What is krack a lacing fellow thermonuclear A efforts. I am Dan Valley coming
at you with my certified fantabulous thermo nuclear af co host mister Grant Hughes.
We are taking a break from the trade deadline machine. We're gonna rank our
top twenty two under twenty two NBA prospects. So just to clarify, we
are ranking them. The two things you need to note under twenty two meaning
that this has to be their age twenty one season or younger meaning if they
turn twenty one. Excuse me, if they turn twenty two after January thirty
first, they were not eligible for this exercise. If they are already aged
twenty two or older, they were not eligible. We also ranked these players
as if we're getting them. Yes, it was based a lot off what
we've seen this season, but we're also looking at well, who do we
want for the rest of their career and so we'll have discussions throughout. We
have tears set up. We also have a specific order. Grant and I
will you know, haggle over anything that we might disagree with in retrospect after
we did hash out this final pecking order. But it was fun figured we
would share it with you after we went through this exercise. But the first
question, Grant, how the heck are you doing? Dan? I love
evergreen content, just number one, so I'm happy to be here doing this.
We're gonna do this like the last three weeks in a row, and
just kept punching it, and you know what, still works, So I'm
happy about it. It's still there's nothing, no regrets yet either. I
guess we'll see as we go through the order as one through twenty two.
And so do you think there's a is there any debate over who is number
one? I think there can't be, Like they're just you can't be serious
at all about this and and really quibble over number one? Right, it
has to be when I'm already threw him up there For anyone watching on YouTube,
you can see throwing a little throw him up in our little tiers there.
Well order them within tiers for the most part, unless we think it's
really too close to call. But yeah, please carry on. I know
I was just gonna say, the only question is does he belong in a
tier by himself? And we didn't really discuss this ahead of time, and
I can't Honestly, I think I can't remember how when we did the write
up initially if we sort of thought it thought about it that way, but
like what should he just be alone? Or should we are we gonna stick
some other ones up here? It gives me pause is that he's been so
much more efficient since he's been moved to basically the day Facto five. But
some of that is about his where the ball is being delivered, and so
for him to be in a tear by himself, I think you have to
believe that he just does so much defensively. That's what fuels it, because
I don't know that we've seen enough self creation efficient self to say, oh,
he is one of one offensively from this group. Does that make sense?
Yeah? I just well, okay, well maybe we can come back
to that after we've got a couple of tiers established and just kind of see
how it feels, because I think, like, I think, yeah,
we could go a tier by himself. That's fine with me. I'm asking
you if you think that he does enough offensively for that to be the case,
I think, like maybe not now, but if we're if and we
are, if we're talking about this as like as a prospect or as like,
you get this guy for the duration. I just like, I just
don't. I do think he's kind of one of one. So I think
you're right, Like he's shooting under thirty percent from three, like he's not,
you know, running like creating tons of shots for himself. Although like
one of the things that's happened since he's playing more center is like his passing
has just been kind of unlocked because, like you said, where he's getting
the ball. So like again with him, and this will be the case
for like what two or three more years, we're gonna have to talk about
him in terms of like surface scratching. We just like we don't know yet,
like we're just getting little glimpses of of what he can be. My
gut says he should be by himself in a tier, But I don't have
to convince me. Remember what I said after everyone was up in arms about
his game, and I said, he's gonna be one of the best players
of all time. Let's leave him. Let's leave him in a tier by
himself for now, and if we really feel like that's the wrong move,
we can come back. Number two, I think uh doesn't really to me,
like have a have much competition. Uh maybe disagree? So chet Holdgren
is our is our number two, uh I guess, And yeah in a
currently in a tier by himself, but he will have some company. Look,
I think defensively, like I don't know if he's gonna be the like
a go beart like defense unto himself type of guy necessarily like he might be.
But his mobility, his agility, his lateral quickness, like you can't
really feel good about him switched onto wings and guards, and like his ability
to you know, get beat or like or whatever and just like recover with
length and like pinshots to the backboard or just come out of nowhere as a
help rotator. Like that's one thing. I think he's been like an all
defense level guy potentially right now as a rookie. And then offensively, like
I I really I did watch him in college a little bit, but I
don't think I appreciated like how much the guy I said this last week when
we were talking, like how much the guy just looks and moves like a
guard at seven feet. Like his ball handling is really good for which is
so hard to be a good ball handler when your dribbles are like five feet
off the ground, Like that's just difficult because of the physics of it as
a as a as a driver, obviously he can shoot it, like he's
under forty percent now, but like I think he commands tons of defensive attention
as a shooter, which is like all that really matters. And I think
he's gonna be a well above average three point shooter. I just think I
think he's just like he might be an All Star. I don't know,
there's not too many other guys we're gonna say that about this year, and
as a two way guy, like you could make his All Star case.
I mean all Star cases are always offensive, but like if they consider defense,
you would probably put him in there too. And so I'll lead that
into our number three discussion to talk about number two, and we have Paalo
ben Carrow at number three, who I don't think he has to be like
the like the only option to but I don't think that like we don't have
anybody else that there are probably a couple of guys that could be in this
will probably still have them in this tier. But as right now, especially
when you're waiting what we've seen this season, I think you could make a
case for Paalo over Chet. Pallo more than and it just comes down to
the comple the complex nature of their offensive roles. Pallo more than half way
more than half his buckets go un assisted. Chet you have about three quarters
of his buckets are assisted. Now, what makes the difference for me with
Chet is that Palo Bank Carrol will be I think could be one of the
least two premiere two way players. He's been better defensively through these past two
seasons, and I think a lot of people give him credit for what I
really think gives Chet a potential leg up. And this is so close.
They're in the same tier, So we're splitting hairs with these two. Specifically,
Chet Holmgren has shown ball skills. It's been in open space, but
like he's done some stuff in traffic and some spins and then like the quick
ball moving. The ceiling on offense is higher where it's Pala Bank. Carrol's
defensive ceiling is higher than you give him credit for. Chet Holgreen has a
higher offensive ceiling. Then this is just sort of a play finisher who's capitalizing
on the talent around him, and that's huge. And with Palo Bank Carrol,
There's always going to be the question about well, not always, but
can we see the efficiency tickup? The three point of books good? Right
now he gets to the line, Kenna in between stuff finishing get even better.
I think it can. These two are so close for me, but
I do. What I will say is Chet feels like he could be a
transcendent, transformative defensive I don't know if I say the same about Pala Bankaro
on the offensive end, where he could be a superstar offensive player. But
would you consider him, you know, the best offensive player in the league
material where I think Check could one day be the best defensive player in the
league, even with Wemby existing. Yeah, I mean really different roles.
I think for me, the thing I've always I mean I say always like
he's been around forever. But I think ben Caro like does have he is
a like does have the potential he sort of is right now, but like
like you said, the efficiency is not quite there. He does get to
the line a lot, which helps, but like thirty five point six percent
on threes, forty five and a half percent on overall, Like you know,
he's twenty one, so like if a magic give him much space in
right to operate, and they have really bad situation offensively for him, So
he like the degree of difficulty for him is like leaps and bounds greater than
it is for Chet, who like gets to playoff Sga and Jaylen Williams and
you know, gets to go against matchups that are like, oh shit,
we have to put a big on him who's not quick and can't handle him
on the perimeter. Ban Caro just gets the other teams like whoever can guard
the best four? Like, you know, so ben Caro just has a
harder job to do. But I was gonna say, I think ben Caro
has the upside of like he's a number one option on a good offense someday,
Like that's I think that's the vision for him. I don't know if
that's true of Chet. I also don't know if Chet needs to do that
to like be the best version of himself. So pretty different players, but
I think I think I'm fine with them in the same tier. I just
maybe I'm just more intrigued by Chet because he's just like we've kind of seen
a ban Caro type, like he's a big Carmelo type or like Blake Griffiny
like there's there's been guys kind of like him, but but Chet is like
I don't know, he's like Dirk with a handle like like that kind of
thing. That's that's a harder comp for me to get to. So we
are on too, number four. I'm in the same tier, right.
I think this probably has to be the same tier. I'm looking at the
next two players specifically, and I think they need to be in the same
this this tier. Well, let's talk about number five in a minute,
but let's put I think Shangun can go with Chet and Paolo. I think
I feel I feel fine about that because like he is the hub of an
offense out of position you don't normally get that from and is defensively like viable
now, which was a big question earlier. And can I though one complaint
And I know it's because they're both Caucasian, the NICOLEA Jokic comparisons just like
kind of need to stop this dude is like I and so did the Sabonus
comparisons, because they facilitate the offense in different ways. There's just there's some
similarities to both. Like Shangun is clearly his own player, and it's just
the way he passes or sets up the offense. It's a lot more bully
ball type stuff than it. Then it's like NICOLEA Jokic's thermaturgy like where it's
actual witchcraft. I know shangu can throw those types of passes, but like
NICOLEA. Jokic is witchcraft on the move from Stan Stills, and it's just
a lot more yes to it, I think than what Shangun does. Yeah,
like the big guy who can pass gets the Jokic comparison, kind of
like how every really athletic shooting guard for like twenty years got the next Jordan,
Like Jerry Stackhouse is the next Michael Jordan or like you know, there's
all these all these guys like okay, because he's like sort of physically similar
and moves around a little bit like him like that. Yeah, I agree
the Jokic thing is insane. But as as like an offensive hub, I
think Shang Gun is like, you know, he's not going to get to
Jogic's level, but like he might get, you know, to be number
two, like he might. I think he absolutely has the potential to be
a better offensive hub than Sabonus. He might be one right now or pretty
close to it. And he's much younger, and I think I think you
the three point shot is like just not there for him still, but he's
a decent free throw shooter and he's getting the line more. I just like,
I don't really have a lot of notes for Shang and I think he's
he's he's addressed the defense question like well enough to where you can because you
might for a while there you couldn't. You could say, like, I'm
not sure if you can really build a winner around him because of the defense.
Like now the defense is like okay enough, and the Rockets as a
team are a lot of it is just like he's able to be in his
station because you have Fred van Fleet and Dylan Brooks and Tares and and jay
Sean Tate and Aliman Thompson. Like the just the competency level around him as
improved, which is that's still fine to be able to just have your base
station and be good at that. Yeah, all right, So this is
the next guy we kind of have to decide what to do with. And
that's I don't think we could just when you're looking at the sample size,
we can't just say he needs to be in a lower tier when we considered
him among like the most transformative prospects like you, especially in recent that's Sue
Henderson at number five. So the question if we're gonna discuss moving him down,
I'm not saying we will. It just needs to be like, do
we need to is it? Do we need to reevaluate some of our priors
about like his ceiling just based on what we've seen so far, just flat
out too early. There's just look, look at all the injuries and lack
of big stuff in Portland at this point. Scoot himself was banged up for
a lot of the year. The efficiency's gonna come. Some of the decision
making has gotten better already from him. You can see it when he gets
into the lane. It feels like he's changing the cadence of his dribble dribble,
excuse me a little bit more. And also a big deal here.
He's at thirty eight point nine percent on off the dribble threes this year,
about two attempts per game. That's not nothing as a Brookie and so yeah,
okay, you look and it's twenty two point on catching shoots. That's
not like a okay, whatever, he's and he's shooting thirty percent on wide
open threes. That's not great, But he's played in thirty games, and
so I don't think we can change. Yeah, it's enough to say,
well the body of work from look, Wehm and Yama uh Holmegrin, Bancaro
and Shangun, those all have they all have all star cases right now.
Yeah, and Scoot and doesn't have that. But I don't know that what
we've seen this season should change the trajectory of what we think at all.
The fact that to me that he's behind Shangoon is like, that's the pullback
that we decided he needed, because you probably would have had him coming into
this season before they'd taken the floor ahead of Chet. I would have,
Yeah, I would have. I would have. I think that's right just
as a as a matter of principle, Like you can't say a guy is
the best point guard prospect since you name it in June and then by the
following January decide he's like a third tier under twenty two guy. That's an
overcorrection. I think he at least for now gets to stay here and if
anything, it's like a shock he's him and chaed aren't like Tier one probably,
so I'm good with that. I'm good with that. Who's number six
on our list Jabari Smith Junior, which I think starts a separate tier.
Correct, I would agree with Tier three, which, like I don't know
what you call this tier like potential All Star someday, but just like is
not that, it is not very close to that right now, right like
you know, there's inexist. This is definitely a tier in which you would
still maybe not bet on, but envision scenarios in which they make one or
more All Star appearances. I think the first two tiers are very much these
are probable, likely or should be all NBA guys. We're kind of exiting
that territory. Although you know what Smith has on, some of these guys
are really actually all of them, I think other than Wemby, he's still
twenty and this is his age twenty season, so like Chet's age twenty one,
Palos age twenty one, Shangoon I think is age twenty one. All
of these three years in I think, like so right now today I feel
confidence saying Jabari Smith Junior is gonna be a really dangerous three point shooter thirty
seven and a half percent right now, and someone that can guard definitely threes
and fours, maybe fives, and so like he's a luxury, he's like
a high end complementary piece that that will should start for like most teams right
now today at A And so the question is like how much expansion is there
after that? And I think probably it's a lot, but it's hard to
put him in the higher tier, I guess, even conceding that, I
think the path for him to get there, and it's tough with Shane Gun
would be, is this someone who develops into more of a five, where
he's even more of a mismatched nightmare offensively. We've seen a little bit more
of those minutes in Houston this season, but the data on them also isn't
like super effective at the moment. I still think like just the defensive scalabil
the fact that he's so scalable at both ends of the floor, yea is
a biggie because when you talk about bigs, you very rarely talk about two
way scalability. It's either one end or the other. But it's seldom when
we're talking about scalability, it's normally guards or wings and he's just this big
who fits like a glove basically anywhere on both ends of the floor. Yeah,
he's like an I mean his floor is just like he's gonna make you
know, he's gonna get several hundred million dollars like nine figure tracks as as
like a he fits everywhere, so everyone wants him and and like he just
will never not be useful on both ends, which is like at twenty,
Like I just can't get over that too. So number seven we have shade
sharp old Blazers. See we did these, we did our original rankings long
enough ago that I can't remember that. One kind of surprised me a little
bit. Is he Yeah, so you got him in the smith. I
think he has to be in that tier. I think we can't move down
tiers yet. No, the guy who's behind him, and I think maybe,
actually let's talk about him as well. So this is what Number eight
we have Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets. And like, the more I've
thought about it, I've wondered, I've wondered if Brandon Miller needs to be
number seven instead of eight. But I would say that Brandon Miller absolutely needs
to be in this tier because you talk about two way scalability, he's already
shown it, and he's taken on some real defensive assignments in Charlotte this season.
The catch and shoot stroke was already there, moves well off the ball,
good at running the floor. It's just the self creation aspect of his
game. And I think he's shown ashes of being able to get to spots
in the mid range. Can he hit those shots consistently? Can he facilitate
for his teammates? Those are all questions that he's kind of answered in the
negative a lot this year. But he's also a rookie, and so it's
just like how much do you want him to answer in the affirmative, And
so I can be talking about putting him ahead of Shaden. I mean,
like, I guess I don't feel super strongly about moving him, you know,
moving guys around in tears, although I wouldn't put either of them ahead
of Jabari Smith. I think the case for Shaden is just that like nuclear
athleticism, like that's just something Miller doesn't have. That that doesn't always mean
a whole lot, but I think it. I think it. Maybe the
difference is like Sharp has Sharp's ceiling might just be higher because of his like
physical tools. But like right now, it's also kind of easy to see
Sharp being someone that is like a Jalen Green type where we're kind of like,
I don't know, and Jalen Green is going to show up on this
list, but he's not going to be that high, whereas is another guy
that like kind of like Smith, He's gonna fit someplace as a starter for
a really long time. And then the question is like, can he nudge
up stuff on the margins to be more than that, you know what I
mean? Yeah, it's like Miller definitely has more of a guaranteed equilibrium where
Sharp I don't know if he's gonna be able to exist in like that in
between space if he doesn't hit his highest end outcome. So yeah, so
like the the I think to your point, the argument for putting Miller ahead
of Sharp is that, like, I can't really imagine Miller being someone five
years from now we go, hey, remember when we thought Miller was gonna
be really good and it turns out he's just gonna be an empty stats guy.
Yeah, and like that's more likely to happen with Sharp, but he's
still just such like a mystery box because of all the he scored this season.
Yeah, it is big. I'm still not ready to exit this tier
with the next couple guys that we have come. I'm in love with number
ten. But at number nine, who do we have it is a sar
Thompson. Yeah, Asar Thompson at number nine. I still think he absolutely
belongs in this tier. I think it's just like the stuff he can do
defensively and already as a connective passer. The big thing with him is just
like is he ever gonna do enough as a jump shooter and or is he
ever gonna be a good enough passer to where you want the ball in his
hand so much that it doesn't matter and you look to surround him with maybe
a big can play pick and roll with, and then three shooters. That
does make him a little bit more limiting than some other players, But like
to already be a plus passer as a rookie and then just to be able
to do like some real iconic stuff on the defensive end already, And there
was just like for so long this season he was among the top five leaders
in stocks and like, of course there yes, there was some pullback there
people got healthy in Detroit. His role has I don't know, I don't
want to use the word like been marginalized, but it's been marginalized. Like
there's just games where it's like he's not gonna play nearly enough and you're like,
what the fuck, Monny Williams, what are we doing? That a
lot though Monny Williams is doing and so I feel like that's made it.
He's almost gotten harder to evaluate as the season's gone on, which is weird
to say nothing to change the outlook on. It's just I will tell you
of the players so far in this tier, who's the one that you could
see most likely jumping a tier if like the one thing you're worried about pans
out, and it's if Saratovs becomes a league average shooter from deep, it's
just like, oh, is he kind of right after ban Caro here?
Like is where does it go? Right? Well, that's that's the thing,
is like he requires the most projection because the just a glare like thirteen
percent from three and just like the mechanics are not good. Like if he
like he he does not belong in this tier if his three point shot continues
to just be a total zero like he might not be, you know,
because he's just not a helpful player right now on balance, even though he's
like maybe one of the best all around defensive players in the league, like
as a rookie. But yeah, I feel good about like I don't know,
like how well does he need to shoot to be able to play?
Yeah, and by the way, just to frame it, he has not
made a three in nearly a month as we record this on January eighteenth.
Yeah, it's not good. It's a real problem in ways that like no
one else we've covered so far, hat like nobody else we've touched on,
has a weakness, although like Scoot, I think probably still has a lower
true shooting percentage just because he has been missing from everywhere. But Thompson has
a huge weakness. I just I just think, like I'm with you defensively,
the guy is like from another planet. Uh, this next guy at
number ten, I am bullish on and you could talk to me and to
move him up block cool Bali of Washington. I know a lot of people
probably aren't watching the Wizards, and that's not Oh hey, me and Grant
watch basketball and you don't. Dad Black coolbox is really good, and that's
without the Wizards giving him real agency over the offense. Yet the three ball
further along than advertise. He is fucking shit up in transition against opposing defenses.
He can get when you give him some space with the ball, well,
he can do some things within in his hand. I'd like to see
him run in some more slow down situations, have to work through some traffic.
They're not having him do that a ton right now, but I think
maybe after the trade deadline we'll see that happen more. I also think he's
a player that could develop into He's just disruptive on defense right now, and
they're gonna be mistakes. But you know what, They're throwing him on the
opposition's best player and he's not foiling a ton right now. So he might
be getting torched, but he's also not failing. And it's also the team
is getting torched because it's the Wizards. This is someone who was billed as
a project, and in some ways he is. Offensively, there's that,
Okay, what is the mold of him? But man, this is someone
could no I'm not gonna give him. Oh, he could be the best
player on a contender, but like, did they just find one of the
two most important players of their rebuild they might have is good? Yeah,
he's also only nineteen. He won't turn twenty until July, so like I
know, sometimes it's like, well, who gives who gives a shit?
It's just like, well, he's got more runway, and like he already
needed less runway than we thought. You know, he's more developed, had
more polished skills than he was billed to have had. So yeah, I
can't move him up. But yeah, I am as high on him for
slightly different reasons as I am on Thompson. So I think he very much
belongs where we've got him. So the question then is are we moving down?
I think we have to move down a tier now, though, do
you think or is this like a case of Mantie Williams is screwed with our
perception? Well, this is Jade and Ivy we're talking about at number eleven
unclear at number eleven, I just this tier gets really crowded. So the
so the argument you would make for having Ivy below in this tier where we
have him at the moment, which is below from Jabari Smith to Koolbally is
that like it had, the argument has to be that the upside isn't there,
which is a tough case to make because of his athleticism. I think
probably you'd say like his defensive mistakes and like some of the times on offense
where he just shows like horrible feel and like dumb turnovers and stuff like that.
Like some of that is concerning, But he's a second year guard on
a terrible team that has kind of gotten jerked around and looked really good in
the second half last year and then just didn't really get a chance to reprise
that starting this season. So I just I don't know. I can't decide
if he belongs in the tier above with all those other guys. Screw me
up here is that I think the player at number twelve I absolutely have in
the tier above, and so it bears maybe recon calibration. So that's interesting.
I don't think. I don't know if I agree with that. I'm
more now that I because I didn't look at who was coming up next.
I kind of feel better about having Ivy and the next player in this tier
with each other and not in the tier above. So we'll it's like we're
running out of tiers here, So, like you, I can't remember how
many tiers we did initially. Yeah, we're like slightly over halfway through.
Okay, how about this, I think maybe we go Ivy and the next
player, which is Keyante George, in the tier above, because we I
think we probably got to start a new tier with number thirteen. Yeah,
so, uh, Keyante George is our number number. Uh, he's number
twelve, which, by the way, I could make a case that I
might have him above Ivy because I kind of see the idea of him defensively
more and I trust that is off the dribble Jumper might come along and be
like this super efficient weapon over Ivy's. But again, we had them eleven
and twelve and they're in the same tier now. But food for thought.
Can I can I just ruin this whole thing and say I kind of want
to put thirteen in that same tier now too. You know what this maybe
we're sipping the sauce. But this is honestly no that that's like a good
idea because there's a chance that we just haven't seen enough of him yet.
That's even But like some of the stuff I have seen from and the guy
we're talking about it. So he's at number He's our thirteen, right yep,
is Amah Thompson. So we're gonna keep him in this tiar He's at
number thirteen, behind George and Ivy. He could very easily. I wouldn't
put him above Blall yet based off what we've seen. Yeah, like he
came in and if again, if this is a list we would have done
entering the season. Is he like in the scoot? He's in the scoot
Shane here right, I think he is. I just like, can't bild
as like slight more offensively advanced, similar shooting questions. Funnily enough, he's
shooting fourteen percent for him three whereas so he's crushing his brother who's at thirteen
percent. But just like hasn't played he played twenty games, hasn't had big
minutes. I think the theory of Amen Thompson is that he's like I think
the theory of a star Thompson is he's like a playmaking wing, you know,
you know, fully realized. But Amen Thompson, I think might be
viewed more correctly as like a like a a point guard maybe sort of kind
of like you'd see that in the way he plays, and that he's had
a little bit more trouble being a nective tissue player, whereas Usar Thompson very
much is more useful off the ball. Already, I've been impressed with a
lot of what Amen Thompson been able to do defensively, Like he's just very
sturdy and everywhere. I mean both both the Thompson's are just like athletically are
never overmatched like already. So do you think Amen should be in front of
Keyante and or Jayden? Uh? I mean, if it's so hard because
we just haven't seen him play enough, I'd feel okay about that. But
even I don't really have strong feelings about reordering, like really anyone from like
Miller to Amen, honestly, because you're a serial headger. If you just
want everyone in their own tier so much, we don't have to argue over
like is thirteen better than fourteen or twelve? Right now? Though rest of
their career, you're taking Ivy over Thompson Amen Thompson. Yeah, I guess
if you frame it that way, I'm probably not. I think I'd rather
have the unknown quantity of Amen more so, Gum, I'm taking all over
and Thom's I don't fucking can well, would you take You've already said you
wouldn't take ball all over Asar? Or would you because I take Usar,
I think I take a question. I wouldn't. I don't know that i'd
take him over Brandon Miller. I don't think I would. I would take
him over Asar Thompson, but I do recognize that that's like controversial shit or
divisive shit. Yeah, all right, So I think this gets easier though,
because at fourteen, I think we probably got to start a new tier.
I have a wild stat for our number fourteen player, and I do
think I do think this probably doesn't need to start a separate tier though you
want to reveal fourteen. Oh you said, I'm sorry, Brandon, Brandon
Jimski pods pods now connector And we've said it a bunch of this podcast is
a cliche, but he like actualizes the cliche. Like this is just his
impact is wide ranging and balanced, and it just like embodies the archetype that
demands you watch him in every single capacity where it's on the ball, off
the ball, defense, offense. This is someone who's smaller, but he
can guard up. He's not long but he can guard against length, and
he just he fills the box score, but without filling the box score somehow,
and he just makes sense. This is a wild stat though. Here's
every player grant to average at least fifteen points, ten rebounds, five assists,
and two steals per one hundred possessions before they turn twenty one. LaMelo
Ball, Nicole Okic, Tracy McGrady, your guy. And now potentially if
he finishes out the season like this, Brandon Perjemski, that's fucking absurd.
So it's the rebounding for him is he's one of the best rebounding guards in
the NBA right now today, Like he just he is. The numbers back
it up, and you can't watch a Warriors game without him like flying in
from nowhere and out some somehow out jumping forwards and just getting rebound whether the
long he hunts down, long rebounds, he goes and gets contested ones close
to the basket, elite rebounder. How much does that matter for a guard?
I don't know, but like it's a legit NBA skill and he has
it thirty nine point one percent from three. I think if you have questions
about him, one of them has to be like, I don't the mechanics
of his shot like he's unless his shot mechanics change, he's really going to
struggle to be an off the dribble three point shooter, which he has to
play, you know, well doesn't have to because sometimes the Warriors have kind
of started him as a de facto small forward. But like he's six'
three or I think he's listed a little taller than that, but he play,
you know, looks like a six to three guy. He if you
can't listen at six' five on Basketball Reference, that's bonkers. He's gonna
need to be able to create his own shot off the dribble more than he
does now to like be more than you know, a fringe starter I think.
But he scores it efficiently. He takes tons of charges. I'm sure
he leads the Warriors and charges by plenty, and he's just like the best
analysis I heard of him, I forget where was basically he leaves the possession
in a better place than he found it on offense, which is like,
yeah, feel that sounds good, doesn't it? That feels good? So
not like superstar upside, not probably not all star upside, like starter upside,
I think, and has started games this year, so I like him
as a as the beginning of a new tier. Number fifteen, same tier,
Derek Lively the second on Dallas. Oh, they have their center of
the future. All of a sudden, he's good. Now they need him
to protect the paint because without him they allowed parades to the basket. And
he just works on offense, not because Luga Dacis is there, but because
he hustles his butt off knows how to get back. I still love he
just has this He's so smart on defense where he's after ending a possession with
a board, or even on offense, after he's finishing a dunk, he
gets off the room quick and he's back on defense. He's just processing everything
so quickly. I never would have thought going into this exercise, like when
they got Derek Lively in the raft, that we'd be putting him in front
of who is number sixteen, Jalen Duran. And I'm just like, I
like Jalen Duran, but I'm just very confident that Derek Lively a second right
now belongs in front of him. Yeah, I think that's right, Duran.
Probably every I feel like we're saying this about every Piston is like,
oh, the athletic upside and all this stuff, Like he might have the
higher ceiling, but like Lively is just like Lively is gonna be bare minimum
an awesome role playing starting center for ten years, you know, like that's
just mark it down. Duran I don't know yet because we haven't seen it.
So I feel good about Lively above him. But the teering I think
works having them together. Sort of just the defensive presidence that Lively already brings
where Duran can still be. It's tantalizing but also chaotic, is what I
think kind of sways it for me. Yeah, I agree, all right,
So I think the next guy who are at seventeen already probably Nope,
did I skip one? No, he's staying in this tier, is what
I'm telling you. Oh No, I was gonna say, I think he
probably should stay in this tier. And I was gonna ask if you're ready
ready to drop the gloves on that one. Huh. Cason Wall is at
number seventeen. I know he can be passive offensively, but when he's clicking,
he reacts really fast. He catches the ball if he's if there's not
just like an open window to shoot. He's already off and running. He
probably needs to look to finish more or pop up a floater or something.
He defers too often, but like he keeps the ball moving in that scenario
because he's basically an off guard for Oklahoma City a lot of the time right
now. He shoots well from the corners and just shoots well in general off
the catch and then just you know about guarding up and defending your ass off.
That's caseon Wallace to a tee, and I am, look, this
is I don't think this is controversial to point. I know he's played well,
you know for the recent stretch, Blake, He's gonna be better than
Josh Getty. He's just gonna be better in contribute to winning more than Josh
Getty does. I'm convinced. Yeah, we're gonna have to have a Giddy
discussion at some point later. But I think I think I agree with that.
I certainly think like if it's oh shit, we gotta think about Giddy's
next contract. Just the fact that Cason Wallace is sitting right over there in
the first year of his rookie dealer, let's another team think about that.
Yeah, let's make that someone else's problem, because we got a guy that,
like, on balance, is gonna give you, especially if you're trying
to win playoff games, like I think Cason Wallace just like makes more sense
as as a fifth I don't know if you're going to start him necessarily,
but as a as a key piece. All right, we're on to number
eighteen. I think you should talk about him because I'll just be irrational about
it. Well, so you're the one that needs to tell about him,
and let's start with does john Thin Kamingo we have him at number eighteen?
Does he does he belong in this here or we you know, I'm gonna
say number nineteen definitely would start a new tier. I'm asking, does Jonathan
Kaminga belong in the case of Wallace, Calender and Derek Lively pods tier.
I think he absolutely belongs in that tier, and like you could, I'm
not gonna. I don't want to make the case that you could move him
up a tier, but I might. What is that? So? What
is so can't miss about Jonathan Kaminga For the folks at home and also myself,
who still doesn't necessarily understand what is so can't miss well. I think
that's the problem is I don't know if there is so you would say,
if you had to this just in depth, nuanced decisive analysis, what's what's
his carrying skill? Because like you look at say like Lively, he's gonna
be a great defensive center, he's gonna protect the paint like you know,
go go down with I don't know, like Kaminga, he doesn't necessarily have
one of those. Like so, he theoretically and has at time shown the
ability to be like an awesome on ball defender against literally one through against anybody
one through four. Like that's he's done that a little bit. His just
raw athleticism is you know, is top one percent in the league. He's
got the ideal frame you want in your combo forward. He is awesome at
drawing contact and finishing through it. But like for every one of those things
you have, the he commits one to two dumb fouls away from the basket
every game. It's hard to believe he's gonna be like A. He's got
the individual shot creation like handle to be that guy. It's also hard to
see him being like, oh, he's got really good value off the ball
because he can space, like shooting thirty percent from three this year, thirty
seven percent last year, but the volumes not really there, has never been.
He's sixty eight percent from the line for his career. So he's like,
I don't know if you price in like always going to be a great
shooter. So it's really the athletic frame, the ability to just overpower guys
at the basket. Some of his drives look like lightning quick, but it's
all just like peppered in with stuff that you're like, I don't know,
man, if this guy's ever going to get it, So I think he
has to be in this tier. I understand why you wouldn't move up,
but like again I will cop to just being irrational about cominga because I kind
of sometimes only see the good. Well, I mean we just went through
mine with blob. What do I take them? So real? Where would
you in this tier? Would you have him like leap frogging all the way
like above pods. I think if you're talking ceiling, there's no question he
should be first in this tier. But I just don't know how confident I
am he's going to hit it, so, like I mean, really honestly,
like if you're talking ceiling. I think he could be in the next
tier, like very comfortably because all those guys have questions. It's just like,
you know, this is his third year. He's kind of been jerked
around. I mean, he's conspicuously been jerked around and like not really given
like he's in a situation that you know, we've talked about this a little
bit, like, well, is it harder for him because the Warriors cater
to the vets and they play a system that like nobody else really does that
marginalizes guys that aren't Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Like or is it
like, well, it should be easy for him because no defense has ever
focused on him because of the guys he plays with, Like should he you
know? So, I just I just still don't know what kind of player
he's gonna be. I think in the best case scenario, he's like an
overpowering combo forward that shoots eight free throws a game and it's just good enough
as a shooter to like have some value off the ball. But like,
I really don't know that he's gonna reach that ceiling. And like I don't
know if anybody really the Warriors I think believe that he will. But like
everybody thinks that about their own guys. So I'm gonna call I'm gonna call
an audible here on number nineteen. I think Jalen Green has shown enough to
take over the nineteen spot. Would I'm going that? Do you think that
still needs to start another tier? Oh? Well, hmmm, I think
he belongs in this tier. There's just like, if you want to talk
about, like what Jonathan Kamingo's best case outcome could be. Jalen Green has
a marketable skill, which is create for himself and score a shit ton And
it's not always efficiently, but sometimes it is. We've seen for entire long
stretches of the season during his first two years. To close out, he's
gonna hit a bunch of these tough off the dribble. Looks, Now,
how does he fit inside the larger context? Houston is finding out look,
he's finding his way now. We're also finding out that it's difficult to still
have that highest end outcome though with most of year or a good chunk of
year three in the rear view, I think that's still on the level of
Okay, this is someone who could still be a very impactful starter on a
lot of good NBA teams with his best case, Now, could he also
be damaging? There is that or bust aspect of him where I don't think
you have that with Cason Wallace or Pods, but you have it with Kaminga
and we have Kminga in this tier. Can I ask you a question now,
why what's the difference between Shade and Sharp and Jalen Green? Is that
Shandon Sharp has a defensive pulse already, you think, and he's also He's
also bigger. He's also a year younger. But I don't you, do
you? I kind of view them similarly, like if if if you if
we were doing well, this is a hard I mean, I think we
look at Sharp and say, like, statistically, you know he him and
I don't know him and Green are just kind of of a type to me.
But I agree Sharp's bigger, has more defensive because Jalen Green is like,
like really shooting guard sized at best and is thin, So like defensively,
I don't think Jalen Green's I mean, He's got a long way to
go and just may never get there because of the physical tools and just how
he kind of plays, So I think I think that's fair. I just
they're really far apart Sharp and Green, and I don't know if that's quite
right, you know what I mean. Yeah, So then it's like are
we too high on Sharp or too low on Green? Type deal. I
just think that part of Sharp's the plow is we've seen less of him,
and like we saw so little of him for most of last season that it's
like, well, he still warrants the developmental reps where Jaalen Green was given
the keys basically from day one, and this is what it's become. And
now when you've tried to scale him back, I think there's probably more value
in now you're scaling Sharp up from a lower baseline that it will end up
helping him. And I just trust when you look at his physical tools,
he's gonna give you more defensive optionality. And I just feel like way more
rim pressure, foul drawing potential as well. I think that's right, I
think too, Like, I mean, Chilean Green has started one hundred and
eighty two NBA games, so like we we kind of know more about him
than almost anybody else we've talked about. But I think that's probably. We
definitely know more about him than anyone else we've talked about with me, I
know there needs to know about THEO, So yeah, you've got all you
need. Uh Okay, Yeah. I think Green for sure needs to be
in this tier, and just the question is like, could you move him
because I just feel like you look at Pajemski leading this tier and it's kind
of like if you offer me talking about the rest of their careers, and
it's sort of like the boomer bust almost works against Jalen Green at this point
because if you're not going to have them as your first or second best player,
you almost prefer to have people who are just going to be scalable.
Yes, you're right, you're right. Now, you're another audible here because
I don't think he's in oversight when we first went through this exercise, and
I still think it begins to start of a new tier. But two players
that I think belong here, and one of them would have been I think
Josh Giddy's got to be like twenty. I think again this year. He
rebounds, he's big, he's a good passer. Yep, I'm good with
I'm good with Giddy. Giddies needs to be in the next tier though,
right, Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It starts a new tier.
Yeah. Uh. Now, I still have doubts, and I think the
off this year are going to say a lot about what does he do when
defenses ignore him? Are the Thunder even gonna trust him in the highest stakes
lineups that they have in the postseason. I think we've already seen that they're
not going to, just in the sense that Jalen Williams has been the more
important self starter in those non SGA lineups for much of if not all,
of this season. And I just yo, Gidea is fine defensively. Some
people have called him a sieve. I don't think he's on that level.
The Thunder do a good job of insulating him when you look at who's around
him, especially this season. He is such a good passer, and just
for someone his size to be that good of a passer, and he's shooting
one like thirty seven percent from three this year on ultra wide open looks that
can sometimes take a long time to get off. But this is someone also
who I recognize that we could look back on this at the end of this
season, let's say, start of next season and be like, oh,
did he need to be in the keyante George Tire or something? Yeah,
right, I think I think I agree with everything you said. It's just
like, one again, we've seen kind of a lot of him one hundred
and sixty nine starts. He started every game he's played as a pro,
which is wild because he was nineteen as a rookie or that was dage nineteen
season. That just like, there's a scenario where he doesn't help the thunder
on either end, and it's just like we can't move him up for that
reason, right, Like it's just it's there's too many like demonstrated flaws,
and like theorizing how he fits onto a good team in a playoff scenario is
like that's again, that's not like a consideration we're necessarily making for all these
guys. But it's just like he might be better off running. I mean,
he's he's been impactful for what might be the best team in the West
for all we know. I think the Clippers and the Wolves want a word
there, for sure, but I just don't. I don't trust it.
If he were on a team where he was the primary ball handler, I
think it would be like, unfortunately, I think that's probably the best role
for him because of the shooting issues. That doesn't address the fact that he
defensively has a bunch of problems or the fact that he still doesn't have value
off the ball. Really, so I'm I think right, actually agree though,
And so there is And also when you look at the like splits and
this is I would argue, is a vote against him more than anything.
Like his efficiency without Sga on the court is horrid. Yeah, I think
like people are gonna bump on this. I mean, we had him like
out entirely. I think I'll bet you people will be people will say like
how and like, look at the tier above him, You're really gonna have
Giddy career averages of fourteen, seven and five below Brandon Pajemski, Like who's
Like what has he been in the league for two months? Like that's crazy.
But it's just it's a skill set thing. It's the shooting and the
defense and the like what do you do with this guy? Like it's just
those questions are harder to answer with Giddy than it is for a lot of
these others. Yeah, and the other player that I think belongs to this
tier and I've started to actually warm up on him more in recent weeks.
Benanickmathern would be twenty one. Okay, just there's I know your neither of
us are like Benedicmathrine die Hards. I don't know what he's gonna be defensively,
I don't trust the passing, but as a decision maker, as the
decision making as a score, I feel like is a little bit more refined,
and I think he can get to a point where maybe he's running consistently
or driving some of these non or maybe one star maybe no star units now
that they have Siakam and Haliburton, not as a playmaker, but just as
like this safety outlet score and as a scorer who's efficiency or effectiveness impact is
not tied to oh my playing with Haliburton or am I not? So?
Yeah? I think that. I think that's a big bonus of his favorite.
He's another one just like Giddy that I could see moving up. It's
just I'm gonna trust steadiness, and that's like what basically the tier above this.
There's a lot more aside from Cominga and Green, which are kind of
like our swings. But I also like with him and giddy. I don't
know that. I you know where I see a pathway of Oh. I
could see Kaminga and Green like jumping up to that next tier. I could
see them moving up to the next tier that's in front of them, but
not into the you know blaal I'm and Thompson J and Ivy Kiante George.
Yeah, I think that's right. I think the sticking point with Matherin for
me is he just like he screams six man and like six men are valuable,
Like that's but but it feels like, you know, we're all we
want these guys to be superstars, you know, like that that's what you're
going for in these under twenty two types. You want you want the prospect
upside, and I you know, it probably is too early to write any
of these guys off from being anything, but Matherin just feels like he's a
bucket getter that can get to the line. And like we talked to Caitlin
Cooper, like a lot of the questions before the season were like, is
Mathern gonna be able to hit them threes? Thirty seven percent this year?
So like that's up from thirty two percent last year. So I think if
he's gonna be like a fifteen points per game on DC, an efficiency guy
who gets to the foul line, that's a high floor. It's just like,
you're not he probably isn't gonna you know, he started the year in
the first unit for the Pacers. He hasn't been in it for a while.
I don't think he's gonna get back into it most likely. So like
that's almost like, you know, that sort of is telling me what type
of player he is. This circles back to Giddy, but I was looking
up wild stat Giddya is shooting thirty nine point four percent from three with Jay
Gillis Alexander on the floor. He's shooting about fifteen point four percent from three
with SGA off the floor. So you're saying SGA generates some decent looks by
I did say on the previous podcast that the Thunder have the highest three point
shot callity, meaning the easiest three point attempts. Jay Gillis, Alexander and
Jay Dubb are like basically the main reasons why right, yeah, because all
they do is just attack the paint and kick. Okay, I'm good with
matherin there. Who's our final inclusion at number twenty two. I know who
it is when we initially did this, but there's two options we have,
so like, let's just roll through them. We have Dice and Daniel Anthony
Black, Like, who are some of the other names that spring to mind?
For for you? For this we have Jeremy Soehen Peyton Watson, Jordan
Hawkins, Moses Moody, Jayden Hardy, aj Griffin who doesn't play for some
reason. Your guy who's Mon Jang? I will say, you know who
I would include on this list. He just hasn't played enough this year.
Taylor Hendrix is just like I'm ready to put him in front of like Powell
Bankaro, I think of the So we only have one spot right, Yeah,
to me, it has to be between the guys we initially had in
the top twenty two, which is Anthony Black and Dyson Daniels. I think
I would go Daniels. I think what about you. I think I would
probably go Daniels to you. I'm just agreeing. Now I'm trying to decide
if I are we too low on so hand, like just because the way
or sparamented him at the beginning of the year, I think I am not
sure about because like the you know, talk about a guy that was like
put in a position, difficult position, Like I don't know what to make
of this season at all, because all of his numbers are like wrecked by
having to play point guard, and now they use him as a center sometimes.
So it's like I feel like that's almost an argument for him that his
team would even consider trying him at both of those spots, like good passer,
good defender, somehow from three. But he's at sub fifty two true
shooting for a second consecutive year. And that's not to say that, you
know, Tyson Daniels is you know, sixty five truugh shooting or anything.
But all right, I think I think I would vote for so hand.
He's still twenty, so you want to defer to you, So I think
I want to do that because I think although Daniel Daniels is the I think
I like Daniel's better than Anthony Black, But Daniel's just there's the passing,
the passing feel and then like absolutely gobsmacking defense. Right, Yeah, that's
true. I mean he's a straight up better. Is he the best defender?
I'm trying to I'm just looking back at the I mean we already talked
about a sar Thompson. So the answer is no, he's not the best
defender on this. Let's do, let's go, let's go go, so
Hann, I'm pulling up Diyson daniels numbers right now just to make sure.
I mean, he's some fifty two true shooting as well, So don't even
worry about I think. I think Anthony Black probably is too. Uh.
He's Anthony Black is so young though, and he already navigately gate, He
already navigates the floor so effectively on the defensive end. I just don't know
what to make of him, as you know, do you want him to
be your primary? Is he ever gonna have enough of a of a jump
shot? I mean he's hitting fifty eight percent of his twos this year.
He actually has a fifty seven true shooting impressive and a one point steel rate
one point seven block rate. Is as a point guard. His turnover percentages
through the roof, though, And so like I trust, believe it or
not, I trust Sohn and Daniels, Is I really split it? We
split the baby here in the end, there's diceon Daniels is really what it
should be. I don't know. I think it's so inn just because I
like the the the positional versatility and the say that, so we'll put someone
at twenty two. But would you say, like daniels in Black are probably
in the same tier. I don't know if any of the other names that
are still here, yes this movie, smont Jang, Peyton Watson, Watson
might belong in this tier. I think as a serial hedger, I feel
like I like Anthony Black and Daniels in there in that tier, and we
just had to cut it off at twenty two because twenty two under twenty two
it's the gimmick of it. We went twenty four and there they're like another
and I think, so we'll we'll get to twenty five here and Peyton Watson
round, Yeah, get an order in this tier. But with so Anne
Dison, Daniels Black, and Peyton Watson, I like it. Good job
by us, so I'll run through you order very quickly. Victor Wemberyama at
number one in his own tier. Tier two is Chet Holmgren at number two,
Pale Benkarro at number three, Al prinschan Gun at number four, Scoot
Henderson at number five in entering Tier three. Jabari Smith Junior is six,
Shandon Sharp is seven, Brandon Miller is eight, Asar Thompson is nine,
Block Cool Bali is way too low at ten am and Thompson at eleven,
Jane n Ivy at twelve, Kyante George at thirteen. We are now entering
Tier four. Brandon Pejemski at fourteen, Derek Lively the second at fifteen,
Jalen Duran at sixteen, Cason Wallas at seventeen, Jonathan Coming at eighteen,
Jalen Green at nineteen. That just seems so low. Yeah, Tier five,
Josh Giddio at twenty speaking of too low, bennecmather at twenty one,
and we have Jeremy so In at twenty two. And then however, you
shake it, Dyson Daniels, Anthony Black, Payton Watson, it's like your
final to round it out in the top twenty five. That's twenty two B,
C and D. I think it's twenty two A. There you go,
so twenty two A and then probably by twenty two easy ND. That's
our top twenty five Ish players under the age of twenty two. Hopefully you
enjoyed it, but it's time to move on. It's stat padding, grant.
As I fixed the screen, Do you want to give me some stuff
that you have for me? I'm assuming absolutely, Dan. I just have
to pull up this stat head page here just so I can make sure that
I'm not gonna give you questions that you cannot answer or that do not honestly,
I appreciate that. All right, Dan, there since two two thousand
and one, so we're just doing like this century, I guess we'll call
it. There have been several games that involved a player scoring fifty points without
making a three pointer. So I'm gonna give you four players. You tell
me who has scored fifty points without making a three in a game? Number
one, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neill, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Shaquille
O'Neal. It is Tim Duncan. I apologize, And so he the one
didn't Shackliet won three for his career. Yeah, that's why I was pulling
this this stat ed thing up, because that that made me think, like,
that's ridiculous. That can't be right. Uh, you probably won't want
to cut that one up because I don't know if that's accurate. How about
this one. Let's see Dan, who has the most fifty point games without
making a three since two thousand and two thousand and one? Uh, Jannis,
Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid or Alan Iverson. Oh, I'm just gonna
say, what were the options? Johannish Joelle. I'm gonna say, Anthony
Davis. You're correct, But it's a trick question because Giannis has exactly as
many as Anthony Davis, which is three, Joel Embiid as two. Alan
Iverson too. This is a fun one fifty point game, Dan with no
free throws made? Right? This has happened. First of all, tell
me who of these players have done it? Jamal Murray, Stephen Curry,
Damian Lillard or Ray Allen. Ooh, Ray Allen. It is Jamal Murray
who did not even attempt a free throw in his fifty point game. How
about that? Wow, that's pure bucket getting. That's that's ethical basketball,
right, fucking Steph just getting buckets. Okay, So this is bizarre,
and there's like a bunch of these, so I had to filter it a
certain way. So this is since twenty fifteen sixteen. Tell me who has
the most fifty point games in which their team was outscored while they were on
the floor, So they got fifty in the game and had a negative plus
minus for the game. Who's got the most of these players? Steph Curry,
Jamal Crawford, James Harden or Zach Levine. Zack Lavine. It is
James Harden. Three times, three times since twenty fifteen sixteen, he's gotten
fifty and his team has been out I guess that just speaks to how often
he's scored. That's the thing you gotta think of, Like, who's got
the most? I should have got that one, all right, same question,
most fifty point games since twenty fifteen sixteen while their team got out scored
with them on the floor. Brad Beal, Kevin Durant, Dame Wllard or
Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard. It is Brad Beal. He's got three of
them. He played for the Wizards. I should have known thathing he did.
He did. Let's see just some fun facts, just because so Booker's
sons got outscored by six with him on the floor in his seventy point game
against Boston in twenty six seventeen. That's hard to do. How many by
six, So he had seventy points and his team got outscored by six while
I was on the floor. Beial's Wizards got outscored by nine in his sixty
point game against the Sixers in twenty twenty one. How about this? Steph
Curry has two. There have been four instances in which a player had fifty
points in a game and his plus minus was minus ten or worse, which
is like, how does that even happen? Steph has two of them.
He's got a minus fourteen against Phoenix, which is the worst of anybody,
and a minus eleven that was in twenty two to twenty three, and minus
eleven against the Clippers also in twenty two to twenty three, when he had
over fifty dub shit. Trade him, get rid of him. He's the
problem. That's been the case all along. Do you have an even for
me? I have some some retired Jersey can't how many barks? You just
want to wrap up yours and we'll go sure? All right, let me
pull this up here. I wasn't sure how to format this. I think
I want to give you a team and three strikes, and then see if
you can name five players with retired jerseys for that team. Okay, I'll
start easy with for you. You get I don't think anybody. I don't
know how this team has any numbers left that are unretired. Dan, I'll
give you three strikes. Can you name five Boston Celtics with retired jerseys?
Larry Bird that's one? Paul Pierce did they retire his jersey? Let me
find them? That's two? Bill Russell that is three? Oh my god,
why is this so hard? Kevin Garnett that is four? Robert Parrish?
Oh, I don't know if that's gonna get it for you. Yes,
that's five. Good job, No strikes necessary, I'm gonna get Okay,
you gotta do a harder one. Let's see. I thought that's unfair.
I was gonna give you one that you would have had to get a
coach. All right, how about let's do this, Dan, Can you
name I'm gonna give you three strikes, but you only need to name three
Golden State Warriors with retired jerseys? Okay? Will Chamberlain correct, Chris Mullen
correct. I feel like this should be easy, but I can't blanking after
those two. This guy was the reason they won the nineteen seventy five championship,
which was the only championship they had until the most recent ones, or
the most recent championship that has not helped me, even though it probably should.
Had multiple sons play in the NBA, allegedly wore a hairpiece during his
career. I can't even come up with a wrong guess shot, free throws,
granny style, Oh oh my god? What as a like? Probably
from middle school through college, one of his sons was one of my favorite
players. You got three strikes. This is the issue. You can't.
You don't have a wrong I'm trying to think of legendary warriors and just like
I can't, I can't come up with them. This is named Don Nelson,
but that's clearly wrong. I'm trying to think of more hints I could
give you. Let's see white guy Kozi. No wrong franchise? Why why
can't I think of any I'm on the spot. I can't think of any
other legendary warriors. It's so hard when you're on spot like this. I'm
sitting here thinking like, come on, damn, but it's like it's not
this. I'm looking at the name. So it's a little different for me.
How many jerseys have they retired? Not a lot, one, two,
three, four, five six. I mean, I feel like I
should know that I give up rick Berry. Damn it. If they retired
uh Thomas Sherry, al Addles and Nate Thurmond. That too bad because I
only should have known rick Berry. I never would have guessed the other three.
All right, I'll give you one more and this one I think you
should get. I think you should get. I'll give you. You gotta
get three. I'm gonna give you three strikes. Houston Rockets name me three
retired jerseys for Houston Rockets. Hakeem Olajuan yep, Yao Ming Yep, Quaid
Drexler yep. Irised. I'm kind of surprised they retired Yao's jersey. That
feels weird. He was there for like five minutes. He's a franchise icon,
and like there's an entire continent that follows the Rockets now because he's there,
like the reason China cares about basketball. Okay, you gotta get five.
I'm gonna give you three strikes. Los Angeles Lakers retired jerseys Kareem abdul
Jabar, Yeah, Magic Johnson, Yeah, Kobe Bryant. Yeah, Kobe
Bryant again, I don't. I mean, technically it's Kobe Bryant twice.
But that'llkay. I'm gonna cost one shack. Yeah, and they retired Wilts.
Oh wait did they Let's see, did they retire Shacks? They did
retire Shacks Jersey. And they did retire Wilts Jersey. Do you want to
go for a bonus? You name any others? Yeah? I mean I
should be able to. Uh, why am I gonna? I don't want
to say his name? Only guy to win finals MVP while losing the finals?
Oh, I should know the answer to this one. There's so many
iconic Lakers. How am I not just spitting these out? And they retired
like ninety jerseys, there's a lot. I think the Celtics are the only
one with more, just based on the sheer length of this list. Let's
see. I mean, if I gave you one more clue about the guy
who lost the finals in one MVP, you would get it. He's the
logo. Oh Jerry West. He actually have got that one. The other
one is, like, I mean, most famous for playing for the Minneapolis
Lakers in like the fifties, wore glasses. There's a famous layup drill named
after him. None of this is helping you, no, George Miken,
all right, I think that's enough torture for you. All right, are
you ready to be tortured? I've always got some money questions for you.
Grant which NBA player has made more money for their career so far? Steph,
Kevin Durant, Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook. I'm gonna say Chris Paul
just because he's been around forever. That is incorrect. He is the second
most on this list. Kevin Durant, at three hundred and ninety six point
seven million, comes in first place. Steph is in third at about three
fifty five. Russell Westbrook at three forty three is fourth. That four for
forty four deal that Steph signed that won them all those championships that really hurt
something. Not last place though, Good for him. Yeah. Which NBA
players made more money for their career so far? Paul, George, Kyrie,
Irving, Kawhi Leonard or Damian Lillard. Oh, Dam's got that big
contract right now. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say Dame. That is
incorrect. He is. He is second though, So you got second place
again, Paul George at three hundred and five point three million. Wow,
I would not David two seventy nine, Kawiet about two seventy seven, Kyrie
A two seventy Okay, Which NBA player has made more money for their career
so far? Jannis A Tetakumbo, Bradley Beal, Jimmy Butler or Klay Thompson.
I think I gotta go with I'm gonna go Bradley Beal. That is
correct, he who signed the full on supermacs first before any of these guys.
Actually, he's the only one who signed the full on SuperMac so he
hasn't even played out most of it. Yeah, but seven point nine million
first place, Okay. Clay had a couple submax steals in like second two
sixty six, Butler's two sixty three and third. Giannis he'll finish in first.
I'm sure eventually he's probably the only guy in that group that's getting another
Max steal. I think for like the full vote. Okay, good question.
Now block of ten with the same question of either or so, it's
which NBA player has made more money for their career so far. Demarrosen or
Tobias Harris, I'll say Tobias Harris, it is DeMar de Rosen two hundred
and fifty seven point six to two hundred and forty eight point five million.
Joel Embiide or Rudy Gobert oh is Rudy correct, two hundred and seventeen point
two million to two hundred and fourteen point four. I like how it was
so confident it was three million apart. Nikole Jokich or Brook Lopez Brook Lopez
No Nikoli Jokich one ninety eight point one million to one ninety seven point one
those years at the BI Annual for Brooke and all that that hurt him.
Yeah. Danilo Gallinari or Christops porzingis hmmm, Gallo has been around so much
longer. I'll say Gallinari correct, And it's not even close. Two hundred
and one point seven million for Gallo to one seventy five point one for Christops
Man. Gallo was made over two hundred million dollars for his NBA career.
Good for him, and he's had at least one to ACL right two,
at least two torn acls, might even three at this point. So he's
lost a bunch of years. I guessis has lost zero All Star appearance is
a very good player. Zero All Star appearents made over two hundred million dollars
for his career. Put put a pin in this. We got to figure
out who's made the most money in his career without an All Star appearance.
It's probably Commy. But yeah, well Mike Commley made it all. I
forgot he did finally make I mean, it's Gallo, right, I mean,
if it's not congratulations to somebody else, Carl Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins.
Oh, I think it's Wiggins. He's just been around longer. It's
correct. Not that close either, one ninety five point two million to one
eighty two point three million. Devin Booker or Derek Rose. Oh, I'm
gonna I'm gonna say Booker, that is correct. One hundred and sixty six
point five million to one sixty six point one million. I'm getting on my
decimals, now, come on. I mixed in a bunch of like there's
like large differentials, some obvious ones like you probably felt I was trying to
trick you with Tobias Harris versus DeMar I did, and you did. Blake
Griffin or Chris Middleton. I'll say Blake, that is correct. Two hundred
and fifty seven point six million to two hundred and twenty three point one million.
That's that's surprisingly close too. Anthony Davis or Gordon Hayward. It's gotta
be Anthony Davis. It is not Anthony Davis. Gordon Ayward two hundred and
sixty eight point four million, Anthony Davis two hundred and sixty six point six
million, unbelievable. Good for Gordon Hayward, Brandon Ingram or Pascal Siakam or
we're not counting the super the max that he's gonna sign with the Pacers probably
so far was the question. I'm gonna say Ingram, then that is correct.
One hundred and forty five point six million to one hundred and forty three
point two million. Boyon Bogdanovic or Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum, that is
incorrect. Jason Tatum has made one hundred and twenty point six million. Bogdanovich
has made one hundred and twenty three point six million. Okay, I don't
he's He's done well, okay, uh, couple so just three more that
are just the you know, this was inspired by when Wemby got his triple
double. Okay, Which NBA player has recorded the most triple doubles before their
twenty first birthday in NBA history? LaMelo Ball, Luka, Doncic, Lebron
James or Magic Johnson. I'll say Luca, that is correct twenty one.
The next closest is Magic at twelve. LaMelo has six, Lebron has five.
Who is the youngest NBA player on record to notch a triple double?
LaMelo Ball, Luka, Doncic, Josh Giddy, Lebron James or Victor Wembin
Yama. Five choices. Giddy was the first name that came to mind,
so I'll say Giddy that is correct. Nineteen years old in eighty four days.
Unbelievable. Who is the oldest NBA player on record to record a triple
double? Five choices? Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Jason Kidd, Karl
Malone, John Stockton. I'm gonna say Lebron that is incorrect. He is
the third oldest at thirty eight years old, three hundred and fifty thirty eight
years, three hundred and fifty three days old. Karl alone first place forty
years and one hundred and twenty seven days. You should have known that's the
answer, because I would never have scumbag human beings on purpose as part of
trivia, So I didn't pick him. Oh man, I must have been
a Lakers triple double? Right? Or was he? I don't know,
want to put you on the spot for that, but if he was forty,
it had to be right. He wasn't in Utah for as he was
in that loan season. I'll double check to make sure that he wasn't in
Utah when he was forty. But I would have thought, uh no,
yeah, he was age forty. Season was with the Lakers, So when
did when's his birthday? Though? His birthdays in July, so yeah,
he turned forty in July and then played out that season. So yes,
it was with the Lakers. Geez, okay, that's all I got for
you. Do you want to take us out of here? That's it?
Sure? Good good question. I like the money ones everybody. Thank you
for listening, Thank you for watching. If you watched. Look, if
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I think that's going to do it for us. As always, we
close with a shout out to the one only Frank Mila Kina and an apology
to chair it out