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Heading into a very busy MBA off season. But before we can and
ball in to the NBA off season and a mail bag that I've been promising
our listeners, slash our Discord members who ask fantastic questions for this whole week.
But the NBA Finals we're going on and it got hectic. On the
bright side, this is podcast number three this week. How about them?
How about that Apple? How about them? Apples? Can't talk. I'm
still hung over from the not actually hungover, just very tired from Game six
of the NBA Finals. Warriors champions again four times in eight years, the
fact that they got back there this season. I don't remember my exact prediction
with them. I did take the under I believe on their win total and
said I thought they were going to fish fourth or fifth in the West.
I do agree with everyone sentiment. Steve Kerr kind of said it, Steph
curry Tz did. It was going around on Twitter that this is the most
improbable title that they've had. I think, when you're looking under the circumstances
in real time, I go back to twenty fifteen a little bit, just
because they weren't pegged as those championship contenders. Really at the time, they
were a really good basketball team, but they weren't at that level, and
they sort of came to that level over the course of the year. But
I think when you look back, as it was clarified how good, how
great they actually were, it's not that surprising. You also went up against
the Cavs team that was really hobbled once you did make it through the West,
and so you look at this season, Clay misses almost a thousand days
of basketball with the Allies in the ACL injuries, Steph Curry's just in his
age thirty four season, like for just in his age thirty four season.
You have Andrew Wickins, who it showed just signs before now after last season,
but he really transformed his game into something different this season, especially on
defense. When you're looking at his on ball defense. Still I mentioned this
to Mo there was some confusion. People thought I was saying Andrew Wigins does
not shoulder defensive responsibility. He is the go to win defender for the Warriors.
I just don't I don't think that he has the same off ball responsibility
or is off ball awarts where it still seems like he's going to be prone
to ball watching or at least getting beat behind him. That would be a
larger issue on different teams. But I actually don't care. I'm not wasn't
trying to that was I wasn't trying to denigrate him. I was just going
into a game six analysis. The fact that he's become that player that is
going to make life hell on Jason Tatum, is going to make life hell
on Lukadans. Even though Donchech had some really high moments in the conference finals
that he had to go and check John Morant a bunch after the Gear Payton
the second injury. That's the other part of this Warrior's team is that they
were you know, they had I don't want to call them bargains. They
definitely had star role players in the past. This wasn't Niggodall in his prime.
They didn't have Sean Livingston. They had to mind value or roll the
dice on the margins with Gary Payton the second, who Dany LaRue pointed this
out, and just something I didn't notice. That they had Gary Payton Second's
early bird rights, which is essentially just really important. Means that they're gonna
be able to pay him one hundred and five percent of the average annual salary,
which is going to be more than ten million dollars if they want to
keep him in free agency. News flash, they should keep him in free
agency having Otto Porter the junior, having the having Otto Porter junior, not
Otto port Ravie junior, finding him and not rebooting his career. But he
had fallen off over the past couple of seasons when you look at where he
was at his peak in Washington, even Demani bi Elitza playing him at points
in the finals, but also just getting really solivnants from him over the season.
You didn't have James Wiseman all year. You had Jonathan Comingo, became
a rotation staple, one of the youngest players in the NBA. Was he
the youngest player in the NBA this season, I can't remember, but you
had a teenager as part of your rotation. Never really relied to Ton Moses
Moody. But those are all three players that were built as an important part
of your future that either weren't present because they couldn't with James Wiseman, or
you're trying to straddle these two windows, and so you have two. You
have a few roster spots on guys who are critical to your future, but
you know they're not providing that value in the present. That can make shit
difficult. And I know that people will point to the Warriors getting any look
Draymond Green having like these ups and downs on offense. He's just a significantly
easier offensive player to plan it around. Now if you're a defense, step
still opens up a ton for him, especially if teams were going to blitz
him, try face guarding him. But Draymond Green is I just feel like
less of an offensive weapon than he was like two or three years. So
that could be an age thing. Maybe he was banged up this season.
He stepped up in the finals level defensively. I think he had like one
and a half to two really bad games overall when you're looking at oh,
is his defensive impact able to overshadow what he wasn't doing on offense. Kavan
Looney just absolute spectacular going from this player who was off unavailable to an iron
man for the Warriors, and look throughout the course the finals, probably their
third best player overall behind Steph and Andrew Wiggins. That is incredible, and
I know people are hit a point too. They had the gap years and
that had to help Stephen Curry was able to sprinkle and rest through there.
But the biggest asset to actually that should have come out of those gap years
was the number two pick in twenty twenty and they made the wrong pick as
of right now we can fast forward down the line and they are immune to
criticism for it because they want a title within that window when you're projecting a
head to their future or a player who would have impacted the more in the
immediate Anthy Edwards. They didn't have a chance at Anthy Edwards, but LaMelo
Ball would have been the better pick. Now do they get here in that
scenario if they have to give laml Ball certain amount of reps and touches,
you're obligated to play him with James Wiseman where they did bring him along more
slowly when he was playing anyway. And then also he's injuried, so you
don't have to worry about that I don't know. I'm not even trying to
criticize that decision, but it wasn't probable that they would be here when you
look at this season, even when you thought that we knew, but we
wrote off Kawhi Leonard for the Clippers. Did we think that the Nuggets were
gonna become what they did, lose Michael Porter for the whole year, that
Jamal Murray wouldn't play, Maybe that was on the table, but the Lakers
weren't supposed to be dogshit and even beyond them, like the Grizzlies are going
to be an issue moving forward, and they really came alive. The Phoenix
Suns are an absolute powerhouse. The Mavericks had Lukadan Chich. It wasn't an
easy trip to get there. You look at I think at the beginning of
the year, had you said in the finals the Warriors were going to face
the Celtics or the Bucks or the Heat maybe even at that point the Sixers,
I mean, who the hell knows there, But like you probably would
have been more inclined to pick one of those East teams. And so the
fact that they're here while the Big three are not in their heyday anymore step
Steph Curry very much is Clay Thompson was playing better by the end of the
year. The offense is coming gone, but I think we've seen a lot
better performance from him defensively, including away from the ball. Makes me excited
for next season. Because Seth Partner pointed this out. I think it was
on the Nerdersy wrote podcast for The Athletic that he suffered basically two injuries that
are considered two year injuries each where you have to come back from them and
you need that grace period thereafter that one year and then in the second year
that's when you're maybe closer to whole Klay Thompson's older. I don't know if
we'll ever see prime Clay again. He came back in the middle of this
season. By the end of the playoffs, he was an impactful player in
my opinion, which means that the Warriors aren't done, but we don't need
to. This isn't really a time to project ahead for them. I am
fascinated by their off season. We will get into it in the future podcasts,
but it's a time to appreciate it. It's a time for reflection that
this is one of the strongest dynasties in the NBA four titles and in eight
years, including six finals appearances. That's absolutely my nothing. And when they've
been healthy, when they've had the Big three, like they've just made the
finals. Over the course of that time, they Klay Thompson passed to injuries.
They didn't even make the playoffs from one of the worst teams in the
league in twenty twenty one. Also without him, they get bounced in the
play in tournament. It's incredible that they're here, and kudos to the Celtics.
I'll touch on them really quickly in a minute. The Steph Curry conversation.
I think I dunked honest get Bayless tweet in a video I did for
ig TikTok YouTube specific and I think I posted on Twitter as well, so
you can go check that out. The discussion on Steph Curry. I think
it needs to change, but it's marching towards change where it felt like I
was even yelling at the clouds by posting that video. I think generally the
NBA intelligence is starting to recognize, like this is someone who is top ten
all time in that discussion at the very least, and he didn't need the
Finals MVP to get there. I want to make that clear. He didn't
need it to cement his legacy. You didn't need it to prove value independent
of Kevin Durant, didn't need it to prove anything to the talking heads and
engagement soldiers who thought and insisted that he needed to get it. His legacy
was cemented. Everything he's doing at this point is gravy to me, and
there will be longevity that matters when you're getting into a discussion of Steph versus
Tim Duncan or Magic Johnson or or Shack, and then I do think Steph,
look, he's always going to have maybe some of the all MBA count
issues since he came on a little bit later in his career than a lot
of other of these guys, there may always be a deficit there. But
the numbers, like just all around, ESPN Stats and Info had this,
six players in NBA history have at least four rings, multiple league MVPs and
a Finals MVP, Lebron, MJ, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Tim Duncan,
and now Steph Curry. That is absolutely incredible. You look at you
know, people talking, oh, Steph never came up big in the finals
and this at they're wrong, like they're they're lying or they're ignorant to what
actually happened. Steph is averaging thirty two point five points per game in title
clinches, title clincher games previous PNS tested info for again, that's the second
most all time, behind only Michael Jordan. You needed to play in a
minimum of two title clinching games. That is like, that is monstrous,
That is absolutely incredible. This is someone also, I think we need to
take this into account, Like I don't want I don't think longevity has weighed
necessarily enough in a lot of the conversations when you're talking all time and it's
so hard to just rank players across different eras. The other thing that I
don't think is taken into account enough, though, is just the sheer impact
on the game. Did they warp it, change the way it's played,
transform it. Steph Curry has he has rewritten the book on how defenses need
to approach a player of his caliber. He has set a standard for shot
selection that I don't know that we'll ever see a player perfectly mime or even
a ninety percent facsimile of a Steph Curry, but it has been okay to
take these ultra long threes early in the shot clock. Defenses need to be
on their toes for certain players. If it's a Damian Lillard, if it's
a Trey Young. They're even just role players that have certain carte blanche to
fire away from from super deep. Whether you're talking about in a manual quickly
heat check, whether you're talking about someone like a fred Van Fleet. He
has. And I'm not saying he's necessarily affected those players specifically. I would
argue Trey Young most definitely, but he's changed the game of basketball and it
is absolutely amazing, and I think we don't need to necessarily pay credence.
We're free to. I think dunking on them is fine if you're placing stock
in the opinion of Skip Bayliss at this point when it comes to I mean
really anything, but like that's that's your choice. Mark Jackson saying that Steph
needs to thank the Celtics for his Finals MVP. It's just it's just bullshit,
like the Celtics. And while I was definitely not smart enough to notice
this from the jump of the series, I talked about it with Modikuiel I
feel like I've shouted out Caitlyn Cooper Bunch of this podcast Philly. She pointed
out on Twitter as a Jared Duban, the Celtics played dropped because they decided
that it was easier to try and take away other elements of the Warriors offense,
wide open shots for the supporting cast or you know, lanes for them
to cut and drive through, and then also just the short role playmaking of
Draymond Green. Then it was to go right at Steph Curry. Could they
have done different things where there was sort of a happy medium, Maybe probably
just a little tough with someone who as good as Al Horford is on the
older side, he needs to retreat a little bit sooner. Even if he's
going to show up higher Rob Williams the third again, he can come up
higher and held his own in certain situations. It's still just step against a
big if that's going to be your only look, Steph is going to win
that battle like pent of the time, and when they did go after him
towards the end of Game four, a lot more in Game five, he
was able to punish them with his passing. Just the opportunities that he's creating
for all the others on his team like that is the impact of Steph Curry,
and it's with a lot of players. This idea isn't unique to him.
It can be tough to quantify his actual value on the court, and
gravity's become a cliche, but it means something with him. This is someone
who is one of the most valuable offensive players on the court with when he
doesn't have the ball in his hands, when he doesn't touch the ball in
a single possession, because of the movement that he subscribes to away from the
ball, the attention that he's going to gain. Their defenses are frantically concerned
about him. There is ball watching. We know there's also Steph watching where
you could be on the ball and you're still trying to look at maybe account
for Steph. But certainly when you're away from the ball, I in my
lifetime is certainly seen a player like that. There's people who are far smarter
than I am when it comes to the functional nuances of this game who have
said the same thing. It is more egregious and I tweeted this, to
leave Steph Curry outside your top ten than to put him on your mount rushmore
and getting into the specific order. I don't know when the last time I
actually sat down and did it and put a ton of thought into The only
ones that I would guarantee for me that are ahead of him right now are
MJ. Lebron, Tim Duncan, I think, still Shack and Kareem.
I think he's surpassed Magic Johnson just when you're looking at and maybe not,
but if he hasn't, like I would say, he's no worse than seventh
at this point. And look, some people can put them lower. If
you want to talk about Larry Bird, Will Chamberlain, I get it inside
that, I totally get it. I don't think there's a conversation between Steph
or Kevin Durant anymore sort of those players. I would argue that Steph to
me is very clearly surpassed Larry Bird when you when you're looking at the longevity
argument specifically and even projecting ahead a little bit, even if you want to
account for all, right, Steph is older, but do we have like
two to five years Maybe five is a lot, but like even two three
more seasons of Steph Curry playing at not a megastar level but a superstar level
that's going to mean something when you're looking at his legacy there and so that's
where he's at right now. And I think this title also means something because
like it wasn't you couldn't assign more value to another player on this team.
There wasn't the Andre Gadala checking Lebron In twenty fifteen. Andrew Wiggins was great,
but you look at how streamlined his offensive role was, even having less
playmaking responsibilities than a Sean Livingston or Andre Goodala did at certain points for the
Warriors, Wiggins once fantastic defensively. I saw people point out that he was
the Warrior's best two way player, like if we want to want to do
that, Like, yeah, that's fine. Steph was clearly the best player.
And the final thing that I can say about his legacy, I think
what's cropped up It was in the comments on YouTube ig TikTok a little bit
I've seen it on Twitter. Is that go the difference between Steph and these
guys. He's a defensive liability. Yeah, Steph is not as good of
a defender as Prime MJ or Lebron or Shack or Tim Duncan. He's just
not on their level, not Kareem. He's not a defensive liability. Maybe
he has at one point in his career. People point out now that he's
gotten stronger, the Warriors have moved him around a bunch, and they've had
luxuries of matchups. This is also someone that they have not actively tried to
hide all the time. And this is someone who I thought, even in
the Final, specifically held up against moments in which the Celtics were going after
him. Now it gets a little bit more dicey if he when you have
him in Jordan pull on the court at the same time, you're gonna running
that issue with a bunch of players and not everyone could be all all world
at both ends of the court. And there are people that I'm going to
argue even if they were better defensively. Let's choosing the team. I think
I'll use. Steph Curry provides an offense is just light years ahead of what
Hakim Malajuan did, and light years might be an insulting frame, but like
that is part of his value is you can be so good, so impactful
on offense that it overshadows any defensive struggles. And I would argue steps not
bad on defense, So much as he's limited just by his physical profile in
certain instances, and I do think he's big enough to stand up against certain
switches or when the wars have put him against primary ball handlers. It doesn't
matter to me that he's had players, particularly during this stretch of Warriors dominance,
that have allowed them to be more flexible with their matchups. You do
that with your best players in general these days, and whether they're considered liability
or not even engaged defensive. Lebron before this season with the Lakers, when
he was playing at a high like that was someone that they were moving around
and putting in favorable positions. So I'm just not if you don't want to
make defense a part of Steph Curry like I see, I totally get that.
I do feel like his value sometimes overblown, and it is his success
there has more to do with I think the ecosystem they've put around him in
recent years when you had Prime Clay and Agadala and Livingston and then Draymond were
the best defenders of all time. But I don't think it could be used
as a means to detract from him now if you want. If it's getting
into a discussion, between him or Tim Duncan or Shack. Yeah, that's
maybe where you have to start accounting for it. I will come back to
though, I probably feel like I'm gonna have Steph on my personal Mount Rushmore
by the time he retires, just accounting for another even another season like this,
two three seasons like this that goes a long way in separating him and
helping him climb the ladder. The final wrap up on this is we had
a discord question from lad Larry Bird versus Tim Duncan all time. After looking
through the accolades and everything, I kind of feel like I have to lean
Duncan. Obviously I never really watched Bird in his prime, but is there
maybe more nostalgia going into the rankings than act full accomplishments and skilled and they
noted this question came from debating if Steff is now top ten all time,
and who do you replace? They believe that it would be Shack or Will
who gets kicked out. I think it would probably be Wilt more likely.
It depends on your order specifically when it comes to Bird and Tim Duncan.
Just a longevity of Tim Duncan and even the accolades of Tim Duncan. Larry
Bird was the more nomalous offensive player, but he was never and I did
not watch Larry Bird in his prime, but he was never a superstar at
both ends of the floor. Tim Duncan, Shack, those were superstars at
both ends of the floor. And that does go into why I think I
still have both ahead of staff. If you're gonna tell me you have Steff
ahead of Tim Duncan or Shack, I'm not gonna. I'm just not gonna
fight you a ton on it. I think they are going to be valid
arguments that said logic is rooted. But congratulations to the Warriors. Congratulations to
Steph one of the six or seven greatest basketball play of all time. That's
where I'm at with Steph closer amount rush more than not at this but don't
even that's not even a spicy take. Again, this could be just me
railing against nobody at this point. Congratulations to the Celtics were making it to
the finals. The Laws seemed to really hit Jason Tatum pretty hard. Jalen
Brown was felt like he Australia beat Al Horford disappointed, but talked about their
growth. Smart went the I we wanted more route moving forward, because now
we've tasted it. This was a spectacular season for them. They were dead
where they stood. I wrote them off in December or it might have been
maybe it was January. Maybe I gave them to them, but I wrote
them off then and they ended up in the NBA Finals. They have a
hlacious defense. I did see some of the discourse on Twitter shifted to poking
fun at Jason Tatum, like, this is the NBA Finals. You were
the best player on a team that made it to the NBA Finals. There's
there's just no shame in that you went up against and Andrew Wiggins, who
did a good job against you. Some of the decision making on Boston,
the turnovers are issue. Christian Narsu of b Ball and Necks did point this
out that when you look at the types of turnovers they're having a lot of
it does have to do with the makeup of their roster, where you unless
you're going to get better ball handling from Tatum and Brown and even Smart like
this stuff might be ingrained into your offense. I do think part of it
is an issue they can build upon. We've seen Jayson Tatum grow as a
playmaker and make the less obvious reads, the ones that are going to keep
defenses on tiltmore. Can Jail and Brown and even Marcus Smart do the same,
and I think Marcus Smart can do the same. Can you do the
same in high leverage moments might be my question against some of the defensive looks
that were thrown at Boston throughout this series, and so naturally the conversation is,
oh, can they go out, can they get a point guard,
a game manager, or a playmaker. I so some people saying it was
too early to talk about that and it's overblowing the issues. Maybe it was
too early. It was during the middle of the finals game. So I'll
definitely conceive that. I do think there is value or validity in having that
discussion. And I'm not saying they need to go out and make this monster
trade for a point guard where it's trade Marcus Smart to bring in a point
guard. No, that's not what I'm saying, and that is part of
their issue. Like you're looking at, let's assume how Horford is back,
So him, Jason Tatum, Jayn Brown, Derek White, Marcus Smart,
your top five guys, your top six guys. Let's throw Robert Williams a
third in there are your best salary matching tools, but can you afford to
get rid of any one of them? Maybe some people argue that's white.
They'll certainly argue it's Horford. I don't think it's as easy just to say
that. But this is a situation where it's like, I'm wondering, if
you got a Tias Jones in there, how much of a difference does that
make? Would he be on the floor during crunch time to where you have
to ask yourself, Okay, well then does that really matter? Are we
talking about a team that doesn't need you know, oh, Fred van Fleet
or Damian Lillard on this team, but as just like an example, do
they need to go after like a like Alonzo Ball not saying he's available,
but where he's not the traditional half court playmaker, but kind of to even
organize your offense just a little bit more. I don't know what caliber you
could peg, but I will say that if you had a Tis Jones level
player on this team, I think it could make a huge difference because that's
how close the Celtics are, and if you need to play him in certain
higher leverage moments or just throughout the game to give you a better handle on
the defensive. The excuse me, the turnover issues that you're having, that
means a great deal, even if it's outside of crunch time, even if
it's outside the fourth quarter. Just average Tis Jones will be available via free
agency the Celtics, though, if we assume Al Horford is back, they're
not going to have room to use the full mid level exception, the full
non tax players bid level exception. Excuse me, I think if how Horford
comes back, they're just going to be flat out in the tax at that
that point. So how do you go about You can't you know, you're
not going to get involved in the sign and then because you can't work within
the hard cap, so that is going to be what's difficult for them.
And you go through just sort of the list of players who could be available.
Yet I haven't spent enough time thinking about this. I'm not in the
full offseason transaction more. Just yet, it doesn't seem like there's anyone who's
just going to be readily available for them to maybe go out and get.
If the Knicks were willing to give you a Derek Rose like in a trade,
how much does that help you? Even if Mark el Folts was on
the table in Orlando, I don't think he's a good enough playmaker. Even
if he has some directionality and control to his game, he also makes a
crap ton of money, and so how do you find yourself matching that without
giving up a core player? And I would argue you certainly should not be
doing that for Mark el Foltz. If you know Dejean Day Murray became available
in San Antonio, you already have Derek White. I don't even know if
Murray would be the answer that you need there. Mike Conley and Utah I
do think would be really interesting. But again, when you get who you
would need to give up, I don't want to give up Marcus Smart in
that deal or Derek White Al Horford. Sure, but why are the Jazz
doing that? And so you get into some pretty awkward discussions there. The
free agency list for what you could even if you're willing to spend the entire
taxpayers mid level exception and they do have some trade exceptions as well, But
I you know, there's not a lot of just like floor general types or
good playmakers that teams are just gonna give you you're not gonna take Kema Walker
back from the Knicks Like that's something that I would be shocked if they just
decided to do so. Can you use the minimi level exception on beefing up
the point guard? This might be a very interesting John Wall team if he
gets bought out again. I don't know if he's going to be the best
half court organizer, but just to provide some structure there the lawn, right,
I think he would be part and upgrade. I mean, certainly when
you're just looking at the bench, which is the biggest issue for sure.
Is he available for the minimian level exception? I honestly don't know. There
was clamoring for Rubio before this year. That's someone if you could certainly buy
time until he's back from his ACL if you believe in that. I don't
know. Just when you look at his limitations as a score, I'm not
even panning him as a shooter. We've seen him improve his stand still touch
in the past. Just the half court set up. How much is he
going to do for you there? It's so my point being, it's an
issue that I think needs to be addressed unless you're projecting mega playmaking leaps from
Jason Tatum and Jayon Brown moving forward, which you know fair. I think
it's something you have to look at, even if it's just a matter of
putting you in a situation someone who plays the first forty three to forty four
minutes of a game, not consecutively, and you're not relying them so much
on them so much in the crunch time unit. I think that's something that
it would impact this team a great deal. Finally, we have a trade
to talk about. I thought about recording an emergency podcast on it, but
it just didn't feel like it warranted it and I need to stop taking on
too much. Basically, but the Mavericks are acquiring Christian Wood and it is
a move. Look, we knew the Dallas was going to try and get
a big but when you look at the value that they gave to the Houston
Rockets, I was I was surprised that christian Wood didn't cost more. I
guess would help if I gave you the package, would you not know they
put the Rockets traded would to the Mavericks for the number twenty six pick in
the twenty twenty two draft. Bobon Trey Burke Marky's Chris and Sterling Brown this.
I tweeted this, this looks like a trade that was proposed on a
Reddit fan page. And even if you want to make the case that the
value between them isn't like this egregious descript discrepancy. I look at the four
for ones and it's four players who see these fans, four players that their
teams don't really need or don't play a ton for someone who they are going
to play a ton that like, those are the deals that we make fun
of, and that's what this one looked like. Rockets fans for them,
they seemed pretty happy to get rid of Christian Wood into get a first round
pick in the process. He is extension eligible and during the final year of
his deal, he was not good defensively this past season. He has never
really been good defensively. There have been moments, but there are a lot
of just there's a lot of off ball attentiveness. What feels like someone who's
just not moving a ton on defense and playing with a lack of thrust there.
So it seems like they were pretty happy to get rid of him.
And I think you can give organizations the benefit of the doubt that If this
is what they accepted, there probably wasn't a whole bunch out there, and
certainly maybe not much better offers. Could you've tried to wait out the free
agency market and maybe a team gets desperate. Sure, but you're in the
top three of the draft. You're probably gonna wind up with a Palo Bank
Caro or I guess less like the chetogram slash to Barr Smith junior. You
already have Usman Grubu didn't play much this season, plus aut from Shane gun
there's opensmitted to the front court like full stop. I get the logic,
and you've got a first round pick, three first round picks. Now on
this draft, let's see if they can use twenty six and seventeen. I
think that they have to move up and or just bring in guys like they
have the You know, the roster isn't like full of all these open spots,
but they could decide to go draft and stash it, or like I
said, again, move up. I think Eric Gordon gets moved this offseason
as well. I think it's a fine trade for the Rockets. I'm probably
more different to the return at this point because if he was actively harming your
locker room. Then yeah, you needed to get out of get it,
like, get him out of there. I don't know that you and another
first round flyer in general is great. The twenty six pick to me,
it just seems on the lower end when you're not getting back anything else that
would be abuse of use. And I don't I don't you Christian Wood is
that bad player. And I saw there were you know, people who are
looking at this saying, you know you're gonna get fooled by the box score
with Christian Wood. I don't know what you're gonna get fooled by the box
score on he is a very good versatile score anomalous for his size when you
look at this, which is pretty incredible. The only other players over the
past three seasons to average twenty points per thirty six minutes while shooting as well
on two which is around fifty nine percent and threes thirty eight percent are an
addition to Christian Wood, John Collins and Michael Porter Jr. And for people
who hate the per thirty six stuff, if you just go by per game,
Christian Wood's points per game average during this time sixteen plus points. It's
him and John Collins. I opened. I used per thirty six don tell
christian Wood, which maybe open up the candidacy for other players. Like in
MPJ, he has a really nice floor game for a big He gives you
some self creation, but it's also rolled into being able to be used as
an accessory device. Do you give him space and a good pick and roll
partner, He's gonna help as a pick and popper. He can even roll
to the rim finished lobs there. That's an addition to all the self creation
he brings and just even having even if you don't think that I don't think
that he's someone that you should be funneling the ball too in the post,
but someone who could face up in slower half court sets or just attack off
the dribble immediately off the catch after popping. That's a huge value. It's
not something Christops Perzinis could do with Dallas. I do also think that we're
discounting a little bit. This is sort of the first like real team Christian
Wood has played for now. Disrespect to the Pistons, the Pelicans and even
the Rockets, they just weren't teams that were on these immediate win now timelines.
None of them were contenders most certainly, I'm very and he's never played
alongside another He's never played alongside a playmaker as talented as Luca don Jag.
I few have. But even just a point guard who ranks inside the he
was there during the Drew Holidays in New Orleans, I believe. But like
even a point guard who ranks like a top ten floor general or top fifteen
floor general for an extended period of time, the safeguard myself against the whatever
Drew if people think of slandering Drew holiday for some reason, and just look
at where the Pelicans were at that point anyway, So I like this play
by the Mavericks. He doesn't address what they need defensively, but they had
one of the seven best defenses this year without sort of having a premier room
protector. Christophs Persnis was fine, what kind of unreliable are you do have?
Maxi Kleiba, Dwight Powell. He can play with either one of them.
You have Dorian Fitty Smith, Reggie Bullock. Still this is I think
you can incorporate a Christian Wood when you're looking at some of the dudes the
Mavericks play of this season without torpedoing your defense. I don't think he can
be the only move and I'm not paying to get as a move that he
clears the gap that's separating Dallas from title contention. But this was a very
low risk proposition. Did they give up on a first round pick because they
have been very inclined to do over the past like two decades. Basically,
sure, But what was the number twenty six pick turning into. If you're
lucky, it turns into a player who makes as much of an impact as
Christian would. Seriously, that's what you get if you're lucky. And yes,
that have a player under cost control for the next four years under team
control would be a very big deal. You have to assume that you're going
to hit on it. And if you do, think the Mavericks should have
kept that opportunity, I get it. I don't think the number twenty six
pick would have actually played a role on this team in either of the next
two years when you look at how urgent their timeline is, just because you
have one of the five best players in the game seven best players in the
game of Luca and you were just in the conference finals, sort of playing
the wait and see game or giving developmental reps to a rookie wasn't in the
cards. And if you're worried about Christian Woods for some reason, just imploding
the Mavericks is like ecosystem or vibes or whatever. He's under contract for one
year at fourteen point three. That's a number that can be rerouted if the
Matters wants to. And I would say for next season, Christian Wood is
going to be more valuable than the number twenty six. Pick the other thing
here, I think people have written off the idea that he would sign an
extension based off the number that it could be. I'm I'm not so sure.
Is this someone who's gonna get twenty million dollars a year in free agency
next year if he has a spectacular season. Sure? Maybe, But I
think we've also seen the value of Biggs is repressed when you're not a superstar,
maybe when you're either more traditional bigger, when you play one side of
the floor. And what I also will say here is that the dude can
move, and he leaves so much to be desired on the defensive end,
but he has the size of mobility to muck up half court possessions if he's
working out a drop coverages or making rotations around the basket when he's fully engaged.
We've just you can go look at Christian Wood film, which I did
in the past, not in anticipation of this podcast, but for something I
was writing this season. There are good defensive moments, and they were good
defensive moments when he turned into an everyday player for the Pistons way back when
they've never been put together. If I'm missing something offensively, you can say
that I didn't see enough of the Rockets, like yeah, if Houston Rocket
Stan's watched every game twice, like I'm chopping in for chunks of games at
a time, trying to watch as much film on players as I possibly can
when I'm writing about them, and just to keep up. I recognize that
there are people who are far more knowledgable about Christian Wood than I am.
I was having conversations with Rockets people, though, who were all not Rockets
emloyees. I want to make that clear. I don't know why anyone to
re aggregate this, but I had conversations with people who cover the Rockets that
were surprised if this is all they got for Christian would and I will say
this and This is more in defense of the Mavericks. In the Rockets,
if this was their proposal in the middle of the season, if let's this
deal, this exact deal, even though the Mavericks functionally couldn't trade their their
first round pick, they have to do this after the draft because they go
twenty twenty three to the next Even if they couldn't functionally off the package,
let's say it was on the table, the Rockets would have said no to
it and fans would have been disgusted by it in the middle of the year.
That's a nice value play by the Mavericks. And so knowing that he
can be moved and knowing that his next deal, if he's good, that's
not going to be immovable, Like this isn't someone also who is going into
his age thirty eight. See that's you know who else is going into their
age three go in their age thirty three age thirty two season. He turns
twenty seven in September. He is entering his prime. I love the offensive
fit with Dallas. It's only going to elevate them. And look, he
doesn't replace Jalon Bronson if Jon Bronson leaves, but they just they needed another
dynamic to their offense. Aside from having Spencer Dinwiddi, Jalen Brunson and lucadanchag
Is your primary creators. Christian Wood gives them that element in a way Chris
Stops never did, in ways that Dwight Palam Maxie Cleveland never were going to.
And I think this is a home run trade for the Mavericks. I
also think it's perfectly fine for the Rockets. I don't think they did anything
wrong here. I just the package itself was just funny to look at.
And so does that make this a win win the second win win trade that
I've deemed of the off season or leading into the drafts, when we go
back to the thunder Nuggets trade. Sure, I think that this one is
much more closer to Dallas one. This because of the value that they're getting
in this deal than Houston did. Let's see what they do with the number
twenty six pick and the rest of their first Let's get into this mail bag
that I already recorded, So this is like a monologue on top of that,
this was a lot of fun, and we appreciate everyone who are asking
questions. If you want to ask a mail bad question, I do send
out solicitations join our discord, but you can I send them out on Twitter
DM me at dam Favalley, fav Alee, and I just want to reiterate
once more if you are listening to this post first time or otherwise, please
consider subscribing to all of our socials and this the podcast in general. Download
all your episode The biggest ways to help us though our subscribe rate, review
this podcast, subscribe to our YouTube channel hardwe Knocks, check us out on
YouTube, and then also word of mouth. Help us with promotions as we
attempt to grow. The off season is an important time I think for more
all league wide podcasts at this point, given how great the local coverage is
now when you don't have the idea of talking about projecting ahead or transactions where
you need to have a better hold on the rest of the league during the
regular season, and localized coverage is so good that I recognize now that this
podcast serves sort of a different purpose nowadays. We're always gonna talk about the
entire league. I'm going to try and get into the weeds as much as
I can, but transactions looking at things from a macro view, the time
to do that is leading into the trade deadline, leading into the season,
leading into the off season. We've got a lot of great stuff planned here.
So thank you for the butt of my heart, everyone who continues to
consistently listen and engage, and any newcomers You're more than welcome. I welcome
any feedback as long as you're not being an asshole about it. I'm rambling
now though. Let's get into this bail back. We will begin with t
blub one one seven. What's your favorite basketball podcast not named Hardwood Knocks.
I have so many, and I'm not even sure that I have a favorite.
I try and listen to. You know, I'm gonna listen to all
the national ones that you guys listening to. I love the Low Post,
that the Dunker Spot is great. They do a great job of also incorporating
w NBA coverage, and I'm trying to immerse myself in more w NBA.
This year, we had a podcast with sabring a merchant awhile back where we
touched on it. It's so hard. I'm not I'm making an excuse with
my schedule. It's been harder than I wanted it to while the NBA is
going on, and then even looking ahead to the draft and free agency.
But I've also found the Step Through with Sabrina Merchant and her co host Evan
that has been something that's been really usefully catch up on their on YouTube to
step through, So definitely go go check that out. I like, I
am a dunked on Prime subscriber. I know people like to dunk on them,
but they watch more NBA than than most people, and so I find
that useful. I really enjoy Nerder, she wrote from the Athletic Dave dufour
set Part now Modequiel, all those guys are great. The past two or
three seasons, I've tried to make it a habit of really investing in the
localized coverage because you do get some of the best analysis from the people that
are following these teams on an every not just day, but it's like every
possession basis where they're watching these games two and three times. Kaitlyn Cooper and
Marschendler do a great job with the Nie Cormoro's podcast and the series where they
were doing stock Up, stock Down with Prospects. So like there's that national
intreat there that's usually helpful if you want to, you know, have a
crash course before the NBA Draft, And you know my feelings on Kaylen Cooper
just being like the single best basketball writer, like an analyst, combo out
there or ability just to right and distilled this complicated information in a relatable way,
but even recognizing it in the first place, that versatility is just not
even out there. The closest I would say it comes to that is Zach
Low and Kaylyn Cooper is I love Zach Low, not gonna get up.
But Kaylen Cooper's writing is just like on a completely different level from anyone who
typically covers the XS and o's as deeply as nuancedly as she does. I
really enjoy the Timeline podcast. It's another Blue Wire podcast. They cover the
Phoenix Suns. They do a great job. You should check them out.
Of what else have we got here trying to think of? I should go
through my podcast Apple and listening to I already mentioned I just listened to Locked
on Nuggets Adamadas and Matt Moore. They do a really great job of running
that show. Over there Thinking Basketball with Ben Taylor National podcast. Great.
Oh, how did I forget one of my favorites there are? I'm honored
to go on any podcast. Let me make that clear. I'm also honored
when I get repeat request the fact that Fast Break Breakfast has me on.
It's hosted by Keith Parrish and and crew. That if they've had me on
multiple times, that's like something I will geek out on because it's a podcast
I listened to and enjoy as lighthearted. So we have a take podcast with
friend of the podcast Tara bone Bigs that is just like a completely different way
of covering the NBA and specifically the Portland Trailblazers that I love. It's lighthearted,
it's an escape. When I tuned into episodes there, I can find
myself smiling, even if it's on in the background or if it's when I'm
driving the Couid, like I can actually kear myself smiling. Light Ears does
a great job covering the Warriors. Everyone has to know about that as well.
Nick's Film School. Absolutely fantastic job covering the Knicks. I really enjoy
in the No No Longer with Blue Wire Pods with Brew crew, I believe,
but they do a fantastic job as well covering the Pelicans. They're they're
one of my favorites. Just had justin Rowan from the Chase Down podcast of
covering the Calves. As I'm going through this, I realized that I should
like have all my team specific podcasts probably written down that I try to listen
to on a regular basis. The Dane Moore NBA podcast. He delves into
a mostly Minnesota tember Wolves better than anybody else but and has just great recurring
guests on as well. But he also does a really good job of delving
in the rest of the NBA at large. The Euro Step for the Milwaukee
Bucks. Another Blue ire podcast, just like the Day More NBA podcast that
is absolutely spectacular. Dishes and Dimes is still a favorite of mine. They
have not been publishing as regularly, but they whenever they have dropped an episode.
I think their last one was actually this week though, unless I'm maagining
it, They're They're just great over there. If you haven't subscribed to Katie
Heindel's Basketball Feeling Substack either, she has a great podcast there as well and
always has really insightful discussions and guests on love listening to that. I think
that's you could, at least you could accuse me of a lot of things
of saying that I don't know jack shit, but I really do at least
try to immerse myself and as much podcast listening and reading consumption as possible.
And there have got to be people who do a better job of that than
I do. But I think it's almost a necessity or an obligation if you're
in this industry the way that I am, and trying to cover the league
at large, that you're listening to not just the national podcast but like going
in deeper and listening to these the localized covers on a regular basis, again
in large part because it's so freaking good. I'm gonna miss the Hawks Report
with Sarah Kay Spencer. She've been moved to the Georgia Football Beat, so
I will definitely miss that. Also, I'm trying to feel like, Oh,
Houston Rockets. The Red Nation Hoops podcast going through my library right now,
hosted by Salomon Alis. That's a really good one as well. There's
podcasts for every team that I should have made a more comprehensive list for it.
I didn't anticipate going this long on my actual favorite podcast, the Grizzlies.
GrITT and Grinds does a really good job. That's with Keith Paris and
Fast Break Breakfast and they cover the Grizzlies a lot on Fast Break Breakfast.
So yeah, if you need recommendations for specific you're free to hit me up.
If you want to throw me recommendations maybe for some podcasts or writers that
you feel are underserved and are doing a really good job that don't get enough
recognition, go ahead and throw that my way. You could DM me on
Twitter at damp Valley, or if you're in our discord, you could check
that out as well. There's a lot of good podcasts out there, though
I have no idea why you're listening to this one. Demo Cool asks what's
the future like for Folts in Orlando? Who do you prefer Derek White or
Mark el Foltz, Who is the better fit for Orlando to draft? And
what do they plan to do with more bamba? This question got me thinking
more than any question about Mark el Foltz. Ever, Should I feel like
I caught shit on Twitter a couple of weeks ago because I said I didn't
view Mark el Folts as a cornerstone for the Magic and the pushback was,
oh, the Magic Hume is a cornerstone. I don't I don't actually care.
I don't think that they should, is my point. He is a
good useful player, though I don't think he can actually be the engine of
your offense. When you're comparing him to Derek White. Is interesting. If
you're looking for someone to be the engine of your offense, would prefer Folts.
There's more directionality to his off the dribble attacks. I think you can
trust his mid range game. Dark White has that floater. He's not gonna
hit off the dribble threes. Marko Folts isn't going to dream of shooting off
the dribble threes. But Mark Heal Folts getting to his spots, excuse me,
in that mid range, he does a better job of that. I
also think that as as a passer like he's going to be slightly better when
you're asking to create from scratch, where Derek White feels like sort of that
quick second past guy or make the really slick accelerated reads, Mark Heal Folts,
if you need to slow things down, is going to be able to
orchestrate. From that perspective, Derek White's off ball defense and screen navigation is
definitely better than than Marco Folts, and I think I would prefer him overall.
Folds really has some nice size and have two hill know to where he
can defend some assignments that I don't think people fully appreciate. There's more sort
of stop on a dime like footwork creation with him as well. So between
these two specifically, I think if you're looking for someone to compliment a larger
ecosystem that's already set up like Boston, Derek White is the way to go,
hands down. But if you're actually looking to take a flyer on a
player who can be a more prominent part of whatever you're doing, I think
I would lean Mark el Foltz at this point. The future for him and
Orlando I honestly I don't know. I mean, they're still there backcourt heavy
without having anything figured out. Because they do have Jalen Suggs, they have
Cole Anthony, they have RJ. Hampton. They're not going to draft another
backwork guy with the number one overall pick, so there's you know, on
Terrence Ross might actually be traded. So they're getting some clarity there, but
they're still confusion. They're gonna be minutes for him and chances for him to
in reps. I don't think that he is the playmaker of the future for
this team. I think if he was going to be, and maybe they'll
do this, you need to surround him with a lot more more shooting than
Orlando is done at this point. But I do still think he's a really
useful player. I don't know if I would view him as an asset where
you're talking about trades. He's at sixteen point five million next year, and
then he has a partial guarantee the following season for two million dollars on his
seventeen million dollars salaries. So if you're a team, you can look at
that as basically an expiring contract if you want to move money that way.
But I think you need to have confidence that he can develop more off ball
utility than he has now on offense. Otherwise you need to put the ball
in his hands, and I don't think the magic are built in a way
we're putting the ball in his hands is actually going to enhance their offense,
Like it might give them a better floor, a higher floor than if you
were to give it to certain other players. But I don't know right now.
They're definitely not built for him to be the one that elevates their ceiling.
And I'm still endlessly curious about what type of player he turns into,
because I do think there's more to plumb with him. I think he has
the ability to reach the basket more when you just look at his size,
his strength, and then again some of the moves he made inside the arc
this year. And I do think again, if you're looking for someone to
shoulder more offensive responsibilities with the ball in their hands, I probably prefer Mark
el Faults. But I think it's way easier and way more useful to fit
in someone like a Derek White. I would now segueing back to the future
Mark Hults in Orlando, I fully expect him to be in trade rooms at
some point this season. I you know, unless he has just like a
huge year. You're looking at Jalen Suggs. You're about to add another rookie
in, you know, Jabari Smith Jr. Years What everyone thinks they're gonna
do. We'll get to that in a second. I don't know if that's
what they should do. It wouldn't surprise me, just because you are going
to have another only another year technically after the next one left on his deal,
and if you don't think he's your point guard of the future or a
playmaker of the future, ever you want to phrase it, like, there
could be a nice give and take there between him and Jalen Sogs. I
think Jalen Suggs is like underrated because of how much we're reading into his rookie
season and the responsibilities Orlando shouldered upon him, particularly before Mark el Fults even
returned. So there's a lot of TVD stuff here. It just wouldn't surprise
me if this season we're looking at Orlando kind of saying, okay, we
are Franz Wagner. We have you know, whoever they draft at number one,
I'm like ready to assign a name to it. When he doesn't exist,
we have Sugs, Wagner, and over we draft at number one,
like it's time to sort of lean further into that, consolidating the corn in
that way and Faults and Isaac maybe even cool Anthony is available, and I
think Wendell Carter junior to me has a better chance of sticking with the Corps.
Then Faults that being says it does depend on who they pick. They
might, you know, might if you're gonna take Chet home Grin I would
think that he eventually projects as your five of the future, even though he
can play next to another big But as John Hollinger wrote about at the Athletic
there's spaceball where it's size and players who are huge yet play like wings or
smaller players. They're not actually smaller players, so maybe they lean into that.
If I was the Magic, I'm on the clock at number one,
I full stop would draft Polo Benko. I think he has like every level
offense in him and can score eventually, even if you don't believe in no
like in every facet that you imagined. He wanted to probably put on some
like more strength if he's going to finish through contact. But I think he's
going to be someone who hits these tough off the dribble jumpers, can space
the floor if he's away from the ball, could really get moving towards the
rim, can just attack from a stand still, get going in transition,
have some really difficult finishes to stop on a dime shooting. I trust that
he's going to be an above average playmaker for his size. I really am
just tantalized by his offensive potential. That being said, if I was the
Magic and I was going for Fit or I was trying to go for a
more complete package. Chat Holmegrin feels like the answer here because it feels like
they could really build this transcendent defensive beast if you're not making any other moves,
having Isaac home Grin and Mark ll Faults on your team just monstrous.
Even having Chumiokiki there as well, will he show enough offensively to play a
ton of minutes, But it's going to give you some good wing stoppage,
power, wing stoppage, whatever you want to call it. I would just
really like to see what holmegran and Isaac could commish together give you went super
big, Like if you think Isaac can play the three or guard threes consistently
playing Home Wrenn and Wendell Carter Junior at the same time in that scenario when
you're looking at actual fit, I think Jabarr Smith Junior just he is so
dynamic offensively already, and it's probably easier to plug him next to another big
than even Palo Bank Arrow a little bit. I'm not sure who winds up
being the fast forward five years, and I haven't done enough prep for this
probably either. I'm not sure who I would Peg is the better defender.
I think Palo is going to end up being a lot better on that end,
at least more disruptive than people have given him credit for. I could
see Jabarr Smith Junior, though, just as someone who's you were able to
move around and make it easier to hide in a bunch of different spots.
Maybe that's more valuable. He already feels a little bit more polished offensively and
slots right in a little bit easier next to a Wendell Carter Junior and Jonathan
Isaac. If that's the route that you want to go, I don't.
If I like I would take Palo on the Magic, I would just go
for the best player there. I would also prefer Chet home Grint though,
then Jr. Barr Smith, You're edit to me. That immediately makes me
feel like I'm missing something, because the consensus has been, or at least
close to it, that they're going to take your Barr Smith Jr. So
I don't really know what I'm doing wrong there. I won't say that plays
out in the final last Betif this is what happens with Mo Bamba, I
would be fairly surprised if they tender him a qualifying offer at this point,
slated to be a restrictive free agent. Maybe they just do it anyway for
the hell of it. They have their slay to de tap space and it's
not like you're going to spend it. And if he can get cheap enough,
like yeah, I guess you could keep him around and we try and
move him for nasset later. Do you facilitate side and trade this summer?
My predition would be he wants up on a different team, whether it's because
they let him leave or there's a team that's actually willing to acquire via sign
and trade. But I don't know if you want a hard tap yourself for
mo Bamba, but you need to be pretty like well below the luxury tap
Apron luxury tax Apron have no plans to even flirt with it, if that's
something that you're looking at. The white versus faults question though, I spent
more time on that then thinking about that, and I thought I ever would,
so great question there, dark wing Duck asked, given expansion rumors,
if there was an expansion draft this summer using previous expansion draft rules, who's
the best player likely to be taken? I spent way too much time coming
to like a terrible conclusion here. So the last I wouldn't get into the
nitty gritty of the way that the most recent expansion draft in two thousand and
four, the Charlotte Bobcats worked but every team was allowed to protect up to
eight players who were either under contracts or slated to be restricted free agents.
So if they were going to be a free agent, understand free agent,
they couldn't be protected and the Bobcats could not draft them. But if it
was a restricted free agent, they could be protected, and if they weren't,
Charlotte was allowed to draft them and they would inherit their their bird rights.
I'm just let's just assume that's the case here. There are teams that
aren't going to want to protect eight players, I'm sure, especially with the
way empty roster spots work in the off season. I tried to really come
up with, like you know, in that draft, the best player or
Charlotte took with Gerald Wallace, that just to give you sort of a glimpse
into how teams are going to think they're they're not just going to make you
know, they don't really like when you start to go through rosters, and
you're allowed to protect eight players, like you get to the bottom of the
barrel pretty quickly. Like most teams don't have eight above average players in their
rotation at any given moment, And so there's that to consider as well.
There's most of the aspect of well, when teams consider not protecting a player
who has this massive contract and hopes that an expansion team would take him.
And so that was the route that I kind of went with this, rather
than just looking for the best player who might be unprotected, I came up
with. I thought about Julius Randall for a minute, but I don't think
an expansion team would be too high on taking him. And if you're targeting,
like you know, Russell Westbrook would probably been available. I don't think
that he is going to be taken either. Even if it was at Tobias
Harris with Philly the one I settled on, and maybe they would protect him.
You can tell me that I'm out of my mind. Would Denver want
a mulligan on the Michael Porter Junior extension. I know that they're safeguarded against
disaster on it, that is still a massive deal and it won't become fully
guaranteed on that last year. It'll be performance based and so when you're really
looking at his contracts, it's the first which and by the way, it
hasn't even started yet. It starts next season. So they signed him to
an extension and the first four years guarantee him one hundred and thirty six point
six million dollars. That fifty year is worth forty point three, which would
bring the total to one seventy six point nine. So what the nun to
say with Michael Porter Junior is they essentially guaranteed him around one hundred and fifty
million dollars over that four years. They could become more jump past one fifty
if he makes an all MBAP parents where it's fully guaranteed. Again, there's
that. That's how you get to the basically five years, one seventy seven
million dollars number. Would they consider just being like, will will put him
in the draft? And what it's team want to roll the dice on him
because he is potentially so transcendent offensively. That is the best, like the
biggest name that I could envision maybe getting to that point. I don't really
know who else to get there with. I thought about what Chicago just want
to get off of the Bouche contracts, and the teams gonna be like,
oh, here's a useful player, final year of his deal, let's just
take him. I honestly don't know, so I'm gonna I'm gonna settle on
Michael Porter Jr. I don't know if that's the correct answer. You can
let me know what you think, though. Let's get too Glad from Discord
had a bunch of questions. The first one was top five players who haven't
been named as an All Star in the league right now, and five players
you think are going to take a leap in all star level next year.
So I think I combined these two into one. I misread the question when
I was doing the research on it, and the five players that who haven't
made an All Star team, and I could see sort of making that leap
next next season. I settled on and I'll give him my consider rations from
other names, But I settled on Tyrese Haliburton, Schegelis, Alexander Anthy Edwards,
Kaig Cunningham, and Evan Mobley. I thought about Scotty Barnes, says,
Ben bayndy Or and Fox he jimccullum, John Collins, Jarreon Jackson Jr.
Even Jamal Murray probably is. There's annorable mention there, even though he's
coming back from the DCL injury. The fact that three of those guys are
in the West makes me think that I should throw Scottie Barnes in favor of
Edward Scheyer. I'm only two of those guys, Tyres Haliburn's no longer in
the West. There you go, the balance is there. But those are
the five that I could really see. Kaide and Evan Mobley. Obviously they're
going to be sophomores, so that could technically get just a little difficult.
But Evan Mobley was borderlined in that discussion already this year. And I really
do think Kid Cunningham somehow just wound up having an underrated rookie campaign, people
thinking he's capitalizing off of just like this unchecked license in Detroit, and he
just has a command of the game that I think it's going to make him
a top five player in the NBA for just a really, really really long
time. And Mobiley just might be tougher. He plenties to have better offensive
numbers. That's also why I didn't pick Scotty Barnes. It feels like you
need his you need him that shoulder a bigger offensive role, which they did.
They did like try to increase the volume and like complicate his uses a
little bit over the course of the year. With Fred van Fleet there,
Pascal Siakam, as long as they have Oganna Nobi and Gary French Jr.
I think I think that there's a chance you're not going to see that growth
from him by by design almost right of way. So those are the ones
that I would stick with, and I think the best one, the player
with the best chance to do it, of that group, I think it's
him if he Edwards, even though he's in the Western Conferences, they if
the Edwards or Kaid Cunningham. For me, I feel like I should I
should say Shay, but I really can't. So there's that as well.
But I think it's Anthea Edwards. Just felt like he really made a huge
leap when you're looking at what sort of happened even in the playoffs, looking
at his defense, there was still some defensive lapses, but he can really
disrupt them that before. Now can score at every level. I can very
much see like his efficiency a climbing next year, maybe turning into like this
super lethal off the dribble three point shooter being the engine even on the termber
Wolves offense. Maybe they're taking some initiation touches away from a D'Angel Russell if
they're not going to move him and even funnily more of the offense through him.
I did not give consideration of who I think the best players are in
the league that haven't made an All Star appearance right now. I think a
lot of that probably can be like it might there's a lot of that that
can sort of be in this same list. If you're looking at like Anty
Edwards has probably got to be up there. Definitely think Jay Jelis Alexander needs
to be up there, Jalen Brown ready made Alster tream ss McCollum has definitely
got to be on that list. Maybe a Clint Capella. If we're looking
for more veterans, some people would throw DeAndre Ayton into that equation. So
if you're just looking for names there, I do think there's gonna be some
intersection here though, even with how young a lot of the players on this
list are going to be one I did not name Harris Maxie could be a
nicky candidate for an All Star team, but playing with Meade and Harden at
the same time feels like that good sort of taper him off a little bit.
But yeah, those would be the names to watch for me. Oh.
The other part of this question was is it fair? Also? Is
it fair to continue calling players who only had one or two good years all
star players if they haven't been back to that level. I e. D'angela,
Russell, Drew Holiday, Mike Conley. I think it just the heads.
When it's Mike Conley and Drew Holiday and there's been like sustained really useful
stardom for a longer period of time, I think it's fair to call him.
You don't have to say all stars. Would at least call them stars.
But if we're talking DiAngelo Russell, definitely on the fence about that one.
But like you can't Mill Williams having one All Star appearance, Like,
no, you we should not be calling it all star. Moll Williams,
go ahead and nod he made an All Star team. It's also tough for
me to ascribe too much value to All Star appearances. With how topsy turvy
the results can still get even with the current formatting. Allah Andrew Wiggins being
named an All Star starter this year, Glad also asked this question was interesting.
I don't even think they meant to ask it, but we were having
a discussion and discord. So I'm taking it from here. You're taking Gobert
or Harden, and we said over the next four to five years, it
was the stipulation. Next year, I am taking Harden. I just feel
like there's a chance something clicked, or that he understands he doesn't get to
switch teams again like this, and that he's going to need to get in
better shape and stay healthier, and maybe just having an off season where he
knows where he's going to be, or he's just going to be motivated because
now people are sort of talking with him in different terms. There was one
thing when he forced his way off of Houston, but then the way the
stuff in Brooklyn went down. Even if you don't really like Kyrie Irving,
I could see a scenario in which, if you're ask me, if James
Harden more likely to continue sort of his drop off or be a top five
or ten player again next year going to take the land, Are you am
I more likely to invest in his MVP odds or bet on him having a
season in which he doesn't make the All Star team. More likely to bet
on his MVP odds over time, though. Yeah, like the stuff with
James Harden was one. An iron man has been an iron man for so
long with that high usage, I could see him sort of breaking down a
little bit. He's played a more taxing role on the offensive end. Rudy
Gobert, I do wonder how his movemental age defensively, but four to five
years down the line, he just feels like someone even as a rim runner,
rebounder, and if you have to put him completely in drop coverage all
the time, like it'll be easier to extract value out of him three and
four years down the line than James Harden. So are you taking the next
half decade of Rudy Gobert James Harden? I'm taking Rudy Gobert somewhat reluctantly on
the fence. If you're making it one or two years, I'm going with
James Harden there. Outside of players that show up immediately and are really good,
how long, on average would you say does it take for players to
develop into all Star caliber players, Butler Levine, even Janis come to mind
as more developed players than star players like Kadi Lebron. More recently, we
could say like Trey Luca jaw Zion to an extent, who kind of came
in and took over. To me, it looks to be about the fourth
to fifth years I looked more towards that leap into twenty points per game is
kind of all Star caliber. Obviously everyone was different. Yeah, this was
interesting, and there's actually been studies done on it, and I think it
was Dartmouth did a study in which they found that, and yes it was
Dartmouth. The average age of an All Star player and an MVP is twenty
six point five for an All Star player and twenty seven point nine for an
MVP. I think all MBA. I saw this was on hoops Hype.
The average age of an All NBA player is around it's between twenty seven and
twenty eight. Again, so I don't know what year of a player's career
that would be. If you're looking at All Star players specifically, like the
twenty five twenty six range, which feels like for most guys are gonna be
like the fifth or sixth season of their career or around there. So I
would say that your spot on they're glad with the way that you phrase that.
I think you mentioned in your question the fifth year. Last question here
comes from Brandon. Clippers have a few trade exceptions, any idea of who
you think what they could do with them? So, yeah, they have
their two trade exceptions which are worth There's one that's eight point three million and
there's one that's nine point seven million. About rounding that. The eight point
three one is from the Rondo trade and then the nine point evan one is
from the Sergebaca trade. I'd be curious to see if they, like I'm
assuming Elaiah Hartenstein is on a different team next season. They have zoobots,
and I know that you can get bigs for maybe cheaper, but if the
Knicks were just willing to give you New Orleans Noel, are you willing to
take that into one of your exceptions or are you just so committed to closing
smaller that you're just fine finding someone on the super cheap having zu bots and
going from there. I would love to see Larry nance Junior on this team,
and he fits into that Surgebaca trade exception. You're not just getting him
for that. I don't know if there's a deal with non simultaneous trades that
could be struck there. If New Orleans de sides going in a different direction
this summer, maybe they're drafting a big or maybe they just don't envision having
like enough rotational room for Larry Ance Junior with Zion coming back and you have
Jackson Hays and you have Jonis non Junis. I don't think it gets to
that point, but that would just be a name in the middle of the
season maybe, And I think the Surge Ibaka trade exception expires. Yeah,
so that expires February ten, so they would have time to sit on it
if they wanted to. I also thought, what about TJ McConnell. I
don't really know how the Pacers view him. There was a report from Jake
Fisher that they're looking to lean further in the rebuild. So can you get
t J McConnell into that. Maybe the Pacers don't want his deal on the
books, and that would provide just some game management torpedo. You're floor spacing
a little bit, but it'll give you some defensive pressure and then also just
again, like someone to get you into stuff in the half quarter or push
it up the floor in transition. You could also go that route with Kemba.
I don't know what he has left, but it would be he'd be
a lot more useful on the Clippers than next to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Then whatever was happening in New York and he might be cooked. So
maybe you don't want to take on his eight million dollars salary when you know
how much it's going to cost for your tax bill. The other two names
that's brain of mind is if if the Bucks are looking to cut their tax
bill and you think that George Hill has anything left, he wouldn't be terrible.
He's old four million. And just if the Jazz are looking at their
tax bill, like do you take the flyer on Nikil Alexander Walker or do
you just really think that he has nothing there? Because the Clippers clearly trust
like their developmental program and they're probably looking for more immediate help. But those
are some names that I got into. You can feel free to get at
me, Brandon, if you have any others in the discord chat that'll do
it for me. This was fun. Apologies for the weird podcast publishing schedule
this week, but please just remember a downloading every episode, and if this
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Until next time, I leave you with the shout out Build one, the
Only, the Legend day Frank Neil Keenan