in there
as well, you're going to probably have

833
00:55:05,639 --> 00:55:09,039
a better pulse on what's happening in
the league than the people who have to

834
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:15,199
cover a wider scope of sports in
general. And so it's it trickles down

835
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:20,280
like that to where Nick Wright is
not going to be as in tune with

836
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:23,039
the NBA as zach Low and zach
Low though, isn't going to be as

837
00:55:23,079 --> 00:55:29,320
in tune with the Pelicans rotations as
the in the no podcast guys Mason,

838
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:31,920
Ginsberg and Schmidt Duah, because that's
the team that they're covering on a regular

839
00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:36,199
basis, and zach lois to cover
the entire league. I don't think one

840
00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:40,159
person is more or less important than
the other or one type of coverage.

841
00:55:40,159 --> 00:55:43,599
They're all important. Like I said, I have so much respect for the

842
00:55:43,679 --> 00:55:47,440
localized coverage, the localized podcasts.
They I try to listen to as many

843
00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:51,239
as possible. I would categorize as
I listen to more than most, and

844
00:55:51,280 --> 00:55:55,239
I'm sure much less than some.
And they helped me a lot in how

845
00:55:55,320 --> 00:56:00,519
I approach covering their teams and the
game in general. So every like that's

846
00:56:00,559 --> 00:56:05,119
important. And I'm not saying that
what a nick right or the talking HEAs

847
00:56:05,159 --> 00:56:09,119
we're doing isn't important. It's just
it's a different type of coverage. It's

848
00:56:09,199 --> 00:56:15,840
not meant to be that granular,
and there's more of high stakes engagement at

849
00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:21,159
play there. That's just my opinion
on that matter. So to this Smart

850
00:56:21,239 --> 00:56:23,599
winning Defensive Player of the Year of
Rudy Gobert, I don't have an issue

851
00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:29,119
with it as long as we're willing
to have honest discussions about it. If

852
00:56:29,159 --> 00:56:34,920
you picked Marcus Smart because you think
Rudy Gobert is a liability against smaller lineups

853
00:56:35,159 --> 00:56:37,760
or just a liability in general in
the playoffs, then no, I don't.

854
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:39,400
I don't want to say that your
opinions invalid, but I'm going to

855
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:44,960
fundamentally disagree with that. If you
think it's dumb that Marcus Smart one defensive

856
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,159
player year because he didn't lead in
any of the defensive metrics. As someone

857
00:56:47,199 --> 00:56:51,960
who does place a lot of stock
and stats in general, I'm going to

858
00:56:52,039 --> 00:56:54,880
think that I'm going to fundamentally disagree
with that as well, because it's what

859
00:56:55,320 --> 00:56:59,840
we can tell, at least from
these defensive metrics, is it seems easier

860
00:57:00,159 --> 00:57:04,519
quantify the impact of Biggs. Whether
that's because the volume of shots they're facing

861
00:57:04,519 --> 00:57:07,280
around the rim and rebounds they're grabbing, it's just easier to quantify what it

862
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:12,400
seems. I don't know this for
a fact, So that's where I'm wanted

863
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:14,599
that I don't have an issue with
Marcus Smart winning. I wouldn't have an

864
00:57:14,599 --> 00:57:16,159
issue if it was Rudy Goobert,
wouldn't have an issue if it was Janie

865
00:57:16,159 --> 00:57:22,039
attend to Coupo mcal Bridges, Jaren
Jackson Junior. I think that we collectively

866
00:57:22,079 --> 00:57:25,800
also just have to get better with
this idea of there's you see it when

867
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:30,599
the All NBA teams come out or
when the when the award finalists came out,

868
00:57:30,679 --> 00:57:34,280
like we're naming the snubs. Jordan
Pool from the Most Improved Player discussion

869
00:57:34,719 --> 00:57:37,559
from the top three, the name
who he has to replace like, that's

870
00:57:37,599 --> 00:57:40,079
how we have to do this,
have an honest discussion about it, but

871
00:57:40,199 --> 00:57:43,440
also be comfortable with the idea that, yeah, you know what, like

872
00:57:43,679 --> 00:57:47,800
it could have been Jordan Pool over
John Morant or Darius Garland or or I

873
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:51,880
can't remember who the other finalist was. Wow, blank Dejante Murray who was

874
00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:55,559
actually my pick? Wow? And
that's just that's just life because there were

875
00:57:55,639 --> 00:58:00,960
so many deserving candidates. Let's be
better about sort of accepting that as a

876
00:58:01,079 --> 00:58:07,599
reality. That was a fun,
little long ass rant. Let's get to

877
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:12,719
this question from j G H.
If you are the Hornets, how do

878
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:16,440
you use their first two picks in
this year's draft? Pick at both package

879
00:58:16,599 --> 00:58:21,079
for a VET or a combination of
both. For context, the Hornets are

880
00:58:21,159 --> 00:58:27,079
holding number thirteen and number fifteen.
Now here's where it gets interesting is we

881
00:58:27,199 --> 00:58:31,320
also kind of tangentially mentioned this when
we were talking about the which teams from

882
00:58:31,320 --> 00:58:36,440
the lottery will be the best next
season. The Hornets need to beg like

883
00:58:36,559 --> 00:58:37,800
they and they need to change the
way that they play defense. A lot

884
00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:42,000
of people say that part of Brigos
failure was need to optimize Mason Plumbley on

885
00:58:42,079 --> 00:58:45,000
defense. If your job is to
optimize Mason Plumbley starting center on defense,

886
00:58:46,199 --> 00:58:50,119
you're fighting battle. I don't know. I don't know what else to say

887
00:58:50,159 --> 00:58:54,039
there. But they need just more
of a defensive backbone and that that starts

888
00:58:54,079 --> 00:58:58,639
on the perimeter or doesn't start.
But that includes having more of a base

889
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:02,159
and a consistent approach on the perimeter. But it's going to start with just

890
00:59:02,239 --> 00:59:07,119
having better backline protection where you're not
as weak or vulnerable on the glass giving

891
00:59:07,199 --> 00:59:12,239
up second chance points. Opportunities are
being put in weird pick and roll situations.

892
00:59:13,559 --> 00:59:16,280
You could go the route of,
hey, let's go get Miles Turner

893
00:59:16,519 --> 00:59:20,679
from Indiana. Let's just say he's
available, and you have two lottery picks

894
00:59:20,719 --> 00:59:22,760
that you can move after the draft. Yeah, and you have James Book,

895
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:27,400
now you have Kaijo. You could
go that route. I just wouldn't

896
00:59:27,400 --> 00:59:30,440
suggest it because I don't think the
Hornets are good enough and for some reason,

897
00:59:30,480 --> 00:59:35,559
I feel like there's just a misconception
of what their expectation should be.

898
00:59:35,760 --> 00:59:37,760
The other thing that I think it's
important to note, I don't subscribe to

899
00:59:37,800 --> 00:59:44,679
the idea that that bigs are eminently
replaceable. Certain ones are not. When

900
00:59:44,719 --> 00:59:47,079
you look at the Knicks, do
you need to pay Mitchell Robinson when you

901
00:59:47,280 --> 00:59:52,440
have Jericho Sims on the roster based
off what he showed. I don't know.

902
00:59:52,599 --> 00:59:54,960
I think it's an oversimplification to say, oh, why pay Mitchel Robinson

903
00:59:55,039 --> 00:59:58,840
when you can get Jericho Sims at
number fifty eight. That's not what I'm

904
00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:02,239
saying here. My gut instinct,
though, is that you could use one

905
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:07,400
of those lotto picks on a big
is. You know, look as someone

906
01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:13,840
who is only I'm not even like
ankle deep in draft coverage at the moment,

907
01:00:15,079 --> 01:00:17,360
So as someone who I'm just throwing
out names here, like is Durant

908
01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:22,559
available that someone whos they viewed as
a lottery prospect. There's Williams. He

909
01:00:22,639 --> 01:00:27,079
has a seven foot seven inch wingspan, and this is privileged supports Jake Wossonman,

910
01:00:27,159 --> 01:00:31,480
it showed great touch around flashes of
great touch and shot blocking. Could

911
01:00:31,519 --> 01:00:36,039
you put either one of those guys
that they're available into your rotation immediately?

912
01:00:36,079 --> 01:00:37,480
There has to be a commitment to
doing that. They didn't do it with

913
01:00:37,599 --> 01:00:40,440
Ky Jones. Maybe he just wasn't
ready. We did see some more minutes

914
01:00:40,480 --> 01:00:45,159
from JT. Thor, But I
do believe that you could get for what

915
01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:51,840
the Hornets need like a defensive remounder, a shot blocker. You could get

916
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:53,480
that in lottery, and someone who
could play right away. And so there's

917
01:00:53,480 --> 01:00:58,039
no need to go mortgaging more of
your future to get that big. With

918
01:00:58,159 --> 01:01:00,599
that being sad, you still need
the veteran presence because I don't know that

919
01:01:00,639 --> 01:01:04,960
you want a rookie tasked with sort
of salvaging, saving, rescuing, however

920
01:01:05,000 --> 01:01:07,800
you want to frame it your defense
here. I also think that you could

921
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:13,599
do that with the mid level exception, the non taxpayers mid level, which

922
01:01:13,599 --> 01:01:16,199
is what Charlotte's going to be working
with this summer. It's I don't know

923
01:01:16,320 --> 01:01:21,559
the names I've already mentioned, Nick
Claxton, Mitchell Robinson, those are two

924
01:01:21,639 --> 01:01:27,199
names that certainly spring to mind.
You have you know, like does Chris

925
01:01:27,320 --> 01:01:30,039
Bouchet, Like those are names that
should be available for that money. And

926
01:01:30,159 --> 01:01:34,079
if you want like higher end options, then yeah, sure you take to

927
01:01:34,119 --> 01:01:38,239
the trade market. I don't know
how higher end those options necessarily need to

928
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:44,039
be. I would this is the
cop out answer, but I would go

929
01:01:44,320 --> 01:01:46,719
the route of and I'm just going
through the big men free agents right now.

930
01:01:46,840 --> 01:01:50,880
It's just JaVale McGee is not going
to be a game changer for you,

931
01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:54,159
or I mean you don't have the
cap space to sign DeAndre and I

932
01:01:54,199 --> 01:01:58,360
don't know why the Suns would want
to even engage in sign and trade talks

933
01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:00,440
at this point, So there's not
a ton of options. But like there

934
01:02:00,519 --> 01:02:06,159
are guys where they could upgrade your
defense who are going to be at least

935
01:02:06,199 --> 01:02:08,360
a four. I mean even Kavan
Looney in Charlotte. I don't know how

936
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:12,280
much he's gonna help you with maybe
all of your core problems, but he

937
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:15,519
has more switched, he has more
switched to him. He's only twenty six

938
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:19,840
at the moment. So like those
are routes you could go. You could

939
01:02:19,840 --> 01:02:23,239
straddle the two lines, which maybe
is the cop out answer here is can

940
01:02:23,320 --> 01:02:27,880
you get Nick Claxton or Mitchell Robinson
and then also draft another bigs and I

941
01:02:27,960 --> 01:02:31,480
give three bites at the Apple and
Kai Jones, Mitchell Robinson or Nick's Claxton

942
01:02:31,719 --> 01:02:37,360
and number thirteen or fifteen? Do
you try and use number thirteen or fifteen

943
01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:39,880
to address another need and see what
you could still pair with Kai Jones,

944
01:02:39,920 --> 01:02:43,559
a pick and James book Knight.
Does that get you in the Miles Turner

945
01:02:43,960 --> 01:02:47,000
discussion? If not, does it
get you in the discussion for anybody else

946
01:02:47,679 --> 01:02:52,559
for this team, though, if
this is what we're sort of like,

947
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:54,760
if this is the head that we're
coming to, I guess no, I'm

948
01:02:54,840 --> 01:02:59,639
not looking at them and saying you
need to go after Rudy Gobert, like

949
01:02:59,719 --> 01:03:02,039
throw a full boat future picks,
which get iffy because do you have that

950
01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:07,400
technicality, that commitment to the Knicks
or I guess it's to Charlotte Now,

951
01:03:07,519 --> 01:03:10,159
is that the one that they traded
away? I'll double check that really quick.

952
01:03:12,079 --> 01:03:16,880
So that gets a little complicated.
But yeah, so it's two in

953
01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:20,239
land, but so that and that's
in twenty twenty, so that makes it

954
01:03:20,239 --> 01:03:23,760
a little a little bit finicky.
I'm not I would not urge them to

955
01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:27,360
go after Rudy Gobert would be a
perfect fit. If the asking price is

956
01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:30,960
low enough, then sure. I
would rather see, like what do the

957
01:03:30,039 --> 01:03:35,119
Spurs want for a Yaka peardle there? Just to have an elite RIM protector

958
01:03:36,119 --> 01:03:37,960
who could do a huge shot for
you mean you call the Sixers about and

959
01:03:38,039 --> 01:03:43,480
beat I'm clearly just kidding there that
you could. I would prefer that route

960
01:03:43,519 --> 01:03:45,679
for them if you can't. If
a mid level isn't enough to get Misseell

961
01:03:45,760 --> 01:03:50,079
Robinson or the Knicks willing to engage
in sign and trade talks. There,

962
01:03:50,519 --> 01:03:52,480
That's when I think it'll help you. I would even before I'm mortgaging the

963
01:03:52,559 --> 01:03:57,800
future on a Rudy Gobert like to
that extent, knowing how much Rudy Gobert

964
01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:00,039
makes down the line, and just
the urgency you all I'm attached to year

965
01:04:00,199 --> 01:04:04,280
three of a mellow. I prefer
to go like the Chris Bouche route.

966
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:08,480
If he's someone that you could pick
up, someone who has a little bit

967
01:04:08,519 --> 01:04:12,920
more bounced is a pretty okay Riom
Protector will will hit jump shots for you

968
01:04:13,519 --> 01:04:15,679
or I kid test jump shots for
you, Seth. He also will hit

969
01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:19,559
jump shots if anyone cares Turner,
I would get that like that would feel

970
01:04:19,639 --> 01:04:24,119
like the middle ground acquisition. If
you're giving up both your late lotto picks

971
01:04:24,159 --> 01:04:28,039
for Turner. Let's say two of
those picks in book Night. I'm two

972
01:04:28,119 --> 01:04:30,760
of kai Jone's book Night, and
those picks I'm not. You know,

973
01:04:30,960 --> 01:04:33,239
if that's all costs to get Rudy
Gobert too, by all means do it.

974
01:04:33,480 --> 01:04:36,559
You can go ahead and do that, but don't don't go the nuclear

975
01:04:36,679 --> 01:04:43,519
route for a big and I would
also argue that you need to commit to

976
01:04:43,679 --> 01:04:46,559
a direction first here because what are
you what else are you giving up to

977
01:04:46,679 --> 01:04:51,039
bring in these names that we just
mentioned specifically a Miles Turner or if you

978
01:04:51,280 --> 01:04:56,199
go to the Rudy Gobert route,
who else is part of those trades?

979
01:04:56,199 --> 01:04:59,960
Because he's money to match those salaries
and actually might be easy to step lottery

980
01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:03,400
a Miles Turner, but Rudy Gobert
makes a ship ton. But you're just

981
01:05:03,639 --> 01:05:09,559
kind of wallowing in the wilderness at
the moment, and you have tery Orsier

982
01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:12,599
about the end of the first of
a four year, ninety six million dollars

983
01:05:12,639 --> 01:05:15,880
extension. Gordon Hayward is two years
sixty plus million dollars left on his deal.

984
01:05:15,199 --> 01:05:18,320
His availability has been wonky. Miles
Bridge is a restrict to free agent.

985
01:05:18,639 --> 01:05:24,840
He's probably gonna cost you near max
or actual max money to bring back.

986
01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:30,400
Are you committed to this core or
is it a better route to you

987
01:05:30,480 --> 01:05:31,960
know, I know cap Space doesn't
call that far in Charlotte, but to

988
01:05:32,079 --> 01:05:36,320
get out of the deal's Rosier and
Heyward use that extra flexibility down the line

989
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:41,360
to take on other bad deals.
Attached to picks or just have trade for

990
01:05:41,519 --> 01:05:45,840
some players that elevate your immediate ceiling. I know there's probably a little bit

991
01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:49,119
more anxiety in Charlotte over the Lamento's
future. So I'm out, let's have

992
01:05:49,159 --> 01:05:54,719
already started talking about it. I
will believe that a player turns down his

993
01:05:54,840 --> 01:05:58,519
rookie extension when I see him.
And so worst case scenario, you still

994
01:05:58,599 --> 01:06:03,199
have let's say five years of Lamello
with you. That is time to figure

995
01:06:03,239 --> 01:06:06,119
it out. You don't need to
rush this. And I don't know that

996
01:06:06,199 --> 01:06:11,360
they're good enough at the top of
their roster aside or even if he's Lamello

997
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:15,400
and Miles Bridges to just say okay, like let's go after the Rudy Gobert

998
01:06:15,519 --> 01:06:17,840
and Gordon Hayward and Turtros or whatever
happens to them, Like that's not really

999
01:06:17,920 --> 01:06:23,800
that essential. You have Kelly Bridge
J're there. So I think they need

1000
01:06:23,880 --> 01:06:28,519
to choose a direction because if they
want to be a team where forty three

1001
01:06:28,639 --> 01:06:31,639
wins over the course of the two
game season's disappointment, it's not to me

1002
01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:36,400
just a matter of acquiring some upgrades
at the center spot. They're going to

1003
01:06:36,519 --> 01:06:44,000
have to be some more wholesale changes
to that roster where it's you know,

1004
01:06:44,119 --> 01:06:47,480
I don't know that your primary wing
options is Gordon Hayward and Kelly Roobridge Junior.

1005
01:06:48,440 --> 01:06:50,599
How far that's going to get you? Even I don't really know like

1006
01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:55,039
the value of Miles Bridges as your
second best player at this point. I

1007
01:06:55,079 --> 01:06:58,280
think you probably need someone who's going
to make him your third fourth best player

1008
01:06:58,360 --> 01:07:01,119
to truly optimize him. And so
what are you going to do to actually

1009
01:07:01,159 --> 01:07:04,239
make that happen. You're going to
have to be more aggressive on the trade

1010
01:07:04,280 --> 01:07:08,639
market, and I don't know who's
out there that you can feasibly get,

1011
01:07:08,760 --> 01:07:12,159
because again I don't think this is
just you can get Miles Turner and you're

1012
01:07:12,199 --> 01:07:15,639
there. I think he helps,
but you're still going to fall short of

1013
01:07:15,679 --> 01:07:18,440
the measuring stick to which this team
appears to be holding itself, or at

1014
01:07:18,480 --> 01:07:21,559
least the fan base is holding itself. I don't know, And so I'm

1015
01:07:21,639 --> 01:07:25,559
more of a fan of the gradual
approach here, or at least at least

1016
01:07:25,639 --> 01:07:30,880
realistic expect expectations. So I would
recommend that Horde Spans temper their expectations and

1017
01:07:30,960 --> 01:07:35,280
maybe honestly think about the roster that's
in place right now. And if they

1018
01:07:35,400 --> 01:07:39,280
want the team to do better or
the team is dead set on doing a

1019
01:07:39,360 --> 01:07:44,440
lot better, really transforming their position
within the competitive landscape, it's going to

1020
01:07:44,559 --> 01:07:51,440
just take a bunch of overhaul and
dice rolls and aggressive moves. Let's get

1021
01:07:51,480 --> 01:07:59,559
to these last couple questions here,
Frankie Bacon and the and the screaming popes,

1022
01:08:00,159 --> 01:08:02,039
why are the Kings like that?
I'm just assuming he's asking why are

1023
01:08:02,079 --> 01:08:05,480
the Kings in the sense that you
know they're not bringing out for Gentry Back

1024
01:08:05,559 --> 01:08:09,679
his head coach, and they have
the second lowest winning percentage of the NBI

1025
01:08:09,800 --> 01:08:14,519
since they last made the playoffs in
two thousand and six. If you're curious

1026
01:08:14,519 --> 01:08:16,600
as to who has the lowest winning
percentage, it is the Minnesota Timberwolves.

1027
01:08:16,720 --> 01:08:20,640
So I guess shout out to the
Kings for not being dead last in that

1028
01:08:20,760 --> 01:08:26,199
category. Do I think the Kings
are going to be substantially better next season?

1029
01:08:26,279 --> 01:08:28,399
If I frame it as that,
I don't have any faith in the

1030
01:08:28,520 --> 01:08:32,760
organization right now. The Demanta Savonas
trade, while justifiable from certain angles,

1031
01:08:32,800 --> 01:08:36,800
I think it's sort of increases their
aimlessness, at least for the moment.

1032
01:08:38,880 --> 01:08:41,079
What you need to see is what
they do over the off season. Where

1033
01:08:41,079 --> 01:08:44,279
are they moving Rashaun Holmes and what
are they getting back for him? Are

1034
01:08:44,359 --> 01:08:47,199
there going to be these weird rumors
about Daron Fox's future? Who just f

1035
01:08:47,479 --> 01:08:51,279
y is not in Albatross on his
current contract. He's he's a fringe all

1036
01:08:51,319 --> 01:08:56,279
star player and he finished the season
in that capacity. So I'm not worried

1037
01:08:56,600 --> 01:09:00,960
as worried as I was about the
the partnership between he and Samonis. They

1038
01:09:00,039 --> 01:09:06,079
had some good connections in chemistry before
Sabonis went down. But this roster,

1039
01:09:06,359 --> 01:09:12,600
you need Harrison Barnes there because he's
sort of maximizes the fit between those two

1040
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:15,079
and just the rest of the roster. You clearly have a defensive presence in

1041
01:09:15,119 --> 01:09:17,039
davy On Mitchell. You need to
hit on your first round pick. You

1042
01:09:17,119 --> 01:09:21,079
need actual wings on this roster,
Dante de Vincenzo, who's gonna be restrict

1043
01:09:21,079 --> 01:09:27,399
to free agent Justin Holidays kind of
whatever. You need to have more inspiring

1044
01:09:27,479 --> 01:09:31,199
options there, Like you have to
me maybe four poor players on this roster

1045
01:09:31,359 --> 01:09:34,640
five if you want to include this
year's lottery pick, so it'd be lottery

1046
01:09:34,720 --> 01:09:39,239
pick Sabonis, Barnes, Fox,
and davy On Mitchell, and I can't

1047
01:09:39,239 --> 01:09:45,960
include Rashaun Holmes in there just because
his future in Sacramentos is clearly he's on

1048
01:09:45,079 --> 01:09:47,600
the way out of there because you
can't make his Sabonis train and plan on

1049
01:09:47,680 --> 01:09:49,960
holding onto Rashaun Holmes long term.
I don't know what the move out there

1050
01:09:50,079 --> 01:09:53,680
is that they make, though I
said that I wanted them to do something,

1051
01:09:53,720 --> 01:09:57,000
anything, if it was cashing in
some of their chips for a star,

1052
01:09:57,199 --> 01:10:00,800
that it made sense. I just
thought said Starr would be more of

1053
01:10:00,880 --> 01:10:04,880
a directional harbinger than he actually was. And that's no offense to Sabonis.

1054
01:10:04,920 --> 01:10:09,960
He's a fantastic player. I just
don't know how much he nudges. They're

1055
01:10:09,960 --> 01:10:14,399
sealing him the Western Conference on his
own. With this current roster, the

1056
01:10:14,560 --> 01:10:18,000
Kings are not going to have cap
space this year to work with theyre so

1057
01:10:18,079 --> 01:10:21,319
they're not going to have like this
big spending advantage when it comes to poaching

1058
01:10:21,359 --> 01:10:27,279
free agents. And also newsflash,
this is not the summer post poach a

1059
01:10:27,319 --> 01:10:30,560
big time free agents anyway. What
can they do on the trade market?

1060
01:10:30,760 --> 01:10:33,319
I mean picks and Daman Mitchell like, are the package and you have some

1061
01:10:33,439 --> 01:10:40,640
nice salary filler. They're assuming you
don't want to give up Sabonis or Fox

1062
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:44,960
and those negotiations, then who's really
available. This team needs like a star

1063
01:10:45,079 --> 01:10:47,439
way more than anything, and those
don't grow on trees, and the ones

1064
01:10:47,520 --> 01:10:51,439
that exist, like are just not
readily up for grabs. Whenever we're talking

1065
01:10:51,520 --> 01:10:56,439
about the next disgruntled superstar, it
always kind of feels like we're talking about

1066
01:10:56,439 --> 01:10:59,880
a guard or a big Alianof's never
like, oh, I mean Luca don

1067
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:02,680
which I guess some people flirted with, but that's still years out. It's

1068
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:05,279
always just the I like, you
don't hear about, Oh, it's Jason

1069
01:11:05,319 --> 01:11:10,319
Tatum grow disenchanted and in Boston.
It's just it doesn't seem to work out

1070
01:11:10,359 --> 01:11:12,800
that way. It's, oh,
the Karl Anthony towns in Minnesota or the

1071
01:11:13,119 --> 01:11:17,560
Zion clock is already taking Lamello and
Charlotte. So not you know, trying

1072
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:21,800
to give those conversations merit. I'm
just that's just how it seems to pan

1073
01:11:21,880 --> 01:11:27,800
out. So they need to really
figure out a way to map to just

1074
01:11:27,960 --> 01:11:30,079
improve their perimeter defense, improve the
number of shooters that they're going to put

1075
01:11:30,119 --> 01:11:34,840
around Darren Fox and Sabonis, and
I think they could probably just use another

1076
01:11:35,039 --> 01:11:40,159
type of secondary ball handler. Damian
Mitchell showed sort of flashes to be that

1077
01:11:40,279 --> 01:11:44,319
guy, but you want a more
bankable option, I would think I would

1078
01:11:44,399 --> 01:11:47,239
expect some pretty size, big turnover
from them over the offseason. They're another

1079
01:11:47,279 --> 01:11:50,239
team that needs to commit to a
direction because they still think they're kind of

1080
01:11:50,279 --> 01:11:57,680
stuck in the sub middle. They're
clearly trying to angle for immediate semi contention,

1081
01:11:57,800 --> 01:12:00,319
whatever you want to call it.
So that's just going to more swings,

1082
01:12:00,560 --> 01:12:03,760
which is because it's going to entail
that. That's what we should expect

1083
01:12:03,760 --> 01:12:06,039
from the offseason. If they don't
do that, if there's more of a

1084
01:12:06,079 --> 01:12:12,880
status quo here, that's a fucking
problem. GreenScreen Greg will be our last

1085
01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:15,479
question. I believe I'll make sure
that I didn't miss. Oh no,

1086
01:12:15,600 --> 01:12:19,039
there's one more after his actually two
more after his green screen. Greg asked

1087
01:12:19,159 --> 01:12:25,079
Luca question mark, thank you,
green screen Greg. Luca is anticipating to

1088
01:12:25,439 --> 01:12:30,079
return from his cash strain in either
Game three or Game four. Utah should

1089
01:12:30,119 --> 01:12:34,119
be scared as hell about that,
because if you think Jillen runs in and

1090
01:12:34,199 --> 01:12:38,399
Spencer Dinwity picking apart, your crunch
time defense is a problem. Wait till

1091
01:12:38,399 --> 01:12:42,640
you meet Luca nanche is doing the
same, not as you know. There's

1092
01:12:42,680 --> 01:12:45,800
a change of speed to the way
he plays stop and start. Maybe he's

1093
01:12:45,800 --> 01:12:48,800
not as fast as going downhill.
Spencer did what he can accelerate from sort

1094
01:12:48,800 --> 01:12:53,720
of a stop quicker than John Brunson. Is way more explosive, but he

1095
01:12:53,840 --> 01:12:57,760
will he will find your weak spot
and he will press on it. If

1096
01:12:57,880 --> 01:13:02,000
Luca comes back, let's think game
four, I'm gonna pick the MAVs.

1097
01:13:02,079 --> 01:13:05,279
In seven. I think if it's
game three, I'll stick with the MAVs

1098
01:13:05,319 --> 01:13:09,520
and seven. If Luca comes back
before game five, the MAVs will win

1099
01:13:10,079 --> 01:13:14,640
this series because I'm just anticipating the
Dallas even without him and steal one of

1100
01:13:14,720 --> 01:13:16,600
two in Utah. I don't I
don't trust the Jazz anymore. I trust

1101
01:13:16,640 --> 01:13:20,800
Mike Conley, I do trust Rico
Bears defense. I trust Royce O'Neill.

1102
01:13:21,399 --> 01:13:25,680
The trust meter starts to run thin
after that. Donovan Mitchell is a playoff

1103
01:13:25,760 --> 01:13:29,479
killer on offense, but he just
goes through these really bad decision making stretches.

1104
01:13:29,960 --> 01:13:33,439
It's terrible defense, and then it's
just like weird shots on offense,

1105
01:13:33,520 --> 01:13:38,159
maybe too early in the shot clock
or missing someone who is trailing in the

1106
01:13:38,239 --> 01:13:41,760
corner that he could have found and
you know, avoiding them for just like

1107
01:13:41,840 --> 01:13:45,479
this contested Layoup. There were a
lot of these, just like single pass

1108
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:49,399
possessions for them down the stretch.
I don't trust Utah anymore, and so

1109
01:13:50,640 --> 01:13:56,239
if Luca doesn't, if Luca returns
before Game five is expected, I'm just

1110
01:13:56,279 --> 01:13:59,319
gonna take the MAVs and MAVs and
seven. My original pick was the Jazz

1111
01:13:59,359 --> 01:14:01,000
and seven thos. I'll stick with
it until we get a concrete status on

1112
01:14:01,079 --> 01:14:06,960
Luca. But that is not good
news for Utah that Luca is coming back.

1113
01:14:08,399 --> 01:14:11,680
Also, congradulations to Jail and Brunson, who he was probably gonna get

1114
01:14:11,720 --> 01:14:16,000
paid anyway, but that dude's gonna
get paid this offseason. Last two questions,

1115
01:14:16,600 --> 01:14:19,479
Jack Olmore asked, who's the best
three point shoot ever? In the

1116
01:14:19,520 --> 01:14:23,560
sense of career three point percentage?
Do you think it will ever be beaten?

1117
01:14:23,880 --> 01:14:26,800
We'll say a minimum of five years
to make it more realistic. LOL.

1118
01:14:28,199 --> 01:14:31,319
So I just sorted by five hundred
career three point attempts because if anyone

1119
01:14:31,399 --> 01:14:35,079
who is on here and got to
five hundred in play five years, it's

1120
01:14:35,159 --> 01:14:40,640
probably in this era and they'll be
playing. If they're taking that many threes

1121
01:14:40,720 --> 01:14:44,279
and over two or three seasons,
they'll probably be sticking. So Steve Kerr

1122
01:14:44,680 --> 01:14:47,920
out of everyone in NBA history who
has attended at least five hundred threes for

1123
01:14:48,039 --> 01:14:51,960
their career leads and three point percentage
at forty five point four. Hubert Davis

1124
01:14:53,079 --> 01:14:58,039
is two at forty four point one, Seth Curry number three at forty three

1125
01:14:58,039 --> 01:15:01,840
point nine, Joe Harris tied for
third at forty three point nine, and

1126
01:15:01,920 --> 01:15:08,880
then Drayson Petrovic forty three point seven
is number five. Desmond Bane of the

1127
01:15:08,920 --> 01:15:11,840
Grizzlies is number six, So like
that's where he would be filtered out by

1128
01:15:11,880 --> 01:15:15,279
the second the minimum of five years, so would Trayson Petrovich. But we

1129
01:15:15,600 --> 01:15:18,479
you know, for obvious reasons he
was. He was a joy to watch,

1130
01:15:18,640 --> 01:15:21,840
although I was not old enough to
appreciate it in real time. Jason

1131
01:15:21,880 --> 01:15:26,720
Coppono was seven here, Tim Lailer's
eighth, Steve Novak is ninth, Kyle

1132
01:15:26,760 --> 01:15:29,920
Klover's tenth, and then we get
Steph Curry down at eleventh at forty two

1133
01:15:29,960 --> 01:15:33,319
point So you could measure this just
in different ways. It's tough to say

1134
01:15:33,399 --> 01:15:36,239
whether I think it will be broken. Just because Steve Kerr's not taking the

1135
01:15:36,319 --> 01:15:41,039
same kind of shots that Steph Curry
is SOT mean taking, He wasn't even

1136
01:15:41,079 --> 01:15:44,000
taking the same kind of shots that
a Seth Curry is at this point,

1137
01:15:44,079 --> 01:15:47,079
I do ultimately think that we'll get
to a point where someone retires with just

1138
01:15:47,239 --> 01:15:51,119
an absurd volume and he shot over
forty five percent from three. That's just

1139
01:15:51,479 --> 01:15:55,800
maybe we won't get there because you
look at the Trey Youngs and Lucas and

1140
01:15:55,960 --> 01:16:00,279
just James Hardens, and the level
of difficulty that are you know, built

1141
01:16:00,399 --> 01:16:04,479
into their shots is going to give
way to a lower percentage. But I

1142
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:10,039
think as Seth Curry, Joe Harris, guys who are taking not super easy

1143
01:16:10,119 --> 01:16:12,319
looks all the time. There's some
pull up stuff, there's a little bit

1144
01:16:12,319 --> 01:16:15,399
of off the dribble work, there's
there's guys flying around screens. I could

1145
01:16:15,439 --> 01:16:20,359
see that Steve Kerr's record will eventually
be broken by someone when when they were

1146
01:16:20,399 --> 01:16:23,479
there. So I'll go with yes. Would I say that that players in

1147
01:16:23,479 --> 01:16:28,319
the league right now? Probably not, but I do think it will be

1148
01:16:28,359 --> 01:16:31,000
broken. I don't think that is
an unbeatable record, although holy crap,

1149
01:16:31,079 --> 01:16:35,239
Steve Kerr right final question comes from
Simon and I really like this one.

1150
01:16:35,560 --> 01:16:39,880
If the Bucks win again this year, do we have to rethink the Yannis

1151
01:16:39,960 --> 01:16:43,680
all time ceiling? Example, are
we now looking at someone who could likely

1152
01:16:43,760 --> 01:16:46,159
break into the top ten. If
anyone's listened to Adam and I discussed this

1153
01:16:46,239 --> 01:16:48,920
before in this podcast, you know
full well we think jan is going already

1154
01:16:48,960 --> 01:16:53,359
break into the top ten and it
begs itself to an interest. So to

1155
01:16:53,439 --> 01:16:57,039
answer Simon's question, if he wins
in back to back years, especially when

1156
01:16:57,079 --> 01:17:00,560
there's a team like the Suns that
exist but the Warriors kind of peak and

1157
01:17:00,760 --> 01:17:03,239
so much just talent at the top
of the West, when you look at

1158
01:17:03,279 --> 01:17:08,600
Miami in Boston specifically, and then
maybe the hypothetical ceilings of Brooklyn and Philly.

1159
01:17:09,399 --> 01:17:12,800
Hell yeah, Like it just changes
his all time ceiling where maybe that

1160
01:17:12,880 --> 01:17:15,279
discussion about him finishing is one of
the ten best players of all time becomes

1161
01:17:15,359 --> 01:17:21,239
more mainstream, but it lends itself
to a larger question of how many potentially

1162
01:17:21,359 --> 01:17:25,560
top ten all time players are in
the league right now. And I'm not

1163
01:17:25,720 --> 01:17:30,960
trying to be incendiary with this take
between Steph KD, Jannis and Lebron,

1164
01:17:31,600 --> 01:17:36,000
Like that's I would say four legitimate
candidates, and are there people that are

1165
01:17:36,000 --> 01:17:41,319
say, oh Luca or Yo Kich
is gonna belong in that discussion, or

1166
01:17:41,359 --> 01:17:45,840
a Zion or or at this point
Kay Cunningham. So those were getting too

1167
01:17:45,840 --> 01:17:49,680
far ahead. But it feels like
right now, and this is without Yannis

1168
01:17:49,680 --> 01:17:56,960
winning that second title, Kevin Rant, Jannis, Steph and we know Lebron

1169
01:17:57,119 --> 01:18:00,720
is already there, Like, those
are four real top ten candidates that are

1170
01:18:00,760 --> 01:18:04,279
just active. Is there a recency
bias kaked in there? Maybe? But

1171
01:18:04,520 --> 01:18:09,840
where would Yannis rank among those three
four all time? You can really say

1172
01:18:09,920 --> 01:18:12,560
three because Lebron will be in front
of him. Would you have a better

1173
01:18:12,680 --> 01:18:16,039
case from the top ten than Stephor
kd I don't think so yet, but

1174
01:18:16,199 --> 01:18:20,399
those three would be really neck and
neck if Yannis is picking up title number

1175
01:18:20,479 --> 01:18:26,560
two. And look the emotional sentimental
value that will be given to his titles

1176
01:18:26,600 --> 01:18:30,399
if they come in Milwaukee. I
totally get it. Steps shouldn't be any

1177
01:18:30,439 --> 01:18:33,960
different because he's been a Warrior's lifer
as well, But you know, playing

1178
01:18:33,960 --> 01:18:38,199
on the Warriors is to play in
more of a glamor market. I guess

1179
01:18:38,279 --> 01:18:43,319
technically, and there wasn't. It's
just Yannis is different like, there's narrative

1180
01:18:43,359 --> 01:18:45,159
and anecdotes that shape it a lot. There were people that were waiting for

1181
01:18:45,239 --> 01:18:48,880
his regency for years because they were
convinced that he was going to leave or

1182
01:18:49,239 --> 01:18:53,640
ask for a trade. So yes, I do think it would have to

1183
01:18:53,720 --> 01:18:56,920
It would definitely reframe the discussion.
But simon, I think we're already there.

1184
01:18:57,039 --> 01:19:00,239
So where those are the four players
you look at right now currently league

1185
01:19:00,279 --> 01:19:02,439
and think that they have a chance
to be When all said it done and

1186
01:19:02,520 --> 01:19:08,399
we fast forward to the MBA's one
hundredth anniversary rather than seventy fifth, those

1187
01:19:08,399 --> 01:19:13,319
are four players that could be in
the top ten all time list. This

1188
01:19:13,600 --> 01:19:15,880
was fun. I hope you did
not tire of me doing this solo.

1189
01:19:16,119 --> 01:19:19,319
This might be something I throw in
as a third podcast every week because I'm

1190
01:19:19,359 --> 01:19:21,920
trying to provide more content for everyone, But I'm not sure if I have

1191
01:19:23,000 --> 01:19:25,479
the bandwidth for it. Do you
all even have the bandwidth to listen to

1192
01:19:25,520 --> 01:19:30,159
three Hardwoknox episodes a week? Anyway, I rambled here for like eighty minutes,

1193
01:19:30,199 --> 01:19:31,960
which is way more than I wanted
to. Let me just close by

1194
01:19:32,000 --> 01:19:35,319
saying remember to rate, review and
subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

1195
01:19:35,359 --> 01:19:38,680
If you haven't done those things that
have made it this far, please

1196
01:19:38,760 --> 01:19:41,399
do those things. If you've already
done all those things, make sure you're

1197
01:19:41,399 --> 01:19:45,399
following all our other accounts Instagram,
YouTube, TikTok, Twitter. They are

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in the description Join our discord channel. Let's have some fun people, and

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also remember to subscribe to our YouTube. Last, but certainly not least,

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shout out to the one the old
currently on a lay off roster lockdown defenders

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should have won Defensive Player of the
Year. We don't care what the metrics

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say or the eye test says.
It's just about our gut feeling. Frank Delapa