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What is Cracklac and fellow thermonupier a
efforts. I am Dan Valley coming at

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you with a Saturday Night slash Sunday
podcast. We get so many mailbag questions

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that I figured I would split it
up into two themes just because we had

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some in season tournament questions I figured
I could get to and then I'm gonna

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run through my exercise of breakout players. I had already started doing this.

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I did something with it for br
but we've got twenty five breakout players that

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I have tiered, and so we
will go through the exercise before we get

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started. Just the user reminder,
please remember to subscribe wherever you get your

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podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, the whole nine. Subscribe to all

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three platforms. Tell people about us. If you've done all those things already,

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follow us on all the socials.
The handles are in the podcast and

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YouTube description. Join our discoorse the
link to that is in the podcast and

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YouTube descriptions as well. And finally
that's it. Oh yeah, you coul

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support the show by buying our merch
But the big thing is to subscribe,

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like our videos, engage, tell
people about us. That is the most

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important thing. Ratings and reviews on
Spotify and Apple as well. Let's kick

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things off here by let's do the
in season tournament stuff first. We had

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two questions on it, and Austin
asks, is there a chance the in

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season Tournament is a one and done? Will they add to the list of

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ridiculous awards nobody cares about, such
as Hustle, Hustle or clutch Players.

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I actually thought people did care about
the Clutch Player award last year, Austin.

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But so this is just my little
rant on the in season Tournament.

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I love it. I love the
idea. I love what they're trying to

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do. I think most of the
courts are fire. Some of the ones

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that are. It's the red ones
for the most part. So with the

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Bulls, and we'll see it with
some other teams. The Rockets one might

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end up being okay, they're kind
of unsightly, But like the Indie court,

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the Brooklyn Court, the thunder Court, like those things are fun and

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they differentiate from the other regular season
games. And you tune in, you

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know that you're watching an nd season
tournament game at that point. And I

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appreciate the NBA's attempt to ascribe more
meaning to a regular season that is quite

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frankly too long, and especially now
when you're going up against not just the

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NFL but also college football that people
are so interested in. Those are two

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behemoths this time of year, So
why not take the swing? And I've

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seen and this is not to call
out Austin specifically, who was at the

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Pacers game. I saw that he
tagged me and something on Twitter, and

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again, the Pacers court just looks
absolute fire. It will take some time

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for this to maybe get off the
ground. And that's why I saw some

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people kind of saying, well,
if you need to change the court so

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that people know what they're watching and
have the trophy, the NBA Cup on

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full display, that it's an issue, Know it's not, because this thing

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is just starting out. So you
need people to understand what they're watching and

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to sort of get the not just
the word out there, but you need

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to get people accustomed to Okay,
this is happening. It's on Tuesdays and

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Fridays, and it's happening in November
through the beginning of December. And yes,

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it may take a couple of seasons
years for it to get off the

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ground to where you've had pass winners, and you have teams defending their NBA

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Cup at that point, we've had
a couple of repeat champions. You know,

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over the first four years, maybe
one team wins it twice. That's

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fine, Like it's gonna like at
some point, I think that teams and

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players will be more invested in it. I don't know how you can raise

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the stakes. I think I saw
was it Tyre's Alibert and said, the

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player the team who wins should be
given an automatic bid into the playoffs.

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That would be interesting. But then
it's sort of like, well, then

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what have you done? Did you
detract from or diminish the meaning of the

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rest of that team season from December
onward? If they just if they just

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get a playoff bid, you can
maybe guarantee him a playing spot at that

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point, and so they're still incentivized
to, hey, well, we don't

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want to be in the play in
something like that. I saw a lot

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of people, I think even Eye
floated. Could you, you know,

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increase the lottery odds or give them
lottery odds even if they're not a lottery

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team. But players are just not
going to care about paving the way for

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someone to come and take their job. Basically is what you're doing by giving

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them a lottery odds. I think
the cash prizes based off with Tobias Harris.

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He was saying about how you know
this is, you know, doubling

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a two way player salary if they're
on the team that wins. So I

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half a million dollars is not nothing. The coaches are incentivized now, they're

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getting bonuses. So I think the
NBA has done a really good job of

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trying to make this. It's all
over the place, the branding is all

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over the place. Maybe people are
sick and tired of hearing about it,

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but I like the idea that we
can come into a season. Maybe feel

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like it's a little bit too early, as we're only two weeks into the

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regular season, but we're in November
and that NBA games matter, and the

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setup, to me, I think
is important. These are regular season games,

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so they count towards the standings,
and so they are meaningful outside of

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the NBA Cup, where if you
just made this the NBA Cup, there'd

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probably be teams that just wouldn't care
because why do they care about winning the

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NBA Cup? And even now,
I don't know how much additional meeting.

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It gives to a team like the
Clippers, a team like the Suns who

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are so concerned about winning a title. But we saw with these games on

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the game night one excuse me of
the NBA in season tournament like teams were

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given a shit for the games that
you could pay attention to. I mean,

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you had Michael Porter Junior was defending
his butt off against Lukadancic. The

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Mavericks averaged point I think seven to
seven points per possession as a team on

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possessions in which Michael Porter Junior spent
some time guarding Lukadancic. The Cavs Indie

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game that was super frenetic down the
stretch. We saw what was going on

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with OKC and Golden State. I
know Shade in play in that one.

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These games were close, and the
NBA actually tweeted it out. I should

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see if maybe I can get it
up the screen. But like the margin,

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the margin of victory was so small
relative to what it normally might be.

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Friday's average margin of victory was four
point nine points, the second smallest

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on a single night minimum seven games
in the last ten seasons. That's again,

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it's not proof of concept beyond shadow
of a doubt, but like that

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that's a real thing. We're talking
about a Friday night in early November.

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Like that's a real thing. And
you're looking at you know, Kyrie Irving

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came back for the game against the
Nuggets. Would he have said, and

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again the national TV element, but
like, would that have been something that

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they would have rushed back to have
him? Probably not on a normal circumstance.

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And so why not try it and
see where this leads? And if

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you look at just some of the
comments from the players, not just Tobias

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Harris talking about the money, but
they seem to care about Okay, let's

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try this out, and there's gonna
be people that just want to. I

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think also once you get into pass
the group stages, into this single elimination

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stuff, that's just by virtue of
being a competitor and knowing that you have

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an opportunity to do something this year, specifically that no one's ever done before,

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win the inaugural NBA Cup. But
just this idea that oh, could

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you be in Vegas and you're sending
someone home before they finally get to that

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title game, and look, there's
no there's no opportunity cost here. Yes,

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the two finalists wind up having to
have eighty three out of eighty three

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regular season games, where everyone else
will only have eighty two. And we're

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in an era of load management being
concerned about players' bodies. It's just an

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extra game at this point. And
so it's fine you folded most of it

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into the regular season. You've kept
your optionality open by forcing teams to leave

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their arenas open un certain days.
And also, I also you'll see the

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intensity pick up probably after the first
I would say two group games, to

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where there might just be younger teams, uh that sense, oh, hey,

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we have a chance to actually win
the NBA Cup or come out of

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the group stays to enter the single
elimination round. Let's let's really go after

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it at this point. And so
do you see the intensity sort of ratchet

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up from there? And I don't
know the team that you want to name

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that as the standout in that it's
you know, the let's use the Blazers

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as an example, beating the Grizzlies, who are just off to a terrible,

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terrible start. Are they just a
team that's just oh, if we

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win our next you know, group
game, and all of a sudden,

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we were two were guaranteed to be
five hundred in that record, and it

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goes to point differential after that,
it's going to be the best record from

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each group for anyone who doesn't know
comes out to enter that final stage.

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And then there'll be a wildcard from
each conference. There will be ties,

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though, and then it's determined by
point differential that it's just really interesting to

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where it's Oh it matters. Okay, the Heat did beat the Wizards,

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but the Wizards made it closer.
And so if there are gonna be other

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teams in their group that just destroy
the Wizards, we know the Heat are

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definitely not gonna care about this.
Why not attempt this? And no,

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I don't think it's going to be
one and done ultimately, because you need

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this to marinate for a few years, I think to experience the full benefits

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of it. There's value in the
longevity of if we're five NBA cups deep

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and that then it starts to mean
something. And just approach this with an

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open mind. If you haven't already
the people who are kind of already poo

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pooing it before we even have gotten
through the first one. I just I

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find that incredibly bizarre. To wrap
up here, everything Black said, ask

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another in season tournament question for you, wouldn't doing away with divisions give the

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in season group stage a little bit
more oomph? First of all, love

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the word oomf, so shout out
everything blacks. I don't think so,

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unless I'm if I'm mistaking your question
here, you'll have to let me know

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in discord, which is where these
questions comes in, which is why you

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should all join our discord. I
don't think it would, just because the

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way that they determine the group stages
the groups, excuse me, which is

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based off performance from the previous season. They're going to be constantly changing,

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and so if you wanted to use
the same groups, but at that point

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then it's just, oh, we're
in divisions. It might add a little

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bit of juice, but this would
really fuck with the NBA's focus on travel,

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Like, could you do interconference groups
to where you're not determining it by

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performance? But could we just loop
these It's every year, these same five

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teams are in a group, and
we're mixing and matching the conferences, and

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can you you know, birth some
new rivalries from that? But I don't

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think the NBA would want to get
into the would want to get into the

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travel issue from that where you have
West Coast teams playing all the way across

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the East coast. So I don't
think getting away with divisions would really do

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anything with that. I guess if
you were going to lock these groups in,

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which you could just do by conference, that's fine, But then it's

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almost why don't we do this by
division at this point? But I actually

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kind of like the way that they're
doing it, where it's it's really based

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on performances from from the year before. So I think that that has a

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better chance of creating a more even
distribution in groups on a year to year

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basis rather than locking them them in. But you could, you couldn't attempt

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to. Let's deviate from divisions and
we'll just we'll lock these groups in now

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and see what happens. Does that
create, you know, birth some new

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rivalries? It could. I'm all
for the NBA Cup until it proves that

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it's not going to be sustainable or
interesting, and it is yet to show

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that for sure. Let's get into
this little exercise of mine where I'm going

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to I came up with tiers of
the types of breakouts, and I've limited

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myself to three options per tier of
breakout players. A lot of this is

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predictive, but most of it some
of it's predictive, I should say,

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most of it's based off what I've
already seen, read about, watched film

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on, done some research on.
So I limited myself to three players per

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tier except for the deep cuts one
because we had a question and this was

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maybe i'll throw this in the actual
full mail bag, but it was from

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HP Burgie wants to wanted to know
about deep cut breakouts, both teams and

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players, and so I'll probably do
a different version of it on that mail

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bag, but that's one of the
tiers here, and I'll throw it up

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on the screen in a minute.
So I think I allowed myself to go

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five deep on that, and then
I have other tiers that I created and

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their self explanatory with the titles.
But we have the deep cut leaps and

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so I'll have five players in there. I think, then the second year

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leaps, third year leaps, oh
you thought their contract was bad leaps,

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continuation of leaps from last year,
stardom bound leaps. So players that are

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kind of tracking towards their first All
Star appearance, and then superstars that I

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think could be making leaps or will
make leaps if they haven't played enough yet.

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There's a little bit of a spoiler
alert in there. I think it's

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beat. We'll start from the bottom
and go go our way up here,

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and I'll try and blow through this
so that it's not just like a super

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duper long exercise. I don't know
if this will resonate a lot for the

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listeners on the audio version, so
maybe you should go check it out on

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YouTube. But the exercise I thought
was instructive. So with deep cut leads

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here Matt Ryan in New Orleans just
like shooting the ball really well, he's

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probably defended better than I've expected.
And that unit with him Jordan Hawkins,

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by the way, no rookies were
allowed in this, so if you wanted

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to see a wemby one a Jordan
Hawkins won, Derek Lively, Chet Holmgren,

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sorry, they're not going to be
here. That unit with CJ and

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a bunch of bench players specifically and
you, well, not a bunch of

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bench players. We have HERB and
that it's basically three floor spacers has been

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Matt Ryan and it's been Jordan Hawkins
and then Jonas found Tunis has played a

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lot with them. That lineup has
worked really well. Marjon Bochamp has started

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playing more in Milwaukee. He's hitting
his threes, covering some really tough defensive

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assignments. Point of attack defense has
still been an issue for them though,

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But that's just a player. The
fact that they didn't have to give him

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up in the Damian Lillar trade might
end up being a big deal when you

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look at how shallow they are.
Also, Peyton Watson in Denver not like

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super efficient all the time, but
I compared him watching him like watching a

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human explanation point, that's what watching
him sort of feels like here. And

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he's taken on some really tough defensive
matchups. He is the highest plus minus

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on the Denver Nuggets. When Nicole
Jokic is off the floor. The Nuggets

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have outscored opponents with Peyton Watson on
the court by plus fifty nine. I

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think he actually has a negative or
close to it when he's playing with Jokic

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or something weird like that. But
I've just appreciated the intensity that he's brought.

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Derek Jones, Junior He was shouted
out in discord for this question specifically,

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I think by H. P.
Burgee. Yeah, he's been great

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for Dallas. I know a lot
of people don't want to see him play

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00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,600
as much, but right now he's
he's every one point two to one points

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per spot up possession. He's taking
on some tough defensive assignments for them.

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The fact that he is serviceable on
offense though, really that's great for them

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because they need two way players.
There's like a shortage of two way players

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from them right now. Olivier Saw
in Oklahoma City once Jalen Williams and Kendrick

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Big Jalen Williams, Jay will and
Kendrick Williams are both healthy. Are you

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00:15:16,879 --> 00:15:20,399
gonna be able to five minutes for
Olivia Sar? Just a big body who's

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swatting everything, can do things around
the basket, grab rebounds. Opponents are

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shooting like a ridiculously low percentage against
him at the rim right now. Just

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some nice spot minutes. He's been
fun to watch. Hayward high Smith in

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Miami, they just really need I
clearly went beyond Maybe I went six players

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deep in this one. I might
have won seven one of them. I

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wasn't sure if they count as a
deep cut, so whatever, but Heywood

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high Smith, he shot the ball
pretty well. Has not played a ton

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for Miami, but they need guys
who are hitting threes right now. Probably

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needs to be willing to take them
a little bit more frequently. That someone

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also keep an eye on for the
rest of the season. And then the

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big one here. I wasn't sure
if this qualified as a deep cut.

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But Grant and I go back and
forth all the time on this as to

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whether because we're so and our discord
members, we're all in this NBA silo

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names that I'll say now, people
that are watching on YouTube might just stumble

240
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into this podcast. They're not seeing
it, some of them. So Jalen

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00:16:12,279 --> 00:16:17,600
Johnson is absolutely in here. He
has killed it. He's shooting like seventy

242
00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:22,240
two percent from two point range,
been running the floor really well, bites

243
00:16:22,279 --> 00:16:25,919
on fate, fakes a little bit
too often. Defensively, need to be

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00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:27,720
more careful with some of his passes, but he could be a really dangerous

245
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,080
facilitator from a standstill. He's been
good on closeouts defensively. He's covering some

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00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:38,919
really big dudes defensively as well.
And I think that you really would like

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00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,000
to see the perimeter game come along
a little bit more. He has some

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00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,559
of a floor game, but like
an actual stand still jumper, not something

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00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,960
we know right now. Been pretty
good as a help rim protector opponents are

250
00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,840
shooting. I think I saw it
was nine of eighteen at the rim against

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00:16:52,919 --> 00:16:56,840
him. Would love to see again. The big thing for me if those

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00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,639
trailer jump shots can kind of fall
for him. But he's been absolute massive,

253
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uh for for for Atlanta, and
that's gonna that's gonna wrap up the

254
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,759
first tier here. Let's move on
to second year leap self explanatory. This

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00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,640
is where again I limited to three
players, so these are not the only

256
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,759
players whould be candidates, but by
trying to limit it to three players per

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00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:22,160
these tiers, uh, Shaydon Sharp
just absolute been ridiculous. He has been

258
00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,519
the Blazers' best player, which is
when you have you know, R DUB

259
00:17:26,559 --> 00:17:30,359
three R DUB, when you have
DeAndre and I guess Goot Henderson he's banged

260
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,799
up at at the moment you have
Jeremy Grant and Frey Simon's only a period

261
00:17:33,799 --> 00:17:38,079
in a game like that's actually saying
something he's been really he's been making shots

262
00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:42,000
from the perimeter. He's hitting pull
up threes at a very high clip,

263
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,920
shooting very well from above the break, and it's really all just the beginning

264
00:17:47,279 --> 00:17:49,680
for him. I think we still
need to see his passing is better.

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00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,599
It's still pretty basic, but he's
thrown a couple of nifty dimes in the

266
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pocket and as post entries. If
he ever starts deferring more consistently on his

267
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drives, it's gonna be hours on
this dude. I've been really impressed with

268
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,039
what I saw from him. Another
second year player that's really impressed me.

269
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Mark Williams is just this massive dude, but he has like dexterity and speed

270
00:18:12,799 --> 00:18:17,759
really good IQ. I think there's
more to plumb for him as a passer.

271
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I'd like to see him test out
that jumper that we saw towards the

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00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,160
end of last season. Not threes
necessarily, but more of the true mid

273
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,440
range looks rather than the ones from
kind of the short floater range. But

274
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he is he's wrecking lives around the
rim right now, and he can swallow

275
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:34,799
past his hole like this is someone
who's gonna break up a bunch of stuff

276
00:18:36,079 --> 00:18:37,440
on the ball away from the ball, not as just a shot blocker and

277
00:18:37,519 --> 00:18:41,440
a turrent, but it's just really
getting in there with his hands. He's

278
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,519
been doing a better job this year
of avoiding cooul trouble on defense, and

279
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he can make some really tough catches
on the move as well, and can

280
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,480
give you some nice touch around the
hoop. I think the Hornet's got a

281
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,720
good one here. You might prefer
this next guy, though, that is

282
00:18:55,839 --> 00:18:59,599
Jaalen Duran been an absolute monster who
the Hornets could have had, by the

283
00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,160
way, but they decided not to. I think Mark Williams is good enough

284
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,480
to where you don't have to concern
yourself with it too much. But Jalendern

285
00:19:06,519 --> 00:19:10,720
has been an absolute, absolute,
absolute, absolute monster. I can't say

286
00:19:10,759 --> 00:19:15,440
absolute enough to get there. He
I think the thing that's actually impressed me

287
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,839
the most with him, and there's
I mean, you look at what he's

288
00:19:18,839 --> 00:19:22,440
doing. The connection with Kay Cunningham
is both it's empirical and etherol at the

289
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:29,200
same time. He has this gait
of Giannis put A ballerina's fleet of foot.

290
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,319
But I'm still most impressed by his
passing. He can actually make reads

291
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:40,000
on the move, and I think
that having that IQ already is a second

292
00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:45,559
year player is huge and once you
get him actual you know, not net

293
00:19:45,599 --> 00:19:48,400
negative floor spacing let's say like you
have in Detroit right now, winds up

294
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,480
being huge for the Pisons long term. I also think he's been good just

295
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,799
as a vertical spacer right now,
and again that's without actual spacing around him.

296
00:19:56,839 --> 00:20:00,440
Imagine what he'll do when that changes. And just the stat lines are

297
00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,839
Gaga right now, which is like, oh, fifteen thirteen three assists,

298
00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:07,440
too swats per game, and he's
shooting sixty five plus percent on his twos.

299
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,559
That's this is there are two definitive
building blocks in Detroit. I'd be

300
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,039
prepared to throw Warsar Thompson in there, but it's Kag Cunningham and Jalen Duran

301
00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:22,119
right now has entered that territory.
Moving on to third year leaps, and

302
00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:26,880
we'll start with this one with Scotty
Barnes because I think there's the startup bound

303
00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,839
leap, which I think he might
have a case for this year, but

304
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,880
I need to see higher offensive returns
from Toronto before him ready to slot him

305
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,359
there. But they have supercharged his
usage and while it is not culminated in

306
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:42,759
a pretty offense, they're learning a
lot about Scotty Barnes and his armory.

307
00:20:42,839 --> 00:20:47,799
It's it's real, like, this
is someone who's around twenty and five shooting

308
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,319
I think fifty five percent on his
twos. He shot well on a standstill

309
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:56,200
threes last year, which is a
huge development for them. He knows now

310
00:20:56,319 --> 00:20:59,839
when you kind of look, he's
using his body better to create separation,

311
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,039
whether he has his back to the
basket or he's going downhill. I still

312
00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:07,079
think he needs to do a better
job of kind of embracing contact and maybe

313
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,559
junking some of those fadeaways. Getting
trying to get to the rim a little

314
00:21:11,599 --> 00:21:15,720
bit more would be good for him. But just like he's hitting enough of

315
00:21:15,759 --> 00:21:18,039
his runners and his turnarounds right now
to where it just really doesn't matter.

316
00:21:18,319 --> 00:21:25,160
The turnovers can get ugly here and
they're inordinate in number. Sometimes that's part

317
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,160
of the offensive hub learning curve.
And I still think, Look, he's

318
00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,079
made better decisions, I think or
he's getting better at surveying the floor and

319
00:21:32,079 --> 00:21:34,640
passing out of double teams give him
actual spacing, And I think that this

320
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,319
is someone who you can now build
around. It's not just oh, he

321
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,519
can be part of this rebuild,
or is he like to the second guy,

322
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,960
the third guy. Maybe his best
role will be second best player on

323
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,400
our title team. But this is
someone who can direct your rebuild. Is

324
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:55,400
worth at least directing your rebuild around. Albert jay Gun is here as part

325
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,480
of the third year leaps. The
Rockets are finally giving him more volume.

326
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,160
Right now, his touches per thirty
six minutes are way up. I think

327
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:07,039
he went from he was about forty
eight touches per per thirty six minutes to

328
00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:11,519
the front court last year. That's
shot up to over fifty three. While

329
00:22:11,519 --> 00:22:15,599
his overall usage is only up a
tick. That really just says more about

330
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,440
his commitment to a passer. But
he still managed to ratchet up his scoring

331
00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:26,000
and he's doing well on the glass. Have I've noticed, We've all noticed

332
00:22:26,039 --> 00:22:30,839
that this better role for Shang Gun. It's not resulted in winning at a

333
00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,799
higher clip for Houston, but he
keeps the ball moving. He is just

334
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:38,559
more aggressive as a finisher. Right
now, he's hitting his threes. There

335
00:22:38,599 --> 00:22:41,799
are outlines of a system that you
can build around him. As Jalen Green

336
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,480
is struggling, as Fred Van Fleet's
kind of been up and down, as

337
00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:48,920
you're dealing with life Sons to Tarry
Easton, who's been banged up. Joe

338
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,559
Barsmith Junior has not looked too great
on the offensive end this season. If

339
00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:56,599
you can get to a point where
the rockets are moving faster, more frequently,

340
00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:02,000
more consistently, more decisively once around
shanng Gun once he catches the ball,

341
00:23:02,319 --> 00:23:04,640
I think that is your best basis
for an offensive system right now,

342
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,359
and you can see the skeleton of
it at points. It's just not consistent

343
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,240
enough To wrap up this tier,
I have to go with Cam Thomas.

344
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,119
I mean, how do we go
with anyone but Cam Thomas. He's averaging

345
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,559
over a point per drive, one
of five players doing so right now.

346
00:23:18,559 --> 00:23:22,079
Who's a minimum of fifteen drives for
anyone else? Who's interested in the other

347
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,359
four in that department? Jason Tatum, Chet Holmgren, He's been absolutely great,

348
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,039
said Jayson Tatum, and beating Kelly
ubre so two guys that come from

349
00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:36,119
the Sixers. But Cam Thomas,
we've so often referred to him as a

350
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:40,640
microwave scorer. I think people still
default to that. It's basically an insult

351
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,559
at this point. Do I think
he'll flirt with averaging thirty points per game

352
00:23:44,559 --> 00:23:47,599
for the entire season, absolutely not. Does he need to do more as

353
00:23:47,599 --> 00:23:51,799
a passer, absolutely yes. But
there's a rhyme and reason to the way

354
00:23:51,799 --> 00:23:56,799
that he is playing, an actual
process that transcends these chucker labels. He's

355
00:23:56,839 --> 00:24:02,440
showcasing poise patients in the lane,
beating defenses in ways that he just wasn't

356
00:24:02,839 --> 00:24:07,319
beforehand. He's he's exploring, you
know, I think when you look at

357
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,039
a lot of his shot making now, it's uncomfortably mid range heavy, but

358
00:24:11,079 --> 00:24:15,920
he's also exploring different levels of that
middle He's varying the depth to which he's

359
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,240
traveling, the speeds at which he's
traveling off the catch and out of ball

360
00:24:19,279 --> 00:24:26,240
screens. That's that's that's going to
I think that sustains, and we're kind

361
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,720
of seeing defenses respond in kind here
where they're overy reacting. We've seen him

362
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,799
throw a couple of parades to the
free throw line so far this season,

363
00:24:34,599 --> 00:24:37,400
and I think he's been more opportunistic
at the rim. He could still stand

364
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,759
to get there more often. The
fact that he's doing all this without nailing

365
00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:45,920
threes an especially high clip. And
also the bigger thing is when you watch

366
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,039
him and Lucas Kaplan from Nets Daily
and pointed this out. He's playing very

367
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:53,480
much within the flow of the larger
offense right now. That's a weapon that

368
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:59,720
translates to a better version of the
Brooklyn Nets team. This tier was kind

369
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,039
of hard. I don't know if
like it's we get to a point where

370
00:25:03,039 --> 00:25:06,799
you sign guys to extensions and then
it's just, oh, they're all of

371
00:25:06,839 --> 00:25:08,960
a sudden not as valuable. It's
the Tyler hero effect. We saw it

372
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,400
with well, oh shit, I'm
spoiling stuff here. Tyler Hero is in

373
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,240
this tier for me. He has
been scorching hot to start the season.

374
00:25:19,279 --> 00:25:23,319
It has not helped Miami's offense.
He's definitely overstretched as a playmaker, but

375
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:29,720
he's still I think he's improved incrementally
each year as that passing type. Only

376
00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:32,640
Donovan Mitchell, Steph Curry, and
Luka Nancis have hit more off the dribble

377
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,720
three pointers than him. Right now, he's hitting those threes at a thirty

378
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:41,319
eight point two percent clips. That's
absolute fire. He's going to give up

379
00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:45,519
so much defensively for you, but
he is an offensive lifeline right now.

380
00:25:45,519 --> 00:25:48,319
When you look at how poorly Jimmy
Butler's been playing, how all over the

381
00:25:48,319 --> 00:25:52,240
place, the heat have been where
they're almost two line in the half court

382
00:25:52,559 --> 00:25:55,920
with certain units. He's giving you
a breath of fresh air where he'll operate

383
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:57,519
a little bit more quickly. He
can still do some of the stuff off

384
00:25:57,519 --> 00:26:03,000
the ball. Him and Duncan,
Robinson and even Bamitt points like they've fueled

385
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,680
some of the higher moments for Miami's
offense. And so you look at his

386
00:26:06,799 --> 00:26:11,319
contract and it's four years guaranteed one
hundred and twenty million. I think that's

387
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,640
ultimately fine. You don't want him
to be your point guard. That's never

388
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,559
been what he's supposed to be.
That primary playmaker though. That's why you're

389
00:26:17,559 --> 00:26:19,400
supposed to have Butler being able to
get downhill, which he just hasn't been

390
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:25,480
able to do this this season.
RJ. Barrett four years, its first

391
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,400
year of a four year, one
hundred and seven million dollar extension, missed

392
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,759
some time now. He's he's banged
up with a right knee soreness. I

393
00:26:30,759 --> 00:26:34,200
believe it is. That is concerning. But you watch him hitting his threes,

394
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,200
that's a big deal. Still not
the most efficient player, but he's

395
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:42,279
getting better at getting defenders on his
hip, not picking up his dribble making

396
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:47,039
reads from there. The defensive effort
has been better from him this season as

397
00:26:47,039 --> 00:26:49,640
well. He's thrown some just passes
where you look at them and look back

398
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,640
and say, oh, okay,
he gets it. And I still we

399
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,319
can't put him in the entry to
start him to here, at least I

400
00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,359
can't. Just now. Maybe Nick
sense would be more inclined to throw him

401
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,680
there, and so you're not going
to change the entire build of your team

402
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,880
to fit him. But I still
just wonder if he was around better spacing

403
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,480
or players who were more willing to
throw up threes in volume, or and

404
00:27:14,519 --> 00:27:15,839
look, they get to lineups,
they pull RJ. They stager him with

405
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,559
some of the bench units, but
those aren't super spacey like I would like

406
00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:22,680
to see RJ plus four shooters,
which is just something that Knicks will never

407
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,839
truly get to give him. The
makeup of the roster, and how Tibbs

408
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:27,640
likes to run the types of fives
he likes to run, or how he

409
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,799
uses his fives when you're looking at
Isaiah Hardenstein, who ken space the floor,

410
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:37,279
That's not what they're gonna use him
for specifically, But he's thrown enough

411
00:27:37,319 --> 00:27:40,839
of those passes this season. RJ
has to where I think he gets it,

412
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,960
and I would like to see that
more and so I wouldn't rule him

413
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,200
out of the entry into stardom.
The final one for this tier is Michael

414
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,359
Porter Junior. He has like four
years one hundred and forty plus left on

415
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:53,519
his deal. He signed about a
five year, one hundred and eighty million

416
00:27:53,519 --> 00:27:59,000
dollars contract. I don't know who
is necessarily calling his deal bad after the

417
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,400
Nuggets won, that'sh but I really
just want to underscore how much, how

418
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,160
much straw, how many, how
big of a leap he's actually taken as

419
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:12,640
a defender as a rebounder, being
consistently aggressive disciplined in both areas. I

420
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:18,400
already mentioned at the top of this
podcast, if you listened to the to

421
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,720
the bit about the n season tournament, he was defending Lugadancic for good stretches

422
00:28:22,759 --> 00:28:26,839
and like he gave him hell and
we've seen it, saw it dating back

423
00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:30,920
to the playoffs, like he gave
Kevin Durant fits, and he's defended some

424
00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:34,720
even smaller players for certain stretches.
I think his when you look at his

425
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:40,920
help side rim protection, it's gotten
a lot better. The raw numbers when

426
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:42,720
the people are going and challenging up
against the rim, but just like when

427
00:28:42,759 --> 00:28:48,119
he's coming over, reading when and
how to provide help, So forget even

428
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:52,880
just about the basket specifically, that's
a really big deal. And he can

429
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:57,440
just have these nights where he'll be
thermonuclear af on offense, and yeah,

430
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:03,200
you want to see those making they
come basically entirely within the flow. Now,

431
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,519
we mentioned that with Cam Thomas,
like MPJ has been there for a

432
00:29:06,599 --> 00:29:11,519
little while, he's not hijacking possessions
to find his own. Looks like he

433
00:29:11,559 --> 00:29:14,680
can give you what. He scores
twenty four points on ten of eighteen in

434
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,839
that first end season tournament game,
four of eight from three, still one

435
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:19,640
of the best shooters alive, and
he can go through his cold spurts.

436
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,880
To me, what's most impressive is
that when he's gone through some of those

437
00:29:25,119 --> 00:29:29,480
those valleys this season, it just
is not buying large impact in his defensive

438
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,000
effort. And so do I think
he's some top tier defender. I don't

439
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,279
really know, but he's that's I
feel like that's overstating where he's at right

440
00:29:37,319 --> 00:29:40,599
now, But like, this is
someone who's a league average defender or better

441
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,720
at the moment, and now the
Nuggets are just big. Like now they're

442
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,960
big and have how many plus defenders
on the court, whereas Jamal Murray for

443
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,759
his position is he kind of there. You have Aaron Gordon, you have

444
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,759
MPJ. Yo Kitch is fine for
the most part. It's only in certain

445
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:57,559
Yo actions that you can throw him
in. And then the Timberwolves, of

446
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,960
course, they see to know how
to defend him better than most where it's

447
00:30:02,039 --> 00:30:06,319
let's put Karl Anthon Towns on him
and will have Rigobert on the back line.

448
00:30:06,759 --> 00:30:10,119
The Nuggets are just so big and
you want to throw Peyton Watson.

449
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,079
They get some really just big lineups
for everyone, even to Cooleyocic on defense

450
00:30:14,079 --> 00:30:17,920
like disrupts plays with his hands in
addition to getting is his rebounds. So

451
00:30:18,839 --> 00:30:22,359
MPJ huge development for the Nuggets.
That'll be the catchphrase. It's just huge

452
00:30:22,359 --> 00:30:27,079
development when you're talking about these leaps. Next year is a continuation of leaps

453
00:30:27,079 --> 00:30:30,640
from last year to where it was, Oh, did these things happen mid

454
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,920
season or were they disrupted by injury? And they're still going to me j

455
00:30:36,119 --> 00:30:38,920
dub in Oka se fouled out in
the d season Tory game that Shaye wasn't

456
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,119
there don't pay attention to his efficiency
as much, and there have been some

457
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,920
turnover issues, but and he could
still become like dead set on getting to

458
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,799
the rim too much. I'd like
to see him just sort of spruce up

459
00:30:48,839 --> 00:30:55,759
his outside volume the thunder having him
just run entire units at the moment,

460
00:30:55,799 --> 00:31:00,559
it's like they're pulling Gideon Shay so
that we're gonna see Jade be the one

461
00:31:00,599 --> 00:31:03,680
to run some of those bench heavier
units and they haven't always looked pretty,

462
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,079
but it's worked a lot of the
time. And his ability to get to

463
00:31:06,119 --> 00:31:08,839
the basket, the disruption that he's
able to provide on defense, and this

464
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,559
is just like aside from lou Dort, like that is the guy. I

465
00:31:11,599 --> 00:31:17,039
know what chet Holmern can do as
his own sort of disruptor down low and

466
00:31:17,079 --> 00:31:19,920
the shot blocking he Giveshoesatch just inside
but on the perimeter. But it's like

467
00:31:21,079 --> 00:31:23,480
after Loudort, and I would even
say there's a chance that Jay Dubb because

468
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,119
of the way he can defend up, I would argue better than Loudhort.

469
00:31:27,559 --> 00:31:32,880
This is just the guy on defense
for them and if he's not there yet,

470
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,000
like he's just going to be the
guy at some point, and so

471
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,680
I really think that while some of
the efficiency numbers we've seen a little bit

472
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,400
of a pullback there, it's the
information you're getting on him in the context

473
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,640
that he's being used like that's more
important, and that he still gets to

474
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,480
the rimaton. It's probably a little
bit less, but he's experimenting more from

475
00:31:52,599 --> 00:31:56,599
the mid range and noticeably more of
his attempts for going unassisted this year.

476
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,960
Increasing that burden could in theory complicate
his development. You're getting more information,

477
00:32:02,079 --> 00:32:07,200
but is he worse off? He
has not been worse off, And I

478
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,960
just I don't really know where to
set his ceiling as a player. We

479
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,279
know where it might Grant for people
who are familiar around these parts, we

480
00:32:15,319 --> 00:32:21,599
know where Grant lands on this.
But as he gets more comfortable facilitating out

481
00:32:21,599 --> 00:32:24,799
of those downhill assaults, maybe pulling
up a little bit more often, a

482
00:32:24,839 --> 00:32:29,039
little bit more efficiently, the thunder
just gonna become even more immediate. The

483
00:32:29,039 --> 00:32:32,880
Fenser're able to hang with the warriors
even though they don't have shake gilg Alexander.

484
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:37,480
That's a testament to what Jaye Williams
can do in a game where he's

485
00:32:37,519 --> 00:32:42,240
not like even at his best Devin
Massell is coming up here next again someone

486
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,559
else where. You've seen the efficiency
decline a little bit. He's not tasked

487
00:32:45,599 --> 00:32:50,799
with facilitating as much either, because
they've gone to point Jeremy Jeremy Soewen,

488
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:55,640
and that's that's fine. He's experimenting
with some really tough jump shots and some

489
00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,680
of them are going in. We've
I've seen him hit just a few of

490
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,079
these bonkers level threes. His pull
up, like his pull up two,

491
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:09,519
is falling as ever. And I
wouldn't say he's putting more conventional pressure on

492
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:15,200
the basket, but like he is, he's not picking up his dribble as

493
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,880
really or shying away from contact as
much, and so that's like an additional

494
00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,680
form of rim pressure for him.
It's finer print evolution that has fueled some

495
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:30,000
really tough finishes around the basket and
more importantly, additional trips to the charity

496
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,920
stripers. So this is someone who
is leveling up his offense, leveling up

497
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,319
expanding his scoring portfolio. It's okay
that he's not running as many or he's

498
00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:43,920
not running pick and rolls and droves
or facilitating a ton out of the half

499
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,960
court. That's why you have Trey
Jones. That's why you have Jeremy Soehen

500
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,519
at this point, and you have
other guards that are gonna have the ball

501
00:33:50,519 --> 00:33:53,920
in their hands through those stages.
I think Devin Vessel again, it's been,

502
00:33:54,079 --> 00:33:57,599
as I said, more of a
finer print evolution, but it's building

503
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,839
off of last year to where had
he played more games, he would have

504
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,400
been at the four of the most
improved Player discussion with Lowry market In and

505
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,199
shake Gilgers Alexander. I don't know
if he has a chance to get there

506
00:34:07,199 --> 00:34:09,559
this season. I don't know why
I wouldn't say that. Finally, to

507
00:34:09,599 --> 00:34:12,920
wrap up this tier, I think
you knew it was coming. This could

508
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:17,159
be it could be a deep cut
leap, but nas reed, he has

509
00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:21,719
been. He's outplayed Karl Anthony Towns, and he's been the best offensive big

510
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:27,000
for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The floor
game still there. It's not an ultra

511
00:34:27,039 --> 00:34:30,440
prominent part of what the Wolves do, but it's more than breaking case of

512
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,800
emergency shooting over sixty five percent on
his drives. Day Moore from the Day

513
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,280
More NBA podcast with Kyle Taiger,
you should follow those guys. That podcast

514
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:44,480
is fantastic, had this stat that
Reid is yet to not score on a

515
00:34:44,519 --> 00:34:46,880
post up in some form where it's
even if he missed the shot ends up

516
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:51,880
going to the foul line. I've
been really impressed with his defensive progression as

517
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:53,679
well. The Wolves have one of
the three best defenses in the leagues by

518
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,480
point by points allowed per possession right
now. He's been a big part of

519
00:34:58,519 --> 00:35:02,199
it. He's super switchable. His
room protection started improving last year. That

520
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:06,880
improvement has held, and he's also
been able to cover up for minutes in

521
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,760
which he has played with Karl Anthony
Towns, which is just absolutely let's call

522
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,400
it a huge development for the Timberwolves. He's hitting hiss above the break three

523
00:35:15,559 --> 00:35:22,559
Still I don't know what his This
is someone who I think is playing enough

524
00:35:22,559 --> 00:35:24,800
minutes right now to win six Man
of the Year and most improved Player at

525
00:35:25,079 --> 00:35:29,159
the same time. And it's if
they ever come they might need to have

526
00:35:29,199 --> 00:35:32,480
some awkward discussions if Towns doesn't start
playing better soon. I'm not saying you

527
00:35:32,519 --> 00:35:36,400
bench Towns, it's more of,
well, do we moved Towns before salary

528
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:39,920
skyrockets to almost fifty million when he's
at like thirty six and change. That's

529
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:44,400
a real discussion. That nos Reed
is kind of forcing because he's so thoroughly

530
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,760
out playing towns right now, too
early to have it. I'm just saying

531
00:35:47,119 --> 00:35:52,159
put on alert because nos Reed has
been Rudy Gobert has been really good too,

532
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:58,840
defensively especially, but nos Reed has
been Has he been Minnesota's best two

533
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,280
way player? Jan McDaniels hasn't played
enough yet. I think he can make

534
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:06,480
the case that maybe Impi Edwards is
still right there, but there's a chance

535
00:36:06,559 --> 00:36:10,000
nas Reed has been Minnesota's best two
way player to start the season. That's

536
00:36:10,519 --> 00:36:15,400
that's wild. We're into the stardom
bound leap. So the guys that will

537
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,960
either make their first time All Star
for a first time All Star appearance,

538
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,079
I'm not saying that's all they could
do. Some of these guys can make

539
00:36:21,119 --> 00:36:23,559
All NBA. I'm gonna start with
Desmond Baine because the Grizzly suck, but

540
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:28,760
it's it's through no fault of Desmond
Main. He's overtaxed right now, but

541
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,519
the fact that his efficiency isn't lower, that his true shooting percentage is still

542
00:36:31,559 --> 00:36:37,719
above league average. Yes, I
know the Grizzlies. Their offense is in

543
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:43,000
like the twelve percent tile when he's
playing as sort of there. You know,

544
00:36:43,079 --> 00:36:45,559
they have the league's worst offense overall, I believe, and they're in

545
00:36:45,559 --> 00:36:49,039
the twelve percent tile when he's on
the court. They're asking him to do

546
00:36:49,119 --> 00:36:52,679
so much, to put more pressure
via drives, to run pick and rolls.

547
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:54,519
It's not that they just don't It's
not only they don't have John Ran,

548
00:36:54,559 --> 00:36:58,400
they don't have Steven Adams. So
you're you're losing your best screen setter.

549
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:01,079
You don't also have Brandon Clark,
and so you're playing with Xavier Tillman

550
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:06,760
and David roddy'sire Williams has played a
ton of minutes. The burden on Bain

551
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:12,519
is exponential right now. It's incomprehensible
relative to where he was just a couple

552
00:37:12,559 --> 00:37:15,800
of years ago, just sort of
this lower usage, lower minute rookie.

553
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:20,320
And now fast forward into year four. He's on this two hundred million dollar

554
00:37:20,679 --> 00:37:22,920
extension that doesn't kick in until next
year, and he's worth it. He's

555
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:28,320
given you around twenty five points per
and forces per game. And the fact

556
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,960
that his shooting supposed have not taken
a nos dive. That's that's big.

557
00:37:31,079 --> 00:37:35,639
I mean, he's yeah, he's
shooting below thirty five percent from three or

558
00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:40,039
right around there, but it's coming
on bonkers volume and on greater degrees of

559
00:37:40,039 --> 00:37:44,960
difficulty. More of his made buckets
are going unassisted. And just look at

560
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,559
how defense is key in on him
now. The coverages are way more aggressive,

561
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,440
not just when he's looking to attack, but it's sort of just the

562
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:55,559
first line initiator that these defenses are
really going after him. He's still shooting

563
00:37:55,599 --> 00:37:58,840
really well from two point range,
by the way, he was at last

564
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,760
I checked like fifty nine percent.
I didn't check after that Blazers game,

565
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:06,880
though, that's ridiculous. That's just
absolutely ridiculous. His playmaking still isn't floor

566
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:08,679
general material. I think he's done
a better job. You're looking at the

567
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:14,239
awareness, his spatial awareness, finding
trailers in transition, getting better at the

568
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:19,000
live dribble kicks to the corner specifically, I don't know. You know,

569
00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,400
he's not the level of star to
where with memphis current resources, he's going

570
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:27,239
to salvage their season. But this
is absolutely a star turn. It is

571
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,400
just absolutely a star turn, and
he belongs in the early season All Star

572
00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:35,559
discussion. Speaking of the early season
All Star discussion, Tyres Maxie I would

573
00:38:35,599 --> 00:38:38,440
like to think that the seventy six
ers decided to expedite James Harden trade talks

574
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:42,920
because he's been so good, not
because the owners got involved, but because

575
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,800
that Tyre's Maxie's just been cooking,
averaging over thirty points per game, shooting

576
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:52,000
the lights out from three, not
getting to the basket as much, and

577
00:38:52,039 --> 00:38:54,519
he's been hardly lights out when you're
looking at his off the dribble shooting he's

578
00:38:54,599 --> 00:38:59,519
making. The biggest development is he's
making headway as a playmaker here, a

579
00:38:59,559 --> 00:39:05,159
deliberate playmaker. His comfort changing directions
on ball all time high did over his

580
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:10,000
chemistry with Joel Embiid. He's learning
to downshift coming around screens as well to

581
00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:15,239
where it's almost everything needed to be
super fast, the dials always going to

582
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,320
eleven. It doesn't need to be
like that. Now he's not, you

583
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:22,039
know, he's not manipulating the game
at a Luka Doncic level speed. But

584
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,320
the fact that he can downshift,
which is something that Jenleen Green and Houston

585
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:30,679
has never really learned to do,
that's huge. He's he's also leaving his

586
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:34,599
feet as sort of a decoy.
I know, not all jump passes have

587
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,400
purpose, but he's leaving his feet
and even using his eyes looking in different

588
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:42,559
directions to try and trick defenses that
he can throw the right pass. Philly's

589
00:39:42,639 --> 00:39:49,320
offense when he's playing without Joel Embiid
right now is bad. It was right

590
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,599
around the league average, and then
you have like a one game and it

591
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,719
gives you like this massive downturn.
He's done enough though, to where you

592
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:59,360
look at it and say, Okay, this could be the point guard of

593
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,440
the future. Want someone else who
can make shots off the dribble, a

594
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,400
perimeter player. I know a lot
of people say a guard like Zach Lvine.

595
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,360
If that's relative to availability, I
get it, but it really should

596
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:12,760
come more in the form of a
wing. But this is someone who of

597
00:40:13,559 --> 00:40:17,440
like hesn't he he has an All
NBA ceiling. I think we're there,

598
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:21,239
maybe not this season, You're still
I think you still need to see some

599
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,679
more more expansion, a little bit
more of the off the dribble efficiency.

600
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,760
Can he get to the foul line
even more? Can his playmaking continue to

601
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,840
improve? If if we're fast,
how warning ahead to next year would not

602
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:37,039
shock me? If he's in the
All NBA discussion. To wrap up the

603
00:40:37,159 --> 00:40:39,880
Star Bound here, I'm going with
Key Cunningham, and I think there will

604
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:45,000
be maybe even listeners of this podcast. They will focus on the efficiency.

605
00:40:45,119 --> 00:40:49,199
He's still below average when you're looking
at the true shooting percentage. He's been

606
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:53,519
quite frankly awful at the rim,
even by his standards. He's committing turnovers

607
00:40:53,559 --> 00:40:59,960
in spades, so many of which
going back and watching, there's there's indecision

608
00:41:00,119 --> 00:41:04,360
there or just outright bad decisions that
come after picking up his dribble. I

609
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:07,199
really just don't care the signs that
we're seeing, and it's just I mean,

610
00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:10,719
he's averaging. He's pumping in the
points, shooting over forty percent from

611
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:14,760
three, which looks sustainable. He's
not hitting his pull up threes, which

612
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:16,440
is where he's always been comfortable,
taking kind of those step backs for those

613
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:21,400
pull ups. He's shooting the lights
out on catch and shoot threes right now,

614
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,199
and he's taken him quickly enough.
It just looks like he's at home

615
00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:29,079
doing it. I'm buying. I'm
buying his three point stroke off the catch.

616
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:31,920
I don't know if he'll see galaxy. He's above forty percent the entire

617
00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:35,159
season, but if he told me
he shot thirty nine to forty percent from

618
00:41:35,159 --> 00:41:38,960
three for the year. Yeah,
he's he's just he's not tempted. He's

619
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,400
he's not he's he's unseduced by the
temptation to dribble out of wide open threes

620
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,320
now, and that was just not
something we could say beforehand. That's a

621
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:52,039
what's the catchphrase for this podcast?
Huge development at the moment. And I

622
00:41:52,079 --> 00:41:55,480
also think when you look at what
he's doing as a passer, there is

623
00:41:55,519 --> 00:42:04,239
a there's a shake Gilgess Alexander sa
manipulation to his game. He defenses can

624
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:08,559
sometimes speed him up, coax him
into gaffs. For the most part,

625
00:42:08,679 --> 00:42:13,880
he's unflappable so long as he's keeping
his dribble, changing cadence in direction,

626
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,679
head on a swivel. His eyes
they're like they're seeing into the next pass,

627
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:22,920
or they're just guiding opponents away from
his ultimate intent where he's gonna throw

628
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:29,639
these no look passes. This is
again someone who is operating with suboptimal spacing.

629
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:31,920
And you should check out the full
Mailbag episode which will go live on

630
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,320
Monday, where we get into a
little more of the Killian, Hayes,

631
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,280
j and Ivy awkwardness going on in
Detroit right now. Cad Cunningham is making

632
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:44,119
the star turn if he stays healthy. This is basically his sophomore season.

633
00:42:45,159 --> 00:42:49,039
But I've seen enough from him on
offense. I think the finishing is eventually

634
00:42:49,039 --> 00:42:51,800
gonna come. He's missed a lot
of just like, oh yeah, he

635
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:55,199
needs to improve his tank takeoff points
angles. That's been a thing I've talked

636
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:59,519
to Las Jackson. I think about
that in the past, but I don't

637
00:42:59,519 --> 00:43:01,440
think so much this year. But
it was during the twenty twenty two,

638
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:05,440
twenty twenty three look head, So
you go back and look at that podcast

639
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:07,400
from over a year ago and see
how much of it is still Jermaine.

640
00:43:08,679 --> 00:43:13,320
I think he will get better at
the rim as the spacing improves. And

641
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:16,320
also there's just been like actual high
quality misses where the shots are he's blowing

642
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,239
these wide open layofs or they're rolling
off off the rim. I think his

643
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:22,840
touch will improve, maybe to where
he can shoot like sixty something percent around

644
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:25,960
the basket, which is high enough, better than in the fifties. And

645
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,920
look the connectivity he has with Jaellen
Duran being able to find him, knowing

646
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:35,039
where to place those passes, creating
vertical spacing that way. This is someone

647
00:43:35,079 --> 00:43:37,239
I know a lot of people are
out on him is sort of having the

648
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,079
superstar ceiling, and they're gonna put
Mobley in Barns in front of him as

649
00:43:40,119 --> 00:43:44,840
who's going to have the better pro
career. It's still I would bet on

650
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:49,360
probably Mobili Still at this point,
it's the jury is still very much out.

651
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,679
Key Cunningham is firmly in that discussion, and you'll notice Evan Mobley's not

652
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:57,360
here. I thought about putting him
in, but again I limited myself to

653
00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:01,039
three players a tier. The offensive
is happening, even if it doesn't always

654
00:44:01,199 --> 00:44:07,840
unfold beautifully or at a high efficiency. It's happening with Evan Mobley. I

655
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:12,159
just I don't know that he's ever
gonna have the opportunity that Cad and Scottie

656
00:44:12,159 --> 00:44:15,280
Barnes are getting right now with the
current iteration of the Cavs, where you

657
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:20,400
have Dono Mitchell and Darius Garland and
also making plays from the middle of the

658
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,519
floor on offense in the half court. It's gonna be a lot tougher when

659
00:44:22,599 --> 00:44:25,960
Jared Allen is back, but I
think it boes well for when Okay,

660
00:44:27,039 --> 00:44:30,760
Jared Allen is back, you're running
your full squad now these Evan Mobley is

661
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,920
the lone, big units that are
going up against benches. Those things might

662
00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:38,880
cook and just absolutely destroy opponents.
Our final tier superstars making leaps, and

663
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,320
so this is more predictive for the
most part. Well, it's not predictive,

664
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,840
but it's just, Oh, who
are these high level top tennis Top

665
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:51,159
fifteen players already who have added to
their game. I'm gonna start with Luca.

666
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,039
He's not doing anything too differently aside
from Oh, he's trying on defense

667
00:44:55,079 --> 00:45:00,000
and complaining less, folks, Luka
Dacic complaining less. That counts as every

668
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:05,159
and then he's just been hyper efficient
on all his usual bag of tricks.

669
00:45:05,199 --> 00:45:07,679
That counts. Look, that counts
as making a leap for me. Jason

670
00:45:07,679 --> 00:45:12,840
Tatum, he leads the league in
points per drive right now. He's officially

671
00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:19,119
maybe the most complete scorer in the
NBA. I who is you're gonna have

672
00:45:19,119 --> 00:45:21,519
to do? You're gonna have to
ask me who's more complete than him?

673
00:45:21,559 --> 00:45:23,559
As someone who's gonna be able to
work off the ball as a spot up

674
00:45:23,559 --> 00:45:27,480
shooter, get moving off the ball
in transition to run the floor, but

675
00:45:27,519 --> 00:45:30,639
also be able to hit those side
step threes, create his own twos,

676
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:34,239
pull up from mid range, follow
all the way through on his drives,

677
00:45:34,559 --> 00:45:37,719
throw some just he wants to work
with his back to the basket, or

678
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:39,360
he's gonna use like a pivot foot
and try and get defenders to come off

679
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:43,079
his feet when he gets closer to
the basket. I think I did.

680
00:45:43,079 --> 00:45:45,639
I already mention he's drawing fouls at
I don't think it's as high a clip

681
00:45:45,679 --> 00:45:49,639
as he was last season, but
it's still reasonable enough clip. This is

682
00:45:49,639 --> 00:45:53,119
in every level score and I think
he's probably the most I'm hesitant to say

683
00:45:53,159 --> 00:45:57,360
the most complete offensive player in the
league. The passing still needs to come

684
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:00,440
along to a degree, especially he
could still be a little bit predictable on

685
00:46:00,559 --> 00:46:05,199
his drives, but he's more unpredictable
overall because he's scoring at every level.

686
00:46:05,519 --> 00:46:07,880
And I don't know who would be
the more complete scorer right now, Shay

687
00:46:08,679 --> 00:46:13,920
Oh Luca Luca might be the most
complete scorer in the NBA. He's in

688
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:16,320
that discussion. Shaye would be if
his three point volume, which he's taken

689
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:20,840
more than he was last season,
but it needs to come up even further.

690
00:46:21,519 --> 00:46:23,159
Jason Taintam is in that discussion.
He's probably been in it for a

691
00:46:23,199 --> 00:46:29,519
while, but he might be the
most complete offensive player period, just even

692
00:46:29,559 --> 00:46:32,760
more than Luca because he's able to
play off the ball. Like this is

693
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:37,199
just I hope we appreciate I didn't
have him. I think I had him

694
00:46:37,199 --> 00:46:39,480
finishing. He was in the top
five of my MVP voting. He's probably

695
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,639
the MVP of the league right now. It's him, or it's Luca,

696
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:47,880
or it's Steph, or it could
be my next player, just based off

697
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:52,079
how bad they've done. Since he
hasn't really played, Devin Booker, I'm

698
00:46:52,079 --> 00:46:54,519
putting him in He's only played two
games, and the Suns have issues,

699
00:46:54,559 --> 00:46:57,559
and I'm putting him in the wrong
tier first, so I can move him

700
00:46:57,599 --> 00:47:00,320
up there. The passing, just
look at it. The way that he's

701
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:06,199
able to dictate the pace of the
Suns too, and they need the rim

702
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:08,679
pressure that he provides on the ball. Off the ball. Bradley Beal will

703
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:13,920
help when he returns from that too. He has improved so much as a

704
00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:16,679
defender. It's just it's not even
funny at this point, Like I'm just

705
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:22,360
I'm not even joking here. This
is just like Devin Booker is is a

706
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:24,679
two way player, and I don't
really like framing things this two way because

707
00:47:24,679 --> 00:47:29,119
it's like people when they say two
way superstars. We've seen him have his

708
00:47:29,119 --> 00:47:32,559
his struggles and they're still insulating him
to some degree. But like he's defended

709
00:47:32,599 --> 00:47:36,760
a lot. He's defended some at
the point of attack. We saw him

710
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:39,239
pick up against Jeremy Sowen. We've
seen him go, but also kind of

711
00:47:39,239 --> 00:47:45,239
defend like the bigger guys like a
Jonathan kaminga Andrew Wiggins. Even in that

712
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:47,920
game he spent some time on Steph
Curry when he played the Warriors. I

713
00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:52,800
think he's dealing with that ankle soreness. That's something to monitor. But when

714
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,079
you look at what he's going to
be able to do as a passer,

715
00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:58,800
I'm hoping we get to see a
stretch of games. I don't care if

716
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:00,840
Bradley Beal's healthier and he doesn't.
He doesn't need Bradley Beal or Kevin Durant

717
00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:05,639
to drive the Suns towards a good
offense. Maybe outside of crunch time,

718
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,119
he doesn't need that second star.
It would not shock me at predicted the

719
00:48:10,119 --> 00:48:13,880
average he would set a career high
and assists, so about seven assists per

720
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:15,480
game. I thought that was bold. It might not have been bold enough

721
00:48:15,639 --> 00:48:19,719
again, if he just puts together
once he gets healthy, this is someone

722
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:22,800
who can average eight or nine assists. I'm that high on his patch,

723
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,679
that his evolution as a passer,
and then also thinking like he's gonna give

724
00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:30,280
them Sun's defense. Overall, by
the way, rim production can be shaky.

725
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:31,960
It's been a little bit better than
I've expected for the most part looking

726
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,599
at their personnel, especially when you're
not getting to you know, it took

727
00:48:35,639 --> 00:48:37,079
them all out of dust Off k
to batesd Op. They're not playing NOAs

728
00:48:37,159 --> 00:48:42,000
little as much. They are playing
Josh Kogie a bunch. So there's that

729
00:48:42,079 --> 00:48:44,960
for sure, But like they've really
gone to Okay, we're gonna have Nurkic

730
00:48:45,079 --> 00:48:46,920
on the floor, We're gonna have
Eric Gordon on the floor. Not necessarily

731
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:50,639
what you would think are their best
defensive lineups, but they figured it out

732
00:48:50,639 --> 00:48:52,920
a way you too want. An
nobby's been good for them. They're still

733
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:54,480
trying to figure things out. I'm
delving too much into what I'm gonna cover

734
00:48:54,519 --> 00:49:00,480
in Monday's mail bag. So I
think Devin Booker ends up being we look

735
00:49:00,519 --> 00:49:04,400
back on this and he will finish
incredibly high in the Let's see if I

736
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:07,159
can zoom in on this for anyone
who wants to get some of the tiers

737
00:49:07,199 --> 00:49:12,599
more on screen. So yes,
wrap it up to recap superstars making leaps,

738
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:16,000
Luca Tatum, Booker, stardom bound
leaps, the first time all star

739
00:49:16,079 --> 00:49:21,000
caliber guys, Desmond Vain, max
E, K Cunningham, the continuation of

740
00:49:21,039 --> 00:49:24,320
leaps from last season. J Dubb, Devin Vessel, nas Reed. Oh,

741
00:49:24,360 --> 00:49:28,719
you thought their contracts were bad.
They are not, at least I

742
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:30,920
don't think r J. Barrett Tyler, Hero, Michael Porter Jr. Third

743
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:35,559
year leaps to keep an eye on
Scottie Barnes. He might have a case

744
00:49:35,639 --> 00:49:37,639
for the stardom bound one. I'm
not gonna lie. Al Prinshange, Gun

745
00:49:37,679 --> 00:49:42,719
Cam Thomas, the second year leaps, Shandon Sharp, Jalen Duran, Mark

746
00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:45,639
Williams, and then just some deep
cut leaps. And there are others,

747
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:51,239
but Matt Ryan, mar John Bochamp, Peyton Watson, Darren Jones Junior.

748
00:49:51,239 --> 00:49:52,920
I don't know if it's making a
leap, but the fact that he served

749
00:49:52,159 --> 00:49:58,199
for serviceable Hayward high Smith, Olivia
Asar and Jalen Johnson's like the biggest name

750
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:00,440
I would think in here. I
would I argue if we're looking at.

751
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:05,719
The most meaningful ones are gonna be
Jalen Johnson and marjin Bowchamp. I'm not

752
00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:07,280
gonna lie. Maybe you could throw
Matt Ryan or Peyton Watson in there.

753
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:10,199
I just marjor On Bowchamp, but
Jail Johnson are getting more minutes and so

754
00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:14,599
they're probably gonna have a higher impact
on their team. I hope you enjoyed

755
00:50:14,599 --> 00:50:19,119
this bonus weekend podcast, which I
don't know if I'll be getting in the

756
00:50:19,119 --> 00:50:22,400
habit of, but I really want
to try and get you all three episodes

757
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:24,719
a week. There will be more
guests coming on, maybe doing some team

758
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:28,920
check ins during the middle of the
year, but it's it's tough to find

759
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:30,559
people. I don't want to bother
them too much because there are a lot

760
00:50:30,599 --> 00:50:35,360
of capable people who cover the entire
NBA, but there aren't a lot of

761
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:39,039
people who cover the entire NBA.
It's a lot of localized stuff, and

762
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:42,840
I don't want to be bothering the
same people to come out and talk about

763
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,639
the entire league. And so Grant
and I will try and get two a

764
00:50:45,639 --> 00:50:49,360
week out of us. You always
have that mega long episode that we do,

765
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:52,199
or we either bounce around or maybe
there's a theme to it. We're

766
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,800
gonna try and start doing like one
ever Green episode a week. We're gonna

767
00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:59,239
do our I think next week or
two weeks from now, we have our

768
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:05,400
like building are all NBA underpaid team, so we'll uh, we'll get to

769
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,480
that. You can look forward to
stuff like that. But you know,

770
00:51:07,519 --> 00:51:10,079
mail bags, solo mail bags or
stuff like this, in so far as

771
00:51:10,079 --> 00:51:13,760
you guys enjoy them, I don't. I'll be honest, I don't enjoy

772
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:16,880
recording these episodes because I don't want
to talk to myself for fifty plus minutes.

773
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:20,920
But I think mail bags at least
I feel like I'm having a conversation

774
00:51:21,119 --> 00:51:22,920
or if they're you know, this
one, if you enjoyed it, I

775
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:28,119
can look at doing more like this, more kind of solo ones. But

776
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:30,199
overall I don't like doing this.
But the mail bag ones, like the

777
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:34,440
questions we had on the nd season
tournament, it feels like I'm at least

778
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:37,159
having a conversation with you guys.
So let me know if the solo episodes

779
00:51:37,199 --> 00:51:39,920
are okay, if you actually if
you actually enjoy them, not that you

780
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:43,480
sit through them and tolerate them,
but if you enjoy them, that'll be

781
00:51:43,519 --> 00:51:45,639
a way to ensure we get you
three episodes a week. There could be

782
00:51:45,679 --> 00:51:51,880
weeks where it's two, but we're
here, we're pumping out content. Subscribe

783
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:55,039
if you have not already tell people
about us, and if you convince subscribers

784
00:51:55,079 --> 00:51:59,039
to come and join us, like
let us know or bring them into Discord,

785
00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:01,400
like we're we're reaching a mile.
I think we're close to two hundred

786
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:05,320
Discord members, which is one really
low for the amount of people that listen

787
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:07,760
to that podcast. People have like
I don't want to say stumbled, they've

788
00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:12,679
ambled into Discord and they've been surprised
at how much fun they're having in there.

789
00:52:12,719 --> 00:52:15,039
And I like that. I don't
have to be as responsive because I'm

790
00:52:15,079 --> 00:52:17,239
doing a million things. This is
not what was me, but like I

791
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:22,360
am our video editor, our producer
on this, like all the short stuff

792
00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:25,000
that's going up that's helping drive the
subscriber base, like I'm editing those,

793
00:52:25,039 --> 00:52:28,400
so my time is just so limited. I'm trying to do so many different

794
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:30,239
things. If you guys get in
there and you talk amongst yourselves, I'm

795
00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:34,880
watching, maybe not always responding.
I'll throw my reactions in there, but

796
00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:37,519
it's really great to see, so
go join Discord. Yeah, that does

797
00:52:37,559 --> 00:52:40,360
it, though, follow us on
the socials, support us by buying our

798
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:45,039
merch or like I said, by
following the social subscribing ratings and reviews on

799
00:52:45,079 --> 00:52:47,800
Spotify and Apple. Help us out
as well. And if you've done all

800
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:51,159
those things again, I think the
word of recommendations go a long way.

801
00:52:51,199 --> 00:52:54,400
And look, this is not something
that gets done consistently. Bump us on

802
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:59,480
Twitter when you're seeing the promo tweets, like the algorithm is burying us,

803
00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:01,480
so just help us get the tweets
out there. I don't know if it

804
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:05,480
helps the algorithm when we don't pay
for Twitter, which I refuse to do

805
00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:07,039
so far. If I've been tempted, I'm not gonna lie just to get

806
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:12,000
more exposure on it. And I
understand why some content creators do. We're

807
00:53:12,039 --> 00:53:15,280
not in a position to where we
need to, so we're very fortunate.

808
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:19,000
But bump, bump our tweets or
quote tweet it and shout us out to

809
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:22,119
say to listen to it when you
see those and we get them. Sometimes

810
00:53:22,159 --> 00:53:25,800
when you see those podcasts, recommendation
tweets for the NBA or something like throw

811
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:30,079
hard reknocks in there, It's great
that the Dunker Spot and the Low Post

812
00:53:30,119 --> 00:53:32,679
and dunk Don are always in there
killing it. Those are great podcasts.

813
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:37,000
Harvard Ox is a very good wey
podcast. I tend to be humble when

814
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:40,159
it comes to evaluating myself. This
podcast is fucking dope. We are growing.

815
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:44,039
Help us continue to grow. I
love you all. Shout out for anywork