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What is Kraco acting hardware knocks listeners. I am damn the Valley coming at

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you very shortly with my fantabulous co
host Adam Frommell. We have our usual

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mail bag today, but while we
were recording and had a great time in

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locker room, come join us Sundays
four pm. As of right now,

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A bunch of people rolled through this
time. It was great. There.

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The Damian Lillard sort of news broke
from Chris Haynes that said within the article

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basically that Dame might be inclined to
ask out because of his lack of confidence

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in the Blazers to build a contender, and he wasn't happy with the response

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to the coaching search, where it
was the backlash was being put on him,

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I guess by a ton of fans. We tackled that live, but

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I wanted to give just some more
nuanced thoughts on it. The hiring of

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Chauncy Billups and I don't. I'm
not. This is why I'm gonna keep

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it quick is because and I mentioned
this in the podcast when we actually talk

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about the billips Hire separately before the
Haynes news broke, We don't need to

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add to the male call Cassidy commenting
on this, Listen to women, listen

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to how they're feeling. Those feelings
matter, those sentiments matter, and they

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are incredibly important. But the billips
Hire itself is not on Damian Lillard.

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That organization in Portland had the chance
to be the first one to hire a

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female head coach in Becky Hammond,
and the hiring of a female head coach

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is overdue. I don't care how
you feel about maybe if you thought mikey

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Antonio was a better fit for Portland. It doesn't have to be Portland.

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It could be New Orleans, it
could have been Boston. It's overdue.

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There are female assistants in Becky Hammon, chief among them that have the experience,

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the credentials. Carol Lawson's coaching Duke
like head coaches in college. They're

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going to they have the credentials to
do this, So it's overdue. The

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Blazers have the chance to be the
first team to ever hire a female head

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coach. They up to not to, which in itself is if that's the

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decision, that's the decision. However
they made. I'm not gonna say they

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made a big performance out of Becky
Hammond being a finalist, but it was

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led to believe that Becky Hammond was
a finalist. But then reportings come out

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that they always zeroed in on Chauncey
Billups. So you went from having the

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chance to either maybe hiring a homegrown
name, perhaps it's you know, someone

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who's not as known one of these
an assist, former assistant, current assistant

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in Portland, or the first ever
female head coach in the NBA, and

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you then opted for someone who was
accused of sexual assault rape decades ago.

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At this point it was settled it. It was a civil matter. I

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believe I've read a ton on it. I'm probably stumbling through words because maybe

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I'm a little nervous or anxious here
or talk about it the allegations. People

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are going to point out that their
allegations that there were no criminal chargers brought.

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Believe women listened to women. That
doesn't mean you have to presume that

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so and so was guilty. But
it happened, and there doesn't seem like

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there's been this huge display of public
atonement from Billips, who hasn't. It's

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the best of my knowledge about it
publicly, and I think what it more

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so matters here is that the MBA
is a privilege, and I'm more concerned

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about the victims that are seeing someone
of his status continue to elevate. And

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it's not even the woman that was
had went through the matter with Billos.

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To call it matters just stupid,
that's terrible word for it. Anyway,

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it's other sexual assault victims seeing this, seeing the MBA elevate this person that

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was involved in that. The placers
apparently had their own investigation, And I

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also want to recognize that, yeah, it's going to be men of color

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that are disproportionately falsely accused of this. All this stuff matters. It's a

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very complicated, important discussion that people
are sensitive to. I'm just going to

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say, listen to women. Believe
women. The hiring isn't focusing on is

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not And I think the logic behind
it is stupid, by the way.

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That's not This is just not the
decision you make from a public relations standpoint,

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like you're flexing as an organization,
I guess, and you're you're not

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made of teflon for this. You
haven't been good enough, gotten far enough

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in the playoffs lately. If you're
Neil o'she to just be made of tep

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flon and have your decision making process
here be beyond reproach. And it was

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on Neil o'she because Damian Lillard wanted
Jason Kidd or Chauncy Billops, he did

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not hire this head coach. I
definitely think that there was probably a level

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of the Blazers wanting to do what
their star player prefers. Damian Lillard has

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four years left on his contract,
but he's been so loyal publicly to the

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organization, and he's one of the
ten best players in the league. You

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want to try and capitalize on his
window, and you've failed thus far to

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do that. If he wanted Jason
Kidd, Chauncy billups Kid immediately removed his

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name, and that was another a
candidate who had a history of the domestic

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violence issues. Again, it's not
on Dame that the hiring took place,

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So I want to make that clear. Which disappointing I think was his response.

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He, I guess feels like he
was being attacked by fans, and

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I do really empathize with, or
say sympathize with, because I can't relate

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to it. Professional athletes the social
media long as they have so vast just

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the breath of the criticism, the
type of criticism, the language, and

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everything that's thrown their way, it
has to get overwhelming. But his response

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was just really bizarre to me,
where he was saying, do you want

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me to apologize for not watching the
news when I was seven to eight years

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old? And I think he could
have said that, said I didn't know,

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and that's basically what he said,
but it was kind of just deflective

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in the sense that this was his
tweet was really I was asked what coaches

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I liked the names I heard in
quotes, and I named them. Sorry

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I wasn't aware of their history.
I didn't read the news when I was

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seven eight years old. I don't
support those things. But if this the

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route you all want to come at
me, say less, I just it

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seems more deflective. You simply could
have just said I didn't know, and

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I was seven to eight. I
didn't know, and I don't support these

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things. But I do think there's
an obligation here then to not want him

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to be your head coach, if
that's how you truly feel about this,

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and maybe that's not even his obligation, but now you're using the coaching situation

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important as an excuse because this is
the opening from the Chris Haynes piece.

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The enormous backlash from the Portland Trailblaze's
process to hire a new coach and his

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concerns on whether a championship contender can
be built have become factors that may push

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the franchise player, Damian Lillard out
the door. League's sources told Yahoo Sports.

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Lillard has remained loyal to Portland,
in large part through the tremendous fan

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base, but over the last few
days he's seen some of those fans attacking

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him on social media for pending coaching
higher He played no part in consummating a

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preference of Damian Lillard's does not mean
that the Blazers had to hire him.

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It should be on them more so
than the players, to do the due

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diligence and Woes did say that they
did their own investigation into Billips's incident,

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and I really hate calling it that, but into the case against Billips.

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The decision was not on Dame but
he The response could have been better,

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and I don't know that the entire
fan base I saw people defending him.

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I'm still seeing people defend them as
I record this, Maybe we hold Damian

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Lillard to an unfairly higher standard because
that's the type of groundwork he said,

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at least as a leader on the
court and off the court of his team,

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And maybe we need to learn to
separate detach those two. But I

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think that Damian Leward could have come
out and said, yeah, I didn't

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read the news. I seven eight
years old, I don't support those things.

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That wasn't what went into why I
wanted him as a coach, And

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then maybe the Blazers can even maybe
that helps actual wage the response to the

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overall hiring. But this is on
the Blazers Damian Lollard, though I don't

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understand how you get from recommending bill
ups to then deflecting to then saying that

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the hires what pushed you out.
And don't blame the fans if you're going

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to exit, because it's not the
entire fan base that is criticizing you.

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That is my official stance on this
matter. I wanted to keep it to

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under seven minutes. I did about
seven and a half. So I apologize.

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Listen to women on this listen to
people of color on this issue too,

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So I'm not trying to whitewash this
whole thing. Hope you can at

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least appreciate where I'm coming from.
But let's get into the meat and potatoes

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of this mail bag. It was
a lot of fun. Hello everyone,

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and welcome to the latest episode of
Hardwood Knox. This is Adam frommel here

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with my fantastic co host, Dan's
Valley, coming to you live from the

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green Room app We are recording this
episode, so just a heads up if

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you end up speaking at any point, and regardless of whether you speak or

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not on this one, or if
you're listening live or to the recording,

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please go ahead and subscribe to Hardwood
Knocks wherever you get your podcasts, give

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us a review, give us a
rating as long as it's a five star,

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00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:31,720
of course, and also follow the
YouTube channel for Hardwood knoxs. Dan

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has been putting a lot of effort
into curating some good videos for that and

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just having even more content. We're
trying to do it for you each and

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every day. So Dan, aside
from working hard on the YouTube channel,

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how's it going, I'm doing well
over here. I mean, how are

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you knowing if we're recording just this
contentious battle between the Hawks and Bucks and

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Atlanta looks thoroughly overmatched, but there's
still tied one one in his series as

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we record this, I don't understand
Game two hasn't happened yet. Fair Enough,

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it didn't. I don't think.
I don't think the Hawks knew that

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it happened exactly. I've sufficiently wiped
it from my memory already. Just like

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men and Black Style, just do
them gone, you better hope that the

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Hawks did too. Yeah, I
don't have much confidence in that this.

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You know, I picked the Bucks
pretty handily going into that Atlanta Milwaukee series.

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I just I think the matchup is
terrible. Like the Hawks are not

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prepared to exploit any weakness that Jannis
might have. He is great at exploiting

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whatever weaknesses the Hawks do have.
There's just not really an answer for him,

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aside from like hoping that Solomon Hill
and Cam Reddish can step up,

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which is not what you want to
be saying in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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And beyond that, I just I
still think that what we saw in the

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Game two, I'm denying exists was
more likely to be the reality for Trey

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Young. He's probably not going to
have nine turnovers and shoot so poorly from

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the field every game, but the
Bucks have so many bodies to throw at

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him. Between Jannis and Chris Middleton
and p Tucker and Drew Holiday, there's

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just such a plethora of defensive options
they have to take away the unquestioned fulcrum

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of the Atlanta offense. I just
I didn't have a good feeling about this

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series going in, and even though
it is technically one one though it's still

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one to oh in my mind,
like, I just I can't see Atlanta

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winning. Yeah, I had Bucks
in five the obviously game one, maybe

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rethink that a little bit. The
just watching like Trey Young having like when

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when the Bucks are switching, he's
going from Drew to Jannis, is just

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like that's harrowing because it's like,
what are you. Yeah, he's gonna

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have better games, but that's just
like that's impossible. It is so yeah,

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it's just a herculean task and he's
not there yet, Noah says in

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the chat. Feels like I haven't
heard Adam in so long. He has

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in fact abandoned us. Noah,
so I have returned, though. I

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hope that we hope that's a good
thing. We started being on time ish

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this week, just for you,
Noah, just for you. So you're

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welcome in advance for this poor content. But it's poor content that is also

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punctual. I think that matters,
and we have so we have a bunch

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of questions. Obviously, anyone in
the room is free to ask in the

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chat if they want to speak,
we will get you on here. Of

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course, Adam is curating that.
I want to start with I have a

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rant. I have a bone to
pick with people the discourse of the NBA

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discourse, and I want to make
it clear that the person who asked this

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question is not who it's aimed at, because they phrased it very respectfully,

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but Santiago, which is at Santi
Sauce, which is a pretty good handle

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as if the Suns win it this
year, which playoff year would be easier.

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Twenty nineteen Raptors against injured Warriors,
twenty twenty Bubble with Lakers winning it

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all, twenty twenty one Sons with
playing injured team this whole playoffs. No

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hate to any just an honest question. So I want to make it clear

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Santiago is not the one I'm targeting
here. But I saw some of the

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discussion after Sons Clippers Game four that
people were talking about, the how,

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the lot of how the NBA gods, the basketball gods, fate wanted the

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Bucks and the Suns to get to
the finals because of the fortuitous playoff paths

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that they've had. I would just
like to say, with all due respect

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and pardon my French shot, the
fuck up this postseason, this entire year,

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everyone has dealt with shit. I
don't care, and I'm probably gonna

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curse a Buns, so I apologize
in advance. I was trying to watch

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my language more of the podcast.
But every team went through stuff. See

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there we go, there Suns repression
this year. Yes, the Bucks were

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healthier than most, This was still
a truncated schedule for everyone. The second

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half was tough for a lot of
teams. They still had to go up

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against the Nets team that had Kevin
Durant and took them to seven games and

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would have actually beaten them if Kevin
Durant had a normal human sized foot.

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You're discrediting the Nets by saying that, I know James Harden wasn't healthy fully

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healthy. I know Kyrie Irving missed
a bunch of time in that series.

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You play the teams that are in
front of you, and that's all you

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can do. And the other thing
is, are we just gonna neglect the

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fact that the Suns didn't have Chris
Paul for the first three games of this

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series, or does or two games
excuse me? Or does that not matter?

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Or that he came out and took
a collective shit all over the court

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in his first game back, because
hey, guess what, he hadn't played

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basketball and basically a month, and
even watching him in Game four, he

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looked better, but he still doesn't
have like his same feel for the game

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left like he had the passing.
But we have another question that we'll get

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to after this, just because it's
topical about the pace of play with CP

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three on the court. But they
didn't have him. Devin Booker broke his

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fucking knows and he hasn't been playing
well, hasn't been shooting the same since

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he had to take off his mask
in the middle of Game four because he's

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been fishting with it so much.
Every team is dealing with things. Yes,

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the Clippers lost Kauai, Yes the
Lakers were banged up. Anthony Davis

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is always injured. That's part of
the calculation. With Anthony Davis. Yeah,

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it's weird that Lebron James was injured. Lebron James is also age thirty

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six, like, you can't necessarily
count him to be fully healthy all the

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time. The Jazz, they didn't
have Mike Conley. What happens in that

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series. Donovan Mitchell was playing on
one and a half ankles. We don't

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have to do this dumbass talk after
everything that's happened. You know, Philly,

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if they had different players, Joelby
was playing on a partially torn meniscus,

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but if they had a different you
know player that was Ben Simmons who

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actually cared about taking shots and not
passing up wide open dunks. There are

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caveats to every team, obstacles for
every team. Let's not do this.

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And the thing that really blows my
mind is the rings discourse is, oh,

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player X isn't great. Actually,
Chris Paul isn't great because he doesn't

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have a ring or somehow a failure. Now Chris Paul might get a ring.

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And it was too fucking easy.
I am so fed up. I

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know that social media can't be the
place for nuance, especially on Twitter,

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where you have two hundred and eighty
characters thread it or at least be fucking

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smarter, because this is dumb,
this is stupid, It's inane. I

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00:15:03,519 --> 00:15:07,480
can't, like I've had to I
run brand accounts, so I'm on Twitter

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all the time. I'm just not
putting as much stuff in my own personal

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things because they're just so much dumb
mastery on the timeline right now, like

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are we really doing this? And
the bubble and this isn't again a shot

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at Santiago. I don't know that
it was easy. I mean, they

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were sequestered and not there was a
pandemic going on. They're probably worried about

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the safety of their friends and family
outside the bubble, So I don't and

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look the Raptors to think that that
playoff run was easy. By the way,

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I definitely if I picked one,
which I'm not going to, I

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get like, if you had to
pick one, I don't even know what

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I'd pick, it wouldn't be the
Raptors. And I'm gonna tell you right

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now, just because they that series
against Philly Milwaukee was like that was a

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good team and it looked like,
you know, the Raptors had a seized

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control of that series and the Warriors
were still the Warriors. Like I know

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that Kevin Durant was injured, but
like I that Klay Thompson got hurt later

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on in the series, but Clay
Thompson was still in that series. Steph

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exists, Amon Green exists like I
just I can't with the and last time,

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00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,960
I'm gonna say this not a shot
at Santiago. I almost went off

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00:16:08,159 --> 00:16:12,919
on Twitter on Saturday night because of
those takes about Clipper, the Suns and

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00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,960
the Bucks. No, it wasn't
easy to get here. Yes, Milwaukee's

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been healthier than most. They don't
have Dante Devincenzo. They've also been shooting

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00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,919
bricks from threes more often than not. And I think you could argue that

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00:16:22,919 --> 00:16:27,039
there coach Mike Budenholzers bite making really
good adjustments in Game two is a roadblock

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unto himself. Every team is dealing
with shit. Let's stop acting like winning

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00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,960
an NBA title is going to be
easier for certain teams than any given year.

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Injuries are part of the calculus,
and especially this season and even last

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season. I'm not going to discredit
any teams that accomplished anything because the context,

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the circumstances under which they came.
We're just so unprecedented because of what

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we were dealing with. So everyone
who is thinking that the Suns are having

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this easy road to the finals,
that the Bucks are having this super easy

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00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,919
road to the finals, I implore
you. I beg you as I started

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at the top of this shut the
fuck up. That was my rant.

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I'm like sweating because it made me
so angry. At at nine seventeen am

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Mountain time, I got a text
from Dan that said, I have another

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00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,920
rant I'd like to go on today, and I was just like, I'm

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00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,720
gonna green light that without even knowing
what it is, just because I like

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hearing Dan gets so worked about worked
up about this stuff. I honestly thought

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it was going to be about the
recent coaching hires and the NBA kind of

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like saying one thing about valuing and
you know, wanting women to feel included

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in the league and all that,
and then going in entirely different direction with

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these recent hires, you know,
like using Becky Hammond as like a smoke

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screen to make the Chauncey billups hire
more palatable, or like the Mavericks organization

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that has had toxic workplace culture and
sexual harassment issues hiring Jason fucking Kid.

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So that's where I thought you were
going with this. But the funny I

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want to say, real quick question. I didn't want to add to the

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mail cauc Cassie of the Chauncey billups
higher and I think you retweeted it and

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you're probably gonna get into it.
It's all these people like The Blazer's Edge

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published a great article where women wrote
about it. And my really, three

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words, three words. Listen to
women just on this. Just listen to

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women on this. I'm sorry,
but please continue. I didn't mean to

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interrupt either, No, no,
I was. I was just gonna say,

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like the question that prompted your rant
at the top of the episode,

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I had the exact same planned response, albeit with a little bit less passion

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I was. I was more just
going to respond, like my automatic answer

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00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:33,680
to any question like that is,
can you please point to one team in

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NBA history that has not benefited from
some sort of luck on the way to

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an NBA title. It is inherent
to the process. Part of winning a

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championship is being lucky. It's getting
a little bit fortunate, with not having

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injuries on your own team, with
having injuries to other teams with having fortuitous

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matchups. You play who's in front
of you, and you beat who's in

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front of you, and that's all
you can control. So like that's that's

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00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:04,599
just automatic go to response with this
topic every single time. So I think

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00:19:04,599 --> 00:19:10,160
we have like the exact same points, just mine is a little bit shorter.

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I just there was too much of
it going around on Twitter, which

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got to me. We do have
a question in the chat unless you want

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00:19:17,759 --> 00:19:19,039
do you want to say anything on
the coaching hars aside from what you just

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said, which I completely agree with, not particularly I've I've just been frustrated

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with the responses that I've seen to
to post about that on Twitter and just

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the willingness to immediately dismiss it.
It's it's frustrating. Just be better,

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That's that's all I've got And listen
to women, because I'm not a fan

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00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,799
of pointing out that it was like
allegations and a civil suit against Shauncy Bhillips.

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It's making women, it's making victims
of sexual assault feel a certain kind

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of way, and that absolutely,
unequivocally matters to get back to basketball.

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That was quite the segue. No
one in the chat ask question, how

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is DeAndre Ayton so good? It's
kind of baffling, isn't it just the

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amazing progression we've seen in such a
short amount of time because he was not

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this player during the regular season.
I mean, he was really good during

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the regular season, but he wasn't
quite this much of a takeover figure on

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both ends of the floor. It's
just I don't know if it's a confidence

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thing, if it's him talking about
Chris Paul being such a good mentor and

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really empowering him to play this kind
of high quality basketball, if it's beneficial

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matchups, if it's the game slowing
down and just him making the proper decisions

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on both ends almost every time down
the court. It it feels like one

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of those situations where the switch flipped, as cliche is of an answer as

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that, maybe I don't know that
it's like some new skill development or some

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x's and o's thing that's allowing him
to maximize his game so much as just

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the games slowing down and his feel
for it just going off the charts.

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It was just fun because, as
you were saying, it just clicked,

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Amy Sky said with da feels like
it just all clicked in the playoffs,

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Laye lock step there, and I
agree with you. I think, look,

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you were right about the regular season
where I think we saw like a

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similar peak. They were just so
short because he was so inconsistent, and

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he's put together the best stretch and
most consistent stretch of basketball of his career

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during these playoffs. I think what
he's done defensively has been huge, hitting

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00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,119
the offensive glass, it does feel
like he's getting to the like his shot

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00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:30,960
selection smart. I think he might
just be more comfortable playing within the flow

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00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,920
of the offense rather than being this
focal point, and so that he's been

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00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,039
able to focus on that. And
then just what he's able to do defensively

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00:21:37,079 --> 00:21:41,640
is you you know, everyone they
face so far, even the Clippers downsizing

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00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,000
at times, you can't play him
off the floor, and that's huge and

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00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:48,759
all like the discourse has shifted to
is he going to get a max extension

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00:21:48,839 --> 00:21:52,160
now? Which is wild because I'm
counting myself as DeAndre and fan and talking

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00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:57,119
with the our good buddies homies from
the Timeline pod about him earlier in the

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00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:02,440
year. They've always been spot on
about him, and they've they've been objective

329
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,000
and accurate and sort of covering him
as he goes. But at that moment

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in time, I think I was
higher on him than them, and that

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00:22:08,519 --> 00:22:11,960
more speaks to No, this isn't
a victory of that for me. It's

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00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,640
just that's how turbulent his stock has
been. And I think we're recalibrating our

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00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,519
impression of DeAndre Ayton what he is
in the NBA. He was lauded for

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00:22:19,559 --> 00:22:22,559
his offensive talent when he was drafted
number one overall. This is someone who's

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00:22:22,599 --> 00:22:29,000
like can compliment on offense and then
be your back line anchor apparently on defense,

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00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,559
and it's going to hit the offensive
glass like really hard. That's it's

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00:22:33,599 --> 00:22:37,839
a different kind of player, but
it's sort of the mcale bridges of bigs,

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00:22:37,839 --> 00:22:40,680
Like you absolutely want that player on
your team if you're trying to win

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00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,480
a title. Absolutely, And Carlo, I just want to say, I

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00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,279
see your speaker request. We're gonna
get to you as soon as we finish

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00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,599
up on this topic. I just
wanted to say briefly, like this twenty

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00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:53,240
eighteen draft class just looks better and
better by the day. I mean,

343
00:22:53,319 --> 00:22:59,359
just think about how many high quality
contributors have already emerged from that headlined obviously

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00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,000
by Luca and Trey Young. But
then we have DeAndre Aden and Shay Gil

345
00:23:03,079 --> 00:23:06,799
Just Alexander and Mcial Bridges and Mitchell
Robinson and Michael Porter Junior and Robert Williams

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00:23:06,839 --> 00:23:11,559
and Dante DiVincenzo and DeVante Graham and
Jaren Jackson Junior and Jalen Brunson and d

347
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,960
Anthony Melton and Miles Bridges. The
list goes on and on, and there

348
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,000
are role players even beyond that group
who are making legitimate impacts on good teams.

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00:23:21,079 --> 00:23:25,079
This this draft class is going to
be part of all time conversations down

350
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:30,440
the road. I will before you
throw it to the speaker request I almost

351
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,599
want. I'm not I root for
chaos, just as someone who covers the

352
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,960
league at large, but think about
the memes. If DeAndre Aten and Trey

353
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:41,240
Young make the NBA Finals before Luca
don Jag does, I'm just gonna be

354
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:47,880
here for those memes. So I'm
already tired of that conversation and it has

355
00:23:47,039 --> 00:23:51,880
ana. The conversation is stupid and
I get X on every like radio interview

356
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,880
or podcast that I do is does
this make the DeAndre Ayton over Luca Dontris

357
00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,720
pick worth it? Or were the
Hawk smart to trade make that trade the

358
00:24:00,799 --> 00:24:03,279
Luca nontous trade, and it's like, you know, that trade is still

359
00:24:03,599 --> 00:24:04,920
as far as me to talk about, like Cam Reddish is still a big

360
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,680
part of that trade, but he
turns into but it's still so early and

361
00:24:08,759 --> 00:24:12,079
that it takes away from the discussion. I think the jokes are going to

362
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:17,039
be spectacular though, if it's Tray
and DeAndre reaching the finals in the same

363
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:18,640
year, not just before Luca dots, but reaching the finals in the same

364
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,680
year, right, you need to
have you need to let yourself have more

365
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,519
fun. I have trouble with that
with the with the Trey Luca trade.

366
00:24:26,519 --> 00:24:30,359
I think like where I'm at now
with it is very much that like the

367
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,759
Mavericks won that trade, but the
Hawks definitely didn't lose it. I'm laughing

368
00:24:34,759 --> 00:24:37,640
because Noah said the chack Kevin Knox's
future Hall of Famer because you didn't list

369
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,680
him off. Oh, definitely a
teen draft. I apologize for that glaring

370
00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:47,000
oversight, but I'm still I'm going
to go ahead. I'm just saying I'm

371
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,440
still mad they didn't pick Shay.
You know, I was lobbying for Shay.

372
00:24:48,599 --> 00:24:52,039
I know, I know, but
I am gonna welcome Carlo to the

373
00:24:52,079 --> 00:24:56,799
podium here. How is it going
today, Carlin's what do you have for

374
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:03,400
us? How you guys? So
can you hear me? Because I am

375
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,000
a problems sometimes. Yeah, we
can hear you. It's just a little

376
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,359
bit faint on the audio. I
don't know if you're a little far from

377
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:19,000
a microphone or anything. Let me
take out my so nixt Chief's taking shop.

378
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,400
That's where we wanted that. That's
just I'm just gonna throw that back

379
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,680
out there again. It still hurts, So imagine Rris Haliburn. That is

380
00:25:26,759 --> 00:25:30,960
much better. Carlo. We can
hear you much much more clearly. Do

381
00:25:30,039 --> 00:25:36,119
you think that this playoff can be
the passing of the torch between the old

382
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:41,599
guys and the new generation? Because
I think that, as then pointed out,

383
00:25:42,599 --> 00:25:49,920
there are no easy championship, and
even if two of these UH Conference

384
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,400
Finance teams seem week at the start
of the year so on SNS and Oaks,

385
00:25:57,079 --> 00:26:02,839
we are going to see them in
the playoff and we mischief or the

386
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:08,759
next before years. I think,
yeah, I think it's a fantastic question,

387
00:26:08,839 --> 00:26:12,200
and I'm really glad you asked that
one, because I think that the

388
00:26:12,319 --> 00:26:15,440
national NBA media, and you know, the talking heads that we see are

389
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,640
too reticent to promote that kind of
passing of the torch that it does feel

390
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,119
like we're seeing. And it's not
to say that the old guard is going

391
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,799
anywhere, you know, like we
fully expect Lebron James and you know,

392
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:33,599
the others in that category to still
be extremely relevant and playing at an extraordinarily

393
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,279
high level moving forward. But it
does feel like these playoffs have been a

394
00:26:37,519 --> 00:26:42,920
fantastic opportunity for the young guns to
put their stuff on display. I mean,

395
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,119
I don't remember if I told you
this already or not, Dan,

396
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,000
And you know, it almost feels
like that, you know, I overheard

397
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,400
this in the coffee shop story,
but like my wife and I were playing

398
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:57,079
with our toddler at a park the
other day and saw some teenagers shooting hoops

399
00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,359
at the playground pretending to be Devin
Ker and Trey Young, and like,

400
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:06,839
that's got to be having everywhere.
So it really does feel like this has

401
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,839
thrust those up and coming figures into
the national consciousness in a way that just

402
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:19,440
doesn't happen without the opportunity of a
chaotic postseason experience. Yeah, I think

403
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,559
it was people worrying about the ratings
and stuff, and I'm you know,

404
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,519
if you want to worry about the
ratings, I do think there's a discussion

405
00:27:26,519 --> 00:27:29,200
to be had about how the NBA
can improve them and needs to improve them.

406
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:30,680
If you don't want to care about
the ratings, that's not your responsibility

407
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,359
as a basketball fan, So you
don't have to care about the ratings.

408
00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:37,359
I think this was a blessing,
not even in disguise which is a plat

409
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,720
out blessing for the league, because
as Carlos mentioned, this is serving even

410
00:27:41,759 --> 00:27:47,039
if it's not supposed to be,
like the actual harbinger that this transition is

411
00:27:47,079 --> 00:27:52,119
happening. It's eventually going to happen, and you want these youngsters to be

412
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,240
appreciated just as much as a Steph
and known just as much as a Steph,

413
00:27:55,519 --> 00:27:59,759
A Lebron Kevin Durant, because they're
the future of the league. Is

414
00:28:00,279 --> 00:28:03,240
Luca front facing, We get it, But like Trey, it's important.

415
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,599
Devin Booker, who's been billed as
this empty calories guy nationally, never never

416
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,440
locally there in Phoenix for too long
and it took you know, I would

417
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,440
say that that was mostly gone through
this season, but I think even you

418
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,079
look at the All NBA results,
Chris Paul makes second team and Devin Booker

419
00:28:19,079 --> 00:28:22,519
doesn't get consideration for either team really
when you look at the scores and then

420
00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:26,599
you look at what happened in the
playoffs and how he really helped their sons

421
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,000
navigate CP Three's first his shoulder injury
when he's trying to play through it,

422
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,319
and then his absence, and there's
still that disconnected there when you're looking outside

423
00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:37,359
of Phoenix. So I think seeing
these guys in this stage is super important,

424
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,599
and then you're kind of getting it
on the ground floor of these other

425
00:28:41,599 --> 00:28:44,079
players like DeAndre Aten, Like,
yeah, I know he was good this

426
00:28:44,079 --> 00:28:47,480
season and he improved offensively a bunch
as a sophomore, but like this is

427
00:28:47,519 --> 00:28:51,519
still someone who like is in established
and now you're seeing him on this national

428
00:28:51,519 --> 00:28:52,480
stage. I think it ends up
being huge for that type of player.

429
00:28:52,759 --> 00:28:56,319
Dido, for like a McHale Bridges
so and even you know, maybe even

430
00:28:56,319 --> 00:29:00,759
for John Collins, just because the
way he's played defense a lot in these

431
00:29:00,759 --> 00:29:03,880
playoffs and like come up with huge
plays, and yeah, when he's playing

432
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,279
with Clint Capella, he's not the
primary screener anymore. And like he's still

433
00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:08,920
found ways to impact the game,
and so I think it even trickles down

434
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:14,119
further, like those second tier guys
that know they're not as big or mission

435
00:29:14,119 --> 00:29:17,200
critical to the league's future. But
now these fans know them, they've watched

436
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:22,240
them, and they've generated excitement because
it's the postseason. Tyler Ansel and the

437
00:29:22,279 --> 00:29:25,079
chat asked with Lebron and Katie out
of these playoffs, did your interest level

438
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,119
change in any way? I'm sure
that for some people it did, because

439
00:29:29,519 --> 00:29:33,000
you know, the more casual observers. And I want to be clear that

440
00:29:33,039 --> 00:29:37,839
when I use that word casual,
it's not like it's typically used on Twitter,

441
00:29:37,839 --> 00:29:40,480
where I mean that as an insult, Like there are different levels of

442
00:29:40,519 --> 00:29:45,200
fandom and we shouldn't serve as gatekeepers
to fandom for sports that we enjoy.

443
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,119
I do think that there are some
casual fans who are going to be more

444
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:56,319
disinclined to tune into playoff games without
names and people who they already recognize.

445
00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,720
But if you're just watching these playoffs
to enjoy good basketball games, I don't

446
00:30:00,759 --> 00:30:03,920
want to speak for you, Dan, but just speaking for myself, like,

447
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,640
no, like, I don't think
my interest level changed whatsoever, because

448
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,799
ultimately I want the most compelling games
and the most compelling outcomes. And if

449
00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:17,279
that means that Lebron is carrying the
Lakers through their injuries into the finals,

450
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,000
so be it. If that means
that he's going to lose in the first

451
00:30:19,079 --> 00:30:22,440
round for the first time in his
career, and we're going to have an

452
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,400
opportunity to see Chris Paul go after
a ring and the Devin Booker emergence and

453
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:32,720
see DeAndre Aden take that gigantic leap
forward. Like that's highly entertaining to me

454
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:37,559
as well. I've always watched sports
kind of from a legacy perspective. I

455
00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:41,680
can't help myself, but like want
to put things in historical context and see

456
00:30:41,759 --> 00:30:44,759
in my own head, like how
people are moving up and down that historical

457
00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:48,400
pecking order for me, and that
works for everyone, you know, if

458
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:52,960
Lebron and Katie were still there,
like they're pushing against that upper echelon.

459
00:30:52,599 --> 00:30:56,240
But at the same time, it's
just as much fun to see new legacies

460
00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:03,000
carved out and their absences have allowed
for that opportunity, which to me is

461
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,640
just as compelling, maybe even more
compelling, than seeing the same figures compete

462
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,079
each and every year. Yeah,
I'm with you. And there's like there's

463
00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:14,839
different levels of like the sea afying, like we don't need to get is

464
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,440
Katie a failure because like you couldn't
leave the net like that stuff is like

465
00:31:18,799 --> 00:31:22,759
too lowbrow. But I'm with you
on on everything you said. And this

466
00:31:22,839 --> 00:31:26,559
is I mean it actually kind of
toes into the next question and it does

467
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,039
pertain to this series. But like
there were even things on Twitter, I

468
00:31:30,039 --> 00:31:33,079
think a couple casual like more and
look, I'll say, like football,

469
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,759
I'm not really like into football,
and so I'll watch some of the playoffs

470
00:31:37,799 --> 00:31:40,480
or the super Bowl, like that's
what intrigues me. And so there are

471
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:41,920
people that are doing that for the
Mbyeah, they're not watching the regular season,

472
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,440
they're shoppering in for the playoffs,
and you want to make sure that

473
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,440
they're still engaged and that yeah,
they might tune out for Bronze not in.

474
00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:51,400
If they are tuning in, you
definitely want to make sure that the

475
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:56,880
cadence of the game is not being
butchered and prolonged by the replay review,

476
00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,839
which I think is it Scott Foster
sorry sorry, which I think, which

477
00:32:00,839 --> 00:32:04,440
I think is important. But we
got to figure out a way to expedite

478
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,680
it. Otherwise I would prefer the
randomness inherent of human error to these.

479
00:32:08,839 --> 00:32:13,359
You know what was it was that
Game two Clippers Sons that took thirty minutes

480
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,359
for the last ninety seconds. That's
just unacceptable. And this is just tangentially

481
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:22,119
related to that. Aaron has two
questions, and the first one he asks,

482
00:32:22,319 --> 00:32:24,640
I think there'll be a rule change
concerning the out of bounds calls Campaign

483
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:30,200
Betune in Game four, Beverly Book, Game two, Beverly Lebron Christmas.

484
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,160
What are your thoughts on that?
What's the right call? This is like

485
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,000
a consensus thing, right, it's
you shouldn't it shouldn't be off of Let's

486
00:32:38,079 --> 00:32:42,039
use the I think the most Well, let's use Campaign Buttum, because that

487
00:32:42,079 --> 00:32:44,799
was the most recent one in game
four. It's just like, no,

488
00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:47,759
it shouldn't be off Campaign if his
hand was literally pushed into it, like

489
00:32:47,799 --> 00:32:52,079
the ball didn't go out of bounds
because Campaign like misdribbled and went out of

490
00:32:52,119 --> 00:32:58,480
bounds because Nicholas Batoum forced it out
of bounds. Yeah, if you're if

491
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,720
you're applying these high ultra slow motion
cameras, you're going to be able to

492
00:33:02,799 --> 00:33:07,759
change literally thousands of calls throughout NBA
history, even if we're isolating it to

493
00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:14,359
the final minutes of close games,
because when you look at it with that

494
00:33:14,519 --> 00:33:19,759
level of detail and forced perspective,
you're going to notice things that you know

495
00:33:19,839 --> 00:33:22,880
really don't matter that much, like, Okay, yeah, it might have

496
00:33:22,039 --> 00:33:27,480
like slid off the tip of his
finger like last, and that was the

497
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,519
final thing to touch the ball before
it went out of bounds. He doesn't

498
00:33:30,599 --> 00:33:36,400
lose the handle if the ball isn't
poked away by a defender. So it's

499
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:42,359
hard to adjudicate intent, but I
feel like there has to be some of

500
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:49,039
that here because it just feels wrong
for a turnover to occur that way,

501
00:33:49,079 --> 00:33:52,759
where it's clearly the defender forcing the
ball out of bounds, and oh,

502
00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:55,720
it just happened to graze his fingertip
last because that's how the limbs aligned.

503
00:33:57,359 --> 00:34:00,960
I mean, technically, yeah,
they're the right calls, but they shouldn't

504
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,559
be the right calls. I hate
that I'm agreeing with Jef van Gundy.

505
00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,039
You know how much that bothers me. Well, and then in Game four,

506
00:34:07,079 --> 00:34:08,960
I can't even remember what I'm mixing
up the call, but like they

507
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,639
didn't review it and the call technically
went the other way, and so like,

508
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,159
if you're not even gonna call it
consistently in these situations, like,

509
00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,400
at least do that and we'll get
to Amy asks question just after the second

510
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:24,079
one from Aaron. This one is
I would say spicy, not as spicy

511
00:34:24,119 --> 00:34:28,880
as Aaron act. Is DeAndre Ayton
better than Rudy Gobert on defense? Was

512
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,280
the other question I did not put
in our document because I don't think we

513
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,159
need to discuss that. To be
honest with you, as much as I

514
00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:37,519
love my sons, CP three really
slows down our pace in these past two

515
00:34:37,519 --> 00:34:42,239
games. Playing pain in bigger minutes
helps transition offense, which I think the

516
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,239
Sons are good at, and Aton
is amazing in transition defense. Do you

517
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:51,519
think we should limit CP three's minutes
in the next game. Nope, I

518
00:34:51,519 --> 00:34:54,000
think he'll get better at at least
allowing you to get into semi transition.

519
00:34:54,280 --> 00:35:00,000
That's like Chris Paul is the the
author like the advent of the semi transition

520
00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:01,480
and three where it's like, no, you're not really running the floor,

521
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,840
but the defense hasn't set yet,
So I would give it a little bit

522
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,519
more time. But I don't think
limiting CP three's minutes ever, is going

523
00:35:08,559 --> 00:35:12,199
to be the answer, unless he's
actually dealing with an injury, which at

524
00:35:12,199 --> 00:35:15,519
this point we don't We haven't.
Like his shoulders seems to be fine,

525
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,079
So I'm not taking Chris Paul off
the floor ever. And I also think

526
00:35:19,119 --> 00:35:21,760
even and I do think the pace
is a concern. The Timeline Pod guys

527
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,119
have discussed this in the past,
that that's what CT like. Your team

528
00:35:25,119 --> 00:35:29,519
adopts that sort of identity where it's
more methodical, But Devin Booker kind of

529
00:35:29,559 --> 00:35:31,719
likes to play that way too,
And yes, he will get out and

530
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:37,119
go faster in those situations more often
than Chris Paul. Still, I don't

531
00:35:37,119 --> 00:35:38,079
know how you take Chris Paul off
the court, and I think it also

532
00:35:38,159 --> 00:35:43,599
matters just the chemistry he has with
DeAndre Ayton and what he's going to say

533
00:35:43,639 --> 00:35:46,400
to him on the court in between
whistles or dead balls. So no,

534
00:35:46,639 --> 00:35:51,159
I would not be limiting CP three
minutes again unless he's dealing with an injury.

535
00:35:51,199 --> 00:35:52,480
But they played him, what was
it like, thirty eight minutes or

536
00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:55,760
forty eight minutes when he first came
back from COVID, So I don't think

537
00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,599
they're worrying about limiting his minutes.
I mean, having strategic variance is usually

538
00:36:00,639 --> 00:36:06,840
a good idea. It's usually beneficial
to the winning effort. But strategic variants

539
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:13,639
should be superseded by the yawning chasm
between Chris Paul and Campaign. Like kudos

540
00:36:13,679 --> 00:36:16,440
to Campaign for turning his career around
to this extent that this question is even

541
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:22,400
possible. But Chris Paul's a little
bit better at the whole basketball thing,

542
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,480
and ultimately the Suns are going to
be better when they have their best players

543
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:30,840
on the court. Yeah, I
don't. I don't even think that's a

544
00:36:30,119 --> 00:36:34,440
debate. But Amysk asked, if
the Suns make it out, let's change

545
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,599
that. Don't win three one Clippers, No, Kauai, that's the easiest

546
00:36:37,599 --> 00:36:45,840
path to the finals appearance I've ever
seen when the when the Sun's, when

547
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,280
the Sun's go through. Who do
you think they'll match up better out of

548
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:57,000
the Hawks, Bucks? M I
mean, I think you just want to

549
00:36:57,039 --> 00:37:00,920
play the Hawks, probably because they're
not as good as the Bucks. I

550
00:37:01,079 --> 00:37:07,280
also, I do think the Suns
probably have more answers for Yannis than most

551
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:12,239
teams, especially with this development of
Aiden into a legitimate back line anchor.

552
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:19,119
But they also have the personnel to
really limit Trey Young, which does more

553
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:24,320
to diminish the Hawks's chances than limiting
Yannis does, because the Bucks have more

554
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:29,760
creators around him. You know,
they still have Drew Holiday, they still

555
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,039
have Chris Middleton, who's able to
get from scratch buckets and just about any

556
00:37:32,079 --> 00:37:37,400
situation. The Hawks have a plethora
of off ball weapons and good shooters,

557
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:42,760
but especially with Bogdon Bogdanovitch a little
bit hobbled, they do not have a

558
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,159
little bit much yeah, a lot
bit. They do not have as much

559
00:37:45,199 --> 00:37:50,880
off the bounce juice. So if
you limit Trey you've limited the entire offense,

560
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:53,119
and they have the personnel to do
that. I'm with you. I

561
00:37:53,159 --> 00:37:57,599
also think that, probably more so
than any other team in Lanta would have

562
00:37:57,639 --> 00:38:00,960
faced to that point should they make
the finals, that Phoenix will hunt mismatches

563
00:38:01,159 --> 00:38:05,400
with him. I'm sure because the
Knicks didn't. We didn't see that,

564
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,440
Like Philly just didn't have the personnel
to do that, And I guess the

565
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,639
Bucks like do it a little,
but like they will the Suns will figure

566
00:38:10,679 --> 00:38:15,039
out a way to put Trey Young
like up against Devin Booker or Chris Paul.

567
00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:20,760
The Bucks almost don't need to against
Atlanta because Jannis is just an inherent

568
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,760
mismatch for anyone on the Hawks.
They just they do not like some teams

569
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:29,199
have. You know, we we've
we talked for years about Lebron stoppers,

570
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,760
right, and I think for years
now we're going to be talking about Yannis

571
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:36,360
stoppers. The Hawks don't have one. They don't have anyone who can even

572
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,559
pretend to be one, So shame
on you. They don't really they don't

573
00:38:40,559 --> 00:38:46,679
really need to hunt mismatches fair enough. I do think the Hawks would match

574
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,079
up. I mean you could say
this with the Bucks too. They would

575
00:38:50,079 --> 00:38:52,559
match up a lot better against the
Suns. If DeAndre Hunter was healthy,

576
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,480
and if cam Radish is able to
work himself in a defensive form. We

577
00:38:54,519 --> 00:38:58,679
know what he is on offense.
That's made ecklier which is not good at

578
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,199
least so far in his career,
they would be more interesting to me.

579
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:06,119
But I think you rather face the
Hawks. But I just if the Hawks

580
00:39:06,119 --> 00:39:07,880
make it out of the Buck series, I need to know what happened in

581
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:12,880
Milwaukee that they just imploded or like, did we like what? I just

582
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,800
don't know. But there's when you
look at the Hawks roster like there's nothing

583
00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,719
that Phoenix can't plan for, even
like defensively, it's just like DeAndre at

584
00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:24,760
and versus Capella or Collins. Awesome. You could put Michal Bridges on Trey.

585
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:29,199
You could put Chris Paul on Trey. You could put Jay Crowder on

586
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:30,960
Trey. You probably shouldn't put Jay
Crowder on Trey. I'm gonna retract that

587
00:39:31,039 --> 00:39:35,760
back. You put Jay Crowder on
like Bogdanovitch or Gallo, who's been like

588
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,199
he's has his hair has come in. As he gets more hair, he's

589
00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:42,039
gotten more good basketball under his belt. I don't know. It seems like

590
00:39:42,079 --> 00:39:45,480
those two things might be related.
So yeah, I would rather face in

591
00:39:45,599 --> 00:39:50,719
Lanta. My hunch is having picked
Bucks in five, I think they're gonna

592
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:52,280
end up facing Milwaukee. I don't
think they match up poorly against Milwaukee.

593
00:39:52,559 --> 00:39:57,800
I think Aton might become the single
most important player to the Suns in that

594
00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,719
series, though maybe Jay Crowder just
because though are gonna be the guys that

595
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:05,159
are going up against Yannis. I
think that's fair. I do think that

596
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:12,360
the discussion with Hawks Bucks could have
changed drastically had DeAndre Hunter been healthy,

597
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:19,119
because there's there's your best chance of
having somewhat of a Giannest counter. Yeah.

598
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:21,760
No, I'm in total agreement with
you. That's something that the Hawks

599
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:22,480
are gonna need to look at in
the off season, though. Is they

600
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:28,000
need like they still need Wings because
they have Kevin Hurder, they have Cam

601
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,320
Reddish, they have DeAndre Hunter,
but like Hunter is really the only two

602
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,519
way guy for them, and Reddish
is not going to go up against the

603
00:40:34,519 --> 00:40:38,079
bigger Wings defensively. I think Kevin
Hurder is just saddest moments and like he's

604
00:40:38,119 --> 00:40:42,280
great on offense. But so that's
something that they need to look at.

605
00:40:43,039 --> 00:40:45,960
I don't feel validated. I do
feel validated that in one of our previous

606
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:50,159
episodes going into the playoffs, we
were trying to figure out who was going

607
00:40:50,199 --> 00:40:53,519
to be like the biggest name to
emerge from these playoffs, and Hurder was

608
00:40:53,559 --> 00:40:57,679
my pick, And I feel like
that's been kind of justified so far with

609
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:00,559
his his big Game seven performance in
the of this series and just the all

610
00:41:00,559 --> 00:41:07,159
around importance. Yeah, for sure, I would argue that Trey Young's immersions

611
00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:08,880
might be a little bit bigger than
thank Kevin Herder's, but I guess,

612
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:15,800
you know, non All Star Trey
Young. That's fair. We're gonna leave

613
00:41:15,079 --> 00:41:21,679
Bucks, Hawks and Sons Clippers to
talk about the NBA at large. Now,

614
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,159
Karrigan ask, excuse me, as
I'm choking. If the Utah Jazz

615
00:41:27,199 --> 00:41:30,760
were forced to make a trade,
what would be the most likely move.

616
00:41:30,719 --> 00:41:34,400
I know you hate these types of
questions, but if you have an answered,

617
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:37,679
moron to go first. Otherwise I
will take the talking stick here as

618
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,800
I am want to do. I
mean, I think it's ultimately anything that's

619
00:41:42,079 --> 00:41:47,000
not breaking up the core. I
don't think that there's good reason to move

620
00:41:47,039 --> 00:41:52,559
away from the Rudy Gobert, Donnovan
Mitchell Mike Conley pairing. It's gonna be

621
00:41:52,599 --> 00:41:57,239
something on the periphery. I think. So the thing that I think depends

622
00:41:57,239 --> 00:42:00,760
on they're not moving Rudy Gobert Donovan
Mitchell like that is just I mean,

623
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,880
it's weird that Rudy Gobert liked that
post that said he needed to get the

624
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,639
ball more. So there's like there
is a weird dynamic that we knew that.

625
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:10,280
I'd be flabbergasted if one of those
two guys removed this offseason. But

626
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,440
you do need to one of the
things I think it is depending on Alrea.

627
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,800
You bringing my Conley back, I
think you have to, but like,

628
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,079
does he want to go somewhere else. Let's assume my comedy comes back.

629
00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:21,559
Because I'm not the Jazz were the
best team in the regular season.

630
00:42:21,559 --> 00:42:24,639
I don't necessarily know why he'd want
to leave, and he's very important to

631
00:42:24,679 --> 00:42:28,599
getting Rudy Gobert the ball. Speaking
of Rudy Gobert, liking that post,

632
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,920
you do kind of have to train
a member of like the core there because

633
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:36,000
you look at the Jazz's core is
like those eight or nine guys, and

634
00:42:36,039 --> 00:42:39,079
so when you go up and down
their team in terms of untouchables, you

635
00:42:39,079 --> 00:42:43,719
have let's say those three, and
mostly because Conley's a free agent, I

636
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,519
think Royce O'Neill has to be,
by default the next most untouchable player.

637
00:42:46,679 --> 00:42:51,239
He's probably the most attractive trade asset. But unless you're getting back someone who's

638
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,480
a lot better than Royce O'Neill has
a better defensive scope, he's your single

639
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:58,360
most important perimeter defender at this point. So then you're looking at Joe Ingles

640
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,280
expiring contract thirteen million. Jordan Clarkson
has three years like thirty nine million left.

641
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:06,360
Did just win six Men of the
Year. You have Boyana Bodanovich two

642
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:10,039
years at like thirty eight thirty nine
million, a hair of an overpay,

643
00:43:10,079 --> 00:43:13,880
but he is good and he can
be a defensive liability. But he can

644
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:15,519
also like if he has to go
up against stronger wings who aren't going to

645
00:43:15,599 --> 00:43:20,599
look to really push their own pace, he can hold his own. And

646
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:22,920
then you have Derek Favors. I
just don't know what Derrick Favors value is

647
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,599
when he has two years, you
know, a little under twenty million dollars

648
00:43:25,639 --> 00:43:30,280
left on his deal. I think
what they the type of player they would

649
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:34,559
target is you need a wing who
can defend some other bigger wings and maybe

650
00:43:34,559 --> 00:43:37,960
not crater your offense. And you'll
also need that wink to be available for

651
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,719
pennies on the dollar because you don't
have trade assets. Their best package is

652
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:46,039
after the draft, you trade number
thirty and then one of your matching salaries.

653
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:50,400
Joe Ingles might be the most attractive
one because he's still really good and

654
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,960
an expiring Derek Favors I think is
semi useful because he's so cheap. I'm

655
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,880
curious to know what teams around the
league would think of Jordan Clarkson and the

656
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,920
trade that I've sort of bandied about, and maybe it's straight up because Clarkson

657
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:07,519
was so good this year. Clarkson
for Josh Richardson. Clarkson goes to Dallas

658
00:44:07,599 --> 00:44:10,199
that needs another shot free or desperately, and Clarkson's going to create shots.

659
00:44:10,199 --> 00:44:14,840
How comfortably you feel about paying him
long term? That's on Dallas. Richardson

660
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:16,840
was terrible this year. He has
a player option that I'm not sure whether

661
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:22,000
he'll pick up, just because I
assume you would get at least that much

662
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,599
money twelve million dollars on the open
market, but for how long and can't

663
00:44:24,599 --> 00:44:29,000
you up your value? But if
he opts in at eleven point six million,

664
00:44:29,039 --> 00:44:30,559
and I don't, I honestly don't
have a feel for whether he'll do

665
00:44:30,639 --> 00:44:34,920
that. That's the type of player
that Utah needs because he was so bad

666
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:37,000
on offense this year. But they
just generate so many, so much space

667
00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:40,360
and wide open looks that that might
be the place for him. And so

668
00:44:40,519 --> 00:44:44,639
that would be if I'm them,
that's the route I go. I just

669
00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:47,760
I'd be curious to see what the
Jazz think of that, and even what

670
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:51,159
the Mavericks think of that. It's
like a weird challenge trade. And I'm

671
00:44:51,159 --> 00:44:53,880
not trying to discredit how good Clarkson
was this year, but he's just he's

672
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,440
such a wild card. And Noah
says it has to be Boyon. I

673
00:44:58,599 --> 00:45:01,000
feel like, I I get where
you're coming from, Noah, but like

674
00:45:01,039 --> 00:45:05,719
he makes so much money that unless
you're also cutting peril in the process,

675
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:07,719
like which player are you going after
that you need to give up this eighteen

676
00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:13,000
million dollars salary for and none of
them things brace them on. Okay,

677
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:16,960
I do have one. I think
that if Portland is looking to change things

678
00:45:17,039 --> 00:45:22,840
up that Robert Covington, who would
be on an expiring deal worth just under

679
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:28,719
thirteen million dollars, would be a
really intriguing target for Utah just because you

680
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,159
have that off ball defensive weapon who
also has some three indeed juice to his

681
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:37,639
game. That would be a dream
target. But it is reliant on Portland

682
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:43,559
being willing to change up how they're
doing things and making their defense worse in

683
00:45:43,599 --> 00:45:45,559
the process. That might be like
a third team situation where because I think

684
00:45:45,599 --> 00:45:49,519
Boyan could help. Look, he's
got like fifty percent I'll pull out triples

685
00:45:49,559 --> 00:45:52,880
in the postseason, So I think
there'd be teams like the Knicks would take

686
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,000
him into cap space and a heartbeat
like that, or san Antonio might do

687
00:45:55,039 --> 00:45:59,599
the same. You obviously want value
for him, So yeah, if you

688
00:45:59,599 --> 00:46:01,519
want to make a big spin like
you're talking about, and maybe even think

689
00:46:01,519 --> 00:46:05,280
bigger than Robert Commington, Like if
you're attaching a first to bow Yon,

690
00:46:05,599 --> 00:46:07,840
maybe there's a third team. Maybe
that gets Portland thinking for some reason if

691
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,599
they decided to go a different direction. But if you're trying to aim higher

692
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:15,800
otherwise, I think like a Josh
Richardson type player, someone who'se values a

693
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:17,760
little bit lower than it should be, but who you know can help you

694
00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:21,800
where we're not going. Oh,
they had Shack Harrison and didn't play him

695
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,480
type player because we can name like
David Nawaba would be a free agent target

696
00:46:24,519 --> 00:46:28,400
for them. But are they actually
gonna play David Nuaba in the postseason?

697
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:30,480
Like I'm trying to think of someone
they would have fired to actually play in

698
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:37,360
the postseason. Yeah. Right.
This next question comes from Alex Khalifa asked

699
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,400
our Knicks fans in for a letdown
next season. Now, before you answer,

700
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:44,000
I will say we did record a
Knicks pod with the folks from Knicks

701
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,559
Film School Luire pods homies just like
the Timeline pod, So listen to that.

702
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:51,800
I did ask, We talked at
length about that, but I'm curious

703
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:54,440
as to your thoughts on that question. No, wait, Noah answered it

704
00:46:54,519 --> 00:47:00,280
for Meeson, the answer is no. I mean, it depends whole on

705
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:06,199
the expectations. If Knicks fans are
convinced that this team is set up to

706
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:10,840
take a major leap forward beyond this
season's excellence, then yeah, there's probably

707
00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:15,199
going to be a bit of a
letdown. If the expectations are more realistic

708
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:20,039
and realize that there are legitimate issues
with this roster, it's going to be

709
00:47:20,079 --> 00:47:22,920
tough to figure out exactly how to
improve it, especially with a new contract

710
00:47:23,239 --> 00:47:28,519
looming for Julius Randall, and we
might be looking at another first round appearance

711
00:47:28,599 --> 00:47:31,239
and a tough series in that opening
round. Then no, it's probably not

712
00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:37,480
going to be a letdown. I
do think that the newfound culture around this

713
00:47:37,559 --> 00:47:40,800
Knicks organization, with Tom Thibodeaux leading
the charge, with r J. Barrett

714
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:45,880
developing, with Derek Rose becoming a
really useful player, with Julius Randall taking

715
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:50,760
these massive leaps forward, this roster
is set up to be a continued playoff

716
00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:54,400
presence in the Eastern Conference. It
just isn't necessarily primed for that gigantic leap

717
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:59,639
forward. I agree with you.
I think what a lot of people are

718
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:04,920
under estimating is that what Knicks fans
want is for their team to operate like

719
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:07,360
a normal team. And so if
they do that this offseason, where they

720
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:10,840
don't get out on any bad contracts, make any bad trades, they'll be

721
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:15,559
able to accept regression in the standings
because look, given the season, I'm

722
00:48:15,559 --> 00:48:19,199
not saying it was easier for them, they were just healthier than most teams.

723
00:48:19,559 --> 00:48:21,880
I don't know that you could be
like they need to be four in

724
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:23,960
the Eastern Conference, because that's not
realistic. They also have a lot of

725
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:28,079
dudes that are free agents that they
might not keep, Like Alec Burks is

726
00:48:28,079 --> 00:48:29,920
going to be in demand, I
would argue in Olyngs, no Well will

727
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,039
be in demand. Reggie Bullock.
You're speaking of people that are fit well

728
00:48:32,079 --> 00:48:35,280
in the Jazz. They can't afford
them. But like Reggie Bullock is going

729
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,440
to be in demand, Noah says, Adam is treading on thin ice right

730
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:43,880
now. So well, okay,
so let's do this, we're gonna The

731
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:46,119
Knicks went forty one and thirty one
this season. They were the fourth seed

732
00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:52,159
in the Eastern Conference, winning the
tiebreaker over the Atlanta Hawks. So let's

733
00:48:52,199 --> 00:48:55,760
set the over under at the at
four point five seed for next year.

734
00:48:55,840 --> 00:49:00,960
Where are they going to fall?
I don't look. I think the roster

735
00:49:01,639 --> 00:49:06,719
is so fluid. No oneh said
under, and I would agree with him.

736
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,800
But in this case, there's under
me and like they'll be a top

737
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:15,559
four seed or they'll be below.
I would say below it. And what

738
00:49:15,679 --> 00:49:17,880
I'm so this would be the best
way to frame it for me is if

739
00:49:19,239 --> 00:49:22,079
if that happens, it's not necessarily
a bad sign, because the East could

740
00:49:22,119 --> 00:49:27,559
be deeper next year, just like
what if the Pacers are healthy, Boston

741
00:49:27,679 --> 00:49:30,360
could be better, Miami could be
better. But the other I think,

742
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:34,639
what you need to look at this
offseason, and that's look, I like,

743
00:49:34,719 --> 00:49:37,079
we're no, I'm just asking for
five hundred. Like honestly, I've

744
00:49:37,079 --> 00:49:38,719
suffered for too long. I get
that sentiment. If you get there without

745
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:43,119
doing anything detrimental in the process,
more power to you. But I would

746
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,440
I would argue, and I'm not
endorsing this, but if the Knicks do

747
00:49:46,639 --> 00:49:52,280
regret substantially, it's probably because they
didn't prioritize the immediate picture, and that's

748
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,039
a fantastic sign, in which case
you shouldn't be disappointed if that happens next

749
00:49:55,039 --> 00:49:59,440
season. If they want, let's
say the Warriors really want Julius Randall.

750
00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:02,800
Let's say, and they're willing to
give you number seven and fourteen for Julius

751
00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:06,400
Randall and then your two first round
picks or one of your two first round

752
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,880
picks at nineteen and twenty one,
if you make that trade, and you

753
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:12,440
don't have to, but if you
get number seven in this draft. And

754
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:14,880
I'm not saying Warriors, you watch
Elise trou I'm trying to use this as

755
00:50:14,920 --> 00:50:20,000
an example that shows a forethought that, hey, this season was great,

756
00:50:20,079 --> 00:50:22,719
we're not good enough to win a
title. The flip side of that would

757
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:27,559
also be if a star becomes available. If Damian Lillard is Chris Haynes reports,

758
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:30,880
I don't know if you saw that, which is and we need to

759
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:35,639
cover it because it's pure comedy,
actually so, but let's quickly if Damian

760
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:39,039
Leward wants out of Portland, if
if Bradley Beal wants out of Washington,

761
00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:42,639
Zach Lavine's kind of fringe. I
don't know how much you give up to

762
00:50:42,639 --> 00:50:44,440
get him. I would still,
you know, here are the Knicks looking

763
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:46,880
at where you are. Maybe you
make that type of move. But where

764
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:50,760
it gets discouraging is if they go
all in on free agency, because they

765
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:52,920
can have more than fifty million dollars
in cap space, and they won't actually

766
00:50:53,119 --> 00:50:58,159
because I'm assuming they'll keep some of
their own guys, maybe even Derrick Rose.

767
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:00,960
But that's what would be. That's
how you look for progress here,

768
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:05,719
is that it can't be tied to
where they finish in the Eastern Conference because

769
00:51:06,079 --> 00:51:08,199
the Eastern Conference in the middle is
fluid, like right now, because we

770
00:51:08,239 --> 00:51:12,119
don't even know what's going on with
Philadelphia. You have Milwaukee and Brooklyn at

771
00:51:12,119 --> 00:51:14,920
the top. Are you willing to
put pencil in any other two teams up

772
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:19,000
there at him? I think you
can make a reasonable case that Atlanta will

773
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:22,639
be up there, just given how
much is present. No, I mean

774
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:23,679
here, you're right. No,
what he's treading on, he's treading on

775
00:51:23,679 --> 00:51:28,599
saying ice nor No, I'm I
no, No, I think it's I

776
00:51:28,639 --> 00:51:32,039
think it's fair. But like,
would you even pencil like couldn't you talk

777
00:51:32,039 --> 00:51:37,440
yourself into MABE, Miami or Boston
being better than Atlanta next year. I

778
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,159
think I would have trouble doing that
at this point, given what we've seen

779
00:51:39,199 --> 00:51:43,719
in the playoffs and just how much
young talent there is to still develop.

780
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:49,880
Did you I did not? Joy
love this? This is great. Thank

781
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,800
you, Jacob. I think Adam
stacking the deck of guests in here.

782
00:51:53,679 --> 00:52:00,519
Welcome Jacob. Though we have a
question in the chat though from going up

783
00:52:00,559 --> 00:52:05,960
from AMYSK, does Kate Cunningham make
Detroit a playoff playing team right away?

784
00:52:07,039 --> 00:52:13,079
I think the world of Kaid Cunningham
held he would be my clear cut number

785
00:52:13,119 --> 00:52:16,400
one pick at this stage. That
is most likely not going to change at

786
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:22,639
any point in the pre draft process. But for two reasons, I don't

787
00:52:22,679 --> 00:52:28,719
think that you can keep that amount
of expectation onto him and the Pistons in

788
00:52:28,840 --> 00:52:34,480
year one. One of the reasons
is cunning him himself like ultimately, rookie

789
00:52:34,519 --> 00:52:39,599
guards tend to go through some struggles
during their initial NBA experiences. The speed

790
00:52:39,639 --> 00:52:45,119
of the game is entirely different,
and Cunningham has the profile of a player

791
00:52:45,159 --> 00:52:50,800
who might require a bit more of
an adjustment period just because he's already so

792
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:54,440
turnover prone, averaging four turnovers per
game at Oklahoma State as a freshman.

793
00:52:54,800 --> 00:53:00,000
And you can easily counter that by
looking at the quality of the offense around

794
00:53:00,039 --> 00:53:04,480
Tim which was pretty much non existent. There aren't any other NBA caliber players

795
00:53:04,519 --> 00:53:07,159
on that roster. Maybe there are
a lot fewer turnovers if he is asked

796
00:53:07,159 --> 00:53:10,679
to do less, if he can
rely more on those kickout passes to his

797
00:53:10,719 --> 00:53:15,519
teammates who largely just weren't hitting those
open looks. But he still has the

798
00:53:15,559 --> 00:53:21,960
profile of a guy who is going
to experience some degree of acclamation to the

799
00:53:22,079 --> 00:53:25,440
NBA. And the second reason is
the Pistons. They are not really in

800
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:30,480
a position to make a gigantic leap. You know, Jeremy Grant showed that

801
00:53:30,519 --> 00:53:35,800
he was such an improved player this
year, but beyond that, I don't

802
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:38,280
know what you're looking at with this
roster where you're like, they do have

803
00:53:38,440 --> 00:53:44,239
enough talent to immediately make the jump
up into playoff contention in a deeper,

804
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:49,239
better Eastern Conference. The only players
coming off the books are Dennis Smith junior,

805
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:53,159
Wayne Ellington and Hammadugiallo and Corey Joseph
as a non guaranteed contract. But

806
00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:59,280
who on that roster are you pointing
to as like that number two, number

807
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:04,519
three guy beyond Jeremy Grant and Kaid
Cunningham. Are you counting on Killian Hayes

808
00:54:04,599 --> 00:54:08,039
just making a massive sophomore leap despite
not seeing too much from him during his

809
00:54:08,119 --> 00:54:13,599
rookie season, where like Isaiah Stewart
suddenly blossoming into a two way force.

810
00:54:14,239 --> 00:54:16,639
There are pieces with upside here,
but this is going to be a little

811
00:54:16,639 --> 00:54:22,679
bit of a longer rebuild than fans
might want to believe. Yeah, I

812
00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:24,880
think we'll rediverged. I'm probably higher
on the talent they have in place than

813
00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:28,880
you. I like the cadence to
Killian Hayes's game in some of what we

814
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:30,960
saw for his eighteen games, but
it's going to take time, and Sadiq

815
00:54:31,039 --> 00:54:34,519
Bay having more balls skills than I
think, and you had him first team

816
00:54:34,519 --> 00:54:37,559
All Rookie when we did our all
Rookie teams, so they have the talent

817
00:54:37,599 --> 00:54:40,440
there. But I think what you
the most salient point you made was that

818
00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:44,079
there's gonna be a learning curve for
Kake Cunningham just because the type of role

819
00:54:44,119 --> 00:54:46,400
is going to be expected to play. My question, do you, I

820
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,880
don't know if you saw Sam Passini
of the Athletics report, and he's still

821
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:52,800
mocked Kate Cunningham to Detroit, So
I want to make that clear. But

822
00:54:52,840 --> 00:54:57,920
they were like rumblings that Troy Reaver
was gonna look at four or five guys

823
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:00,199
for the number one spot. Do
you say, and I think the comparisons

824
00:55:00,239 --> 00:55:02,840
being made, or that this isn't
the Zion draft. Where's that much of

825
00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:07,880
a no brainer? Do you think, honestly, like just be crassed with

826
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:12,800
it? Should any should they be
considering anyone but Kaide at number one?

827
00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:16,599
Or should they be even considering trading
out of number one? I don't think

828
00:55:16,599 --> 00:55:21,960
they should be considering trading out because
this class is so strong and does have

829
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:27,920
so many options who could be future
superstars. I don't think it would be

830
00:55:27,960 --> 00:55:32,000
too ridiculous to be considering a few
other players in this spot. I'm firmly

831
00:55:32,039 --> 00:55:35,400
of the belief that when you have
the number one pick, you take the

832
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:38,199
best player, regardless of how he
may fit with the roster. If you're

833
00:55:38,239 --> 00:55:43,360
worried about how Killy and Hayes fits
with Kaid Cunningham, that's not really a

834
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:47,079
reason to not draft a player as
talented as Cunningham. But I do think

835
00:55:47,159 --> 00:55:53,159
high enough of Evan Mobley that I
would understand. He very much feels like

836
00:55:53,239 --> 00:56:00,079
that next evolutionary modern big who can
just be a total game changing presence on

837
00:56:00,119 --> 00:56:02,559
both ends of the court. There
are still flaws to his game, but

838
00:56:02,599 --> 00:56:07,480
I do think he is good enough
to at least be in that conversation.

839
00:56:07,239 --> 00:56:14,039
I also see it with other guys
like I've used Scotty Barnes as another option

840
00:56:14,159 --> 00:56:17,599
who can just do everything that you
want from a player in the modern game.

841
00:56:17,639 --> 00:56:22,760
I think there's enough upside with Jalen
Green to justify that if you're just

842
00:56:23,039 --> 00:56:27,840
entirely sold on him after the workouts. I don't think Cunningham is like that

843
00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:30,519
mortal lock to go number one,
even if I do believe that he's the

844
00:56:30,559 --> 00:56:35,280
best player in this class. I
don't see it for Men and Mobley the

845
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:38,079
like. I know he has the
ball skills that would make him transformative offensively,

846
00:56:38,159 --> 00:56:40,280
where if someone like me he's going
to say, I'm not drafting a

847
00:56:40,280 --> 00:56:45,079
big at number one, number two, it just seems like it's so slow

848
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:47,800
to me, and I'm just curious
as to whether it's going to translate an

849
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:51,559
MBA speed and so Kay Cunningham is
just the guy to me and if you're

850
00:56:51,559 --> 00:56:53,400
not going to pick him, you
should trade out. But I wouldn't trade

851
00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:57,199
out like I would take Kay Cunningham, And it wouldn't be like you know,

852
00:56:57,280 --> 00:57:00,800
we would that would be that discussion
wouldn't even be had they they be

853
00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:02,519
already moving on to the rest of
their draft prep work, offseason prep work,

854
00:57:02,559 --> 00:57:07,519
like Kay Cunningham would be in Detroit. You've done more college research than

855
00:57:07,559 --> 00:57:09,840
I have. But just like having
watched what I've watched with Evan Mobley,

856
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:14,159
I just can't talk myself into him
over Kate or even if you're gonna go

857
00:57:14,239 --> 00:57:16,559
Jail and Subs or Jail and Green. Even on the defensive end, just

858
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:21,679
the foot speed that he has there
and his ability to entirely shut down the

859
00:57:21,679 --> 00:57:24,000
paint and still cycle out to guard
in the perimeter. I just I feel

860
00:57:24,039 --> 00:57:28,719
like he is like in that dam
out of Bio mold. That's awesome,

861
00:57:28,719 --> 00:57:31,800
But Bamat of Baio is not running
an offense either, and he's supposed to

862
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:35,159
be the transformer big. He's a
great passer, but you can't play him

863
00:57:35,159 --> 00:57:37,159
without another primary ball handler. And
I think if you have the opportunity to

864
00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:43,519
draft At and Kate Cunningham, draft
bat and Kate Cunningham the which this is

865
00:57:43,559 --> 00:57:46,760
my at Dan fa Valley asked which
team is best set up or most likely

866
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:52,039
to trade for Damian Lillard if people
comes available. I don't know that I

867
00:57:52,119 --> 00:57:58,559
even want to like Grace that with
the response, I mean, it's probably

868
00:57:58,800 --> 00:58:00,320
I think people are gonna assume if
his way than Knicks. I don't know,

869
00:58:00,639 --> 00:58:04,800
given where the Knicks are at that
you could say he cares about winning

870
00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:07,119
and wants to leave what the Blazers
have for what the Knicks have. You

871
00:58:07,119 --> 00:58:09,800
would have to be like because think
about what they're gonna have to give up

872
00:58:09,800 --> 00:58:14,280
to get him, And it's probably
RJ. Barrett and IQ are in that.

873
00:58:14,599 --> 00:58:17,480
And so like his Dame and Julius
Randall, the team would be probably

874
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:22,239
Philadelphia, right because Ben Simmons is
going to be the centerpiece, right and

875
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:24,679
so and they can include whatever else
they want to attach to it. And

876
00:58:24,719 --> 00:58:29,199
also like maybe does Dame want to
go there? Who knows, But he

877
00:58:29,239 --> 00:58:30,840
has four years left on his contract
as an extension even started. Maybe he

878
00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:35,920
has three, Like he's not,
yeah, he can kind of dictate terms,

879
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:39,480
but like you have four years left
on yeah, he has he has

880
00:58:39,519 --> 00:58:44,440
three. So like he's not dictating
necessarily or shouldn't he has four? Oh

881
00:58:44,519 --> 00:58:46,159
my god, I can't. I
can't count he has four, so like

882
00:58:46,559 --> 00:58:50,880
he can't really dictate terms as much
as even and James Harden would have.

883
00:58:51,400 --> 00:58:58,639
That was a quick one. This
question I found interesting came from God.

884
00:58:59,079 --> 00:59:04,239
Sorry I wrote that on the pronunciation
of this Greg Wa Do you think Ben

885
00:59:04,239 --> 00:59:08,440
Simmons is done being an All Star
starting next year? I definitely do not.

886
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:14,719
I mean, he has legitimate flaws
to his game that have been exposed,

887
00:59:14,719 --> 00:59:19,360
and severely so. But let's not
forget that he is arguably the most

888
00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:23,599
versatile defender in the entire NBA who
is going to be a yearly threat for

889
00:59:23,639 --> 00:59:28,400
Defensive Player of the Year in a
mainstay on all defensive teams. He's still

890
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:32,440
one of the premier passers in the
association. He can finish around the basket.

891
00:59:32,480 --> 00:59:36,480
He's a transition threat. He has
a growing game as a cutter.

892
00:59:36,760 --> 00:59:43,400
There are significant weaknesses, but he
is an extraordinarily talented basketball player who even

893
00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:46,639
with all of the free throw flaws
and the inability to even touch the ball

894
00:59:46,639 --> 00:59:51,239
down the stretch of close games in
the fourth quarter, rendering him as some

895
00:59:51,320 --> 00:59:54,440
kind of weird like hybrid point guard, wing three and D player minus the

896
00:59:54,480 --> 01:00:00,119
three, Like he still makes such
an impact in the first three quarter that

897
01:00:00,239 --> 01:00:06,559
he's providing positive value nonetheless, and
in the regular season we don't see those

898
01:00:06,599 --> 01:00:09,079
flaws exploited as much. He's still
going to put up big numbers. He's

899
01:00:09,119 --> 01:00:13,920
still going to be one of the
better players in the Eastern Conference or should

900
01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:16,519
he be traded to Portland or elsewhere
in the Western Conference and he's going to

901
01:00:16,519 --> 01:00:20,760
be in the All Star conversation.
Maybe he won't make it next year because

902
01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:25,039
the narrative has shifted so much after
this postseason series. But like he's what

903
01:00:25,159 --> 01:00:28,239
twenty three, I want to stay, off the top of my head,

904
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:32,519
twenty four Liket's there's no way that
he's not going to be in the All

905
01:00:32,519 --> 01:00:39,039
Star conversation again. Yeah, forever. Sure. But I will argue that

906
01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:43,800
this could be a DeMar Derozen type
situation where you've seen him become a liability

907
01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:46,079
enough in the playoffs where you dismiss
some of what's happening during the regular season.

908
01:00:46,239 --> 01:00:49,719
I don't know if that's right or
wrong. I would probably lean towards

909
01:00:49,760 --> 01:00:53,079
it's okay. But because we've seen
him to struggle so much. Even if

910
01:00:53,079 --> 01:00:55,760
he puts up those numbers, I
think people are going to be inclined to

911
01:00:55,800 --> 01:01:00,119
go to a different direction. It's
sort of the the inverse Trey Young where

912
01:01:00,159 --> 01:01:02,320
people were wondering, oh, could
he be look at the numbers he put

913
01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:05,519
up this year, he should have
been an All Star over Ben Simmons if

914
01:01:05,559 --> 01:01:09,000
we're gonna go by that and it
did he make the All Star team?

915
01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:13,119
No, he didn't. I can't
remember, but he didn't. So now

916
01:01:13,159 --> 01:01:15,480
he's gonna get more consideration because of
what we see him do in the playoffs.

917
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:20,679
So I actually think there's a chance
that for the next couple of years

918
01:01:20,760 --> 01:01:25,039
unless we see a measurable improvement in
his attack mode, and certainly next year,

919
01:01:25,039 --> 01:01:28,320
I might be a little like or
just his free throw shooting. Does

920
01:01:28,360 --> 01:01:30,400
he do anything to expand his range? Maybe if he gets traded, it'll

921
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:34,880
be a different story, But it
wouldn't surprise me if we don't see Ben

922
01:01:34,920 --> 01:01:36,639
Sims in the All Star Game for
the next few years. Where I think

923
01:01:36,639 --> 01:01:39,360
people sort of looked at the mar
derosion. It's a different players, but

924
01:01:39,400 --> 01:01:44,039
like they looked at his struggles in
the playoffs and it kind of eclipsed because

925
01:01:44,039 --> 01:01:46,760
he's still a great regular season player, so and I would still argue he's

926
01:01:46,800 --> 01:01:51,960
valuable in certain playoffs situations. Amysk
asked, Dan, I know this is

927
01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:55,840
whild, but could Phoenix prepare package
for Dame if for some reason CP three

928
01:01:55,960 --> 01:02:01,280
doesn't resign. I mean they could
because you have eight and you have bridges,

929
01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:05,440
You have Cam Johnson, you owe
your twenty twenty two pick to Okay,

930
01:02:05,440 --> 01:02:07,320
see, but you have the rest
of your picks. You still have

931
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:10,000
Jail and Green if there's any intrigue
there. I think what you need in

932
01:02:10,039 --> 01:02:15,920
that scenario is the gall to be
like, Okay, we're gonna gut our

933
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:19,760
roster after losing CP three. So
you're losing CP three and then losing your

934
01:02:19,760 --> 01:02:22,320
supporting cast, like what is Jay
Crowder, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard,

935
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:25,519
and then a bunch of like veterans
get you, like can you get Robert

936
01:02:25,559 --> 01:02:30,280
Covington back in that deal as well? But the other thing would be you

937
01:02:30,280 --> 01:02:34,360
need Portland to wants would be rebuilding
in that scenario, not trying where I

938
01:02:34,360 --> 01:02:37,159
think Ben Simmons allows them to straddle
two timelines. I don't know if a

939
01:02:37,159 --> 01:02:39,679
package built around let's just say,
Cam Johnson, Bridges, and Aden.

940
01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:43,320
I think that would have to be
like your starting point. I don't think

941
01:02:43,360 --> 01:02:45,519
that does the same, so they
could. I don't think you're getting Lillard

942
01:02:45,519 --> 01:02:49,599
without either Aiden or Booker, so
I do feel like you have to start

943
01:02:49,639 --> 01:02:52,559
there. Yeah, no, you're
first of all, if you're giving a

944
01:02:52,559 --> 01:02:53,880
Booker in that trade, I'm not
making the trade because it's defeats the purpose

945
01:02:53,880 --> 01:02:55,880
of getting Dame. But I agree
with you. Aten has to be there,

946
01:02:57,199 --> 01:03:00,760
with Bridges and probably Johnson, then
probably draft Equity. So I think

947
01:03:00,760 --> 01:03:04,519
they could. I just don't know
that they would. Let's try and blow

948
01:03:04,599 --> 01:03:07,360
through a couple here before we get
out of here. I do have one

949
01:03:07,440 --> 01:03:13,280
quick one from Sacktown. Underscore Slovenia
asked how good were the Kings against playoff

950
01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:15,760
teams this year? The answer was
they were not good against playoff teams.

951
01:03:15,760 --> 01:03:19,639
They were ten and fourteen against West
playoff teams, which was actually surprisingly pleasant.

952
01:03:20,320 --> 01:03:22,119
Then they were six and fourteen against
the East. That's sixteen and twenty

953
01:03:22,159 --> 01:03:27,679
eight overall against playoff teams. Now, if you're looking for some just like

954
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:30,880
positive, this is impositive. They
were fifteen and twenty six against teams above

955
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:35,239
five hundred sixteen and fifteen against teams
below five hundred, so they did have

956
01:03:35,280 --> 01:03:38,039
a winning record against sub five hundred
opponents. What I found intriguing is that

957
01:03:38,159 --> 01:03:43,239
in games where the point differential was
plus or minus three points in the final

958
01:03:43,280 --> 01:03:47,440
two minutes, the Sacramento Kings were
seventeen and twelve. So yeah, there's

959
01:03:47,440 --> 01:03:51,000
some variants. Well, there's probably
a ton of variants and randomness in there.

960
01:03:51,039 --> 01:03:52,719
But if you're a Kings fan and
want to look to some encouragement,

961
01:03:52,920 --> 01:03:57,280
you had a winning record against below
five hundred teams and you played well in

962
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:00,559
some big time moments. So very
curious see what they look like next year,

963
01:04:00,599 --> 01:04:03,039
because they still think there's a chance
that they blow it up. Do

964
01:04:03,079 --> 01:04:06,079
you have anything to add to that
at them? Not really. I think

965
01:04:06,119 --> 01:04:10,639
you covered that one. I have
two questions left, and I think this

966
01:04:10,679 --> 01:04:15,480
one from Canal set the isn't cited
by the fact that Cleveland ended up in

967
01:04:15,559 --> 01:04:17,920
number three in the lottery, and
so people think that there's a chance Evan

968
01:04:18,000 --> 01:04:23,599
Mobley could fall there. Which teams
should trade for Jared Allen. I want

969
01:04:23,639 --> 01:04:25,679
to make it clear it have to
be a sign and trade because the restricted

970
01:04:25,719 --> 01:04:28,760
free agent that's not impossible. It's
just it would have to be a team

971
01:04:28,760 --> 01:04:31,039
without cap space that wants him,
or you know, since Cleveland has the

972
01:04:31,119 --> 01:04:33,000
right to match, you have cap
space, but you want to work with

973
01:04:33,039 --> 01:04:36,440
Cleveland because they're not going to let
him walk, they'll match it. My

974
01:04:36,519 --> 01:04:40,559
question you would be, would you
pay Jared Allen and draft Evan Mobley.

975
01:04:41,719 --> 01:04:44,199
Jared Allen's going to cost you at
least fifteen so you would? You would?

976
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:46,519
You don't care. I think it
goes it goes back to the previous

977
01:04:46,519 --> 01:04:49,679
answer about Kid Cunningham, where I
think at the top of the draft,

978
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:53,599
with this caliber of player, you
just don't worry about the fit and you

979
01:04:53,599 --> 01:04:56,960
figure it out later. And I
do believe that Jared Allen is good enough

980
01:04:57,079 --> 01:05:00,440
to be a cornerstone in Cleveland,
a lower level cornerstone, but a cornerstone

981
01:05:00,440 --> 01:05:03,400
nonetheless. So I think that you
retain him and then you take the best

982
01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:06,519
player available, and if that's Mobley, so be it. You could also

983
01:05:06,599 --> 01:05:11,880
argue that he's insurance then against Mobile
not panning out, And you could also

984
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:14,880
argue that, let's say Mobile pans
out, you've Jared out on a more

985
01:05:14,920 --> 01:05:17,840
expensive salary, makes him more intriguing
to trade for if there were teams this

986
01:05:17,880 --> 01:05:25,559
offseason that we're looking at that Charlotte
definitely a center. Okay, so he

987
01:05:25,599 --> 01:05:28,440
needs a center. But and I
would pay him because he's so young.

988
01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:30,400
But are they going to pay anyone? Would be my follow up question there

989
01:05:31,079 --> 01:05:34,119
might as well at this point,
like you're not gonna be able to have

990
01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:39,519
this many rookies and you're still gonna
have a bunch of guys on rookie scale

991
01:05:39,559 --> 01:05:43,039
contracts, so you can afford that
kind of overpay in the immediate future.

992
01:05:44,079 --> 01:05:47,400
He and Shay would be so fun
together. I depict an role combination there.

993
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:53,840
It could be fun. One of
the teams I thought of too is

994
01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:57,199
Toronto. What would you think of
him and Pascal together because they seem to

995
01:05:57,280 --> 01:06:00,639
really want a big next day?
I think I would he going off his

996
01:06:00,639 --> 01:06:03,800
spacing limitations there though, I like
the idea of like giving more minutes to

997
01:06:03,840 --> 01:06:06,920
Chris Bouchet because there's a little more
stretched to his game. Thank you,

998
01:06:06,920 --> 01:06:10,679
you know you know your podcast co
host. Well, I'd appreciate that.

999
01:06:11,199 --> 01:06:14,840
No other team really springs to mind
for me though, And like centers are

1000
01:06:14,880 --> 01:06:17,559
a wonky market, but like I
don't that might even have the feasibility to

1001
01:06:17,599 --> 01:06:20,960
like have a Cleveland like if you
weren't if you didn't have faith in Isaiah

1002
01:06:20,960 --> 01:06:26,320
Stewart Detroit. But I could also
see like Portland moving on from Nurkics and

1003
01:06:26,360 --> 01:06:30,559
going for more of that, like
defensive anchor at the five. That could

1004
01:06:30,559 --> 01:06:35,119
be an intriguing landing spot the Warriors, maybe, but the fit with Draymond

1005
01:06:35,159 --> 01:06:38,320
is terrible, and you have wisemen
there already, So that was actually a

1006
01:06:38,440 --> 01:06:41,559
terrible suggestion by me. I would
say the Kings, except I think with

1007
01:06:41,679 --> 01:06:45,400
Shaun Holmes is noticeably better than Oh. I think we're missing an easy one

1008
01:06:45,719 --> 01:06:48,679
unless they draft Evan Mobile themselves,
in which case Jar now and probably going

1009
01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:54,119
to be signed and trade in anyway. But Houston, Yeah, I just

1010
01:06:54,159 --> 01:06:58,119
I have no feel for what Houston's
gonna do yet, but he's that it

1011
01:06:58,159 --> 01:07:00,599
would be a fun one like him
christian Wood together does make a lot of

1012
01:07:00,599 --> 01:07:04,880
sense. Yeah, that's the luxury
of Christian Wood is that you can play

1013
01:07:05,159 --> 01:07:10,039
any type of big essentially next to
him, maybe Indiana, so that you

1014
01:07:10,079 --> 01:07:14,320
can run out Miles Turner to Montes
Sabonis and Jared Allen at the same time

1015
01:07:14,840 --> 01:07:20,519
a golga. Let's just really lean
into it. They should have also gone

1016
01:07:20,559 --> 01:07:28,039
home to just go true. Five
bigsh final question here. The other one

1017
01:07:28,079 --> 01:07:32,079
was way too in dust. I'll
skip that one. Michael asked what team

1018
01:07:32,119 --> 01:07:35,800
can Russell Westbrook maximize his value with
next season. I'm impressed that he thinks

1019
01:07:35,880 --> 01:07:40,239
Russell Westbrook I have no doubt he'll
be available, but I'm impressed that he

1020
01:07:40,239 --> 01:07:45,559
thinks Russell Westbrook is going to be
traded. I you're not gonna feel like

1021
01:07:45,599 --> 01:07:48,679
this might be about answer, but
I want to see him stay in Washington,

1022
01:07:49,199 --> 01:07:55,159
Like he really reinvigorated that team and
pushed it into that play in tournament,

1023
01:07:55,599 --> 01:07:59,840
and the fit with him and Bradley
Beale still can make sense. Washington

1024
01:07:59,880 --> 01:08:03,119
has a number of up and coming
pieces and Denny Advia and may Hatchamoura and

1025
01:08:03,199 --> 01:08:06,920
Daniel Gafford, who really exploded at
the tail end of the season. Like

1026
01:08:08,039 --> 01:08:12,760
this team is intriguing to me,
and he, for all his flaws and

1027
01:08:13,239 --> 01:08:15,840
for all the times he might shoot
them out of games, does make it

1028
01:08:15,840 --> 01:08:21,399
better. If Bradley Bodle's want out, You don't move Russe with Westbrook because

1029
01:08:21,399 --> 01:08:27,399
he elevates your peak, even if
he could potentially lower your flour. He

1030
01:08:27,119 --> 01:08:30,560
can, he can heighten your peak, and whatever you trade for him,

1031
01:08:30,560 --> 01:08:32,800
you're not getting back value. The
two teams that spreading in mind where I

1032
01:08:32,840 --> 01:08:39,000
think that he could actually help them. Los Angeles they've shown the Clippers,

1033
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:42,319
they've shown a willingness to play small. So if you can have four shooters

1034
01:08:42,359 --> 01:08:45,760
around him, where it's Kawai,
Paul George, Marcus Morris, and then

1035
01:08:45,319 --> 01:08:48,600
is it Terrence man Is at Leuconard. I don't care Patrick Beverlely. That

1036
01:08:48,640 --> 01:08:53,760
team would make and they can cobble
together the salaries between having Beverly Kennard.

1037
01:08:53,800 --> 01:08:57,359
I'm assuming Abaca opts in if they
wanted to, and the other team would

1038
01:08:57,399 --> 01:09:00,600
be I'm not endorsing this. I
don't think it's good. Would be the

1039
01:09:00,680 --> 01:09:03,479
Knicks. Someone who can attack down
hill and actually get out in transition,

1040
01:09:03,760 --> 01:09:06,439
which RJ. Barrett would probably love
because I can't tell you the number of

1041
01:09:06,479 --> 01:09:09,960
times I've seen RJ. Barrett beat
his entire team down the floor and looked

1042
01:09:09,960 --> 01:09:14,119
disappointed that no one was with him. I don't have a feel for what

1043
01:09:14,119 --> 01:09:17,119
Bradley Beal's gonna do in Washington.
He did seem non commit on his end

1044
01:09:17,159 --> 01:09:20,640
of season presser, but Russell Westbrook's
still a tough fit to find. I

1045
01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:24,800
think you need to look at teams
where they have in Washington Ken run these

1046
01:09:24,840 --> 01:09:28,560
lineups out. Maybe not so much
with Daniel Gafford, but with Thomas Bryant

1047
01:09:28,560 --> 01:09:30,560
healthy, Like he shot the three
ball, well, you need to have

1048
01:09:30,600 --> 01:09:33,800
four shooters around him to really maximize
him. You can get away with three

1049
01:09:33,800 --> 01:09:39,000
in certain situations, but four shooters
is the way to maximize him. Right.

1050
01:09:39,800 --> 01:09:46,560
Do you have anything else to add? Not particularly, I am curious

1051
01:09:47,159 --> 01:09:54,399
if you put together I'm trying to
find the question. But it was the

1052
01:09:54,439 --> 01:10:00,159
one about the European Mount Rushmore.
I didn't even seems I said it might

1053
01:10:00,199 --> 01:10:05,000
have been. Ah, that's right, because I actually put out a tweets

1054
01:10:05,000 --> 01:10:10,640
solicitation for questions and actually got responses
this time around. Why didn't you tell

1055
01:10:10,640 --> 01:10:12,960
me you did that so I wouldn't
have thrown mine out? This is I

1056
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:15,000
just assumed you knew, and then
you sent it like twenty minutes later,

1057
01:10:15,039 --> 01:10:17,039
and I just thought you were trying
to prove a point that yours would be

1058
01:10:17,119 --> 01:10:20,680
more popular than mine, and it
still worked. But I actually got some

1059
01:10:20,760 --> 01:10:26,079
questions this time. I apologize I
didn't know you set one out. Let's

1060
01:10:26,079 --> 01:10:29,640
hear it. You're all good.
So yeah, Miroslav asked who was on

1061
01:10:29,680 --> 01:10:34,079
the mount rushmore of European NBA stars
all time? And I know, since

1062
01:10:34,119 --> 01:10:36,479
you haven't seen it, I'll give
you a second to think about it.

1063
01:10:36,520 --> 01:10:42,039
I think Dirk is the lock.
He has to be there. I think

1064
01:10:42,119 --> 01:10:47,239
Janis is a two time MVP is
already on that along with Pau Gasol.

1065
01:10:47,600 --> 01:10:51,079
And the fourth one is interesting because
I feel like you can go in a

1066
01:10:51,119 --> 01:10:55,680
ton of different directions. You could
have Mark Gasol, you could have Tony

1067
01:10:55,760 --> 01:11:00,279
ku coach, you could have Tony
Parker, you could go older and go

1068
01:11:00,319 --> 01:11:09,520
with Debtliff Shremp. But I kind
of think that it's already Yoki. Yeah,

1069
01:11:09,760 --> 01:11:12,600
Luca, Luca will end up on
it one day, but it's too

1070
01:11:12,600 --> 01:11:15,600
soon for that. Is it too
much of a stretch to say that?

1071
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:20,159
Well, okay, so let's go
Johannis Joannie is a lock. To me.

1072
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:27,640
Johannis and Dirk are the two absolute
locks, I think, and then

1073
01:11:27,640 --> 01:11:31,199
you if we're including if we're including
legacy and non NBA play, then we're

1074
01:11:31,239 --> 01:11:35,640
looking at Draws and Petrovitch and RV
to Sabonis. But I think we're isolating

1075
01:11:35,680 --> 01:11:44,359
this solo to the NBA pages.
Stoyakovich is up there. That's a tough

1076
01:11:44,479 --> 01:11:50,199
one. Uh Like, there are
a lot of options. Yeah, there's

1077
01:11:50,239 --> 01:11:57,199
a ton I might go ahead and
put Luca there already. I just I

1078
01:11:57,239 --> 01:12:01,279
have trouble putting him over Tony Parker, who won so many championships and made

1079
01:12:01,279 --> 01:12:04,840
so many All Star appearances even though
he wasn't the absolute star of his team.

1080
01:12:05,960 --> 01:12:11,880
That I think. I think my
answer has to be Dirk, Jannis,

1081
01:12:12,840 --> 01:12:18,560
pau Gassol, and Tony Parker.
Maybe after talking through it, I

1082
01:12:18,560 --> 01:12:23,680
think I'm probably closed to a lock. To me, Paw, Yeah,

1083
01:12:23,680 --> 01:12:26,239
definitely go close to a lock.
I would probably. I might. I

1084
01:12:26,319 --> 01:12:30,239
might even have like shrimp or over
Tony Parker. I don't know why I'm

1085
01:12:30,239 --> 01:12:32,840
not about Tony Parker or being in
that spot. Marc Gasol I'd probably have

1086
01:12:32,880 --> 01:12:39,439
over Tony Parker too. That's a
tough question. I wish I would mail

1087
01:12:39,479 --> 01:12:42,960
bed. Oh yeah, no,
Yokich is on there. Yeah he's on

1088
01:12:43,000 --> 01:12:45,479
there. Come on, it's Yokich, it's Pal, it's Dirk, it's

1089
01:12:45,479 --> 01:12:47,880
you. Honest. Oh, if
we're pretty, I've if we're pretty wed

1090
01:12:48,760 --> 01:12:54,239
Rushmore, well that too, so, but if we're putting Yannis on there,

1091
01:12:54,239 --> 01:12:57,119
I feel like it's fair to put
Yokich on there. Yeah, I

1092
01:12:57,159 --> 01:13:00,159
can. I can see that that's
fair. Or I was gonna say you

1093
01:13:00,159 --> 01:13:02,840
could say nothing. That's fine too. Look, thank you everyone who stuck

1094
01:13:02,880 --> 01:13:05,760
with us or popped in and talked
with us. We are here as of

1095
01:13:05,800 --> 01:13:09,920
now every Sunday, normally at four
pm. Sometimes that change the time if

1096
01:13:09,960 --> 01:13:14,079
Adam's not with me, because I
can and I'm drunk with power. Please

1097
01:13:14,119 --> 01:13:17,119
please, please please remember to subscribe
to Hardwood Knox if you have not already,

1098
01:13:17,199 --> 01:13:19,640
you can find us wherever you're getting
your podcast. Also, go to

1099
01:13:19,640 --> 01:13:24,399
YouTube subscribe to our YouTube channel,
Hardwood Knox. Just search Hardwooknox on YouTube.

1100
01:13:24,439 --> 01:13:28,399
We come right up. Thank you
all so much for listening. As

1101
01:13:28,439 --> 01:13:31,000
always, we gave you with the
shout out to the One the Only.

1102
01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:34,279
He was in our trailer video,
which you can also check out on Twitter.

1103
01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:36,239
And I feel like I haven't shouted
him out in a while, or

1104
01:13:36,279 --> 01:13:42,199
maybe I did. But Future Max
Star, that's contract Star because he is

1105
01:13:42,239 --> 01:13:44,199
a restrict to free agent Frank Neel
Aquina