What is Kraco acting hardware knocks listeners. I am damn the Valley coming at
you very shortly with my fantabulous co host Adam Frommell. We have our usual
mail bag today, but while we were recording and had a great time in
locker room, come join us Sundays four pm. As of right now,
A bunch of people rolled through this time. It was great. There.
The Damian Lillard sort of news broke from Chris Haynes that said within the article
basically that Dame might be inclined to ask out because of his lack of confidence
in the Blazers to build a contender, and he wasn't happy with the response
to the coaching search, where it was the backlash was being put on him,
I guess by a ton of fans. We tackled that live, but
I wanted to give just some more nuanced thoughts on it. The hiring of
Chauncy Billups and I don't. I'm not. This is why I'm gonna keep
it quick is because and I mentioned this in the podcast when we actually talk
about the billips Hire separately before the Haynes news broke, We don't need to
add to the male call Cassidy commenting on this, Listen to women, listen
to how they're feeling. Those feelings matter, those sentiments matter, and they
are incredibly important. But the billips Hire itself is not on Damian Lillard.
That organization in Portland had the chance to be the first one to hire a
female head coach in Becky Hammond, and the hiring of a female head coach
is overdue. I don't care how you feel about maybe if you thought mikey
Antonio was a better fit for Portland. It doesn't have to be Portland.
It could be New Orleans, it could have been Boston. It's overdue.
There are female assistants in Becky Hammon, chief among them that have the experience,
the credentials. Carol Lawson's coaching Duke like head coaches in college. They're
going to they have the credentials to do this, So it's overdue. The
Blazers have the chance to be the first team to ever hire a female head
coach. They up to not to, which in itself is if that's the
decision, that's the decision. However they made. I'm not gonna say they
made a big performance out of Becky Hammond being a finalist, but it was
led to believe that Becky Hammond was a finalist. But then reportings come out
that they always zeroed in on Chauncey Billups. So you went from having the
chance to either maybe hiring a homegrown name, perhaps it's you know, someone
who's not as known one of these an assist, former assistant, current assistant
in Portland, or the first ever female head coach in the NBA, and
you then opted for someone who was accused of sexual assault rape decades ago.
At this point it was settled it. It was a civil matter. I
believe I've read a ton on it. I'm probably stumbling through words because maybe
I'm a little nervous or anxious here or talk about it the allegations. People
are going to point out that their allegations that there were no criminal chargers brought.
Believe women listened to women. That doesn't mean you have to presume that
so and so was guilty. But it happened, and there doesn't seem like
there's been this huge display of public atonement from Billips, who hasn't. It's
the best of my knowledge about it publicly, and I think what it more
so matters here is that the MBA is a privilege, and I'm more concerned
about the victims that are seeing someone of his status continue to elevate. And
it's not even the woman that was had went through the matter with Billos.
To call it matters just stupid, that's terrible word for it. Anyway,
it's other sexual assault victims seeing this, seeing the MBA elevate this person that
was involved in that. The placers apparently had their own investigation, And I
also want to recognize that, yeah, it's going to be men of color
that are disproportionately falsely accused of this. All this stuff matters. It's a
very complicated, important discussion that people are sensitive to. I'm just going to
say, listen to women. Believe women. The hiring isn't focusing on is
not And I think the logic behind it is stupid, by the way.
That's not This is just not the decision you make from a public relations standpoint,
like you're flexing as an organization, I guess, and you're you're not
made of teflon for this. You haven't been good enough, gotten far enough
in the playoffs lately. If you're Neil o'she to just be made of tep
flon and have your decision making process here be beyond reproach. And it was
on Neil o'she because Damian Lillard wanted Jason Kidd or Chauncy Billops, he did
not hire this head coach. I definitely think that there was probably a level
of the Blazers wanting to do what their star player prefers. Damian Lillard has
four years left on his contract, but he's been so loyal publicly to the
organization, and he's one of the ten best players in the league. You
want to try and capitalize on his window, and you've failed thus far to
do that. If he wanted Jason Kidd, Chauncy billups Kid immediately removed his
name, and that was another a candidate who had a history of the domestic
violence issues. Again, it's not on Dame that the hiring took place,
So I want to make that clear. Which disappointing I think was his response.
He, I guess feels like he was being attacked by fans, and
I do really empathize with, or say sympathize with, because I can't relate
to it. Professional athletes the social media long as they have so vast just
the breath of the criticism, the type of criticism, the language, and
everything that's thrown their way, it has to get overwhelming. But his response
was just really bizarre to me, where he was saying, do you want
me to apologize for not watching the news when I was seven to eight years
old? And I think he could have said that, said I didn't know,
and that's basically what he said, but it was kind of just deflective
in the sense that this was his tweet was really I was asked what coaches
I liked the names I heard in quotes, and I named them. Sorry
I wasn't aware of their history. I didn't read the news when I was
seven eight years old. I don't support those things. But if this the
route you all want to come at me, say less, I just it
seems more deflective. You simply could have just said I didn't know, and
I was seven to eight. I didn't know, and I don't support these
things. But I do think there's an obligation here then to not want him
to be your head coach, if that's how you truly feel about this,
and maybe that's not even his obligation, but now you're using the coaching situation
important as an excuse because this is the opening from the Chris Haynes piece.
The enormous backlash from the Portland Trailblaze's process to hire a new coach and his
concerns on whether a championship contender can be built have become factors that may push
the franchise player, Damian Lillard out the door. League's sources told Yahoo Sports.
Lillard has remained loyal to Portland, in large part through the tremendous fan
base, but over the last few days he's seen some of those fans attacking
him on social media for pending coaching higher He played no part in consummating a
preference of Damian Lillard's does not mean that the Blazers had to hire him.
It should be on them more so than the players, to do the due
diligence and Woes did say that they did their own investigation into Billips's incident,
and I really hate calling it that, but into the case against Billips.
The decision was not on Dame but he The response could have been better,
and I don't know that the entire fan base I saw people defending him.
I'm still seeing people defend them as I record this, Maybe we hold Damian
Lillard to an unfairly higher standard because that's the type of groundwork he said,
at least as a leader on the court and off the court of his team,
And maybe we need to learn to separate detach those two. But I
think that Damian Leward could have come out and said, yeah, I didn't
read the news. I seven eight years old, I don't support those things.
That wasn't what went into why I wanted him as a coach, And
then maybe the Blazers can even maybe that helps actual wage the response to the
overall hiring. But this is on the Blazers Damian Lollard, though I don't
understand how you get from recommending bill ups to then deflecting to then saying that
the hires what pushed you out. And don't blame the fans if you're going
to exit, because it's not the entire fan base that is criticizing you.
That is my official stance on this matter. I wanted to keep it to
under seven minutes. I did about seven and a half. So I apologize.
Listen to women on this listen to people of color on this issue too,
So I'm not trying to whitewash this whole thing. Hope you can at
least appreciate where I'm coming from. But let's get into the meat and potatoes
of this mail bag. It was a lot of fun. Hello everyone,
and welcome to the latest episode of Hardwood Knox. This is Adam frommel here
with my fantastic co host, Dan's Valley, coming to you live from the
green Room app We are recording this episode, so just a heads up if
you end up speaking at any point, and regardless of whether you speak or
not on this one, or if you're listening live or to the recording,
please go ahead and subscribe to Hardwood Knocks wherever you get your podcasts, give
us a review, give us a rating as long as it's a five star,
of course, and also follow the YouTube channel for Hardwood knoxs. Dan
has been putting a lot of effort into curating some good videos for that and
just having even more content. We're trying to do it for you each and
every day. So Dan, aside from working hard on the YouTube channel,
how's it going, I'm doing well over here. I mean, how are
you knowing if we're recording just this contentious battle between the Hawks and Bucks and
Atlanta looks thoroughly overmatched, but there's still tied one one in his series as
we record this, I don't understand Game two hasn't happened yet. Fair Enough,
it didn't. I don't think. I don't think the Hawks knew that
it happened exactly. I've sufficiently wiped it from my memory already. Just like
men and Black Style, just do them gone, you better hope that the
Hawks did too. Yeah, I don't have much confidence in that this.
You know, I picked the Bucks pretty handily going into that Atlanta Milwaukee series.
I just I think the matchup is terrible. Like the Hawks are not
prepared to exploit any weakness that Jannis might have. He is great at exploiting
whatever weaknesses the Hawks do have. There's just not really an answer for him,
aside from like hoping that Solomon Hill and Cam Reddish can step up,
which is not what you want to be saying in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And beyond that, I just I still think that what we saw in the
Game two, I'm denying exists was more likely to be the reality for Trey
Young. He's probably not going to have nine turnovers and shoot so poorly from
the field every game, but the Bucks have so many bodies to throw at
him. Between Jannis and Chris Middleton and p Tucker and Drew Holiday, there's
just such a plethora of defensive options they have to take away the unquestioned fulcrum
of the Atlanta offense. I just I didn't have a good feeling about this
series going in, and even though it is technically one one though it's still
one to oh in my mind, like, I just I can't see Atlanta
winning. Yeah, I had Bucks in five the obviously game one, maybe
rethink that a little bit. The just watching like Trey Young having like when
when the Bucks are switching, he's going from Drew to Jannis, is just
like that's harrowing because it's like, what are you. Yeah, he's gonna
have better games, but that's just like that's impossible. It is so yeah,
it's just a herculean task and he's not there yet, Noah says in
the chat. Feels like I haven't heard Adam in so long. He has
in fact abandoned us. Noah, so I have returned, though. I
hope that we hope that's a good thing. We started being on time ish
this week, just for you, Noah, just for you. So you're
welcome in advance for this poor content. But it's poor content that is also
punctual. I think that matters, and we have so we have a bunch
of questions. Obviously, anyone in the room is free to ask in the
chat if they want to speak, we will get you on here. Of
course, Adam is curating that. I want to start with I have a
rant. I have a bone to pick with people the discourse of the NBA
discourse, and I want to make it clear that the person who asked this
question is not who it's aimed at, because they phrased it very respectfully,
but Santiago, which is at Santi Sauce, which is a pretty good handle
as if the Suns win it this year, which playoff year would be easier.
Twenty nineteen Raptors against injured Warriors, twenty twenty Bubble with Lakers winning it
all, twenty twenty one Sons with playing injured team this whole playoffs. No
hate to any just an honest question. So I want to make it clear
Santiago is not the one I'm targeting here. But I saw some of the
discussion after Sons Clippers Game four that people were talking about, the how,
the lot of how the NBA gods, the basketball gods, fate wanted the
Bucks and the Suns to get to the finals because of the fortuitous playoff paths
that they've had. I would just like to say, with all due respect
and pardon my French shot, the fuck up this postseason, this entire year,
everyone has dealt with shit. I don't care, and I'm probably gonna
curse a Buns, so I apologize in advance. I was trying to watch
my language more of the podcast. But every team went through stuff. See
there we go, there Suns repression this year. Yes, the Bucks were
healthier than most, This was still a truncated schedule for everyone. The second
half was tough for a lot of teams. They still had to go up
against the Nets team that had Kevin Durant and took them to seven games and
would have actually beaten them if Kevin Durant had a normal human sized foot.
You're discrediting the Nets by saying that, I know James Harden wasn't healthy fully
healthy. I know Kyrie Irving missed a bunch of time in that series.
You play the teams that are in front of you, and that's all you
can do. And the other thing is, are we just gonna neglect the
fact that the Suns didn't have Chris Paul for the first three games of this
series, or does or two games excuse me? Or does that not matter?
Or that he came out and took a collective shit all over the court
in his first game back, because hey, guess what, he hadn't played
basketball and basically a month, and even watching him in Game four, he
looked better, but he still doesn't have like his same feel for the game
left like he had the passing. But we have another question that we'll get
to after this, just because it's topical about the pace of play with CP
three on the court. But they didn't have him. Devin Booker broke his
fucking knows and he hasn't been playing well, hasn't been shooting the same since
he had to take off his mask in the middle of Game four because he's
been fishting with it so much. Every team is dealing with things. Yes,
the Clippers lost Kauai, Yes the Lakers were banged up. Anthony Davis
is always injured. That's part of the calculation. With Anthony Davis. Yeah,
it's weird that Lebron James was injured. Lebron James is also age thirty
six, like, you can't necessarily count him to be fully healthy all the
time. The Jazz, they didn't have Mike Conley. What happens in that
series. Donovan Mitchell was playing on one and a half ankles. We don't
have to do this dumbass talk after everything that's happened. You know, Philly,
if they had different players, Joelby was playing on a partially torn meniscus,
but if they had a different you know player that was Ben Simmons who
actually cared about taking shots and not passing up wide open dunks. There are
caveats to every team, obstacles for every team. Let's not do this.
And the thing that really blows my mind is the rings discourse is, oh,
player X isn't great. Actually, Chris Paul isn't great because he doesn't
have a ring or somehow a failure. Now Chris Paul might get a ring.
And it was too fucking easy. I am so fed up. I
know that social media can't be the place for nuance, especially on Twitter,
where you have two hundred and eighty characters thread it or at least be fucking
smarter, because this is dumb, this is stupid, It's inane. I
can't, like I've had to I run brand accounts, so I'm on Twitter
all the time. I'm just not putting as much stuff in my own personal
things because they're just so much dumb mastery on the timeline right now, like
are we really doing this? And the bubble and this isn't again a shot
at Santiago. I don't know that it was easy. I mean, they
were sequestered and not there was a pandemic going on. They're probably worried about
the safety of their friends and family outside the bubble, So I don't and
look the Raptors to think that that playoff run was easy. By the way,
I definitely if I picked one, which I'm not going to, I
get like, if you had to pick one, I don't even know what
I'd pick, it wouldn't be the Raptors. And I'm gonna tell you right
now, just because they that series against Philly Milwaukee was like that was a
good team and it looked like, you know, the Raptors had a seized
control of that series and the Warriors were still the Warriors. Like I know
that Kevin Durant was injured, but like I that Klay Thompson got hurt later
on in the series, but Clay Thompson was still in that series. Steph
exists, Amon Green exists like I just I can't with the and last time,
I'm gonna say this not a shot at Santiago. I almost went off
on Twitter on Saturday night because of those takes about Clipper, the Suns and
the Bucks. No, it wasn't easy to get here. Yes, Milwaukee's
been healthier than most. They don't have Dante Devincenzo. They've also been shooting
bricks from threes more often than not. And I think you could argue that
there coach Mike Budenholzers bite making really good adjustments in Game two is a roadblock
unto himself. Every team is dealing with shit. Let's stop acting like winning
an NBA title is going to be easier for certain teams than any given year.
Injuries are part of the calculus, and especially this season and even last
season. I'm not going to discredit any teams that accomplished anything because the context,
the circumstances under which they came. We're just so unprecedented because of what
we were dealing with. So everyone who is thinking that the Suns are having
this easy road to the finals, that the Bucks are having this super easy
road to the finals, I implore you. I beg you as I started
at the top of this shut the fuck up. That was my rant.
I'm like sweating because it made me so angry. At at nine seventeen am
Mountain time, I got a text from Dan that said, I have another
rant I'd like to go on today, and I was just like, I'm
gonna green light that without even knowing what it is, just because I like
hearing Dan gets so worked about worked up about this stuff. I honestly thought
it was going to be about the recent coaching hires and the NBA kind of
like saying one thing about valuing and you know, wanting women to feel included
in the league and all that, and then going in entirely different direction with
these recent hires, you know, like using Becky Hammond as like a smoke
screen to make the Chauncey billups hire more palatable, or like the Mavericks organization
that has had toxic workplace culture and sexual harassment issues hiring Jason fucking Kid.
So that's where I thought you were going with this. But the funny I
want to say, real quick question. I didn't want to add to the
mail cauc Cassie of the Chauncey billups higher and I think you retweeted it and
you're probably gonna get into it. It's all these people like The Blazer's Edge
published a great article where women wrote about it. And my really, three
words, three words. Listen to women just on this. Just listen to
women on this. I'm sorry, but please continue. I didn't mean to
interrupt either, No, no, I was. I was just gonna say,
like the question that prompted your rant at the top of the episode,
I had the exact same planned response, albeit with a little bit less passion
I was. I was more just going to respond, like my automatic answer
to any question like that is, can you please point to one team in
NBA history that has not benefited from some sort of luck on the way to
an NBA title. It is inherent to the process. Part of winning a
championship is being lucky. It's getting a little bit fortunate, with not having
injuries on your own team, with having injuries to other teams with having fortuitous
matchups. You play who's in front of you, and you beat who's in
front of you, and that's all you can control. So like that's that's
just automatic go to response with this topic every single time. So I think
we have like the exact same points, just mine is a little bit shorter.
I just there was too much of it going around on Twitter, which
got to me. We do have a question in the chat unless you want
do you want to say anything on the coaching hars aside from what you just
said, which I completely agree with, not particularly I've I've just been frustrated
with the responses that I've seen to to post about that on Twitter and just
the willingness to immediately dismiss it. It's it's frustrating. Just be better,
That's that's all I've got And listen to women, because I'm not a fan
of pointing out that it was like allegations and a civil suit against Shauncy Bhillips.
It's making women, it's making victims of sexual assault feel a certain kind
of way, and that absolutely, unequivocally matters to get back to basketball.
That was quite the segue. No one in the chat ask question, how
is DeAndre Ayton so good? It's kind of baffling, isn't it just the
amazing progression we've seen in such a short amount of time because he was not
this player during the regular season. I mean, he was really good during
the regular season, but he wasn't quite this much of a takeover figure on
both ends of the floor. It's just I don't know if it's a confidence
thing, if it's him talking about Chris Paul being such a good mentor and
really empowering him to play this kind of high quality basketball, if it's beneficial
matchups, if it's the game slowing down and just him making the proper decisions
on both ends almost every time down the court. It it feels like one
of those situations where the switch flipped, as cliche is of an answer as
that, maybe I don't know that it's like some new skill development or some
x's and o's thing that's allowing him to maximize his game so much as just
the games slowing down and his feel for it just going off the charts.
It was just fun because, as you were saying, it just clicked,
Amy Sky said with da feels like it just all clicked in the playoffs,
Laye lock step there, and I agree with you. I think, look,
you were right about the regular season where I think we saw like a
similar peak. They were just so short because he was so inconsistent, and
he's put together the best stretch and most consistent stretch of basketball of his career
during these playoffs. I think what he's done defensively has been huge, hitting
the offensive glass, it does feel like he's getting to the like his shot
selection smart. I think he might just be more comfortable playing within the flow
of the offense rather than being this focal point, and so that he's been
able to focus on that. And then just what he's able to do defensively
is you you know, everyone they face so far, even the Clippers downsizing
at times, you can't play him off the floor, and that's huge and
all like the discourse has shifted to is he going to get a max extension
now? Which is wild because I'm counting myself as DeAndre and fan and talking
with the our good buddies homies from the Timeline pod about him earlier in the
year. They've always been spot on about him, and they've they've been objective
and accurate and sort of covering him as he goes. But at that moment
in time, I think I was higher on him than them, and that
more speaks to No, this isn't a victory of that for me. It's
just that's how turbulent his stock has been. And I think we're recalibrating our
impression of DeAndre Ayton what he is in the NBA. He was lauded for
his offensive talent when he was drafted number one overall. This is someone who's
like can compliment on offense and then be your back line anchor apparently on defense,
and it's going to hit the offensive glass like really hard. That's it's
a different kind of player, but it's sort of the mcale bridges of bigs,
Like you absolutely want that player on your team if you're trying to win
a title. Absolutely, And Carlo, I just want to say, I
see your speaker request. We're gonna get to you as soon as we finish
up on this topic. I just wanted to say briefly, like this twenty
eighteen draft class just looks better and better by the day. I mean,
just think about how many high quality contributors have already emerged from that headlined obviously
by Luca and Trey Young. But then we have DeAndre Aden and Shay Gil
Just Alexander and Mcial Bridges and Mitchell Robinson and Michael Porter Junior and Robert Williams
and Dante DiVincenzo and DeVante Graham and Jaren Jackson Junior and Jalen Brunson and d
Anthony Melton and Miles Bridges. The list goes on and on, and there
are role players even beyond that group who are making legitimate impacts on good teams.
This this draft class is going to be part of all time conversations down
the road. I will before you throw it to the speaker request I almost
want. I'm not I root for chaos, just as someone who covers the
league at large, but think about the memes. If DeAndre Aten and Trey
Young make the NBA Finals before Luca don Jag does, I'm just gonna be
here for those memes. So I'm already tired of that conversation and it has
ana. The conversation is stupid and I get X on every like radio interview
or podcast that I do is does this make the DeAndre Ayton over Luca Dontris
pick worth it? Or were the Hawk smart to trade make that trade the
Luca nontous trade, and it's like, you know, that trade is still
as far as me to talk about, like Cam Reddish is still a big
part of that trade, but he turns into but it's still so early and
that it takes away from the discussion. I think the jokes are going to
be spectacular though, if it's Tray and DeAndre reaching the finals in the same
year, not just before Luca dots, but reaching the finals in the same
year, right, you need to have you need to let yourself have more
fun. I have trouble with that with the with the Trey Luca trade.
I think like where I'm at now with it is very much that like the
Mavericks won that trade, but the Hawks definitely didn't lose it. I'm laughing
because Noah said the chack Kevin Knox's future Hall of Famer because you didn't list
him off. Oh, definitely a teen draft. I apologize for that glaring
oversight, but I'm still I'm going to go ahead. I'm just saying I'm
still mad they didn't pick Shay. You know, I was lobbying for Shay.
I know, I know, but I am gonna welcome Carlo to the
podium here. How is it going today, Carlin's what do you have for
us? How you guys? So can you hear me? Because I am
a problems sometimes. Yeah, we can hear you. It's just a little
bit faint on the audio. I don't know if you're a little far from
a microphone or anything. Let me take out my so nixt Chief's taking shop.
That's where we wanted that. That's just I'm just gonna throw that back
out there again. It still hurts, So imagine Rris Haliburn. That is
much better. Carlo. We can hear you much much more clearly. Do
you think that this playoff can be the passing of the torch between the old
guys and the new generation? Because I think that, as then pointed out,
there are no easy championship, and even if two of these UH Conference
Finance teams seem week at the start of the year so on SNS and Oaks,
we are going to see them in the playoff and we mischief or the
next before years. I think, yeah, I think it's a fantastic question,
and I'm really glad you asked that one, because I think that the
national NBA media, and you know, the talking heads that we see are
too reticent to promote that kind of passing of the torch that it does feel
like we're seeing. And it's not to say that the old guard is going
anywhere, you know, like we fully expect Lebron James and you know,
the others in that category to still be extremely relevant and playing at an extraordinarily
high level moving forward. But it does feel like these playoffs have been a
fantastic opportunity for the young guns to put their stuff on display. I mean,
I don't remember if I told you this already or not, Dan,
And you know, it almost feels like that, you know, I overheard
this in the coffee shop story, but like my wife and I were playing
with our toddler at a park the other day and saw some teenagers shooting hoops
at the playground pretending to be Devin Ker and Trey Young, and like,
that's got to be having everywhere. So it really does feel like this has
thrust those up and coming figures into the national consciousness in a way that just
doesn't happen without the opportunity of a chaotic postseason experience. Yeah, I think
it was people worrying about the ratings and stuff, and I'm you know,
if you want to worry about the ratings, I do think there's a discussion
to be had about how the NBA can improve them and needs to improve them.
If you don't want to care about the ratings, that's not your responsibility
as a basketball fan, So you don't have to care about the ratings.
I think this was a blessing, not even in disguise which is a plat
out blessing for the league, because as Carlos mentioned, this is serving even
if it's not supposed to be, like the actual harbinger that this transition is
happening. It's eventually going to happen, and you want these youngsters to be
appreciated just as much as a Steph and known just as much as a Steph,
A Lebron Kevin Durant, because they're the future of the league. Is
Luca front facing, We get it, But like Trey, it's important.
Devin Booker, who's been billed as this empty calories guy nationally, never never
locally there in Phoenix for too long and it took you know, I would
say that that was mostly gone through this season, but I think even you
look at the All NBA results, Chris Paul makes second team and Devin Booker
doesn't get consideration for either team really when you look at the scores and then
you look at what happened in the playoffs and how he really helped their sons
navigate CP Three's first his shoulder injury when he's trying to play through it,
and then his absence, and there's still that disconnected there when you're looking outside
of Phoenix. So I think seeing these guys in this stage is super important,
and then you're kind of getting it on the ground floor of these other
players like DeAndre Aten, Like, yeah, I know he was good this
season and he improved offensively a bunch as a sophomore, but like this is
still someone who like is in established and now you're seeing him on this national
stage. I think it ends up being huge for that type of player.
Dido, for like a McHale Bridges so and even you know, maybe even
for John Collins, just because the way he's played defense a lot in these
playoffs and like come up with huge plays, and yeah, when he's playing
with Clint Capella, he's not the primary screener anymore. And like he's still
found ways to impact the game, and so I think it even trickles down
further, like those second tier guys that know they're not as big or mission
critical to the league's future. But now these fans know them, they've watched
them, and they've generated excitement because it's the postseason. Tyler Ansel and the
chat asked with Lebron and Katie out of these playoffs, did your interest level
change in any way? I'm sure that for some people it did, because
you know, the more casual observers. And I want to be clear that
when I use that word casual, it's not like it's typically used on Twitter,
where I mean that as an insult, Like there are different levels of
fandom and we shouldn't serve as gatekeepers to fandom for sports that we enjoy.
I do think that there are some casual fans who are going to be more
disinclined to tune into playoff games without names and people who they already recognize.
But if you're just watching these playoffs to enjoy good basketball games, I don't
want to speak for you, Dan, but just speaking for myself, like,
no, like, I don't think my interest level changed whatsoever, because
ultimately I want the most compelling games and the most compelling outcomes. And if
that means that Lebron is carrying the Lakers through their injuries into the finals,
so be it. If that means that he's going to lose in the first
round for the first time in his career, and we're going to have an
opportunity to see Chris Paul go after a ring and the Devin Booker emergence and
see DeAndre Aden take that gigantic leap forward. Like that's highly entertaining to me
as well. I've always watched sports kind of from a legacy perspective. I
can't help myself, but like want to put things in historical context and see
in my own head, like how people are moving up and down that historical
pecking order for me, and that works for everyone, you know, if
Lebron and Katie were still there, like they're pushing against that upper echelon.
But at the same time, it's just as much fun to see new legacies
carved out and their absences have allowed for that opportunity, which to me is
just as compelling, maybe even more compelling, than seeing the same figures compete
each and every year. Yeah, I'm with you. And there's like there's
different levels of like the sea afying, like we don't need to get is
Katie a failure because like you couldn't leave the net like that stuff is like
too lowbrow. But I'm with you on on everything you said. And this
is I mean it actually kind of toes into the next question and it does
pertain to this series. But like there were even things on Twitter, I
think a couple casual like more and look, I'll say, like football,
I'm not really like into football, and so I'll watch some of the playoffs
or the super Bowl, like that's what intrigues me. And so there are
people that are doing that for the Mbyeah, they're not watching the regular season,
they're shoppering in for the playoffs, and you want to make sure that
they're still engaged and that yeah, they might tune out for Bronze not in.
If they are tuning in, you definitely want to make sure that the
cadence of the game is not being butchered and prolonged by the replay review,
which I think is it Scott Foster sorry sorry, which I think, which
I think is important. But we got to figure out a way to expedite
it. Otherwise I would prefer the randomness inherent of human error to these.
You know what was it was that Game two Clippers Sons that took thirty minutes
for the last ninety seconds. That's just unacceptable. And this is just tangentially
related to that. Aaron has two questions, and the first one he asks,
I think there'll be a rule change concerning the out of bounds calls Campaign
Betune in Game four, Beverly Book, Game two, Beverly Lebron Christmas.
What are your thoughts on that? What's the right call? This is like
a consensus thing, right, it's you shouldn't it shouldn't be off of Let's
use the I think the most Well, let's use Campaign Buttum, because that
was the most recent one in game four. It's just like, no,
it shouldn't be off Campaign if his hand was literally pushed into it, like
the ball didn't go out of bounds because Campaign like misdribbled and went out of
bounds because Nicholas Batoum forced it out of bounds. Yeah, if you're if
you're applying these high ultra slow motion cameras, you're going to be able to
change literally thousands of calls throughout NBA history, even if we're isolating it to
the final minutes of close games, because when you look at it with that
level of detail and forced perspective, you're going to notice things that you know
really don't matter that much, like, Okay, yeah, it might have
like slid off the tip of his finger like last, and that was the
final thing to touch the ball before it went out of bounds. He doesn't
lose the handle if the ball isn't poked away by a defender. So it's
hard to adjudicate intent, but I feel like there has to be some of
that here because it just feels wrong for a turnover to occur that way,
where it's clearly the defender forcing the ball out of bounds, and oh,
it just happened to graze his fingertip last because that's how the limbs aligned.
I mean, technically, yeah, they're the right calls, but they shouldn't
be the right calls. I hate that I'm agreeing with Jef van Gundy.
You know how much that bothers me. Well, and then in Game four,
I can't even remember what I'm mixing up the call, but like they
didn't review it and the call technically went the other way, and so like,
if you're not even gonna call it consistently in these situations, like,
at least do that and we'll get to Amy asks question just after the second
one from Aaron. This one is I would say spicy, not as spicy
as Aaron act. Is DeAndre Ayton better than Rudy Gobert on defense? Was
the other question I did not put in our document because I don't think we
need to discuss that. To be honest with you, as much as I
love my sons, CP three really slows down our pace in these past two
games. Playing pain in bigger minutes helps transition offense, which I think the
Sons are good at, and Aton is amazing in transition defense. Do you
think we should limit CP three's minutes in the next game. Nope, I
think he'll get better at at least allowing you to get into semi transition.
That's like Chris Paul is the the author like the advent of the semi transition
and three where it's like, no, you're not really running the floor,
but the defense hasn't set yet, So I would give it a little bit
more time. But I don't think limiting CP three's minutes ever, is going
to be the answer, unless he's actually dealing with an injury, which at
this point we don't We haven't. Like his shoulders seems to be fine,
So I'm not taking Chris Paul off the floor ever. And I also think
even and I do think the pace is a concern. The Timeline Pod guys
have discussed this in the past, that that's what CT like. Your team
adopts that sort of identity where it's more methodical, But Devin Booker kind of
likes to play that way too, And yes, he will get out and
go faster in those situations more often than Chris Paul. Still, I don't
know how you take Chris Paul off the court, and I think it also
matters just the chemistry he has with DeAndre Ayton and what he's going to say
to him on the court in between whistles or dead balls. So no,
I would not be limiting CP three minutes again unless he's dealing with an injury.
But they played him, what was it like, thirty eight minutes or
forty eight minutes when he first came back from COVID, So I don't think
they're worrying about limiting his minutes. I mean, having strategic variance is usually
a good idea. It's usually beneficial to the winning effort. But strategic variants
should be superseded by the yawning chasm between Chris Paul and Campaign. Like kudos
to Campaign for turning his career around to this extent that this question is even
possible. But Chris Paul's a little bit better at the whole basketball thing,
and ultimately the Suns are going to be better when they have their best players
on the court. Yeah, I don't. I don't even think that's a
debate. But Amysk asked, if the Suns make it out, let's change
that. Don't win three one Clippers, No, Kauai, that's the easiest
path to the finals appearance I've ever seen when the when the Sun's, when
the Sun's go through. Who do you think they'll match up better out of
the Hawks, Bucks? M I mean, I think you just want to
play the Hawks, probably because they're not as good as the Bucks. I
also, I do think the Suns probably have more answers for Yannis than most
teams, especially with this development of Aiden into a legitimate back line anchor.
But they also have the personnel to really limit Trey Young, which does more
to diminish the Hawks's chances than limiting Yannis does, because the Bucks have more
creators around him. You know, they still have Drew Holiday, they still
have Chris Middleton, who's able to get from scratch buckets and just about any
situation. The Hawks have a plethora of off ball weapons and good shooters,
but especially with Bogdon Bogdanovitch a little bit hobbled, they do not have a
little bit much yeah, a lot bit. They do not have as much
off the bounce juice. So if you limit Trey you've limited the entire offense,
and they have the personnel to do that. I'm with you. I
also think that, probably more so than any other team in Lanta would have
faced to that point should they make the finals, that Phoenix will hunt mismatches
with him. I'm sure because the Knicks didn't. We didn't see that,
Like Philly just didn't have the personnel to do that, And I guess the
Bucks like do it a little, but like they will the Suns will figure
out a way to put Trey Young like up against Devin Booker or Chris Paul.
The Bucks almost don't need to against Atlanta because Jannis is just an inherent
mismatch for anyone on the Hawks. They just they do not like some teams
have. You know, we we've we talked for years about Lebron stoppers,
right, and I think for years now we're going to be talking about Yannis
stoppers. The Hawks don't have one. They don't have anyone who can even
pretend to be one, So shame on you. They don't really they don't
really need to hunt mismatches fair enough. I do think the Hawks would match
up. I mean you could say this with the Bucks too. They would
match up a lot better against the Suns. If DeAndre Hunter was healthy,
and if cam Radish is able to work himself in a defensive form. We
know what he is on offense. That's made ecklier which is not good at
least so far in his career, they would be more interesting to me.
But I think you rather face the Hawks. But I just if the Hawks
make it out of the Buck series, I need to know what happened in
Milwaukee that they just imploded or like, did we like what? I just
don't know. But there's when you look at the Hawks roster like there's nothing
that Phoenix can't plan for, even like defensively, it's just like DeAndre at
and versus Capella or Collins. Awesome. You could put Michal Bridges on Trey.
You could put Chris Paul on Trey. You could put Jay Crowder on
Trey. You probably shouldn't put Jay Crowder on Trey. I'm gonna retract that
back. You put Jay Crowder on like Bogdanovitch or Gallo, who's been like
he's has his hair has come in. As he gets more hair, he's
gotten more good basketball under his belt. I don't know. It seems like
those two things might be related. So yeah, I would rather face in
Lanta. My hunch is having picked Bucks in five, I think they're gonna
end up facing Milwaukee. I don't think they match up poorly against Milwaukee.
I think Aton might become the single most important player to the Suns in that
series, though maybe Jay Crowder just because though are gonna be the guys that
are going up against Yannis. I think that's fair. I do think that
the discussion with Hawks Bucks could have changed drastically had DeAndre Hunter been healthy,
because there's there's your best chance of having somewhat of a Giannest counter. Yeah.
No, I'm in total agreement with you. That's something that the Hawks
are gonna need to look at in the off season, though. Is they
need like they still need Wings because they have Kevin Hurder, they have Cam
Reddish, they have DeAndre Hunter, but like Hunter is really the only two
way guy for them, and Reddish is not going to go up against the
bigger Wings defensively. I think Kevin Hurder is just saddest moments and like he's
great on offense. But so that's something that they need to look at.
I don't feel validated. I do feel validated that in one of our previous
episodes going into the playoffs, we were trying to figure out who was going
to be like the biggest name to emerge from these playoffs, and Hurder was
my pick, And I feel like that's been kind of justified so far with
his his big Game seven performance in the of this series and just the all
around importance. Yeah, for sure, I would argue that Trey Young's immersions
might be a little bit bigger than thank Kevin Herder's, but I guess,
you know, non All Star Trey Young. That's fair. We're gonna leave
Bucks, Hawks and Sons Clippers to talk about the NBA at large. Now,
Karrigan ask, excuse me, as I'm choking. If the Utah Jazz
were forced to make a trade, what would be the most likely move.
I know you hate these types of questions, but if you have an answered,
moron to go first. Otherwise I will take the talking stick here as
I am want to do. I mean, I think it's ultimately anything that's
not breaking up the core. I don't think that there's good reason to move
away from the Rudy Gobert, Donnovan Mitchell Mike Conley pairing. It's gonna be
something on the periphery. I think. So the thing that I think depends
on they're not moving Rudy Gobert Donovan Mitchell like that is just I mean,
it's weird that Rudy Gobert liked that post that said he needed to get the
ball more. So there's like there is a weird dynamic that we knew that.
I'd be flabbergasted if one of those two guys removed this offseason. But
you do need to one of the things I think it is depending on Alrea.
You bringing my Conley back, I think you have to, but like,
does he want to go somewhere else. Let's assume my comedy comes back.
Because I'm not the Jazz were the best team in the regular season.
I don't necessarily know why he'd want to leave, and he's very important to
getting Rudy Gobert the ball. Speaking of Rudy Gobert, liking that post,
you do kind of have to train a member of like the core there because
you look at the Jazz's core is like those eight or nine guys, and
so when you go up and down their team in terms of untouchables, you
have let's say those three, and mostly because Conley's a free agent, I
think Royce O'Neill has to be, by default the next most untouchable player.
He's probably the most attractive trade asset. But unless you're getting back someone who's
a lot better than Royce O'Neill has a better defensive scope, he's your single
most important perimeter defender at this point. So then you're looking at Joe Ingles
expiring contract thirteen million. Jordan Clarkson has three years like thirty nine million left.
Did just win six Men of the Year. You have Boyana Bodanovich two
years at like thirty eight thirty nine million, a hair of an overpay,
but he is good and he can be a defensive liability. But he can
also like if he has to go up against stronger wings who aren't going to
look to really push their own pace, he can hold his own. And
then you have Derek Favors. I just don't know what Derrick Favors value is
when he has two years, you know, a little under twenty million dollars
left on his deal. I think what they the type of player they would
target is you need a wing who can defend some other bigger wings and maybe
not crater your offense. And you'll also need that wink to be available for
pennies on the dollar because you don't have trade assets. Their best package is
after the draft, you trade number thirty and then one of your matching salaries.
Joe Ingles might be the most attractive one because he's still really good and
an expiring Derek Favors I think is semi useful because he's so cheap. I'm
curious to know what teams around the league would think of Jordan Clarkson and the
trade that I've sort of bandied about, and maybe it's straight up because Clarkson
was so good this year. Clarkson for Josh Richardson. Clarkson goes to Dallas
that needs another shot free or desperately, and Clarkson's going to create shots.
How comfortably you feel about paying him long term? That's on Dallas. Richardson
was terrible this year. He has a player option that I'm not sure whether
he'll pick up, just because I assume you would get at least that much
money twelve million dollars on the open market, but for how long and can't
you up your value? But if he opts in at eleven point six million,
and I don't, I honestly don't have a feel for whether he'll do
that. That's the type of player that Utah needs because he was so bad
on offense this year. But they just generate so many, so much space
and wide open looks that that might be the place for him. And so
that would be if I'm them, that's the route I go. I just
I'd be curious to see what the Jazz think of that, and even what
the Mavericks think of that. It's like a weird challenge trade. And I'm
not trying to discredit how good Clarkson was this year, but he's just he's
such a wild card. And Noah says it has to be Boyon. I
feel like, I I get where you're coming from, Noah, but like
he makes so much money that unless you're also cutting peril in the process,
like which player are you going after that you need to give up this eighteen
million dollars salary for and none of them things brace them on. Okay,
I do have one. I think that if Portland is looking to change things
up that Robert Covington, who would be on an expiring deal worth just under
thirteen million dollars, would be a really intriguing target for Utah just because you
have that off ball defensive weapon who also has some three indeed juice to his
game. That would be a dream target. But it is reliant on Portland
being willing to change up how they're doing things and making their defense worse in
the process. That might be like a third team situation where because I think
Boyan could help. Look, he's got like fifty percent I'll pull out triples
in the postseason, So I think there'd be teams like the Knicks would take
him into cap space and a heartbeat like that, or san Antonio might do
the same. You obviously want value for him, So yeah, if you
want to make a big spin like you're talking about, and maybe even think
bigger than Robert Commington, Like if you're attaching a first to bow Yon,
maybe there's a third team. Maybe that gets Portland thinking for some reason if
they decided to go a different direction. But if you're trying to aim higher
otherwise, I think like a Josh Richardson type player, someone who'se values a
little bit lower than it should be, but who you know can help you
where we're not going. Oh, they had Shack Harrison and didn't play him
type player because we can name like David Nawaba would be a free agent target
for them. But are they actually gonna play David Nuaba in the postseason?
Like I'm trying to think of someone they would have fired to actually play in
the postseason. Yeah. Right. This next question comes from Alex Khalifa asked
our Knicks fans in for a letdown next season. Now, before you answer,
I will say we did record a Knicks pod with the folks from Knicks
Film School Luire pods homies just like the Timeline pod, So listen to that.
I did ask, We talked at length about that, but I'm curious
as to your thoughts on that question. No, wait, Noah answered it
for Meeson, the answer is no. I mean, it depends whole on
the expectations. If Knicks fans are convinced that this team is set up to
take a major leap forward beyond this season's excellence, then yeah, there's probably
going to be a bit of a letdown. If the expectations are more realistic
and realize that there are legitimate issues with this roster, it's going to be
tough to figure out exactly how to improve it, especially with a new contract
looming for Julius Randall, and we might be looking at another first round appearance
and a tough series in that opening round. Then no, it's probably not
going to be a letdown. I do think that the newfound culture around this
Knicks organization, with Tom Thibodeaux leading the charge, with r J. Barrett
developing, with Derek Rose becoming a really useful player, with Julius Randall taking
these massive leaps forward, this roster is set up to be a continued playoff
presence in the Eastern Conference. It just isn't necessarily primed for that gigantic leap
forward. I agree with you. I think what a lot of people are
under estimating is that what Knicks fans want is for their team to operate like
a normal team. And so if they do that this offseason, where they
don't get out on any bad contracts, make any bad trades, they'll be
able to accept regression in the standings because look, given the season, I'm
not saying it was easier for them, they were just healthier than most teams.
I don't know that you could be like they need to be four in
the Eastern Conference, because that's not realistic. They also have a lot of
dudes that are free agents that they might not keep, Like Alec Burks is
going to be in demand, I would argue in Olyngs, no Well will
be in demand. Reggie Bullock. You're speaking of people that are fit well
in the Jazz. They can't afford them. But like Reggie Bullock is going
to be in demand, Noah says, Adam is treading on thin ice right
now. So well, okay, so let's do this, we're gonna The
Knicks went forty one and thirty one this season. They were the fourth seed
in the Eastern Conference, winning the tiebreaker over the Atlanta Hawks. So let's
set the over under at the at four point five seed for next year.
Where are they going to fall? I don't look. I think the roster
is so fluid. No oneh said under, and I would agree with him.
But in this case, there's under me and like they'll be a top
four seed or they'll be below. I would say below it. And what
I'm so this would be the best way to frame it for me is if
if that happens, it's not necessarily a bad sign, because the East could
be deeper next year, just like what if the Pacers are healthy, Boston
could be better, Miami could be better. But the other I think,
what you need to look at this offseason, and that's look, I like,
we're no, I'm just asking for five hundred. Like honestly, I've
suffered for too long. I get that sentiment. If you get there without
doing anything detrimental in the process, more power to you. But I would
I would argue, and I'm not endorsing this, but if the Knicks do
regret substantially, it's probably because they didn't prioritize the immediate picture, and that's
a fantastic sign, in which case you shouldn't be disappointed if that happens next
season. If they want, let's say the Warriors really want Julius Randall.
Let's say, and they're willing to give you number seven and fourteen for Julius
Randall and then your two first round picks or one of your two first round
picks at nineteen and twenty one, if you make that trade, and you
don't have to, but if you get number seven in this draft. And
I'm not saying Warriors, you watch Elise trou I'm trying to use this as
an example that shows a forethought that, hey, this season was great,
we're not good enough to win a title. The flip side of that would
also be if a star becomes available. If Damian Lillard is Chris Haynes reports,
I don't know if you saw that, which is and we need to
cover it because it's pure comedy, actually so, but let's quickly if Damian
Leward wants out of Portland, if if Bradley Beal wants out of Washington,
Zach Lavine's kind of fringe. I don't know how much you give up to
get him. I would still, you know, here are the Knicks looking
at where you are. Maybe you make that type of move. But where
it gets discouraging is if they go all in on free agency, because they
can have more than fifty million dollars in cap space, and they won't actually
because I'm assuming they'll keep some of their own guys, maybe even Derrick Rose.
But that's what would be. That's how you look for progress here,
is that it can't be tied to where they finish in the Eastern Conference because
the Eastern Conference in the middle is fluid, like right now, because we
don't even know what's going on with Philadelphia. You have Milwaukee and Brooklyn at
the top. Are you willing to put pencil in any other two teams up
there at him? I think you can make a reasonable case that Atlanta will
be up there, just given how much is present. No, I mean
here, you're right. No, what he's treading on, he's treading on
saying ice nor No, I'm I no, No, I think it's I
think it's fair. But like, would you even pencil like couldn't you talk
yourself into MABE, Miami or Boston being better than Atlanta next year. I
think I would have trouble doing that at this point, given what we've seen
in the playoffs and just how much young talent there is to still develop.
Did you I did not? Joy love this? This is great. Thank
you, Jacob. I think Adam stacking the deck of guests in here.
Welcome Jacob. Though we have a question in the chat though from going up
from AMYSK, does Kate Cunningham make Detroit a playoff playing team right away?
I think the world of Kaid Cunningham held he would be my clear cut number
one pick at this stage. That is most likely not going to change at
any point in the pre draft process. But for two reasons, I don't
think that you can keep that amount of expectation onto him and the Pistons in
year one. One of the reasons is cunning him himself like ultimately, rookie
guards tend to go through some struggles during their initial NBA experiences. The speed
of the game is entirely different, and Cunningham has the profile of a player
who might require a bit more of an adjustment period just because he's already so
turnover prone, averaging four turnovers per game at Oklahoma State as a freshman.
And you can easily counter that by looking at the quality of the offense around
Tim which was pretty much non existent. There aren't any other NBA caliber players
on that roster. Maybe there are a lot fewer turnovers if he is asked
to do less, if he can rely more on those kickout passes to his
teammates who largely just weren't hitting those open looks. But he still has the
profile of a guy who is going to experience some degree of acclamation to the
NBA. And the second reason is the Pistons. They are not really in
a position to make a gigantic leap. You know, Jeremy Grant showed that
he was such an improved player this year, but beyond that, I don't
know what you're looking at with this roster where you're like, they do have
enough talent to immediately make the jump up into playoff contention in a deeper,
better Eastern Conference. The only players coming off the books are Dennis Smith junior,
Wayne Ellington and Hammadugiallo and Corey Joseph as a non guaranteed contract. But
who on that roster are you pointing to as like that number two, number
three guy beyond Jeremy Grant and Kaid Cunningham. Are you counting on Killian Hayes
just making a massive sophomore leap despite not seeing too much from him during his
rookie season, where like Isaiah Stewart suddenly blossoming into a two way force.
There are pieces with upside here, but this is going to be a little
bit of a longer rebuild than fans might want to believe. Yeah, I
think we'll rediverged. I'm probably higher on the talent they have in place than
you. I like the cadence to Killian Hayes's game in some of what we
saw for his eighteen games, but it's going to take time, and Sadiq
Bay having more balls skills than I think, and you had him first team
All Rookie when we did our all Rookie teams, so they have the talent
there. But I think what you the most salient point you made was that
there's gonna be a learning curve for Kake Cunningham just because the type of role
is going to be expected to play. My question, do you, I
don't know if you saw Sam Passini of the Athletics report, and he's still
mocked Kate Cunningham to Detroit, So I want to make that clear. But
they were like rumblings that Troy Reaver was gonna look at four or five guys
for the number one spot. Do you say, and I think the comparisons
being made, or that this isn't the Zion draft. Where's that much of
a no brainer? Do you think, honestly, like just be crassed with
it? Should any should they be considering anyone but Kaide at number one?
Or should they be even considering trading out of number one? I don't think
they should be considering trading out because this class is so strong and does have
so many options who could be future superstars. I don't think it would be
too ridiculous to be considering a few other players in this spot. I'm firmly
of the belief that when you have the number one pick, you take the
best player, regardless of how he may fit with the roster. If you're
worried about how Killy and Hayes fits with Kaid Cunningham, that's not really a
reason to not draft a player as talented as Cunningham. But I do think
high enough of Evan Mobley that I would understand. He very much feels like
that next evolutionary modern big who can just be a total game changing presence on
both ends of the court. There are still flaws to his game, but
I do think he is good enough to at least be in that conversation.
I also see it with other guys like I've used Scotty Barnes as another option
who can just do everything that you want from a player in the modern game.
I think there's enough upside with Jalen Green to justify that if you're just
entirely sold on him after the workouts. I don't think Cunningham is like that
mortal lock to go number one, even if I do believe that he's the
best player in this class. I don't see it for Men and Mobley the
like. I know he has the ball skills that would make him transformative offensively,
where if someone like me he's going to say, I'm not drafting a
big at number one, number two, it just seems like it's so slow
to me, and I'm just curious as to whether it's going to translate an
MBA speed and so Kay Cunningham is just the guy to me and if you're
not going to pick him, you should trade out. But I wouldn't trade
out like I would take Kay Cunningham, And it wouldn't be like you know,
we would that would be that discussion wouldn't even be had they they be
already moving on to the rest of their draft prep work, offseason prep work,
like Kay Cunningham would be in Detroit. You've done more college research than
I have. But just like having watched what I've watched with Evan Mobley,
I just can't talk myself into him over Kate or even if you're gonna go
Jail and Subs or Jail and Green. Even on the defensive end, just
the foot speed that he has there and his ability to entirely shut down the
paint and still cycle out to guard in the perimeter. I just I feel
like he is like in that dam out of Bio mold. That's awesome,
But Bamat of Baio is not running an offense either, and he's supposed to
be the transformer big. He's a great passer, but you can't play him
without another primary ball handler. And I think if you have the opportunity to
draft At and Kate Cunningham, draft bat and Kate Cunningham the which this is
my at Dan fa Valley asked which team is best set up or most likely
to trade for Damian Lillard if people comes available. I don't know that I
even want to like Grace that with the response, I mean, it's probably
I think people are gonna assume if his way than Knicks. I don't know,
given where the Knicks are at that you could say he cares about winning
and wants to leave what the Blazers have for what the Knicks have. You
would have to be like because think about what they're gonna have to give up
to get him, And it's probably RJ. Barrett and IQ are in that.
And so like his Dame and Julius Randall, the team would be probably
Philadelphia, right because Ben Simmons is going to be the centerpiece, right and
so and they can include whatever else they want to attach to it. And
also like maybe does Dame want to go there? Who knows, But he
has four years left on his contract as an extension even started. Maybe he
has three, Like he's not, yeah, he can kind of dictate terms,
but like you have four years left on yeah, he has he has
three. So like he's not dictating necessarily or shouldn't he has four? Oh
my god, I can't. I can't count he has four, so like
he can't really dictate terms as much as even and James Harden would have.
That was a quick one. This question I found interesting came from God.
Sorry I wrote that on the pronunciation of this Greg Wa Do you think Ben
Simmons is done being an All Star starting next year? I definitely do not.
I mean, he has legitimate flaws to his game that have been exposed,
and severely so. But let's not forget that he is arguably the most
versatile defender in the entire NBA who is going to be a yearly threat for
Defensive Player of the Year in a mainstay on all defensive teams. He's still
one of the premier passers in the association. He can finish around the basket.
He's a transition threat. He has a growing game as a cutter.
There are significant weaknesses, but he is an extraordinarily talented basketball player who even
with all of the free throw flaws and the inability to even touch the ball
down the stretch of close games in the fourth quarter, rendering him as some
kind of weird like hybrid point guard, wing three and D player minus the
three, Like he still makes such an impact in the first three quarter that
he's providing positive value nonetheless, and in the regular season we don't see those
flaws exploited as much. He's still going to put up big numbers. He's
still going to be one of the better players in the Eastern Conference or should
he be traded to Portland or elsewhere in the Western Conference and he's going to
be in the All Star conversation. Maybe he won't make it next year because
the narrative has shifted so much after this postseason series. But like he's what
twenty three, I want to stay, off the top of my head,
twenty four Liket's there's no way that he's not going to be in the All
Star conversation again. Yeah, forever. Sure. But I will argue that
this could be a DeMar Derozen type situation where you've seen him become a liability
enough in the playoffs where you dismiss some of what's happening during the regular season.
I don't know if that's right or wrong. I would probably lean towards
it's okay. But because we've seen him to struggle so much. Even if
he puts up those numbers, I think people are going to be inclined to
go to a different direction. It's sort of the the inverse Trey Young where
people were wondering, oh, could he be look at the numbers he put
up this year, he should have been an All Star over Ben Simmons if
we're gonna go by that and it did he make the All Star team?
No, he didn't. I can't remember, but he didn't. So now
he's gonna get more consideration because of what we see him do in the playoffs.
So I actually think there's a chance that for the next couple of years
unless we see a measurable improvement in his attack mode, and certainly next year,
I might be a little like or just his free throw shooting. Does
he do anything to expand his range? Maybe if he gets traded, it'll
be a different story, But it wouldn't surprise me if we don't see Ben
Sims in the All Star Game for the next few years. Where I think
people sort of looked at the mar derosion. It's a different players, but
like they looked at his struggles in the playoffs and it kind of eclipsed because
he's still a great regular season player, so and I would still argue he's
valuable in certain playoffs situations. Amysk asked, Dan, I know this is
whild, but could Phoenix prepare package for Dame if for some reason CP three
doesn't resign. I mean they could because you have eight and you have bridges,
You have Cam Johnson, you owe your twenty twenty two pick to Okay,
see, but you have the rest of your picks. You still have
Jail and Green if there's any intrigue there. I think what you need in
that scenario is the gall to be like, Okay, we're gonna gut our
roster after losing CP three. So you're losing CP three and then losing your
supporting cast, like what is Jay Crowder, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard,
and then a bunch of like veterans get you, like can you get Robert
Covington back in that deal as well? But the other thing would be you
need Portland to wants would be rebuilding in that scenario, not trying where I
think Ben Simmons allows them to straddle two timelines. I don't know if a
package built around let's just say, Cam Johnson, Bridges, and Aden.
I think that would have to be like your starting point. I don't think
that does the same, so they could. I don't think you're getting Lillard
without either Aiden or Booker, so I do feel like you have to start
there. Yeah, no, you're first of all, if you're giving a
Booker in that trade, I'm not making the trade because it's defeats the purpose
of getting Dame. But I agree with you. Aten has to be there,
with Bridges and probably Johnson, then probably draft Equity. So I think
they could. I just don't know that they would. Let's try and blow
through a couple here before we get out of here. I do have one
quick one from Sacktown. Underscore Slovenia asked how good were the Kings against playoff
teams this year? The answer was they were not good against playoff teams.
They were ten and fourteen against West playoff teams, which was actually surprisingly pleasant.
Then they were six and fourteen against the East. That's sixteen and twenty
eight overall against playoff teams. Now, if you're looking for some just like
positive, this is impositive. They were fifteen and twenty six against teams above
five hundred sixteen and fifteen against teams below five hundred, so they did have
a winning record against sub five hundred opponents. What I found intriguing is that
in games where the point differential was plus or minus three points in the final
two minutes, the Sacramento Kings were seventeen and twelve. So yeah, there's
some variants. Well, there's probably a ton of variants and randomness in there.
But if you're a Kings fan and want to look to some encouragement,
you had a winning record against below five hundred teams and you played well in
some big time moments. So very curious see what they look like next year,
because they still think there's a chance that they blow it up. Do
you have anything to add to that at them? Not really. I think
you covered that one. I have two questions left, and I think this
one from Canal set the isn't cited by the fact that Cleveland ended up in
number three in the lottery, and so people think that there's a chance Evan
Mobley could fall there. Which teams should trade for Jared Allen. I want
to make it clear it have to be a sign and trade because the restricted
free agent that's not impossible. It's just it would have to be a team
without cap space that wants him, or you know, since Cleveland has the
right to match, you have cap space, but you want to work with
Cleveland because they're not going to let him walk, they'll match it. My
question you would be, would you pay Jared Allen and draft Evan Mobley.
Jared Allen's going to cost you at least fifteen so you would? You would?
You don't care. I think it goes it goes back to the previous
answer about Kid Cunningham, where I think at the top of the draft,
with this caliber of player, you just don't worry about the fit and you
figure it out later. And I do believe that Jared Allen is good enough
to be a cornerstone in Cleveland, a lower level cornerstone, but a cornerstone
nonetheless. So I think that you retain him and then you take the best
player available, and if that's Mobley, so be it. You could also
argue that he's insurance then against Mobile not panning out, And you could also
argue that, let's say Mobile pans out, you've Jared out on a more
expensive salary, makes him more intriguing to trade for if there were teams this
offseason that we're looking at that Charlotte definitely a center. Okay, so he
needs a center. But and I would pay him because he's so young.
But are they going to pay anyone? Would be my follow up question there
might as well at this point, like you're not gonna be able to have
this many rookies and you're still gonna have a bunch of guys on rookie scale
contracts, so you can afford that kind of overpay in the immediate future.
He and Shay would be so fun together. I depict an role combination there.
It could be fun. One of the teams I thought of too is
Toronto. What would you think of him and Pascal together because they seem to
really want a big next day? I think I would he going off his
spacing limitations there though, I like the idea of like giving more minutes to
Chris Bouchet because there's a little more stretched to his game. Thank you,
you know you know your podcast co host. Well, I'd appreciate that.
No other team really springs to mind for me though, And like centers are
a wonky market, but like I don't that might even have the feasibility to
like have a Cleveland like if you weren't if you didn't have faith in Isaiah
Stewart Detroit. But I could also see like Portland moving on from Nurkics and
going for more of that, like defensive anchor at the five. That could
be an intriguing landing spot the Warriors, maybe, but the fit with Draymond
is terrible, and you have wisemen there already, So that was actually a
terrible suggestion by me. I would say the Kings, except I think with
Shaun Holmes is noticeably better than Oh. I think we're missing an easy one
unless they draft Evan Mobile themselves, in which case Jar now and probably going
to be signed and trade in anyway. But Houston, Yeah, I just
I have no feel for what Houston's gonna do yet, but he's that it
would be a fun one like him christian Wood together does make a lot of
sense. Yeah, that's the luxury of Christian Wood is that you can play
any type of big essentially next to him, maybe Indiana, so that you
can run out Miles Turner to Montes Sabonis and Jared Allen at the same time
a golga. Let's just really lean into it. They should have also gone
home to just go true. Five bigsh final question here. The other one
was way too in dust. I'll skip that one. Michael asked what team
can Russell Westbrook maximize his value with next season. I'm impressed that he thinks
Russell Westbrook I have no doubt he'll be available, but I'm impressed that he
thinks Russell Westbrook is going to be traded. I you're not gonna feel like
this might be about answer, but I want to see him stay in Washington,
Like he really reinvigorated that team and pushed it into that play in tournament,
and the fit with him and Bradley Beale still can make sense. Washington
has a number of up and coming pieces and Denny Advia and may Hatchamoura and
Daniel Gafford, who really exploded at the tail end of the season. Like
this team is intriguing to me, and he, for all his flaws and
for all the times he might shoot them out of games, does make it
better. If Bradley Bodle's want out, You don't move Russe with Westbrook because
he elevates your peak, even if he could potentially lower your flour. He
can, he can heighten your peak, and whatever you trade for him,
you're not getting back value. The two teams that spreading in mind where I
think that he could actually help them. Los Angeles they've shown the Clippers,
they've shown a willingness to play small. So if you can have four shooters
around him, where it's Kawai, Paul George, Marcus Morris, and then
is it Terrence man Is at Leuconard. I don't care Patrick Beverlely. That
team would make and they can cobble together the salaries between having Beverly Kennard.
I'm assuming Abaca opts in if they wanted to, and the other team would
be I'm not endorsing this. I don't think it's good. Would be the
Knicks. Someone who can attack down hill and actually get out in transition,
which RJ. Barrett would probably love because I can't tell you the number of
times I've seen RJ. Barrett beat his entire team down the floor and looked
disappointed that no one was with him. I don't have a feel for what
Bradley Beal's gonna do in Washington. He did seem non commit on his end
of season presser, but Russell Westbrook's still a tough fit to find. I
think you need to look at teams where they have in Washington Ken run these
lineups out. Maybe not so much with Daniel Gafford, but with Thomas Bryant
healthy, Like he shot the three ball, well, you need to have
four shooters around him to really maximize him. You can get away with three
in certain situations, but four shooters is the way to maximize him. Right.
Do you have anything else to add? Not particularly, I am curious
if you put together I'm trying to find the question. But it was the
one about the European Mount Rushmore. I didn't even seems I said it might
have been. Ah, that's right, because I actually put out a tweets
solicitation for questions and actually got responses this time around. Why didn't you tell
me you did that so I wouldn't have thrown mine out? This is I
just assumed you knew, and then you sent it like twenty minutes later,
and I just thought you were trying to prove a point that yours would be
more popular than mine, and it still worked. But I actually got some
questions this time. I apologize I didn't know you set one out. Let's
hear it. You're all good. So yeah, Miroslav asked who was on
the mount rushmore of European NBA stars all time? And I know, since
you haven't seen it, I'll give you a second to think about it.
I think Dirk is the lock. He has to be there. I think
Janis is a two time MVP is already on that along with Pau Gasol.
And the fourth one is interesting because I feel like you can go in a
ton of different directions. You could have Mark Gasol, you could have Tony
ku coach, you could have Tony Parker, you could go older and go
with Debtliff Shremp. But I kind of think that it's already Yoki. Yeah,
Luca, Luca will end up on it one day, but it's too
soon for that. Is it too much of a stretch to say that?
Well, okay, so let's go Johannis Joannie is a lock. To me.
Johannis and Dirk are the two absolute locks, I think, and then
you if we're including if we're including legacy and non NBA play, then we're
looking at Draws and Petrovitch and RV to Sabonis. But I think we're isolating
this solo to the NBA pages. Stoyakovich is up there. That's a tough
one. Uh Like, there are a lot of options. Yeah, there's
a ton I might go ahead and put Luca there already. I just I
have trouble putting him over Tony Parker, who won so many championships and made
so many All Star appearances even though he wasn't the absolute star of his team.
That I think. I think my answer has to be Dirk, Jannis,
pau Gassol, and Tony Parker. Maybe after talking through it, I
think I'm probably closed to a lock. To me, Paw, Yeah,
definitely go close to a lock. I would probably. I might. I
might even have like shrimp or over Tony Parker. I don't know why I'm
not about Tony Parker or being in that spot. Marc Gasol I'd probably have
over Tony Parker too. That's a tough question. I wish I would mail
bed. Oh yeah, no, Yokich is on there. Yeah he's on
there. Come on, it's Yokich, it's Pal, it's Dirk, it's
you. Honest. Oh, if we're pretty, I've if we're pretty wed
Rushmore, well that too, so, but if we're putting Yannis on there,
I feel like it's fair to put Yokich on there. Yeah, I
can. I can see that that's fair. Or I was gonna say you
could say nothing. That's fine too. Look, thank you everyone who stuck
with us or popped in and talked with us. We are here as of
now every Sunday, normally at four pm. Sometimes that change the time if
Adam's not with me, because I can and I'm drunk with power. Please
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We come right up. Thank you all so much for listening. As
always, we gave you with the shout out to the One the Only.
He was in our trailer video, which you can also check out on Twitter.
And I feel like I haven't shouted him out in a while, or
maybe I did. But Future Max Star, that's contract Star because he is
a restrict to free agent Frank Neel Aquina