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INSTATCRT Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden Colorado. Hello everyone, and

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welcome to the latest episode of Hardwood
Knocks. This is Adam Frombile here with

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my fantastic and now mortal enemy co
host Dan Favalley. I have to say

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the mortal enemy part because we're now
locked into a first round matchup between the

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New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks, which would have been almost inconceivable.

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And we're gonna stop because I just
knocked over my drink here and it is

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exploding everywhere on the floor. Oh
yeah, all right, I'm okay,

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but I'm in my wife's office and
might have just ruined some of her work

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things. Do you need me to
vamp while you clean that up? Yes,

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this is gonna take me a few
minutes. Well, holy crap,

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I'll come back. Well, for
anyone who's listening, we are going to

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eventually talk about awards today once Adam
gets his life under control. A lot

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of the play in matchups we're still
talking as some of the stuff is being

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decided, but a lot of the
playoff matchups has already been set. We

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are gonna have Milwaukee and Miami in
the first round in the East. That's

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going to be an interesting matchup just
because of what Miami did to Milwaukee last

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year. Jannie got injured at one
point in that series, but the Bucks

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were not playing well. They do
see more playoff proof this season. That's

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still gonna be a fun rematch.
Nick's versus Hawks. That's, as Adam

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mentioned, was inconceivable at the start
of the season. The Knicks being in

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fourth place in the East is just
absolutely wild when you're looking at relative to

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their expectations. Philly is locked into
that first spot in the East, Brooklyn

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is in second, so they're gonna
play the winners of the playing Boston is

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in seventh, Washington's in eighth,
Indiana is in ninth, and Charlotte's in

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tenth. The plan's gonna be interesting. I think it's probably gonna go just

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looking how injured Boston is without Jalen
Brown. There's a chance the Wizards win

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that first playing game and then Boston. I don't know who's gonna win,

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Indiana Charlotte, If anyone has any
thoughts on that one, that's a really

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tough one to pick because Indiana's better
on paper, but they're banged up a

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lot. See, I'm all out
of sorts with the bracket at the moment.

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Adam. If you're listening to me
right now, I am. I'm

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all out of sorts in my regular
life. Are of podcasting right? I'm

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good. I can't say the same
about my wife's desk. That is awesome.

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Do you want to get to what
we're actually going to do with this

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podcast? If anyone in the room
has any questions throughout this about what we're

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talking about or any play in playoff
questions. We won't answer them here,

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but Adam is going to tell you
what we're actually doing today. Yeah,

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it's Award Pick Day. It's the
final day of the regular season as we're

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recording this, so it is time
to jump into all of the major NBA

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awards. We're talking MVP, we're
talking Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player

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of the Year, sixth Man of
the Year, Most Improved Player, Coach

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of the Year, and Executive of
the Year, which I don't think too

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many people care about, but we're
going to do it in the name of

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completeness. I don't know what order
we're going to go here, but Dan

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and I both have are ballots built
out for the top three, with some

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honorable mentions for each of the non
MVP awards, and then our top five

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as the NBA MVP ballot is actually
structured for that biggest of individual accolades.

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So I have it's set up in
order since I'm leading us through it of

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what we did it in the preseason. So we'll start with Executive of the

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Year, moved through a Coach of
the Year, then sixth Man of the

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Year, Rookie, Defensive Player of
the Year, Rookie of the Year Most

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Improved MVP. That was a weird
order we did it. I think we

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weren't too interested in Defensive Player of
the Year at the time. And I'm

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not gonna be beyond. I'm not
gonna be you know, I'm not gonna

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lie. I'm not sure I'm that
interested in it either. I think people

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want to make the in a debate. I don't really think it is.

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Noah says in the chat, I
dare Damn to Dan to Cape for SGA

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for most Improved Player. I dare
him. You don't need to dare me,

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because it's he's going to So I'm
going to just want to make that

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clear. Let's start with the Executive
of the Year. I'll start with mine

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on this one. I think this
is a no brainer, and it's not

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the no brainer people have turned it
into. James Jones is number one on

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my ballot. Shawn Marks is number
two, Daryl Morey is number three.

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I'll save you an honorable mentions,
so I'll let you talk about those once

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you get to yours. For me, just James Jones is the clear number

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one for me. It's the Chris
Paul trade was huge. People are putting

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Chris Paul in the MVP discussion.
James Harten has since fallen out of the

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MVP discussion because of availability. That's
not the only good move that James Jones

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made. Jay Crowder Tory Craig has
been absolutely monstrous for them, getting them

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in a position where you have competent
players. You know this, I guess

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gives them credit for years past,
But the bringing Dario Sharts back, he

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was so good at the five for
most of this year, that's kind of

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fallen off. I guess if you
want to build a case against him,

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you could point out that they didn't
draft Tyrese Haliburton when he was there,

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and could you imagine this team with
Tyrese Haliburton on it? Just they would

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be at it before the season started
and really liked what we saw there,

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and then we just didn't get to
see it. I do think the one

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thing you can give him credit for, like last season leaking over into this

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season, was the way that they
structured the campaign contracts that they could bring

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him back. I want players to
get paid more than they are, so

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I'm not saying I don't want to
go, oh, campaign is underpaid?

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How great is that? For the
Suns, but you roll the dice on

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him and put yourself in a position
to keep him, and he's been on

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the peripherals of the six man of
the Year discussion for people who've watched the

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Suns anyway, So that's my ballot. I don't think anyone comes close to

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touching James Jones. And I know
Shawn Marks made the move for Harden,

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that's not his only case. Bringing
Bruce Brown been very helpful for them.

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Jeff Green has been super helpful for
them. I get all of that.

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And then making the hard move there
was a risk, and it became a

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necessity when you look at all the
games their stars had missed. But there's

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also sort of the element of the
no brainer there where it's oh, trade

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for a top five player or don't
without giving up any real stars in the

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process. That's not a hard decision
to make. It's not that hard anyway.

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Yeah, I mean, I totally
agree, which is why I also

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have Shawn Marks at number two and
really a distant second to James Jones at

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number one. You know, you
mentioned the moves that Marx deserves credit for,

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and even if it is a no
brainer, it still took some serious

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gumption to actually pull the trigger and
acquire James Harden in the middle of a

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season, when you already have the
stars on board, when you already have

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a first year head coach in Steve
Nash who hasn't had to deal with that

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kind of locker room dynamic, at
least in that kind of role. That

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coupled with Bruce brown acquisition going into
the season, coupled with bringing in Blake

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Griffin, who has looked at least
a little bit reinvigorated. Jeff Green has

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been effective, like he did,
make enough good moves here that even if

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it's low hanging fruit to nominate him
for this award, he definitely deserves the

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nomination. I do have a travish
link from the Atlanta Hawks in my number

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three spot. I think we've seen
as the season has progressed that the offseason

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moves, the really aggressive offseason moves
that included bringing in Daniel o' gallinari and

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bog Gun Bogdanovich. The in season
move of trading for Lou Williams Chris Dunn

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signing hasn't really paid off, nor
has Tony Snells, but so many of

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these moves have started to look better
as the season has progressed. In the

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injury have dissipated, allowing the Hawks
to play with more of their full rotation

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and establish some semblance of consistency on
a night tonight basis. Beyond that,

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the move from Lloyd Pierce to Nate
McMillan in the middle of the year has

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had hugely positive repercussions on this team. It enabled the entire rotation to start

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playing better, to start playing more
cohesive basketball, and it was a huge

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inflection point for the Hawks right in
the middle of the season. That has

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to matter. My honorable mentions Leon
Rose and Sam Presty. I think Rose's

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candidacy kind of speaks for itself because
the Knicks have made that leap from bottom

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feeder who basically everyone was predicting to
make the playoffs to the number four seed

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in Eastern Conference. And meanwhile,
Sam Presty has continued to basically force the

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NBA to expand the first round because
no one else has any picks. I'm

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so hesitant to give to give credit
to Sam Presty just because is the tanking

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stuff is veers too far into what
do we treat and view players as in

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that scenario. I'm also it's awkward
to see them tell Al Horford to go

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home and face zero repercussions for it, But I totally get it. I

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mean, they've he has stacked the
deck for them, and their rebuild is

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off to a great start, so
I don't begrudge anyone who had picked them,

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but I couldn't put him in my
top three. Leon Rose is interesting

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in the top three, not one
I gave consideration too, but when you

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specifically look at a lot of the
one year deals he signed Alec Burke's new

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Lands Noel, the Derek Rose trade
end up being everyone including myself, lampooned

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the Knicks for that. The only
truly terrible move they made has been resigning

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Alfred Peyton and then continuing to play
Alfred Peyton until the six thirty six minute

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mark in the first quarter. So
that's a great pick, and the Schlank

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one is sort of a slow burn. I don't know if the Hawks have

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been good enough for long enough or
healthy enough, I should say for long

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enough. But that was a really
interesting one too, and I wonder if

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he's going to get some extra love
that I didn't necessarily consider when I was

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building my ballot. I don't think
he's going to just because the first half

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of the season is still entrenched in
people's minds. But we've seen that the

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moves did pan out once those external
factors started to be minimized. By the

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way, did you see me successfully
take a drink out of what remains of

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my drink without spilling it all over
myself? No, I was too busy

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freaking out because my teams has not
been going Teams app has not been going

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off at all today because it's a
Sunday, and it's decided right when we

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podcasted that the messages are in coming, so that the beginning you hear in

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the background the pining is that.
So I was trying to get that out

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of the way. But I'm just
listening the livest of our live episodes.

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It's fine, don't worry. You
guys are going to get a real prerecorded

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All NBA Teams one for anyone who's
still listening. That comes after the awards

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ballot. Thank you for anyone who's
sticking through this. Do you want to

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start us off on Coach of the
Year. Yeah, it was. I

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feel like this award is a tough
one every season because Are you recognizing the

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best coach in the league? Are
you recognizing the coach who exceeded expectations most

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Even though we have this conversation what
seems like every single season, there still

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isn't really that established criteria, which
makes it such a nebulous, difficult to

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predict award. So I tend to
view it more as a mix of those

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two things, like both the coaching
quality and the level of improvement which pushed

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Tom Thibodeau barely passed Monty Williams and
Quinn Snyder. For me, I have

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Nate McMillan and Doc Rivers as my
honorable mentions who deserve a lot of credit

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for what they've done with their respective
teams. But I think it's a three

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person race for this award, And
I'd really be okay with putting TIBs,

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Monty, and Quinn's names and hats
and drawing them out randomly, and that

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is a justifiable order. I mean, Thibodeaux has established a culture in New

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York, a defense of identity,
which is a stark contrast to the biggest

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weaknesses of previous iterations of this Knicks
organization. Monty Williams has made Chris Paul,

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who is not always the easiest locker
room presence, into a bona fide

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positive leader for this young team that
has excelled and jumped straight into the race

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for the top of the Western Conference. And the Jazz have been maybe the

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best team in basketball for most of
this season, with a fairly unorthodox roster

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construction for today's NBA that is also
a deviation from what he's done in the

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past. I get arguments for all
three of them. I think that the

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establishment of the culture and the failures
of the Knicks over the last few years

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were enough context for me to just
barely marginally bumped Tibbs to number one.

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Yeah, you have for the unexpectedness
of where the Knicks are. I think

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wanted out for Tibbs. I had
Monty Williams at the top for a lot

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of this. He's number two for
me, and I've Clinch Snyder third.

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The Jazz are a fucking machine.
They just you can talk about whether stuff

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will hold up in the in the
playoffs. This is a regular season awards,

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so I don't care. But they
just they're a machine. They've had

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Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell injured for
a good chunk of time towards the end

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of the year. They still have
the best defense in the league right now,

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so and the things you're not going
to be on the court for the

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Jazz. This might be Jordan Clarkson's
biggest six minute year case. By the

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way, you don't play minutes if
you don't try on defense for Utah,

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and Jordan Clarson has played a ton
of minutes getting ahead of myself there,

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But to have something like Jordan Clarkson
give that effort too. Yes, you

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have the best drop defender in the
league and Rudy Gobert, who everything is

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structured around, but to get what
you have out of that defense when you

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just don't have any elite defenders aside
from Rudy Gobert on your team. So

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I give the Jazz is consistency,
and I guess it hasn't always been there.

202
00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,600
Their transition defense can get iffy,
and we've seen you know different cult

203
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tookball on Madonovitch La allowed to get
going there. They have the best record

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00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:58,440
in the league, So I don't
know how you don't have them at least

205
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,960
on here. Tom Thibodeau was number
one for me though, and the Knicks

206
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are fourth. I don't think even
if you saw this lead from Julius Randall

207
00:14:05,759 --> 00:14:09,240
Cumming, or if you don't want
to give him credit for it, which

208
00:14:09,639 --> 00:14:13,159
that's fine too, the Knicks have
a top five defense. Why there you

209
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,440
look at look at anyone on this
team, on this roster, no one

210
00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,039
screams this is a top five defensive
team. It just doesn't. And the

211
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,080
fact that he's yeah, you have
guys who are good on defense, Norlan's

212
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,720
Noel or Mitchell Robinson before he got
injured. Okay, great, grand wonderful

213
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,639
Franio a Keen that hasn't even played
a ton. So that's almost why I'm

214
00:14:31,679 --> 00:14:35,559
detracting points from TIBs. That's why
it's not a runaway, by the way,

215
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,039
so they're not even playing like necessarily
their best defensive specialist on the team,

216
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,720
Derek Rose has busted his ass on
the defensive end since coming over.

217
00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:46,879
There's been improvement from Randall. I
think I've seen the biggest improvement of anyone

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00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:50,879
on the roster defensively is with RJ. Barrett. And maybe that's to be

219
00:14:50,919 --> 00:14:54,240
expected when you're going from rookie to
sophomore, but he's actually been an asset

220
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on that end. I eat the
job he has done there. I'm very

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00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,240
curious to see what happened long term
with the Knicks, just because so many

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of the guys seemed like placeholders.
What are we you know, how is

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Julius Roynod gonna hold up next season
after playing so many minutes this year.

224
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I'm not even just trying to troll. I'm genuinely concerned about the sustainability of

225
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what the Knicks have done this season. Specifically, though we both have them

226
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as a bottom five team in the
league coming in this year, they are

227
00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:20,200
now. They might finish with the
tenth best record in the league, depending

228
00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:22,919
on how the Sunday games shake out. I think he has to be the

229
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,279
choice money Leams comes close. I
do feel like maybe he's overthought some of

230
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:33,440
his lineup decisions, though, and
the DeAndre Ayton inconsistency train. I attribute

231
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,240
some of it to him, at
least, just because he's overseeing the team.

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I don't look he's finishing too,
so I'm not trying to detract from

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him. But those are just splitting
hairs, That's what I was looking at.

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I will say I always feel uncomfortable
picking this award because we are not

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00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,440
in the locker rooms or at practices
seeing how much of the improvement and how

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00:15:50,559 --> 00:15:56,360
much of the success is actually credited
to the coaches. So it always feels

237
00:15:56,399 --> 00:16:02,480
like an uninformed attempt to be informed
with an award and without caveat out of

238
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the way. I was pretty close
to having McMillan jump into my top three.

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I think it's more a tier of
four than a tier of three,

240
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just because he took over a team
that was very much down in the dumps

241
00:16:15,919 --> 00:16:21,240
and struggling to live up to the
preseason expectations. Mid season, a roster

242
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,600
that was dealing with a lot of
injuries that had prevented continuity. You had

243
00:16:23,639 --> 00:16:27,279
the John Collins situation kind of looming
in the background, like is he going

244
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,840
to demand a trade? Is he's
just not going to play as effectively because

245
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he knows that he's going to be
leaving next season and doesn't want to waste

246
00:16:33,519 --> 00:16:40,039
energy on a team that isn't succeeding. But since he took over, and

247
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:45,480
I'm assuming that the Hawks beat the
tank tastic Houston Rockets this afternoon after we're

248
00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,080
recording this, but if they do, they would be twenty seven and eleven

249
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,279
under McMillan, which is a fifty
one win pace over the course of a

250
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,559
seventy two game season, which would
match the number of wins the Jazz have

251
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:02,279
right now with one game left for
the best record in the league. Like,

252
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,279
that's how good the Hawks have been
since he took over. This is

253
00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,400
also the two other things I would
add about what makes picking this award as

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00:17:11,519 --> 00:17:15,599
US problematic. One, we're not
the oh look at this after the time

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00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:19,799
out play that the coach ran like, that's not our forte and that's can

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certainly be part of it for some
people. And the other thing is I

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always have I have to winnow down
my list from like fifteen candidates at the

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00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,680
start, I you know, Taylor
Jenkins, Nate McMillan, as you already

259
00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,079
outlined, he was one of the
honorable mentions for me. I think you

260
00:17:34,079 --> 00:17:38,039
could also make a very strong case
for Doc Rivers because of what Philadelphia has

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00:17:38,039 --> 00:17:42,200
done this season. People were kind
of dumping all over Terry Stotts, but

262
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the Blazer's defense has been legitimately good
since Yusef Nurkics has been back. Surprise,

263
00:17:47,599 --> 00:17:51,440
surprise, they needed their big man
to competently protect the rim. That's

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00:17:51,519 --> 00:17:55,119
shocking, shocking, Adam. I
don't know how anyone could have seen that

265
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coming. I could talk myself and
do a little bit of love for Steve

266
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Nash injuries in and out of Brooklyn. I know he has the talent and

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a great assistant coaching staff. I
also look at this as a full coaching

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staff award, by the way,
not just it's awarded a one person,

269
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but it's a coaching staffs award.
The Nets are second in the East,

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and they've their Big Three is played
what seven games together? Eight So that's

271
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another route that you could go,
and I could go on, you know,

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does James need some love too,
Mike Malone, Rick Carlisle. You

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00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,400
could also talk to yourself, James
Riego. I was mentioning, how has

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Charlotte been even close to lead average
on defense this year? So that's what

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00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,920
makes this award especially tough for me
as well. Yeah, it's it's a

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virtually impossible one to predict, and
I think this is one of the rare

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seasons where there really isn't a one
hundred percent true, bona fide front runner

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so much as a front running group, I don't. I think Kids has

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00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,319
to be the front runner. The
Knicks are I haven't looked at the betting

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odds or anything. I think,
I mean, we both picked him,

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but I'd think it's a narrow gap. And I wonder if it's almost like

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00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,680
unanimously received as him and first with
a narrow gap. Sugar Ray, Leonard,

283
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:10,680
Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns legends whose four

284
00:19:10,759 --> 00:19:15,799
way rivalry define one of the greatest
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285
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second half twenty twenty ust a Bard
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00:19:52,319 --> 00:19:57,359
Award is on an endorsement we're up
to sixth Man of the Year, which

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is mine. I'm gonna preface this
with this, and you can call me

295
00:20:02,079 --> 00:20:04,920
out on this next year, listeners. If my logic is inconsistent when it

296
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comes to the most improved player,
I don't like awarding it to year or

297
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,599
two guys, which is why I
when d Iron Fox had his Major League

298
00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:14,359
I did not vote for him,
even though I was very tempted to,

299
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,160
and for six Man of the Year
this season, I found it a little

300
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,359
clarney that lou Will and Montras Harrold
were both top three on a ballot last

301
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,880
year, so I was not going
to pick two people from the same team,

302
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,039
which is why I think they're going
to be some people who are angry

303
00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:36,000
with my ballot. If Joe Ingles
at one, Tyrese Haliburton at two,

304
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,279
and Tim Hardaway Junior at three awards
technically are due Monday, I reserve the

305
00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:47,960
right to change for another eight and
a half hours. As of this recording,

306
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,079
the third spot was tough for me. Tim Hardaway Junior shooting I think

307
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:56,039
is super valuable to Dallas. He's
also shooting a career high I believe fifty

308
00:20:56,079 --> 00:20:59,480
two point one percent inside the arc
this year has tried pretty hard on d

309
00:21:00,079 --> 00:21:03,839
His shooting splits can be to rely
on Dontech being on the floor, but

310
00:21:03,839 --> 00:21:07,000
you could say that pretty much about
anyone. Jalen Bronson came put it pretty

311
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,279
close to getting this for me.
I also consider Derrick Rose, Daddy is

312
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,920
young, Bobby Portis, Jordan Clarkson. Obviously, Cameron Payne deserves some love

313
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,160
here as well. Joe Ingles won
out for me. I know he started

314
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,920
almost thirty games. That could also
work in his favor as the argument for

315
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,319
six Man of the Year, where
if you have injuries and need to insert

316
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:27,680
someone in the starting lineup naturally or
at logistically speaking, it would be your

317
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,640
sixth man, wouldn't like the next
guy up would be the sixth man.

318
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,880
I know it doesn't work like that. He's just been so phenomenal. He

319
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,160
has a true shooting percentage of two
trillion as a perimeter player is I think

320
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:45,599
it's two trillion point seven. That's
a wildly impressive still has the ability to

321
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,680
create a little bit off the dribble. He does still do okay on defense.

322
00:21:48,759 --> 00:21:52,319
This is I don't think he's the
same player who really shut down Paul

323
00:21:52,319 --> 00:21:55,480
George and that okayc series a few
years ago, but she's such a smart,

324
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,680
accurate player. And then anyone who
has a problem with Tyrey's Albert being

325
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,079
on this ballot, he also did
start I think twenty games this year and

326
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:03,759
he's out for the season with his
knee injury, but he definitely played enough

327
00:22:03,759 --> 00:22:08,599
to crack it. The dude is
shooting over forty percent from three played fantastic

328
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:14,839
defense as a rookie. Is just
a it's not fill the box score because

329
00:22:14,839 --> 00:22:18,000
he's so low volume, but contribute
in every single area. It was he's

330
00:22:18,039 --> 00:22:25,079
basically the fattiest young of guards except
he can shoot, and so it's he

331
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,039
was so good that maybe I wanted
to reward him because we know he's not

332
00:22:29,079 --> 00:22:32,440
gonna win Rookie of the Year I
have. If anyone is a problem with

333
00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:33,880
him making his ballot, though they
are, they're free to add me on

334
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,720
Twitter and we can we can have
a discussion about it. I'm not going

335
00:22:37,759 --> 00:22:41,119
to change my mind, but we
can have a discussion about it. It

336
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,799
feels like there are roughly four hundred
candidates for this award, right Like you

337
00:22:44,839 --> 00:22:48,759
can name a team and you might
even have multiple candidates from said team.

338
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,880
Do you know what, something I
thought about really quickly was like they probably

339
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,160
needed to play more. But the
Knicks technically have three or four guys that

340
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,519
you could look at and be like, should they be on this? Emmanuel

341
00:22:59,599 --> 00:23:03,319
Quickly, Derrick Rose, Noel didn't
start for most of the season because or

342
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,559
you know, didn't start until Chad
Robinson was injured. And even Alec Burks

343
00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:10,720
did he play enough to get there, but he's been like lights out and

344
00:23:10,799 --> 00:23:12,599
crunch time for them. So that
was the team where it was. I

345
00:23:12,599 --> 00:23:15,440
think there's one clear guy that you
go with, and it's Derek Rose,

346
00:23:15,559 --> 00:23:18,920
probably, but there were four names
that's prong to mind just from that team.

347
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:26,119
Yeah, no, yeah, I
agree with you. I did not

348
00:23:26,279 --> 00:23:30,960
agree with your limitation to one player
per team, just because I think I

349
00:23:30,079 --> 00:23:38,160
viewed this award more as recognizing the
best backup in basketball, not necessarily recognizing

350
00:23:38,279 --> 00:23:42,599
the best first man off the bench
in basketball, even if it's technically named

351
00:23:42,599 --> 00:23:47,279
sixth man and not sixth or seventh
man. So I did have Joe Ingles

352
00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:51,200
first for all the same reasons that
you listed out. I had Jordan Clarkson

353
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,599
third. I think despite the inefficiency
with which he's played during the second half

354
00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,519
of the season. The scoring role
that he's filled is so valuable and necessary.

355
00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:03,759
They need somebody who's willing to come
off the bench and take those difficult

356
00:24:03,759 --> 00:24:10,960
shots and put pressure on defense off
the bounce. So regardless of the efficiency

357
00:24:11,039 --> 00:24:14,279
numbers there, I think it's pretty
clear how important he's been to that team.

358
00:24:14,799 --> 00:24:17,799
I had Jalen Brunson and Thaddeus Young
as my honorable mentions, and I

359
00:24:17,799 --> 00:24:21,640
had Derek Rose at number two on
my ballot. I strongly considered moving him

360
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,400
up to number one. You know, we talked about it a little bit

361
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:30,359
before we began recording. What he
did in Detroit is just not enough for

362
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,480
him to ascend to that number one
spot. He wasn't making the team better,

363
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:40,279
he wasn't shooting the ball with any
semblance of efficiency while he was a

364
00:24:40,279 --> 00:24:44,799
member of the Pistons. But what
he's done in thirty five games with the

365
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,759
Knicks has been immaculate. I mean, this team is eleven point nine points

366
00:24:48,759 --> 00:24:52,519
per one hundred possessions better with him
on the floor, and that does not

367
00:24:52,799 --> 00:24:57,839
seem like a fluke. He's playing
I would argue, the smartest basketball of

368
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:03,160
his career. He's not forcing the
issue he's accepted that his peak level of

369
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,079
athleticism just isn't quite there anymore.
He's a willing passer, he's a more

370
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,440
committed defender. Every He's checked all
the boxes, and I would say that

371
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:18,920
he has unquestionably been the best backup
player in the NBA since he joined the

372
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,839
Knicks. And it's a volume issue
that keeps me from putting him ahead of

373
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,359
Joe Ingles for number one, But
I damn sure thought about doing it,

374
00:25:27,759 --> 00:25:32,759
And if you have followed me on
Twitter or on this podcast for any amount

375
00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:34,160
of time, you know that it
was really hard for me to do that,

376
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,640
but his play has justified it.
Yeah, I think it's strictly a

377
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,559
for me. It was just a
playing time thing, where all the other

378
00:25:44,599 --> 00:25:49,319
guys on this list have played significantly
more more minutes, and it was everyone

379
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,880
written. And I think we need
to discuss why Jordan Clarkson isn't third for

380
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,680
you, or wasn't on my ballot
for the past like thirty something games,

381
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:02,359
is shooting under thirty two percent from
three. There's definitely value in the shots

382
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,559
that he's taking, and as you've
mentioned, there's high utility in that volume

383
00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:10,519
scoring role. I just think the
perception was He's going to run away with

384
00:26:10,559 --> 00:26:12,119
this award, and that was at
the beginning of the season, and we've

385
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:17,680
yet to move off it. Reality
is kind of caught up to that take,

386
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,960
and I don't I don't think it's
wrong if he wins. I'm actually

387
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:23,240
not sure who's gonna win this award. Everyone still assumes it's going to be

388
00:26:23,319 --> 00:26:26,759
him. Maybe it will be I
think it's fair game to discuss other players,

389
00:26:26,839 --> 00:26:30,799
especially when you have Joe Ingles has
the highest true shooting percentage in NBA

390
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:38,039
history among anyone, who's right,
among anyone who's ever averaged fifteen points at

391
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,119
least fifteen points for thirty six minutes
and five assists for thirty six minutes,

392
00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:45,759
the highest true shooting percentage of in
NBA history. I'm on that group.

393
00:26:45,039 --> 00:26:48,720
Do you know who's in second place? No, but you're gonna tell me.

394
00:26:49,519 --> 00:26:53,720
Stephen Curry owns the second and third
most efficient seasons, rounded out in

395
00:26:53,759 --> 00:26:57,680
the top five by Steve Nash at
four and John Stockton at five. Pretty

396
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,960
decent company. I suppose Noah in
in the locker room comments says listening to

397
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,440
Adams slowly turn into a Knicks fan
has been beautiful yeah, I suppose that's

398
00:27:07,519 --> 00:27:11,400
kind of what's happened this season.
Like i've I've very much bought into this

399
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,440
team, but no, I promise
you that I will reverse course starkly during

400
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:21,039
the upcoming first round of the playoffs. That's great that the chats are not

401
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,920
updating for me in locker room.
I had no idea that he had said

402
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,480
anything, So it looks like my
app is frozen, which I hope this

403
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:32,559
means we get the audio for this. Talk about another live podcasting whatever.

404
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,960
Anyway, you want to move on
to the next award, which would be

405
00:27:36,799 --> 00:27:40,279
Defensive Player of the Year, and
it's yours to take. Are we saving

406
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,480
m IP for a second to or
third to last? None? Yes?

407
00:27:42,839 --> 00:27:48,279
Okay, uh yeah? Is there
a discussion here? It's Rudy Gobert like

408
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,279
that. That's it. He's the
defensive system. Unto himself. He is,

409
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,680
without question, the best drop coverage
defender in the league today, maybe

410
00:27:57,759 --> 00:28:02,480
the best in that role of all
time. Don't think that's hyperbolic at this

411
00:28:02,519 --> 00:28:06,720
point. He despite what people want
to say about him being played off the

412
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,960
court in previous postseasons, which I
still think there's more to it than simplifying

413
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:18,519
it into just that one statement.
He is a dominant defense when he's on

414
00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:22,480
the court by himself, regardless of
who you put around him, and no

415
00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:25,960
one should really touch him in this
award. Yet again, the only reason

416
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:32,759
it might be even somewhat close is
if voter fatigue comes into play. I

417
00:28:32,799 --> 00:28:36,240
have Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid,
both from the same team, in second

418
00:28:36,279 --> 00:28:40,640
and third. I have Jannisandakoumpo and
dam Adabaio in fourth and fifth, So

419
00:28:40,759 --> 00:28:44,599
honorable mentions for me. I have
to give a shout out to Miles Turner

420
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,799
as well. Had he played more
this season, I think that he could

421
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:51,839
have worked his way into that top
three. But this is Gobert running away,

422
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,640
and I don't think much much justification
is necessary. Like just go read

423
00:28:56,079 --> 00:29:00,319
the piece that Ben Dawsett wrote on
five thirty eight the other day where for

424
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,480
once in a blue moon, all
the defensive metrics agree that he's having a

425
00:29:04,519 --> 00:29:08,400
historic season. That doesn't happen.
That's telling. The volume of shots he

426
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:14,559
contests at the room, combined with
the efficiency he's allowing there is easily historical.

427
00:29:15,039 --> 00:29:17,559
He was first in my ballot,
followed by Ben Simmons and the Nive

428
00:29:17,599 --> 00:29:21,680
Draymond Green at third. The Warriors
have quietly had, relative to this season,

429
00:29:22,039 --> 00:29:23,839
a very good defense, and he
remains the hardened soul of it.

430
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,799
And he's just one of the smart
one of the probably one of the smartest

431
00:29:27,799 --> 00:29:32,519
defenders in the NBA history, definitely
the smartest defender of his generation. And

432
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,079
just everything he does, what he
can do when he's small, when he's

433
00:29:36,119 --> 00:29:38,799
gonna give you all that week side
help and directing everyone else, just absolutely

434
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,200
huge. And I don't know if
he is a case to be any higher

435
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,400
than three. I'm curious to see
if if anyone will ever put him in

436
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,960
the top three, or how many
top three votes he actually gets. Ben

437
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,240
Simmons's versatility is there's the thought process
that you can't impact defense as much as

438
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,160
a perimeter player because the shots that
a lot of these guys take they're gonna

439
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:03,400
make anyway. He's really difficult jump, but I still think there's an immense

440
00:30:03,519 --> 00:30:07,079
value in being able to defend every
position. And he doesn't spend too much

441
00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:11,400
time on big bigs, but he
guards one through four pretty regularly, and

442
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:15,640
he is more so than anyone else
on the perimeter, maybe a locked in

443
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,960
Kauai. You have o Gianna Nobi
on there too when you're looking at on

444
00:30:19,039 --> 00:30:25,400
ball defenders. But he can race
really good players from from the planet and

445
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,880
we've seen him do it in the
playoffs before too. I don't think though,

446
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:33,440
that he is like a real case
over Rudy Gobert, and like you

447
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,079
said, maybe there is that fatigue
with Cobert. There's also the belief that

448
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:40,599
he can be played off the floor
in the playoffs, which is also not

449
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,079
true. There was a very specific
matchup that was a problem for him.

450
00:30:44,079 --> 00:30:47,720
That matchup no longer exists because of
Houston and Utah kind of figured out a

451
00:30:47,759 --> 00:30:51,440
way to keep him on the floor
in that series they ended up losing.

452
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:56,920
So I it's the perception there's veered
too far away from reality. That's another

453
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,240
instance of that. So I think
he should be the clear winner, and

454
00:31:00,279 --> 00:31:07,359
I don't know that anyone could convince
me it should be Ben Simmons over him.

455
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:11,519
As convoluted as this statement may seem, I think you can make a

456
00:31:11,599 --> 00:31:18,240
case that Ben Simmons is the best
defender in basketball because of the wide variety

457
00:31:18,279 --> 00:31:23,160
of roles he's able to fill without
sacrificing his level of performance and the impact

458
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:29,960
that he can make across the board, but Rudy Gobert has a much more

459
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,160
important role. And it's as simple
as that, Like, it's great to

460
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,599
have that guy who can guard every
position, who can seamlessly switch around the

461
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,279
perimeter and on the interior and impact
passing lanes and do everything that Ben Simmons

462
00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:45,680
does so well. But having a
dominant room protector who can also hedge out

463
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,519
to the perimeter and deter three point
shots and still manage to drop back and

464
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,880
impact plays around the rim on the
very same possession, that's just so much

465
00:31:53,920 --> 00:32:00,319
more important than anything else in today's
NBA. So Gobert is an absolute master

466
00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:05,519
of his more specific craft. And
if you want to say that Ben Simmons

467
00:32:05,599 --> 00:32:07,359
is the best defender in the NBA
because of how many different things he can

468
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,359
do well, like, go for
it. But this is a value award.

469
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,640
I'm totally with you there, and
I liked your automble mentions there definitely,

470
00:32:16,119 --> 00:32:20,119
and beat that he played more might
have been higher on my ballot,

471
00:32:20,559 --> 00:32:22,920
Jana said. The Coupo is someone
that people have slept on. There.

472
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,920
He's doing more than just disrupting plays
as a helper this year as the Bucks

473
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,359
have switched on a more frequent basis, so, but they're just to me

474
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,519
as a tree reiter rate. There
doesn't appear to be a debate. There

475
00:32:34,559 --> 00:32:37,880
also doesn't appear to be a debate
on this next award, which we should

476
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,400
be able to blow through. Aside
from my runner up and I believe you're

477
00:32:40,519 --> 00:32:45,359
runner up as well. Looking of
the year, this one is mind to

478
00:32:45,359 --> 00:32:47,839
begin with, I have a Meloball
at one. Quick question, would you

479
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,759
have had the meloball at one had
he not played another game this season?

480
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,599
Yes? Yeah, me too.
I have Tyrese Haliburton at number two and

481
00:32:55,640 --> 00:33:00,519
Anthony Edwards at number three. I
think people and what we know people because

482
00:33:00,599 --> 00:33:05,359
dumb Dan, by the way,
are going to be mad that he's in

483
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:09,200
third. That first of all,
considering where the point from which he was

484
00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:14,200
starting, he was so bad on
offense for such a huge chunk of the

485
00:33:14,279 --> 00:33:16,880
year. That he worked his way
at the third is a testament to him,

486
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:22,160
a harbinger of how far he has
come. But the first part of

487
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,079
the season absolutely happened. And so
you look at like, I don't know

488
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:30,799
if you can pinpoint the exact turning
point for him, really, but if

489
00:33:30,839 --> 00:33:36,160
you look at his first thirty six
games of the season, thirty point two

490
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,319
percent on threes, thirty seven point
one percent from the floor overall, had

491
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:45,680
almost as many turnovers as assists,
under fifteen points per game. That that

492
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:50,000
was fine. There was a marketed
shift in the way that he was playing,

493
00:33:50,119 --> 00:33:52,880
and those first thirty six games,
which is half of the season,

494
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:58,000
they happened. And for Tyrese Haliburton
not as flashy as a score, but

495
00:33:58,079 --> 00:34:02,359
he does everything else and he was
more efficient and more consistent throughout the entire

496
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:07,400
year. Do I think that he's
going to have the higher ceiling than Anthony

497
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,719
Edwards. I don't think it's impossible, but I would bet against it.

498
00:34:10,119 --> 00:34:15,639
So, but this is not a
long term award. This is this season

499
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:21,400
specifically, and I think Tyrese Burton
provided more end to end value than Anthony

500
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,199
Edwards. And he did just a
bunch of his work in the latter half,

501
00:34:24,559 --> 00:34:27,760
which is you know, it's it's
great, and I don't want to

502
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,280
dismiss what he's done. It was. It was a half season's body of

503
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:35,000
exceptional work, though maybe a little
bit longer. It's all about how you

504
00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:39,599
frame this award. Is it the
level a player reached in his final game

505
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:44,760
as a rookie or is it who
added the most value, was the best

506
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,079
player from start to finish. I
tend to think it should be the ladder,

507
00:34:47,119 --> 00:34:50,880
which is why my ballot is exactly
the same as yours. In the

508
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,639
top three, with LaMelo Ball at
number one, Tyrese Haliburton at number two,

509
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,480
and Anthony Edwards at number three.
I have Emmanuel Quickly and Jay Shawn

510
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,159
Tate among a litany of option as
my primary honorable mentions here. But yeah,

511
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:07,440
just to expand on Anthony Edwards,
we had I'm trying to look up

512
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,920
who it was who asked this,
and I'm not able to find it at

513
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,400
the moment, but we had somebody
ask if they could see how Anthony Edwards

514
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:22,760
is TPA has progressed from the start
of his rookie season through this point,

515
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,679
and you know, we did put
that out. It's on the NBA math

516
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:30,039
Twitter feed and you can see just
how much his score is plummeting into the

517
00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:35,920
negatives. But then in mid March, from that point through the present,

518
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,400
he has actually been a plus.
He has had positive TPA from that point,

519
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:44,280
which means that he has played like
an above average NBA player. No

520
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,840
I'm not saying TPA is a perfect
metric, it's definitely not, but measuring

521
00:35:49,159 --> 00:35:54,000
relative. I appreciate that you're wrong. I appreciate it. Dumb Dan strikes

522
00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:59,880
again, But yeah, I mean
just to rookies aren't supposed to be above

523
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:05,119
average players. Haliburton and LaMelo Ball
per TPA are the only ones and quickly

524
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,480
as well, I believe, who
have managed to maintain that throughout their rookie

525
00:36:09,559 --> 00:36:15,360
season. And for Edwards to do
that when he's taking so many shots and

526
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:20,119
filling such a difficult role for a
not great Minnesota Timberwolves team, that's a

527
00:36:20,159 --> 00:36:24,920
situation designed to trip up virtually every
first year player in NBA history, and

528
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:30,559
he has taken on that level of
responsibility and turned himself into a positive contributor

529
00:36:30,639 --> 00:36:37,960
this quickly. That's why he's there
at number three despite being historically inefficient during

530
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,639
the first half of the season.
Yeah, the volume matters that he's putting

531
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:45,039
up. Yeah, the flashy highlight
real dunks matter. But like, he

532
00:36:45,159 --> 00:36:49,320
wasn't a good player for the first
half of the season, and this is

533
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,239
not he reached this level. Award, Like, if you're asking me to

534
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:59,920
rank the futures of these players,
it's probably a debate between LaMelo and Edward

535
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:06,280
at number one, and then Haliburton
next and then everyone else. But that's

536
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:10,360
not what this is. Who is
Who do you think the fourth best rookie

537
00:37:10,519 --> 00:37:17,920
was? I think Quickly probably between
that most impressed me and this might make

538
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:22,639
people angry. I'm probably between Quickly
and as I already mentioned, I would

539
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,639
consider putting Quickly on the first team
of all rookie and I had him on

540
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:30,119
second after we first did it.
But Isaiah Stewart is there for me,

541
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:35,400
up there, Steque Bays up there, Jayshawn Tate for sure. I mean,

542
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:39,519
he was on my honorable mentions,
So I'm just curious. That's like

543
00:37:39,519 --> 00:37:44,079
the more interesting debate is Okay,
we have that those are the top three,

544
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:49,599
regardless of how you order them.
I mean, if if someone wanted

545
00:37:49,639 --> 00:37:53,119
to say that Haliburton is the rookie
of the year, or he wants to

546
00:37:53,119 --> 00:37:57,440
make the case for Edwards because they
want to look at the difficulty of Edwards'

547
00:37:57,599 --> 00:38:00,840
role for most of the year,
the fact he played more, it's that's

548
00:38:00,039 --> 00:38:04,159
you know, I'll listen to it, all right, but those are the

549
00:38:04,159 --> 00:38:07,159
top three, and there's just so
there's not really wiggle room. I think

550
00:38:07,159 --> 00:38:09,320
you could. You know, some
people might make a case for. Yeah,

551
00:38:09,639 --> 00:38:12,760
Patrick Williams, I think you can
make a case for if you want

552
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,199
to go forth best rookie. So
there's just a bunch. Can you shouldn't

553
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:17,519
you can? I'm just saying I
was curious to see what you had there.

554
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,719
Yeah, I mean I think any
iteration of those top three is justifiable.

555
00:38:25,199 --> 00:38:30,639
Anything else like, I'm sorry,
but it's just wrong. Are you

556
00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:34,760
ready to have a as his team's
things still goes off in the background,

557
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,960
are you ready to have a fun
fact quickly about not Emanuel quickly, but

558
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:43,519
Tyree's Haliburton, the rookie of the
years, the past five of them to

559
00:38:43,599 --> 00:38:51,559
match his value over replacement player?
Have any yes? Many of them?

560
00:38:51,599 --> 00:38:53,840
Can you name? Would you care
to take a stab or you just want

561
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:58,719
me to read the list? Let's
just hear him. He has a value

562
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,800
over a place a player of warp
of one four the past five rookies to

563
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:07,400
match or exceed that, Brandon Clark
last season, Luca don chich in twenty

564
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:12,159
eighteen, twenty nineteen, Mitchell Robinson
in twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, Donovan Mitchell

565
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:16,199
in seventeen eighteen, and then Ben
Simmons and Jason Tatum tied in twenty seventeen

566
00:39:16,199 --> 00:39:20,599
twenty eighteen as well, So it's
six across those years that's you got to

567
00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:22,280
qualify for the minutes per game leaderboard. I don't think he's gonna have the

568
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,880
ceiling of most of those players.
That's super encouraging company though, for sure.

569
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,000
I mean we Haliburton was our pick
going into the season. I believe

570
00:39:31,039 --> 00:39:34,960
I really wish the Knicks the would
taken and even the top topping has been

571
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:37,400
better. No, if you're still
in the room because my app has frozen,

572
00:39:37,599 --> 00:39:39,960
I hope you at least agree with
with that Knicks take the next award.

573
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,400
I have penciled in probably a little
bit more of a there's not really

574
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:47,400
a debate here. I have the
most improved player. There's not a debate

575
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:51,920
at the top. It's Julius Randall. We've talked about it on previous episodes.

576
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,639
No one else should really touch him
in this conversation. I think it's

577
00:39:54,639 --> 00:40:00,159
the rest of the ballot that's most
interesting. So I have Jeremy Grant at

578
00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:05,000
number two. Just the ability to
come into Detroit and take on a massively

579
00:40:05,119 --> 00:40:08,320
expanded role that really pushed the limitations
he had as a player, and to

580
00:40:08,559 --> 00:40:14,599
thrive in it prior to getting injured
was huge. I mean, he seemed

581
00:40:14,639 --> 00:40:19,800
like the early front runner, and
justifiably so. Number three, I actually

582
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:25,239
have Nicola Yokich. It doesn't You
typically don't see those star level players show

583
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:31,239
up on most improved Player ballots.
I think, erroneously to me, twenty

584
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:37,280
fifteen sixteen, Steph Curry twenty eighteen
nineteen Janisan to Decumbo should have been mp

585
00:40:37,599 --> 00:40:44,480
candidates because the level at which they
were playing rose so dramatically, which pushed

586
00:40:44,519 --> 00:40:47,000
them into not just getting into the
MVP race, but actually winning it.

587
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:52,360
That's what we're seeing here, where
Yokich was a top ten player last year

588
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:58,559
who's now being talked about by reputable
outlets as maybe the best basketball player in

589
00:40:58,559 --> 00:41:04,480
the world. He has risen his
level of play dramatically and virtually every area,

590
00:41:04,679 --> 00:41:09,360
most impressively as a scorer, where
he's no longer as deferential and looking

591
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:14,000
to pass quite as frequently, but
as it's actively calling his own number.

592
00:41:14,039 --> 00:41:19,039
Those baseline spins are just flat out
unstoppable. He's not going to be on

593
00:41:19,079 --> 00:41:23,199
the ballot for most people, but
if you're talking about looking at how much

594
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:27,840
value a player added this season and
comparing it to how much value a player

595
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,639
added last season, he should be
there behind him. As my honorable mentions,

596
00:41:31,639 --> 00:41:35,519
I have Shaygil Just Alexander, who
probably would have been in the top

597
00:41:35,599 --> 00:41:40,320
three had he not gotten injured.
Maybe I'm not quite sure. I also

598
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:45,760
have Michael Porter Jr. And I
know that second year players aren't typically put

599
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:51,920
in this conversation because they're expected to
improve, But you just look at what

600
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:57,239
he's done for this Nuggets team and
staving off the expected precipitous drop off that

601
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,920
should have occurred after Jamal Murray went
down, and by expanding his game and

602
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:07,400
becoming that much more vital to everything
that Denver has done, he has starkly

603
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:12,559
improved more than you would typically expect
from a second year player, even one

604
00:42:12,559 --> 00:42:15,599
who had that red shirt season as
he was recovering from his back injury during

605
00:42:15,599 --> 00:42:20,880
what should have been his true rookie
season. The Michael Porter Jr. I

606
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,119
have the similar ballot to you.
I have Julius Randall up front ahead of

607
00:42:24,199 --> 00:42:27,280
Jeremy Grant, who I had a
Number one for a lot of the year,

608
00:42:27,599 --> 00:42:29,880
him mincing time with an injury certainly
hurt him. It got to a

609
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:35,360
point that where his deficiency up deficiency
where his efficiency declined, and his growth

610
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:38,559
was strictly as a score like he
was not someone passing. The assist numbers

611
00:42:38,559 --> 00:42:40,920
went up by virtue of him just
having the ball more. It wasn't him

612
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:45,159
improving as a passer. And Julius
Randall was throwing all different kinds of passes

613
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,079
and was the engine. Is the
engine of the Knicks offense. Might not

614
00:42:49,119 --> 00:42:51,840
be the greatest offense, it's been
more efficient over the second half of the

615
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:57,119
year. I had Shay Gilches Alexander
in third, and I'm kind of convinced

616
00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,960
that had he stayed healthy for the
rest of the year year, that I

617
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:05,039
would have landed with Shay Gildert Alexander
and first. And so, Noah,

618
00:43:05,119 --> 00:43:07,800
if you're still in the room again, I cannot see anything on locker room

619
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:10,119
rolling through blind. Kept my screen
open because this is being recorded, so

620
00:43:10,159 --> 00:43:15,559
I see the time going up.
That's all I see. He when you

621
00:43:15,599 --> 00:43:21,480
look at how his role changed,
he went from being this secondary tertiary option

622
00:43:21,599 --> 00:43:23,880
number two or number three his first
two years to being number one, and

623
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:30,079
his efficiency actually improved this year,
eighty seven point one percent of his shots

624
00:43:30,079 --> 00:43:32,719
were unassisted. And if I'm regurgitating
the numbers, these numbers from past podcasts,

625
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:37,199
One they're that important and two,
he's been injured for so long that

626
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:42,599
there's nothing else to talk about.
He to hold that into efficiency over such

627
00:43:42,599 --> 00:43:46,000
a difficult role where you don't have
another creator on your team. Can you

628
00:43:46,119 --> 00:43:51,559
guess who is second? Or can
you guess who leads the team in unassisted

629
00:43:51,880 --> 00:44:00,519
field goal shares since he's been injured? Like basically, yes, Nice Basley

630
00:44:00,559 --> 00:44:06,719
and Tayo Maladone are like deadlocked high
none. Neither of them are over They're

631
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:09,920
not even at sixty percent of their
field goal makes going on assisted. That's

632
00:44:10,079 --> 00:44:14,119
you know, not every team necessarily
needs that, but there's always that one

633
00:44:14,159 --> 00:44:16,679
player that has like three feels like
two thirds or three cores of shots going

634
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:21,360
assistant. No one in the NBA
who appeared in a minimum of fifteen games

635
00:44:21,679 --> 00:44:25,320
has a higher unassisted field goals made
rate than Shaquilis Alexander. The only other

636
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:30,239
players in the league who are matching
his scoring and assist per game while shooting

637
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:35,480
as well on twos and threes,
Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. When you

638
00:44:35,519 --> 00:44:39,440
look at then what Shay does defensively, he has not had to guard the

639
00:44:39,519 --> 00:44:44,320
number one option as often as you
would think someone like him would because you

640
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:45,920
have you know, Ludor exists.
That's the best way to put it.

641
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:51,320
Ludor exists. But he finds himself
on number two and number three a hell

642
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:53,000
of a lot. He can be
disruptive on that and probably isn't where he

643
00:44:53,039 --> 00:44:55,480
should be. And I don't know
that he improved, but the fact that

644
00:44:55,480 --> 00:45:00,320
he held his value there while assuming
such a higher usage role on off fence

645
00:45:00,679 --> 00:45:02,840
is important to me. That would
be my case from over Julius Randall again,

646
00:45:04,039 --> 00:45:07,920
had Shay played longer. I think
Julius Randall's supporting cast is exponentially better

647
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:10,639
than what say guild Just Alexander had
round for Morse of the Year. Georgia

648
00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:15,280
wasn't playing a reason ever reported they
were always kind of treating al Horford with

649
00:45:15,559 --> 00:45:17,760
kid gloves. So I think he
had a real case to win it,

650
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:22,159
not just make the top three had
he knock gotten injured. How many picks

651
00:45:22,159 --> 00:45:25,320
do you think Sam Presty is going
to get for Shay Gildes Alexander when he

652
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:30,159
shopped WHOA, you think he's gonna
shop him? No, don't you max

653
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:35,039
him out this season? Right?
Absolutely? My prediction for that is they

654
00:45:35,079 --> 00:45:37,519
max him out with no player options. And that's the concession that he sort

655
00:45:37,519 --> 00:45:40,760
of makes because I don't know if
I feel like you and I consider him

656
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,719
a no brainer Max, I'm not
sure if everyone else does. I don't

657
00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:46,880
know if that's like at the point
they should. I'm totally an agreement,

658
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:52,320
although Planner or Fascia is like,
that's not something to really write off,

659
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:58,159
and so maybe that factors into it. The final award, which is mine

660
00:45:58,199 --> 00:46:01,880
to start, it's MVP, and
this is not interesting until we got to

661
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:08,119
the runner ups, Nicole Yokits,
let's start there. N the order of

662
00:46:08,159 --> 00:46:12,639
them is to him. I guess
Nicole Yokis is number one for me.

663
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,239
Adam did not have him number one. He in fact did not even make

664
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,639
your top five, right, Yeah, he was ninth on my ballot.

665
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:25,880
I don't what is the argument against
Nicole Yokis at this point that he historically

666
00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:30,800
wouldn't stock up against the previous twenty
five winners of the award or some bullshit

667
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:35,920
like that. There isn't one.
It doesn't exist at this point, I

668
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,440
think the only thing you could make
is if you threw playing time out the

669
00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:43,639
window. You could argue Joel Embiad
at a higher per minute impact because of

670
00:46:43,679 --> 00:46:47,079
what he can do defensively, but
the minutes gap is monstrous. Right,

671
00:46:47,159 --> 00:46:50,679
So, as someone who had Joel
Embiad in front at the beginning of the

672
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,320
year, I haven't at number two. I've ye honest at number three,

673
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:59,719
which talk about fatigue. We've overlooked. You mentioned him in the defensive Player

674
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,519
of the Year conversation. He should
probably make all defense. I'm not sure.

675
00:47:02,519 --> 00:47:07,199
We haven't gone through those yet.
We will. And he's scoring is

676
00:47:07,519 --> 00:47:10,079
he's basically posting the same numbers as
last year. I think he's improved a

677
00:47:10,119 --> 00:47:14,079
bunch as a passer. We're seeing
him do more things on offense, maybe

678
00:47:14,079 --> 00:47:16,599
not as efficiently, but he still
does have He's gonna take the pull up

679
00:47:16,679 --> 00:47:21,000
jumpers, he's gonna take those fadeaways. He's being used as a screener more

680
00:47:21,599 --> 00:47:23,119
those. The numbers on him being
used as a screener are very touch and

681
00:47:23,159 --> 00:47:27,239
go. But the fact that he's
doing it and he's not even finishing plays

682
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,599
a bunch. As that the fact
that that option just sort of exists and

683
00:47:29,599 --> 00:47:31,480
maybe could be used as a decoyl
a little bit. I think it's huge.

684
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:36,599
There's you know there, you can't
we talk about two way value.

685
00:47:36,599 --> 00:47:39,280
How many more players are valuable,
more valuable at both ends on the floor

686
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,880
than him? You can count them
on one hand if you even need that

687
00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,079
much. I have Steph at number
four. Probably the most controversial inclusion.

688
00:47:46,559 --> 00:47:51,159
I think people focus too much on
team record. When you look at everyone

689
00:47:51,199 --> 00:47:53,840
who has logged at least two hundred
and fifty minutes this year, no one

690
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:58,239
has a bigger net rating swing than
Stephen Curry. Like, the drop off

691
00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:02,440
between the Warriors minutes with him without
him is huge, gargantuan, incomprehensible.

692
00:48:02,639 --> 00:48:08,519
Even he lists them from being the
worst team in the league to an actual

693
00:48:08,559 --> 00:48:13,760
playoff team. That is, I
think the lift that Yokich has made a

694
00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:16,679
good team to a great one when
he's on the court. I do think

695
00:48:16,719 --> 00:48:21,440
that's harder. It was the argument
with Joannis last year, the one that

696
00:48:21,519 --> 00:48:24,960
Steph is doing. Though, that's
from that's ground zero to competency, obscurity

697
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:29,800
to relevance. That's a hugely difficult
one to make, and I've done it.

698
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:34,599
At five I'm wondering if he should
even be higher than that a little

699
00:48:34,639 --> 00:48:37,239
bit, just he is everything to
the Dallas Mavericks. Still we talk about,

700
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:42,440
like, you know, the workload
that Nicole Yokich has, that Shay

701
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,079
gils Auxander has, like he is
taking. He creates everything from scratch for

702
00:48:45,079 --> 00:48:51,440
the Dallas Mavericks, and he salvages
many shooting splits for Dallas because so many

703
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:54,440
players depend on him to create set
up to tee up looks for them.

704
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:59,760
We talked about him a little bit
on the All Hardwoodknots team when we didn't

705
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:04,239
have him on the first team,
and I think it's the same argument here

706
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:08,599
where it's like the Dallas Mavericks have
not lived up to preseason expectations, which

707
00:49:08,599 --> 00:49:13,360
had them maybe ascending towards the top
spot in the Western Conference, earning home

708
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:15,280
court advantage in the first round and
all that, and don Chich was the

709
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:22,320
betting favorite for MVP going into the
season. So as magnificent and important as

710
00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:25,880
he's been, he's viewed through the
narrative lens of disappointment, and I think

711
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:30,880
that might be why he's not making
either of our ballots. I'll also say

712
00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:35,199
I'm glad that you went first year, because I'm feeling so much MVP fatigue

713
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:39,159
this season, Like the number of
ways people have tried to relitigate Yokich's obvious

714
00:49:39,159 --> 00:49:45,599
placement at number one has been so
draining and exhausting that I've lost almost all

715
00:49:45,599 --> 00:49:49,199
desire to talk about this particular award. So I'll just run through my ballot

716
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:51,519
here. I have Yokich at number
one, I have Steph at number two,

717
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:53,400
I have Yannis at number three,
I have embat at number four,

718
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:59,159
and I do have Chris Paul at
number five. Just the culture change that

719
00:49:59,199 --> 00:50:02,599
he's impact did in Phoenix, the
ability to make everyone, maybe with the

720
00:50:02,599 --> 00:50:07,199
exception of DeAndre Aiden around him,
that much better and make life easier for

721
00:50:07,239 --> 00:50:12,199
Devin Booker. It's so important.
I get why he's been mentioned in MVP

722
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:15,880
conversations. I think it's ridiculous that
he's been put in the top three or

723
00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:21,199
been billed as this somewhat legitimate challenger
to Yokich when one of those doesn't really

724
00:50:21,239 --> 00:50:23,360
exist. But he deserves a lot
of credit this year. You know,

725
00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:27,719
you could, you could put Don
Chich in that spot. I really strongly

726
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:30,559
considered putting Damian Lillard in that spot. You could have Booker if you wanted

727
00:50:30,599 --> 00:50:35,800
to. You could have Riady Gobert
if you wanted to. But I'm gonna

728
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:38,119
go with CP three. That's really
the only well. I mean, your

729
00:50:38,119 --> 00:50:40,079
ballot was so similar in mine,
I don't know how I can have a

730
00:50:40,079 --> 00:50:43,920
problem with it. CP three is
the only If I was to be spicy,

731
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:45,480
I don't think he belongs anywhere near
the top five. I wouldn't think

732
00:50:45,519 --> 00:50:49,480
Booker does either, because the culture
changed again last year in the bubble.

733
00:50:49,519 --> 00:50:52,159
You saw it with the way that
Monty Williams did was changing the team,

734
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,360
and I think he's he deserves a
lot of credit for how good they are

735
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:58,840
this year. There are other moves
made we talked about them when discussing James

736
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:01,639
Jones that help this team. If
you take Chris Paul off this Phoenix Guns

737
00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:06,119
roster, and okay, bring back
all the players that they gave up to

738
00:51:06,159 --> 00:51:09,280
get him, Kelly Ubray, Ricky
Rubio, and Ty Jerome, this is

739
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:12,719
the best supporting cast that Devin Booker
has ever had by far and away.

740
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:15,519
Even so, that's where I could, I would put Gobert there before him.

741
00:51:15,519 --> 00:51:20,000
I'd put Game there before him.
I think him and Booker are probably

742
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:23,159
the most equitable one two partnership in
the league. Maybe a fully healthy Kevin

743
00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:27,199
Durant and James Harden, which we
did not see pretty much. Ever,

744
00:51:27,679 --> 00:51:30,199
I think Gobert and Dono Mitchell were
pretty much there. But when you look

745
00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:34,119
at the minute's disparity, but three
those two, that's where it sort of

746
00:51:34,119 --> 00:51:37,079
strays away. We covered all the
awards, though, did we not?

747
00:51:37,519 --> 00:51:40,480
We did? We've hit them all. Is there any question? Again?

748
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:43,599
I cannot see with have it?
Do we have any questions or anything in

749
00:51:43,639 --> 00:51:47,119
the chat before we get the f
out? We do not. My only

750
00:51:47,199 --> 00:51:52,559
question for you is when was the
last time Lebron James was not top five

751
00:51:52,679 --> 00:51:55,960
on an MVP palot? Holy hell? I mean this has Is this the

752
00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:59,920
most games he's missed? And there
was the first because he had that first

753
00:52:00,039 --> 00:52:02,639
it's the longest absence of his career. But yeah, he actually did finish

754
00:52:02,639 --> 00:52:07,320
eleventh in twenty eighteen nineteen. Yeah, but beyond that, you have to

755
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:13,119
go back to two thousand and five
wild and look, had he never gotten

756
00:52:13,159 --> 00:52:17,239
injured, is he probably top three
in this I think if he never got

757
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:21,119
injured, you're looking at a lot
of people trying to push him ahead.

758
00:52:21,119 --> 00:52:25,920
Of yokich I meant on legitimate ballots, not the ones that happened. Here's

759
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:30,719
my thing. I'm not rewarding Lebron
James in twenty twenty one for what he's

760
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:35,000
done. It's impressive over the past
two decades, basically, but it's about

761
00:52:35,079 --> 00:52:37,119
this year, and I don't think
he was snubbed in other years. At

762
00:52:37,159 --> 00:52:42,119
least a Derek Rose Dwight Howard year
that's for sure should have been a Lebron

763
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:47,039
year. But he was legitimately in
the conversation until Yoki ran away with it

764
00:52:47,159 --> 00:52:51,880
and he Yogis just ended up checking
too many boxes. The Jamal Murray injury

765
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,320
devastating, but it helped him in
the sense that you want the narrative,

766
00:52:55,360 --> 00:53:00,199
oh, like does the most with
the least type deal. You just lost

767
00:53:00,239 --> 00:53:02,960
the second best player on your team, your second most fightaball offensive player,

768
00:53:04,079 --> 00:53:06,960
and yeah, Michael Porter Junior stepped
up, but the Nuggets have still been

769
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:10,480
good without Murray. This should be
one of those seasons like Lebron in twenty

770
00:53:10,599 --> 00:53:15,960
thirteen or Stephn twenty sixteen, where
it's like there's just not even a question.

771
00:53:15,679 --> 00:53:19,239
Yeah, and this one's gonna be
split though it's not even I don't

772
00:53:19,239 --> 00:53:21,760
think it's gonna be close to unanimous, because I think people are gonna push

773
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:23,800
embiid, They're gonna push Curry.
Those feel like the three, like the

774
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:28,719
agenda driven ones. It feels like
this one shouldn't be hard to pick at

775
00:53:28,719 --> 00:53:31,280
all. Yo Yo gets probably gonna
get like a couple of random one off

776
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:35,840
votes for Julius Randall. That's fine. Oh that did you consider him in

777
00:53:35,880 --> 00:53:38,719
the top five at all? No? Looking at the other players, I

778
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:44,599
didn't either, top ten. Maybe
he's definitely for sure for sure. That

779
00:53:44,679 --> 00:53:46,320
does it for us, though,
if you have not checked out this podcast

780
00:53:46,320 --> 00:53:51,079
before and are listening at the moment
Hardwood Knox at Hardware Knox, but exactly

781
00:53:51,079 --> 00:53:52,719
like it sounds on Twitter, subscribe
to us. Listen to us. We

782
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:57,119
have a bunch of fun other stuff. You will get podcasts we've already done

783
00:53:57,159 --> 00:54:00,280
for our regular listeners. We've done
all Rookie, We've not done awards.

784
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:04,159
We will be doing all NBA and
all defense as well until next time.

785
00:54:04,159 --> 00:54:08,719
Though, we give you it to
shout out to the one the only unanimous

786
00:54:08,719 --> 00:54:16,760
executive of the year, James Jones. Thatlle felt right. Nobody builds five

787
00:54:16,840 --> 00:54:22,239
g like Verizon builds five G because
we're the engineers who built the most reliable

788
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:24,440
network in America. And the more
you do with five G, the more

789
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:29,880
building it right matters, the more
your network matters, The more Verizon engineers

790
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:35,440
going the extra mile matters. It's
us pushing us. It's Verizon versus Variezy.

791
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:39,159
Five G built right from America's most
reliable network, most reliable based on

792
00:54:39,239 --> 00:54:44,039
rankings from Metrics second half twenty twenty
US report of three mobile networks. Results

793
00:54:44,039 --> 00:54:45,559
may vary. Award is not an
endorsement