What is up, fellow thermonuclear a Ffers. I am Dan for Valley,
coming at you with another NBA teen look ahead ahead of the twenty two twenty
three NBA season. We are on at long last to the Brooklyn Nets,
and I have here I'm super excited to get to speak with for the first
time. Matt Brooks. He covers the Nets for Nets Daily. They are
ubiquitous in the Nets media circle, so you of course know who they are.
And he does some NBA content for Basketball News and he's a host of
the clear Out podcast also under the Blue Wire umbrella at Matt Brooks NBA.
Follow him on Twitter immediately and it's spelled exactly as it sounds. Matt.
I have many questions for you, but the most important of which is how
the heck are you doing hanging in there? It's pretty good. This is
the most for fresh I felt coming into a season. You know, media
day, there was there was no zoom going on like last year. Last
year, of course, Kyrie zoomed into the media day because he was unable
to go because of New York health regulations, which I think was a precursor
for the season. This year, everything's gone very smoothly so far, so
I'm doing well. That's awesome. And you know, this was a team.
When I'm trying to do all these look aheads I map out teams,
I need to wait, and I hate asking people too close to the start
of the season because I know it's busy. But then there are teams w
I'm like, they're so combustible or potentially dramatic. I can't ask them to
go too early because this will just become outdated. And I was looking at
the nets, I'm like, maybe they got all the drama out of their
system, but I waited anyway, But it really seems like we were just
talking about not for the whole year, but like for now, looking at
training camp and being able to focus on the roster, how their play.
So much shit happened over the off season. That was almost like, Okay,
well they checked all those boxes and now we can actually just focus on
like what this team might actually be. Yeah. I think Katie had a
quote it was what two days ago, Yeah, two days ago at practice.
He was talking about, you know, kind of we're gonna learn who
we are when we go through a losing streak, which I thought was like
kind of like it's it's super accurate. It's also just kind of like that's
the best way to describe the Nets right now. Like things are good right
now. We're not going to know until there's an injury or if they go
through a little skid. I mean, they have a pretty tough schedule even
just starting out. I think they play the Grizzlies, Raptors, Books and
two other teams that are Dallas I think is one of them. So they
have like a pretty tough schedule to start And that's a really gonna learn about
who the Nets are. But for now, yeah, vibes are good.
It seems like good things are happening so far. We do have to start
there, though, with everything that happened over the off season, the Kyrie
contract negotiations, him looking for a sign in trade or a different different team,
not being able to find it, Kevin Durant reportedly requesting a trade,
Coundurant reportedly wanting Steve Nash and Shawn Shawn Marks fired. Everyone's just still here
like that they're all just still here. Are we really supposed to believe that
this is all okay now and they can coexist for at least the entire season.
I mean, I guess I don't. I feel like it's been I'll
say this like, I think it's been a really humbling last year for every
star and really everybody involved with the Nets. You know, the early exit
I think played a pretty big role in Durant specifically wanting to leave. I
think that was humbling for the front office, for the coaching staff. I
think it's fair to say the Nets have not taken this regular season super seriously
in years past. Resting guys, I just don't know how much urgency there
was this year. There feels like there's a little bit more from top down
at least from front office to coaching staff, and then for the players.
I mean, Kyrie had a very humbling summer, which he addressed in media
day. I thought that was really interesting, basically saying, hey, like,
I'll be real, like I tried to look for other suitors and there
wasn't really anything there, which has been pretty widely reported. Ben Simmons is
of course like looking to come back and just figure out a good home for
himself. I think it's been a very humbling year for him and then Durant,
you know, being what one of the two most market three most marketable
stars, biggest stars in the league, asked for a trade and was not
able to get traded. So it's like everybody's been humbled in different with everyone
would be honest and you know, like we'll see real So I think,
you know, for everybody involved, it was pretty humbling and now it's like
we're kind of at ground zero. We're gonna see where it goes. I
if you had to like not even predict, but it's just like, are
you at the point where you're trying to analyze what this team is in Kimpacome,
but you also in the back of your mind, in the middle of
your mind, at the four of your mind, just have to brace yourself
for like fucking anything, like not even the worst, just like something you
don't even seem, like, you know, Kyrie, like start like quitting
and starting a career like a musician, or like I just you could tell
me any scenario about this team, anything, and I would just be like,
you know what, yeah, Okay, I see it. Yeah,
I've like pretty much gone through everything in my head that could happen. Like
it would be like Joe Harris, you know, the ankle isn't isn't what
you know, two surgeries later, he's still not one hundred percent Seth Curry
has trouble getting back from his ankle surgery. T J. Warren as a
hologram, uh, you know, like every like and then they start out
what like five and ten, and then Nash gets fired and then Durant's gone
at the deadline, like it's like everything bad that can happen will happen before
February. So it's like, if they can just get through that stretch,
I actually feel pretty good about them. Man, Kevin Durant midseason trade would
just be weird. I'm trying to remember when left time, like a top
five player was trade in the middle of the season. I don't I don't
know that James James hn was not playing at that level when he was in
Houston and came to Brooklyn at least, So that would just be that would
be wild. You had mentioned you're talking about their start of the season.
They have some built in excuses if things go around, like because is the
TJ. Warren stuff. We know he's not ready. I thought that was
a super intriguing signing though, if he can get on the court at all.
But are there any like long term concerns for Seth Curry still being out
with his uh ankle issue. They're all foot issues. And then Joe Harris
like, is this just precautionary that they've they've held him out or is this
something that could be you know, lingering. Yeah, they're saying it's precautionary
with Joe if they're saying like it's just sore nous from not playing for a
while, which I mean, I'm not I'm not gonna sit here and speculate
on that. I guess I'm just like a little I'm just sort of watching
that situation from a far and being like, all right, is this gonna
be a lingering thing? Is it going to be he's able to play for
two games and then he's not, you know fully like, I just kind
of He's a guy that was such an i don't know, such a rock
for them and able really rarely miss games. So now if that's gonna be
a thing with him where he's in and out of the lineup this year,
that's something to watch. And then yeah, I mean Seth, it seems
like he's just he said he was like eighty five ninety scent. I feel
a little better about him in a way, mostly because he hasn't had two
surgeries on the same left ankle in the last year, which is not a
good side. But you know, again, like I think, I mean
the Nets with the Nets luck both of those guys that can be hurt throughout
the year. But I feel like you're gonna get one or the other at
some point, maybe you get both is set available for well, do you
think he'll be available for Opening Night? Like he hasn't even done five on
five work. I was reading I think just yesterday, and so they seems
so optimistic and if you're at eighty five to ninety percent, like that's only
eight percent of Oh I can begin like five on five work eighty right,
I'm not all the way back, Yeah, especially for a team that's as
cautious as the Nets. And I just feel like the last couple of years,
if anything, it's made them more cautious, you know, with the
James Harden thing, for example, two years ago, they bring him back
and he reaggravates the him stringing thing against the Knicks, and so I just
I feel like, in a way, if he's not already doing five five,
I don't know how long he'll be out, but I certainly don't think
he'll be there for Opening Night. Uh. That kind of sucks. But
again, that's if things go off the rails, it's like, oh,
well they don't have Seth Curry or I guess at that point though, it's
if Joe Harris is back, and then you're not really like do we know
anything Additionally on TJ. Warren other than we don't think he's a hologram.
Uh, he's supposed to be reevaluated in November. That's they that's kind of
the the timeline they've been sticking to. Who knows. I mean, like,
if you ask me, do I think I'm gonna see him play basketball
in twenty twenty two, I'd probably say no. But that's just because November
is like, you know, then you only have another month. You're just
reevaluating, like you're not like, all right, you're gonna get out there
and do five on five, Like it's like we're gonna be like, hey,
we're just gonna kick this down the road and see where you're at.
I will say, like on the built in excuse thing, I do feel
like that's a little bit last two years Netsy where they're like, well,
you know, and that was always something that Nash would do after you know,
even after the Boston Series, it was like, you know, like
we never really got our team together, you know, we just never got
that continuity. Like at a certain point, it's like, all right,
like how many times are we gonna keep throwing this excuse out there? In
a way, like, at a certain point, you have who you have
and you have to win games that way. So I would I would hope
they don't do that. I think they would be indicative of this team not
growing from there what they've learned over the last couple of years. I will
say, I am just mentally preparing for t J. Warren not to like
be back until almost the playoffs because that they got him at the minimum,
unless he's just in love with Brooklyn or really wanted to play with like Dayron
Sharp or something for some reason. There are so many teams. I was
like, I would love to know what his medical said, because there were
just so many teams where I would have thrown at least the full minimli at
him for a year and said, yeah, you don't have to play until
two thowy three, but as long as you're here, we'll pay you.
Yeah. The like they got right in front of that pretty quickly, with
TJ just being like, yeah, we're going to reevaluate him like there wasn't
there wasn't any you know, this was not something they were wavering on.
So that's like for me, I heard that right away, and I was
like, I don't know. I mean, I don't even know like if
if they do get him back, let's say he comes back as late as
after the All Star break, like do you try to get him into the
rotation or do you already kind of have your rotation set? And it's like,
all right, well, I don't know what we're gonna do here,
Like I'm not I really like t J. I think he represents a mold
of a player that can be super beneficial for the team, but it really
depends on like when he's able to get back, and you know, I
just I don't know. I'm not penciling him in as like a guy they're
going to be leading on, I guess. And I think probably his most
valuable attribute to them is the way he improved on ball defensively in Indiana,
and that's something it's like, well, can you count on that when he
hasn't played basketball in two years and it's come back from this foot thing.
Yeah. Yeah, And I did a whole big, like nine minute video.
I was like, really one of the big offseason projects I did on
him, And like, the two things that stood out to me and I
think would be really helpful for the NETS was one, like, yes,
the on ball defense that you mentioned. I also really like that they're kind
of mixing in some degree of drops, some degree of switching. I think
he'd probably look a little better in a switching team where he doesn't have to
navigate screens as much. That's something I'm pretty high on for him. And
then just the way he plays off ball, his cutting, like based on
how much movement this team is already playing with, that guy is going to
be really really beneficial for what they're doing. But again, I mean he
needs to get on the floor to actually do that. I'm sure everyone who's
listening expected us to vote the first huge portman the podcast to set Kerry Joe
Harris and t J. Warren that was that was always going to be the
plan. Ben Simmons is on this team and playing basketball, which has been
fun to see, would have just been your early impressions of his fit on
Austin offense, anything that's pleasantly surprised you, anything that still concerns you're leading
into the regular season. And this is with the caveat all preseason is preseason's
preseason. But what are your early impressions on him? Yeah, like,
you know, I mean, it's it's so cliche, but his aggressiveness is
really going to dictate what he looks like night tonight. And that's actually the
big thing I'm watching for in the first month is not what he's doing on
offense, not what he's looking, you know, doing on defense, although
he brings brings it pretty much every game defensively, know, it's like,
just what is it like to track Ben Simmons for a whole month? Like
are you are? How many games are you? Like, I don't really
know what we got from Ben there. It's like, Wow, this was
the Ben Simmons. You know, this like athletic Draymond Green idea that we've
we've kind of fetishized. Is that kind of what we're getting day to day?
So that's what I'm really curious about. I think yesterday against the Bucks,
again, I don't I'm kind of we talked about this before we went
live here. I don't want to glean too much from preseason in general.
That's I don't know. You can guess I mostly look for schemes and just
general macro ideas on teams. But I thought it was kind of interesting how
they used him a little bit, you know, using him in the short
role, letting him make plays. I've always kind of when thinking about the
fit between him and Nick Claxton, which on paper can be clunky, I've
always compared a little bit to a Brooklyn version of Lob City, where you
have Claxton hovering around the dunker spots, and then you have Simmons kind of
playing in the blake role where he's going to be short rolling. And it's
even took a floater yesterday, which will be nice because defenses have no reason
to really defend him unless he's around the rim. So that I think is
what I'm watching for, is just do they change his utilization that much because
the first game that they played in the preseason, he's handling the ball and
pick and roll. He's like running screen and roll with Nick Clackson. Like,
I just don't have any interest in seeing that that to me is no
imagine the points per possession on that will end up being pretty low. Yeah,
I mean it's it's literally like they run it. He stops at the
elbow and they've reset and now they're at the top of the key with Kyrie
or Katie with the ball with less time on the shot clock. Like it's
it's pointless pointless offense. Is there? Like have you noticed or would you
be able to guess what would be the biggest difference on how he's used offensively
in Brooklyn versus what we know about all the stuff he didn't Filly, I
don't think they've changed that much of what he's doing on offense. I think
we're probably gonna start seeing that a little bit more over the next month,
you know. I actually asked Nash about that, yeah, two days ago
at practice, and one of the things he mentioned was just like a the
short rolling stuff that whatever he's doing in terms of being an open space when
they have the advantage, the four on three advantage offensively. The other thing
that I thought was really interesting and I would like to see quite a bit
as just him attacking from the second side, so if you can kind of
use him as a taller Bruce Brown and have him, you know, make
those forty five cuts or yeah, it's kind of slashing cuts from the wings
or even cutting along the baseline. I think that's pretty interesting way to use
him as well and take advantage of how dynamic he is that way. How
much do you think they're invested in playing him and Nick Klaxon together for long
stretches Probably depends on the matchup, right, you know, like it against
the Bucks, that made sense because you I mean, you look at them
play the Bucks and it's like, this is a lot different than last year.
You know, this team isn't suddenly dwarfed in size. They have three
guys that are over six foot ten making up their front court and Durant,
Claxton and Simmons. So I think that that will depend on the matchup.
You're not gonna be able to do that against every team, and that'll be
a big test for Steve Nash is like how quick is his hook for realizing,
hey, this is probably not the right way to do this. That
that I think will be a big test. But in certain games it's gonna
look really good. Do you envision that Simmons is going to play and Nash
has talked about this, and I'd think Simmons is even mentioned to you anticipate
simm In playing like meaningful minutes as sort of the backup five or at the
five, and you go through the roster and like there's Dick Claxton, day
Ron Sharp and then you're running out of centers. Anyway, Ben Simmons just
might end up there organically. But if he's playing with Mark Keith Morris,
is he technically like the center in that situation? But do you think that
they're invested in that model? Yeah, it seems like it kind of depends
on when you're doing is that like you know, a crunch time lineup.
I'd probably lean that way. It also depends on what the fit looks like
against certain teams of Nick and Ben. You know, as I just said
like that, I think will really decide how much you're seeing Bennett center,
because you know, I mean, defensively, those two guys are switchable that
it just makes them you know, that's a lot of length that you're throwing
at teams that helps your rebound and have those two guys together. But offensively
it can look like it can really look clunky even if you are using Ben
in ways where he's you know, short rolling, or if they you know,
use him as a screener and like split cuts or use Nick as the
screener in split cuts, it still can just look clunky if those sets don't
work, and then it's like, all right, we're trying to run you
know whatever, pick and roller Iso, and we have these two guys that
are kind of just hanging out of the dunker spots. So yeah, it
really will depend on like the matchup, I think, and how much they're
gonna lean on Bennett center. I don't know that I can picture him like
defensively as a center without someone else who's on the court to do the center
responsibilities. We just we didn't see a lot of it in Philly, and
then the minutes we saw was just like, it wasn't it wasn't great,
and he even looked out of his element there. And so I'm just very
curious to see if they do wind up leaning on that model, even if
it's just for certain matchups trying to scale ahead to a potential playoff series.
I just I guess because we haven't seen it a ton, I just can't
envision what that looks like defensively for him even Yeah, I mean he's just
not a shopwalker, like he's got it. I think a seven foot wingspan
is a six to eleven guys, so like not super long arms and not
in that way where like Durant has a seven foot five wing span, Like
maybe that's who you're You're not gonna lean on Durant at center, but maybe
you're like, hey, we're gonna play Bennett Center and we're just gonna have
to hope that Durant is extremely dialed in as like a weak side guy,
you know. So I think, yeah, I don't love it, but
I guess I like it a little bit more. Next to Durant, Steve
Nash has talked about, and you've written about, how the Nets are adding
wrinkles to their offense, a lot of which, including you've talked about some
of them already, just more ball movement in general, which isn't what I
think. You know, Durant playing for the Warrior, sure, but hasn't
been a harbing jurn necessarily of teams he and Kyrie have played for, and
certainly not in Brooklyn before. What have you thought about some of the stuff
they tried to implement in preseason. I think the more important question is do
you buy into it translating to the way that they're going to play in the
regular season. Yeah, you know, they've implemented you know, I guess
certain actions and sets that like NBA Twitter nerds love, Like, oh,
they're running some fer action where their centers are setting a ball screen and then
setting a screen elsewhere they're running Spain pick and roll. Just that if you
want NBA Twitter on your side, you have to run Spain pick you have
to. Yeah, if exactly so, Like they're doing a bunch of stuff
like that, which is cool. They're adding more wrinkles to the offense than
just you know, straight high pick and roll and Chicago action. They ran
a lot of that last year and that's great. But what I like for
me personally is how much they're diversifying those actions. They're combining them in different
ways. They ran Chicago a couple times yesterday, and it wasn't just like,
hey, you know, we're going to have Durant take the ball down,
get the ball to Nick Klaxon, and then somebody's gonna set a screen
for Joe Harris or Kyrie or whatever. No, they would run like a
different streening action beforehand they'd have a guy cut through the paint to drag away
the week side defender. Like they're doing a bunch of different things before and
after these sets they just weren't doing last year. It's not as simplified,
I think in a way, and that for me, like is so interesting
because you have so many dynamic offensive players. If you're using them together versus
just having guys fill space and just you know, I guess essentially be floor
spacers on the week side and fill the corners and wings, it just makes
you a lot tougher to deal with, and there's just a lot more for
the defense to have to keep track of. So that's the stuff I'm really
excited about. Yeah, like the veer action, Spain pick and roll,
that stuff is fun, But the stuff you really want to watch is what
they're doing before and after we get to those recognizable actions. Who do you
think if they're gonna play this way a lot, it ends up being the
biggest adjustment for an offense. When you're looking at their three stars and Kyrie
k D and Simmons, it does feel like it might be a little bit
I don't even know. I was gonna say a little bit more natural for
Simmons, but I feel like that might even be the incorrect answer. Yeah,
that's a good question. I feel like in a way, it's probably
Kyrie and KD in a sense, just because those guys are so good at
creating their own offense that if they go through a stretch where they're a little
bit in the mud and some of the movement they're working or they like to
run isn't working, I wonder if that just turns into all right, we'll
just get me the ball. I'm going to get us out of this stretch,
and that becomes like something that you know, it doesn't I mean,
it's never gonna work against the team because those guys are so good at creating
their own offense, but they do get away from you know, I think
what makes them interesting this year. So yeah, I think that's something I
would watch. And that also just like depends on the opponent. You know,
if you're playing a team that switches a bunch like the team, I'm
really interested to see them play as Boston. You know, Boston's got so
many like size guys. If you're just switching a lot of these actions just
keeping the ball in front versus all this movement. That to me is like,
all right, we're really going to get a taste of like how effective
all this stuff is that this coaching staff is putting in place, and then
we'll really learn like, all right, are they net's going to stick to
their guns and say, hey, we're gonna run movement and hopefully we can
tire out the opponent of just keeping that much focus on our guys or are
we going to just kind of devolve into ioball. Essentially, it's almost like
the symptom of when you break it down by a game where it's a team
goes through their offense for the first three and a half quarters but then everything
like bogs down or they deviate from it in crunch time or just towards the
end of the fourth quarter. And it could be very much be like that.
In the off season, preseason you're talking about doing all this stuff,
you're implementing some of this stuff. Games that matter start and you're not doing
it as much anymore. Yeah, that's a good point, As I said,
like the well, I think we'll learn pretty quickly who the nets are
in terms of if they go through a losing stretch, and that would be
the thing I'd watch tourists like, all right, does anything change with how
they're playing? Does Simmons become less involved, they look more passive, or
they just literally say, Hey, we're just gonna go get the ball to
our two best players because we're not playing right now and we need to start
playing better. Like that, That's the stuff I think you're worried about,
along with like whatever drama could come from this team, which is quite a
bit of drama. There's there's the ceiling, is the roof? As Michael,
one of the things that I've thought about with this team is how should
Steve Nash stagger the star minutes? And my first inclination was I want Ben
Simmons to be like the best version of Ben Simmons. And so I was
like, oh, Ben Simmons with a bench, And then I'm like harkening
back to the days where the Sixers did that and it was terrible. But
then also, you're not trying to play him with Dwight Howard and Mattis Tibell
at the same time in Brooklyn, which star is it most important to have?
Like those staggered units with I ended up landing on KD, but I'm
just curious what your thoughts are with it. I'm with you, They've the
Ben Simmons low star minutes have not been great I think so far again preseason
whatever, But like, I just think you can glean certain things from like,
you know, just watching how the offense flows, who has the ball
in their hands, and then it depends a lot more on what Simmons can
do in the half court, which I think we know is like not not
his strength, especially with the ball in hand versus you know, Durant.
I mean, look if like and that's the other thing, like if if
you're kind of wondering, like, hey, we need to find moments where
Durant can get his and create his own offense, or Kyrie can create his
own offense, Like those solo units are the time to do that. So
I think you're probably gonna take one guy or the other. I've always liked
Durant more with you know, a set of role players than Kyrie. I
think Kyrie is his stature works against him a little bit in that setting.
And then just in general, like I think Durant's better at finding guys shots
than than Kyrie and attracts more defensive attention. So that's that for me,
is what I would go with as well. I still wondering if, because
they have the ability at some point to surround it could be Ben Simmons and
then, as Matt Moore of Action Network would say, a fuck ton of
shooting. I just wonder if those units without Kyrie and Katie could eventually work.
But I again, I came to the same conclusion that you did,
just because I think I have PTSD from some of those minutes they played in
Philly with him and Dwight Howard. Yeah, and it's just like, you
know, I mean, you could put all the shooting you you want around
Ben and like you could run like pick and pop action or whatever you could.
You could use Ben as a screener. But it's like, I just
mean, somebody that I know can get into the paint and spray out.
And if it's just Ben with no other stars and guys that are going to
attract a ton of offensive attention or defensive attention, then I just don't know
if that's super feasible. It might look, it might sound a lot better
than it looks. This might not be an issue because of everything we discussed
at the top of this podcast, with the durability of this roster, does
Cam Thomas get squeezed out of this rotation when they're at full strength? I
think so, And I like I like Cam. I honestly, there's a
couple of rookie they have on this roster that I feel like our second third
team guys. Cam feels like somebody he just sort of need. I mean,
he just needs like more usage, and I like him, Like,
I think he can be a good player, a good score. I don't
know what the ceiling is for him, but I think it can be pretty
high. I don't think it's gonna happen here. I was always kind of
puzzled when they made that pick when they did, because I was just like,
I don't know how like a guy that's leading, you know whatever,
leading college and scoring is going to be able to thrive on this team with
like scorts essentially. Kessler Edwards is another guy where it's like, I really
like that guy. I think the big thing for him is just like,
you know, believing in himself not to be too cliche and with a team
where there's so much pressure to succeed and so many guys kind of now fighting
for that wing position. You know, I feel like he's another guy that's
like, I'm really gonna like him when he's you know, I don't know,
on the Raptors or something like that in a couple of years. One
of the nine thousand and six eight guys I've got, and he I was
with Kessler Edwards though. I was just wondering if TJ warns out Kevin Durant
is not really a wing. Royce O'Neill is small. I guess Joe Harris
is like kind of a wing excuse more swing man if they just want to
have like some true wing minutes, like you could just throw out Edwards at
six seven or six eight whatever he's standing at. Yeah, I feel like
I just said confidence is the big thing from him for him, and that's
why I say, like second third team, Like it's not it's not even
that he's you know whatever, he needs to develop a skill or something like
that. It's just like one of those guys that like, I just think
he's gonna be better in a different setting where there isn't this cloud of doom
kind of hanging over everything even though things are really good. Or I don't
know, but really good but like as good as they have been in a
while in Brooklyn. That I think is probably where I see him thriving a
little bit more, and like right now he's being played out or outplayed by
you to Watnabe, So it's like that's what I could I love. Yeah,
uh, that so he's gonna is he? You think you don't want
an abbe makes the roster? Then oh so man, he's look pretty good
good? Yeah, I mean that would be I think you want to add
another guy like that that just as it fills that wing position for you,
especially when you don't know what you're getting from t. J. Warren.
And you know, even Joe Harris is kind of like, let's hope his
ankle's good, like I would, I would hope they bring him aboard and
keep him kind of involved in this team. He guys reminds me so much
of ken Rich Williams in many ways, probably a scaled down version at this
point because he can feel so many different gaps and he's not going to be
like a master of anything. But this team has masters of all these different
things. They don't have enough guys, like we're talking about cam Thomas just
feels so redundant on this team after some of the flashes he's showed last year.
I'm not a big fan of, oh, well, you need to
get rid of this youngster. But if like you're sticking with this core and
this is the direction you're headed, it might be time to like sell high
in a different type of trade that gets you someone who feels more of the
gaps that you need, which is complimentary offense, but more so just like
complimentary defense for this team. That's why I really like wants anobby for them
is when he's healthy. I just think there's just a lot of underrated mobility
and positional maaluability to him. Yeah, for sure, you know, and
I think he want as many guys like that as possible with like the top
end talent that you have, where it's like we have we're not worried about
the offense. We're gonna be top eight in the league for as long as
we have Kyrie and Katy like after that, it's just like, let's get
gap fillers. Let's get a guy like Utah who can you know, slide
up and down positionally defensively and uh and and you know, rebound the ball,
Like we just kind of want guys that are going to do that little
extra stuff, you know, versus a guy like Cam Thomas, who it's
like, you know, he's on a rookie scale deal. Probably a lot
of teams that still look at this guy and say, yeah, this is
like an interesting player if we get him in our system or whatever. The
longer you wait on that because I like, there's I don't see a path
for Cam Thomas to get you know, more minutes unless Kyrie or Katy is
moved. So it's yeah, we're interesting, yeah exactly, But even so
it's like, I don't see a path for that, And in a sense,
you're just appreciating the US over time. What is the defensive ceiling of
this team? I look at the roster and I'm not impressed, But there
are some things that they could They actually were like around bottom ten outside garbage
time points per possession last year and some of the things weren't correctable, where
it's like, if this team is healthy, it probably commits fewer turnovers if
they actually care about getting back in transition, so they're not allowing like one
ka billion points per possession off of their turnovers, But what is like,
how do you see them defending? What is the defensive ceiling? Are you
concerned with the rebounding where they were one of the if not v worst defensive
rebounding team the league last year. I guess with Simmons and Clackston minutes you
might be fine, But when you're playing one of them at a time,
what are just the big you know, the flashbulb concerns or maybe highlights of
how this team can will or won't defend. Yeah, that's a good question.
I'm probably a little higher on the team defensively than you. You know,
I think they can defend size a little bit better just because of bringing
in Ben Simmons, bringing in and somebody like Royce O'Neil and having him essentially
take over for what you had Bruce Brown doing. You know, Roy springs
a little bit more size. He can guard up the positional scale a little
bit. He's you know, he's had defensive possessions against all types of guys.
Ye, honest, He's had a couple of gets Joel and beat over
the years. Granted these are like on switches, They're not intentionally putting him
on these guys, but like He's a guy that can hold his own against
guys that kind of tower over him. So I like that. I think
that in that way, they'll be more set up to play against a team
that grows increasingly larger. I will say, in terms of scheme versatility,
switching, I think will be in especially with Nick and Simmons comprising the front
court, that's gonna be really pretty much their bread and butter drop defense will
see. I haven't loved Nick Klaxson as a drop defender ever, and I
don't think they have the screen navigators that they did last year, you know,
DeAndre Bembery and Bruce Brown or great especially at the gates in terms of
defending that way. This year it's like, you know, like Royce O'Neil
can be good. Ben Simmons a really good screen navigator. But there's certain
teams like Philly for example, with Tyrese Maxey, where there's just gonna be
guys that are so quick that they're gonna get by pretty much everybody. And
that's the stuff that I'm watching. It's like, all right, what does
that look like? Are there certain teams that are just bad matchups for the
Nets? But I think holistically over the year. I think they can be
like top ten, maybe back back end of the top ten. Defensively,
I'm pretty high on this team. Yeah, I like it. I might
be discounting maybe how many minutes I think they can get away with Nick Klackson
Ben Simmons because of both of them are on the floor. It allows Ben
Simmons to want to defend the way that he's used to defending, and then
that makes I thought people were too hard on Royce O'Neill last year. I
was just like, look at like the burden this guy's fucking Karen. He
shouldn't have to. That makes Royce O'Neil's job easier if he's gonna play with
that group. Top ten is is like if this team is eighteen, if
like let's say seventeenth to defensive efficiency, what they should be on offense for
a majority of their minutes, I would say, like that ends being like
this supernova contender because I look at them and I feel maybe I just don't
have a high enough ceiling on them. You're probably closer than I, but
I do feel like their floor on defense or a team with Ben Simmons might
be just a little bit shockingly lower than people are. I think they're just
assuming that Ben Simmons comes in, Like the defense is, oh, you
know, because of the way he plays, it's not going to be the
Rudy Gobert punches your ticket to a top ten, top twelve regular season defense.
That's fair. Yeah, I mean I think that's fair. And I
do think like they don't have like a just like I don't know, like
a Rudy Gobert to lean on in the back line, like good class is
good. Like they'll get me wrong with love Nick Claxton, who statistically is
like, well, just based off his coverage per b ball in decks like
one of the most him and Ben Shims have been the two most switchable players
of like the past ten years, and so like that's having both of them
is just huge for sure. And but I think the big thing is like
just you know, there are certain I mean, drop defense in general like
tends to do pretty well in the regular season. Like it's it is a
different game in a way. So I can see your argument for sure on
them, maybe they're more like ten to twelve range. Still though, I
think that's a huge win for them if they're in that range and then if
they can scale it up defensively a little bit in the playoffs, just by
simply slowing things down and the games slowing down and that switching scheme coming into
handy a little bit more. I could see that kind of being a Hey,
we're this like more mid tier defense and we are kind of elevating things
in the postseason. If they are ten to twelve and like ten to twelve
in defense, the Eastern Conference trade deadlines arm race is going to be absurd
and you're gonna see a lot of people shifting their like title picks by November
because everyone just as serve as the team will implode. And so if they
have that defensive stealing my god, yeah, I mean, like that's the
whole thing with the Nets, right, is like if they don't implode,
if nothing, if there's no injuries, which they're always his with the Nets,
if there is no internal drama, like, this team is going to
be really really good, and like we should look at them as a title
contender, like and really give them a long look, because I don't you
just watch the way they play. Everything's in place, that the style of
offense that they're running in terms of all the motion they're running there. It's
a pretty good way to hide their deficiencies in terms of potential floor spacing and
specific lineups and this tendency to lean too much on their stars and burden their
stars too much. And then defensively you have guys that add a lot of
dynamic positional versatility and Ben Simmons, Royce O'Neill. You know, let's bring
up you to what a nave? Yeah? Yeah, but no, like
seriously, like they it's all there, all the pieces are there, and
they just offer a lot more than last year's team, where it's like you
kind of know what you're getting from them and you know what you're not getting.
Are there any strengths about this roster that you don't think receive are receiving
enough attention as we get into the regular season. Yeah, I mean,
I just think the ability to defend a little bit larger is the big one.
And I just yesterday, I mean I remember watching their opener last year
in the regular season against the Bucks, and they try to do this last
year where they were like we're gonna play bigger. Bigger, meant playing LaMarcus
all Dredge and Blake Griffin together and it's like that's not I don't care that
they're technically larger in size. They're more clunky somehow, and they're like the
bucks are blowing by them offensively and they're not rebounding either. So this year
it's a little bit different where it's like, now we have speed size and
you know, vertical pop, like we have all of that in place with
Nick Lackson, Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant. You know, I'm going on
and on and on Royce O'Neil. So that is a lot different for me.
This year. They have the right type of size, the size you
actually wanted the modern NBA, not just hey we have big guy a big
guy B and we're gonna say, let's go for it. You know,
Oh man, I don't know how I just forgot about those front corps.
I don't even think that would have worked in twenty fifteen with those two,
to be honest with you, when they played they were playing Millsap and LaMarcus
for a while there, and that was that was peak. That was peak
early season nets last year, by the way, they were like number one
in the conference while they were doing this, dude, because Durant was just
that good to start the I will say the Paul millsapp decline over the past
few years to the point where resigning the NBA anymore, that hurt my soul
a little bit. He was just like one of my just favorites to watch.
Did everything had like that sort of all star stretch, and I thought
he was gonna age. Maybe it was a gradual drop off and I just
didn't notice in Denver, but it just felt like towards the tail end of
his time in Denver was just like, Oh, all of a sudden,
Paul millsappens his liability. Yeah. I wanted Bill Sepp on the nets for
like every year that I cover with the Nets, and that was one of
my biggest misses ever as doing you know whatever creating content last year, I
was like, I think, I think Will Sepp can be okay for this
team. Like he's gonna play less minutes. He was like starting a bunch
of games at the beginning of the year for Denver. You know, maybe
he'll look better in a reduced role. I could see this scheme helping a
little bit. You know, things are simplified on offense, and it was
like, no, he just was like he was done, like the first
ten games are there. So we've talked a lot about some of the concerns
of this roster. What's the biggest one in your eyes leading into the season?
A health? Probably it's such a it's such a cough out. But
he really is, like, I don't know what else I'm supposed to pick
other than be like, well, this team needs to stay healthy. I
guess spacing, you know, like I said, like a team like Boston
where you know that team is so honed in defensively, they're gonna switch everything,
They're gonna ignore certain guys all of a sudden. Those minutes where I'm
like, I think you can survive with Nick and Ben playing together, those
might really hurt. And then you have to figure out, Okay, you
know, how much can we survive with Ben Simmons as our center? Is
Robert Williams going to absolutely eat and get you? Just an assortment of lobs
on the other end like that that I think is the stuff where I'm watching
that and saying that might be where you see the weaknesses a little bit,
And that's what I look at, is like an on court weakness. It
feels like they might need a different big man set up, and I love
Nick Nick Lassen is one of my favorites. Anyone who listen to podcast knows,
but just I guess every team and essence is looking for this. But
like the floor spacing rim protecting five is what this team kind of needs because
that would make everything so much easier with Ben Simmons the way they want to
defend against certain teams, you also want that big to then be able to
hold up against if teams like Boston and Cleveland are gonna run they are dual
big lineups, or if they're gonna take one off the floor, you still
would prefer it if you didn't have to take this center off the floor.
And that player is very hard to find, but it feels like that player
could make a world of difference on this roster. And that was not I
really didn't mean to just like a roundabout way of describing Miles Turner, but
like that kind of like a player would be like absolutely even they wouldn't have
gotten him for what the Nicks game like. And Isaiah Hartenstein would have probably
just been really huge for this team too. You know, funny thing about
Hartenstein is that it was they were between him and mill Seth last year,
and boy, I don't know that. I guess when the season went off,
the rails a little bit, but like I don't know that they would
have used him the way that the Clippers used him, so that maybe that's
some consolation. But when you hear stuff like that, it's you know,
it's not quite like oh, Dallas was gonna draft your honest, but like
you were choosing between mills Stat and Hartenstein and look what Hartenstein became, Like
just was this sort of under the radar sixth man of the year catti eate
with the way that he played last year. Yeah, so I mean and
again, like that team would that I mean that season was destined to implode,
I think, no matter what happened. But yeah, that's that's a
guy that would fit really well. I know Nets fans are like really on
a Mobamba train right now, Like okay, like I guess, I don't
know, I don't know if you're of Obama guy, I'm kind of like
I thought he had a really good year last season and they were able to
like he played a lot of minutes with one Noel Carter Jr. I'd probably
be on a basketball level if he was healthy. Author slash basketball player Jonathan
Isaac would make like a lot more sense for what this team I think actually
needs. He bathing with him and Ben Simmons would be just absolutely atrocious though
he's yeah, he's like t J. Warren hologram status to me, like,
I'm not I'm not sure, I'm still I'm dying at that. Do
we know that TJ. Warrens not a holygram? This is it's more of
a generalized question, And I don't necessarily like thinking about trades before we've seen
this team actually play. But do you think just because this roster, if
they stay together, they're very much win now and it's Kyrie Irving's last year,
will they be aggressive in making meaningful roster upgrades or will there be a
little bit of reticence there because oh hey, we almost just fucking imploded over
the offseason. We don't know if Kyrie's gonna be here past this season,
and I'm just wondering how that impacts their view of going for it this season.
Is it we're willing to make material upgrades or we're just gonna stamp at
and see where we lie. I hope they do this, like because they
did this big thing where they took a stand and they're saying no, like
we're I mean, let's be honest, like they spent the whole summer and
we're like, we're not gonna trade the rant, Like we're just gonna hold
out. So if you're gonna do all that and not trade these guys or
do a sign and trade for Kyrie, like, yeah, you should go
all in and do every exhaust every single opportunity that you have. So yeah,
I mean, like Miles Turner makes a ton of sense for this team
and really would fill holes for them on both ends that they remaining holes,
let's be honest. So I would hope they do something like that if they
have the opportunity. I think I would believe Sean Marks probably has the the
agency and the gall to do it. But I just question like if that
if that comes up, And so if they're a title can, if they're
hovering around that inner circle of the East, you actually have to him they're
not you know, the James Harden trade like cycle that didn't work out too
well for them. But if Ben Simmons is healthy, like you're not asset
Barren with like your draft equity anymore. And you have some contracts that could
be used as matching tools if it you know, if it turns out that
one of Joe Harris or Seth Curry is super fluous, I don't know if
they will be. So I do hope that if they are in that inner
circle, there's not like a hesitance there because I like seeing just teams go
for it right and or hurt. Like if if Joe Harris is just like
we don't we just can't get this guy on the floor, like all of
a sudden, Hey, maybe we'd have our home for Cam Thomas. He'd
be an Indiana facer. I'm in for that. I need Joe Harris to
stay with this team because I loved the vibes from like that NETS team that
was just fucking going nowhere under Kenny Atkins, and he's still remnant from that
era, and I don't like Nick Claxton didn't really spill over to that,
so like it's it's only Joe Harris now, So I need I need Joe
Harrison Brooklyn. Yeah, yeah, me too. And also like he's like
really he's like a really perfect fit for what they're doing this year. So
yeah, I agree completely. One of My other favorite things to do leading
in the regular season is trying to figure out what the top ten rotation looks
like for every single team. The Nets gave me more of a headache than
most most teams, even when I presume health. It seems like they probably
have seven locks with Kyrie, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons,
Nick Claxton, Seth Curry, Royce O'Neill, and then I had Patty Mills.
Pensylton is a quasi lock. He's still but he didn't have like the
best clothes to the year last season. So are my seven locks at least
correct? And how would you flesh out those, you know, final roster
spots? Yeah, I think your seven are correct. The one I would
say is I think Roy so Neil could jump Joe Harris and the rotation will
see. But I'm watching that one pretty closely. You don't want a knobby.
I'm gonna bring him up for the third time, keep bringing him up.
I wasn't I think he could make it. I think he could.
I could see him above Mark Kief I could. I mean, I don't
the Nets love Patty Mills Like there is just such a on there that I
don't know. I just can't see Patty ever falling out of the rotation,
but like you'd as a riser for me. Him and a healthy TJ are
the ones where I'm like, how can we go with these two guys?
I don't know if you is gonna be like your sixth man, but yeah,
like could he get you know, semi regular looking up a sixth Man
of the years Right now, you've said that aggregator Matt Brooks from that day
you don't want the Nabby win sixth Man of the Year award, So yeah,
I mean, you know, I think I think you're pretty spot on
with it. But yeah, the big one I would say is like could
Royce jump? Joe Harris? How high can you can you jump? In
the rote pian? And like does this team ever hit that point with Patty
Mills where they're like, all right, we're really your Your minutes are going
to be kind of like game the game. That would be the three things
I'd watched for I guess he would be though, like the vibes guy in
the locker room at who else would it be? That's like the it's not
Ben Simmons, It's not Katie, and it's not Kyrie. It's like,
who's that locker room player voice, and just like good vibes person, it
would have to be Patty at this point. Yeah, yeah, I agree.
I think that's probably who you're looking at in that way. So this
is to some extent matchup dependent, I think, especially for this team.
But what do you think winds up being there go to crunch time unit which
very much feels like the three locks are in place, Ben Simmons, Kyrie
and Katie. You're not having those guys on the bench in crunch time,
like either any one of those guys in the bench and crunch time I would
imagine anyway. Yeah, maybe Joe and Royce filling it out personally. I
mean I can lock for me just as like, who is the other guy
who is the wing defender on this roster, and it's it's without TJ.
Warren healthy it's it's him basically, or Abby might throw them in there fourth
manch I guess. I mean it depends on the team. Maybe you can
get away with Nick against certain teams. Bucks were a good example. But
yeah, I mean I think that's I think you want to put as much
shooting around like that's where I can see those Ben Simmons at the five lineups
happening. Is there a weirdo, bonkers, quirky off the Beaten Path lineup
you want Steve Nash to try this year, Kyrie? Bit let's see.
I want to see a weird lineup where they just put as much shooting around
Ben, but one of them is a star. So like we're talking about
like all right, the Matt Moore, Uh fucket, we're shooting the ball
line up around Ben. So you go like Seth Curry, Joe Harris,
maybe maybe Royce O'Neil or Patty Mills Kyrie, so you have like some dynamic
creation and then Ben and just like the super small like shooty off ball you
know, you know, sprinting around each other in line up like that would
be the weirdest what And then I guess you could you could also just replace
Katie for any of those guys, but that's like less fun. I want
to see like a really a bunch of small guys and Ben Simmons play together.
They get killed defensively, but it doesn't matter. I think that was
my pick two, even though I don't think that Ben Simmons should be running
his own lines because I don't want to star in it, but I still
need. It's almost almost like morbid curiosity, where it's like, what if
it's Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Royce O'Neill, and Utowant
an Abby, Like let's go, let's go there, and what does that
unit look like? Maybe want Tommy's not enough of a shooter? So am
I skewing Cam Thomas there, I healthy TJ. Warren, but like give
me, I guess you'd go Patty Mills. That would be a real flex
Patty Mills, Joe Harrison, Seth Curry on the court at the same time
with Ben Simmons and Royce O'Neill. That would be Ben literally Ben Simmons and
just four guards or five guards if you consider Ben Simmons still a guard.
So I just want to see what ends up happening. I don't think it
would actually be particularly great, but maybe maybe I'd be wrong, or maybe
it would be Like the other one I'm thinking of is the I'm gonna call
it the fuck off You're not scoring lineup where it's the Nick Klaxton, Ben
Simmons, Royce O'Neill, Kevin Durant. You'd want a Knope line up where
it's just like we're gonna be raptors. You know what, That still ends
up probably being like, okay, offensive unit because Kevin Durant exists and he's
just like that's superhuman. Oh man, I want to see that one now
too. I didn't even think of that. Yeah, So as we record
this, their current win total is set at fifty one point five. Would
you hit the over or the under on that? I mean, I'm just
stor optimists on this podcast, so I feel like I have to. I've
basically said they have no flaws in there, we should take them seriously.
So yeah, I think I don't know, man, I like the approach
so far. I mean it's it's early, like we're coming out of media
day in preseason, so like this is gonna be about as high as you
can be as a team ideally, unless you're I don't know, the Phoenix
Suns or there's actually a lot of bad vibes teams right now, but the
Nets are actually, weirdly not one of them right now, which I'm not
used. So I'm just riding the high. I do think I do think
they're gonna win over that. I just I didn't care what the number was.
I think it might have been at fifty three and a half at one
point, it could drop to forty nine. I'm just taking the onner.
I don't trust this team. I recognize what their ceiling is and it's the
best team in the NBA. But trying to think of the realistic outcomes,
I'm just expecting disaster and it's not I don't have an agenda. I'm not
biased against the Nets. I just I don't know how you're supposed. I
would never let me make it clear, I would never bet anything on this
team. I'm not investing in. I'm just staying away from everything because there,
I think, and this should be the question. Their range of outcomes
is clearly the widest in the entire league. Right, there's no other team
that has a wider away array of conclusions. Yeah, I mean, I've
laid it out like it's it's guys get hurt, Nash gone, which maybe
it's in the worst. Say, you know, maybe you get one of
these assistants that's like really good. But I didn't even ask about that.
Is there like a chance that Nash gets on the hot seat before like the
roster itself would be like Nash or Nash would go before they start selling off,
like they're considering trading Kevin Duran or even moving Kyrie iring at this point.
Probably right, Yeah, that's that seems like the first thing you're gonna
hit before you do any of the bigger kind of major moves like that.
And I guess let's just assume they stayed together. How many teams are you
prepared to say are better than them in the East, Like where would you
they stay together? Where do you see them landing in the Eastern Conference top
three? I think? And it's probably I'm still I kind of like I
like Boston still. Everybody wants to you know there, it's too much happened
in Boston. Robert Williams the Third's knees weren't made of jello. I would
probably like Boston a lot more. But like Al Horford's thirty six, you
don't have Gallinari and now or something like we'll look at what no von Ley
and like sam oh as no a von Ley as like that scene I think
that was was that twenty nineteen or eighteen with the Knicks in Love with no
von Ley and then he just fell off the face of the earth again.
Yeah yeah, no for that. In case anybody care, I blame the
Nets. The Nets gave him a ten day and they never gave him a
shot. I'm like, we should be if we should give Nova on the
gonna look here like this is that was like right after they made the Harden
trade and they were just bringing in like names because they just didn't have players
like oh Noavan lays a net heap at this point. Yeah, yeah pretty
much. So so yeah, so I mean, uh yeah, I don't
know. I think Boston is in the mix. I like Milwaukee. I'm
just like they're like the safe, like obvious pick for everybody if because it's
like the East is so up in the air. I don't know, they're
like a year older, just a little kind of keeping an eye. I
just I would put Milwaukee above the Nets just because Jannis is a superhuman.
I think that they are even if they're not caring about the regular season.
They're regular season machine. And look, Jannis didn't win the championship last year,
so that means that he is clearly motivated by his failure, and so
I just expect that team to be Gangbusters. And but that being said,
everything else in the everyone else in the East feels either a lot of things
have to pan out in their favor, like Donovan Mitchell just hits in Cleveland
right away and the depth on the wings isn't an issue or it's combustible where
it's Miami's older and like there, what does their bench look like with Kayla
Martin starting now and no PJ. Tucker to start for them? And then
Boston we've outlined some of that, oddly, and we've talked about the Nets.
Oddly, the second most stable team to me, like towards the top
of the East right now is the Philadelphia seventy six ers, which clearly means
I'm doing something wrong though because Doc Rivers are gonna play mantras are away too
many minutes and it's gonna be a nightmare. But I think I would only
have, like I'm penciling those two teams and maybe Boston as the teams that
I would say, yeah, they're gonna be better than the Nets. And
I'm only confident in the Milwaukee part of that. Yeah, I don't know
how I love Philly out Philly is like a lock for a top Locke feels
strong, but they really feel like a lock for a top three seed.
To me, I think you're probably picking between one of Milwaukee and Boston to
not perform as well, and for a reason of like the center rotation is
really bad. It's like really bad. Or Milwaukee is like me, maybe
they coast a little bit. Maybe it does. Yeah, like you look
at you know, Lopez year year older. I mean maybe Drew looks like
a tiny bit older. I feel like Drew's gonna age pretty well. But
maybe maybe it's something like that. You know, all of a sudden,
you're West Matthews minutes you got last year that we're really good. Those aren't
there necessarily? George Hill's like playing so it's well, I mean, you
hit it on the head. It's like, oh, this team is at
the top. They're top three guys, even if you say top four with
Pat Connaughton or Brook Lopez, even if they're top six, you throw those
guys plus Boby portis why just I inherently don't trust him, but he's been
good for the Bucks. Yeah, I trust they need they will end up
needing like age eighty three West Matthews or Joe Ingles at age eighty three coming
off an a c L injury and not playing in two thousand and twenty three.
Or does Serge Ibaka have to play minutes or is it George Hill just
Devon Carlo. So like, don't you get like past their top five or
six guys there are a lot of their depth is confusing, is the way
that I would praise it. Yeah, I just like they haven't improved their
team since winning the title. Like I don't it bothers me a little bit.
I'm like I get it, like I understand this is your core,
but like in a way, it's like I'm just waiting for the year where
it's like, well the Bucks kind of dropped a half level and I just
feel like it's gonna happen if you keep rolling the same group of guys that
were kind of in the middle of their NBA lifespans when they won the title,
and if you keep doing that year after year, like at some point
this team is going to get a little bit older in terms of its depth,
be honest, is going to be honest and like that, right there
is enough for a top four seed pretty much any year. But you know,
and Chris being healthy helps too. But you know, I just sort
of look at this and I'm like, all right, there's gonna be some
slippage at some point. So is this the year? I don't know.
Well, least at least we've established that the Nets shouldn't be tanking this season.
That's at least that's the one outcome we know if that won't be happening.
Are we sure they do? They all know they own their own pick
this year, don't they? Or now swap with Houston, so maybe the
number one pick, and they can like hope that that Houston is just like
super Hooper pilled and they're like, we want we want Scoop, like they
just need the Jedi mind tricks them into it. If they tank, it's
with aspirations of no higher than the number two pick. Yeah. Uh,
is there anything we haven't touched upon that you think still needs to be discussed?
No? I think we nailed it. Think we touched on everything that
that happens with this disastrously interesting basketball team. Yeah, they're going to be
entertaining from rue reason or another. I am more optimistic that the entertainment will
come from basketball now after reading you talking to you and then just look,
we can joke it's only preseason and training camp like, this is not the
team you would have predicted to make it through training camp in preseason without shit
happening. Yeah yeah, I know, baby steps, uh, Matt.
In case anyone skipped the intro or are you able to tell everyone we're they
can find you in all the great work that you do. Oh yeah,
follow me on Twitter at Mettbrook's NBA. Everything's there, podcast writing, video
stuff. We'll probably get more into that stuff season starts, but that's where
everything is. I admire everyone who can do like the video breakdowns and identify
the actual sets that are happening in real time. You do a fantastic job
of it. So thank you so much for hopping on and I will be
pestering you again down down the line, So thanks so much. Please do thank you