This is the baseline discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. Welcome everybody,
your tune to the baseline. Calie Warren Shaw discussing the hot button topics
of the NBA. And this is our twenty twenty three twenty four Western Conference
preview. As always, man, rolling with my big dog, been doing
it for so long, and as we are captivated by, you know,
all of the movements that have taken place in the preseason, I'm sorry,
in the off season. And then you know, given that we just finished
rolling out our Eastern Conference preview, you know they say, you know,
it's about that time again. It seems like the best is coming out of
the West. That's what the murmurs are about Shaw. And when we talk
about this Western Conference, it didn't take much. You know, it didn't
take long for them to I guess you could say Resa plant themselves as being
the dominant conference at least, you know, kind of putting that out there
in the ethos. Yeah, in terms of just overall good teams, this
conference is the hardest innocence for us to tier. Teams could jump two or
three tiers based on a variety of different things. Injury always plays a partner
thinking anything that we're talking about, But we just don't have a lot of
good data on some of these teams, and uh teams, some of the
teams are vastly different. The rosters changes have been so dramatic that we now
have to kind of consider so for argument purposes, like all right, we'll
slash y'all here for now, and then I think as the season progresses,
we kind of have to figure out, you know, how that ultimately matriculates
for them, because there's a lot of movement within this conference. Absolutely,
and I know, you know, we're gonna again as always, you know,
we're going to you know, make sure we break down people what our
mindset is and how we broke down this conference and how we formulated where we
believe these teams are gonna fit get in where they fit in. I think
the one caveat that we do want to make sure we throw out their shaw
because it's relevant as it pertains to the Western Conference. This is a very
fickle conference. Like we're talking about, the sensitivity of player health really really
rests on the teams that have their rosters built in the Western Conference, where
depth becomes important and the superstar players who over the last few years we've been
clamoring for them to have really an overall well rounded, productive, full regular
season to really determine or to have a determinist outcome of whether or not these
teams are going to be competitive in the final stretch, which would be the
playoff stretch. Right, this is so critical now in the stage and we
talk about teams like the Clippers, and we're talking about teams like the Warriors
and the Lakers. I mean, we're not talking about player management, Shaw,
that is a foregone conclusion. What we're talking about is for us to
get the deliverable of awesome you know basketball play that is necessary. It's gonna
take all of these guys to relatively stay healthy throughout the course of the season.
Yeah yeah, I think again, you know, going back on the
point, without getting too much into it per se, but as you mentioned,
the Clippers, the Lakers, New Orleans even three teams that have just
really struggled with health and can oscillate their tiers by virtue of that aspect of
it alone, let alone the roster construction, which is the whole reason,
you know, the whole offseason is more or less kind of take place,
But injury concerns within this conference are about Minnesota as well to another one.
They only had color talents for what twenty five games or whatever it was last
year, So how do those players and they're hopeful healthy returns impact the rest
of this Western Conference. And I think, honestly speaking, you know,
without giving too much into it, this is a conference that I think is
going to literally be decided by like four or five games between like seeds like
three through like eleven. Like that's not a lot of variance, you know.
And I know we've been saying that for a little while here now,
but the NBA continues to skew in that way, especially when you have the
playing situation, so it's giving teams more to play for kind of throughout the
course of the season. And as a result, I think records, records
are going to be ultimately condensed in a way that we haven't seen in seasons
previous. Absolutely. So, As always, man, sit back, relax,
allow us to navigate through the wild Wow West as we would like to
call it. Cali Warrenshaw Baseline NBA Podcast our twenty twenty three twenty four Western
Conference preview. As always, be sure to get up my manshawe Ashaw Sports,
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dot nineteen MediaGroup dot com. So first, let's do a little housekeeping for
our listeners here. So how do we break down the Western Conference? I
mean, all of these teams are gonna basically be vying for an opportunity to
to to you know, participate compete in the playoffs. Well, we're looking
at this in a tier like type of way. Right, not everybody is
gonna be able to make it to the playoffs. So we basically have it
broken down in five tiers. Right. Obviously the lowest tier, the teams
that we believe are. You know, they're gonna may maybe improve, maybe
not improved, maybe struggle, but under no circumstances do we have any any
confidence that they're gonna be able to make the playoffs. Then we got a
team that we call the played out teams, right, like they're playing,
they're competing, and they have actually a possible shot maybe to get into the
play in tournament, but they may fall a little bit short. Then we
got our play in tiers, right, these are the dudes that are gonna
be jockeying for the opportunity to give themselves a chance to get into the players
to the playoffs. Then we've got our true players. We know they're a
lot given the roster, given what we'll discuss with these teams respectively. And
then we got what we call the conference bosses, the money boss teams.
We know that they're in there, they're gonna be contenders, and they're eventually
gonna be of the teams that we're gonna be having this conversation of getting to
the Western Conference finals and ultimately, at some point we will, you know,
down the road, choose who we believe in confidence would be the team
to represent out of the West. But for the most part, that's how
our preview will go. We'll break down the tiers, talk about these teams,
go through their ups and downs, their pros and cons, and hopefully
you'll be on board with it. But if you're not, that's why we
want you to weigh in and let us know what you think. All right,
So Sean, let's get right into it. Let's start off with our
Tier five, right bottom tier teams, teams that we know are gonna have
are gonna be struggling to get out, you know of this seller sort of
speak, you know what I'm saying, Crabs in the barrel mentality. We're
gonna probably see some upside, we may see more downsides to them. In
our tier fives, we got the San Antonio Spurs, the Houston Rockets,
and the Utah Jazz. And it's amazing, Sean, because we're talking about
the Utah Jazz. I don't know if whether or not we thought last year
was an admiration. Did they just really overachieve with the way that they competed.
Do you see them as a team that's taking a step back and maybe
a team like San Antonio to who has when Bayanna and company, a team
like Houston who is completely you know, you know, refurbished their backcourt and
their roster. All of that being said, we don't have them as confidently
as teams that are gonna be as competitive as we would like to see them
be. But maybe they are a year or two out from being in that
in that position. I mean, they made a nice move. They got
John Collins for the super cheap and now they they're going to play market in
basically at the full time three for the most part, obviously ostlc to the
four sometimes as well too Walker Kessler. In the second year, there's optimism
here, but I think, as we said in the in the in the
outset, somebody has to be down here. It just has to be somebody,
and I don't know that Aange and Will Harding and company are ultimately trying
to win a bunch of games this year. They won thirty seven games last
year, and I think they could win something along those lines. But they
ultimately missed the playoffs again, putting them in this kind of Tier five conversation.
So I would expect similar, you know record for them to some degree,
maybe maybe one or two less wins per se as the west of the
rest of the conference has gotten a little bit tougher. But this isn't a
knock on this team in any capacity. They're still very talented and on an
upper trajectory. They have some issues at the point guard that you got to
figure out Chris Don, Colin Sexton, you know who's going to be that.
You know, they drafted a nice young rookie as well too. J
Clarkson also ran some one for them last year. But this is not a
knock on Utah other than the fact that some body has to be below the
play in line in the Western Conference and right now that's just kind of like
who we're tapping. Well. I think what this comes down to is will
the Utah Jazz have a more talented team than the teams that they're going to
be fighting against. I think that they will be a better team, yes
than say the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets, who will talk about
in a few minutes. But I think when you talk about the Utah Jazz,
do they have a talented enough roster? Can they usurp the teams that
we're going to be talking about ahead of them right that are going to be
probably you know, jockeying for playing worthiness sort of speak, and against the
rosters that have bona fide superstars. We have guys that are on the precipice,
like you've mentioned Kessler and marketing in where they can essentially be quality star
players. I don't know if they'll necessarily be superstar players. And when we
use the word superstars, I think we get it conflated with this idea about
you know, they're going out there and you know they're making a name for
themselves. They're TikTok friends, you know, TikTok Mania friends and things that
nature we're talking about. Are the numbers in the production equate to I can
put this team on my back and I can lead them to wins that collectively
as a team we're not talented enough to beat whoever we're playing against that given
night. I still think that there may be a year or two away from
that happening, and collectively as a as a team, you know, and
this is part of what Danny Age did when he was over in Boston.
Collectively, as a team, you start with some some core star players that
you have that belief in that they can actually shoulder a team, and then
you work with the you know, the supplemental parts around. I think they're
still trying to figure out who those star dudes are. Not saying that that
you know who we mentioned are not of that ilk to be in that conversation,
but they haven't proven it as of yet, and they haven't proven it
with consistency. But maybe this is the year where part of that happens.
And those key matchups against the you know, the likes of the Portland Trailblazers
and the Minnesota Timberwolves, and you're playing against the Big Cats, and you're
playing against the you know, the Jeremy Grants and DeAndre Ayton's and those guys,
and you have better numbers than their counterpart superstar players that they're searching through
and trying to figure out who's going to be the pillars of their roster.
I think that will bold well for the Utah Jazz, and I think,
you know, to your point, that's going to keep them around that thirty
thirty five plus win range, maybe somewhere closer to the forties, especially when
you go down to the final stretch of games, you know what I'm saying,
to to really determine where their outcome is going to be. Yeah,
I think in short, this is a team that I want to be surprised,
compete for a play in if things win a certain type of way for
them ultimately. I think Hardy has obviously proven to be a competent coach even
in just year one, and they have some good bones here. I think
if they do figure out what's happening at the point guard situation, you know
between Sexton, Chris Donciante, George as I alluded to earlier as well too,
and if Clarkson is going to also do some playmaking for them, you
know, once it's all situated, then hey, you know, maybe they
do figure it out in a way that they are ultimately more competitive and get
out of this tier. As I said, I think this is not a
knock on them. I respect this, respect this franchise. I respect what
they did, and I think they even branded together or banded together last year
to prove a lot of people wrong because they thought this team could have been
in the twenty win situation, not thirty seven. So I'm not doubting them
in any capacity to be competitive. Again, just saying, I think somebody
has to be here for now, and I don't know if they're trying to
win this year just yet. All right, let's focus our attention on the
youth. I'm sorry their Houston Rockets real quick Shaw, look, Van Fleet,
Dylan Brooks, that's the back court of the future, right, you
know, the young I don't know if it's so much them trying to figure
out a way to merge the youth movement with the wily veterans and stuff like
that, minus the Dylan Brooks antics. The Houston Rockets really have their plate
full because they're not competing in a division that's gonna give them oxygen for them
to have those lapses and those those moments where you know they can afford to
lose six, seven, eight games in a row. It's just way too
competitive a division for them to deal with, and so it's a murderous Rows
store to speak. So how quickly do you think the Houston Rockets can get
themselves up to speed despite the fact that we have them as part of our
bottom tiers of teams in the Western Conference. Yeah, this is just about
how they install a system that allows them to grow and mature. The knock
on this roster has been that, especially with Kevin Porter Junior, who's no
longer with the roster or is away from the team while they try to move
him. He and Jaellen Green are just not constant and professionals. The locker
room and the way they take the game is just about getting their stats.
You bring in Fred van Vliet, you bring in Jeff Green, Do you
sign Reggie Bullock? Even more recently, Now you've got three veterans in the
locker room to kind of help this team figure some stuff out, in addition
to Dylan Brooks. But again, you know, he's got his own set
of issues. The major coup of them is really is the addition of Udoka
on the sidelines, and he brings all of his staff that he had with
him in Boston. So Houston now is in that space where it's like,
all right, how do they mature? How do they mature and become professional
basketball players? They won't be next to last and defenses here. Udoka just
won't stand for it. He just won't, right, So I don't know
whether I don't I don't know. I don't know whether or not he's gonna
be able to stand for Dylan Brooks and his antics. I mean, because
there's an interesting problem. There's an interesting dichotomy there, right Like you,
you see that Dylan Brooks is who he is, and he's gonna do what
he does because he truly believes and has confidence within himself. But Udoka believes
in a system, he believes in a culture, and he will outright just
you know, he'll, he'll, he'll, he'll, you know, excommunicate,
you know what I'm saying, a dude, if he's upsetting the culture
that he is trying to build within that locker room. And I just mean
that by saying, if what Dylan Brooks does becomes more of a cancer,
you know what I'm saying, rather than it being and and and and an
advocacy to what needs to happen, that can be a problem, especially when
you give a guy to kind of bag that Dylan Brooks is receiving. You
know, I'd be very interested to see if Udoka and Brooks can be on
the same page, because to your point, I think Brooks can be the
catalyst to Houston taking a humongous leap as far as their defensive metrics go.
I mean, they've been virtually the worst team defensively last what four or five
years. Like this is not just something out of the blue, It's just
how it is. Like they they had given into the idea that they're gonna
score as much as they possibly can and to hell with the defense, you
know what I'm saying, to see if they can get a couple more baskets
than the opposing team. But I to your point, Udoka doesn't buy that.
I think it comes down to something's got to come up, something,
something's got to go up, and something's gotta come down. The defense is
definitely gonna come up, but it has to be with a discipline mentality so
that the young guys understand what their roles are on how to play team defense
to make them significantly better. And Ydoka wasn't Brooks didn't come there by accidental,
like Udoka had to be on board decision. So I think they've had
to have some sumblance of a conversation of what his play and influence will ultimately
be, and his influence cannot become a distraction I think it's alluding to but
they have a couple of good rookies as well to a men Thompson, can
wit More went More slipped in the draft and you know, look like a
world beater out at Summer League and has a lot to prove. But you
gotta you gotta harness that young guy. You know, you can't come out
here just jacking up shots just because you're mad everybody that passed on you.
So how do they figure out what their rotations are going to be. I'm
interested to see what Ben Vliet's ultimate numbers look like and does he improve some
for some of his efficiency. He struggled in Toronto last year, especially with
his with his shot, So is there enough spacing? Is there enough you
know, continuity within that offense? And that's not Let's not forget Shangun as
well too, who's also looking to make another step too. As you know,
jokis junior. So I like Houston, they have probably for me as
well too with Utah, some boom or bus potential to get out of this
tier. But it's a lot of things have to go right, including the
you know, the maturation of Jail and Green coming in morec and not just
the guy who's getting buckets, all right, And finally, Sean, let's
talk about the San Antonio Spurs. Look, I think everybody is going to
be fixated on what, you know, when Minyama is going to look like
to the NBA, But I'm more curious about what the San Antonio Spurs are
gonna look like. Will they be an exciting brand of basketball? I think
given that Popovich has invested himself in the idea of coaching up women Yanna,
I think it also comes down to how is he coaching up the rest of
that roster. They've got some you know, some quality role players, some
quality guys that I think are gonna get opportunity to shine. It's not going
to equate to them, you know, you know, surpassing maybe the Rockets
or maybe even the Utah Jazz if we have them as our lower tier team.
So we're assuming that they'll probably wind up among one of the worst records
in basketball. But will they be an exciting brand? Like, can you
get up for the idea that this roster can be competitive and and maybe even
still a few games here or there through the course of the regular season.
Yeah, I think they're going to show some glimpses. I think the biggest
question that a lot of people have is, you know, how much when
Woy'm gonna play? You know, will he beat sixty five seventy games in
that sense even to qualify for a Rookie of the Year, you know,
the slider frame. But he's looked great in preseason, especially with his touch
offensively and his passing as well. You know, the rebounding can probably still
start to climb up here too, but he's been showing an elite rim protection.
I think even in the couple preseason games that Sandy Hill has played,
you know, up to our recording here today. Then I think it's the
question of Kelton Johnson. You know, what role does he plays? He
coming off the bench now or is he still going to be in that starting
lineup? All those things were a little bit unsure about as we head into
the season. They have a lot of money invested in Devin Bascill now and
they want him to be kind of like the next guy there, I think,
you know, especially when it comes offensively. Then Trey Jones at the
point guard position, Jeremy Sokan, who they also are very high on.
I think this is a team that can surprise some people. Here and there,
we'll see some glimpsing of like, wow, this is some competency,
but then you're going to see the kind of the youth kind of takeover.
I thinks at times as well too. And that's where they're the only team
that I'm pretty confident it's going to be in this bottom tier. Like you
know, they jumped up a tier. I'd be a little bit surprised,
not as much as I would for the other two, but here I'm like,
all right, San Antonio should be a Tier five team based on their
overall roster and projections this year. All right, you're tuned to the baseline.
Cali Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA are twenty twenty three
to twenty four Western Conference preview. Just finishing up Tier five, Shaw,
let's go ahead and switch to gears. Now to Tier four. These are
the teams that we feel like they're going to be competitive. They may actually
have a pathway to possibly you know, participating in the play in, but
when it's all said and done, the likelihood is they're going to probably be
you know, looking out basically out looking in Portland Trailblazers in the Dallas Mavericks.
I don't think I'm completely you know, surprised that we selected these two
team shaw when you look at one basically overhauled their roster, giving up Damian
Lillard into Portland Trailblazers and the Dallas Mavericks. I felt like were I guess
you could say, held hostage to the circumstance of saying they have to make
this work with Doncic and Irving, but in doing so, the rest of
the roster itself doesn't look like it's going to be able to match up with
some of the other teams that we'll be talking about in those other tiers.
So what can we make of the Portland Trailblazers and the Dallas Mavericks respectively.
That will say they'll be competitive, you know what I'm saying. They'll make
it an interesting run, but when it's all said and done, they're probably
not going to be the ones participating in that plan. Yeah, So if
we swap Portland with Utah or Houston, I don't think it would be crazy.
You know, when I was even looking at, you know, trying
to find odds for Portland, you know, in terms of their win total.
Some people are like, well, we don't know yet. It's incomplete,
we can't figure it out just yet. And then some people think they
are going to be as bad as San Antonio. I think they have some
semblance of competency to this roster, especially with you know, similar to Utah
to maybe to some agreement, like people are just gonna assume that they're tanking,
and I don't know that these are professionals that that feel exactly the same
way now they say when they say styles make make make matches, right,
you know what I'm saying. And if you look at the Portland Trailblazers,
they have a pretty formidable front court where most teams are very backcourt heavy.
If Portland figures out a way to make this work with Scoot Henderson right billups
fans, a way to get Scoot Henderson to buy in and and and and
to really help feed the big boys, they could actually on a nightly basis,
be a problem for most matchups in the Western Conference. Well, I
like where you said right there too. I think it's you know, what
is Scoot trying to do? Is he out here campaigning and trying to win
Rookie of the Year or is he out here just trying to make his make
his team better and whatever that looks like. So does he have the ability
to score here and there? And then you know feed you know, denominating
or whatever he's calling himself here now right And Jeremy Grant, you know,
Grant likes to have the ball in his hand. He likes when he is
a one or number two option, so he has that there, But then
you still have Anthony Simunds is like, well, don't forget about me,
right. So I think the offensive delineation is going to be something that's going
to be really important for Portland going into this season, and if they're able
to get some sort of tier system, I think within that and Scoot and
Simon's and Grant are not all just fighting over the ball. Not to mention
Shaden Sharp as well too, who also thinks like he has some bounce to
his game. That's going to be the biggest thing for Portland and that will
send them whether into this tier as we're alluding to, or sending them backwards,
you know, into the Tier five where they're competing for a number one
or number two draft pick. Again. Yeah, I think it's interesting that
you say that, Shaw, because when you look at what the team did,
you know, last year, they only amassed thirty three wins, but
a lot of it was summersed in turmoil, right, and a lot of
it isn't from uncertainty. I think by taking care of what needed to be
taken care of and addressing the elephant in a room, I think now Chauncey
Billup has full focus on how he needs to kind of, you know,
curtail this team to be competitive and and how he's going to have to utilize
his his his his team in the proper way where they become assets and not
just become you know, pawns in a you know, business oriented game of
you know, trying to appease an audience in a fan base and recognizing,
you know, the landscape of where the Western Conference truly is and what they're
going to have to measure up to and how long it's going to take for
them to be able to measure up to those expectations. So very interesting dynamic.
Now we talk about the Dallas Mavericks, saw it's a complete opposite with
them because you already have a quote unquote MVP like caliber player in Luka Donkic.
You had, you know, a person who has been in MVP conversations
due to course of his career in Kyrie Irving, And yet when we talk
about this dynamic, it just has not come to fruition. And I don't
know if part of it is the struggle in recognizing that it really should just
fall on these two guys that go out there and just score the bass ball
and to help with everybody else, or there's this constant belief that Jason Kidd
can position the rest of their role players to allow Donkish to do what he
does and it to flourish. It's amazing because for a team that you would
think should be able to score to basketball like like it's nothing, even handing
guys the ball like it should be easy buckets for them, this team struggles
to score to basketball more than anything, and struggle to score with consistency.
Well yeah, there, what two years, three years removed from a historic
offense. They excuse me, they were still sixth last year I think an
offensive rating. But you know, once they lost solid to Houston, you
know, it just thinks it's been a little bit different. And then how
much how much of the Luca magic, if you will, to is able
to spread to the rest of the roster where you can share the basketball.
Enter Kyrie Irving now inter Grant Williams, you know, and a host of
other I think rotation guys here are hoping to be able to feed. I
think to some degree, it's also the Luca mindset. He's brilliant, There's
no two ways about it. He's a brilliant offensive basketball player. But now
is he willing to not just I don't think Luka stat pas in any capacity,
but really make the whole of the parts better? Right? And now
you have Steth Curry back in Dallas. You know what does that look like?
Can Derek Jones be an acceptable lob threat for them? Can they get
out on the run, get on the break a little bit and utilizing me
with that verticality. Can Kyrie maybe even take on some of the playmaking responsibilities,
you know that maybe Luca to kind of just even take some pressure off
of Luca, because you know, Kyrie also likes to score the basketball.
You still have Tim Hardaway on this basketball team because obviously, you know,
a brilliant three point shooter as well too. Rashaun Holmes now comes in too,
to try to shure up the front court. There's a lot of things
that are happening, I think with this team, especially offensively. But I'm
interested to see how does Derek Jones, Grant Williams Holmes and even Kleeber a
mixture of new guys and old guys, how do they help the defensive side
of the basketball where they really really struggle I think in years past, in
addition to how they need to just make sure everybody stays involved and engage.
And I think he'll get that defensive effort if you keep everybody happy offensively as
well too. Yeah, there's a four and a half game difference between the
Portland Trailblazers and the Dallas Mavericks from last season, right, and so to
your point, it can go any way. You know, the Dallas Mavericks
to easily find themselves is considered our Tier fives is just as easily as we
would elevate, say the Portland Trailblazers or the Utah Jazz into that Tier four
situation. And so it'll be interesting to see what takes playshaw. I think
the other thing as well too is ball movement, you know, because this
has never been Kyrie Irving's strong suit, his ability to move the basketball the
way like Luca would typically move the ball. He kind of, you know,
it's very different in their their ISO play and play creating abilities for them.
So to see Jason Kidd kind of, you know, kind of weave
a masterpiece together of two dynamically different ISO styles of basketball so that it be
comes poetry in motion for the Dallas Mavericks, I think will be the greatest
challenge more than anything. Maybe me gonna leap frog themselves. It's a certified
playing I ain't completely buying on that, and I believe you feel the same
way as well as too. But I do think that it will make for
an interesting assessment, you know what I'm saying as they try and spot and
look at, you know, whether or not the system and the style of
play is really suited for the personnel that the Dallas Mavericks will have on the
basketball court. Your tuned to the baseline. Calie Warrenshaw discussing the hot button
topics of the NBA and our twenty twenty three twenty four Western Conference preview coming
up. We're gonna talk about our Tier three and Tier two teams. These
are the teams that we believe are playing worthy and also are a locks to
be in the play in and so you don't want to miss out as we
cover those teams in discussion. But before we do that, if you like
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Cali Warrenshaw, We are back, Cali Warrenshaw. Baseline. NBA podcasts are
twenty twenty three, twenty four Western Conference Preview. As we are going through
our tiers right now, Shaw, So let's talk about our tier threes.
These are the teams that we know, or at least we feel confident,
are going to be playing themselves in for an opportunity to get into the playoff
picture. So we're looking at the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelican,
New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the OKC Thunder. Now,
Shaw, there would be a time where we'll be hedging our bets when
we talk about the OKAC Thunders. I want to talk about them first.
I'm with you on this, man. I think the Thunder are going to
be a team that people need to pay attention to. Matter of fact,
I really think people should. I guess you could say, wake up and
smell you know what I'm saying, the Thunder or and here the thunder that's
about to crackle under the feet of the Western Conference because this is one of
those teams. Shaw, a few wins here or there, we could be
talking about them legit playing and forcing maybe one of our tier Tier three teams,
I'm sorry, tier two teams back. You know what I'm saying,
one back as far as you know, trying to come out of that situation
and not be a playing type team. It's I mean, that's how good
we think the Oklahoma City Thunder team will be for this upcoming season. Yeah,
there's a lot of confidence here. So I think you know what we're
trying to do is give respect what some cautious level of optimism. There's talent
here that could like really boom depending on how things go. Is legitimate MVP
type level candidate. Right. The addition or getting chet Holmgren back here now
to complete around his true first first year in the NBA gives them a nice
defensive presidence but also a spacerfront at the five position that can clear things up
for SGA's drives and his mid range game as well. Too. You have
the wing Jalen Williams, not the big man, Jeleen Williams, who is
also ready to take another step. And I know you and I had some
some conversation about, you know what his level of you know, offensive capability
and professionalism will be going into the season, but I'm pretty high on him
in general. Then you still have Josh Giddy and Lou Dort. Right,
this is a really good basketball team with a lot of great parts. I
think they're going to be able to figure out what they do on the on
the on the offensive and defensive side, you know, with rotations of like
bringing in Berton's you know, Polkashewski still on this team. You know,
the younger Wiggins is on this team. All again, good basketball players who
can come in and do spot in minutes, and if they're able to get
anything anything out of the corpse that was as Victor Oladipo, that just allows
them to have another dimension. I think coming off that bench really excited about
the prospects of okay, see here this year, and I'm hopeful that they're
able to live up to some of these expectations, especially with Chet being healthy
and obviously another year of you know, kind of excellence romesh. Yet well,
this is a This is a perfect example of believing in the roster that
you've built right, believing in what Joe Presty has basically over the course of
the last five years has kind of put together weave together for this roster.
And I know at times people get really enamored when they see a team you
know, kind of in contention on the precipice, and then you got to
say, oh, bye bye bye, and then you start, you know,
giving up certain players and certain assets. And then when that team falls
short of it, now you have to work with what you have ultimately had
put together that might not you know, you know, conform to what the
idea was or any intentions are. This is a perfect example of Hey,
Holmgren was injured last year. Who knows what he could have evolved into,
but you can clearly see his presence on the basketball court for a team that
finished mid tier defensively in defensive rating. Right, So now with him just
in and of itself being healthy, he can help that basketball team defensively.
Then add these accompanying parts of players who can only get better offensively, and
this team was basically a top fifteen team offensively and offensive ratings. So when
I think about what the Oklahoma City Thunder have going for them, as long
as Joe as Presty does not pull the trigger too early, let these guys
grow and flow. If you have a bona fide MVP type player like SGA,
he needs to work with the guys around him. He needs to work
with the giddies, with the dorts, with the home grins. He needs
to be able to build his MVP like resume around the guys that he feels
confident with doing. I think given what they did last year year carrying that
over into this year, this is what makes the Oklahoma City Thunder one of
the more dangerous teams because they didn't have to get caught up in all of
the volatility of offseason moves. They added maybe a couple of players, whether
they work or they don't work, does it diminish what they already currently have?
Yeah, no, I agree, And I think the front court is
maybe you have some questions are are they biggie big enough and can to sustain
you know, any type of injuries so to speak. You know, again,
does the big Jalen with the y Williams, does he take another step?
You know at that at that power forward center position. Poku was obviously
slim, the slight in the frame, as as his chad as well too,
So do they have enough girth of that position? They even played Gidea
at some four last year, which you know, I found to be really
interesting just by virtue of his overall size, you know, at six state
sixty nine. But again not a super girthy guy when it comes to defending
you know, that four and five position. So those are That's maybe the
only question I really have. I think you can always say, hey,
is there enough shooting? But I think of Jalen uh with a l if
he can get history shooting up to even thirty seven to thirty eight percent,
that will be very helpful of Shad's willing to take a couple more threes,
you know, that will be helpful, and Getty just even be able to
shoot the corner three that would give them enough I think spacing on the floor.
But again, we don't know what Chet's going to be as an NBA
three point shooter as well right now too, But he's shown the chops to
be able to do that in college and obviously high school you know, some
years ago too, So I'm excited about Okay, See, I think Mark
Daganhell is also another you know, great young coach. So to me,
this is a team that can potentially get out of this tier and sneak into
the edges of a Tier two potentially. So now that we feel all warm
and fuzzy about the Oklahoma City Thundershaw, why can't we feel the same way
about the likes of the LA Clippers, or maybe the Minnesota Timberwls, or
even the New Orleans Pelicans. It's interesting because all three teams have different stories
that lead to the same ending with how we perceive them right like they're one
player away, or you know, they're you know, the roster is one
piece away, or if this person was healthy. Like, all of them
have three different pathways to the struggles that they've had over the last few years.
And if some have shown, you know, situations to have times where
they've been able to break through. Like you look a few years removed,
the Los Angeles Clippers were in the Eastern Conference I'm sorry, the Western Conference
finals and they didn't even have Kawhi Leonard on the floor. Right, you
look at the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that you know basically was hanging
around as one of the top tier top teams last season in the Western Conference,
didn't have Zion Williamson for most of it. Right. The Minnesota Timberwolves
went through its struggles because they didn't have Cat in and out. It was
held up by Anthony Edwards in that team. And I think everybody you know
has has rested on the idea that this team is Anthony Edwards to run.
Right. So all that being said, all of these three teams are taking
different pathways. Why is it that we can't feel confident of leapfrogging them as
surified, bona fide teams that can be better than the Golden State Warriors are
probably better than the Sacramento Kings is always still one thing hanging over them that
really determines their viability of being playoff contenders. I mean you answered, it's
it's simply the health. We just there's no trust in that, you know.
I like to where I can try to make the parallels to fantasy basketball
to real life basketball. So and in fantasy, guys like Paul George Kawhi,
Zion Williams, even Carl Anthony Twons have number one draft pick in fantasy
potential, but now there's injury concerns and you're seeing those guys go fourth and
fifth round, you know, from the fantasy standpoint. So I think there's
just this sentiment around the league and whatever way you engage with the NBA that
we don't know, we don't trust you to be there. You need more
people, as our man Jabari would say, if they're not there, then
you can't impact winning and your team can't win at the highest levels as a
result of that. That's it. That is all there is when it comes
to both right now, Minnesota or sorry Minnesota, the Clippers and New Orleans
specifically, if they're a guys are healthy, these all these three teams have
an opportunity to move up and really challenge I think in the Western Conference in
a way that many people are not even ready for. Especially I think when
New Orleans and the Clippers, I think Minnesota is is maybe one step below
that, even with you know, Anthony Edwards taking the proverbial leap everybody's expecting
him to do. But the boom or bust between Kawhi and PG when they're
right is again they're they're both elite two way players, elite two way players,
and we saw what happened with when Zion is healthy. New Orleans was
the number one seed for you know, a good majority of the season last
year. So that's all it is when it comes to these three teams.
Can I say something though, Shaw? And I'm not saying this because I'm
trying to, you know, cause controversy here. That's not my intent.
But I want to make sure that I'm being realistic with what you just assessed.
As far as both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as being two elite two
way players, I think the concept of the elite two way player is is
almost is almost dying out in a way because of because of what's happened to
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and you can even think the same argument when we
talk about Klay Thompson. I think that as they are getting older and their
game evolves, I think they're picking and choosing between what side of that two
wayness sort of speak. They need to prioritize to keep themselves either relevant based
on the bag they got, or keep themselves relevant on as far as what
they can contribute to the team that they're currently playing on, like the makeup
of the roster and what the expectations are to make them, you know,
viable for them right. And it's interesting to me because we still want to
believe that when the both of them are on the basketball court, the Los
Angeles Clippers can basically be one of the best defensive teams, you know,
And I'm done with that that thought process. I think that if you are
Tyron lou your focus has to be if you do not have formidable other pieces
that can go go out and score the ball. When Kawhi and Paul George
don't have it that night, they become compromised players because now the owners has
to be them scoring the ball. And we've seen this right one of the
good things about Kawhi Leonard in the past was he was one of the more
efficient scoring players in the NBA. He got more from basically doing the James
Harden get to the free throw line, get up there like seven, eight,
nine, ten, twelve times, and he winds up with thirty five
plus points because a lot of it is he's getting fouled, you know what
I'm saying, he's down in the trenches. He doesn't do that a lot.
Now he's got a mid range game, but it's more face up.
It's not you know, back down presidence type basketball. And the same thing
with Paul George because he shoots the three, he has to shoot it at
a high clip if he's not going to be driving the ball aggressively. So
it'll be interesting to see if whether or not Taiwan Lou is going to continue
to lean on the idea that this team has to be better quote unquote defensively
as much as I want to see this team look better offensively with those two
guys on the basketball court, well, I mean again, they have to
be on the basketball court, right right. I understand I don't disagree with
your overall sentiment that, you know, maybe the two way aspect of them
is being a little bit overblown because one they haven't been there to impact on
that side. But as a as a age, some of that the defense
is going to be the first thing to go. I don't disagree in that
capacity, but I think again, when they're able to turn it up even
situationally and then obviously assuming they're healthy enough to be in the playoffs, that's
where you can kind of see that effort on both sides of the basketball for
both of those guys. I think with Russ, say whatever you want about
him, you know, previous to this, he allows him to He takes
some playmaking pressure off of the both of them as they were both being utilized
as pseudo playmakers and point guards or point forwards, you know, in lose
system, you know, previously his arrival. The biggest caveat with the Clippers
still is do they get involved or finalize as Shames Harden trade and if he
comes over there and relegates Russ to the bench and Harden is now the playmaker,
hard as your third option is still pretty damn good. Again, assuming
the health all across the board. So the Clippers to me are a little
bit incomplete I'm surprised, you know, because of the rumors there that you
know, some people were as So we're confident enough to put over unders on
their win Twitter right now. But I think if they end up getting hardened
too, that just changes the trajectory of this team. Whether hardened and are
sorry, whether PG and Kawhi are both there at all times, Harden can
make up for a lot of that, especially during the coach of the regular
season. All right, your tunes to the baseline Cali Warrenshaw discussing the hot
button topics of the NBA are twenty twenty three twenty four Western Conference preview.
Let's shift our attention Shaw to the Tier three teams, right, like,
so, I'm sorry, Tier two teams. So these are the team Shaw,
that we think are are definitely locks for the play for the playoffs.
Right, Maybe one or two of these teams we might think might struggle so
far, may even fall back to playing worthiness, so to speak. But
at the end of the day, when you look at the makeup of the
rosters and the level of competitiveness, competitiveness on both sides of the basketball,
it's kind of hard not to imagine seeing them a shoe in so we have
the Golden State Warriors, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Sacramento Kings. Let
me ask you this, of these three teams, who do you think is
the weakest link Memphis? You know, the aspect of not having job for
twenty five games is the big, big caveat here too. But do they
have enough competency with Marcus Smart and even Derrick Rose to carry them and then
the continued dissension of Desmond Bane and hopefully Jared Jackson as well too. So
do you think they're fifty again? Do you think that they're a fifty plus
win team or do you think that they take a step back because of the
impact of John Morant and his ability and in him being suspended, Like there'll
still be a you know, a great team, and last year they were
second in the conference, but a lot of that was, you know,
they went on like massive runs prior to the the situation regarding Morant and the
suspensions. I'm just curious if you know, you think that the win total
for the Memphis Grizzlies will be so severely impacted that you know that step back
might actually compromise play into actually just being part of the playoff. I mean
again, and then even just the premise of your question, who has you
know, who's the least likely, who's the weakest link in this group?
And it's then because of the job factors, So they're even their win totally
over. Unders are already now at forty five forty six. Well that's less
than than last year, and I think that's expected given the John Moran situation.
And there's no I guess guarantee he's back right at twenty five games,
Like I guess you know, if he doesn't do everything that's necessary, then
that there's this possibility he misses more time. So it's probably a little generous
to kind of still put them here in terms of their talent, you know,
without with them missing such a key piece and crucial piece. But I
do believe in what Desmond ban is able to do. I think offensively.
I believe in Taylor Jenkins, I think as a coach as well, and
the overall depth that they had and getting Marcus Martin Rose as cultural centers to
this you know, my that's Dylan Brooks here. I think they'll be able
to still synk up and surprise some teams here, and ultimately you know,
compete for you know, a top six seed, you know, relatively,
He's I think one thing that will really help this team is having a guy
like Marcus Smart who doesn't take anything for granted. When we've seen the Memphis
Grizzlies look like a competitive basketball team, shaw they literally could compete with anyone,
you know, whether it be the Western Conference, Eastern Conference, who
have you right? They could they even if they can be undersized, they
can still match up with you. And I'm not even talking about that with
with John Moran because we've seen when the Memphis Grizzlies have been competitive and have
won games without John Morant on the basketball court. But what happens at times
with the Memphis Grizzlies, and I think at times is what compromises their ability
to make these critical runs, is they lose games that they really have no
business losing. They they somehow, you know, become distracted or their mind
is in a fog, and we see certain patterns and tendencies that are indicative
of a team that tends to be undisciplined. Now we can put that on
the coach, we can put that whoever will we put it on the players,
doesn't matter what happens is there usually has to be a player, it
has to be a voice, it has to be someone unified and the idea
that we can no longer allow this to happen if the goal is to win
a championship. And I think Marcus Smart is that kind of guy. I
think that's what can help augment some of or offset, excuse me, some
of the What I'll say is the fall off that we're anticipating will happen to
the Memphis Grizzlies, because it's not like Marcus Smart is a scrub. But
I do think as far as the discipline that is required on the court and
off the court for the rest of that roster, because you know, some
of these guys are going to be like, oh, I can't wait for
John Morant to get out on that court. That's our dog, that's our
boy, and they get too Morant dependent on the idea that for them to
make this work, he's got to be out there if they leaned on the
fact that they could be successful without him on that basketball court. Taylor think
he's could probably work with a lot more on the roster than typical, but
I think at times he feels strapped because most of these guys are so dependent
on John morank John Moran's playmaking ability, and I think you have to you
have to have a guy that doesn't believe in that nonsense, so to speak.
He believes that, like, if I'm out there, we can win
just as easily as job is out there. And I don't think you have
a better person like that than Marcus Martin. That's and that's me giving kudos
to a dude who I often spoke about the struggles that the Celtics had having
him on the basketball court because he was so one sided as far as what
he could give you. But he is such a well rounded player and a
great leader, and I think that's what's been holding to Memphis Grizzlies back these
last few years. Yeah, I think he's developed into a more than competent,
you know, offensive orchestrator if you will. He's not gonna wow you
with you know, miraculous passes and even gets you twelve fifteen assists a night,
like That's not who he is. But I think just kind of controlling
the tempo, getting guys into the proverbial spots and making the right plays for
the most part, make some risk but for the most part, I think
now, especially in this system, and he knows what he was brought there
to do specifically, so I think he's going to take that role on,
you know, tremendously, with a lot of responsibility, and again having a
like Derek Rose there as well too, I think that's going to be enough
to kind of steady them for the first couple of games, sorry, for
the first couple of months of the season, and to multiply hopefully keep them
in this tier. They'll get Brendon Clark back at some point as well too,
maybe the beginning of the actual calendar year, maybe a little bit later
than that. So if they can get that and Job back at that point
too, and keep their head above water, then I think they have a
good chance to kind of stay within this tier. All right, So let's
quickly talk about the other two teams that we have in this tier, the
Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings really didn't do a
lot in this offseason, and I don't think it was completely necessary for them
to do it. I think that this team is again kind of like how
we talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder it's about understanding the well roundedness of this
team, the weapons that they have at their disposal, and I think another
year under their belt, whether good, bad or indifferent, they're gonna be
a competitive basketball team and they're gonna make some noise, right and so,
especially with Mike Brown at the helm, I think you should feel very confident
about it. And with the Golden State Warriorshaw, it's really all about the
get It's all about the bounce back. It's about having all of your your
your your your weapons healthy, ready to go, and just buying into that
this is the roster that is good enough to compete with the likes of the
best of the best that's in the West. And so if that's what it
comes down to, we're gonna probably see another collision course between the Sacramento Kings
and the Golden State Warriors, which may be fun and exciting. Where we're
talking about, you know, the new heads ready to take out the old
heads, and the old heads is like slowly rolls soney, were ready to
you know, we're ready to do this. You you ain't you ain't leapfrogging
us, you know, to to the likes of us trying to catch up
with the likes of the Lakers and the Nuggets and you know, maybe even
the Suns or so to speak. It's just kind of interesting how these two
teams can play themselves into that level of defiance of where they want to fit
in to the to the likes of the Western Conference. Well, I mean,
I'll start with sacrament I think if you were talking about the next team
that could be out of this tier, I think it is them, you
know, because they there was a little bit of a surprise factor on how
they caught teams last year, and they were remarkably healthy throughout the year,
Sabonis and and Fox, you know, playing over seventy games, so that
if that can can can hold true again, then they have a really good
chance. They obviously got to improve on their defensive capabilities, and I think
they tried to address some of that, you know, was getting some bigs.
But how much of those guys like Jebelle McGee going to play, you
know, at the at the five positions bonis excuse me, Sabonis is a
full time five and McGee is just going to have kind of like spot up
minutes, and I don't know how impactful he's going to be, you know,
defensively going into this year, they've kind of even doubled down or tripled
down. I think in some ways in some of the offense, they expected
another leap, expect the leap rather from Keegan Murray. Uh, they acquired
Cris Duarte, So between Duarte and Hurder, they should have elite level shooting
on the on the floor at all times. Not to forget Malik Monk who's
still on this team. So it leads me to kind of wonder where does
Davion Mitchell fit into this equation because there's a lot of minutes at that guard
position and most of those guys skew towards the offensive side of the basketball.
They also added the euro League MVP to this team to kind of play at
that at that three to four position as well too, So to me,
I still like Sacramento. I think they can still be one of the better
offenses in the league this year. They keep it. But what you said
in the beginning is really true that they're not the Denver Nuggets. But this
is what we said about the Nuggets for so long. They just the core
guys kept returning over and over and over again, and that allowed the general
of the continuity to be a good basketball team, and I think that's what
Sacramento was trying to do here, like let's not go crazy in terms of
changes, and hopefully that will equate to some wins where they can be in
this tier. So I'm kind of grandfathering them into this one, but I'm
a little skeptical only because I think they did the surprise factors not going to
be going to be there for them this year. Look for me, the
Golden State Warriors, if they can just figure out a way to stop turning
basketball over and maybe this is a good reason why you have Chris Paul on
this right, the accountability factor to not turn the ball over as much as
the Warriors tend to do and have always done because they're risk takers. This
is what they do. Maybe they hedge their bets sometimes, maybe they don't
have to push their chips all in every single time that they play against really
one of the better teams who give them a very small margin of error to
work with. So I like the idea that they're going to hold pat and
try to make this work, and if they show again, you know,
the Warriors organization will have found a way to defy the laws of basketball.
You know what I'm saying, the rules of basketball sort of speak in their
own way, shape or form. They will again make us you know what
I'm saying, e crow on the perception of how to build a championship winning
roster and not saying that they're you know that they're shoeings for that. What
I'm saying is is that if they prove through the course of the year that
what they're doing can work and can be effective, it can boast pose another
problem to those top tier teams that we're gonna be talking about in a few
moments. That made I have the account that we can account for the style
of play that the Warriors are going to try to inflict or impose their will
on against the rest of the competition. Yeah, they're They're not. They
can't have another you know, Curry fifteen to twenty game injury. You know,
I think this year and I think still be at this level despite Clay
you know, saying he's you know, more or less fully back and ready
to kind of resume some responsibilities. They made some move some moves on the
edges. You know, Dario Sarwa plays as like a guy like to Michael
Green, not sure if Rudy Gay is going to make this roster as well
too. They're starting, they're starting the season behind the eight ball, presumably
with Draymond also you know, injured with with with an ankle injury. So
there's some questions here that I think we have to kind of suss it out
as a season you know, starts. But I think again you kind of
grandfather them into this situation as well too, because there the core of this
is really really still the championship level. They'll get Wiggins back and he won't
play three seven games, you know, like he did last year with whatever
mysterious personal thing he had going on last year. So there's some stuff to
that. And you get Chris Paul, whether he's coming off the bench or
starting in the lineup, in the starting lineup, you know, another level
of veteran leadership and a guy who doesn't is again as you live to a
great assistant turnover ratio, a lot of great things. That think for Golden
State, injuries the biggest concerns, but do they have enough to kind of
withstand some event? And I think they do and I think they can be
you know, in this in the second tier pretty firmly, all right,
Cali warren Shaw based one NBA podcast or twenty twenty three twenty four Western Conference
preview coming up, talk about the conference bosses, which teams will be talking
about all you know which ones they are only ones that are remaining. We'll
talk about why we think they're going to be the top dogs in the West.
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the NBA season. More twenty twenty three twenty four Western Conference Preview. Here
on the baseline, we're back Cali Warrnshaw Baseline NBA podcast or twenty twenty three
twenty four Western Conference Preview. Time for us to talk about that tier one.
These are our conference bosses, right, They're running things as far as
the Western Conference go. We think that these guys are the content is essentially
uh to make it out of to be competing for the Western Conference title.
That's gonna be the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Phoenix
Suns. The only caveat that I had to this Shaw is do we really
buy into the Phoenix Suns because of what happened in the off season more so
getting Beal or get ridding or getting rid of DeAndre Ayton. I think to
me, that's the more the more interesting questions that we say because of this,
this is why we would elevate them to be among one of the best
teams out of the West. I think they're just scary offensively when it comes
to what they're going to be able to do in the regular season. Health
aside, you know, Booker, Beale and Katie all have missed time or
miss significant time in recent years. But hopefully the sum of the parts there,
if one goes down, they still have two elite level all NBA type
players that can still be available, you know, to them. We know,
with Bill being the lesser of the quote unquote three. I think they
did a decent enough job. Nurkic replaces eight in a way that I know
a lot of people were upset about in terms of the talent disparity, But
I think the fit is ultimately going to be better there and not just somebody
who's crying for the basketball and wanting to create in a way that eight and
thinks he's going to be able to do in Portland. Nurkish will set screen,
he'll make he'll make passes and then take whatever scraps you know, the
rest of the guys kind of give him. Then, I think what they've
done to get Bull Bull and even you two want to want to not be
on this team. Eric Gordon, I think these are good rotation players and
they're not elite, you know, I don't want to go crazy here,
but they can suck up some minutes when you know some of that big three
is taking a rest. So the biggest question for me here is going to
go back to the defense. Will go long known to being a defensive minded
coach. So are they able to buy in and lock in on that side
of the basketball. That remains to be seen, but I think we're in
for Sacramento's offense was historic last year. I think offense is going to even
surpass that. I'd be surprised if they're not the number one offensive the team
here and potentially maybe even in the NBA history, with the level of efficiency
of those three guys can create. Do you think there has to be an
MVP level to either Devin Booker or to Kevin Durant for us to have this
kind of conversation when it comes to the Phoenix Suns. I'm interested in figuring
that part of it out, Shaw, because you know, we want to
believe that the MV having an m VP like kind of player means that you
know they they are the type of They're the type of player that's you know,
everyone's going to be gunning for and nothing's going to stop that guy from,
you know, figuring out a way to get their team to where they
need to be. You know, you already have a former MVP player in
Kevin Durant, you have a want to be in in Devin Booker. I'm
just curious of whether or not you think that that's what should happen. I
think Booker is the guy who excused probably more more towards that just by virtue
of being younger and what we're being here, what we've seen even in the
most recent playoffs, like he was electric playing a loutside Duran. Durant was
like, listen, I'll be I'll be robbing here. And I think Booker
is a guy who kind of has to be that. And Beal is going
to be the person who is presumably going to table set. But I think
Booker, we've talked about this many times on our show, his ability to
create for others as well too. I think that aspect of him also being
able to become more efficient as well as electric offensively allows him to sneak into
that m VP conversation. And yes, I think if Phoenix is going to
go, Booker has to be the lead, lead horse here with the random
Bale you know, doing obviously more than enough to kind of be his running
mates, but Booker has to be the lead guy, all right, So
we're confident about how dangerous and scary the Phoenix Suns can be. It sounds
like we think that they're going to be the top team out of the division.
Right. The only reason why I'm saying that is because the team that
we think might be following right behind him, the Phoenix Suns, which I'm
sure are people's from the Late Night Lake Show and our boy Jabbari are you
know, don't like us jinxing anything when it comes to the Lakers, But
the idea of us saying that the Lakers are just that formidable of a basketball
team that they should be in this conversation to be among the elites in a
Western conference. Is it more about the fact that it still has Lebron James
or is it more about what Polenka has done to this roster to supplement having
Lebron James and Anthony Davis it's all things can be true. It's Polenka's ability
to fill out the roster with you know, good rotation guys who seem like
they're going to play a role in Lebron's twilight. Here with ad trying to
finally step into that you know, number one spot. Whether that happens or
not, that remains to be seen. I think we're both skeptical there,
but also the second year of Darvin Ham as a coach and what he's able
to do. They love him over there, like there's no two ways about
it. Him has got in control of that locker room. He buys into
the guys. You see them, You see him hugging and interacting on a
regular basis, and I think all those things give a lot of people a
lot of confidence. Our guys, you know at Late Night Lake Show,
you know Ricky and his team, you know Omar, Jody et cetera,
et cetera, Quame and then obviously our gay Jabari. They're not bashful.
They're really excited about the prospect. They don't they're I think we're jinks in
them here. They expect this Lakers seem to be competing for, you know,
for a Western Conference title and ultimately an NBA title as well too.
So everything they've done makes has made some semblance of sense. I think at
least on paper, Cam Reddish Game, Vincent Torrian, Prince, Christian Wood,
all of the prizes that they got them at, why would you not?
And I think if all those guys can play in and against kind of
just slid in behind, you know, Lebron and ab and you know the
growing celebrity you know of Austin Reeves, this team is poised to make a
decent run. You know, It's interesting how Austin Reeves is just like in
the limelight so much. I'm trying to think of another Laker who had that
same kind of cachet, so to speak, where if everyone has this level
of confidence, it wasn't even I get Kurt rambis Well not not, I
mean in a quirky kind of way, you know what I mean, Like
I feel like Kurt Rambishu rambesque, you know what I mean. Or maybe
Robert or maybe Robert Robert Orriy will be a little Brian shosh, you know
what I'm saying, Like the like, oh no, maybe Derek Fisher.
I want to go Derek Fisher but but yeah, I'm running through all of
them, but maybe more so that Reeves is a more potent offensive player at
the early stages of his career and when we got the chance to see with
with Derek Fisher. He's all around though, he really is. He's an
all around, He's a connector, he's he's the you know, I think
if we were going to do our baseline Awards, you know, Reeves would
probably be the ultimate Google guy this year. Yeah, you know, if
we were going to do a preseason pick for that, because I think he's
going to be a connector offensively, defensively play making for them, doing a
lot of a lot of things to kind of make the Lakers go yeah,
no, totally all right Shaw. So that obviously leads to Denver Nuggets,
right as as our team essentially part of that tier. And without that being
said, they didn't. They lost a few players, no question, but
when you just look at the team and their makeup and the and and the
cohesiveness, and you know how they got to this point, it's really hard
to just say, oh, you know, they're going to take such an
extraordinary step back. No way, this team, you know, it's just
still it is still just built for like this next for the three a run
of three four years, easy to be competitive coming out of the West,
and I think that's how these rosters, like the Lakers and the likes of
the Suns, they built their rosters knowing that they're going to have to go
through the Denver Nuggets. Yeah, very very much true. You know,
there's some concern about the loss of Bruce Brown and what that will mean for
them long term, but I think Christian Brawn is ready. Christian Brown is
ready to take that next step, and they have a lot of confidence in
what he's going to be able to do as somebody coming off the bench and
being a little bit of a spark plug. He's a hustler. He proved
that in the finals. He really is, and a guy you also like,
you know from Fromiere's past to Justin Holliday comes into this, you know,
to be a nice rotation piece for them as well. Again, not
going to get a ton of minutes, but can definitely soak up some things
and you know, we'll be He's got range at six to six, hasn't
always proven himself to be like a great defender, but if you know,
if he can at least try a little bit on that side. Then obviously
gives them some spacing for Yokic and others to kind of operate. The biggest
thing for me with Denver is the fact that you have guys slided in the
most perfect roles now, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Junior. Both of those
guys have wanted to be Aaron Gordon was at one point a number one option
in Orlando. But when you have those guys as third and fourth options,
you are golden. And you've asked plenty of times, you know, are
they willing to accept that role? And I think after winning an NBA championship,
I don't think we're going to have any issues with either one of them,
you know, in that capacity. So that everybody knows what they need
to do. Rallied around Jokic, rally around Jamal Jamal Murray, and this
Denver Nuggets team has continued it should should be right there rolling in the Western
Conference, and everybody's gearing up to beat them. I think the one thing
that you can look at between indifferences to all three of these teams right is
who has the best clutch makers? Right? The clutch shot takers that can
hit those quality shots in crunch time or make the quality plays. And I
think it's easy to say that when you got Jamal Murray and Jokic, they
have the best tandem of the three teams that we're talking about when it comes
to clutch situation in moments, if you have over the spread of dominance,
like in a game situation, you have Lebron James and Anthony Davis and just
overall explosiveness that can bury you in less like within the first five minutes of
a game, you know what I'm saying. Or maybe if it comes down
to the stretch of clutch shots that have to be taken, you have the
Phoenix Suns. So think about that. Over the last few years, we
have seen the scenarios of either in the finals or in you know, the
conference finals or the finals where it's come down to those type of scenarios or
situations that have had to play themselves out. And you arguably have the three
best, most fit you know, dynamics on these teams, respectively. And
it'll be interesting to see when it comes to the conference finals of those three
teams, those two teams that are there, who of the dynamics of their
players has those opportunities to expose that and let that shine and come through to
eventually get them to the to the NBA Finals. I love it. It's
absolutely perfect. Yeah. Now, I would say, you know, the
Sons probably have the best clutch duo in Durant and Booker, Yo Kitchen Murray
are are right there. I think Yok is more willing to make the right
play than that's what always takes right. There's a difference in play than shot
exactly right. So but I think, you know, when it comes down
to it, you know, these are three elite teams here in the Western
Conference, and you know, be they should be fighting it out record wise
and the whole nine. What I am interested to see though, I'll say
the last thing from the Phoenix standpoint is how many blowouts are they in?
And I think if they're able to kind of do the work early in games,
then allows you know, Durant, Booker and Bill specifically the rest at
the end. You know, those years like when Golden State was just like
Molly wopping people with KD ironically right, that allowed them to just save Korean
and KD towards the end of the season in the playoff run because they didn't
have that many minutes on them trying to eke out regular season wins. I
would expect Phoenix is going to be in that situation a lot. I'd be
really surprised if they didn't have the largest point differential this year as well too,
just by virtue of having such an explosive and dynamic offense. Very well,
said my friend. Very good and something we have to look for as
the season commences. So yeah, very interesting to see how the teams will
handle each other, handle themselves when they're playing against whoever they're playing against,
and how the star players and the team collectively, you know, get in
it, get on them early, and you know, shut these guys down
through and there you go. There's your load management there it is right there.
Awesome show this week, Man, Really excited we had the opportunity to
break down the Western Conference. And obviously, you know what we said,
we're looking at the Lakers, the Suns, and the Nuggets is really being
the top dogs. But that doesn't mean that the course of an NBA regular
season can shake things up a little bit. So you know, I like
the prospects of us holding those guys in a very very high regard, but
I'm really looking forward to those other tiers shaking things up and making things very
interesting in the West. Yeah, let us know if you're listening here on
the baseline, who you think is the most likely to move up or down?
Sacramento, Memphis, New Orleans, the Clippers, Minnesota even in the
bottom and you tall in Portland, Like, what are the prospects? The
Western Conference is going to be extremely, extremely competitive, and it's very hard
to partake here on the tiers. So again, no disrespect, no disrespect
to any of the team. We had to put somebody somewhere for the purpose
of the conversation, so we'd love to hear what your thoughts out here on
the baseline. Absolutely for the baseline, Kylie warren Shaw, we appreciate you
guys. Thanks for hopping on boat with us for our twenty twenty three twenty
four Western Conference preview. Jip with you next time.