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What's up, y'all is Drewski and
I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce

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a hilarious new basketball podcast called The
due Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories

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of your favorite balls and celebrities like
Jamal Murray. Did you have like a

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favorite team? Was it the Raptors
at the time or no? Was the

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Raptors even started on the top of
com on bro I had that old tell

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you like I'm fifty, Taylor Rogues, Asian Wilson, and many more.

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You won't want to miss this.
Listen to The Due Zone with Drewski on

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Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you
listen to podcasts what is krack Alak and

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hardwous and listeners. I am Dan
Favalle coming at you sadly without my co

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is Adam Brahmo. This time we
had our weekly Sunday mailbag on Locker Room

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that I recorded. I did it
solo because he is sick, as I

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mentioned at the top, after getting
his first dose of the COVID vaccination,

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he had to cancel last minute.
We had a ton of questions though,

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so we thank you guys for sending
those in cover a lot of different ground

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here we're talking about the you know, Eastern Conference specifically, the Mailbag will

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do a Western Conference one next week. We also have a different series that

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we were going to start for you, taking a look at every team to

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kind of just go in depth.
We'd like to give you guys that every

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once in a while that we're going
to fire up, hopefully next week or

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later this week, a few things
our usual housekeeping notes. But first let's

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start with these locker room sessions.
We are wondering if anyone is listening,

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and we know there's a ton of
you listening, can you let us know

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on Twitter if you want to dm
us? Is are there times that you

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would actually come and join on the
locker room discussions. We know that Sundays

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are sort of tough. This was
Easter, but we've seen the numbers sort

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of trickle down on the people that
are joining us. We want to interact

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with you guys live, and we're
willing to try and build that around your

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schedule. Is it better to do
it during games one night a week?

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Is there just a day or time? Is it a Saturday or something that

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you think, well, you know
that we can just get mass appeal.

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Are you just not interested in doing
the live discussions with us. Just bruise

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my ego that way. That's totally
fine. But we are in locker room

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as of right now every four pm
every Sunday at four pm Eastern time.

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Love taking questions and talking to people
live. We've had those a lot of

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chat questions too. You don't even
need to speak, you can drop the

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questions in the chat, but come
please join us. Also, make sure

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you're subscribing to this podcast wherever you
get your podcasts, and please remember to

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rate, review and subscribe to us
on iTunes whether or not you use it.

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That helps us out a ton.
Throw us a five star rating,

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writer review, criticize the hell out
of me. Just throw us the five

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star rating as well, and we
do. The reviews help to an addition

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to the ratings. Finally, follow
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follow the Sports Math Network on Twitter
at the Underscore Sports Underscore Math, and

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then follow us on YouTube YouTube dot
com search for hardware Knox. We will

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pop up suscribe to our YouTube channel. There is going to be a video

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element, probably by the end of
the season that we're working with. All

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our podcasts are still going up on
YouTube, though, so check us out

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there. Let's get into this solo
mailbag though. All right, everyone,

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welcome to another mailbag edition of the
Hardwinnox podcast. Still waiting for some people

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to join us in locker room,
but as an impromptu pivot, my co

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host Adam frommel is under the weather
today after receiving his first dose of the

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COVID nineteen vaccination. Good for him
forgetting it. So we're rolling on solo

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today, which we'll be exciting.
We've done it before. I got a

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ton of questions to get to.
I will try to get to as many

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as possible without further ado. Here
though, since you've already listened to if

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you're listening to this post recording,
I've already heard the intro, let's just

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get going here. I will start
with Fred long time question asker, and

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I presume listener then, for that
matter, ask how long can Tibbs continue

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starting Alfred Peyton at point guard with
a diminishing win percentage. Look, that's

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a great question. I think Nick's
fans in general have been frustrated with the

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loyalty that Thibodeau is shown to the
Elfred Peyton minutes. I don't know how

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long he will go with it,
but the experiment should have clearly ended already

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in my book, I get why
they don't want to throw a manual quickly

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into the starting lineup just yet.
That does make a ton of sense when

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you look at what you want to
do with your second unit. We've seen

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some minutes. So I go back
to that NET game earlier this season where

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Quickly did start, I believe,
and he wasn't with the second unit and

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they got destroyed. I get the
logic there, and the minutes, by

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the way, with Quickly and Derrek
Rose. It hasn't been a ton because

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of d Rose's absences and there's only
been in New York for part of the

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season, but the Knicks are plus
eleven point six per one hundred possessions during

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those minutes. Ironically, the defense
has been spectacular during that time, while

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the offense has been been trash,
and they've they've played a lot of those

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reps with Alec Burks, and so
you would expect those units to be mostly

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better. The most used one has
been semi confident offensively. They've had topping

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in the with Taj Gibson. But
I get wanting to tether Derek Rosan quickly

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together. In theory, still play
Frank Nilikina just fucking play him already would

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be my recommendation. Or you'll maybe
try it with Alec Burks in the starting

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lineup. You know, you have
I get that you want to sort of

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preserve the sanctity of the second unit
and some of the success you've had with

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your bench lineups, upgrade the starting
unit, and it does give you a

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lot of options if you want to
go with Frank Nielikina just because you're already

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kind of playing with a non shooter
and Peyton, if you need to replace

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some of the ball handling, even
though you have Julius Randall, you have

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RJ. Barrett, you could go
with Alec Burks there, and so that

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would probably be my recommendation for this
team. I don't again, I can't

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rationalize the loyalty to Alfred Peyton.
He just looks bad on the court most

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of the time, I would say. And if New York wants to make

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any noise in the playoffs or you
know, just ensure that they stay out

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of play in territory, I think
there just needs to be some shifts going

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on with those minutes in the rotation. Let's go to a question from meyer

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rothbamb another regular question asker. He
asked, or tells me to rank these

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teams one to three, Knicks,
Hornets and Pacers. I thought about this

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one for a few minutes before getting
started. It's really difficult. Now maybe

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it's a little bit easier if we
were just going looking at the current state.

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I'd have the Hornets at three,
just when you don't have LaMelo Ball,

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you don't have Gordon Hayward at the
moment because they suffered injuries. Between

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the Knicks and the Pacers, I
think you can look at the Knicks and

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say, at least they sort of
have the specialty, which is defense,

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and this season, do they have
the best player of the two teams,

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It would be between Randall and Sabonis. That being said, you could argue

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that the Pacers have three of the
four best players in this matchup between Sabonis,

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Turner, Malcolm Brogden. I don't
know that you're taking RJ. Barrett

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just yet over any one of those
guys. The Pacers have not been good

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and it seems like they need another
initiator from the point of attack. Still,

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they haven't had a ton of samples
with Carros Lavert sort of running the

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show, and I really don't want
to give anything away because that's going to

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lead into our next question. Let's
just ask it. At the same time,

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Kim asked should the Indiana Pacers rip
it up and start all over again

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like the Orlando Magic. My gut
answer to this question would be no,

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just because the Magic didn't really have
a path it seemed to getting any better

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internally when you were looking at their
personnel and what they needed most, there

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was a lot of overlap or just
players you're trying to shoehorn into roles that

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don't really fit them, like an
Aaron Gordon, even with his improved ball

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skills, and just as a facilitator, he's not going to be Paul George.

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With the Pacers, it's a little
bit different because we still haven't seen

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there what would project to be their
best five man unit together since T.

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J. Warren is injured, where
you have Turner, Lavert, Sabonis,

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Brogden, and then Warren, and
then you've only had looked at just the

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four guys that are healthy right now, Labert, Turner, Sabonis, and

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Brogden. You've only seen those guys
play four hundred and one possessions together.

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The minutes of not been encouraging.
The offense has been a disaster there,

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and I do wonder if Indianna is
just sort of banking on Caislvert to do

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too much on ball work where we
saw him. Yeah, if you want

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to play him against second units,
he might be fine as sort of a

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quasi point guard, but you know, in a spot game when there were

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injuries and he was just sort of
your go to sho are running everything.

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But he does feel like he needs
sort of a more traditional first option on

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the team to play off and that's
not necessarily Malcolm Brock and it's not even

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the bonus even though he's sort of
keen function as that first option they feel

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like they're missing. There's there's something
inherently wrong with the construction of the roster,

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I guess, And I don't know
how they go about getting that player

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because they are strapped financially this year, they're probably gonna lose. I would

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imagine one of Doug McDermott or t
J McConnell just basing this off of their

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tax situation, and they have a
history of not paying the tax there are

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probably questions about the coaching staff at
this point, at least the decisions under

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head coach Nate Yorkin. He does
seem a little hesitant to close games with

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two bigs. The miles tournaments without
Sabonus have sort of been fine, but

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the minutes when zi Bonus plays out
Turner have been a little bit wonky.

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I don't necessarily know what the solution
is for them, but I still think

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it's worth looking at the talent on
this team and saying, well, okay,

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well how could they look with TJ. Warren, Where now you sort

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of have just another guy who's going
to he should space the floor for you,

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but just another person who can generate
offense for you. So maybe you

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don't need a let's say, a
pure floor general. I want to stay

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away from pure point guard because you
have just guys who can do a bunch

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of different things in Malcolm Brockden,
Warren and then Lavert, plus all the

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facilitation that you're want to get from
Zabonus. And so there's a chance that

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this exact pacers unit has a higher
ceiling than we're seeing now. That being

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said, they could sort of have
that come to Jesus moment where you know

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it was even sort of a problem
with Victor Oladipo. They just they need

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a different kind of primary initially year
than they have. I don't know how

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they go about getting one. You
can use maybe Turner or brogged in as

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trade bait in that scenario, but
I don't know what package you're building,

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what player you're you're going to go
after. Maybe Gordon Hayward would have just

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helped them a ton had they completed
that Turner sign and trade this year,

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because then if they'd still made the
move for Leibert, I don't know if

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they would have found that as necessary. But those two guys together feel like

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they make a ton of cents,
so I wouldn't blow it up. Would

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be more love the story for the
Indiana Pacers here. I would look to

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see if you can get a different
kind of creator with them in the backcard,

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or even just float it at this
point and say, hey, let's

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see what we look like when TJ. Warren comes back. They do have

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interesting contract decisions coming up with Warren, who slated to be a free agent

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in twenty twenty two. You know
they're not that far away from carous Labert's

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free agency, which is going to
be in twenty twenty three. I believe

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so they have a lot of interesting
decisions to make on their hand, But

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I do think it's worth floating the
current core a little bit more unless that

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right move comes along. And then, to answer Meyer's question and full right

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now, I probably go Nick's Pacers
Hornets. Looking at the current state of

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the teams, if they're at full
strength, I might be inclined to go

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Pacers, Nick's Hornets. Still feeling
like the Hornets just missed, you know,

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they upgrade the center position. Could
they get a little deeper on the

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wings, because they do have a
lot of guards who can score. Maybe

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I'm undervaluing a full strength LaMelo Ball. I do think at full health,

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I might still be tempted to take
the Pacers if you gave them more time

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together. It feels like that team, as currently constructed again has the highest

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immediate ceiling. I'm not talking about
with you know, sophomore LaMelo Ball or

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LaMelo Ball in his third season,
Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto Duran,

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Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas
Hearns legends whose four way rivalry define one

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00:11:48,759 --> 00:11:54,320
of the greatest errors in boxing history. Relive their decade of dominance in the

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new Showtime Sports documentary The Kings,
a four parts series premiering Sunday, June

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sixth, only on Showtime. Jeff
Nicholas, let's get to his He asked

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00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,879
three questions. Let's see if we
can get to all of them here.

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Jeff asked, first one, assuming
they don't move up in the lottery,

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what does what does Toronto have a
path back to contention with the current core?

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How much of their struggles is just
this season being broken? I would

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say a lot of it has to
do with this season being broken. For

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the Raptors, they have had under
twenty games this season in which Siakam,

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Lowry, Event Fleet, and an
Anobia played together, So that's way less

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than half the season. Right now, they are winning the minutes by six

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point six points per one hundred possessions
when those four are on the court,

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and COVID seems to have hit them
heavier at least in that condensed dose we

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saw kind of leading into the All
Star break, and a lot of teams

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they've been dealing with more injuries.
The other thing, I do not think

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that we can discount even a little
bit here is they are not playing in

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Toronto. They're in Tampa. Every
game is a road game, and I

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do really think that impacts players.
They're dealing with this truncated schedule. Now

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you're away from home and they're not
in the bubble per se. But it's

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a different type of sequestering for them, just be just because they're not in

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their familiar environment. And I think
that means a great deal. And I

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think if you put them in Toronto, they probably have a lot more success,

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even with the health issues that they've
sort of dealt with, and look,

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some of the things might turn for
them. They have a positive net

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rating this season despite being so far
under five hundred at the moment, there's

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seven and twenty in games that enter
crunch time and that could be a really

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you know that a camp that is
a huge issue, and if it turns,

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it shows that they've been in a
ton of close games. Even though

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they're sort of in the back half
of the league and crunch time and it's

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play, they've at least been within
somewhat striking distance towards the end of fourth

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quarters. I would expect that they're
they're going to see their performance improve if

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they ever get to full strength,
and how do you improve this roster from

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there, because if you want to
keep Kyle Lowry, you're not going to

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have cap space this summer. After
giving an Anobi his extension, which I

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don't you have to sign him to
that deal four years and seventy two at

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the time, he would have cost
a lot more. I was shocked they

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got him for that little Can they
add a big man? Can they add?

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You know? It does kind of
seem like maybe another taller shot creator.

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They had that in Norman Powell,
but he wasn't really bigger. He's

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six three. They have Gary Trent
Junior replaced him, was a little bit

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taller at six five. How much
is he going to cost too? If

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you want to pay him? This
summer has an insanely small cap hold though,

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But I think looking at a center
and then maybe just a different type

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of wing player to go with an
Anobi who's carded a lot of fives this

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year. Anyway, those seem like
they might be the two biggest needs for

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them. And really that bigger player
who might put consistent pressure on the rim.

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I don't know if you're gonna get
that in crunch time in the half

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court on a relent, this continuous
basis from a Pascal Siakam, and then

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you know Lowry probably there, I
guess the most trustworthy guy with Norm Powell

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gone to count on him getting to
the basket pred Van Fleet. His game

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kind of stalls out a little bit
before the rim. So I would say

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this team from making real noise in
Eastern Conference feel like they might be one

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point five players short at the moment. I still think they're better than their

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Their record shows substantially too, which
is why I'm kind of hoping they keep

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Kyle Lowry just to see what this
team looks like if they're given better health,

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if they get the play in Toronto
next season. I still I'm a

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big believer in Chris Bouche. I
like Gary Trent Jr. A lot his

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long term fit on the roster.
It'd be fantastic if they could get into

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Rashaun Holmes sweepstakes over a free agency. He would be a really good fit

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for them. That might prove out
of their price range, though, because

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their their cap number is going to
be all over the place depending on how

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much Kyle lowry costume was. Cap
hold alone is just going to obliterate your

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tap space. So maybe he ends
up signing for cheaper I don't know that

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he takes that much of a pay
cut. If it's a two year deal,

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he could also leave without him.
Then it does get a little trickier

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because I do think that you're gonna
still want everything I just mentioned. And

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then someone else like that really helps, is that Malachi Flynn? Maybe,

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so I think that that if he
leaves, that's going to sort of change

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the calculus of how they approached the
offseason. They could technically also try and

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get involved in a trade sweepstakes if
a Bradley Beal becomes available. Don't know

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how much of a risk they're going
to take. Again, when you have

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a player like that one, he
would be one year out from free agency

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next season. They do have They
do have Siakam that they could dangle in

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that deal, but picks and then
even you know, are the Wizards interested

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in Van Fleet and you view him
as a little bit more expendable because you

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have if Kyle Lowry comes back,
is that something that you could look at,

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you have an anobi excuse me too, in that situation if you end

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up tearing it down That's where it
gets interesting, because I don't this team

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can't be bad is currently constructed.
It's, you know, okay, trade

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Pascal Siakam, but then you and
let Kyle Awry walk, but then you

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still have o Giannaobi and Fred vance
Fleet. This team just isn't gonna be

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bad. So I think they're closer
than people realize at the moment, but

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kind of taking that next step is
going to be tricky from them unless we

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really see just like a completely different
level from from Pascal siaka Maybe he has

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another jump left in him, or
they're able to really you know, futs

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and fiddle with their books and make
a couple, you know, not star

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just because those players aren't available in
free agency, but really high high impact

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additions in free agency. Jeff also
asked does naumania be elites to spacing make

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him a viable backup five for Miami. I would say maybe the problem here

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is you're not going to count on
him to be sort of this back line

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rim protector. He's allowing opponents to
shoot sixty seven point seven percent at the

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basket so far this year. That's
not great. And the minutes, the

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scant minute he logged in Sacramento as
the day Facto five did not go well

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for them defensively. That being said, they worked defensely in minor doses during

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his first two seasons with the King, so maybe there's something there. I

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also think too, he does have
a little bit of an fu to his

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game where he's a little bit more
physical when he's putting the ball on the

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floor than people really talk about or
credit him with. That might make him

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just a little bit more of a
mismatch at the five. So you might

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as well test it out. But
I don't know how many minutes you can

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realistically get to there, And it
also a lot of it probably depends on

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who's playing the four in those minutes, So we know Bam won't be on

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the floor and he would be considered
of the five of that scenario. Anyway,

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is this a situation where you're kind
of leaning into defense all around him?

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If you have a butler, a
goodala are all on the are both

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of them are on the court for
those minutes and then maybe you have you

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know as Victor Oladippo on the floor
during those minutes and you just go with

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Duncan Robinson. So you have three
above average defenders. I'm if Oladippo is

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healthy, and then Robinson and Bolita
that could be an interesting five man combination

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for them to test out. I
assume they're going to have to go to

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it moving forward. I don't want
to say quite heavily, but fairly substantially,

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because their their front line is sort
of all over the place. We've

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seen eighty lock backup four minutes this
year, even though he'll probably be listed

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as a wing. They have pressures
to Chewa. Maybe they just have a

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lot of faith in him. But
you know Olink was he was playing next

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to them and then also locking some
backup five minutes as well, And so

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it'll be on be Elitza I would
think to assume part of that role.

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I do not know how well it's
it's going to work. I do think

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the Heat have the personnel around him
to make it more of an effective arrangement

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with the elites at the five than
the Kings did. The final question from

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Jet, we're sticking with the Heat. Jimmy Butler is a top blank player

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this season. That's a tough one. I'll say top twelve. A lot

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of people are going to point to
his efficiency on jumpers which are not great,

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and he just doesn't take as many
threes anymore. He's going to be

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an all defensive player. There's a
chance that maybe he could sneak in on

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the top three defensive player of the
year ballot. I'm not sure people are

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going to listen there. He should
certainly be in the top five of consideration

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there. I think he is just
ceaseless on that end of the floor,

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and he can really shape the heats
defense on his own, which is hard

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when you're it's harder or when you're
a wing player to have to have that

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type of an impact on a team's
identity. That's why you know Biggs are

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00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,680
so wanting to win Defensive Player of
the Year. You have to credit that

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facilitation is just through the roof.
Over seven assists per game this season been

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absolutely spectacular for them as a playmaker, and he could still he really puts

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pressure on the basket, you trust
him and crunch time, he can get

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to the to the free throw line. It's just someone that you can build

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a contender around as the the best
player. And so i'd still yeah,

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maybe some people I'm as low as
fifteen, but I think he's firmly in

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top twelve. Others might make an
argument that he's clearly been top ten.

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The ten to twelve range seems right
though to me for him this year.

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Let's move on to another question.
This one comes from face of the painter.

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I think I'm reading that correctly.
What are the top Eastern teams in

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terms of wide open three point percentage? So let's take a look at this

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two different ways. If we're looking
at raw wide open three point percentage,

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and that's with defenders six or more
feet away, here are the top five

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00:21:14,599 --> 00:21:18,440
teams, the Clippers, the Blazers, the Jazz, the Nets, and

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00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:22,880
the Celtics. If you're looking at
the teams that create wide open three pointers

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00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,720
most often so the percentage of their
three point attempts that come wide open,

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00:21:27,079 --> 00:21:30,119
the top five and that are the
Jazz, the Thunder, the Raptors,

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00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,200
the Rockets, and the Pacers.
Some of that, the Jazz being in

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00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:38,599
the top five of both makes complete
sense. That's just been uh, you

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00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:45,599
know, their their mo forever under
Quin Schneider, it seems teams like the

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00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:48,799
Thunder and the Pacers this seems like
it's and even the Rockets. It speaks

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00:21:48,839 --> 00:21:56,279
more towards the talent on those teams
where they're defenses aren't going to be as

335
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afraid of leaving them wide open from
three. Definitely when you're looking at the

336
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,440
thunder they're in. The Rockets might
even feel that way about the Raptors.

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That might be a vote as to
give you know why the Raptors might not

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00:22:07,519 --> 00:22:10,759
rebound because they are hitting forty percent
of their they're wide up in threes.

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But looking at the raw percentages,
the Clippers lead the NBA forty four point

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four percent on wide open threes,
and you know they might be shooting out

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on contested threes. They've been lights
out all year. The Portland Trailblazers are

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second at forty three point seven percent, The Utah Jazz are third at forty

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three point five, the Nets are
fourth at forty three percent, and the

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Celtics are fifth at forty one point
seven percent. If anyone's curious as to

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what the worst team in the league
are, the Rockets are thirtieth and wide

346
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open three point percentage thirty five point
nine. The Wizards are thirty six point

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one. Twenty Eighth is the Grizzlies
at thirty six point seven. That's been

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you know, they're the team where
you look at and it's like, if

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they had another shooter, we're hitting
more of their three pointers. They would

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be ridiculous. The Spurs are twenty
seventh at thirty six point nine percent,

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and then the Mavericks are just behind
them. Some of their shooting numbers have

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normalized since their cold start of the
beginning of the season, but that is

353
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you know, this is going to
be something to watch. Next question,

354
00:23:03,519 --> 00:23:07,079
we have one from Anthony Moore Latchie, which or excuse me, what a

355
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,720
big man should the Hornets pick up
to try to spark some energy after two

356
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,799
big injuries the past month, referring
to Gordon Hayward and the Melo Ball here,

357
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,359
Hayward's going to be out at least
a month, it looks like,

358
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,000
and then LaMelo Ball with his tractured
wrist. They haven't the Horns haven't ruled

359
00:23:22,039 --> 00:23:26,160
him out returning this year, but
it was initially expected that he was going

360
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,720
to be out for the season.
A mid season pickup right now is going

361
00:23:29,759 --> 00:23:32,799
to be difficult. We've already seen, you know, Gorgi Jang signed with

362
00:23:33,279 --> 00:23:36,839
Brooklyn. Delane Deadman is still floating
around out there. If anyone's interested.

363
00:23:37,519 --> 00:23:41,720
There's DeMarcus Cousins as well, names
that they could watch to be potentially bought

364
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,160
out on Whiteside's injured in Sacramento,
and they kind of need to help at

365
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,640
the five Sneakily when you look at
you know, they just traded away be

366
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,519
Elita. Marvin Bagley's injured, so
they might not even want to buy him

367
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out. Well, the Rockets buy
out Kelly Olynnock there he's been starting because

368
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Christian Wood's right ankle is acting up
again for them. Mark Gasol seems really

369
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:07,680
unhappy in LA after the Lakers added
Andre Drummond. I don't know if one

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if they did buy him out,
I don't know that he's going to go

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to the Hornets. He'd probably want
to land on more of a contender,

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maybe Boston there. He sort of
seems like the archetype of center that uh,

373
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you know, definitely someone who could
replace some of the stuff that Daniel

374
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Tye does on defense end offense.
He's clearly a better passer higher IQ Tys

375
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:29,519
could move a little bit or a
lot better in space, So I don't

376
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know how high up the Hornets would
be on his list. You go to

377
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free agency this summer and looking at
the you know, trying to make this

378
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,240
long term since it is important that
I think the Hornets take that view,

379
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just given the makeup of their roster. Still a lot of their most important

380
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,960
players are relatively young, even though
they do have Terry Rosier, Gordon Hayward,

381
00:24:47,079 --> 00:24:51,119
etcetera, etcetera. I'm assuming they'll
bring Cody zellerback. I don't know

382
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:52,480
how much Hill costs, and he
can be really good, but he's just

383
00:24:52,519 --> 00:24:56,039
not someone's gonna put consistent pressure on
the rin give you a ton on offense,

384
00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:59,799
and he's you know, has one
of the most checkered health bills.

385
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,759
Big men, it seems like you
can pencil amount for twenty plus absences every

386
00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,440
single year. Rashaun Holmes is going
to be a name. The Hornets should

387
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,240
have no problem getting to, you
know, twenty plus million in cap space

388
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:14,599
if they're willing to renounce all of
their own guys or and making carry DeVante

389
00:25:14,599 --> 00:25:18,200
de Graham's hold pretty pretty easily.
He won't be too huge his restricted free

390
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,440
agent hole. That is, so
Rashaun Holmes will be in their price range

391
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,599
pretty go Any big will be in
be in their price range. Just imagine

392
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,160
him running the floor with LaMelo ball
on the court. Even working with Gordon

393
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,000
Hayward, I wonder if Charlotte,
just because of the way that they play

394
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,759
their centers, would be open letting
Rashaun Holmes shoot threes. We haven't really

395
00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:38,599
seen that since I think he was
in Phoenix, or maybe it was in

396
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,440
Philly for a minute. I'm a
big advocate of that though. But he

397
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,000
he hits the offensive glass pretty hard. He's going to run the floor,

398
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,839
great pick and roll partner, and
he's not going to make your defense.

399
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:52,119
But his mobility extends outside of the
restricted area, and he's a he's a

400
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,480
solid room protector. They could also
look at you know, it's Serge Ibaka

401
00:25:56,559 --> 00:26:00,440
going to decline his player option.
Daniel Tye is going to be a free

402
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,400
agent. He could be kind of
interesting if depending on his price point.

403
00:26:03,799 --> 00:26:04,519
Norland's, though, well, will
be out there. He's been one of

404
00:26:04,559 --> 00:26:08,920
the more underrated contributors in the league
this year. It looks like he's trying

405
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,119
to catch and handle a marble on
offense with the amount of times that he's

406
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,519
committing turnovers or just not you know, stone hands. He could also put

407
00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:18,839
it that way, but he does
a lot on defense. He can fly

408
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,000
all over the place, cover both
sides of the pick and roll, good

409
00:26:22,039 --> 00:26:26,400
room protector. There none of these
players when you look at the free agents

410
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:32,000
profile, is these indefinite big picture
solutions. Could they get in on the

411
00:26:32,079 --> 00:26:33,440
Jared Allen sweepstakes? What would it
take to get him out of Cleveland?

412
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,200
You have to imagine that the Calves
traded for him with the intention of paying

413
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:42,039
at least eighteen million a year for
him. Otherwise I don't necessarily know why

414
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,960
you would give up a first round
pick and take on Prince's deal. Low

415
00:26:45,039 --> 00:26:51,119
cost obviously there, but you trade
for him knowing that he's going to cost

416
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,880
money. Do they try out Zach
Collins who hasn't really been healthy the past

417
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,640
few seasons and also just hasn't played
a twenty five in Portland? But in

418
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,759
theory a guy who can swim,
protect the rim and space the floor.

419
00:27:00,839 --> 00:27:04,440
We still haven't seen enough of his
three point sample. He'll be a restricted

420
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,240
free agent. I don't know how
much Portland's going to pay him though,

421
00:27:07,279 --> 00:27:11,200
when they just don't have the sample
size, especially when they have Nurk.

422
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:12,480
It's there. He'll be him going
into the last year of his deal and

423
00:27:12,599 --> 00:27:17,359
is very affordable. But those two
have played. Last time I checked those

424
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,559
who have played sub three hundred possessions
together ever and just you know, injuries

425
00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:25,559
the way it worked out with nurk
ch and now Collins and their kits was

426
00:27:25,599 --> 00:27:29,640
injured for a good point of this
season. Two. I don't really look

427
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,680
at the free agency class though.
Do they go after Mitchell Robinson if the

428
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,400
Knicks make him a restricted free agent? That would be interesting. So there

429
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,759
were definitely options there this season,
though, look at you know, do

430
00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:41,640
you want to try Boogie out because
it does seem like they are bent on

431
00:27:41,799 --> 00:27:45,720
making the playoffs, but he's do
I think Boogie belongs in the NBA,

432
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,400
probably, But he's just not a
plug and play guy like the idea of

433
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,559
a Gorgi Jang. And that's sort
of the issue with Andre Drummond is,

434
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,400
yeah, he's pretty good. If
you have to give him a certain amount

435
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,799
of post ups or you know,
let him dribble the ball and deal with

436
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:03,480
sort of his acting and you know, you know, his peeking and valuing

437
00:28:03,519 --> 00:28:07,400
defensive engagement, that can be a
little bit of a headache. The other

438
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:08,279
thing that they could do, and
I don't think this is going to be

439
00:28:08,319 --> 00:28:11,240
addressed this season. You know,
maybe Otto Porter becomes available, and do

440
00:28:11,279 --> 00:28:14,720
you just want to keep playing small
and you view him as a four and

441
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,839
so that's just gonna bump up more
the minutes that you can use with PJ.

442
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,640
Washington at the five, or you
just you know, you play Otto

443
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,039
Porter or PJ. Washington Miles Bridges
together and you just mix and match the

444
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:30,240
defensive combinations there. And you can
maintain that sort of thought process in free

445
00:28:30,279 --> 00:28:33,880
agency, where hey, do we
look at guys who are really fours by,

446
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,680
like Kelly Olnik will be a free
agent this summer as well. If

447
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,839
that's someone that interests you, I
probably want someone with more of a defensive

448
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,039
punch than him. I thought PJ. Tucker would have been a sneaky good

449
00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:45,240
trade target for them at the beginning
of the year. Can you try out

450
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:49,000
your Michael Green on the smaller end. He's a player option for this summer.

451
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,640
I wouldn't be a fan of Bolita
here, seems like he'd be overstretched.

452
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,400
Lowry marking and no James Johnson if
he's just cheap, just to play

453
00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,519
him more at the five and somebody
who could theoretically handle the ball. I

454
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,480
really like Kem Birch he's listed under
free agent power forwards, but he's more

455
00:29:04,519 --> 00:29:08,720
of a center. He spent minutes
with Vouch in Orlando. He can take

456
00:29:08,759 --> 00:29:12,000
the occasional three. Don't know if
he gives you a ton rebounding when he

457
00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:15,119
is going to be the only big
on the court, but he could really

458
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,319
move on defense. He's going to
pancake dudes on screens. That's a name

459
00:29:18,319 --> 00:29:22,519
that they could look at. John
Collins name will certainly be floated, and

460
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,079
he's improved so much defensively that I
don't I doubt they would have any problem

461
00:29:26,119 --> 00:29:29,960
paying him interesting to free agency.
I don't know that the Hawks are gonna

462
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,440
let him get away. They would
have moved him in my opinion if they

463
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,680
weren't going to keep him. One
of my sirens songs, Jared Vanderbilt plays

464
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,119
a lot of four. I would
like to see him just at the five,

465
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,480
a lot of chaotic energy with him. And then finally for the Hornets,

466
00:29:42,519 --> 00:29:45,839
can we unleash Burnon Carrey Jr.
He's torn it up in G League

467
00:29:45,839 --> 00:29:49,400
minutes a lot this year and he's
not injured to the best minaledge. I

468
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,759
think he actually logged just like under
a minute and a half or under two

469
00:29:52,759 --> 00:29:56,559
minutes in there in their last game. Just try it out. You don't

470
00:29:56,599 --> 00:29:59,680
really have Yeah, I know you're
trying to get in the playoffs, but

471
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,319
that be you know, you have
to just play with they had you been

472
00:30:02,319 --> 00:30:04,119
dealt with if you're not going to
add this mid season big it's not that

473
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,640
important to get is not beyond bo
minutes still in my estimation, And you

474
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,079
do have some cushion. You know, you're your fourth in the East as

475
00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:15,400
I record this, and you want
to if you want to avoid the play

476
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,160
in, you only have a game
cushion. But if you're just trying to

477
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,720
be in the top ten, which
I think when you're missing a melo ball,

478
00:30:21,799 --> 00:30:23,559
Gordon Hayward like, you have to
be satisfied with that. You have

479
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,079
a five game cushion there, so
you're not necessarily danger of that. Try

480
00:30:27,119 --> 00:30:32,160
some wonky things then at the five
no other immediate name spring to mind.

481
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:33,640
And I did just go through a
ton of free agents. I'm assuming that's

482
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,519
whether they will spend their money most
of it or a good amount of it

483
00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:44,640
in free agency this summer. Chris
Ballard asked what are the mathematical odds due

484
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,400
to strength of schedule and probability that
the Pistons end up with the number one

485
00:30:48,519 --> 00:30:53,200
overall draft pick. So there's this
wouldn't be a good way to do it,

486
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,039
and I'm not dumping on the question. Because of the flattened lottery odds,

487
00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,240
the Pistons have the third worst record
in the NBA right now to end

488
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:06,680
the season, they have one of
the twelve easiest schedules technically, but they

489
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:08,720
don't play themselves until that's going to
be inflated a little bit. I think

490
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:14,480
you look at this as they are
clearly going to be a bottom three team.

491
00:31:14,599 --> 00:31:18,359
They've designed themselves that way and they
have. You know, there are

492
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,759
three games in front of them,
the twenty eight worst team in the league

493
00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:26,720
by record and the Calves, who
of the twenty seventh worst record. That

494
00:31:26,759 --> 00:31:30,200
would then mean that they're going to
have a fourteen percent chance at getting the

495
00:31:30,279 --> 00:31:33,759
number one pick, and they'll have
a fifty two point one percent chance at

496
00:31:33,759 --> 00:31:37,920
getting a top four pick with the
way those odds are flattened. The thing

497
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,000
to really watch though, is can
they drop out, because that's really you

498
00:31:41,039 --> 00:31:45,559
have a basically a coin toss chance
of getting a bottom excuse me, a

499
00:31:45,599 --> 00:31:48,039
top four pick. If you're one
of the three worst teams in the league.

500
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,359
That's you know, that's great.
But if you're going to be one

501
00:31:52,359 --> 00:31:55,519
of the three worst teams in the
league, you definitely want a top three

502
00:31:55,519 --> 00:31:59,119
pick. To me, though,
looking at their schedule, it doesn't seem

503
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,319
particularly easy. It's, you know, it's just mid end. My guess

504
00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:04,759
would be that they end up with
one of the three worst records and they

505
00:32:04,799 --> 00:32:07,759
get a fourteen percent chance of having
that number one overall pick in the lottery

506
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:12,799
and drafting Kid Cuttingham, who everyone
is so enamored with. I need to

507
00:32:12,839 --> 00:32:17,559
watch more of too as we get
closer to the draft. Let's go to

508
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:24,319
Carson. I asked, why can't
the East ever seemed to competitively balance with

509
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:29,799
the West? Is it an ownership
thing? I think, well, I

510
00:32:29,839 --> 00:32:31,839
think yes, it's it can be
a you know, the people who are

511
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:37,839
running the team thing. I do
think that location has a lot to do

512
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:39,759
with it, where if you're going
to the Western Conference, there will be

513
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:44,200
free agents, you know, Golden
State just being in a good market,

514
00:32:44,599 --> 00:32:47,480
a good warm weather climate. Free
agents, if they have money, are

515
00:32:47,519 --> 00:32:52,960
more likely to flock there. I
guess it falls apart because you actually have

516
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,000
the Lakers teams but then no one's
flocking in Sacramento. We have seen veterans

517
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,920
go there though when they're willing to
give up money. I think that just

518
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:05,599
contributes to it. The other thing
is, right now, when you sort

519
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:10,200
of look at the top five players
in the league, there's just a chance

520
00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:15,160
that are three of them on the
West Coast, Steph, Lebron and then

521
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:20,200
Yokich in the Western Conference or teams
are just going to be naturally one more

522
00:33:20,279 --> 00:33:25,400
driven to obtain great talent and too, like that's going to be more appealing

523
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,519
for free agents to go to and
look another by the way, place that

524
00:33:30,079 --> 00:33:31,599
underrated place. And it's not like
they signed big free agents all the time,

525
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:36,079
but the Phoenix Suns there, you
know they were they LaMarcus Aldrich had

526
00:33:36,079 --> 00:33:37,599
their attention at one point, so
so to Blake Griffin. And so there

527
00:33:37,599 --> 00:33:40,359
are players that want to be there. And then Luka don I just left

528
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,839
him off from talking about the top
five June. If we go as far

529
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:45,640
as the top ten players, like, look at the teams. You have

530
00:33:46,119 --> 00:33:51,200
the players, you have Lillard,
you have Yokich, you have Luka don

531
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:52,599
Chich, you have Lebron and a
d on the same team. When they're

532
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:57,559
when they're healthy, you have Steph. It does feel like those teams have

533
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:01,480
stars. The Clippers with Klaw and
then even PG. I wouldn't call him

534
00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:06,119
top ten this season, but just
as an example, those are guys that

535
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,960
one forced their teams by themselves to
be hyper competitive when it comes to acquiring

536
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:15,280
talent, so you would expect their
teams to be better. That being said,

537
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:21,440
this is not a competitive imbalance that
has existed only this season. There

538
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:22,480
was a time in two thousand nineteen
where it looked like maybe the East and

539
00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:24,719
caught up. James Harden's now in
the East, and when you do kind

540
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:29,239
of look at top end talent,
a lot of them have congregated on the

541
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,719
nets. But having James Harden in
the East now having if once Kevin Durant

542
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:37,719
is healthy, Jannie is still in
the East, there it feels like it

543
00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:42,079
feels like the East can compete looking
at raw star power. For the most

544
00:34:42,119 --> 00:34:44,960
part, I think even when you
look at the all star pools, it

545
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:47,119
does feel like the heat still kind
of the East, excuse me, trails

546
00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:52,519
in top end talent where it's like
you you have some bonuses, but you

547
00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:54,639
don't have as many, you know, like I just name where it's like

548
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:59,119
the Dame Where's He's not top five
guy, but he's probably closer. He's

549
00:34:59,119 --> 00:35:01,840
way closer to the top ten than
he is to the top thirty or top

550
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:07,119
twenty five when you look at someone
like Sabonis. So there's that, and

551
00:35:07,559 --> 00:35:14,239
I'll stand by the market thing.
But as Carson mentioned himself, a lot

552
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,000
of it has to do with how
these teams are run. And you look

553
00:35:16,039 --> 00:35:21,000
at teams, and yes, it's
inherently harder on small markets. I want

554
00:35:21,039 --> 00:35:22,360
to make that clear. And I
already said that the East does a plenty

555
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,679
of top end talent. We don't
be Benson, It's Kevin Rant, James

556
00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:28,079
Harden, Yannis LaMelo, Ball is
gonna be up at one point. You

557
00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:30,119
have Jimmy Butler, Bamatabile, already, Trey Young. So there is again,

558
00:35:30,159 --> 00:35:32,719
there is that, there is that
star power. I just you know,

559
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:37,599
Julius Randall, the Sabonis, they
don't they're not on that same level

560
00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:39,480
as what it feels like the East. But then you can counter with gods

561
00:35:39,519 --> 00:35:42,800
in the West, excuse me,
then you can counter with, well,

562
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,599
Boston has Tatum and Brown. So
it does feel like the talent depth is

563
00:35:45,639 --> 00:35:49,920
there, but the teams, the
quality of teams. The Knicks are part

564
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,199
of this problem. They're in the
flagship market and they've been terribly run up

565
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,400
until this season, and there's still
gonna be questions about their front office,

566
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,679
the piece from the New York Post
about how it's run, and then even

567
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:05,519
now where it seems like they've leaned
really heavily into the now over development and

568
00:36:05,599 --> 00:36:07,480
that's this is a feel good story
this season. They have to build off

569
00:36:07,519 --> 00:36:10,400
of it because playing five hundred basketball, you don't get a medal for that,

570
00:36:10,559 --> 00:36:14,239
especially in the Eastern Conference, where
a team like the Hornets is in

571
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:19,199
fourth by being two games over five
hundred. But there's the Hornets even until

572
00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:23,199
this like they basque and mediocrity.
Basically they have you know, the Gordon

573
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:27,639
Hayward signing was lampoon, but it's
worked out with LaMelo Ball. They haven't

574
00:36:27,679 --> 00:36:30,320
necessarily operated as a normal rebuilding team
since they've gotten Kemba Walker, and you

575
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,920
can't. I don't want to be
the heartless, callous person that says,

576
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:37,519
well, just just tank for two
or three seasons, accumulates many top draft

577
00:36:37,559 --> 00:36:39,599
picks as possible, and go from
there. But we've seen teams of small

578
00:36:39,599 --> 00:36:44,079
markets be more methodical about it,
like Oklahoma City. Maybe Sam Prescy's built

579
00:36:44,119 --> 00:36:46,559
up more good real with both the
team governors. Then also in the fan

580
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:51,440
base because the thunder were so good
for so many years. Even after you

581
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,599
know, Kevin Durant left, they
were they were still relevant. I mean

582
00:36:52,599 --> 00:36:55,760
after Russell Westbrook left, they made
the playoff push with was Chris Paul.

583
00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,239
So you know, the Hornets,
the Knicks, the Bulls especially one of

584
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,639
the worst run organizations as well.
The Wizards too. Yes, you have

585
00:37:02,679 --> 00:37:07,440
top end talent now and Bradley Beal, Russell Westbrook's playing really well. You're

586
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,639
still on this season fourteen games under
five hundred, and you've been stuck in

587
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:16,400
like this middle middle class sub middle
class for too many seasons. The Calves

588
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:21,239
when they don't have Lebron, I'm
very intrigued by their young core. I

589
00:37:21,599 --> 00:37:23,400
as anyone knows when we did the
Redrift, I like Isaaco Coral is still

590
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,519
a lot Colin Sexton. Both Adam
and I are big fans of Darius Garland.

591
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,719
They have like an interesting, youthful
base and I'll have another good pick

592
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:35,639
this year. Even the Pistons,
where it seems like I don't know,

593
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,000
would you say they're one of the
worst run organizations over the past however many

594
00:37:38,079 --> 00:37:43,239
years, maybe when you're looking at
the Josh Smith deal, then going all

595
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,159
in for Blake Griffin, even maxing
out Drummond when it was if he in

596
00:37:45,199 --> 00:37:51,519
the moment, whether he was a
franchise cornerstone type. I think it does

597
00:37:51,559 --> 00:37:53,159
have a lot to do with the
teams where we don't point at teams in

598
00:37:53,199 --> 00:37:55,440
the West and it doesn't feel like
they have the same volume of it.

599
00:37:55,519 --> 00:38:00,639
Yes, the Suns until semi semi
recently, the Kings, of course,

600
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:07,400
the Warriors before STEPH became STEPH.
We're probably in there, and they might

601
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:08,719
be in there now. You could
throw the rockets in there right now.

602
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:12,159
There the Timberwolves. So there there
are teams in each conference, but it

603
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:15,239
does feel like the East has more
of those, at least organizations that are

604
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:21,320
more content to wallow in the middle
class or ones who have failed to even

605
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,519
get there on a more prolonged basis, where in the West it does feel

606
00:38:24,519 --> 00:38:30,599
like it's there's less staying power at
the bottom and it's more of a cycle.

607
00:38:30,639 --> 00:38:34,119
We'll see if that changes now,
because it does feel like the Timberwolves

608
00:38:34,119 --> 00:38:36,480
are always in that discussion as well
as the Kings. Maybe the Rockets are

609
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,480
there now the Warriors who seem to
be taking step backs, but you look

610
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:42,039
at the Kings. The Warriors don't
don't feel like teams that are going to

611
00:38:42,079 --> 00:38:45,400
be there forever. The Kings are
in play in territory even though they're probably

612
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,719
they might be the hardest team to
figure out this year. That's a totally

613
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:52,480
unrelated topic. This was a great
question, Carson, and it's probably worth

614
00:38:52,639 --> 00:38:58,159
a podcast undo itself. Next question, Jim asks who are some of the

615
00:38:58,199 --> 00:39:00,239
more underrated two way players? So
I have to confess. When I was

616
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,880
looking at this before I fired up
the podcast machine, I wasn't sure if

617
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,719
you were talking if Jim was talking
about players on two way contracts or players

618
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:13,760
who are considered just two way players
valuable at both ends of the floor.

619
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,639
So I have a list of both. I'll spend I'll throw a few names

620
00:39:17,639 --> 00:39:24,880
out here for the two way guys. But yo Utah want the Nabe comes

621
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:29,920
to mind, someone who just defends
seems like a bigger than he actually is,

622
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:34,840
but he's really more wingsized than not. You have Garrison Matthews in Washington,

623
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,519
that that dude can really shoot it, and he moves fast with the

624
00:39:37,559 --> 00:39:40,000
ball in his hands. I'm convinced
there's more than just a shooting specialist in

625
00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:44,639
there from him. I'm very intrigued
by Nathan Knight in Atlanta. You know,

626
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,920
get sporadic minutes, but a five
who has shown that he can get

627
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,280
some provides you some rim protection at
points, but an also space the floor.

628
00:39:52,639 --> 00:39:55,840
That's always going to intrigue me.
The biggest one for me would be

629
00:39:55,840 --> 00:40:00,599
wanted to Skane Anderson. I don't
think he receives enough credit for what he's

630
00:40:00,639 --> 00:40:02,719
done in Golden State this year.
It might be one of the most underrated

631
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:07,400
players in the league, probably in
part because of his sub seven hundred minute

632
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,440
sample. I don't know if that's
because the Warriors weren't shut the league was

633
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,880
going to change the two way player
rules at this point, but he should

634
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,079
be playing more. He's shooting a
good enough clip on his threes. Its

635
00:40:17,079 --> 00:40:21,400
shown that he can keep the ball
moving. There are still questions what would

636
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:23,920
he do in a higher volume offensive
role because getting him to shoot more it

637
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:29,960
seems like it's been pulling teeth.
But he is so high energy mixed with

638
00:40:30,159 --> 00:40:32,599
absurd range on the defensive end right
now in the Warriors are locked in,

639
00:40:32,679 --> 00:40:38,599
Draymond Green is the only defender who's
more versatile for them. This is per

640
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:45,000
Basketball in Decks matchup data, but
wants Scona. Anderson has spent at least

641
00:40:45,039 --> 00:40:51,360
fifteen percent of his time the court
guarding every single position. That's wild.

642
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:54,639
He's guarded more forwards than any other
spot. But to have that versatility.

643
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:59,960
Among the three hundred of players who've
logged at least five hundred minutes this season,

644
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:05,679
they're only a handful that have a
better positional versatility rating, and that

645
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:09,920
again comes from Basketball Index. If
you're looking for two way players that I

646
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:15,400
think are underrated, and you know
players who play both ends of the floor,

647
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:21,119
I think someone to look at this
season and which kind of funny Reggie

648
00:41:21,119 --> 00:41:25,239
Bullock. I think he's someone who
really has given an incredibly underrated two a

649
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:30,360
punch this year. His three point
volume is ticked up where they've really given

650
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:34,360
him the green light. He's been
at basically over seven attempts per game for

651
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,800
the past month or so, and
he gives you that floor spacing on a

652
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,159
team that desperately needs it. Not
gonna do anything with the ball in his

653
00:41:40,199 --> 00:41:44,119
hands. But that's just that's immaterial
to me when you look at everyone else

654
00:41:44,159 --> 00:41:47,480
who's already on the next from Julius
Randall to Emmanuel Quickly. Of course,

655
00:41:47,519 --> 00:41:53,920
you also have RJ. Barrett there
as well. What he's done defensively for

656
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:58,320
them, I mean he's taking on
He's not a point guard, which so

657
00:41:58,639 --> 00:42:00,280
this is going to be skewed.
He's not guard number one options the most,

658
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:04,440
but he's guarding number two options more
than anyone else on the Knicks right

659
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,440
now, and he spent a good
amount of time on number one options as

660
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:12,000
well. So you just look at
the breadth of a defensive assignments, the

661
00:42:12,039 --> 00:42:15,679
difficulty of them that he's had to
saddle himself with in New York, and

662
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,000
he's been an unmitigating success. He's
going to be a free agent this year

663
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,800
and is making basically no money at
the moment. Remember they tried to.

664
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,119
They could have signed him to more, but they initially sign him to more

665
00:42:25,159 --> 00:42:29,880
and then he had the I think
it was a neck injury or back injury,

666
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,079
I can't remember which one, and
they restructured the deal to where he

667
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:36,559
right now is making four point two
million. He's going to cost substantially more

668
00:42:36,599 --> 00:42:39,960
than that. I would argue another
player who sort of comes to mind would

669
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:45,960
be as I started, Kyle Anderson
of the Grizzlies. This season, he's

670
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:51,079
done a really good job. He's
honed his wide open three point touch,

671
00:42:51,079 --> 00:42:54,280
where he's shooting about lee average from
there, hitting more than fifty percent of

672
00:42:54,320 --> 00:43:00,559
his mid rangers over forty seven percent
of his floaters. He plays with a

673
00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:05,800
cadence that is all his own,
and it does look like his game unfurls

674
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,440
and slow motion, but he doesn't
give defenders much time to think. He's

675
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:13,480
pump faking and barreling disarms with misdirections, and it's passing. He's a really

676
00:43:13,519 --> 00:43:16,840
good passer. He can do things
with either hand, you know, pass

677
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:22,239
the ball with either hand, dribble
it with either hand. I've written this

678
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,760
before. His on ball body mechanics
don't make any sense to me. He

679
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:31,840
looks like he's sort of jerking or
flowling while he's dribbling in eight different directions,

680
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:36,400
like one of those inflatable tube men
that are building in the wind outside

681
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,679
a sketchy car dealership. The quirkiness
works, though, and he can still

682
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:44,880
draw shooting fouls more often, I
would say than people who don't put him

683
00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:50,599
as pressure on the rim should.
And then he has just a he has

684
00:43:50,639 --> 00:43:52,760
just a wide range on defense as
well. He can guard some wings guards,

685
00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,800
he can put them on some bigger
players, and he's just going to

686
00:43:57,239 --> 00:44:01,920
subtly pile on the box score.
And you know, looking at the past,

687
00:44:02,559 --> 00:44:07,239
going back since twenty twelve thirteen,
there're only four other players who have

688
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,920
maintained his current Kyle Anderson's current true
shooting, defensive, rebound, assist,

689
00:44:12,039 --> 00:44:15,559
steel and block percentages for an entire
season. Jannis, Kevin Durant, Draymond

690
00:44:15,639 --> 00:44:19,840
Green, and Nikolayok. That's a
hell of a club to be a part

691
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,280
of. And I'm not sure if
he's still considered underrated, but it might

692
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:24,519
be time to start talking about Dario. Sarch is more of a two way

693
00:44:24,519 --> 00:44:28,679
impact. The Suns are getting away
by using him in minutes at the five

694
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:34,519
important bits Minji. He's closed some
games there when eton is roller coasting are

695
00:44:34,679 --> 00:44:37,239
all over the place. He's we
know what he can do on the ball.

696
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,320
The Sun times he even gotten his
best shooting yet, but he can

697
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:44,239
get there. There's sort of an
I mentioned this four I can't remember who

698
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:46,599
was talking about. But there's in
fu to his game too. That was

699
00:44:46,599 --> 00:44:49,960
the Elitesa. There's an fu to
sarch Is game too, Like he can

700
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,000
really not the most efficient post scre
but he can put it two bigger dudes.

701
00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:58,039
So he does a lot on offense, has those ball skills, Ken

702
00:44:58,119 --> 00:45:00,599
space the floor even though with three
point clip isn't fall it especially high rate.

703
00:45:00,679 --> 00:45:04,880
But defensively, however, he's done. He's done a lot for the

704
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:08,360
Suns where it feels like he's when
you watch him versus Eighten, there's more

705
00:45:08,679 --> 00:45:14,199
lateral mobility there, or at least
decisiveness. And I know the folks on

706
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:16,519
the Timeline podcast another Blue Iro pod
have talked about how he always seems to

707
00:45:16,559 --> 00:45:23,079
be in the right spot. It
is not like it is. It is

708
00:45:23,079 --> 00:45:25,280
part of that, but it also
just seems like he's moving better than eight

709
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,760
and it's going to make more decisions
and he's going to get back to the

710
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,719
rim a lot more and he can
come higher out without getting burned. Where

711
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:34,760
Aten's been lauded for switchability, but
it seems like if you pull him out

712
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,719
far enough, he's going to be
at a disadvantage. And I'm not saying

713
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,760
that Sarge is just a great rim
productive right now because he's not, but

714
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:45,159
he's giving them more optionality at the
five, and so that's a big deal.

715
00:45:45,199 --> 00:45:46,320
I don't know if he would still
count as underrated, but that is

716
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:50,800
a name to consider anyone who's interested
in a little bit of breaking news here.

717
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:53,679
It looks like the Clippers are signing
four time all started Mark his cousins

718
00:45:53,679 --> 00:45:58,599
to it a ten day, ten
day contract. We'll see how that works

719
00:45:58,599 --> 00:46:00,599
out there, but that takes him
off the boards for the It's a team

720
00:46:00,639 --> 00:46:04,519
that I was just talking about before, so we'll have to see what happens.

721
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:08,119
Let's see we can get to a
couple more questions, though Miroslav shook

722
00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:17,039
as is Embeed ever gonna get some
foul calls Inbeed leads the league in free

723
00:46:17,039 --> 00:46:21,840
throw attempts for thirty six minutes.
So I'm not sure what the impetus behind

724
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:24,000
this question is. If I miss
something on his return in Saturday, I

725
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:29,679
did not see that game, is
that he's fouling too much. But here's

726
00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:31,760
here's what I'll say with Biggs,
and we've seen it with Lebron too,

727
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:37,280
is that because they're built the way
they are it looks like they're almost not

728
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,360
getting fouled, or maybe that's how
it looks to rest or rest don't deem

729
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:45,079
contact as impactful enough to think that
it's a foul on them, and that's

730
00:46:45,119 --> 00:46:49,519
not you know, that's not their
fault. But that's just my that's my

731
00:46:49,559 --> 00:46:52,920
conspiracy theory here is that people think
big bodies aren't as affected by a normal

732
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:55,280
amount of contact. And I would
argue that it's it's with Lebron at times.

733
00:46:55,360 --> 00:47:00,199
I'm not saying, I'm not saying
with absolute definity that I think well

734
00:47:00,199 --> 00:47:05,360
embiid or Lebron is unfairly officiated.
That's just something where it feels like James

735
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:09,079
Harden is able to sell contact more
than a guy like Joel Embid or Lebron

736
00:47:09,199 --> 00:47:13,480
James. So that's all I have
for you, Mir Slash, sorry,

737
00:47:14,599 --> 00:47:20,480
Noah odage As Also, what someone
who hosts a fantastic podcast himself stick the

738
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:24,840
sports check that out realistically? Is
there a successful Knicks team in the future

739
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:30,159
that features either Frank Nilikina, Kevin
Knox or Obie Toppin as cornerstones are what's

740
00:47:30,199 --> 00:47:34,800
the ceiling on those three? Feel
like he's trying to pull my heart strings

741
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:39,480
here by asking about frank Nilikina as
cornerstones, I don't know. I think

742
00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:43,320
Toppin is going to have the chance
to come closest because he's still so much

743
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:45,480
of a mystery box. I think
the Knicks are going to need to put

744
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:47,000
the ball on his hands a little
bit more, and he's gonna need to

745
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:50,840
just move better period on the defensive
end. That was it was always going

746
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:52,679
to be his weakness coming in,
but this there's been minutes where he's on

747
00:47:52,679 --> 00:47:55,159
the corporate it looks untenable. So
I think he is the best chance of

748
00:47:55,199 --> 00:48:00,119
being on a good Knicks team as
a cornerstone. I think of the three

749
00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:04,400
Frankie Lakina can actually be the most
helpful to a really good team long term.

750
00:48:04,559 --> 00:48:07,199
Looking at what he's able to do
defensively, ones, twos and threes.

751
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:10,559
He can legitimately match up with those
guys. We've seen him compete against

752
00:48:10,639 --> 00:48:14,840
James Harden in the past. We've
seen him compete against tough wing scores in

753
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,760
the past. I get that he
needs to figure out his offense to demand

754
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:23,360
or to have just a role carved
out, a consistent role. He's shot

755
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,880
the three ball better, buying largs
this year, but it's just in such

756
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,760
smaller volume, and there's a smoothness
to his game on the balls in his

757
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:32,079
hands. I'm matamous. When you
watch him and he's working off the dribble,

758
00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:37,639
the decision making just isn't there.
It's not the same, it's not

759
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,559
consistent, and he'll he'll take these
bizarrow shots or he'll turn the ball over.

760
00:48:42,039 --> 00:48:44,159
He needs to be more decisive in
what he's doing. There are you're

761
00:48:44,159 --> 00:48:45,880
gonna pull up for a float,
or you're trying to get to the rim,

762
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:47,559
or you're dumping the ball off.
It works against him that I don't

763
00:48:47,559 --> 00:48:52,199
think he has the vision necessary to
be an actual point guard. I also

764
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:55,360
think actual consistent reps would would go
a long way. I think you have

765
00:48:55,440 --> 00:48:59,039
to go with Toppin as a second
most likely after him, and some people

766
00:48:59,039 --> 00:49:01,119
will put him first again because of
the relative unknowness to what he could do.

767
00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:06,000
Still, Kevin Malock still intrigues me. Just it's not because of what

768
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,519
he did in Summer League that one
time where that might have been not might

769
00:49:08,599 --> 00:49:12,480
if it was overblown. The efficiency
was not great. He has more to

770
00:49:12,519 --> 00:49:15,360
offer offensively on the ball, but
he's you know, as someone you wanted

771
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:17,639
to use as a guy in the
corners. I think he has value there

772
00:49:17,679 --> 00:49:21,880
on offense. Can he improves cutting
a little bit beyond a team that's gonna

773
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:23,800
utilize him more in those situations?
And then what are you gonna get from

774
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:28,039
him defensively because he can be pushed
over. But he's shown that he like

775
00:49:28,079 --> 00:49:31,000
there is matchup range there when you
look at his body type. So these

776
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:35,360
are all players who still intrigued me. Everyone knows on this podcast. I'm

777
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:39,280
most intrigued by Frankie Lakena. But
Obi toppin is is if we're looking at

778
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:45,039
this discussion, this discussion, excuse
me, is the swing piece if you're

779
00:49:45,039 --> 00:49:50,559
looking at natural cornerstone og O g
RJ. Barrett is certainly in that conversation.

780
00:49:51,519 --> 00:49:52,880
The Knicks have to hope that he
is a cornerstone. Do they have

781
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:55,880
a second one on the team?
And maybe it's Julius Randall? I just

782
00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:59,679
don't know. You know, his
contracts up after next year. How much

783
00:49:59,679 --> 00:50:01,840
does he call us to keep?
Is there is this lightning in a bottle

784
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:06,800
to any extent just because it is
one season and I'm not he's been He's

785
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:08,079
been great this year. I think
he's gonna surprise people with the number of

786
00:50:08,119 --> 00:50:13,840
all NBA votes he yets and arguably
deserves. His defense feels like it's ticked

787
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:16,599
off as late of late, but
it's been better this season. I just

788
00:50:16,599 --> 00:50:20,079
don't think you look at the Knicks
and say, hey, RJ. Barrett

789
00:50:20,079 --> 00:50:22,599
and Julius Randall can be your two
best players on a championship team. You

790
00:50:22,679 --> 00:50:25,960
either need that third guy who is
actually a cornerstone, not just a nice

791
00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:30,760
complimentary player like a Reggie Bullock or
an Alec Burks, or is it am

792
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:34,800
manual quickly. I don't know that
anyone, aside looking at their young players

793
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:39,199
from RJ. Barrett, is legitimate
building block as that that franchise building block

794
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:44,039
material. Maybe Mitchell Robinson is still
there, but I think we've sort of

795
00:50:44,039 --> 00:50:45,559
seen enough to know that it would
be awful tough to It's tough to do

796
00:50:45,599 --> 00:50:49,599
that in general, build a team
around a big who doesn't create his own

797
00:50:49,639 --> 00:50:52,639
offense or set up for anybody else. But he's not Rudy Gobert either,

798
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:58,920
Like he's not transcendent on the defensive
end at least yet. Maybe the Knicks

799
00:50:59,039 --> 00:51:00,960
are some of their parts which can
be in a good way. You look

800
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:04,360
at quickly. He's still intriguing.
What is topping it? Does he space

801
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,400
the floor, give you a lot
of ball skills? Cook defenders off the

802
00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:09,199
dribble? Does he become close to
a league average defender? I might wage

803
00:51:09,199 --> 00:51:14,679
against that happening. You have RJ. Barrett to go with those two.

804
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:19,239
So between RJ. Barrett Quickly Topping, like, do they amount to like

805
00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:23,760
high end multiple high end cornerstones together. Maybe we're gonna have to see.

806
00:51:24,159 --> 00:51:27,760
But the Knicks might be done getting
high draft picks. It's they're firmly in

807
00:51:27,800 --> 00:51:30,199
the middle of the Eastern Conference right
now, and it looks like they're going

808
00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:34,159
to be entrenched in that playoff picture, not just you know, they have

809
00:51:34,199 --> 00:51:37,440
a very tough schedule to close out
the season, not much of a cushion.

810
00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:42,519
They're in the play in territory right
now. Maybe that's where they finish.

811
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:45,599
Their future is. It's still pretty
iffy, and I think this season

812
00:51:45,639 --> 00:51:49,840
has to be resounding success for them, playing with a rhyme and reason for

813
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,519
how good their defense has been.
Still still top three, there is a

814
00:51:52,559 --> 00:51:55,559
method to who they're letting take three
pointers for the most part. You look

815
00:51:55,599 --> 00:52:00,159
at it improvement from Randall from Barrett, Mitchell, Robinson before his injury was

816
00:52:00,159 --> 00:52:02,719
fouling left and less. And he's
still healthy. He's still forced when healthy,

817
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:05,880
and you could move him into that
you know, quickly, Robinson,

818
00:52:05,960 --> 00:52:08,599
rg Bett, Obe Topping. Maybe
none of them are going to be developed

819
00:52:08,599 --> 00:52:12,760
into a top twenty five NBA player
and being the type of cornerstone. But

820
00:52:12,760 --> 00:52:15,840
what does that together get you?
Because you can still be a really good

821
00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:17,719
team without that player. I think
you would just until you have that at

822
00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:21,360
least top twenty five guy, and
then you really, if you're really gonna

823
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:22,840
have one of them, you need
to surround him with a hell of a

824
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:28,159
lot of depth. You're probably going
to fall outside that championship discussion. I

825
00:52:28,199 --> 00:52:31,000
think that's a good spot to end. Apologies to anyone's questions we did not

826
00:52:31,159 --> 00:52:35,079
get to. Thank you to everyone
who hit us with questions on Twitter.

827
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:38,400
Thank you for everyone who continues to
slide in the DMS with questions. Those

828
00:52:38,440 --> 00:52:44,639
are great. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast

829
00:52:44,679 --> 00:52:46,159
on iTunes even if you don't use
iTunes. That helps us out a bunch.

830
00:52:46,199 --> 00:52:49,960
Also, just download every episode and
subscribe if you're listening to this podcast

831
00:52:50,039 --> 00:52:52,840
wherever you do, get your podcast, and remember to come join us on

832
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:57,679
Locker Room at four pm Eastern Time
every Sunday. We try and have a

833
00:52:57,679 --> 00:53:01,719
lot of fun and hopefully you enjoy
it as well. But until next time,

834
00:53:01,719 --> 00:53:05,320
I'll get the shout out too,
since we just talked about him,

835
00:53:05,519 --> 00:53:15,320
The One, the Only, Franknio
China, Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto

836
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:20,960
Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler,
and Thomas Hearns. Legends whose four way

837
00:53:21,039 --> 00:53:24,880
rivalry define one of the greatest errors
in boxing history, relive their decade of

838
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:30,920
dominance in the new Showtime Sports documentary
The Kings, a four parts series premiering

839
00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:32,239
Sunday, June sixth, only on
Showtime