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What is up, fellow thermonuclear a
efforts. I am Dampa Valley coming at

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you with my fans. Have you
listic fans? Have you vicious? Even

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co host Grant Hughes. Before we
get started, please remember to subscribe to

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the podcast wherever you consume it YouTube
hit that subbuton like comment, help the

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algorithm, love us back. Subscribe
on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google,

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wherever you get your pods Downloavery episode. If you've done all those things,

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please consider telling people about us.
Retweet our promos on Twitter, and

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follow us on all the socials which
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and finally, join our discord.
Don't be like Grant, join the discord.

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Lots of fun conversations happening in there. As a refresher, we each

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we split this up and we just
came up with what are our biggest most

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pressing or question is for each squad. We tried to be like in depth

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about this, but also the reason
we're asking these questions is because we don't

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necessarily know the answers. There were
people, specifically the YouTube comments who were

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like, well, why would you
make a podcast out of things you don't

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know? We're curious people, and
like that's the nature of this exercise,

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Like I don't have all the like
I'm not asking this question I'm about to

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ask about the Atlanta Hawks. If
I knew the answer to it, I

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would tell you the answer. So
I thought it was an instructive exercise.

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Some people disagree. Here's hoping you
enjoy it. We begin with the Miami

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Heat and my question for them.
Miami Heat be tanking for Victor wem Yama.

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My actual question for them is it
like, is there is this title

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window of this cord just closed?
And I'm gonna use that to sort of

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segue into the offensive concerns I have
for them. They have. They've been

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banged up some games beyond comprehension.
When you look at his available Butler's dealing

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with the knee injury, but the
heat or twenty second in offense, They've

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lost six of their last nine games. They're twenty sixth in offense during this

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stretch. They are bottom seven in
rim field goal percentage and frequency. They're

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twenty fifth in three point shooting.
They cannot function without Jimmy Butler, ninth

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percentile in the half court without him, or and then you look at just

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like all four of their stars playing
together. Stars are put in quotes,

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but you have Hero, Bam,
Lowry, and Butler. They have not

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played a ton together, so I
want to note that. But their their

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offense is in the thirty first percentile
with all of those stars up, all

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those players on the floor, which
is just like, those are your four

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best players. You would want them
to be like really freaking good together.

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And I don't know what the answer
is here, Like if you're getting to

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a point which oh, like gave
Vincen's injured, what the fuck are we

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gonna do? That's probably a sit, Like that's a pretty big issue,

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and I don't know what the pathway
to fixing this team is. Internally,

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it's is it Victor Oladipo comes back
and they're fine. I think at minimum

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they need someone who's like at the
four just to like it can't be Kla,

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Martin, Nikola Yovitch or Bam had
a bio together, Like that's the

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fact of the really talking like that's
needed to happen a bunch already, So

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at minimum they need to do something
like that. But Jay crowd are coming

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in, I don't think that makes
your offense going from bottom ten, bottom

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five right now again they've been so
banged up to like lee average, and

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so is this is a team that's
built to win ugly in the playoffs or

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is there something more sinister at play
here that well, that's that's the question,

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because we've seen the heat just there. They are. They are built

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sometimes or often to just grind out
games, you know, and they and

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a lot of that's like a mentality
and an experienced thing, I think,

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you know, other than you know, the injuries have been a factor,

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but there was some foreseeability here with
just didn't fill a starting spot, you

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know, they just Tucker left and
they just didn't backfill that. And all

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of the hypotheticals of well, can
we really play Caleb Martin at the for

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that often? Are we gonna trust
a rookie a teenage rookie. Are we're

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gonna have Jimmy Butler just be the
four all the time? Like? And

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that means are we gonna play hero
in the first unit? And what's that

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going to do to the offense off
the bench? Which has been like there's

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just all these questions that were foreseeable, they just weren't answered. So on

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some on some level, Like,
yeah, this is just this is just

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what this team is. I do
think, you know, there's some there's

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some optimism. I think you should
you should bake in just because, like

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you know, they're set top seven
in minutes this year, which is starting

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at the bottom. It goes Vincent
Hero, Martin Struce out of Bio Butler

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Lowry, Like that's pretty solid.
There's not a power forward in there,

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which is a problem that we talked
about. And you're pretty small in general,

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but line up with Kayleb Martin though
has held up fairly well. Defensively,

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Martin's been good. Are you shooting
thirty eight percent from three plays?

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Really hard? Like, I just
think it's probably not great if if he

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has started more games than anyone on
the team other than Lowry, and even

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that's like how about that. I'm
just surprised myself just reading that. It

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feels to me, Yeah, you're
right. I think they if to level

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up. I don't think this offense
is good enough to do anything in the

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playoffs. They need another guy.
It's not Oladipo, by the way.

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He was like my swing piece for
them preseason, you know, kind of

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an X factor idea of like,
well, that's you know that, I

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feel like the ship is maybe sailing. The number of teams I endorsed signing

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him before free agency, Boy,
are they lucky they didn't listen to me,

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right? You know? I was. I thought he would. I

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thought he potentially might matter a lot. But really, even if he were

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healthy, how much does that really
change? You know? It? He's

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he doesn't bring the size. He
doesn't He's not a guy who guards wings

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or combo forwards. You know,
I don't know. Yeah, the heater,

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the heater. I'm always is hesitant
because I was just looking today at

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the standings, like, holy shit, they're what are they seven and eleven

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or something? Or they're down,
you know, outside the plan that seems

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wrong, But then you look at
just the talent and the way it's put

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together. I don't think they're going
to finish the season under five hundred,

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but I would really have to do
some gymnastics to get them up even into

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the like Atlanta, Cleveland, Toronto
tier. In terms of where I think

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they'll be at the end of the
year, I don't like I'm I've always

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defaulted to just the heat or going
to figure it out, sure, but

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like this is just I don't know
something feel and I don't know what we're

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expecting to get better because the half
court offense was an issue last year.

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By the way, this isn't just
coming out of the blue, right,

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And so yeah, I don't like
I wonder if they are a team that's

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always been aggressive, but are they
a team that do you feel good enough

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about this team if you are Miami
to that make in aggressive trade. And

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they're also they're even limited what they
could do there because of Tyler Hero signing

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that extension. It's like everything they
do is going to be Duncan Robinson,

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koly Yovic and a crap ton of
picks. And so like, I'm not

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saying the ceiling is Jay Crowder,
but like even a move like that,

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you're not even dealing directly with the
Phoenix Suns, is my guest, because

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they have no use for Duncan Robinson. Yeah, and the other things like

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are you trading when he's tarrade eligible
Kleb Martin, like that he would actually

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make sense for Phoenix, but like
does that like going from Jay Crowder to

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Caleb Martin. So it's tough for
me to envision a deal that addresses the

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myriad concerns that he'd have right now, and if you're looking at it internally,

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I actually think Tyler hero has been
He's clearly not focused on setting up

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teammates as much this year. I
think he's been really good overall. Looking

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at the types of shots he's sitting. I know people want him to play

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off the ball a little bit more. He's hitting like a pretty good percentage

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of his pull up threes right now, And to be quite honest, like

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they need him to hit those shots
because he's the only one on the team

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who can hit there, Like Jimmy
Butler's not hitting off the dribble threes and

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Kyle Lowry's been all over the place
with those. So sorry, go ahead,

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no, I was gonna say.
The hero narrative is one that was

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we talked about in the playoffs,
like that's that's too again, Like how

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how different is this really with the
half court offense. I remember it being

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the thought being going into every Heat
series was the defense will be good.

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I'm just not sure how they get
a bucket outside of Butler and and it

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all felt a hero and it's like
Hero was a huge determinant of their success

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in playoff series, and that's fine, but it's also a part of the

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reason that they're just not getting anything
done offensively this year. Where do you

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land on BAM. I love the
theory of BAM, just just I've always

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loved the guy that that could facilitate
from the elbows, could guard five positions

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and rim protect. I think the
rim protection and aspect has kind of long

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been overblown. I also think it's
very clear that he probably needs to be

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like, no more than you're like
third offensive option on a really good team

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and on a great offense, he's
probably just passing and and rolling and cutting

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and he's not creating anything because I
don't know, like that's that's a luxury,

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and I think, you know,
if you had an offense that was

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otherwise just better equipped, and then
you know, he could kind of explore

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the space a little more. But
I think offensively he's not someone that you

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if you need twenty from out of
Baio to like an efficient twenty to survive

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on offense, and it's not like
a luxury that he does once in a

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while, then I think that's probably
not the best place to be. He's

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he just teases me so much.
He's ratchet it up a little bit lately.

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He leads Miami and shot attempts over
the past per game over there over

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here is I think he played in
sixth to the last seven, But that's

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like, you know, part of
that just because look at who's available on

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there. But he's averaging over twenty
during that stretch up throwing a lot of

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turnovers this year as well. He's
a fantastic player, uh love Defensive Player

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of the Year candidate. I think
I might be with you where it's he

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might need to be your third best
offensive player on like the type of team

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you're looking for. He can be
a really important piece of an offense.

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But the shot attempts, I think
it's just that just doesn't feel to me,

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like maybe maybe he could be two
if your first guy is like different

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from Jimmy Butler, where they kind
of occupy a little bit of the same

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space a lot of the time.
The fact that the idea was that Bam

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needed to be this team's best player
at some point, I think almost works

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against him because I don't I don't
think that's the answer. Jimmy Butler needs

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to be your best player if you're
going to have a line to title contention.

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Yeah, or if Autobio is your
best player, it's because he runs

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away with Defensive Player of the Year
and is like pretty good on offense,

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Like that's the that's that would be
ideal. But again we're talking about the

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Heats offense and it's not good enough. I have the Bucks next. This

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is kind of a two parter related
again to kind of a positional issue.

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Can Chris Middleton save the offense?
In part two? Does that mean Javon

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Carter can keep starting? So,
like, Grayson Allen seems like one of

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those Grayson Allen is kind of in
the John Collins camp of just he's in

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every like, well, what if
you know the Bucks moved him for something?

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Maybe that's gonna be Jay Crowder.
But so, the Bucks so far

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this season great defensively, as you
mentioned earlier, they figured out how to

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protect the rim and keep you from
shooting threes, which is a pretty solid

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way to be one of the best
defenses in the league. They're twenty second

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on offense again this is a day
old, twenty fourth, and effective field

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goal percentage eighteenth and turnover percentage those
are all the worst figures they've had since

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twenty fifteen. Sixteen, which is
really kind of not quite you honest time

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yet, like he wasn't he wasn't
full full, you know, fledged honest

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at that point, right, So
that's significant. So I mean, it's

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you can throw the caveats in of
you know, it's early. Middleton hasn't

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played yet, Pat Conaton hasn't played
Holiday, and you honest have both missed

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time. But like, this is
a top seven offense each of the last

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four years, and Middleton is a
guy that they trust with a lot of

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late game possessions. He runs a
lot of the pick and rolls with Yannis

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to the extent that the Bucks ever
do that. He's the guy they trust

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with the ball the most. So
does him coming back just suddenly mean that

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the Bucks are now, you know, the best defense in the league and

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a top five offense again, I
kind of I'm hesitant, just because it's

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just there are bigger problems, or
there are more problems, not bigger ones

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than Middleton being out. There's just
several players that have either underperformed or haven't

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been on the floor often enough.
But what interests me most is I like

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the idea of Javon Carter playing with
the starters because you could sort of you

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get some you know, it's kind
of cool to have another point guard ish

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player on the floor. And also
I think he can guard up. He's

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spent a fair amount of time guarding
wings, and we know Holiday can guard

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frigging power forward if he has to. So you get something interesting going there,

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and maybe the Middleton return and and
Carter staying in as a starter or

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as a in a big role playing
with the starters kind of gets the bucks

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to that, like, oh this
is now this at least our best five

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just doesn't really give opponents any quarter
on either end because Carter is a thirty

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eight percent three point shooter, low
volume, but he's not going to take

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that away. And if that's all
Alan is doing for you, for example,

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is running around off screens and shooting
threes, then I mean Carter's not

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going to be as mobile. But
the defensive boost is ridiculous. So one,

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I'll just throw it to you if
Middleton comes back, like do you

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have any offensive concerns at all anymore? And would you have Carter be starting

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in place of Grayson Allen or whoever
else? Throw marj On bo Champ in

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there, who had a couple of
solid ones. I know you're big on

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him, but would you keep Carter
in the starting five? Look, they

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beat the Blazer and Pat Conaton's return
so info, So you're everything you just

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said is invalid because bat Conaton is
going to say this office No. I

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think, Look, did you know
that Milwaukee has the least efficient transition offense

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in the NBA right now? No? And how is that possible? And

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I think what Middleton does and also
Drew Holiday was hitting his threes. What

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that does is it opens the floor
both in the half court and in transition

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to make things better. So I
do think we can default towards this might

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be okay. I've been a big
advocate of this. I know the Eurostep

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podcast one of the best NBA podcasts
out there. They cover the Bucks.

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Uh Ty Windish has We've discussed how
they don't want to see honest, they

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don't want to see them downsizing.
I still think the pathway to unlocking this

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offense would be can you get that
Jay Crowder trade done? And that's how

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you open the floor because you can't. Great Grace now might open the floor,

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but he's not your nudging Chris Middleton
or Pat Connaton is your four.

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That just doesn't make as much theoretical
sense on both sides of the ball.

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And then Mark Stewin said they were
on the verge of getting Crowder from Phoenix.

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I want to know what that trade
looked liked was Phoenix getting Milwaukee's twenty

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twenty nine pick because Grace now and
for Jake Crowder is not like, that's

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not the move of your Phoenix And
who wants Like what is Grace now and

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getting you? I know Jake Crowder's
value is plummeted, but I would have

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been I want to know what the
terms of that deal was the fact that

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it came out probably means it won't
happen now. But I think we need

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to see it with Middleton back because
he changed the dynamics in the half court

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a lot, like he is probably
their most important ball handler in the half

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court. I think that that's fair
to say over Drew Holiday. He just

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has a different cadence and level to
his game. And where Drew Holiday is

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kind of just like he's gonna bail
out at the rim, but then settle

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for a step back. But he
can get to the rim, but he's

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gonna finish there. We seen him
have some issues with that in the playoffs.

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I think Middleton there's more of just
like an underlying smoothness, being able

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to get just so comfortable in the
mid range, being able to hit off

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the dribble threes, run the two
man game with Jannie. That is just

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like that's always worked really well for
Milwaukee. I think to see it with

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Middleton back, and my guests would
be the offense will be fine. Does

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Chris Middleton coming back really help their
transition offense? I do not know.

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I think you know, Jannie needs
to shoot better from the floor. He

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graded out. I actually just did
this statistically, relative to volume and efficiency,

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Jannie has been one of the five
least valuable shooters in the league this

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season. That doesn't include free throws
either. She's not hitting his mid rangers.

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Three is at his usual clip,
and so you need those to creep

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up a little bit more. You
can say, yeah, well he should

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just become less reliant on them.
I'm a big believer that there is value

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in the volume, and you can, especially when Middleton's not available, Like,

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you can't just bank on him getting
the rim every five seconds. Yeah,

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he's STI shooting over like seventy percent
at the rim. That's great,

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He's not always going to be able
to get there, and so I think,

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look and the offensive efficiency, if
he's shooting better than like fifty eight

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percent from the foul line, it
probably looks a little bit different as well.

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So I can't bring myself to be
too worried. But like, and

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they also, like, let's not
forget they have Joe Ingle kind of coming

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back at some points, So this
might just be a slow burn from Milwaukee.

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I'm not a super big believer,
like the fact that Wesley Matthews misses

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a few games and I'm like,
this feels like it really matters, Like

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that's not like the best place to
be in the year twenty twenty three that

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we're coming up one with the Davon
Carter stuff. Yeah, I'm not a

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Grace and Allen guy. I think
like, so I would absolutely like,

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if you think that's gonna and Javan
Carter is gonna give you more aggressive defense

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and even just more aggressive offense than
George Hill I healthy George Hill. I

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would totally try that. And but
I do think ultimately like they either need

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another ball handling up grade, which
I just don't think it's feasible with the

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trade assets they have, or I
do think they need the ability even if

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you don't want to do it in
the regular season. This is how we

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get to Jannis as the lone big
and look, maybe we have someone at

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the four in Jay Crowder who can
cover some of the fives and tussle with

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some of those guys on the glass
so that Jannis doesn't have to. I

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do think they ultimately need to get
there. I don't think Joe Angeles is

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going to be that player for them, and I think Bucks fans will push

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back against this because yes, it's
a recycled conversation. I asked Ty Witness

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about it every five seconds for a
reason, I firmly believe it. Though

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I'm not trying to latch onto something
that is overdiscussed. I really think that

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that is especially in the playoffs,
and there's value and understanding how to play.

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Brook Lope is really fucking good too, and Bobby Portis has been,

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you know, an asset for Milwaukee. But when you're trying to look at

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optimizing the best versions of yourself,
especially when you don't have that other creator

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in Chris Middleton, that's when I
think you can argue in Chris Middleton comes

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back, it's probably less important to
get to be honest at the as your

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loan big whatever you want to call
it, then you would right now.

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But I still think you need that
option and they just don't have it.

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Yeah, I think that's right.
I think it's interesting. If the goal

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is to get our regular season offensive
rating up, then downsizing I think makes

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a lot of sense. But if
the goal is to like I'm you're gonna

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have to work a little harder on
me to I think brook Lopez, especially

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like this year, this is the
wrong time to be saying we should take

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brook Lopez off the floor because he's
getting all this defensive player of the Year

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hype and has been really good and
has looked like you would never guess this

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is a guy that had back surgery, especially at this age in his career.

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I think, I don't know.
I still think the best version of

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the Bucks just has be honest at
the four just overall. But yeah,

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I think if you're trying to figure
out how to create some space, get

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get more bodies moving, you do
the crowder, and that the four and

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honest that the five is just like
hit you over the head. Obvious or

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if not crowd or someone like that
that maybe isn't you know, on the

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wrong on the on the wrong side
of the agent curve. I can't talk

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about the Bucks anymore because I really
want to see you up for the Knicks.

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Who All right, I hope everyone
has an hour and a half.

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I have talked too much about Tom
Thibodeau and the front office. It's time

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to talk about r J. Barrett. Okay, the question is I'm not

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answering it. I want to make
that clear. Was the RJ Barrett extension

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00:20:04,039 --> 00:20:08,240
of mistake and did they overvalue him
in general? Where they could have had

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Donovan Mitchell for RJ Barrett and Hella
picks per Donovan Mitchell, which was like

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the best way to phrase it.
Anyway, he has been so uneven this

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season. Listen to these splits.
First five games of the year thirty four

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point six percent from two, fourteen
point three percent from three, His next

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seven games after that, forty five
point five percent from two, forty two

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point nine percent from three. The
following five games after that forty five point

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five percent on two's holding steady two
of twenty five on threes eight percent.

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Then he goes on Monday Night is
ten of sixteen from the floor. So

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the direct game after that, there
needs to be more zemblance of offensive consistency

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from RJ. Barrett. He was
finishing better at the rim at one point.

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That has now dropped back below sixty
percent. He was hovering around sixty

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percent per clean the glass there.
That's now dropped back below sixty percent.

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The thing I will say in his
defense, and I also think he's had

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some He's gotten better, but he's
had some really just like oof defensive moments

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this year where he feels eminently screenable
and it's like, well, that's not

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the RJ. Barrett that I've grown
to appreciate over the past couple of seasons.

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They still and they've done it a
little bit more, probably because they

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have to with some of the lineup
decision they've been dealing with. He needs

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to be staggered more from Julius Randall. That number, and I've cited this

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a bunch of times now, not
on the podcast, but in stuff I've

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written. Eighty two point five percent
of RJ. Barrett's possessions are coming next

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to Julius Randall. Now the Knicks
are in the sixty six percent tile offensively

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during those minutes. But Jalen Brunson's
on the court, then the Knicks are

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00:21:41,319 --> 00:21:45,000
winning the minutes RJ plays without Randall, even though the offense is in the

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00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:49,160
twenty fifth percentile. Now, if
you do RJ and Brunson without Randall,

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the complexion of that's going to change
a lot. I also don't think we've

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seen RJ. Barrett with enough of
just the youngsters, like let's play him

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with quickly and reddish. I know
Grimes not been too healthy there. My

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point is, I don't think it's
entirely his fault. The lineup context does

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not favor him. It puts him
in a bunch of different roles. The

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Knicks don't always have pristine spacing.
That being said, I don't I guess.

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I don't know what the consensus expectations
were for RJ. Barrett, but

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he was entering this season. You
knew jal Brunson was the Knicks' best player.

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00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,799
RJ. Barrett, in theory,
is still your single most important player,

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00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,240
because that's supposed to be your blue
chip prospect, the guy who gives

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you a line to an internal star. I think we're finding increasing evidence just

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00:22:30,799 --> 00:22:34,559
based on his efficiency that he's not
going to be that guy, which in

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00:22:34,759 --> 00:22:40,000
the macro is fine, but it's
a problem when you treated him as such

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in the Donovan Mitchell trade talks.
What I also will say, r J.

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Barrett has historically just been terribly inefficient
in November and December. So there's

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a point that by the new year
he finishes the season on a tear that's

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not also not good enough like and
so I don't think they've optimized the roster

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around him that is on the Knicks. And so I would if I was

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to answer my own question, which
I said I wouldn't do, I'm not

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00:23:02,319 --> 00:23:04,039
going to say RJ Barrett is a
buster, will be completely out of RJ

348
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Barrett. But are we at a
point where there needs to be some more

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00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:12,359
wholesale discussions about RJ Barrett? If
we're not there yet, we're getting pretty

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damn close. Yeah. I Barrett
has been a really I feel like I've

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00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,160
changed my opinion on him once a
year in all four years of his career,

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and it has generally coincided with whatever, you know, whatever really hot,

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like six or eight or ten games
streak of three point shooting he goes

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on, and I think there was
a much longer one. Either last year

355
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or the year before, or like
for half the season he was on decent

356
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,079
volume, a really good three point
shooter. I can't look that up with

357
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the level of the second year he
was just he was a good three point

358
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:45,400
shooter. There was a lot of
off ball stuff, but you don't need

359
00:23:45,519 --> 00:23:48,759
him to like you don't have to
hit the off the dribble three. Yeah.

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I think I don't think the contract
is a disaster. I think maybe

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this is assuming Donovan Mitchell just doesn't
sign with the Knicks when he's a free

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00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,440
agent, which just seems like,
based on his comments, is very much

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on the table. I think it
was probably a mistake if Barrett being in

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the deal was if the Nick's unwillingness
to trade Barrett was what kept Jonavan Mitchell

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from being on the roster this year, because I don't think Barrett is a

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00:24:15,279 --> 00:24:19,720
blue chip prospect. I think just
the it's there's lots of you know,

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there are these all external factors that
you mentioned, like whether it's coaching,

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whether it's who he's got to play
alongside the lack of spacing that Randall and

369
00:24:29,799 --> 00:24:37,319
Mitchell Robinson create. But just like
he's a high usage wing who the best

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00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,599
he's ever ranked in points per shot
attempts is in the thirty ninth percentile.

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That was in his second year.
He's generally like a bottom quartile guy and

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just scoring efficiency and it's all like
he gets to the room a lot,

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he finishes okay, you know,
the volume, the volume matters, but

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everything else is just you can't count
on the ball to go in enough.

375
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And so where does that leave you
if he's not a pure shut down guy.

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It's early, but we are four
years and it's fair to say like

377
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:08,400
there's development ahead potentially, but you
needed to have seen some signs of consistency

378
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,160
in some area, right, like
other than the hot streaks, other than

379
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:18,240
you know, he's really put the
clamps on for a couple of weeks.

380
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,480
Like he's an okay passer and that
works well on the drives, Like his

381
00:25:22,519 --> 00:25:26,640
assist percentage is high for his tunnel
those drives. Yeah, he does,

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00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,440
like he but I mean part of
it is he's just barreling into guys and

383
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,359
he's like a he it's like a
last resort past type of thing. When

384
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,839
the when the tunnel closes more,
you know, and he's got to do

385
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:42,119
something yeah, I hate to.
I hate to just like decide, you

386
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,599
know, well, this is this
guy is not going to have a certain

387
00:25:45,599 --> 00:25:49,920
ceiling. But like I feel like
we would have seen more by now to

388
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,920
suggest that he could be that blue
chip piece. Like again, the contract

389
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,240
is contracts, not like a crippler. I don't feel like with the we

390
00:25:57,279 --> 00:26:00,359
have to see the cups going up
and you know all this other stuff.

391
00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:06,160
He's still young, he plays a
high value position like that's you know,

392
00:26:06,279 --> 00:26:10,319
there are ways forward, but I
should rather have Donovan Mitchell. You know,

393
00:26:10,599 --> 00:26:12,519
I think that I don't feel like
that's debatable at this point. I

394
00:26:12,599 --> 00:26:15,640
still stand by, like we don't
actually know what the final tally was on

395
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,920
the picks. There's a point where
it was probably too many picks for me

396
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,680
to do it, but r J. Barrett being the deciding factor, and

397
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,079
look, there were I I had
toy with it where I didn't know if

398
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:26,279
if you were training r J.
Barrett and a bunch of picks that gets

399
00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:29,839
don Mitchell, I didn't know if
you should do it. I would have

400
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,039
been very much more open to including
RJ. Barrett based off what I've seen

401
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,799
from him this season. And I
but I will note and we didn't focus

402
00:26:36,799 --> 00:26:37,759
on this just because we focused on
so much. ARJ. Barret's not the

403
00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:42,079
biggest problem in New York. I
would I think the pathway before you look

404
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:45,720
at was RJ. Barrett a mistake? Is Hey, can we get rid

405
00:26:45,759 --> 00:26:48,519
of the actual mistake on the roster, which is Julius Randall, And so

406
00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:52,000
that opens and by the way,
that opens up the pipeline for Obi toppin

407
00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:53,440
as well. Yeah, you're kind
of killing two birds there. Yeah.

408
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,240
Well, and this isn't any great
revelation either, but just if the guy's

409
00:26:57,519 --> 00:27:02,559
clear offensive strength is get to the
basket, get everyone in the fuck out

410
00:27:02,599 --> 00:27:06,720
of the way, like stop having
stop having multiple players out there who either

411
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,559
don't need to be guarded off the
ball or are literally standing in the way

412
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,519
of Barrett trying to get to the
bast And they played into smaller lineups where

413
00:27:14,519 --> 00:27:17,400
it's almost five out if you're depending
on how you feel about Barrett with like

414
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:21,279
Brunston and Hartenstein and Topping, and
then they have another perimeter player and there

415
00:27:21,319 --> 00:27:23,400
was not Julius Randall, Like let's
let's just see more of that like that.

416
00:27:23,559 --> 00:27:27,279
And that's the problem is, though, is that you have Julius Randall,

417
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,240
and it's just like there's this implicit
obligation to play him or feature him,

418
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:37,680
and I do think that's really hurt
r J so and I would love

419
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,000
to see just more RJ and Brunton
just independent of Randall for like a long

420
00:27:41,079 --> 00:27:45,519
stretch. Yeah, we can talk
about the next forever. I'm gonna move

421
00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:51,400
on. I got the Orlando Magic
and we've hit on this before, but

422
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,359
to me, it's the most pressing
issue. Is there a guard on the

423
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:59,480
roster who will start when Orlando if
if Slash win, Orlando develops into a

424
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,599
playoff Well, okay, which could
be a ways down the road. Are

425
00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:07,960
we that low on Joel and Suggs? Yeah, we are. He's shooting

426
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,839
over forty percent on pull up threes. He's still shouldering a point guard's burden

427
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:12,960
because they don't have a healthy point
guard. I don't. Is it an

428
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,519
indictment to say that Joe and Suggs
shouldn't be your primary ball handler or playmaker?

429
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,720
Is that really an indictment? Well, that's not the question though.

430
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,240
Is he gonna be a starting caliber
guard? Yes, next on a good

431
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,559
team in the next three years.
You're You're in. You're Yeah, there's

432
00:28:30,559 --> 00:28:33,799
like there's there's like defensive moxie to
him too, and the fact that he's

433
00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:37,440
hit yeah, okay, the fact
that he's so low on catching shoot threes,

434
00:28:37,559 --> 00:28:41,079
Okay, I get it, Like
there's skepticism like when you're hitting more

435
00:28:41,079 --> 00:28:42,599
of your pull up threes and you're
catching shoot threes, like I don't understand,

436
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,000
like what does that say about your
scale scalability? Uh? But like

437
00:28:47,319 --> 00:28:51,319
fellow men, Carol was banged up
for roughly forever, they don't have like

438
00:28:51,359 --> 00:28:53,759
you said, there's no col Anthony, there's like RJ. Hampton and Spurts,

439
00:28:55,559 --> 00:28:56,680
there's no Mark el fault who.
I also don't think it's like the

440
00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:02,440
ideal partner for him anyway necessarily.
But I think the question is they need

441
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,279
a game mat like this would be
a team that people have mentioned them,

442
00:29:04,319 --> 00:29:08,400
like, oh, if Donovan Mitchell
during that Traders SGA became available, they

443
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,400
should just go out and trade for
Mike Conley. I mean, like,

444
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,359
I guess Tea would cost the FIRS
round pick at this point, but like

445
00:29:14,359 --> 00:29:17,680
you had something you had Monte Morris
ye to this roster. I think you

446
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,559
see jail and suggs his value and
he hasn't had the opportunity to be that

447
00:29:21,599 --> 00:29:23,960
guy for a long stretch at all. He dealt with some injury issues last

448
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,039
year, as did mark el Faults. Now this year you come in and

449
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,519
you have the Cole Anthony and mark
el Faults stuff. I don't you know.

450
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,279
I guess it changes, like when
Palabanko he plays deeper in his career,

451
00:29:34,319 --> 00:29:38,119
even Franz Wagner a little bit.
Having Wendel Carter Junior facilitates some of

452
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,839
the offense. There are different things
you could do to where but if you

453
00:29:42,079 --> 00:29:45,200
have Suggs as your lead guard,
I think it's fair to U like,

454
00:29:45,279 --> 00:29:48,200
is that what he's gonna do?
And the answer is, I guess no

455
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,240
at this point, and I never
I guess, did I ever view him

456
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,799
as like the primary playmaker type.
I probably had more hope for it than

457
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:56,880
we've seen. I also wonder,
like, what would it look like if

458
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,480
he was playing within some brighter space
he's saying too, than what you've seen

459
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:06,319
in Orlando's first two years. I
just we are not even a year and

460
00:30:06,359 --> 00:30:11,559
a half his career. Well,
okay, granted, yeah, he's he's

461
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,759
young, he is he missed time
with injury last year. I just so

462
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,599
here, so First of all,
let's do the easy stuff first. Cole

463
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,359
Anthony feels like a like his ceiling
is he's gonna be like a pretty good

464
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:29,200
six. Yeah, well, who's
not better than Jordan Fool right now?

465
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,480
RJ. Barrett's better than Jordan f
Jordon Pool has actually been like better lately.

466
00:30:33,519 --> 00:30:36,079
But I game, Yeah he made
it. He made half his shots

467
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,119
last night. That should have been
the question. My question for the Magic

468
00:30:38,279 --> 00:30:44,599
is Jordan Pool one of the most
under overrated players. I just feel it

469
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,599
so, like, you know,
RJ. Hampton fourth year option not picked

470
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,000
up, doesn't seem like he's going
to be a long time or there,

471
00:30:49,039 --> 00:30:53,160
even though he's been actually pretty bad
he was last season. Yeah, So

472
00:30:53,279 --> 00:30:56,920
Cole Anthony is I don't view as
a starter. Mark el Foltz is just

473
00:30:57,319 --> 00:31:03,359
like doesn't make sense on this team. I appreciate the Magic fans passion for

474
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:07,279
Mark Helfolts. It's easy to root
for the guy and he and he does

475
00:31:07,359 --> 00:31:10,160
have like several I mean, is
the number one overall pick. Like,

476
00:31:10,359 --> 00:31:14,599
he does have several, like legitimate
starting caliber NBA skills. It's just the

477
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,839
shooting is on this roster you need
to not have that level. He's a

478
00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:21,240
and I know people have tried to
talk to himselves to him being a two

479
00:31:21,279 --> 00:31:23,839
level score. He's more like a
one point five level score because he's not

480
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:29,599
like actively trying to get to those
like mid rangers and like putting the moves

481
00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:32,599
like dance moves on players and jacking
him up like they're giving him those shots.

482
00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:34,440
He's taking them. He had hit
more of them than we expected.

483
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,720
Good. But that's not like a
weapon. No, it's not. It's

484
00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:41,400
like you're getting by sort of kind
of just barely. It's not. But

485
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:47,079
so, yeah, so this is
really just a question about Sugs. We've

486
00:31:47,119 --> 00:31:51,400
disagreed about him before you have the
luxury, I think smartly of saying it's

487
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,759
early, which is stupid early in
his career, I just so and may

488
00:31:55,799 --> 00:31:59,400
at this point last time we got
on the topic, if it is clear

489
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,160
that and Carro and Wagner are going
to be the guys that have the ball

490
00:32:02,519 --> 00:32:07,000
most often, which I think,
however you feel about Sugs, it does

491
00:32:07,079 --> 00:32:10,559
feel like that makes sense at least
with the way the roster's constructed. And

492
00:32:10,599 --> 00:32:14,279
I think Wendell Carter is the other
guy you just pencil in as like you

493
00:32:14,319 --> 00:32:15,759
have three locks in your front court. These guys are it for the next

494
00:32:15,799 --> 00:32:20,440
however, long on the Magic and
I think that's pretty good, you know,

495
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:22,599
maybe great. If bank Carro is
what he looks like he's gonna be,

496
00:32:24,279 --> 00:32:28,240
I think you got to have guys
that are just gonna make shots around

497
00:32:28,279 --> 00:32:31,599
those three. And so however,
there's no doubt that Suggs is like an

498
00:32:31,599 --> 00:32:38,319
all NBA, all all defensive caliber
defensive player today right now and should improve

499
00:32:39,039 --> 00:32:45,839
like so game changer on that,
and I think probably, But I just

500
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,400
need him. I just need him
to be a league average catch and shoot

501
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,519
three point shooter. He's nowhere close
to that. His finishing around the rim

502
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:59,079
is not great. He's not making
free throws. Still this year it's improved

503
00:32:59,079 --> 00:33:02,640
a little bit, and and like
there's all you know, you go down,

504
00:33:02,759 --> 00:33:07,279
you go down the Orlando Magic Twitter
rabbit hole and is like his post

505
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,240
entry passes are terrible, Like he
just can't do that function as a point

506
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:15,079
guard. So that's a problem for
me. So if it's clear that he's

507
00:33:15,079 --> 00:33:17,839
not going to be the on ball
guy, which I again it's early,

508
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,799
I get it, it seems like
that's just not likely to be his role

509
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,440
for this team, then I don't
feel like he can make enough shots to

510
00:33:25,559 --> 00:33:30,960
justify having him be the guy as
opposed to someone else who's worst offensively but

511
00:33:30,079 --> 00:33:34,119
is just going to make you pay
for all the attention you're going to have

512
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:38,119
to devote to the front court guys. So I just I'm not sold.

513
00:33:38,359 --> 00:33:42,920
I want to be sold. I
love the his run in college. I

514
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,079
love a guy that just guards and
like defines himself that way. I just

515
00:33:47,119 --> 00:33:52,559
need more offensively, that's all.
So I'm answering, and he will not

516
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:58,079
be h starting for the playoff version
of the Orlando Magic. In support of

517
00:33:58,119 --> 00:34:00,440
what you were saying, there are
two hundred eighty two players who have finished

518
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:06,119
at at least fifteen spot up possessions
this year. Jalen Suggs is dead last

519
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,239
in point scored per possession on those
touches at point four six. That's bad.

520
00:34:10,599 --> 00:34:15,800
I think he's seven to thirty three
is a shooting overall, that's love.

521
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,400
I mean Isaac Occorrel, by the
way, is at point five one.

522
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,519
That's that's an issue one to itself. Jalen Smith, by the way,

523
00:34:21,519 --> 00:34:22,920
it turns out his first seven games
with the Pacers last year, we're

524
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:24,760
in a harbinger of how he was
going to shoot for the rest of his

525
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,239
career. Who knew he's like like
point five six, So I get your

526
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:30,119
concern. It could be sort of
an issue of him trying to think of

527
00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:35,960
what would be a good like parallel
to this whereas we've just seen a player

528
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,159
when you're looking at the two best
players, there's redundant not redundancy, but

529
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:44,480
the way he's best used. He
doesn't do enough of the other things to

530
00:34:44,519 --> 00:34:46,400
be used in that way. Whereas
like, yes, sugs should maybe be

531
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,800
on the ball. He's hitting over
fifty percent of his twos. I mean

532
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,800
if the pull up three holds.
I get the skepticism there, especially given

533
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:54,639
the struggles at the foul line,
But if he's not good enough as a

534
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:58,360
passer, or he's not good enough
as like a catcher, like what would

535
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,760
be a good parallel for this like
player right now the situation that we've kind

536
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:05,960
of seen where he's like, he's
got a bunch of pluses, but they

537
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:10,079
don't really matter as much in the
context of this particular team construction. The

538
00:35:10,079 --> 00:35:15,000
thing I was almost thinking about is
just like Andrew Wiggins, who eventually was

539
00:35:15,039 --> 00:35:17,840
able to scale to a larger eCos
as a later in his career where it's

540
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,280
he was needed to have the ball
in his hands, but was he good

541
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,719
enough with the ball in his hands
to justify that. I'm just not ready

542
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:28,639
to go there with Sugs at the
moment, and they're they're completely different players

543
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:31,599
they like, I totally get it, But like that was Andrew Wiggins for

544
00:35:31,639 --> 00:35:34,960
someone was like, oh, he
looks more comfortable like pulling up off the

545
00:35:35,039 --> 00:35:38,719
dribble from three than hitting these wide
open jumpers off the catch. I could

546
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:43,000
see that element from Sugs a little
bit. I want I just want to

547
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,159
see more. Yeah, sure,
sure I do too. I would love

548
00:35:45,199 --> 00:35:49,719
to be wrong, and there's a
great chance I'll be proved wrong because we're

549
00:35:50,199 --> 00:35:54,000
what like fifty some I'd be sixty
games into his NBA career and he's played

550
00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:58,920
mostly for like a bad team that
has had injuries. So yeah, that's

551
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:02,719
that's fair. I am the Philadelphia
seventy sixers. My question for them is

552
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:09,440
simply this, what the fuck?
The injuries are starting to mount as this

553
00:36:09,519 --> 00:36:14,639
is gonna drop, so like you're
gonna have Joel Embiid, Parris Maxie,

554
00:36:14,679 --> 00:36:17,320
and James Harden. Now Parris Maxie's
going to be out probably for the next

555
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,360
month between three and four weeks.
With the minor break in his left foot,

556
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,000
Joel bead left midfoot sprain, going
to miss at least a couple of

557
00:36:24,039 --> 00:36:27,480
games. Then you have hard news, still a couple of weeks away from

558
00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:30,880
returning from that strained foot tending Tobias
Harris, by the way, he's dealing

559
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:37,800
with some left hiff stuff. So
just like this team is barren of who

560
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:44,000
is your primary dribblers are Shake Milton
and D'Anthony Melton. Now without all three

561
00:36:44,079 --> 00:36:50,000
of Maxie Ebad and James Harden on
the floor, the Sixers have a ninety

562
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,880
seven point nine offensive rating that would
be in the first percentile. What's also

563
00:36:54,079 --> 00:36:58,519
interesting if we were looking to project
ahead is that the Sixers, they haven't

564
00:36:58,559 --> 00:37:00,280
played together a ton, but with
their stars in the court, their offense

565
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:05,239
is only in the forty second percentile. I look, Basketball Reference decided to

566
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:09,440
go off with ads again, but
just love it. So what are they

567
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:14,400
supposed to do on offense? And
it's even just like it was. I

568
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:15,880
guess we haven't seen him enough at
full strength, but we were worried about

569
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,320
their transition defense at one point.
Now they've like completely flipped in terms of

570
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,960
their defense has been a lot better. But how are you supposed to survive

571
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,320
without all three of these guys?
And what is the pathway to just getting

572
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,519
better on offense? I don't know
that it's a matter of like, you

573
00:37:30,559 --> 00:37:34,239
know, you could fault Doc for
a lot of stuff, but the injuries

574
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:37,599
specifically are outside of his control.
You do sort of wonder, you know,

575
00:37:38,159 --> 00:37:40,920
like there's not really room for Philly
to take more threes. Their twenty

576
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:46,440
second in rim frequency. It's probably
pretty trembling that they're twenty ninth in finishing

577
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,800
around the basket, and like they're
top ten three point shooting team, and

578
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,000
by the way, they're the best
mid range shooting team as well. If

579
00:37:53,039 --> 00:37:57,480
I had to guess, and this
has been my theory, which I feel

580
00:37:57,519 --> 00:38:00,199
like a lot of people just disagreed
with. I just feel like there's not

581
00:38:00,559 --> 00:38:06,639
a enough of a change in cadence
in how Philly plays where it's like they

582
00:38:06,679 --> 00:38:09,280
are in the bottom three of transition
frequency. You know what they're gonna do.

583
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,800
They're gonna try and get into the
half court, give the ball to

584
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,239
Hardener ebead and hope that Maxie can
supplement from there. They're not going to

585
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:22,559
crash the offensive glass at all to
get themselves like those additional opportunities. And

586
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:24,800
I would love to see, especially
because you have Maxie on this team when

587
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,239
he's healthy. So I'm trying to
I'm trying to talk about them at full

588
00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,760
strength, Like you shouldn't be twenty
eighth in average possession time, Like there

589
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,039
are minutes where at least Maxi's on
the court with only one of James Harden

590
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:37,559
or Embiid get out and run.
And so I think that's been the biggest

591
00:38:37,599 --> 00:38:43,760
to me, is like the biggest
weakness of their offense has actually been okay,

592
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,039
Like there's just not enough variants here. But there's also just a big

593
00:38:47,119 --> 00:38:51,280
question of like are they on the
verge of I guess we have to see

594
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:54,119
when Joel Embiad comes back, but
like they're kind of tottering on the edge

595
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:59,480
of panic just with these injuries mounting
up at the top, right, Yeah,

596
00:38:59,519 --> 00:39:01,280
you gotta it's just a question of
what how much this is going to

597
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:06,199
cost them standings wise, because they're
just not gonna win, you know,

598
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,400
It's not like some great revelation like
so I mean Tobias Harris gets assuming the

599
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:15,559
hip doesn't become an issue like he's
just gonna have to cook and then yeah,

600
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:20,360
I don't know where the supplemental scoring
comes from. You're probably gonna play

601
00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:23,360
table some more, and that,
you know, maybe be ball Paul,

602
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:28,000
maybe Paul Reid. This is finally
the grand unveiling of Paul Reid, who's

603
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,239
just been such a darling of of
NBA Twitter and like a bunch of analysts

604
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:36,960
and you know draft guru guys.
Maybe that's yeah, PJ. Tucker actually

605
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,239
at the five too, but yeah, well maybe, although like how good

606
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:45,079
is that really when there's just when
he's like your third option? Yeah,

607
00:39:45,119 --> 00:39:50,440
the Maxi thing, it's interesting.
I forget what I was writing about him,

608
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:54,000
but the idea was what you're describing
of how is it that this you

609
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:58,679
know, he does improve their transition
frequency when he's on the floor. But

610
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:04,000
there's just it does seem like such
an obvious it take take give some Let's

611
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,760
have some minutes with no hard and
or EMBIID and surround Maxie with like your

612
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:12,960
four best athletes of you know,
dubious positional designation. Wait we have wait,

613
00:40:13,039 --> 00:40:16,079
let's go through the best athletes.
Well that's the thing it but just

614
00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:20,840
run just see, you know,
just one of the great things that you

615
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:22,840
can have in a bench or in
you know, a particular reserve is how

616
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:27,320
they change the like like you said, mix up the cadence. You change

617
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,519
the tone of the game, you
change the pace of it. It's like

618
00:40:29,559 --> 00:40:32,280
a changeup. That's one of the
great things you get from from good bench

619
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,360
units is like, oh shit,
the defense is like, well these guys

620
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,360
are playing differently now, like what
do we do with this? That's that's

621
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:44,639
a value add I think a lot
of times. And Maxie being arguably the

622
00:40:44,639 --> 00:40:45,840
fastest guy in the league, I
don't know who else you I mean,

623
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:51,440
he's in the conversation and they just
don't probably still there. Yeah, we're

624
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,880
forgetting somebody obvious. Well, Marant's
super fast, I mean yeah, but

625
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:59,480
he's up there for sure. It
should be it should be a transition thing.

626
00:41:00,199 --> 00:41:01,400
But he's also hurt, so I
don't know why we're talking about him.

627
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,320
Yeah, it's I don't know what
the end. There's no answer.

628
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,000
There's no answer. When your top
three players are out like this and you

629
00:41:07,079 --> 00:41:09,440
just have a bunch of catch and
shoot guys more or less like as your

630
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:15,800
support pieces, it's gonna get ugly. There's there's no doubt right now you're

631
00:41:15,639 --> 00:41:20,679
your Washington, Philly calls and offers
Maxie. They're twenty twenty nine first and

632
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,559
Tobias Harris for Bradley Beal. Assuming
Bradley Beal gives the okay, would you

633
00:41:23,559 --> 00:41:28,119
do it? Hell? Yeah,
I would if I'm Washington? Would you

634
00:41:28,559 --> 00:41:36,320
Philly? Would I do it?
If I'm Philly? That's oh man,

635
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:39,880
that's really tough because Harris's contract.
I think Beal's contract is so bad.

636
00:41:42,079 --> 00:41:45,480
But I think you got to win
this year, and I think probably bial

637
00:41:45,559 --> 00:41:49,719
Harden and Bid gives you a better
chance than Bill Hardened Maxie, I mean

638
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,159
Harden and Bad, Maxie. So
do you do that? I do it?

639
00:41:53,159 --> 00:41:54,920
If I'm the Wizards, I don't
know if I do it. If

640
00:41:54,920 --> 00:42:00,480
I'm the Sixers, probably I don't
think I do just because we're come about

641
00:42:00,519 --> 00:42:04,519
they need like a change of like
pace, and like Bradley Beal's not gonna

642
00:42:04,519 --> 00:42:07,079
give you that. I definitely as
a half court creator and maybe even a

643
00:42:07,119 --> 00:42:12,719
facilitator, I get I get that. So I guess push comes to shop.

644
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,880
You would almost have to just because
it's it's Bradley Beale. But Maxie's

645
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:19,599
so young and that like then that's
just your team, and we're worried about

646
00:42:19,639 --> 00:42:22,400
them staying healthy. Now, like
what make like why is Bradley Beal more

647
00:42:22,679 --> 00:42:25,679
considered more durable than than tires Maxie
at this But I guess he had a

648
00:42:25,679 --> 00:42:30,440
few seasons of just like good health
before whatever happened last year. And look

649
00:42:30,519 --> 00:42:32,760
Day's credit, he's quietly just like
we're gonna get to the I won't talk

650
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:37,480
about, but he's basically flirting with
fifty forty nine slashes at this point,

651
00:42:37,559 --> 00:42:40,440
so I'd just be curious. It's
to like that's the and that by the

652
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,960
way, that's their hand if they
actually want to make a move, Like

653
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:45,760
I guess you could throw Jayden Springer
in there, But it's it's the bias,

654
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:50,119
Harris, it's Maxie. It's a
conditional twenty twenty nine first, I

655
00:42:50,159 --> 00:42:53,800
think because of the obligation where it's
structured to Brooklyn and twenty seven. So

656
00:42:54,679 --> 00:42:58,639
that's the offer, and I'm just
trying to think of like what higher end

657
00:42:58,639 --> 00:43:00,559
player that would get you. And
also Maxie's so good. This is what

658
00:43:00,599 --> 00:43:04,280
almost makes it difficult. It's a
good problem to have, but like you

659
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,960
can't just trade Maxie. Now,
I know people if I think he's one

660
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:08,840
of the most valuable trade assets in
the league. Because the Sixers are team

661
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:12,679
I think that'd be willing to consider
anything. He has two years left on

662
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,280
his another year left on his rookie
scale after this one, and he's just

663
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:20,320
so good and he's already shown he
could fit next to two ball dominant stars

664
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,039
while also carrying the offensive load himself. So I think he's one of the

665
00:43:23,039 --> 00:43:28,039
most valuable trad asses in the Yeah, the issue with that is that substantially

666
00:43:28,079 --> 00:43:32,320
shrinks the number of players that you're
willing to trade him for. That's right

667
00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:36,840
now just is bell on that level. I think the Sixers probably have to

668
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,000
pull back a little bit with expectations
just because they don't have the first round

669
00:43:39,039 --> 00:43:43,480
equity to include. But it was
just a thought, and I was wondering,

670
00:43:43,519 --> 00:43:45,440
like, does the injury make it
more likely they move him just because

671
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:50,199
they're like need the urgency to have
bodies, And I don't think anything would

672
00:43:50,199 --> 00:43:52,159
happen before the trade of them.
I was just curious where are you would

673
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:54,199
land on that? Yeah, I
mean it's tough. My knee jerk is

674
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:59,559
again just like I gotta get off
this contract. If from the Wizard's perspective

675
00:43:59,599 --> 00:44:01,800
like I just I can't have this. This someone's offering me an out even

676
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,519
with bad money attached in Harris like
I'm taking it. But yeah, I

677
00:44:06,559 --> 00:44:10,360
mean the last thing is, you
know, we know that the way Daryl

678
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:15,320
Morey operates is like, get me
the best players and we just will figure

679
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:21,280
out what to do around that.
And I would imagine there's a model somewhere

680
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,760
that says, Bradley Beale ups the
Sixers championship equity by like point seven percent

681
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,320
at over Maxie and Harris, and
so he'd be like, well, we

682
00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:32,199
just we just do it. But
that's not the case for most executives.

683
00:44:32,199 --> 00:44:37,519
I don't think we'll move on to
the Toronto Raptors. This is my last

684
00:44:37,559 --> 00:44:43,440
team. I love. I love
when a team like tries weird stuff or

685
00:44:43,519 --> 00:44:45,440
just something different, and it's just
hoping to be on the vanguard of of

686
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:51,719
a style that you know, might
might be the next you know thing that

687
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:55,760
shapes how teams operate or put rosters
together. And the Raptors very much do

688
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,320
that. We've talked about it for
a couple of years now that they love

689
00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:01,719
their long wings. They don't really
you know, always play a center,

690
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:07,159
although Christian Coloco has I mean,
injuries have changed the way they've operated quite

691
00:45:07,159 --> 00:45:09,599
a bit, but they kind of
just have a bunch of a bunch of

692
00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:14,920
wings ideally. And I wonder though, and they leaned into that, like

693
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:20,480
they didn't really fundamentally change last year's
roster, which had some real issues.

694
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:25,480
Namely, they're great at forcing turnovers, right, they're awesome in transition,

695
00:45:25,679 --> 00:45:30,639
their half court offense is terrible and
they struggle to rebound sometimes. Now they've

696
00:45:30,639 --> 00:45:35,559
addressed that a little bit this year. But the statistical profile of this Toronto

697
00:45:35,599 --> 00:45:40,519
team is very similar to last year's
and that includes strengths and weaknesses just which

698
00:45:40,599 --> 00:45:45,239
you'd sort of expect to get from
a team that plays a lot of forwards

699
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,719
and like Fred van Vliet, basically, so, I wonder if they're leaning

700
00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:53,559
too much into last year's identity And
if maybe that's so, is that like

701
00:45:53,679 --> 00:46:00,360
commendable because we're really committed to playing
this way, or is it stubb in

702
00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:05,159
the face of like, yeah,
this gets you some advantages generally speaking,

703
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:08,800
but it also there are costs to
playing with a lineup that is different than

704
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:15,119
almost any other team you go up
against. I think that's a fair question.

705
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:20,559
I also just wonder like, is
it too early to ask it because

706
00:46:20,599 --> 00:46:23,760
of just how injured they've been.
That's they're not even shorthanded, they've just

707
00:46:24,039 --> 00:46:29,840
they've been decimated. Again, what
do you think just theoretically though, like

708
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:31,800
are you in? Are you still
in? Because the Clippers are sort of

709
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:36,239
doing some of that, but it's
different because they have two member. We

710
00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:37,480
were padding about the Clippers and they
were just like, oh no, we're

711
00:46:37,519 --> 00:46:43,000
just gonna I mean, it's I
still need to see Kawai be great for

712
00:46:43,199 --> 00:46:45,760
like more than you know, four
minutes at a time, but you know

713
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:49,199
what I mean, Like just it's
almost like a it's not even specific to

714
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:52,039
the Raptors. Like if you're trying
a weird thing as a team and you

715
00:46:52,079 --> 00:46:58,199
do it for basically a full year
and change and you've established like, yeah,

716
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:00,519
we generate tons of turnovers and we're
awesome on the break because we just

717
00:47:00,559 --> 00:47:04,960
have a bunch of six nine guys
that are really fast, but we don't

718
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:07,039
have any creation in the half court. And this has been a huge problem.

719
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:10,079
We're trying to win playoff games.
You gotta be able to do something

720
00:47:10,119 --> 00:47:14,400
in the half court, and they're
just not good at it. Like,

721
00:47:14,599 --> 00:47:17,480
is that stubbornness, is that arrogance? Is that like commitment? You know?

722
00:47:17,599 --> 00:47:21,559
Is that being patient? I don't
know how to frame it. And

723
00:47:21,599 --> 00:47:24,119
that's like a fundamental thing to the
Raptors because this is there, this is

724
00:47:24,199 --> 00:47:28,400
what they're trying to do. I
just don't know if it's quite the right

725
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:30,039
thing, you know. I think
it's going to be the right thing.

726
00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:36,360
It's Scottie Barnes basically becoming what Pascal
Siakam was able to become on offense as

727
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:38,519
a playmaker. I'll say, and
while I do, he's only in year

728
00:47:38,559 --> 00:47:40,920
two, so I want patience with
jail and stubs. We used to be

729
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:46,320
patients here things seem to be he
seems to be like reacting to things faster

730
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:51,119
and his game feels a step or
two faster. But he doesn't look like

731
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:53,400
that guy yet. We didn't say
that about Pascal Siakam in year two though,

732
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:57,679
But you need because what they need
right now, what they're missing is

733
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:00,960
that second guy is or the third
depending on how you feel about Fred van

734
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:06,559
Fleet. And I think it's harder
to find that player in the form that

735
00:48:06,599 --> 00:48:09,800
they have catered to or been obsessed
with. And so that's why Scottie Barnes

736
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:14,199
is so tantalizing and so important to
them. I get the unease, and

737
00:48:14,199 --> 00:48:17,400
I'm uneasy about it myself, and
I don't want to say I know a

738
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:22,119
lot of Raptors fans believe in it, and they're every time we post a

739
00:48:22,119 --> 00:48:24,639
YouTube video on the Raptors where we
if we have concerns about their half court

740
00:48:24,679 --> 00:48:28,199
offense, they say, that's just
like we're wrong, and it's just like

741
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,880
we're not, Like at some point
we're not wrong. Like I get that

742
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,480
these fans are going to know the
team more intimately, but like, the

743
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:38,559
half court offensive concerns are legitimate,
and yeah, you can cobble together a

744
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:45,719
you know, an efficient half court
offense on your putbacks during the regular season.

745
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:50,239
That's just not going to be a
style that works in the playoffs.

746
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:52,480
And like, hey, right now, it's not even working in the regular

747
00:48:52,519 --> 00:48:55,320
season. They are twenty nine than
the half court last year, so it's

748
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:59,320
the it's you know, and and
just flip it. We're on both on

749
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:02,639
cleaning the glass obviously, flip into
transition. You know, first in frequency

750
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:06,760
first and points added last year,
second in frequency, fourth and points added,

751
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:10,119
Like this works just in certain contexts, and I guess I would just

752
00:49:10,159 --> 00:49:14,639
say, I'm like, I'm I'm
no less interested in what the Raptors are

753
00:49:14,679 --> 00:49:19,519
doing. I think it's I think
it's it's exciting when a team is just

754
00:49:19,639 --> 00:49:24,159
kind of being weird or being an
outlier. But I just it's we're getting

755
00:49:24,199 --> 00:49:30,199
mounting information now that, like,
you know, the trade off is you

756
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:32,199
win forty six games. They're on
pace, I think, for forty six

757
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:37,199
this year, just as they were
last year. It's another similarity, and

758
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:40,760
the playoffs are just a different They're
just a different The rules are different,

759
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:45,440
the things that work are different,
the things that get you killed are different.

760
00:49:46,119 --> 00:49:49,079
And I don't know they got along. They got three quarters of a

761
00:49:49,079 --> 00:49:52,719
season to keep working on this,
and certainly getting everybody healthy again will change

762
00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:55,760
things. But I just wonder.
I just wonder, you know, it's

763
00:49:57,039 --> 00:49:59,400
I like, I like the approach, I just don't know if it's if

764
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:02,280
it's gonna work ultimately, Yeah,
it's high risk, And I also don't

765
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:07,000
know, like what do you pivot
towards as an alternative. It's because you're

766
00:50:07,039 --> 00:50:10,320
not you know, the Kevin Durant
stuff, if he became available again,

767
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:15,440
that was always sort of out there
but you're not like you're too good to

768
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:20,280
invest. I mean, they draft
really well, but I guess it's like

769
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:22,559
a medium size trade or you're partnering
picks with some of your salary who's not

770
00:50:22,599 --> 00:50:27,199
Scottie Barnes or o g n and
Obi or or Pascoe Siakam if you were

771
00:50:27,199 --> 00:50:30,360
just looking to you know, is
it is it unfair to want them to

772
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:36,000
at some point to maybe die diversify
because like they're even like as good as

773
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,159
Pascal Siakam has been there, they're
still in the fifteen percent tile of half

774
00:50:38,159 --> 00:50:42,199
court efficiency when he's been on the
court this year, So like is it

775
00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:44,960
unfair to ask him, like,
well, can you diversify your tack just

776
00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:46,880
a little bit? And but how
do you go about that? Who's available

777
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:50,079
that's going to help you there?
I don't think it needs to be a

778
00:50:50,119 --> 00:50:52,559
star is my point. And so
you start to look at some of the

779
00:50:52,599 --> 00:50:55,400
actual salary they have on this roster. If you're willing to trade a first

780
00:50:55,480 --> 00:51:00,440
round pick or even just like Eric
Gordon would go a long way to this

781
00:51:00,519 --> 00:51:02,599
team in the half court, whereas
that just like money matching and second rounders.

782
00:51:02,599 --> 00:51:06,599
At this point, I honestly don't
know, but yeah, that's that's

783
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:10,320
I guess I just have like not
defaulted to not caring about it or believing

784
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:15,039
in it. But there's they the
conviction is so strong that it's almost not

785
00:51:15,079 --> 00:51:19,239
worth questioning, right, That's what
you just have to whatever you think about

786
00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:22,480
it, you almost have to respect
it because it's like, you guys believe

787
00:51:22,519 --> 00:51:25,599
in this and you're not. You're
just going to see it through to whatever

788
00:51:25,639 --> 00:51:29,760
wherever this ends up. I feel
like they're just they're committed, which is

789
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,199
you know, it's it's teams are
two wishy washies. Sometimes I think it's

790
00:51:32,239 --> 00:51:35,960
cool that they're committed. I just
don't know. I just don't know what's

791
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:39,440
gonna work. I have the Washington
Wizards to clean us off or finish us

792
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:42,840
off. I don't know where clean
us off came from. Queeny mcglass is

793
00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:45,039
what it must have been been on
the brain. My question to you the

794
00:51:45,119 --> 00:51:49,280
Wizards, they've won six of their
last seven, during which time they have

795
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:52,320
the second best defense in the NBA. Now we can get in to the

796
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:57,960
teams that they've beat over those seven
games, Shorthand in Miami, the G

797
00:51:58,159 --> 00:52:01,760
League Hornets, Uh, you know, Oklahoma City that was actually a hell

798
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:06,400
of a game. But like they
beat the Jazz, they beat the Mavericks

799
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:12,000
without Beal, they beat the Hornets
again. They are eighth in defense on

800
00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:15,719
the season though, And so my
question, and I'm going to present to

801
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:21,119
you evidence before I allow you to
answer it is is Washington's defense for real?

802
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:24,840
And we asked this question, I'm
sure last year because they were off

803
00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:29,880
to just this like rollicking start.
They have the sixth half court best half

804
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:35,000
court defense in the NBA. You
dig into the personnel, the starting lineup

805
00:52:35,039 --> 00:52:37,800
that they're playing at the moment,
which is kind of by force, has

806
00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:43,920
been absolutely annihilating opponents. They're not
getting lucky when it comes to They limit,

807
00:52:44,159 --> 00:52:46,719
not as drastically as Boston and Milwaukee, but they limit looks at the

808
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:52,719
rim and from three point range.
And they haven't gotten lucky with opponent three

809
00:52:52,719 --> 00:52:55,199
point shooting. They're twenty fourth an
opponent three point shooting their tenth and opponent

810
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:59,800
shooting at the rim, which is
just like you have KP. You have

811
00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:02,000
to Aniel Gafford, do you have
a bunch of like rangey, bigger wing

812
00:53:02,039 --> 00:53:07,480
type guys. They're doing this without
Delon Wright, who's been out. I

813
00:53:07,639 --> 00:53:10,159
just and then the other thing that
they've done. What like it's look,

814
00:53:10,199 --> 00:53:14,280
they don't fail. They don't force
turnovers, but they don't fail. And

815
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,760
then it's you know they're gonna grab
rebounds. They are when you look at

816
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:23,800
the opportunities that opponents generate permiss so
those second chance opportunities. Only the Chicago

817
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:28,960
Bulls allow fewer of those opportunities now, So like the Wizards are not letting

818
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,039
you I'm not even just like it's
not just specific. It is, yes,

819
00:53:31,079 --> 00:53:36,360
a defensive rebounding, but like the
Wizards are not giving you like putbacks.

820
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:38,920
They're they're taking away that easy stuff. And so it feels like there's

821
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:45,880
an air of legitimacy to this in
a way that there wasn't last year.

822
00:53:45,199 --> 00:53:49,599
And I can't tell if I'm being
to use your word from before, like

823
00:53:49,679 --> 00:53:52,280
a little too witchywashy here, But
like Denny Avdya has had to play more

824
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:55,079
minutes over this band, he's actually
looked really good. I know that you

825
00:53:55,119 --> 00:53:59,880
know him a sucker for Denny avdy
in the first place, but like even

826
00:54:00,079 --> 00:54:02,760
we hatch you mour looked better before. I think he's dealing with something right

827
00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:07,679
now too. They seem like they've
gotten good minutes from Jordan Goodwin this year.

828
00:54:08,280 --> 00:54:14,639
So I'm just like, is it
Are they a top ten defensive team?

829
00:54:15,119 --> 00:54:17,039
Is my question? And then look, if you say yes, how

830
00:54:17,039 --> 00:54:21,440
do you let that inform? Because
I think some people might be expecting us

831
00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:23,679
to treat them like the Hornets?
What should this team tank? And I

832
00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:29,559
think that's probably a fair question.
But do you think Washington's defense is real?

833
00:54:29,599 --> 00:54:31,960
And then if it is, doesn't
matter? Yes, So the second

834
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:36,559
part's harder. So I'll take the
first part. I think you probably.

835
00:54:37,039 --> 00:54:39,400
I know we had a we were
talking about there were two or three other

836
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:44,760
teams that were surprises to be in
the top ten of defensive efficiency a week

837
00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:46,519
or two ago, and I think
I punted on all of them. The

838
00:54:46,559 --> 00:54:51,639
Wizards were one of them. I
think there are a couple of things that

839
00:54:51,800 --> 00:54:55,559
suggest there is some sustainability here.
In the first, is their location based

840
00:54:55,599 --> 00:54:59,800
to affect a field goal percentage?
Like you you went through the you know,

841
00:55:00,079 --> 00:55:02,480
not a lot of opportunities for opponents
at the rim, not a lot

842
00:55:02,519 --> 00:55:06,960
of you know, from from three
they're pretty good at limiting the corners.

843
00:55:07,400 --> 00:55:09,639
So I don't I don't think it's
a smoke and mirrors thing. It's not

844
00:55:09,679 --> 00:55:14,760
like opponents are just missing a bunch
of open threes like which can still be

845
00:55:14,840 --> 00:55:19,400
a massive driver of defensive effectiveness,
even you know, twenty ish games into

846
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:22,519
the season like we are now.
I think that's kind of real. The

847
00:55:22,559 --> 00:55:27,119
other thing, just when I've watched
is you know, Bradley Bill is trying.

848
00:55:27,679 --> 00:55:30,880
I think, you know, he's
making much more of an effort defensively

849
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:34,480
than he had in the last couple
of years. Maybe that's health, Maybe

850
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:37,840
that's sensing like this team actually might
be pretty good. It's worth my effort.

851
00:55:38,239 --> 00:55:43,079
I think Porzingis has mattered. You
know, he's an imperfect defensive player,

852
00:55:43,079 --> 00:55:45,079
but he does have his value as
as a rim protector, as just

853
00:55:45,119 --> 00:55:50,679
someone who deters like yeah, hit
mobility. I guess I would call it

854
00:55:50,679 --> 00:55:53,239
has looked so good just in Washington
in general, since he's come over from

855
00:55:53,239 --> 00:55:57,239
there. It's different. It's different, and hopefully that last because it's always

856
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,760
just been a question of cann he
stay healthy enough to really move like he's

857
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:05,639
capable of. So there's a few
things that that point to sustainability doesn't matter.

858
00:56:06,519 --> 00:56:09,599
I mean, so zoom all the
way out and what you still have

859
00:56:09,679 --> 00:56:15,000
as a roster built around bal And
an enormous contract, and some wings that

860
00:56:15,039 --> 00:56:21,119
are at least interesting in different ways. Kuzma, Avdia, Hachimura. You

861
00:56:21,119 --> 00:56:25,360
know, like, sure, there's
there's rotation caliber players there. Porzingis is

862
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:30,400
your second best player. Probably Kuzma
might have something to say about that.

863
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:35,280
I don't know, but he's you
know, health issues. He's kind of

864
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:42,400
not functioned as like your second option
on a good team successfully. We've tried

865
00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:45,159
that in Dallas with a better player
than Bial next to him, So like

866
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:50,239
doesn't matter insofar as are we trading, are we buying or selling? I

867
00:56:50,239 --> 00:56:53,480
don't think the Wizards were going to
be sellers anyway, So I think it's

868
00:56:53,519 --> 00:56:58,199
probably just like a pleasant surprise and
a good story. If this defense is

869
00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:02,719
legit and it, you know,
maybe it keeps Washington respectable or with a

870
00:57:02,760 --> 00:57:07,800
winning record deeper into the season than
you or I might have thought. I

871
00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:09,920
don't feel like it makes them someone
that you know, are likely to win

872
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:15,280
a first round series or anything like
that. So yeah, I don't know

873
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:17,480
how much it matters, but I
do think, you know it, there

874
00:57:17,559 --> 00:57:22,760
is some compelling stuff that suggests like
they actually are you know, for sure

875
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:25,559
going to be above average defensively,
I think in top ten is very much

876
00:57:25,559 --> 00:57:30,679
in play. I wonder if it
changes things, and I don't think this

877
00:57:30,119 --> 00:57:32,880
the roster is currently constructed, I'm
with you, is built to win a

878
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:37,440
playoff series if this sustains. But
I'm just wondering if this gives them more

879
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,559
of a license to be aggressive as
buyers, because they do have some money

880
00:57:40,559 --> 00:57:44,519
they could play around with when you're
looking at the contracts, and yes,

881
00:57:44,559 --> 00:57:47,079
I know they owe that twenty twenty
three first to the Knicks, but like

882
00:57:47,440 --> 00:57:51,920
if you're a team that's sending the
Wizards a good player, you're probably banking

883
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:53,599
on that making the playoffs this season, and they would if they started today.

884
00:57:53,639 --> 00:57:57,559
They're in the top five, so
you can bank on that conveying.

885
00:57:57,960 --> 00:58:00,239
And there's worse scenarios than when the
first the first round pick is coming in

886
00:58:00,239 --> 00:58:05,800
twenty twenty five. You want to
short the wizards long term future so they

887
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:08,000
can In my mind, I know
it's conditional. If they trade you three

888
00:58:08,039 --> 00:58:10,679
first round picks, that would be
a mega trade. But if they trade

889
00:58:10,679 --> 00:58:14,920
you three first round picks, you
can bank on those three first round picks

890
00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:17,440
conveying unless you're allowing them to be
protected and so I just think they're a

891
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:22,280
sneaky team on the blockbuster market.
We've seen the rumors about like Phoenix being

892
00:58:22,320 --> 00:58:27,360
interested in Kuzma while the Wizards trade
him because he's coming up on his contract.

893
00:58:27,719 --> 00:58:30,320
I'm just wondering, like, if
we're getting into December, closer to

894
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:34,199
Christmas, and their defense is still
hovering around the top ten, and it

895
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:37,760
just looks like they need a little
bit more offensive juice that another I would

896
00:58:37,760 --> 00:58:39,920
call it the outside and score to
pair with Beel Who's not Monte Morris,

897
00:58:40,159 --> 00:58:45,760
it's not Kuzma, it's not Danny
Avia. Like that might be a team

898
00:58:45,760 --> 00:58:49,639
that could go after it, and
I actually wouldn't hate it. Yeah,

899
00:58:49,679 --> 00:58:53,159
it would make more sense. I
mean, I think compared to the alternative

900
00:58:53,199 --> 00:58:57,679
of well, let's see what we
can get for Kuzma, Let's let's flip,

901
00:58:57,840 --> 00:59:00,840
you know, let's get some assets, let's get some pick which was

902
00:59:00,880 --> 00:59:04,320
really not on the table once the
Bill deal got done. Yeah, they

903
00:59:04,320 --> 00:59:06,880
could definitely be buyer. I think
if you said, are they are they

904
00:59:06,880 --> 00:59:12,960
buyers or sellers? Like the second
you give Bill a quarter billion dollars,

905
00:59:12,159 --> 00:59:15,480
Yeah, like you're buyers, You're
not You're not selling anything else. So

906
00:59:15,480 --> 00:59:19,400
so yeah, they do profiles an
interesting team, I do. I think

907
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:22,360
as I'm looking at some other stuff
on them, they are fifth in the

908
00:59:22,400 --> 00:59:24,280
East, but they're you know,
they're SRS. They're simple rating system.

909
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:30,239
Basketball Reference puts that together. It's
strength of schedule factors in with net rating.

910
00:59:30,639 --> 00:59:34,480
They're still kind they're still in the
negative, and they really stand out

911
00:59:34,760 --> 00:59:37,519
among the top like six or seven
teams that are all well into the positive.

912
00:59:37,599 --> 00:59:42,079
So the schedule has been a factor
here, I think. But you

913
00:59:42,119 --> 00:59:45,360
alluded to that off top, so
you know that's not that's not anything new.

914
00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:47,559
I will say, Uh, I
did not think the Wizards were going

915
00:59:47,599 --> 00:59:52,159
to be any good at all,
So this is this is another instance of

916
00:59:52,199 --> 00:59:55,159
me being proved wrong pretty early through
the first quarter of the year. Yeah,

917
00:59:55,199 --> 01:00:00,440
I mean, I'm just I'm like, it's tough because of the schedule,

918
01:00:00,480 --> 01:00:02,920
But then you're looking at the harbingers
that would normally concern you whether the

919
01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:07,320
defense isn't for real, and I
think the offensive concerns are absolutely for real.

920
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:10,280
Like you, they are still to
me like he's been better this year,

921
01:00:10,360 --> 01:00:14,000
but like you know, Kristaps porzingis
postops are still just a little bit

922
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:17,639
too big a part of like the
offensive structure for me, So I'm I

923
01:00:17,679 --> 01:00:21,360
didn't mean to Are they buyers or
sellers? But I think if the defense

924
01:00:21,440 --> 01:00:24,400
is actually this good, it makes
being a buyer more palatable for both the

925
01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:28,960
team and fans. Yep. Agree. If you don't have anything else,

926
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:32,320
I'll take us out. Everybody.
Thanks for listening. That's gonna do it.

927
01:00:34,159 --> 01:00:37,840
You can. As Dan mentioned in
the beginning, remember trying to grow

928
01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:39,480
this audience, trying to grow our
reach. We're trying to get into your

929
01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:44,719
homes and into your ears and your
brains. So download, subscribe, comment

930
01:00:44,840 --> 01:00:47,679
like raid. Review us, give
us five stars on iTunes and and any

931
01:00:47,679 --> 01:00:52,079
place else you can evaluate us positively
would be fantastic, But that's a big

932
01:00:52,119 --> 01:00:54,639
one. Follow us on our socials, which we have in the YouTube and

933
01:00:54,679 --> 01:00:58,800
podcast descriptions. Joined the discord,
which I have made a note to do

934
01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:01,079
myself. I pledge that I will
be in there once I learned what a

935
01:01:01,119 --> 01:01:06,320
computer is. Dan can maybe help
me with that. Tell your friends and

936
01:01:06,400 --> 01:01:08,440
enemies about us. Thank you again
for listening. And in closing, as

937
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:13,960
always, I would like to sincerely
apologize to Jared Allen and on behalf of

938
01:01:14,039 --> 01:01:15,920
Dan. I'm going to do it
this week. I would like to shout

939
01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:19,199
out you want and only we did
not get mentioned again while we did the

940
01:01:19,239 --> 01:01:22,280
East, so but still you usually
like to fit him in. Somehow Frank

941
01:01:22,320 --> 01:01:27,800
Milkey Wizard should trade for Frankie l'kena
to juice up their office