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What is krack Lack and hardwoodknock Listeners, I am Dampa Valley coming at you

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once more without my fantabulous co host
Adam Brommel, as our team look Ahead

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train continues to roll on. We
are up to the Los Angeles Lakers,

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whose biggest move of the offseason was
signing Wayne Ellington, so we're definitely gonna

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get into that. I had to
bring back on Jabari Ali Davis. You

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can follow him on Twitter at Jabari
Davis MBA. That's at jab A r

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I d A v I S NBA. He is co host of the Baseline

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and Never Meet Your Heroes podcast for
nineteen Media Group. Go ahead and give

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him a follow. Check out those
podcasts at NBA Baseline for the Baseline at

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n my h pod. Sorry for
stumbling through that. A's at n M

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y hpo d that's the Never Meet
Your Heroes Pod. We have a great

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conversation before where we get into it, though my usual housekeeping notes my usual

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please keep rating, reviewing, and
subscribing to us wherever you get your podcast,

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poor bevore. It really helps us
out in the charts, and that's

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how we continue to get this podcast
out there. If this is your first

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time listening to us because you really
love the Lakers. Maybe you're just a

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jabari stand I'm right there with you. Perhaps you're here on accident. You

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don't even know how you clicked on
this or someone sent it to you.

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Consider throwing us that permit subscription downloading
every episode. We do ask that everyone,

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whether they use iTunes or not,
if you have access to it,

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go to iTunes search Hardwood Knox.
Throw us that five star rating. Write

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a review, and you can be
as mean as you want in the reviews.

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We want you to be as honest
as humanly possible, just as long

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as you throw us that five star
rating, because that again helps us a

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ton in the charts. Follow us
on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. You can

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follow our YouTube channel. Go to
YouTube dot com search Hardwood Knox. We

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will come up. Subscribe to that, and we are also on Instagram at

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Hardwood Underscore Knox. Let's get two
lots of Los Angeles first. Before we

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get there, I want to note
that because we've had such a podcast backlog,

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I've elected to publish teams that might
do something weird or have more pressing

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issues going on first. It's so
facto going and publishing the next the Brooklyn

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Nets one right away because of the
Kyrie situation, knowing that information there can

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be dated pretty quickly. With the
Lakers, I have held this podcast for

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almost a week. We recorded before
we found out about Trevor Reason being out

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two months for his right ankle surgery. Please consider that doesn't impact the pod

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wholesale at all. I also cannot
remember that's how long ago was whether we

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recorded this before we kind of found
out that Anthony Davis is not going to

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be starting at center. I think
we mentioned that maybe he'll be starting at

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Power Forward next to DeAndre Jordan.
That is the expectation around LA, So

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please keep those things in mind as
you're going through this podcast. All the

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information, though, are still very
pertinent since the Lakers, obviously they really

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physically can't do anything major with their
roster even if they wanted to. They're

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not trading any of their three main
guys in Russell Westbrook, Lebron or a

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d. They can't even trade talent
Horton Tucker because of the contract that he

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just signed. So there's not like
they don't have the first of all most

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of their rosters free agencies so they
just can't make a move. All the

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information was still pertinent. Sorry for
stumbling through that, But let's get to

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lots and lots and lots and lots
and lots of Los Angeles Lakers talk both

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short term, near term, super
long term. I guess that's three things,

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but we talk about it with Jabari
Ali Davis. Let's get to it.

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Jabari, thank you so much for
coming back on the Hardwood Knox podcast

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too once again school me on some
Lakers talk first and foremost, though,

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how the hell are you? I'm
doing all right dad? For one,

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I don't think I'll be doing any
schooling, but I certainly appreciate the invitation

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to give them. Man Hey,
look, also, this is your third

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time, because I have a spreadsheet
to make sure I don't bother people more

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than once or twice a year unless
I really disliked them, apparently, but

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this is your third time. So
the first two times I feel like you

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could be nice. Maybe I tricked
you. The third time it's your fault,

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like you agreed to come back.
I'm not going to take responsibility for

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that a thousand percent. And I
actually meet it when I say it's an

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oundor each time you got a great
show and then you look, I didn't

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realize it was a third for whatever
reason, I thought it was a second.

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So obviously it's not a Bob.
So the Lakers, they didn't really

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do anything over the offseason, right, it was kind of boring. Yeah,

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honestly, they just sat around,
didn't really make any moves. So

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you know, it's kind of frustrating
from a fan perspective, especially if you're

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a King's fan and thought that you
were dealing Buddy Hills for a certain fact,

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or if you're a Buddy Healed that
too. So what are your just

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I mean, you have to start
there like that is that might be.

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And obviously we've seen Lebron go to
Miami with the Big three, but this

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is like one of the most polarizing
moves in recent memory because of we have

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all this evidence that Westbrook probably shouldn't
play with the way the Lakers were built

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like a guy like Lebron, and
yet here they are they made that move.

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So what what are your just what
are your thoughts on the one the

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Lakers, the decision that they made, which was essentially Russ over Buddy Healed

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or maybe whatever else was out there, and too, Like, how what

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is the path to making this work? Basically, I'm not gonna lie and

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say that, you know that I
wasn't concerned at the start of this,

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especially since most of the signs that
you know, we had going into it.

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It was some some combination of Buddy
healed and possibly Damar de Rosen or

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you know, things of that nature, and then all of a sudden,

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Nope, Russ. So again,
like like, I've always been a Russ

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fan, I've always I've always appreciated
him, you know. But you know,

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when asked in previous years if I
wanted him on the Lakers, I

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would have just said next no,
because I didn't necessarily love the fit.

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Where I ultimately landed, honestly,
and you know, was with the You

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know, the reality is that Russ
is still what I consider a significant you

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know, like upgrade at the position
over last year. Flaws and quirkiness of

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the of the fit and all,
you know, but beyond Breen, what

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I honestly feel is he's exactly the
motor that this team was lacking last year,

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especially when Lebron was not at full
health. For very specifically not in

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the game. Russ brings a presence
and I think ad personally absolutely unique and

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I'm here for that. In fact, you know, honestly, adding Russ

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to this mix, along with Rondo
returning obviously to a lesser extent, it

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all but guarantees that there's going to
be at least one all time playmaker on

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the court. We are with Anthony
Davis, and I'll be honest with you,

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I think it's honestly going to lead
up to, like what I'm anticipating,

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being a big time bounce pack.
What's interesting with him is we've probably

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veered too far away in the Russell
Westbrook discourse of Okay, this guy is

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really good at basketball. Still.
It's just that we have so much evidence

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from Okay, see from Houston,
from Washington that he plays a certain way,

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and I view him as most valuable
on a team where he is the

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guy, or in situations where he
is the guy and you've surrounded him with

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shooting. I actually don't mind this
trade from a regular season perspective, because

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the Lakers offense was so bad without
Lebron these past two years, and their

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half court offense even with him has
been sha he at points, and if

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you replace Russell Westbrook, if he
plays every single minute that Lebron doesn't this

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year, you're one a better regular
season team. I would think, you

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know, he didn't. Washington's offense
wasn't incredible last season when Russ played without

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Bo. But this is a different
team. But if you have Russ in

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the games, if you want to
wrest Lebron, or just when Lebron is

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sitting in theory, the offense should
be better. Where I just where it

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comes starts to fall apart from me
is it feels like there needs to be

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a material change and either the way
that Lebron plays or we're preferably because less

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of Lebron should never be the answer. I saw people saying, like,

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what if Lebron was off the ball? More no, No, Less of

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a Lebron is never the answer for
me, more preferably unless we see Westbrook

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change. I get concerned about the
playoffs part of it, because they're gonna

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have to play you know, a
you know, forty minutes together and a

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thirty five minutes together, whatever it
is. And I'm just I don't know

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how to fit those same minutes with
Lebron and Westbrook on. I just I

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don't know how they work. I'm
not gonna lie to you that that of

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course, that's a concern. And
it's funny because even though it's a bit

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reductive, I often will at least
go into the season like considering whether a

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team is built for eighty two versus
build you know, built for sixteen.

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Obviously there are teams that are built
you know, you know, built to

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last regardless. But you know,
I do think a lot of times you

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can you know, you can put
you can place teams, you know,

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like in that category one way or
another. With this Lakers team, while

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yes, I think they're you know, I think they are set up you

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know, you know, for you
for you know, to match up favorably,

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you know, kind of like across
the board, you know, regardless

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of the matchup, it will be
a very interesting adjustment because, like you

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said, the evidence is there.
It isn't like, uh, you know,

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while Westbrook is very still very much
effective and still you know, and

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and and and it obviously showed last
year that he can you know, have

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an impact on some winning basketball or
you know, somewhat of winning basketball.

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Uh, it would be foolish to
say that, oh yeah, just just

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heading in it's going to be perfect, because no, like Frank Vogel and

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his coaching staff will have their work
cut out for him. But like you

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know it, you know the old
adage. You know, they knew that

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job was dangerous when they took it. They knew what they were signing up

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for Westbrook. So hopefully it doesn't
honestly for Lakers fans, hopefully it just

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doesn't backfire. They made many other
moves aside from Westbrook, and so just

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looking at, like viewing the other
additions in some because we just don't have

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the time and you'd take a year
to go through everything, and one of

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them, which player, two,
three players, whoever? Who do you

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think ends up being the most important
or most impactful for them again, just

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beyond Westbrook. Yeah, and you
know it's funny, like in the pre

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show, you we can kind of
alluded to like just how much they've done

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if you really think about this Lakers
front office, the last four consecutive summers,

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they've like swung for the fences in
a lot of different ways. You

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know, obviously four years ago to
get Lebron, you know, three years

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ago they get you know Anthony Davis, you know, a couple of deal

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or two seasons ago. We'll say, because it wasn't. It wasn't two

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years ago, but two seasons ago, they you know, they made all

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the moves to bring in Shrewder and
Trez and and all that, and and

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they've honestly, you know, circled
right back and done it again. Obviously

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everything being centered around you know,
a d and Lebron. But you know,

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while I definitely like the Westbrook edition, you know, allow me to

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go on record, it's saying like, I think the Lake Monk could prove

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to be one of the best acquisitions
of the summer. And honestly, he's

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in he's a you know, he
obviously he's in a deep you know,

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a deep mix of talent, you
know, so we'll have you know,

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he's gonna have to find his way, you'll, into a prominent role within

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the rotation. But honestly, if
he can just simply knock down open looks,

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you know, Phil open spots,
you know, Phil lanes, you

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know, this feels like a situation
where he could, like just where you

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could routinely sneak you like maybe the
high double digits in you honestly find a

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way to be a difference maker,
like and and But let's be real he's

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going to be competing with the newly
resigned THHD and others guards for you know,

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for those minutes. But you know
it, I get and in some

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other guys, you know, like
you mentioned that, you know, they

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made a ton of moves, but
in a weird way sort of what I

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wish I wish you would have been
able to see from a consistency standpoint,

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I think bays Moore edition, a
bays Moore's edition could bring what we wanted

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to see from West Matthews. And
that's not that's not a knock against West

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Matthews last year because he did finally
find you'll find a shot any any found

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ways to be impactful. But just
you know, with with them going out

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as early as they did, he
wasn't able to you'll can make quite the

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impact that some of us would have
liked. The base I think could you

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could add to that. So I'll
be honest with you. What Vocal has

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shown over there, You're like during
his tenure here and the end, you

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know, quite frankly, I didn't
I don't know that I uh, you

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paid as close attention to his rotations
when he was in in Indiana. But

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what he's shown here is that he's
not afraid to mix things up. He's

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not afraid to move folks around,
he's not afraid to kind of work guys

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in and out of the rotation.
And you're like, you're like it into

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your your more significant roles of prominence, and honestly, it's usually based upon

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what type of consistent effort they give
it the defensive end. So for guys

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like Monk, guys like you know, base More, guys like THHT,

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all of them are going to have
the opportunity to shine. It's just really

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going to be like, you know
who, We're going to pick up the

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defensive principles and honestly, you'll you'll
put in the work on the perimeter.

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You saying that just made me remember
that Wesley Matthews did not sign with the

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team in this offseason as far as
I know, maybe I'm maybe I missed

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00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,080
that, but that I don't think
you did. Yeah. So the Molie

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Monkan is very interesting because that dude
can shoot. I feel like he can

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make quick decisions on offense where maybe
you don't want him being responsible for actually

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generating the offense, but if you
put the ball in his hands, there

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are other things he can do then
just shoot like he can put it on

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the floor. And I've said this, I think it's a wildly unpopular take.

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He's terrible on defense, but I
feel like he can defend up for

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his size, and so if you're
facing matchups where you can hide him on

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a bigger player that's maybe not as
mobile or isn't going to attack, that

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could probably help you get by with
more Malik Monk minutes. Also a critical

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part of that is you probably want
eighty at the five in those scenarios so

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that there are bigger players to choose
from, And it sounds like eighty will

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play the five. So I'm totally
with you on the Monk front. The

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Baysmore one is just I think this
team, when you looked at it last

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year, even when they had Wes
Matthews, when they had Cus, when

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they had KCP, it was like
they could just use more three and d

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wings, justn Lebron with them.
Ken Baysmore thought is like always been a

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little bit overrated on defense, then
underrated on offense, but like he defended

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fine last year with Golden State,
so and that archetype of player on this

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specific Lakers team, Like it's Kent
Baysmore, Like you go up down the

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roster, it's like, okay,
well who are there? Who are there

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three indie wing type players, And
it's it's Kent Baysmore. I guess Lebron

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falls under that mold at this point. But it's it's him, and it's

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him and Lebron and that's it.
But you know what the crazy thing and

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and look and again, while I
appreciated Vogel, you know during his tenure,

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you know in the Eastern Conference,
I didn't recognize how much of a

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defensive beast that man was. And
I guess I should have. I guess

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I should have because he turned But
what's my big band's name, what's my

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big nand's name? Were you terryty
Roy Roy Hibbert into an All Star?

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You know, all start level and
you'll all defense you level player for a

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couple of seasons. But to be
honest with you, the reason why I'm

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less concerned heading into this year,
at least from the from the defensive side,

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one eighty eight to five is a
that's a game jame. It you

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see is on both ends, but
you know significantly on the defensive. You

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know, the pressure that you can
ply and go both around the perimeter and

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obviously as a protector and even as
a weak side defender at the five.

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You know, it can't be overstated. But also the main reason why I'm

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not as concerned it is, even
with a D out, even with Lebron

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out for significant stretches of last year, the Lakers were you know, that

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coaching staff was able to put together. If I'm not mistaken, I do

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not have the statistics right here,
you're in front of me, But be

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honest with you if I feel like, you'll correct me, because you probably

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have them. You know, they
were able to put together a top three,

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you know, three to five defense
for the bulk of last year even

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with their main defenders out. So
I feel I feel pretty good about that

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side of the ball once you know, once everybody, well if everybody you

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know buys into the system. What's
interesting about eighty at the five is so

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I think at once it gives him
a better defensive player of the year case

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because I do feel like and look, defense is hard to measure and I

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suck at it. So I want
to make that clear, like I'm just

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not like this savant. But because
Anthony Davis was doing so much and wasn't

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like this traditional rim deterrent because he
was doing so much and playing more for

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in the right. Yeah, they
closed with him at the five. He

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played in the playoffs, YadA,
YadA, YadA, but it took away

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because his impact it was harder to
quantify whether you're looking at like what was

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happening at the rim, not even
just opponent field goal percentage, but maybe

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the frequency with which they were getting
there, even just raw blocks sometimes.

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And so I think him playing center
will probably end up boosting his defensive Player

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of the Year case, especially if
the Lakers are still good on defense,

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because as you mentioned about Frank Vogel, he is a whiz. But like

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there, they are rolling the dice
on Frank Vogel here a little bit because

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you got rid of Kuzma turned into
the past two years a very solid defender

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KCP. He's always been an up
and down player, but he won.

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I stand by the fact he was
their third most important player during that title

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run in twenty twenty. And he's
also just handled a crack ton of really

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important defensive assignments and you know,
you replace them with Kent Baysmore. And

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I apologize for my Trevor Ariza Erasher, I forgot about he is a three

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and D type, so they are
banking a lot, I would say on

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Frank Vogel and Anthony Davis, I
do agree with you though, with what

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you said about him at the five, and I do think it sets him

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up. Though to my larger point
of if the Lakers are pretty good on

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defense, if they're even close to
as good as they are last season,

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and Ad plays the five, I
bet you that he is one of the

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top two contenders for Defensive Player of
the Year. I already went out on

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the limits. I think he's been
five Defensive Player of the Year as well

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as everyp I'm you know, you
know the show that I was on,

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they said like, yeah, you
say this every year. That maybe,

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but but I genuinely believe I see
and I see time. I think I

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think we're looking at this type of
that type of year from Abe this year

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specifically, because like I said,
when you were playing well one, he's

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extra extra motivated. And I jokingly
and somewhat flippingly said, bullying works.

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This is like, these are human
beings. These are folks that they see,

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you know, they see you know, like they see the criticism.

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They hear the loudest of the critics
and they and it's understandable if it impacts

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him that man went into the offseason, you know, very much ready to

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get you. You'll get his body
right, and by all accounts, you

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know, like from all reports,
he has done that. So, like

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I said, I this is not
the Laker homer in me. I promise

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you, I genuinely think top three, you know, top three at worst,

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top five in both this year.
Yeah, I mean, Pete is

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That's an interesting stance because my inst
reaction would be, how is he ever

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going to do enough on offense with
Lebron and Russ there? But I'm wondering

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if Russ and I have no answer
to this, does that help a D

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getting more pick and roll actions?
I think that was something he kind of

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complained about with Dennis Shrewder there or
wasn't happy about one lab connection all year.

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It will never make sense to me. I recognize they didn't play,

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and you know, like in an
ordinate amount of you have minute together,

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you know, because you know a
D was in and out of lineup and

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Indio down the stretch. You know, obviously you know Shrewder was, but

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one lab connection to what even in
the shape that he was in, even

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if he wasn't one hundred percent to
what I consider probably top you know,

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top three, you know, you
know lab threats, you know that.

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Yeah, we've seen at least in
the last twenty years. That's never going

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to make sense to me. You
gave him Lebron, you know, like

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your back hid full strength. You
give him Russ like you just like you

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just mentioned work and pick and roll
action. Honestly, just find him on

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find him on simple curls, finding
him like on quick on quick deal breakouts.

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I think he's I think the reason
why he'll be in the conversation is

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because he's going to put up the
efficiency numbers that are just ridiculous. I

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think the game is going to be
it's going to be significantly easier for Anthony

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Davis this year. I guess the
one thing I would think that he needs

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to do on offense, and that
is a little dependent. Will he have

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his opportunity if they're going to run
more pick and roller, if they're gonna

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find ways to bring him around screens, or is like he's still gonna take

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outside shots, is my point,
and those just need to fall at a

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higher clip, not even just the
threes. But like, I'm not saying

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he needs to be Bubble, a
D who was essentially given to Aunt two

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00:18:34,039 --> 00:18:37,720
point zero with his efficiency for mid
range and beyond the arc. But I

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think those numbers are gonna have even
with him at the five, Like his

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00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,039
shooting becomes so important because he's going
to play with Russ and like that's just

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00:18:44,079 --> 00:18:48,799
a non shooter right off the bat. Yeah, and agreed, and you'll

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00:18:48,279 --> 00:18:52,119
be is at your Lakers fans would
be, you know, silly if we

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didn't acknowledge a D Like like you
said, it doesn't have to be Bubble

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level, but it has to be
better than it was last year. It

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has to be and you'll make it. Honestly, in between those levels would

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00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:03,759
be okay. You know, like
obviously you know close, you know,

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the better you know, the better
he shoots, to be honest with you,

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00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,039
the more efficient a half court offense
will be. You know. And

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that's not anything groundbreaking, but they
they actually you're going to need that from

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00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,240
him, so you know, honestly, look, I'm putting a lot of

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pressure on him. I'm sure he's
putting a lot of pressure on himself.

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00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:22,839
The Lakers as an organization have have
placed a lot of pressures on those shoulders,

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and you know, you're going to
see if he's gonna be able to

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00:19:25,839 --> 00:19:27,799
you know, going to be able
to answer. And it's I think you

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00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,480
made the most important point though,
is if he's going to be healthier and

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his body's and better shaped, like
his rim frequency plummeted last year, especially

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towards the beginning of the season,
and so if you have a healthier a

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d just having that element then and
even I'm thinking now, the thing I

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00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,960
didn't even mention with Russ to you
is the Lakers were six in the frequency

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with which they reached the rim on
offense the percent of their shots that came

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there. Now you're adding Russ to
that and a healthy ad, it's like

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they better rank one or two in
that category. I would think. Feels

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00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,000
like it. Okay, So remember
in twenty In twenty twenty, you're like,

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00:19:59,039 --> 00:20:00,839
they played b Bowl a lot,
but they also got out and ran

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00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:03,599
a lot. It feels like we're
we're headed for that. Feels like we're

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00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:07,039
going to get a lot of a
lot of attack at the rim, whether

344
00:20:07,079 --> 00:20:10,920
it's in the half quarter. You're
like, you're ridin you'll semi transition or

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00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:12,599
actual transition. I think we're going
to get a lot of that. Obviously.

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To be honest with you, I'll
go to a step further. It

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would shock me if they're not number
one in the league this year, and

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especially in point page points in the
pain. Yeah, look and yeah they

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00:20:22,599 --> 00:20:26,319
better be just at that point.
And someone mentioned this to me too,

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00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:33,319
that we're probably overthinking the shooting element
of their team because look at how the

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00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:36,640
Bucks just won and they sort of
they didn't play ugly, but they didn't

352
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,359
shoot well from three during the playoffs. And I actually I was like,

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that's a fantastic point where I sort
of diverged from it. I was like,

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they still had two guys that could
really create from the perimeter, and

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00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,799
the Lakers had that in Lebron,
and then Russ is like, no,

356
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,920
like he's like one of the least
efficient jump shooters in the history of the

357
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:59,079
NBA relative to his volume. So
that's where I differentiate. But they still

358
00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:00,880
did win. They put a ton
of pressure on the rim and on the

359
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,680
paint, they worked their asses off
on defense, and they didn't win playing

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00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:11,519
like this widespread aesthetically acceptable style of
basketball there working concessions, like jan is

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00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:14,799
playing off the ball a ton,
but like that's like a d already does

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00:21:14,799 --> 00:21:17,960
that. So maybe I'm I still
think the Lakers gonna be really good.

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00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,000
But that point that person made to
me got me thinking, like maybe we

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00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:26,000
really are just like putting too much
sweat equity and thinking about how the Lakers

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00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:27,480
are going to figure this out.
When the Bucks just won the title,

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00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,799
you it was in reference to something
else earlier, but you just kind of

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00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:34,680
said, like we overcorrected. Oftentimes
we do that, you know, we're

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00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,359
all reactive. We all think like, oh, okay, you know,

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00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,039
since this team won it, it's
going to it's going to be done like

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00:21:41,079 --> 00:21:45,839
this forever, when obviously we've been
watching basketball long enough to know there are

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00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,400
multiple ways that you can win,
you know, like with the league transitioning

372
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,200
a certain way, Yo, is
it important to at least keep up with

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00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,480
the Joneses and you to a certain
degree. Yes, But if you're really

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really, if you're almost cut almost
you're darn good at what you do,

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00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,640
you're free to curse. You're fine. You can still you can still be

376
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,240
affective, you know me, like
and sometimes I let him loose, so

377
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:08,759
like I try to be respected,
trying to be respect for a lot of

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people's show. But honestly, if
you're really good at what you do,

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you're going to find a way to
win. And I think the Lakers are

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00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,759
going to be really good at what
they do, like and outside of the

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00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:18,720
shooting, and honestly, just like
you know, just like in twenty twenty,

382
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,119
if the shots are falling, you
can say good night. Yeah,

383
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,759
I'm imagine if Rush shoots like league
average from mid range or something, this

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00:22:25,799 --> 00:22:30,640
team probably wins eighty games. And
this is the thing I've already seen people

385
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,519
get in their hopes. So I've
already seen people saying like, hey,

386
00:22:33,599 --> 00:22:34,960
Russ has been working. Said come
on, guys, you think Russ wasn't

387
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:42,839
working, But to your point,
if he could just be closer to league

388
00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:47,240
average or and quite frankly, if
he's league average from the mid range and

389
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,200
YO line up the nets, let's
get to this. I can't wait because

390
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:55,440
I and I and I know that
we should do that because all types of

391
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,559
things, but we're all at least
at least looking at that downpour. And

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00:22:59,599 --> 00:23:02,480
it's even even if he's not league
average. If you have both Lebron and

393
00:23:02,519 --> 00:23:06,160
Ads hitting their threes, and Lebron
has been a really good or pretty good

394
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:07,559
at least three point shooter for more
than a half decade now. So if

395
00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:11,000
eight he is like a real three
point three three you have to guard,

396
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,319
then it's not as important that Russell
Westbrook hits jumpers because those pathways to the

397
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,799
basket, like you can still cobble
together, like between melow Areza baysmore like,

398
00:23:18,799 --> 00:23:21,640
there's guys who can hit a three, so you can continue to do

399
00:23:21,759 --> 00:23:26,799
four out around Russ. Speaking of
Mellow, I think maybe the biggest concern

400
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,519
that the Lakers should have is they
signed a lot or added a lot of

401
00:23:29,559 --> 00:23:33,480
guys that are going to expect to
play. You look at the big names

402
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,839
when it's Dwight Howard, Mellow,
DeAndre Jordan, but also like Kendrick Nunn,

403
00:23:37,039 --> 00:23:41,000
he didn't get the minimum they got
they signed like he didn't. He

404
00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:42,559
got more than the minimum from them, so he's probably expecting to play.

405
00:23:44,039 --> 00:23:47,680
Who do you think is most likely
when you're looking at their roster to be

406
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,400
disappointed in their role because you see
them maybe getting squeezed by by minutes.

407
00:23:51,559 --> 00:23:56,000
Just given how this team is built
right now, so this could come back

408
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,839
to bite me in the behind because
of course, you know, you know,

409
00:24:00,319 --> 00:24:03,480
NBA teams have done stranger things.
But the first name that jumps out

410
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,799
to me is DJ. The truth
of the matter is, you know,

411
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:11,599
I think everybody that's signed on had
to at least understand, hey, look

412
00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:15,599
I'm joining I'm joining a mix like
this, and you know at least has

413
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,559
that, you know, like mindset
going in. I could see DJ like,

414
00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:22,319
I'm like this. I could see
DJ starting at the five. You

415
00:24:22,319 --> 00:24:23,599
know, certain games, I could
see him being like we all worked in.

416
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,799
But ultimately, to be honest with
you, you know you're better off

417
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,839
with a D at the five.
And and if and if, honestly,

418
00:24:30,839 --> 00:24:33,720
if Dwight can recapture any part of
what he did these Lakers A related and

419
00:24:33,759 --> 00:24:37,759
quite frankly, I think he can. Uh you know know just two seasons

420
00:24:37,759 --> 00:24:41,119
ago. You're better off with him, feel like as your secondary. So

421
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,279
of all the names, while yes, I think that, I think the

422
00:24:44,279 --> 00:24:47,119
coach stuff will find a way to
work guys in. I think Rondo and

423
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,319
DJ maybe on the back end of
the protetion, and for good reason,

424
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,519
they're more of the break glass in
case of a purgency type players. For

425
00:24:53,559 --> 00:24:56,960
this, I would argue at this
point, with all due respect, that

426
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,680
you're probably better off with Mellow at
the five than d Andrew Jordan at the

427
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,839
five. I'm just so far out
on DeAndre Jordan, and I'm wondering if

428
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:06,920
for Dwight Howard. I know Russ
is here, but I'm assuming they'll probably

429
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,480
play a lot of Ad Russ minutes
without Lebron, and so Lebron will have

430
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,599
another big when he plays without those
two. Right, Howard doesn't have to

431
00:25:12,599 --> 00:25:15,640
play with Ben Simmons anymore, and
the Sixers trying to make that duo happen

432
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,759
too many times last year like that
was just that wasn't for Dwight, So

433
00:25:18,839 --> 00:25:22,839
this must be a better set up. I'm I was more curious about,

434
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,319
and I agree with you on Rondo
too. That's the one that was like,

435
00:25:26,519 --> 00:25:29,839
I was not surprised that they signed
him, but I was like,

436
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,359
I think Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk
bring more of the elements what the offense

437
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,119
need if you have Russ and Lebron
than a Rondo does. Right now,

438
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,960
one of the things that's kind of
actually surprised me. Frank Vogel straight out

439
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,880
addressed this at if he was there
at the beginning of camp or the Yo

440
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,759
Rondol's introductory prescott at some point over
the last few weeks. Frank Vogels right,

441
00:25:47,759 --> 00:25:49,559
I'll say he's not going to come
in playing very much, and he

442
00:25:49,599 --> 00:25:53,480
knows that. And I'll be like, even though that's an obvious one,

443
00:25:53,799 --> 00:25:56,359
it still surprised me because you like, you'll, to your point, you're

444
00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,920
leading into this question, guys are
signing teams even if they know the situation,

445
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:02,799
they still want to. You know, a competitor's gonna want to be

446
00:26:02,799 --> 00:26:06,240
competitive, and it's gonna want to
it's gonna want to contribute. But ultimately,

447
00:26:06,319 --> 00:26:08,559
yeah, I think it's gonna be
the frontal situation because to your point,

448
00:26:08,839 --> 00:26:11,839
they're going to have to have those
younger guys. You know, they

449
00:26:12,079 --> 00:26:15,279
honestly just as simply as simple as
this, eat up minutes, especially during

450
00:26:15,279 --> 00:26:18,880
the regular season and probably leading into
the postseason. So you know, those

451
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:26,720
are the older and you know,
less uh less impactful guys are gonna have

452
00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:29,000
to you know, kind of take
you know, take a side stake side

453
00:26:29,039 --> 00:26:32,400
sea. I can't partake in The
Lakers are old jokes ever since I turned

454
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,160
thirty. I just I'm like,
you know, you know, the Lakers

455
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,119
average age of the rosters like thirty
one. It's like, you know,

456
00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:38,839
like, how am I supposed to
make fun of that at this point?

457
00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:42,000
Man? I'm look, you're talking
to a guy that's forty two. I'm

458
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,839
I'm a not James Worth of the
year. So like all of these,

459
00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:48,119
all of these jokes hurt me.
I'm like, hey, but shit,

460
00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:52,680
excuse me, but I'm over a
decade beyond that, you know. But

461
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,279
the truth of the better is this
they've got, you know, they've got

462
00:26:55,279 --> 00:26:57,960
collective age. But I don't expect
the thirty five and ups to average thirty

463
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:00,960
five and up throughout the you know, the of the season. You know,

464
00:27:00,079 --> 00:27:03,920
I think that they have done a
good enough job. And like I

465
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,000
said, whether it's a month and
none, let's not forget ad is not

466
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:11,799
annoyed, is not an old man, you know, your body concerns aside.

467
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,720
I think they have enough to kind
of mitigate some of the older guys

468
00:27:15,759 --> 00:27:18,279
going in and out of the lineup
and in and out of their rotation.

469
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:22,440
And I think that's what it's going
to be. That's a that's one hundred,

470
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,319
like they just have there's not maybe
they're not the cleanest fits alongside one

471
00:27:26,319 --> 00:27:29,599
another. But when you look at
their depth chart, like they are just

472
00:27:29,799 --> 00:27:33,400
they're essentially at least three deep at
every position because Lebron can play point guard

473
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,759
or whatever you want to consider him. So the age thing doesn't even worry

474
00:27:37,759 --> 00:27:41,039
me. I think the player that
I'm inherently just fascinated with was Mellow signing

475
00:27:41,039 --> 00:27:45,200
here, because because it's Mellow,
it will be a story. It's not

476
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,119
a story anymore if Rondo or Dwight
Howard, DeAndre Jordan doesn't play, if

477
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:53,000
Mellow's role gets curtailed, it's still
a story. I'm less worried about it

478
00:27:53,079 --> 00:27:56,920
being a thing. If AD's gonna
play more five, I think that naturally

479
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,960
opens up minutes or more Mellow at
the four and he's shown Portland let him

480
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,880
do his thing like he There was
Jabs that Mellow, there was post up

481
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,240
Mellow, there was Iso Mellow,
but he was hitting a lot of catch

482
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,160
and shoot threes. I do wonder
if he's gonna have to lean more into

483
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,880
that with the Lakers, just because
they have Russ and Lebron, which is

484
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,799
different from having like c J and
Dame, even though that's still two scores

485
00:28:18,839 --> 00:28:22,839
for two scores like now a D
is in there too, So I'm curious

486
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,240
to see what his offensive usage looks
like on this squad. You're you make

487
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,160
an excellent point, and I'll let
me just say, Mellow is gonna play.

488
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,039
They're playing Mellow unless it just goes
off the rails and he's just completely

489
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,000
lost it. I don't think he
of all the names, he's the one

490
00:28:37,039 --> 00:28:41,519
that doesn't sign unless he's an unless
he's certain that he's going to play.

491
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:42,960
And that's not and that's not a
knock against him. I think he can

492
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,480
still I think it can still be
effective, and he can certainly still get

493
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:52,000
buckets. So you'll I understand that
mindset. Yeah, I I look at

494
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,119
it as I anticipate a lot of
catch and shoot, you like, especially

495
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,160
your corner situations or you know,
secondary trains and type you know, situations

496
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,880
for him if he's on the court
with you, especially if he's on the

497
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,240
court with eighty and Lebron, or
if he shares minutes with him, when

498
00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:11,519
you'll if those guys go off and
and you know we're in the back,

499
00:29:11,599 --> 00:29:15,640
you'll you'll getting into the second or
even your midway through the second quarter,

500
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,359
and even stretches you know, like
your midway through the third, you know,

501
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,000
like quarter, I could see Mellow
getting some mellow time, and you

502
00:29:21,119 --> 00:29:23,359
and everybody's listening. He knows exactly
what that means. I can absolutely set

503
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,519
some mellow time. It might not
be a regular thing, but there.

504
00:29:26,559 --> 00:29:27,559
You know, there will be stretches
over the course of the season where you

505
00:29:27,559 --> 00:29:30,559
know, he might give you a
twelve point their quarter and I'm absolutely Look,

506
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,039
i don't care, I'm here for
it. I'm just going to celebrate

507
00:29:34,079 --> 00:29:37,680
all of this and try my best
not to go crazy on the nights where

508
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:42,200
everybody's flipping out because they had one
bad game or like they lost back to

509
00:29:42,319 --> 00:29:45,640
back games. Yeah, and look, I'm you know, I'm a numbers

510
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,720
guy. Sometimes I feel like we
overthink it to the point of Mellow just

511
00:29:48,799 --> 00:29:52,240
average thirteen plus points per game,
shot better than forty percent from three.

512
00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:56,000
You can quibble about, well,
why are they playing him and crunch time

513
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,559
over Derek Jones Junior or whatever.
That's not Melow's fault. Like, if

514
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,200
you have someone who's just gonna shoot
forty plus percent, I'm fairly high volume

515
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,359
from three that is valuable in days. Yeah, Like, and that's the

516
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,559
thing when it comes to like the
over correction or just like you know,

517
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,920
oversimplification, sorry, oversimplification of you
know, like of the basketball conversation.

518
00:30:17,279 --> 00:30:21,279
We do this, and you know, there are certain people that they decided

519
00:30:21,359 --> 00:30:23,559
five years ago Mellow was done and
then and and you know, like there

520
00:30:23,559 --> 00:30:26,079
are people that like will hold on
to the oh, well, you know

521
00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:29,720
what I said, he was done
back then, So like I at least

522
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,960
have to hedge my bad man.
Just celebrate basketball, man, Celebrate how

523
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,400
great, how great this league has
been outlooked. Is it perfect? No?

524
00:30:36,559 --> 00:30:38,799
Am I on this league got no, But it's still it's still my

525
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,960
greatest source of entertainment. And for
those and and honestly for the you know,

526
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,319
for the masses out there. Sometimes
it's like, yo, let go

527
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,160
of the petty stuff and just celebrate
that you got an all time great score

528
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:52,079
on your in the mix with this
team. And you mentioned the corner threes,

529
00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:55,559
which is something I don't even think
of. Mellow shot forty four percent

530
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,480
basically from the corners last year.
Lebron obviously had the injury. So the

531
00:30:59,519 --> 00:31:03,079
year before, Lebron was second in
the league in corner three point assist thrown,

532
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:04,920
didn't have a ton of shooters on
that team either, and I would

533
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,039
expect the Lakers. They were top
ten in corners three point frequency last year.

534
00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:11,720
I'd expect that number to go up
with Russ there. I don't think

535
00:31:11,799 --> 00:31:15,880
Russ is like the best passer,
like people still react to his drives like

536
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,160
those are gonna open mellows like.
I think you'll have games where maybe he'd

537
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,039
plays fewer minutes with the Lakers than
he did the Blazers and still averages more

538
00:31:23,079 --> 00:31:26,680
points because so many of his buckets
was coming within the flow and from beyond

539
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,440
the art. Wouldn't shock me if
that man average fifteen points a game this

540
00:31:30,519 --> 00:31:33,079
year and and then people are gonna
be like, oh, come on,

541
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,599
I would not shock me for that
exact reason. Wide open shots, wide

542
00:31:36,599 --> 00:31:38,559
open looks east. Like I said, you'll whether it you're like you in

543
00:31:38,599 --> 00:31:41,880
the half quarter or in you'll send
me transition. I could absolutely just see

544
00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:48,359
him being the trail guy. You'll
certain situations who and I'll be honest with

545
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,640
you, I could be dead wrong
about this stuff, but I almost anticipate

546
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,279
this feedcase. I would if this
were like Melow leaving Houston or Okase and

547
00:31:56,319 --> 00:32:00,279
going right to the Lakers, I
would get the concerns, but after seeing

548
00:32:00,319 --> 00:32:02,240
him in Portland, I'm like,
you know, he he came off the

549
00:32:02,279 --> 00:32:06,960
bench last year like this is he
could It probably won't be an issue to

550
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,880
me. I'd already we've already talked
about how you think that they'll with eighty

551
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,440
at to five the defense will be
able to hold. But they did trade

552
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,559
away two of their most important like
perimeter defenders in Kyle Kuzma KCP. Do

553
00:32:17,599 --> 00:32:21,960
we now think that THHT is going
to get And they did pay him,

554
00:32:22,039 --> 00:32:24,839
which is the other thing that informs
this is tch gonna play like a real

555
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,680
meaningful role for this team heading or
this season. Excuse me to that to

556
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:32,359
the point you just made, they
certainly paid him like they believed you're like

557
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,039
in him coming into this year.
And and I've been a supporter if he

558
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:38,440
is, and I've always been intrigued
by the measurables and like be honestly,

559
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:40,799
like, especially when he came in
the league that he was a little bit

560
00:32:40,839 --> 00:32:44,240
you know, Charles Barkley Bilt,
you know what I'm saying, and like

561
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,920
like, but as as a wing
player, as a Charles Barkley Bilt guy

562
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,039
that has always been at Charles Barkley
you're comparison that you'll I'm always going to

563
00:32:51,119 --> 00:32:53,119
kind of favor those types of guys, but yeah, like, yeah,

564
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,720
part of me has to believe that
they anticipate him. You'll take it a

565
00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,200
step, you know, from an
all around perspective, and you know what

566
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,400
could really project him to that next
level is specifically locking in defensively with consistency,

567
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,079
Like he's you know, he's got
he's got quick enough feat he's got

568
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,039
quick hands. You know, his
reaction time is good, it's ridiculous long

569
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,400
reach. You know, he does
get caught ball watching and you know it.

570
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,079
You didn't bring that up with Russell, and I appreciate you because you

571
00:33:15,079 --> 00:33:20,799
know, like, like, what's
going to tank this team's perimeter defense is

572
00:33:20,839 --> 00:33:23,880
the guards and wings ball watching.
I'm hoping that they can get that under

573
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,920
control. And from you know,
THHD side of things, they're gonna need

574
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,440
They're gonna they're gonna absolutely need him. Yeah, russ Is. People like

575
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:35,519
to think that Russ has been on
defense and he's like he can make he

576
00:33:35,519 --> 00:33:39,119
can make doing nothing looks so exhausting
on defense is the best way to frame

577
00:33:39,119 --> 00:33:42,200
it. And there are points where
he just feels like he's chilling, so

578
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,079
he's not putting that much effort into
it. But all right, let me

579
00:33:46,119 --> 00:33:51,400
quote, let me, let me
quote the great twenty first century philosopher Russell

580
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,960
Westbrook rest trick y'all, trick y'all. Look I love russ I love love

581
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,599
Russe, and look, yo,
he didn't dive in passing pans and gets

582
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:02,880
steals and pick people from behind.
And yes he still does that, but

583
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,960
to your point, I want him
to be you know, I'm hoping that

584
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:12,400
he's more focused on that side as
opposed to focusing on you know, you

585
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:17,280
know, simply making being disruptive with
THHT specifically, what do you think needs

586
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,920
to happen on offense for him to
ensure that he has the role because he

587
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:23,320
gets to the rim a ton,
but he wasn't really a good finisher there

588
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,400
last year. And we all know
the stuff about his jumper, but look,

589
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,559
he's shot over and this is I
feel like this is the quintessential THHT

590
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:35,880
stack of parison. He was under
thirty seven percent on all jumpers last year.

591
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,039
He shot over fifty percent on fadeaways
and like that's just his game in

592
00:34:39,079 --> 00:34:43,119
a nutshell, it's so harky,
jerky and quirky. That's like, yeah,

593
00:34:43,159 --> 00:34:45,400
that makes sense, but what can
he do or what do you think

594
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,599
needs to happen on offense for him
to solidify his place in a rotation that's

595
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,840
very veteran heavy. Otherwise, Fine, sweet spots and this is the and

596
00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:57,679
like this is down. This is
another shattery and analysis. Fine sweet spots

597
00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,559
and knocked down open shots because on
this team, we like as much of

598
00:35:00,599 --> 00:35:02,480
people talk about like, oh,
you know the space is going to be

599
00:35:02,519 --> 00:35:05,199
an issue, Well, it's not
going to be an issue for him.

600
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,679
He's going to have space to operate. He's going to have space to you,

601
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,559
he's going to like this is not
a disrespect to him. But if

602
00:35:10,599 --> 00:35:14,920
you have to choose someone to drag
off over, someone you're someone to sag

603
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:16,639
off of, it's going to be
him. So sometimes it's going to be

604
00:35:16,639 --> 00:35:21,239
as simple as you know, if
they completely if they completely lose sight of

605
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,719
you, feel that you'll you'll feel
that space and there and you're going to

606
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:28,239
be found, you know, whether
it's you honestly, whether it's russ or

607
00:35:28,639 --> 00:35:30,840
you know, Lebron or even a
d from the you know, from you

608
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:32,360
from the ipost, someone's gonna find
you on a backdoor court or on a

609
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,559
curl and if you if you get
the opportunity to knock you know, let

610
00:35:36,639 --> 00:35:37,599
you know, for open shots in
the corner or open shots up top,

611
00:35:37,639 --> 00:35:43,119
you gotta knock them down, like
you and I know that like we can

612
00:35:43,159 --> 00:35:44,719
go, you know, we can
you know, you know, take deep

613
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:49,119
dives into like oh sometimes it's just
a maker misleadue thht. You gotta make

614
00:35:49,119 --> 00:35:52,840
your open shots. He did post
the workout video of him working on his

615
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,599
corner three and I'm I will never
read into those unless it's apparently for on

616
00:35:55,679 --> 00:35:59,440
cork mases like MVP hype video whatever. I don't know if you saw that

617
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,800
that was hysteric, but I did
his TC's released, I will say,

618
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:06,639
looked quicker on those. And if
they're gonna have him in the corner,

619
00:36:07,159 --> 00:36:09,079
I mean if he hits, if
he even shot like just thirty five percent

620
00:36:09,119 --> 00:36:13,639
from the corners or something, that
ends up being like this massive game changer

621
00:36:13,679 --> 00:36:16,840
for Ali, it opens things up. It means that, I'll be honest

622
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,639
with you, it means that he
earns himself. It's really nice upgrade,

623
00:36:20,679 --> 00:36:23,480
even though he just got paid it. Honestly, what it means is he

624
00:36:23,519 --> 00:36:27,519
elevates himself to that three and D
type guy. Like I said, if

625
00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:30,400
he can focus on the defensive end. It just knocked down that knocked down

626
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,440
that shot. It you know,
it places him, It places him in

627
00:36:32,519 --> 00:36:36,760
another plateau. And even though you
know kind of like you said, I

628
00:36:37,039 --> 00:36:38,880
know what's coming up, you know, like in the thing, it probably

629
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,559
puts him in you know, like
it probably puts him in the stratosphere of

630
00:36:42,639 --> 00:36:45,000
like, okay, opposing gms.
That's who we're going to ask for if

631
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:49,239
the Lakers come calling for anything.
You know, like at the deadline,

632
00:36:49,599 --> 00:36:52,679
that was Look, Lakers fans thought
he was there, Damian Lillard trade bait

633
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:58,599
at one point. So so so
the funniest thing is like, look,

634
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,320
Lakers fans get criticized, which you
know, we deserve it in a lot

635
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:06,039
of ways. But a lot of
times it's like, well they think they're

636
00:37:06,039 --> 00:37:07,800
gonna get everybody, yet you know
what, sooner or later, a lot

637
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:13,320
of times it does take place.
I'm not saying that h was going to

638
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,000
get your Dame. I'm just saying
that it's you know, not all of

639
00:37:16,079 --> 00:37:20,760
the trade packages and trade ideas are
asinine. Because I saw a lot of

640
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,159
folks stay in the same thing,
like, oh, they'll never get a

641
00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,400
d for those guys. And I
sat there quietly, Honestly, I sat

642
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,440
there quietly saying, they're gonna end
up taking that deal because that's the best

643
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:31,360
deal. Even though people who you
know, like at the time that the

644
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:35,760
younger players we were on the Lakers, you know, nobody wanted to acknowledge

645
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,920
that they had any skill whatsoever.
But it always kind of made sense to

646
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,679
me. All I'm saying is this, it's not gonna be for game,

647
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,159
but if the Lakers do swing for
the fences or do you know, try

648
00:37:45,199 --> 00:37:49,599
to try to step step into a
trade, it's probably he's probably going to

649
00:37:49,639 --> 00:37:52,159
be the principal principal figure in it. Yeah. Look, and there's just

650
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:55,440
it's the extremists that are the problem
here, whereas the Lakers fans that think

651
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,119
you can just you've given away so
many picks up, like you can't just

652
00:37:59,159 --> 00:38:01,800
trade talent Horton and salary filler and
get Dame Like that's the frustrating one.

653
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,719
And there are the people though,
because of that subsection of Lakers fans,

654
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:08,840
there are the people who cover the
league or their fans of other teams that

655
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:14,400
just automatically think anything the Lakers offers
dog shit that it went the ad trade

656
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,400
like what people thought of like Brandon
Ingram and Lazlo Ball and Kyle Kuzma at

657
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,920
the time, and even though he
wasn't involved, which is like this,

658
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:23,880
maybe if you thought there were better
packages out there, fine, this was

659
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:28,119
not like and the picks they gave
up, it was not like a terrible

660
00:38:28,159 --> 00:38:31,000
offer. So there's the extremes of
like this player players for the Lakers,

661
00:38:31,039 --> 00:38:35,880
who's automatically overrated. But then there's
also oh, we're Lakers fans, like

662
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,480
we're just gonna get whoever we want
for salary filler. The middle ground.

663
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,840
The Russell Westbrook was the middle ground
too. The people who thought that the

664
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:46,400
Lakers didn't have the AMMO to pull
off a blockbuster move like that was always

665
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,079
too far towards the extreme. It's
like, no, they're not going to

666
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:52,880
get Dame, but they have salaries, they have guys who are solid.

667
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,440
And we've seen this a few times
now where there are certain teams that don't

668
00:38:55,440 --> 00:39:00,679
want to pay the older stars.
So if the Lakers are willing to pay

669
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:01,880
the older stars, like, yeah, they gave up value for us.

670
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,440
But like the idea that they couldn't
do anything. That was overblown. But

671
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,199
the idea that they can do everything
is also overblown, of course, and

672
00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:13,199
you're going to get that looked.
Like, look, anytime you have an

673
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,199
organization that's mien as successful as the
Lakers have over the years, and like

674
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,679
as like I've already acknowledged to you, I grew up, you know,

675
00:39:19,679 --> 00:39:22,559
like I'm a man in my forties. I grew up watching Showtime as a

676
00:39:22,639 --> 00:39:24,920
child. I grew up watching Showtime
Basketball as a young adult. I was,

677
00:39:25,039 --> 00:39:28,199
you know, like I was blessed
with the Shack and Kobe years.

678
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,320
And obviously get so on and so
on. But anytime you have that,

679
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:39,159
there's going to be unrealistic both unrealistic
expectations and unrealistic criticisms. It this is

680
00:39:39,159 --> 00:39:43,800
the fun place to be. I
love the extreme when when you're overrating your

681
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,599
own team, just how good they're
going to be. As a fan of

682
00:39:45,639 --> 00:39:49,840
respect it that I need to be. I'm very team middle ground when it

683
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,280
comes to trade talks, like I
don't want to hear like, you know,

684
00:39:52,599 --> 00:39:53,519
well, if this guy just says
he wants to go to the Lakers,

685
00:39:53,519 --> 00:39:57,320
they can only trade a second round
pick and salary filler and they're gonna

686
00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,639
get you know, the second coming
of Michael Jordan or something. But I

687
00:40:00,159 --> 00:40:02,599
I also think people are too hard
on like like basketball is supposed to be

688
00:40:02,639 --> 00:40:06,920
fond. It's for the fans,
not everyone needs to be like nerdy about

689
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,679
it. So this is to say, I don't despise Lakers fans. That's

690
00:40:10,679 --> 00:40:14,679
a I can. I can appreciate
that. I can appreciate that they look

691
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,000
look I like, let me just
say like this, there's assholes and every

692
00:40:17,039 --> 00:40:21,400
single fan base. It just so
happens that the Lakers fan base is huge,

693
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,760
so the assholes are going to be
you know, projected even more.

694
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:28,039
Yeah, that's a that's the best
way to put it. So to wrap

695
00:40:28,119 --> 00:40:30,280
up sort of this discussion about their
defense, they were second in points aloud

696
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:34,880
per possesion last year outside of garbage
time. Where do you like, do

697
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:36,800
you still think that they all end
up being like, let's say, a

698
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,400
top seven defense this year. Yeah, And I kind of alluded to it

699
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:44,119
earlier. Honestly, I think the
difference maker is eighty at the five,

700
00:40:44,199 --> 00:40:47,599
like it's it's it's it is that
much of a difference maker. Yeah,

701
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:52,599
and and and I and I won't
lie, I am leaning upon some faith

702
00:40:52,639 --> 00:40:54,559
in Vogue'll say, the same faith
in Vogue that you know that you mentioned

703
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:59,119
was the Fun Office, Yeah exactly, you know that's yeah, that's same

704
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,079
exact believe. But like I said, I saw him do it last year,

705
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:06,400
and quite frankly, it felt like
it was like tricks and mirrors and

706
00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:08,440
everything. But they found a way. I feel like they're going to find

707
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:13,920
a way this year. Is do
you worry about the argument of, well,

708
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:15,639
we'll Ad be able to hold up
if he's playing the five that long?

709
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,599
Or like me, do you fall
into the camp We always ask if

710
00:41:19,599 --> 00:41:23,400
Ad can hold up? Period?
At this point, I don't care exactly

711
00:41:23,599 --> 00:41:28,599
exactly, Like, look, if
his body holds up, incredible, but

712
00:41:28,639 --> 00:41:30,159
it's not like it's not like it
didn't hold up because he was put at

713
00:41:30,159 --> 00:41:32,920
the five because he said issues at
the four. Like you know, it

714
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,960
looks like I said, his body
looks great. He seems to be in

715
00:41:37,079 --> 00:41:39,639
you know, he seems to be
in a good headspace. Uh you know,

716
00:41:39,679 --> 00:41:43,639
the you all reports are that you
know he's locked in and ready to

717
00:41:43,679 --> 00:41:46,639
go. But all you know,
once you roll the ball out, we'll

718
00:41:46,679 --> 00:41:51,239
see at the very but you know, kind of to your point that you

719
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,400
that you made a little bit earlier. Being two to three deep at every

720
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:57,320
position is a nice luxury. And
if you have to slide him out for

721
00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,760
a little while, or he gets
stinged up and you have to, you

722
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:02,679
know, kind of match up.
You match match him up against your less

723
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,920
your physically imposing guys. You can
do that. As long as he's ready

724
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:08,760
for the postseason. That's really all
that matters with this group. And I

725
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,000
didn't put this in the outline that
I sent you because you just made me

726
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,079
think of it. Do you expect
them to, like, is there going

727
00:42:15,159 --> 00:42:16,880
to be a maintenance program for Lebron? I feel like we asked this every

728
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:21,360
year, and there's something different.
I would say maybe he if he doesn't

729
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:23,239
want one, he won't get one. But there's just something different about saying

730
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:29,440
it's Lebron's age thirty seventh season.
That number just feels like like, I

731
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:30,519
don't know what it is about the
number thirty seven, but I look at

732
00:42:30,559 --> 00:42:36,360
that and I'm like, that dude's
so close to forty, Like it would

733
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:38,639
be nuts if they don't have it
in mind. But you know the point

734
00:42:38,639 --> 00:42:42,280
that you just made, if he
wants one, he'll have one. If

735
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:45,239
he doesn't want one, he won't
have one. I think he's intelligent enough

736
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,760
to recognize, well, I shouldn't
even plate the positive in intelligence. I

737
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,000
think he can see the forest beyond
the trees to say like, okay,

738
00:42:52,159 --> 00:42:55,360
I may only you know, like, I don't know how many of these

739
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:59,559
runs I have left, so I
have to be ready for the postseason.

740
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,679
Typically coming off of the postseason that
they just had where both of them were

741
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:06,079
dinged up and and and it really
and they really just never had any chance.

742
00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:08,239
It would be crazy for him to
say, nah, I'm good thirty

743
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:12,159
seven thirty seven minutes of night,
let's go like that. That would be

744
00:43:12,199 --> 00:43:15,599
crazy. I'm hoping that. I'm
hoping that they're in a position to where

745
00:43:15,599 --> 00:43:17,639
it's not even a consideration because he
doesn't have to play down the stretch of

746
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:22,440
a lot. Of course, I
think I'm thinking too much about the Russell

747
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:27,639
Westbrook acquisition. But if they weren't
gonna do just something different, like maybe

748
00:43:27,639 --> 00:43:30,480
it's okay, Lebron's not going to
play more than thirty four minutes in the

749
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,119
regular season. Ever, I feel
like maybe they wouldn't have been invested as

750
00:43:34,159 --> 00:43:37,039
invested in a Westbrook trade because I
think he gives you a pathway to doing

751
00:43:37,079 --> 00:43:40,480
that. Like the non Lebron minutes
are that's what every team has struggled with

752
00:43:40,519 --> 00:43:44,880
basically since Lebron came in the league. And if you could win those,

753
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,079
maybe providing more flexibility that Lebron just
really hasn't had before, because like even

754
00:43:49,119 --> 00:43:52,079
the Cleveland minutes with Kevin Love and
Kyrie and no Lebron, they were mostly

755
00:43:52,079 --> 00:43:54,559
crap. There were stretches where they
were fine, but they were mostly bad

756
00:43:54,639 --> 00:43:59,840
without him. If you can win
the non Lebron minutes, I'll be on

757
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:02,679
you. I could absolutely see him
being very happy to play in thirty two

758
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:07,599
thirty three minutes tonight and being ready
to go ramping and and we've seeing that

759
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:12,480
number increase in February and Marching being
ready to go when it comes to the

760
00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:16,039
potseason. We've reached the cookie cutter
portion of this podcast where I asked these

761
00:44:16,159 --> 00:44:20,800
questions on every look ahead, what
is this team's biggest weakness right now?

762
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:22,920
I think we've probably already touched on
it, maybe even stomped on it a

763
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,679
little bit, but it's it's perimeter
defense. And anybody just says otherwise,

764
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:30,440
it's crazy. While I feel confident
that they'll be able to put it together

765
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:34,840
heading in the biggest question is perimeter
defense. You can't lose three or four

766
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,760
of your top perimeter defenders and you
know whether whether guys are going to field

767
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:39,880
it you'll feel those rules or not. You can't lose that in and just

768
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,199
say like, oh, no,
it's going to be fine. I think

769
00:44:43,199 --> 00:44:45,800
it will. But that's the biggest
question mark. If you said again,

770
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:49,360
yeah, and I could understand because
Lebron has been so good defensively the past

771
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:52,480
two years. If you wanted to
say it's their shooting, I guess I

772
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:54,880
would understand. But it's like,
you actually have guys whether you play them

773
00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:00,880
as a different story, but you
have guys in monk In none in they

774
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:05,239
can hit the threes. Yeah,
So I would agree with you there.

775
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:07,079
And that's it's definitely if it's not
the weakness, it is the biggest question,

776
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,280
just like, what is this perimeter
defense going to look like as of

777
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:14,119
right now? And this can change, of course, as the season actually

778
00:45:14,159 --> 00:45:17,119
happens. We get more information,
storylines developed, YadA, YadA, YadA.

779
00:45:17,199 --> 00:45:20,800
Who would you view as the most
likely player to get traded from this

780
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:24,239
team? See and this other thing, let me preface this with I'm not

781
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,719
saying I'm not advocating for the guy
to get traded, but I already alluded

782
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,480
to this for Lakers fans out there
that get very very sensitive with you mentioned

783
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:35,239
any of the young players, because
that does happen, and I get accused

784
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:38,199
of all types of stuff in my
DMS on my timeline, THHT is probably

785
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:44,360
the most likely, specifically because he's
the probably the most attractive young piece that's

786
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:49,199
already locked in for a decent you
wore a decent rate that also can it

787
00:45:49,639 --> 00:45:52,760
has potential to take that next step. So I don't I don't think that's

788
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,199
going to happen. But if the
question is who's most likely, it's probably

789
00:45:57,239 --> 00:46:00,519
him. And look, the other
thing here is like they're not trading lebron

790
00:46:00,599 --> 00:46:04,119
A d or Russ. Getting to
the point you get to the stage of,

791
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:07,159
well, how are they matching any
salary? Teach T's now the fourth

792
00:46:07,199 --> 00:46:09,800
highest paid player on the Lakers,
Like that's so, and so I look

793
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:14,960
at him and Kendrick Nunn and I'm
like, that's fifteen million in salary together,

794
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:16,400
Like if you wanted to aggregate it
to get a more expensive player,

795
00:46:16,639 --> 00:46:20,119
it's one of those two. To
me, maybe the Lakers don't make any

796
00:46:20,159 --> 00:46:22,360
moves, like maybe they're so good
or they just don't feel the rush.

797
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,800
But if they decide to take a
swing, it's gonna it's gonna be talent

798
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:30,360
Horton tough. Like, there's not
even another possible answer here, exactly.

799
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:34,000
And even though I prefaced it with
all of that and we're explaining this,

800
00:46:34,039 --> 00:46:37,159
there's going to be people saying,
these assholes are talking about trade. You

801
00:46:37,199 --> 00:46:38,679
know, we don't want it to
happen. I'm not saying it. I'm

802
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:42,920
just saying, like, like to
your point, it's the only one that

803
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:45,559
makes sense, or the one that
makes the most sense. Now, do

804
00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:50,480
you The Lakers we just mentioned are
now clearly limited in the type of trade

805
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:52,519
assets they could offer, knowing the
weaknesses on this team or what they could

806
00:46:52,559 --> 00:46:57,119
need. Though, are there any
players that you envision who could become available

807
00:46:57,119 --> 00:46:59,599
that you would like to see them
make a run at on the market.

808
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:06,199
I don't have a specific player or
but I will say you kind of addressing

809
00:47:06,199 --> 00:47:09,639
what we just alluded to, whether
it's more shooting or a bigger wing that

810
00:47:09,679 --> 00:47:14,480
can defend. One of those two
types of players would be the ones that

811
00:47:14,519 --> 00:47:16,519
I would I would imagine them looking
for in a second half for it.

812
00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,840
I have a name. I don't
know whatever it take to get him,

813
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:22,920
but he's cheap to where that you
don't give up even talent Horton Tucker,

814
00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:28,920
Daniel House if he's healthy, someone
who could defend like David played him at

815
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,159
the five way back when in Houston, and he has shot threes better in

816
00:47:31,199 --> 00:47:35,400
the past. That's not This is
to say like people probably want, oh,

817
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:37,400
the Lakers need to go and get
like another star or something. This

818
00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:40,760
is a team that needs to put
bows on the way that they're built.

819
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:45,440
He seems like the perfect type of
acquisition. I don't know what it costs

820
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:46,480
to get him, but he's in
the final year of his deal, coming

821
00:47:46,519 --> 00:47:51,519
off an injury play campaign last year, and the Rockets have so many bodies

822
00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,719
because they added like a trillion first
round draft prospects this summer. That's a

823
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:58,039
name that if I was the Lakers
and I would name him for a bunch

824
00:47:58,039 --> 00:48:00,800
of contenders. But if you're the
Lakers specifically, you look at what you

825
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:02,760
need. That's someone I zero in
on, or at least keep an eye

826
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:07,639
on. So I didn't have him
in mind. But but the point you

827
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,400
just made, if it's not the
Lakers, someone's gonna come calling for a

828
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:12,400
guy that, you know, the
guy that's versatile, you know, the

829
00:48:12,519 --> 00:48:15,760
versatile like that. I that's a
really good point. It would end you

830
00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:17,719
know, you know, no disrespect
you so, but you know you don't

831
00:48:17,719 --> 00:48:22,559
need you don't need him with where
you're going, you don't need well,

832
00:48:23,199 --> 00:48:27,119
yeah exactly, I mean one hundred
if they keep him, I wouldn't understand

833
00:48:27,159 --> 00:48:30,880
why, Like he's not coming back
again. Yeah exactly. So this and

834
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:34,960
I think with the Lakers, aprobably
more so than most teams, they'll change

835
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,079
their crunch time lineup based on matchups. But what do you think will wind

836
00:48:37,119 --> 00:48:42,199
up being their most effective or most
used crunch time unit. It could go

837
00:48:42,239 --> 00:48:44,880
a lot of different a lot of
different routes, but I think it's going

838
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:47,079
to be eighty at to five.
You're gonna get the combination of eighty and

839
00:48:47,159 --> 00:48:51,960
Lebron up top, probably mellow in
a lot in a lot of cases,

840
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:54,480
Russ at the you know, like
you're at the one and I end the

841
00:48:54,519 --> 00:49:00,000
notes here, I've got insert player
because it's whomever is rolling that we already

842
00:49:00,079 --> 00:49:01,960
have the blueprint for this. They've
done it the last two years, especially

843
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:05,880
in the regular season. You know, this coaching staff has no problem with

844
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:10,199
going with never is rolling, or
you'll like or has a matchup advantage,

845
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,559
or you have significant advantages and you'll
like you'll from a matchup no perspective.

846
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:16,119
So I think it's going to look
like that, you know, like whether

847
00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:21,440
that's Monk or you know, none
At a given night, Wayne Ellington,

848
00:49:21,559 --> 00:49:24,159
like if he's really got it going, you know, you really any of

849
00:49:24,199 --> 00:49:28,320
them across the board, could you'll
could serve their role. Yeah, I

850
00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,000
think there's three givens with Lebron,
Russ, and a D And if if

851
00:49:31,039 --> 00:49:34,239
Russ isn't a given in the closing
unit, we're gonna have a lot of

852
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:39,840
content this season. If I'm if
it is going to be mellow as like

853
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:45,840
the most likely fourth, I'm wondering
if they might play bigger or at that

854
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:47,480
point, I wonder if it's we
need to play Campais more Trevor Rees or

855
00:49:47,519 --> 00:49:52,360
just have someone else other than Lebron
who could defend wings in that crunch time

856
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:55,639
unit because Monk's not going to do
that, is there and it doesn't really

857
00:49:55,639 --> 00:49:59,039
starting figs don't really matter anymore.
But do you have any sense of what

858
00:49:59,119 --> 00:50:01,000
the starting five is gonna be?
Then? Like we know a d Lebron

859
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:05,280
and Ross, how are they going
to fill out those final two spots?

860
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,840
It from from the report that I
saw that I heard. It's it's it

861
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:12,559
kind of is a camp battle between
guys like THD and Monk and you and

862
00:50:12,639 --> 00:50:16,880
Baysmore and those guys like I have
no I have no way of honestly of

863
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:21,920
knowing. I think I want look, I put like this, I want

864
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:23,079
it to be THHD, but I
think it's I think it's gonna end up

865
00:50:23,079 --> 00:50:29,519
being a Monk. I would probably
go Monk and Baysmore as the final two,

866
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:31,400
TCHT and Russ on the court at
the same time. That is it

867
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:37,719
might yeah, let me look,
let let me add this caveat if his

868
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:40,320
shot has fallen. I wanted to
be because yes, what you were just

869
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:44,159
gonna say, yes, one hundred
percent. Yeah, if either of those

870
00:50:44,239 --> 00:50:45,960
dudes just just hitting threees a bunch
of threes, then you feel free to

871
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:50,400
play them together as much as you
want. Is there a weird, oddball,

872
00:50:50,519 --> 00:50:53,199
quirky, out of left field lineup
that you want Frank Vogel to roll

873
00:50:53,239 --> 00:50:57,800
out just to try, just to
see what happens. I do have one,

874
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:00,880
and here and here we are,
and people are like the okay a

875
00:51:00,079 --> 00:51:05,519
d lebron, Yes, I still
want my thht THHD at the three Monk

876
00:51:05,679 --> 00:51:08,199
and Russ. Look, look it's
quirky, but it's really fun. They

877
00:51:08,199 --> 00:51:10,960
can both get up and down the
court, and they can bullyball you in

878
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:15,840
a half court setting. Especially,
this is a big caveat if THHD continues

879
00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:20,920
to improve as a deep brick,
it wouldn't shock me if we actually saw

880
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:22,239
this line up at some point,
because, like I said, like one

881
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:25,480
of the things that I kind of
like about them, even though initially I

882
00:51:25,519 --> 00:51:29,199
was a little bit off put by
it, is that they're not afraid that

883
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:30,519
you know, they're not afraid the
jo They're not that challenge. I'm not

884
00:51:30,519 --> 00:51:35,760
afraid to test the waters. So
the one and I'll purpose it with this.

885
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,199
The Lakers actually aren't built to get
too weird, like it's their roster

886
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:43,920
makes too much sense when you like
it's there's no there's no point in playing

887
00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:46,559
a small ball unit because Ads is
center and like he should be in whatever

888
00:51:46,679 --> 00:51:51,400
line up you want on the court. So mine was Anthony Davis, Lebron

889
00:51:51,559 --> 00:51:55,519
THHT, and then I had Monk
and Ellington. In the sense of Lebron

890
00:51:55,559 --> 00:52:00,079
and THHT, those are your ball
handlers, and just try and surround that

891
00:52:00,119 --> 00:52:02,119
lineup with as much shooting as possible
and see where it goes. It's not

892
00:52:02,199 --> 00:52:06,519
weird, but I think it's one
that most people wouldn't expect to try because

893
00:52:06,519 --> 00:52:09,559
you would probably want a a Rondo, maybe even a nun or a Russell

894
00:52:09,559 --> 00:52:15,119
Westbrook like another type of playmaker on
the court next to Lebron. As weird

895
00:52:15,159 --> 00:52:16,119
as this is going to sound,
well, yes, I could see that

896
00:52:16,159 --> 00:52:20,360
being like a like a down the
stretch situation, depending upon what the situations

897
00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:24,119
with Russ. I could see that
being kind of the they're a lineup that

898
00:52:24,159 --> 00:52:29,039
they specifically try after that, you
know, first round of first round of

899
00:52:29,039 --> 00:52:32,840
substitutions, like like into into first
quarter type round. I would love I

900
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:37,159
would love to see them explore that
like into first quarter type you know situations

901
00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:38,440
you just made my day. Then
the fact that you think that that's a

902
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:44,599
realistic line for them to try if
you never know. As we record this,

903
00:52:44,719 --> 00:52:47,039
they're over under for the wind total
set at fifty three point five.

904
00:52:47,159 --> 00:52:51,599
Are you taking the over the under
on that? And where do you expect

905
00:52:51,679 --> 00:52:55,119
them to finish in a larger landscape
of the Western Conference? That number seems

906
00:52:55,119 --> 00:53:00,840
honestly pretty close to where I landed
on them. I'm anticipating within fifty two

907
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:01,960
to fifty five range, you know, for them, and you know,

908
00:53:02,039 --> 00:53:06,320
especially if they're relatively healthy for a
bulk of the year, I think they're

909
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:07,920
going to end up as a top
three seed, you know, either one,

910
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:12,480
two or three, depending upon healthy
ship YO shape up. But ultimately,

911
00:53:13,159 --> 00:53:15,280
like, if they're healthy going into
the postseason, I expect to see

912
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:19,360
them in the conference finals and beyond. I'm like, I'm still pretty blue

913
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:23,159
shown I have taken way too many
overs throughout this process. I'm gonna have

914
00:53:23,199 --> 00:53:28,679
to go and correct them. This
felt like an easy over for me because

915
00:53:29,519 --> 00:53:31,880
in my mind, the whole idea
of Westbrook is that even if Lebron is

916
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:36,440
gonna miss games, this is just
a team that I think should still be

917
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:39,199
incredible during the regular season. When
we get to the postseason, we'll have

918
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:43,559
a sample size to figure out whether
it's a concern or not. I would

919
00:53:43,639 --> 00:53:46,199
think every year there's a team that's
gonna win like fifty eight or sixty games,

920
00:53:46,599 --> 00:53:51,079
you could throw Milwaukee or Booking in
there. It's the Lakers, but

921
00:53:51,199 --> 00:53:52,440
as the third option of the team
to do that. And so this was

922
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:55,800
more so than I thought. It
was a very easy over pick for me.

923
00:53:57,599 --> 00:53:59,880
Yeah. And it's funny because when
we did our you know, we

924
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:04,760
did our Western Conference preview for baseline, I think I think I definitely said

925
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:07,840
over and I got accused it.
I got accused of like, oh okay,

926
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,320
it's like, guys, if you
don't think that this like like maybe

927
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:13,760
I'm just not seeing it. But
I look at this, you know this

928
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:15,719
group of field, you know this
group, and I'm like, yeah,

929
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:19,320
that's a fifty five wins. And
that's where they're people are making fun of

930
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:22,280
the age. But as we've talked
about their depth of bunch, that's where

931
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:24,679
it could help you, is you
know, if Lebron needs beside even it's

932
00:54:24,679 --> 00:54:28,800
like a D misses time, or
if anyone misses time, like okay,

933
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:30,719
Mellow can still you said, maybe
I'll have a game of Mellow time where

934
00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:35,000
it's just actually really good. And
the other thing is they dealt with a

935
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:38,400
ton of injuries last year and still
won fifty eight point three percent of their

936
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:43,639
games. It's not like a huge
leap from there to get to fifty four

937
00:54:43,639 --> 00:54:46,679
wins. Yeah, it's it's it's
not at all, you know, Look,

938
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:51,639
barring anything catastrophic, I would be
stunned if they don't win. You

939
00:54:51,679 --> 00:54:55,679
know, right around fifty fifty four, fifty five is there, And so

940
00:54:55,719 --> 00:55:00,480
they're large the larger Western Conference picture, I think you could probably name six

941
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:04,039
to eight teams that might be interchangeable
at this point. You could tell me

942
00:55:04,079 --> 00:55:07,519
anyone finishes first, and I'd probably
believe you. But if you also and

943
00:55:07,559 --> 00:55:09,079
if you told me the Lakers finished
first, I believe you. If you

944
00:55:09,159 --> 00:55:14,039
told me when knowing that the Jazz, the Sun's, the Nuggets, the

945
00:55:14,039 --> 00:55:17,000
Clippers, the Mavericks, the Blazers, the Warriors, those seven teams exist.

946
00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:22,719
I think the Lakers floor is fifth
because there's not Jamal Murray is not

947
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:24,039
in Denver for most of the season. We don't know what's gonn happen with

948
00:55:24,079 --> 00:55:28,719
Kwai in La. The Blazers can
always be weird. What about the Warriors.

949
00:55:29,039 --> 00:55:32,840
I think you could reasonably talk me
into like five or maybe all six

950
00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:36,800
of those teams being better than the
Lakers. But too much stuff needs to

951
00:55:36,800 --> 00:55:39,079
go right for some of them,
and so I think the Lakers floor is

952
00:55:39,119 --> 00:55:45,000
fifth this year again, unless something
catastrophic happens to them. Yeah, I'm

953
00:55:45,079 --> 00:55:49,920
right there with you. You know, worst worst case scenario outside of catastrophe.

954
00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:52,880
You know, you know that that
that four range. But honestly,

955
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:57,239
I do maybe I'm just too maybe
I'm just too bought in arrest. I

956
00:55:57,320 --> 00:55:59,559
just don't see it. I don't. I just don't see him dropping below

957
00:55:59,639 --> 00:56:04,960
three, like I think they'll be
that good. Yeah. What's tough here

958
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:07,400
is I don't think there's any team
that you can guarantee me is gonna have

959
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:09,360
a better regular season record than the
Lakers in the West. It's when you

960
00:56:09,400 --> 00:56:14,639
get to other teams, let's use
let's use Denver as an example. Because

961
00:56:14,639 --> 00:56:16,599
of the Jamal Murray injury, I
would probably say the Lakers, Utah and

962
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:20,360
Phoenix are in front of But when
you get to the Utah, Phoenix and

963
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:22,519
the Lakers, those are the three
teams that I keep thinking, you're gonna

964
00:56:22,559 --> 00:56:24,800
finish top three is of right now, I just don't I don't know which

965
00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:29,679
one's gonna be. There's nothing definitive
about the top of this year's West and

966
00:56:29,719 --> 00:56:32,039
that's so wacky in kind of a
beautiful way. It makes me very much

967
00:56:32,079 --> 00:56:36,800
look forward to the race this year. I'm absolutely here for it. I

968
00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:38,199
saw a lot of people, you
know, initially saying like, oh,

969
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:40,760
Phoenix is gonna be like Miami,
you know last year, where they you

970
00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:44,280
know, like they haven't drop off. I don't see it as I think

971
00:56:44,320 --> 00:56:45,719
they're going to be. I think
they did a good job in the offseason,

972
00:56:45,840 --> 00:56:50,239
you like, not just solidifying things
and in resigning the guys they needed

973
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:52,360
to bring in. I thought I
felt like they did a good job with

974
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:55,039
that roster kind of across the board. So they're going to be competitive.

975
00:56:55,079 --> 00:56:59,559
Same thing with Utah, They're absolutely
going to be competitive again outside of anything

976
00:56:59,559 --> 00:57:02,599
wacky in place. So yeah,
we're we're on the same page. Like

977
00:57:02,639 --> 00:57:07,079
all three of those to me,
I would put I'm not saying there's a

978
00:57:07,159 --> 00:57:09,840
huge gap between you, you know, the rest of and I would say,

979
00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:13,800
I think there's a little bit of
space between between the other teams,

980
00:57:14,280 --> 00:57:16,480
So I think they could be interchangeable. Yeah, if you told me Kawai

981
00:57:16,639 --> 00:57:21,159
was gonna play or Jamal Murray was
gonna come back in January, I might

982
00:57:21,199 --> 00:57:24,079
be inclined to like reopen the discussion
the way. The actual biggest wild card

983
00:57:24,119 --> 00:57:30,440
to me are the Mavericks because the
Luca don j plus shooting model, I

984
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:32,920
don't know how far get you in
the playoffs. That could end up obliterating

985
00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:36,320
people in the regular season just based
off what he's done. And if you

986
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:38,559
get a better version of KP maybe
they're the team that crashes that. But

987
00:57:38,719 --> 00:57:42,039
when I go to do my standings, and I haven't finalized it yet,

988
00:57:42,360 --> 00:57:45,159
I think the Lakers will be in
the top three. I think their floor

989
00:57:45,239 --> 00:57:47,760
is fifth though. That's just where
I'm at right now. Yeah, I

990
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:52,679
got you. Look, I'm gonna
selfishly, you know, project God.

991
00:57:52,679 --> 00:57:55,159
I would love a three six Lakers
matchup. Let you know, Lakers Mavericks

992
00:57:55,159 --> 00:57:59,639
matchup, start to see you start
things off? Yeah, like I want

993
00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:04,119
I want every part of that.
I want all Look a lot of people,

994
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:06,639
you know when it comes in there, they want the easiest path.

995
00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:08,719
Look, well, yes, of
course I'll take an easy title. I

996
00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:13,559
also want the drama, you know. Yeah, give me a matchup like

997
00:58:13,599 --> 00:58:15,559
that. And as funny as it's
gonna sound, I don't want Lakers Warriors

998
00:58:15,599 --> 00:58:17,760
in the first round. I want
Lakers Apps in the first round. I

999
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:21,719
want I want all parts of Luca. The league office is going to be

1000
00:58:21,760 --> 00:58:25,519
doing all sorts of unspeakable things if
they get a Lebron staff or Lebron Luca

1001
00:58:25,559 --> 00:58:30,000
playoff series whenever that is. That
is like there's gonna be an orgy in

1002
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:32,199
the league office if that happens one
or the other. Uh. The Lebron

1003
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:37,320
Lucas stuff is fun because they did
play each other in the playoffs in the

1004
00:58:37,360 --> 00:58:39,320
bubble, right or am I just
maybe they have like an epic perform No,

1005
00:58:39,840 --> 00:58:44,480
no, no, no no.
The Mambis went out to the Clippers.

1006
00:58:44,599 --> 00:58:47,800
Yeah yeah, if I'm not mistaken, they both years they've lost to

1007
00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:51,239
the Clippers, Right, yeah,
they did, You're right. And I

1008
00:58:51,239 --> 00:58:53,400
think there was a game during the
regular season. It was pre or Midpanda

1009
00:58:53,639 --> 00:58:57,639
and I don't know what it was
that was like Luca dontage is, you

1010
00:58:57,639 --> 00:59:00,159
know, he was already a star, but he I don't even know if

1011
00:59:00,159 --> 00:59:02,599
the Mavericks won, but he him
and Lebron were going like back and forth,

1012
00:59:02,760 --> 00:59:06,920
and I think the league would would
love that, maybe even more than

1013
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:10,519
Lebron's Steph. I think there's a
chance Lebron Steph is just like two polarizing,

1014
00:59:10,920 --> 00:59:15,599
but Lucas profile is so far on
the rise, and because he's the

1015
00:59:15,599 --> 00:59:17,760
future of the league, where Steph
is basically in the same era as Lebron.

1016
00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:22,719
I don't know. I guess would
the league office prefer MAVs Lakers or

1017
00:59:22,719 --> 00:59:27,559
Warriors Lakers? I guess I think
the smart ones as MAVs Lakers. The

1018
00:59:27,559 --> 00:59:30,400
old school folks that you know would
still have like you know and rest in

1019
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:31,760
peace, you know, you know, the stern the you know, the

1020
00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:36,239
best finals matchup as Lakers versus Lakers
mindset. They might want you know,

1021
00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:37,960
you know, you know, Lakers
Warriors. But the smart folks that you

1022
00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:43,639
know, because the smart money is
is moving. Look, we'll take Lakers

1023
00:59:43,639 --> 00:59:45,079
Warriors. We'll take that, you
know what I'm saying, Like, it's

1024
00:59:45,079 --> 00:59:49,320
not I'm not I'm not poo poo
in the idea, but i would just

1025
00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:52,480
prefer to move towards the future.
And I'm honestly, I'm absolutely do you

1026
00:59:52,519 --> 00:59:57,440
know which fan base or who specifically
should be excited about a Lakers Warriors matchup

1027
00:59:57,679 --> 01:00:00,639
Warriors fans because it means that the
Warriors made the pl off, which I'm

1028
01:00:00,679 --> 01:00:02,719
not entirely convinced that they're going too. So that's that's why if you're the

1029
01:00:02,719 --> 01:00:07,159
Warriors fans, you should be happy
about that. I'm sorry, Clay's not

1030
01:00:07,199 --> 01:00:10,320
coming back till January? Are you
going to rely on Wiseman's still coming off

1031
01:00:10,360 --> 01:00:13,519
the bat? Like you guys were
terrible with Wiseman. He's still hurt.

1032
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:16,239
Yeah, and so he's not even
help to come in that might actually help

1033
01:00:16,320 --> 01:00:19,679
them. Unfortunate they were so bad
with him last year. Now he hasn't

1034
01:00:19,719 --> 01:00:22,159
had a training camp or an off
season to get better. I just it

1035
01:00:22,239 --> 01:00:27,440
still feels like it's iffy there,
but not a Warrior's podcast obviously. Is

1036
01:00:27,480 --> 01:00:30,079
there any one or anything about this
team that I have not asked you about

1037
01:00:30,280 --> 01:00:34,519
that you believe needs to be covered? Not to be honest with you,

1038
01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:37,039
I think I think we you know, we did cover a lot. I

1039
01:00:37,039 --> 01:00:38,800
mean, of course there's there's gonna
be somebody just listening to saying, like,

1040
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:42,599
you know, honestly, they didn't
really explore the Wayne Ellington pick up

1041
01:00:42,719 --> 01:00:45,320
enough. But truth of the matter
is, I think we all know what

1042
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:50,119
this is. This is a highly
talented group that obviously the ceiling is you

1043
01:00:50,119 --> 01:00:52,800
know, the ceiling would be a
title. But and to your point,

1044
01:00:52,079 --> 01:00:55,639
you know, you'll you'll say things
don't necessarily go as as great as you

1045
01:00:55,639 --> 01:00:59,599
know, as I'm anticipating. You
know, it could be as as low

1046
01:00:59,599 --> 01:01:01,159
as a four five seed. But
either way, there's gonna be trauma there

1047
01:01:01,159 --> 01:01:05,440
and it's gonna be it's gonna be
a fantastic watch. Yeah, we apologize

1048
01:01:05,440 --> 01:01:08,400
to Austin Reeves's family for not talking
about him on this podhot out major overs.

1049
01:01:09,039 --> 01:01:12,960
Shout out to the greatest nickname that
I've seen in recent times, He'll

1050
01:01:12,960 --> 01:01:15,239
Billy Kobe. I'm not gonna lie
to you, h p K two,

1051
01:01:15,599 --> 01:01:17,920
HBK two. I actually feel remissed
that we did not acknowledge him. So

1052
01:01:17,920 --> 01:01:22,440
thank you for bringing this hb K
two the racier will not stand, So

1053
01:01:22,559 --> 01:01:23,840
thank you for bringing him up and
looking now, we talked too and his

1054
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:29,199
response to about is he more He'll
Billy or Kobe and his response but it

1055
01:01:29,320 --> 01:01:32,679
was just perfect too, Like that
was just fantastic as well. I'm absolutely

1056
01:01:32,760 --> 01:01:37,119
Look, I'm here for fun,
man, you know, Like I know,

1057
01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:38,840
we try to be serious about this
stuff a lot, but honestly,

1058
01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:42,480
I'm here for fun. I'm here
for jokes. I'm here to celebrate the

1059
01:01:42,599 --> 01:01:45,679
greatness of you know, like NBA
athletes, and you know that's that's the

1060
01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:49,960
vibe that I'm going for. So
you know I'm more here, Billy Kobe.

1061
01:01:50,119 --> 01:01:52,800
Your reactions less you know less?
Uh you know, Oh if this

1062
01:01:53,079 --> 01:01:57,519
never mind. I was gonna throw
some shade at my former my former ghost,

1063
01:01:57,559 --> 01:02:00,280
but I won't shout out Joss.
Look at the end of the day,

1064
01:02:00,559 --> 01:02:05,079
and I do take my work seriously. Went up against a tight deadline,

1065
01:02:05,119 --> 01:02:07,800
but I try to remember not to
take my actual self to seriously.

1066
01:02:07,159 --> 01:02:12,519
We cover a fucking game. This
is a life for death. It's basketball.

1067
01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:19,599
It's a game. It's meant and
if you really think about it,

1068
01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:22,199
and I don't mean to dump all
over it, I mean it's my livelihood.

1069
01:02:22,239 --> 01:02:24,880
I work full time covering the NBA. People get paid millions of dollars

1070
01:02:25,119 --> 01:02:30,000
to put a ball in a basket
and what they do is impressive. But

1071
01:02:30,119 --> 01:02:31,679
it's like, this is a game. This should be fun. And I

1072
01:02:31,760 --> 01:02:36,480
get that fans are passionate. The
irrational takes are what drive like, that's

1073
01:02:36,519 --> 01:02:38,920
part of fandom. But this is
supposed to be fun, Like this is

1074
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:43,039
not. I'm not operating on it. I'm not a hard surgeon. I'm

1075
01:02:43,079 --> 01:02:45,000
like I'm not I'm not doing that. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not

1076
01:02:45,039 --> 01:02:47,119
doing anything. That's actually, if
I stop doing what I do tomorrow,

1077
01:02:47,199 --> 01:02:51,159
guess what the world doesn't notice.
It doesn't change, It doesn't mean a

1078
01:02:51,239 --> 01:02:54,320
thing. We should be having fun
with this and I would do this.

1079
01:02:54,639 --> 01:03:00,239
But true, it's it's true.
That's why I keep doing what I do

1080
01:03:00,320 --> 01:03:05,440
because I know that jab Jabar would
notice. That's yeah, I keep going.

1081
01:03:05,800 --> 01:03:08,400
I'm like, wait a second time
out, Wait, we're stand Where

1082
01:03:08,559 --> 01:03:13,000
where is Dad? He has not
put an episode out in over a week.

1083
01:03:13,119 --> 01:03:15,559
That's not like him. What the
Hill's going? Oh? Jabar?

1084
01:03:15,599 --> 01:03:17,519
Are you able to tell our listeners
where they can find you on Twitter and

1085
01:03:17,719 --> 01:03:22,079
all your work? Yes, as
I always do. Thank you very much

1086
01:03:22,079 --> 01:03:24,320
for the opportunity. I mean it
when I say it. It's always a

1087
01:03:24,360 --> 01:03:27,199
great time talking you know, you
know, talking hoops with you. So

1088
01:03:27,719 --> 01:03:30,239
I hope that you your spreadshot tells
you that it's never a bother. Please

1089
01:03:30,280 --> 01:03:35,199
reach out at anytime. I'm simple, Jabari Davis NBA on Twitter, nineteen

1090
01:03:35,280 --> 01:03:37,239
media group dot com for the that
I am. You know that I am

1091
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,039
associated with and I'm proud to be
able to proud to be a member of

1092
01:03:40,840 --> 01:03:45,559
that's probably your easiest bit. Yeah, and he's a great follow And for

1093
01:03:45,599 --> 01:03:49,760
anyone who actually likes me on Twitter, Jabari has influenced me on Twitter because

1094
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,320
we had a conversation I don't know
if you remember, like a year or

1095
01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:55,159
something ago, where it was after
I turned thirty and I felt that I

1096
01:03:55,199 --> 01:03:59,199
couldn't make jokes on Twitter anymore because
it was being too a mature and You're

1097
01:03:59,239 --> 01:04:00,920
like, look, you just got
to be you. I'm forty whatever you

1098
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:04,840
were at the time. So my
snarkiness has not changed. I have not

1099
01:04:04,960 --> 01:04:10,239
stopped tweeting in part because of what
you said. So you have you are

1100
01:04:10,360 --> 01:04:15,159
helping pollute people's Twitter timelines by having
emboldened me to continue tweeting the way that

1101
01:04:15,199 --> 01:04:17,639
I do. Let me just say
like this, while we all may think

1102
01:04:17,719 --> 01:04:21,840
that we are, you know,
makeshift athletes and you know we're going to

1103
01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:27,079
be, the truth is this athletes. They have to retire comedian stone so

1104
01:04:27,199 --> 01:04:30,639
we can keep getting these jokes off
regardless and regardless of whether someone sees us

1105
01:04:30,679 --> 01:04:34,000
as comedians or not, there's someone
that laughs, So we are comedians.

1106
01:04:34,519 --> 01:04:36,639
That's the best way I've heard it. Frame Jabari, thank you so much

1107
01:04:36,639 --> 01:04:39,760
for coming on. It's always a
blast talking to you, and I think,

1108
01:04:39,800 --> 01:04:42,960
as you know by now, i'm
gonna come calling again. Please do

1109
01:04:43,159 --> 01:04:43,760
Thank you again.