1
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,399
Hello, everyone, Welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwoodknocks. This is Adam

2
00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,879
fromle here with my always fantastic co
host Dan for Valley. Fresh off a

3
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:28,480
vacation down in Florida, we are
coming back to you with a slightly premature

4
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:33,039
but also maybe not so much,
because we're really down to the stretch run

5
00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:38,359
of the season Award Picks episode,
where we're going to run through each of

6
00:00:38,359 --> 00:00:45,079
the major NBA awards, including the
not even really major Executive of the Year

7
00:00:45,119 --> 00:00:48,600
award, go through our ballots top
three for each one, top five for

8
00:00:48,759 --> 00:00:53,399
MVP, and figure out who the
favorites for these awards should be. Although

9
00:00:53,439 --> 00:00:57,000
I think, as always we've both
approached it as who we would be voting

10
00:00:57,039 --> 00:01:00,079
for and not necessarily who is actually
going to win, because sometimes there is

11
00:01:00,159 --> 00:01:07,560
a rather sizeable discrepancy between those two
methods of approaching this conversation. Before we

12
00:01:07,599 --> 00:01:08,719
get into any of that, though, have to ask Dan, how's it

13
00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:15,760
going. It is good to be
back. I'm excited to start recording fresh

14
00:01:15,799 --> 00:01:19,239
material. We did squeeze in a
bunch of recordings before I left you at

15
00:01:19,239 --> 00:01:21,920
Grant and myself, so that was
great. It was good to hit the

16
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:23,799
reset plot in a little bit.
You know, I suck it. I'm

17
00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:26,319
plugging, and I once again still
sucked. But I won't pretend that Pleach

18
00:01:26,359 --> 00:01:30,280
Report is very generous with the amount
of time and flexibility they were willing to

19
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,840
give me, and I tried to
take advantage of it as much as I

20
00:01:32,879 --> 00:01:36,159
could. I will be more active
in discord now if anyone wonders why I've

21
00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:38,560
been a little bit quiet and now
I feel like the chatters down. I

22
00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,719
don't want to have to be the
reason we're having any chatter, but shout

23
00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,640
out to our discord members, join
the discord. Happy to be back,

24
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,359
though it's it's always like you get
end of vacation blues. But now that

25
00:01:48,359 --> 00:01:51,719
I'm back into the swing of things
already, I'm rare to go. And

26
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,439
awards talk good place to start.
I think there's still some changes that could

27
00:01:55,439 --> 00:01:57,439
happen with three, maybe four of
these awards, but for the most part,

28
00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,799
the pictures set how are you doing? Though I'm surviving. I'm being

29
00:02:01,799 --> 00:02:06,599
emotionally terrorized by a three year old
on a daily basis who's just in full

30
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:12,919
fledged tantrum toddler nightmare stage. So
it's I feel constantly exhausted, but I'm

31
00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:19,439
hanging in there and enjoying some great
basketball. Speaking of basketball, it's probably

32
00:02:19,479 --> 00:02:21,800
time to begin with the awards.
We said we were going to blow through

33
00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,159
Executive of the Year since the writers
don't pick that anyway, and it's one

34
00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,280
that, as you mentioned, you
can't even get betting odds for who are

35
00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,400
your top three? Here, we're
gonna make this a very abbreviated discussion.

36
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:37,199
Yeah, it's always tough with this
award because I feel like you get you

37
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:43,759
get candidates who get credit for multi
year processes. So James Jones I think

38
00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:49,560
deserves love in this conversation because of
what he's done for multiple seasons leading up

39
00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:54,439
to the ability to resign Chris Paul
in a way that lifts this team to

40
00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:00,199
become the clear cut number one team
in the NBA when all the pieces are

41
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,120
working. There are more minor moves
to Tory Craig being chief among them,

42
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,639
I think this year, but it's
really the Paul resigning in conjunction with everything

43
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,719
else that happened to get it to
this point where I think he has a

44
00:03:15,759 --> 00:03:21,319
case. Brad Stevens and pat Riley
are my other two, but really this

45
00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,400
is a tough one. Because so
many of the primary candidates over the year

46
00:03:24,479 --> 00:03:30,759
Colby Altman are tourist Karnasovas Daryl Morey. They've had momentum and then it's quickly

47
00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:37,759
been ripped away. So I'm not
particularly interested in this award because I don't

48
00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,479
think it's an important one because team
building has done over multiple years anyway,

49
00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:47,919
and this year's candidates feel especially flimsy
across the board. Yeah, I had

50
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:53,120
pat Riley wanted Brad Stevens two,
and Stevens's case really developed over time,

51
00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,800
and Derek White trade seemed like a
steep price to pay that twenty twenty eight

52
00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,520
first round pick. Swop. I
know, we romanticized pick that's really far

53
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,680
out into the future. The Celtics, though, prior to Robert Williams the

54
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,000
Third's injury that they had a case
to be the favorite to come out of

55
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,159
the East. I wouldn't have picked
them, but like they were right there,

56
00:04:09,199 --> 00:04:11,840
so you can view White as the
missing piece. I think also the

57
00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:15,319
Kemba trade in retrospect looks really good
for them, given how much Al Horford

58
00:04:15,319 --> 00:04:18,360
has done the Robert Williams the Third
extension exself, that looks like a bargain

59
00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:23,439
at this point for Boston specifically,
so I think he's the clear number two

60
00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,319
there. Daniel Tis too, I
forgot about him. That was a really

61
00:04:27,519 --> 00:04:30,000
bad move, if we want to
be honest, So that would that hurts

62
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,319
his case for me. Pat Roley
though, just Kyle Lowry, PJ.

63
00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:36,480
Tucker has been great for them,
even like Caleb Martin, like having a

64
00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:42,120
find like that, Gabe Vincent and
Max Druce sort of paying off, getting

65
00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,800
to keep convincing all the deeple to
stay even though I'm sure he didn't have

66
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,199
a ton of options elsewhere. That's
a you know, that's just I feel

67
00:04:48,199 --> 00:04:50,439
like he's the clear nswer. They
heat the first in the East despite a

68
00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:55,160
litany of injuries, and we know
they have some drama. Now third seems

69
00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:58,480
more open. I tend to not
wait the multi year cases as much.

70
00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,959
I try to look at it in
a VA vcuum, And like the James

71
00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:03,920
Jones case with Chris Paul's contract,
I get it. You did bring in

72
00:05:03,959 --> 00:05:08,480
JaVale McGee and that's worked out really
well. You kind of stumble into Bismack

73
00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,879
Biombo mid season. I just don't
know, like, is that Executive of

74
00:05:12,879 --> 00:05:15,600
the Year material. This is a
team that's sort of marinating. I kind

75
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,040
of thought about Zach Leman for Memphis
is who I've penciled in number three at

76
00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:24,399
this point because his might be a
little bit of a multiyear case, like

77
00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:29,639
some of the things he did desire
Williams pick and trade overall looks really smart

78
00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,519
given how well Steven Adams has played, what Williams could be as a prospect,

79
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,720
and you did sort of increase your
future equity. Let's also not forget

80
00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,600
that the Jaren Jackson junior case is
here as extension here as well. That

81
00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:43,879
looks like it's going to be fine. This has probably been I don't want

82
00:05:43,879 --> 00:05:46,959
to say a down year for Jackson
Junior offensively, but like this is someone

83
00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,839
who's going to be better on offensive. To get him at that number should

84
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:56,000
really should behoove the Grizzlies well moving
forward. The other name that I'm really

85
00:05:56,079 --> 00:05:58,439
kind of thinking about here that I
didn't think I was going to think about

86
00:05:58,439 --> 00:06:03,879
his Nico Harrison in Dallas extra curriculars
in Dallas aside, and that's Donnie Nelson,

87
00:06:03,959 --> 00:06:08,240
so Nico Harrison isn't involved in that. The KP trade looks excellent for

88
00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,959
the Mavericks at this point, given
how well Spencer did what he has played.

89
00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,279
There's also just the signings over the
summer. Reggie Block has proved to

90
00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,279
actually be pretty good for them.
I already mentioned the Porzingis trade. I

91
00:06:18,319 --> 00:06:24,079
think that Dorian Finny Smith extension is
going to go a long way for them,

92
00:06:24,079 --> 00:06:26,600
Like that's a great number to not
let him get to free agency.

93
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,680
I know they gave him. I'm
pretty sure it was the max that they

94
00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,879
could give him in the extension At
a dude like that, given how well

95
00:06:30,879 --> 00:06:33,959
he plays on defense, hit the
open market this summer and show him what

96
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,959
he's done is just a floor spacer
or just stand still three point shooter.

97
00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:43,000
He's getting more than they did,
and so that was smart you could.

98
00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,079
There seems to be a lot if
you if you want to say it's Sean

99
00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,000
Marks or Darryl Moray, because of
how they made the most out of prappy

100
00:06:48,079 --> 00:06:51,680
situations. I'll push back a bunch
against Sean Marks. And I think Morey's

101
00:06:51,759 --> 00:06:56,560
case is weakening given how turbulent the
Sixers have been. But you could also

102
00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,240
give him kudos for waiting out the
Simon situation when everyone just wanted him to

103
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,360
settle and take the whatever offer was
on the table throughout these months, and

104
00:07:03,439 --> 00:07:09,079
regardless of how you feel about James
Harden, there the peak of their outcome

105
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,040
with him is higher than any other
trade that had been mentioned, at least

106
00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,720
over the next year to three years. So the third was tough. But

107
00:07:14,759 --> 00:07:17,040
I think it's Stevens. You sold
me on Stevens just before we went into

108
00:07:17,079 --> 00:07:19,920
this. I think pat Riley is
probably the clear number one option. And

109
00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,720
the final thing I'll say is I
didn't I don't know how to wait people

110
00:07:24,759 --> 00:07:28,839
who made either obvious draft picks or
if the case is their draft pick high

111
00:07:28,839 --> 00:07:31,920
in lottery, like Massiu Jerry going
Barnes over Sugs. That's a big deal.

112
00:07:31,959 --> 00:07:34,879
But a lot of what's going on
in Toronto is been years in the

113
00:07:34,879 --> 00:07:41,519
making there and then Kobe Altman in
Cleveland, they made like they've done solid,

114
00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,439
like the Jared Allen contract. He's
ive lampoon to that in the moment

115
00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:47,120
after they drafted Vin Mobili. But
it's worked out for them. Diddle for

116
00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,040
the lowry market in trade, Cleveland
has slipped off. A lot of it

117
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,120
has to do with injuries. Picking
up Rubio is big for them. I

118
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,720
wouldn't quibble if you had him at
number three. I think he has a

119
00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,519
fair case there, but to name
him as the favorite, I think,

120
00:07:59,519 --> 00:08:03,079
just wait, it's the Mouldley decision
specifically a little too heavily. I like

121
00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,759
that we went into this episode thinking
that we were just going to list names

122
00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,040
for Executive the Year and then just
couldn't help ourselves. I think it's had

123
00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,839
to move on to Coach of the
Year, and you issue have any problems

124
00:08:13,879 --> 00:08:16,439
with what I had, Let's do
it. Do you have what? I

125
00:08:16,519 --> 00:08:18,680
think our coach of the year Valve
is going to end up being identical.

126
00:08:18,319 --> 00:08:22,480
You know about number three, but
I feel like the top two are obvious.

127
00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,319
Number one has to be Monty Williams, just because this Sun's team last

128
00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:30,319
year is Yeah, it's a machine. It is as close to a perfect

129
00:08:30,319 --> 00:08:33,600
basketball team when operating at full strength
as you're going to find in today's NBA.

130
00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,679
Everything works, the pieces run so
smoothly. The balancing job of Chris

131
00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:46,799
Paul's stardom and Devin Booker's emerging superstardom
has been excellent. All the role players

132
00:08:46,799 --> 00:08:48,519
have been able to maximize what they
can do when they're on the court.

133
00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,879
It feels like he is just the
obvious favorite. I don't know if he's

134
00:08:52,919 --> 00:08:56,639
the most obvious winner of the awards
because we haven't gotten to sixth Man of

135
00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,759
the Year yet, but he's pretty
damn close. Number two, I've got

136
00:09:00,759 --> 00:09:05,080
Taylor Jenkins, just another masterful job
with the Memphis Grizzlies. Again, the

137
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:11,200
ability to maximize every single piece of
the roster. This team has not skipped

138
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:16,440
a beat and sometimes has gotten even
better without John Morant on the floor.

139
00:09:16,759 --> 00:09:22,480
So the ability to win with that
superstar driven offense and then also win with

140
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,879
this collection of I don't want to
say role players, but players who do

141
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:33,240
not enjoy that same celestial status has
been nothing but impressive. This Memphis team

142
00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,639
is so good with so much floor
spacing, with so much in interior pressure,

143
00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,799
everything works. Number three is tougher. I ultimately went with Emaodoka.

144
00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:50,480
His in season adjustments have been super, super impressive. The defensive schemes that

145
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,840
he's drawn up that have fully unlocked
a healthy version of Robert Williams the third

146
00:09:56,159 --> 00:10:01,840
are remarkable. It's unorthodox switching that
is all designed to keep Williams in an

147
00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,879
off ball help role where he can
always rotate over to be that second defender.

148
00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:11,200
The offensive schemes have been mostly egalitarian, even though Jason Tatum can be

149
00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,879
a ball dominant player. The ability
for this Celtics team to bounce back from

150
00:10:16,879 --> 00:10:20,000
a rough start during his first season
as a head coach, to become this

151
00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:26,399
full fledged juggernaut during the second half
of the season before Williams went down hugely

152
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,279
impressive. Wow, so we do
not have identical ballots. I had Monty

153
00:10:31,279 --> 00:10:33,679
Williams first roll, you said,
And I did pick Thibadeau last year.

154
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,639
And I just think in retrospect,
I know the Knicks were the biggest overachiever.

155
00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:41,200
When you go and look back,
I'm not even maybe this season taints

156
00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,639
it a little bit. When you
go and look back, there's a clear

157
00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:50,679
difference between overachieving versus like this team
was actually maximized. And I think Matti

158
00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,519
Wamser last year he's a clear case. This year, they've navigated absences from

159
00:10:54,519 --> 00:10:58,120
everybody on this team, not as
extensive as in some other cases. But

160
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,639
Chris Paul you lose him and everyone
just assumed he was the heart and soul

161
00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,000
of the Suns. And you're still
just good. You missed Devin Booker.

162
00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:09,240
For a period of time, you've
been able. There's been weird stuff with

163
00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,919
the center rotation at points this season, the growth rees show scene from DeAndre

164
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,879
and the growth Rees scene from Cam
Johnson. Montie lives in. His coaching

165
00:11:15,879 --> 00:11:18,559
staff has done a fantastic job,
and he's the clear choice. I'd exploster

166
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:24,320
a number two because when you're talking
about Taylor Jenkins, who is number three

167
00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:31,399
for me, there's a I feel
like that Thibodeau explanation is creeping in here

168
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,480
where the Grizzlies, to me,
are still overachieving. When you look at

169
00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,120
their personnel, the methods by which
they've done it have been absolutely incredible.

170
00:11:37,639 --> 00:11:41,919
But there's nothing too complicated about their
offense. It's get out and run,

171
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,279
crash the offensive glass. And if
you don't do that, and John Moran

172
00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,399
isn't able to make a spectacular play, you are at a disadvantage. Credit

173
00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,960
a tone of the defense that they've
come up with. He's third on my

174
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:56,919
ballot again, that's not an insult. Is a close fourth online he is.

175
00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,960
He's a machine himself, and the
heat at out with you. Look

176
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,799
at Jimmy Butler, Bamata by on
Kyle Lowry. They were not even a

177
00:12:03,799 --> 00:12:07,600
top five hundred played trio this season. That's how much stuff the Heat I've

178
00:12:07,639 --> 00:12:09,600
been dealing with when you've seen the
level of what PJ. Tucker has brought

179
00:12:09,639 --> 00:12:15,799
with Gabe Vincent until recently had done
for Miami, even sort of empowering Tyler

180
00:12:15,919 --> 00:12:18,679
Hero. I'm getting Duncan Robinson to
work through his slump or even finding work

181
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,360
arounds because Duncan Robinson hasn't been as
good. The Heat's half court offense is

182
00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:26,759
definitely flimsy. That's also a personnel
issue and the fact that they've been able

183
00:12:26,799 --> 00:12:30,200
to find ways around this all season. They're also they're just at the top

184
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,799
of the Eastern Conference right now.
They might not finished there, but no

185
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:35,879
one predicted that at the start,
Like, yes, could they come out

186
00:12:35,879 --> 00:12:37,000
of the East, maybe, but
you assumed it was gonna be Brooklyn or

187
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,200
Milwaukee. There was at this point
in the season, Oh could it be

188
00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:43,080
Chicago? They were going on a
run. And just the sustainability of what

189
00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,000
Spilster does year in a year out, I do think that matters. And

190
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:52,279
you were dealing with a pre significant
addition in Kyle Lowry, so I get

191
00:12:52,279 --> 00:12:56,320
why you made Udoka is here,
but like Spilstra's case, to me is

192
00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,120
more of a full season case than
than Boston's when you just look at the

193
00:13:00,159 --> 00:13:03,360
Celtics have done this year, where
it literally took sort of a mid season

194
00:13:03,399 --> 00:13:07,559
turnaround, and you know, late
season serves for them to get to this

195
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,919
point. The Heat and the Suns
and the Grizzlies and their coaches, their

196
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,360
staffs, it's been more of a
wire to wire accomplishment. To me,

197
00:13:16,039 --> 00:13:18,039
I think that's fair. I would
I would also may only push back with

198
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:24,960
having Spolster that high is a there's
some some fatigue and play there because he

199
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,480
deserves to be a front runner each
and every season, and you know that

200
00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:33,240
shouldn't discredit his case each and every
year, even if it makes it a

201
00:13:33,279 --> 00:13:37,480
little bit tougher to justify having in
there in your head. And second,

202
00:13:37,519 --> 00:13:45,080
like I think that ultimately the Heat's
pieces are easier to coach up. There

203
00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:48,000
are a lot of absences. As
you mentioned, there are a lot of

204
00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:52,720
really strong contributions from unheralded players.
Kyle Lowry's an easy plug and play player

205
00:13:52,919 --> 00:13:56,120
because he does everything. The same
is true of Jimmy Butler and bam Adebayo

206
00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,440
because versatility is the name of the
game for them. With Boston, you

207
00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:05,639
don't have those same kind of pieces
Marcus smart By no means a guy you

208
00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:11,799
can just put into every situation.
Robert Williams needed a pretty specialized role designed

209
00:14:11,799 --> 00:14:18,399
to maximize his abilities. Jason Tatum
still emerging as the star player that Jimmy

210
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:24,120
Butler had already ascended to become.
So I think even if it did take

211
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:30,399
that mid season turnaround, the ability
to get that team to that level through

212
00:14:30,639 --> 00:14:33,919
a lot of adversity during the early
stage of the season as a first year

213
00:14:33,919 --> 00:14:39,080
head coach, to me, that's
a huge selling point. I just if

214
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,919
you looked at how many games they're
key players have lost then, and that's

215
00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:46,120
a huge part of it for me, is that they were able to you

216
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:50,080
know, yes, maybe their their
top end of their players might be easier

217
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,120
to coach up. You know,
the conversation with Jimmy Butler and Jason Tatum

218
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,360
is the best player, that's a
conversation now. But I think when you

219
00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:01,559
look at BAM it's lowry. Both
of them are better than boston second best

220
00:15:01,559 --> 00:15:03,440
player, Jalen Brown. So I
totally get that. But when you just

221
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,480
look at how much time collectively,
like the heat of missed and then how

222
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,279
shallow they were supposed to be that's
what swings it for me. And like

223
00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:13,360
I said, I was the way
I look at this one, what's that.

224
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,080
The way I look at this one
is Monty Williams is first, and

225
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,720
then those other three names. I
don't really care about the order. And

226
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,039
that's what gets tough about these awards
as we moved into we'll do six Men

227
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,279
of the Year next, is it's
this one. This award is not one

228
00:15:26,279 --> 00:15:28,000
of those cases. But you do
sort of have to look at like the

229
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,000
bigger picture, and to me,
at least, sometimes I struggle to not

230
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,919
fall victim to recency bias based off
what's happened in the past couple of months.

231
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,240
And that's why you know he is. I have a litany of honorable

232
00:15:39,279 --> 00:15:41,799
mentions here for Coach in the Year, as you always do that I won't

233
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,799
go through, but yeah, you
may dook. It was certainly on there

234
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:52,279
on the shortlist. So sixth Man
of the Year another really obvious winner where

235
00:15:52,399 --> 00:15:58,399
it's Tyler Hero. I think that's
probably the most obvious winner of all of

236
00:15:58,399 --> 00:16:03,440
these, even beyond Monty Williams for
Coach of the Year. Agree, Yeah,

237
00:16:03,519 --> 00:16:06,879
it's I mean, it's just he
didn't even come close to like not

238
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,240
meeting the quote unquote Criterias ten starts
as we record this, that's just so

239
00:16:11,879 --> 00:16:14,440
yeah, And there is some stuff
where it's, oh, what can he

240
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:15,879
be part of every single one of
your closing lines. You look at the

241
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,360
numbers he's putting up, in the
method by which he's got there, there's

242
00:16:18,399 --> 00:16:25,320
no contest here. Cameron Johnson really
obvious second place finisher. He is the

243
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,600
piece who kind of like puts Phoenix
over the top as a defender, as

244
00:16:29,639 --> 00:16:33,240
a floor spacer who is just unbelievably
deadly from the corner. There's a little

245
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,320
bit more ability to put the ball
on the floor this season, create from

246
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:41,320
self, create for others. Far
and away the leading second place candidate he

247
00:16:41,399 --> 00:16:45,240
is. I don't have anything to
add aside from the fact that people need

248
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,480
to watch his defense because it's solid
enough to the point where if he doesn't

249
00:16:48,519 --> 00:16:52,360
elevate you, he doesn't hurt you. And there's there's a distinction in that.

250
00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:55,799
But it's also really important to have
someone who's been this lights out from

251
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,240
three Probably if you were going through
a long list of most improved players,

252
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,320
he could make it. Looking at
his shooting percentage this year. What I

253
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:03,759
actually say about it, So I'm
just curiously what he could look like in

254
00:17:03,799 --> 00:17:07,039
a larger role because of the sort
of on ball flashes we've seen. He's

255
00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:11,839
never been necessarily consistent with it,
but sometimes he finishes these drives or he

256
00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,839
hits these like orthodrical jumpers and it's
like, Okay, whoa, and that's

257
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,480
I'm not saying he's going to be
priced out of Phoenix, but with having

258
00:17:18,519 --> 00:17:25,240
already paid bridges CP three, Booker
could be supermacs eligible that extension eligible this

259
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,799
summer. You have Aighton's free agency
on top of Cam Johnson being extension eligible,

260
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:32,680
we might get to see it.
I hope we don't. I'd like

261
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,640
to see this team stay together,
but I'm curious to see as Phoenix's roster

262
00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:40,240
changes, maybe we see Johnson in
a bigger role with the Sons or or

263
00:17:40,279 --> 00:17:42,640
elsewhere. Who's your number three here? I'm curious see if this is the

264
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:48,319
tough one, because I think there's
a case for Jordan Clarkson filling that volume

265
00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:52,440
shooter role. I know that neither
of us usually default that way. Kelly

266
00:17:52,559 --> 00:17:55,920
Bray Junior has a case, but
I'm gonna go with Kevin Love here.

267
00:17:56,799 --> 00:18:00,359
Averaging thirteen point four and seven point
two shooting third eight point four percent from

268
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,279
three on six point four attempts per
game. He's been a solid spark plug,

269
00:18:04,799 --> 00:18:10,559
shown some signs of like that old
vintage Kevin Love been an important veteran

270
00:18:10,599 --> 00:18:15,720
presence for a Cavs team competing quicker
than expected. Granted, Cleveland has been

271
00:18:15,799 --> 00:18:18,079
three points per one hundred possessions worse
when he's on the floor, which isn't

272
00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,359
a huge selling point in a sixth
Man of the Year case, but it's

273
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,640
also been operating at such a higher
level than expected that it is still outscoring

274
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,480
opponents when he's on the floor,
even if the performance is ultimately getting worse.

275
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,720
So to me, he was kind
of the least bad of the leading

276
00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,519
third place candidates. I didn't view
him as the least bad. I just

277
00:18:37,559 --> 00:18:40,519
think he's been good. And he
was also my third pick, so we

278
00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:42,599
have an identical ballot here, I
think. Fun fact, by the way,

279
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:47,400
Kevin Love has played in more games
for the Cavaliers than anyone else on

280
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,920
the team. Would you have predicted
that at the hell No, and that

281
00:18:51,079 --> 00:18:53,160
might be a sign of their bad
luck. Still, it's a matter of

282
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,119
fact. After the latest mobili injury, just the shooting, they're still the

283
00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:02,519
passing, and they've been able to
find certain front core combination being able to

284
00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:04,880
work with him that you wouldn't think
we're going to work either whether he is

285
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,319
he or day facto center. Is
he playing with another bigger two there's They've

286
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,680
been able to hold up defensively in
a lot of those minutes, especially through

287
00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,319
the first three quarters of the season. And I think he deserves just a

288
00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:21,200
lot of credit for Mantaney's offensive efficiency. And this is tangentially related. His

289
00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:26,799
demeanor on the bench has just completely
changed compared toruntled him the previous one seemed

290
00:19:26,799 --> 00:19:30,359
like a trade was inevitable, but
he's a willing participant now. The names

291
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,759
I'll mention quickly, I had Ubray
Junior and Mine Clarkson. Of course Montras

292
00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:36,519
Harrold's been like sneaky okay this year, but even now in Charlotte, we're

293
00:19:36,559 --> 00:19:38,920
kind of seeing the mal de kay
with him my actual fourth and he just

294
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:44,839
he I almost put him ahead of
Kevin Love Gary Payton the second in Golden

295
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,680
State. Might be just the things
he does defensively and the way he can

296
00:19:48,759 --> 00:19:52,440
move off the ball on offense,
but specifically defensively. I know they call

297
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,839
him the Mitten for a reason,
but like he is just a human eclipse

298
00:19:56,279 --> 00:20:02,119
that plays so much bigger than he
actually stay hands And if you have him

299
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,720
over Love, I'd be hard pressed
to make a case from over Johnson.

300
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,720
I do think he's I don't know
if he will, but I think he

301
00:20:07,759 --> 00:20:12,000
could make some top three appearances in
real life, and that just wouldn't startle

302
00:20:12,079 --> 00:20:17,720
me. I'll be honest that I
didn't even consider him because we typically look

303
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,359
at scoring first and foremost in the
sixth Man of the Year race. I

304
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,039
wish I had in hindsight, because
he might be a better candidate for number

305
00:20:25,039 --> 00:20:27,559
three than Love. That defense has
been so impactful throughout the year and has

306
00:20:27,599 --> 00:20:32,200
allowed Golden State to try so many
different lineups, especially while the stars have

307
00:20:32,279 --> 00:20:33,559
been hurt. And I know a
lot of people were like, oh,

308
00:20:33,599 --> 00:20:37,480
look at how they sort of folded
without Draymond Green. It was like they

309
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,960
kind of held up defensively for a
long time. There was a point where

310
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,960
it's sort of flipped like they were
holding up defensively with Adam for a while.

311
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,720
And GP two was a big reason
why. But as you said,

312
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:49,960
you are kind of drawn to the
more of it and if we were look

313
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,279
these are we should have laid this
out the beginning. I'm just making what

314
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,359
my ballot is. I'm not even
predicting who would win if I had to

315
00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,640
say, you know, I don't
think there's any deviations here. Probably not

316
00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:03,000
yet. I think everyone I pick
probably should win. But I guess we're

317
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,160
gonna get the most improved player.
Now, how's that for a transition?

318
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,640
My pick is not who I think
is going to win. So it's that

319
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:15,680
type of situation. And I could
put GP two in the top three,

320
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,960
but I think just the body of
work from Kevin Love and there is the

321
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,519
inherent volume of what he does on
offense relative to GP two being way more

322
00:21:22,559 --> 00:21:26,720
complimentary and having to work more off
the ball than Kevin Love is going to

323
00:21:26,079 --> 00:21:30,079
and we're just not being as big
a part of the offense. I'm not

324
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,319
gonna argue though, if you if
you have him over most improved player.

325
00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:40,319
Uh, this is always a tough
one. I tend to rule out second

326
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,000
year players just as a rule of
thumb. I did the same thing this

327
00:21:44,039 --> 00:21:48,839
year because I didn't want to get
into the Desmond Bane Maxi discussion exactly who

328
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,920
both would have been considered, but
that's the year that we expect to see

329
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,640
so much improvement. And it's also
hard because are we looking at players who

330
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,400
are going from actively bad to good, from good to great, from great

331
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,240
to superstars, because every degree of
improvement gets harder as you're a better player.

332
00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:11,680
So I tend to try to strike
a balance between those. But I

333
00:22:11,799 --> 00:22:18,920
found that this year's leading candidates for
me are all in that stall star ballpark.

334
00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:23,400
So I have Darius Garland at number
one. The importance of the role

335
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,480
that he's taken on for the Cleveland
Cavaliers, where this felt like it was

336
00:22:27,519 --> 00:22:32,680
probably going to be Colin Sexton's team
with him serving as a sidekick to this

337
00:22:32,759 --> 00:22:36,680
being Darius Garland's team, making life
so much easier for Evan Mobley, who

338
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,400
scores an unbelievable number of his points
off of lobs and feeds from Garland.

339
00:22:41,759 --> 00:22:45,599
Same is true of Jared Allen.
He took his game to that proverbial next

340
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,079
level as a score while also be
coming I would say unquestionably one of the

341
00:22:49,079 --> 00:22:53,400
five best passers in the NBA right
now. The creativity, the ease with

342
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,680
which he diagnoses a defensive set and
then can slip the ball right in there

343
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:02,759
before the defensive knows what it's set
is supposed to be. It is just

344
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,599
mind blowing to watch how much he's
grown. On the offensive end. We

345
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,519
haven't really seen too much of an
efficiency downtick, even though he's taken on

346
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,799
such a ridiculously more important, more
impactful role for a cav squad that has

347
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:21,599
also gone from mediocre to legitimately good
when the pieces are available. So he

348
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,200
ended up in my number one spot. Number two, I have de Jante

349
00:23:23,279 --> 00:23:29,160
Murray kind of a similar story without
the team's success aspect, where this became

350
00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:34,720
his team and the increased importance of
what he was doing along with the growth

351
00:23:34,799 --> 00:23:38,920
in so many individual pieces of his
game, where he's now this stifling defender

352
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:44,119
who can also lead an offense as
a scorer or a playmaker, and when

353
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,400
he is functioning as a scorer,
he can do it on all three levels.

354
00:23:47,839 --> 00:23:52,240
So similar story there. Number three
is the betting favorite John Moran,

355
00:23:53,079 --> 00:24:00,680
where he has become a flat out
superstar. You know, we had had

356
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,880
those debates about whether you take him
or Zion Williamson back when there was this

357
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:10,440
belief that Zion Williamson might play basketball
again, And now he's in the MVP

358
00:24:10,839 --> 00:24:15,319
conversation. He is arguably the most
exciting player in the game. He is

359
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:19,039
the Memphis offense. When he's on
the floor, he can do absolutely everything.

360
00:24:19,319 --> 00:24:25,759
The degree of difficulty of his role, the amount of scouting reports dedicated

361
00:24:25,799 --> 00:24:27,920
solely to him, they just don't
matter because he's that good. I think

362
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:33,079
you can make a case that,
even if he hasn't been the best player

363
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,400
or the clear cut MVP this season, that he's been the story of this

364
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,759
season when he's been healthy. He
has been in that central to this NBA

365
00:24:41,839 --> 00:24:45,319
season. And it's not just because
he's some novelty item. He's just gotten

366
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:52,319
that good. So he's that classic
like twenty sixteen Stephen Curry style argument where

367
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,319
he was a star and has gotten
that much better to the point that he

368
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,880
deserves to be considered for an award
that typically goes to players who are making

369
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:04,960
first leap. My ballot was eerily
similar. I have just got shocking given

370
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,720
how weird this award is. I'm
just not the Murray one because I so

371
00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:15,880
I totally understand the case for Darius
Garland. Here, I have come to

372
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,559
view the second and third year cases
is very similar to where I'll consider a

373
00:25:18,559 --> 00:25:22,160
third year, but you are probably
supposed to make your biggest improvements poteen year

374
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,720
two, a year one and year
two and then year two and year three.

375
00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:29,720
That being said, Darius Garland's on
my ballot. He checks in at

376
00:25:29,799 --> 00:25:32,400
number three. For me, I
have John Morant number two. What's interesting

377
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,240
now I'm backtracking here is John Morant
making the leap from Just All Stars Superstar

378
00:25:37,279 --> 00:25:42,039
tot MVP Kennedy. That is the
single most difficulty absolutely and by the way,

379
00:25:42,079 --> 00:25:45,759
there's been improvement, Like he's you
can't go under screens on him as

380
00:25:45,759 --> 00:25:49,359
readily. The floater game is even
more unpredictable than is now. He's a

381
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,759
great decision maker after leaving his feet
still and he got better on defense when

382
00:25:53,799 --> 00:25:56,799
he came back from his Not he's
injured now, but his first injury this

383
00:25:56,839 --> 00:26:00,799
season I think that was also was
I left me springingever ankle injury, whatever

384
00:26:00,839 --> 00:26:04,559
it was, So there was real
improvement there and the fact that it came

385
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,599
on for a team that is now
second in the Western Conference and he was

386
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,319
a huge part of that. Miles
Bridges for me was the pick when we

387
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,000
did this very early in the year. Obvious pick. The team is still

388
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,960
diversified a bunch. The efficiency makes
me a little bit unsettled that he's never

389
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,119
really come up from three points under
thirty three percent from three point range this

390
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,359
season, his two point percentage is
right and lockstep with what he was doing

391
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,680
last year. I just don't feel
him as much watching him, and when

392
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,880
you go, you've kind of seen
this progression of where as the season has

393
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,240
gone on, even more of his
baskets are coming off assists than before.

394
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,559
And that's not to say that's a
bad thing, but that became splitting hairs

395
00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:45,039
with me. Whereas so Jejanta Murray
is my number one pick. He is

396
00:26:45,079 --> 00:26:48,640
said, and he is someone now
who I think you can run the offense

397
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,519
through where it's maybe there's some inherent
limitations, but he's hitting the three ball

398
00:26:52,759 --> 00:26:55,920
and enough of a clip and I'll
call it modest volume. He has more

399
00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,720
unassisted three pointers made this year than
Julius Randall. That's a big deal,

400
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,079
Like it's that speaks to how bad
Julius Randall's been this season. But like

401
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:11,720
talking about twenty one Julius Randall,
Randall, he has his unassisted three porters.

402
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,599
I had it pulled up. It
was more than Julius randall By like

403
00:27:14,599 --> 00:27:18,119
a few baskets. That's you know, his efficiency on those, they're good

404
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,640
enough to where you're okay taking him. DeMar de Rosen is the only other

405
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:26,480
player in the NBA who has scored
more unassisted two pointers this year. That

406
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,559
is incredible. And I know there
are still gonna be limitations on defenses are

407
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,119
him. If the end result of
a possession is de Gante Murray shooting a

408
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,240
three, let alone Dejante Murray shooting
his self created three, defenses are going

409
00:27:37,279 --> 00:27:41,400
to be happy. But he is
someone who has improved his decision making when

410
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,000
he's running the offense in the half
court in transition, he is not making

411
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:48,759
a ton of turnovers relative to how
much the San Antonio Spurs just depend on

412
00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:53,440
him. And this stat blows my
mind when you look at this is throughout

413
00:27:53,519 --> 00:27:57,839
NBA history where you've had players and
these are Dejante Murray's benchmarks to post a

414
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:03,920
usage above twenty seven, a turnover
percentage below twelve, while assisting on more

415
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,119
than forty percent of their team's baskets
on the floor. It has happened four

416
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,279
times. You have Jante Murray this
year two thousand and eight, two thousand

417
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,240
nine, Tony Parker two thousand and
eight, two thousand and nine, Dwayne

418
00:28:15,279 --> 00:28:18,440
Wade and two thousand, two thousand
one Stephon Marbury. That's it. And

419
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,240
by the way, for anyone who
doesn't notice, this is a weird group

420
00:28:21,279 --> 00:28:25,039
of players. New Jersey Nets error. Stephan Marburry was ridiculously good. Though

421
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,839
that's a weird group of players.
It's an incredible the Dwayne will Oh,

422
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,920
yeah, it's a great one.
But like I don't think I've ever heard

423
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:36,839
Marbury, Wade and Parker group together. And so I look at that that

424
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,640
you know, it shows an improvement
because you're talking about someone who is dealing

425
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,200
with his the highest usage rate of
his career and then also posting the second

426
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,559
lowest turnover rate of his career.
That's a big deal. And forty point

427
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,160
five percent assist percentage. When you're
dealing with the Spurs offense, that there's

428
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,839
limitations on them too because they're they're
similar to the Grizzlies, where you don't

429
00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,039
want this team operating in the half
court. If you're the Spurs, I

430
00:29:00,039 --> 00:29:03,200
want to see them get out and
run. And they have the fastest average

431
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,799
possession time in the NBA. For
that reason, I think Jean Day Murray

432
00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:10,200
still brings it all together at a
higher peak. And this is someone who

433
00:29:10,359 --> 00:29:14,720
when you look at past players who
have won this award, Siam, Paul

434
00:29:14,759 --> 00:29:18,480
George, where it's sort of foretold
their entry into all NBA candidacy. John

435
00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:22,759
Morant was in that discussion already.
MVP is different from all MBA. I

436
00:29:22,759 --> 00:29:26,640
think Murray's about to enter it or
already has entered it, and to make

437
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,759
that jump matters more to me Morant
number two Garland three just by virtue of

438
00:29:30,799 --> 00:29:33,519
being in And you know what,
I might move Garland to two now because

439
00:29:33,519 --> 00:29:37,279
I don't know how to wait minutes
and games, But no, it's it's

440
00:29:37,359 --> 00:29:41,799
mostly just John Morant might not play
in sixty games. Missing time is big

441
00:29:41,839 --> 00:29:45,960
here, but I just still view
that the level he reached as well.

442
00:29:47,759 --> 00:29:52,359
And I think this award even sometimes
more than MVP, like I kind of

443
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,839
not ignore the playing time, but
playing time means less and most improved player

444
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:57,559
than it does for MVP. For
me, I don't know if that's right

445
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,279
or wrong. That's just how coming
at it. So I'll stick with Marian

446
00:30:00,359 --> 00:30:03,960
at two. In Garland at three
bridges. The only thing, the only

447
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,400
thing I want to push back about
what you said is with Bridges, I

448
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:12,440
feel like the not feeling him as
much, the effectiveness kind of tailing off

449
00:30:12,519 --> 00:30:17,720
was true until recently. This eight
and two run that Charlotte has been on

450
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,720
LaMelo Ball has been playing out of
his mind, but Bridges has two.

451
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,240
I think he's at like forty six
point eight percent on threes over his last

452
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,480
ten games or something in that ballpark, and all of a sudden things are

453
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,440
clicking again. That's still not a
season. Is eighty two games on?

454
00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:33,519
Oh? I know, I don't. I'm just saying like, I feel

455
00:30:33,559 --> 00:30:37,640
like he's getting back to that early
season level that had us so excited about

456
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,160
him, but there was a long
mid season malaise where he was not there.

457
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:42,839
So I don't think that he's in
the top three. Obviously, he's

458
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,960
not on mine and he's not on
yours either. But I did just want

459
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,519
to push back a little about the
not feeling him as much recently, because

460
00:30:49,559 --> 00:30:53,920
I do think that just in time
for this play in tournament, he's starting

461
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:59,079
to turn it back on the only
and I think I guess you could say

462
00:30:59,079 --> 00:31:02,799
all four of the names we entered
and are basically interchangeable if someone picked the

463
00:31:02,839 --> 00:31:07,000
mild Bridges to win it, I'm
not gonna. I'm not gonna. I

464
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,279
would push back against that now because
I still don't know what he is,

465
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:18,400
because he's book ended a lot of
better than mediocrity, but worse than stardom

466
00:31:18,599 --> 00:31:25,440
with these excellent Spurts as opposed to
Garland and Murray and Morant, where I

467
00:31:25,519 --> 00:31:29,799
know they've risen to that other level. The only other name that I think

468
00:31:29,799 --> 00:31:32,559
we need to mention here is Jordan
Pool would belong to the discussion when you

469
00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:34,799
look at what he's been able to
do offensively, even on defense, like

470
00:31:34,839 --> 00:31:40,880
when the conversation between Pool and Hero, I guess it could swing on offense

471
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,319
if you're looking at finishing and stuff
like Pools just world's better on defense than

472
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:48,359
Hero is. At this point,
He's the only other name I think I

473
00:31:48,359 --> 00:31:51,720
would mention where I think he belongs. He would be my fifth. I'm

474
00:31:51,759 --> 00:31:55,440
curious. I don't know unless you
want Bain and Maxi and yeah, Baine

475
00:31:55,519 --> 00:32:00,400
Tyres, Maxie's in there. I
was curious what you thought. Though David

476
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,519
Thorpe was on the Low Post recently
and mentioned Jason Tatum. I'm just curious

477
00:32:05,839 --> 00:32:07,799
what you're I never even thought about
him for this award. I'm willing to

478
00:32:07,799 --> 00:32:12,480
consider it. I'm just curious as
to what you think. I think there's

479
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:17,599
a difference between rising to that level
like Moran has, and I would argue

480
00:32:17,599 --> 00:32:23,279
that Moran and Tatum are at like
fairly similar levels these days, and becoming

481
00:32:23,359 --> 00:32:29,279
the player you were expected to become. I don't think we knew that Morant

482
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,079
had this level to reach. I
think we knew Tatum had this level to

483
00:32:32,119 --> 00:32:38,200
reach. It would have to hinge
on just to development as a passer.

484
00:32:38,359 --> 00:32:43,359
But I also I thought he had
made more of a jump there last year

485
00:32:43,519 --> 00:32:45,759
than people thought. And perhaps that's
why I'm not just And I know his

486
00:32:45,839 --> 00:32:49,519
efficiency is up in one on one
situations this year, but it's not like

487
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,799
mine meltingly up. So I was. I thought it was interesting and him

488
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:55,519
and Low went through just a ton
of different names, but I thought it

489
00:32:55,599 --> 00:33:00,440
was intriguing that Tatum's name popped up. Are you right to go to Rookie

490
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:06,720
of the Year? Not even remotely? We do. What's your ballot look

491
00:33:06,759 --> 00:33:10,000
like? I don't have one.
I refuse, I'll give you my ballot

492
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,119
then, No, I mean,
in all seriousness, like I wrote,

493
00:33:15,359 --> 00:33:20,119
I wrote about this in early March
at Sportscasting, where I legitimately wish the

494
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:27,359
award didn't exist this year because you
have to put down two players to boost

495
00:33:27,359 --> 00:33:30,240
the candidacy of one. And I
don't really give a shit because all three

496
00:33:30,319 --> 00:33:35,599
of these these leading candidates. No
disrespect to Franz Wagner, but he's not

497
00:33:35,599 --> 00:33:37,680
going to be in this conversation because
the other three are that good, even

498
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:43,319
though he would factor into this discussion
in a normal season, and the same

499
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,119
might be true for Herb Jones,
who's just been phenomenal on defense. But

500
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:51,240
these three players are all so clearly
going to be mega stars that I hate

501
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,680
that we have to pick between them, and I feel like my case changes

502
00:33:55,160 --> 00:34:00,279
on a daily basis, so it's
impossible. I have Dotty Barnes number one

503
00:34:00,599 --> 00:34:06,759
for the full season that he's put
together and the ascension during the second half

504
00:34:06,799 --> 00:34:10,840
of the season while filling such a
key two way role for what's become the

505
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:17,360
best of these teams. I have
Evan Mobley second. He might have remained

506
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:23,639
in my number one spot had he
not been injured, but it's tough to

507
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:29,320
make the case for him over Barnes
right now without the volume argument because we're

508
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,639
seeing the defense slip a little bit
without Jared Allen. We're seeing that he

509
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,280
is ultimately a little bit more reliant
on the setup passes from Darius Garland,

510
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,920
whereas Barnes is creating more of his
own offense. And then I have Kid

511
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:45,880
cunning Him at three. But he's
also been i would say easily the most

512
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:51,480
impressive of the three in recent weeks, and I now feel pretty strongly that

513
00:34:51,519 --> 00:34:53,280
he's going to have the best career
of the three, even if all three

514
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:57,800
of them could win an MVP one
day. So I have Kid Cunningham third,

515
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,519
and I hate myself for doing it, because there a very legitimate argument

516
00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:05,039
that he could be number one based
on the level to which he's risen for

517
00:35:05,159 --> 00:35:08,440
a shockingly competitive Detroit Pistons team during
the second half of the season that he

518
00:35:08,559 --> 00:35:13,599
is so clearly leading. I view
this as a season long award where you

519
00:35:13,639 --> 00:35:16,119
have to weigh in that he missed
time at the beginning of the year with

520
00:35:16,159 --> 00:35:21,519
an injury, that he was ineffective
in the first spurt before he started to

521
00:35:21,519 --> 00:35:24,239
get his feet wet in the NBA
and just took off. So, because

522
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,639
this is an award that I look
at in totally and not just a level

523
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:30,559
reach at the end of the season, which is so often lost when you

524
00:35:30,559 --> 00:35:35,039
just list out the ballot. I
can't have him higher than three, even

525
00:35:35,079 --> 00:35:38,000
if he is now the first year
player who I would back most vociferously.

526
00:35:39,199 --> 00:35:44,599
And so we had some pushback when
we had the who He Got pod between

527
00:35:44,599 --> 00:35:49,119
these three players specifically, which was
really just auguring what we're talking about right

528
00:35:49,119 --> 00:35:52,960
now, that Kage shouldn't be in
the discussion with them. It was a

529
00:35:53,079 --> 00:35:57,360
lazily thought out point in my opinion, because if you're stopping, if you

530
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,239
won't listen to the rest of the
pod, because we were having a bait

531
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,679
between Kade, Scottie and Mowbley,
like you don't even think Kate belongs in

532
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:07,599
the discussion, You're the one who's
wrong there. And when you look at

533
00:36:07,639 --> 00:36:12,679
true usage percentage for these guys or
total offensive load percentage, which is just

534
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,920
a better way per b ball Index
and then Seth part now of the Athletic

535
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,280
came up with true usage percentage.
It's just a better way of contextualizing and

536
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:24,800
portraying how how important or how how
large the share of the offense is that

537
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:30,559
a player is responsible for when he's
on the court, Kate Cunningham blows Scotty

538
00:36:30,639 --> 00:36:34,079
Barnes and Evin Mowbli out of the
water in this he is so he is

539
00:36:34,119 --> 00:36:37,920
the all everything to Detroit eesventually on
offense, where Barnes has a has I

540
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:42,280
think the best collection of talent around
him out of these three. That's not

541
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,880
something you used to chop him down. But that's what you have to consider

542
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,639
when evaluating Kate Cunningham is he hasn't
had the most efficient season, but the

543
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,599
level of control he has on the
game and how well he's responded functionally when

544
00:36:53,599 --> 00:36:59,119
you watch him play to being saddled
with that much responsibility and such, what

545
00:36:59,119 --> 00:37:02,239
I would argue is the most difficult
offensive role of any rookie this season.

546
00:37:02,559 --> 00:37:06,159
That matters, And so he's number
three for me. The playing time came

547
00:37:06,199 --> 00:37:08,559
in there, I would push back
if someone putting him number one, because

548
00:37:08,599 --> 00:37:13,599
I do think that matters. I
have Mobley number two and Barnes one.

549
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,760
I think the Mobley again, I
do think the Mobley injury sort of does

550
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,360
swing this in barnes favor a little
bit because it's going to give him the

551
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,000
sample size edge. But when you
start to look at the advanced metrics,

552
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:30,159
Barnes leads it in vorp, he
leads in total point nbama's total points added,

553
00:37:30,639 --> 00:37:34,559
he doesn't. He's ahead of every
of these two in raptor. When

554
00:37:34,559 --> 00:37:38,199
you look at luck adjusted regular adjusted
plus minus, Mobley is going to win

555
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:43,719
that category out of these three.
He also wins in lebron. But Barnes

556
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,320
this is this was the difference maker
for me, whether you like it or

557
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:51,320
not. He has the more He's
matched up with more difficult assignments on offense.

558
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,159
I think that's because Mobley is more
of like a Yannis, but even

559
00:37:54,199 --> 00:37:57,840
more so on the perimeter. So
I'm not trying to compare the two.

560
00:37:58,519 --> 00:38:00,360
But then you look at offense and
like at this point in this season,

561
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:05,679
we've seen Toronto run their crunch time
unit through Scottie Barnes at points. Maybe

562
00:38:05,679 --> 00:38:08,639
they're forcing it. That's part of
the development and opportunity. He's responded well.

563
00:38:09,159 --> 00:38:13,000
When you combine that with him just
having a higher true usage in total

564
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,000
offensive load percentage than Mobli in addition
to everything else he's done. If you're

565
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:19,639
splitting hairs, that's where I'm going
to start to split hairs. I think

566
00:38:19,639 --> 00:38:23,239
Scotty Barnes's roll over all this season
has been more difficult than Mobley's, and

567
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,639
not only has he played more,
but he's helped elevate a playoff team that

568
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,800
is better than Cleveland right now.
They're comparable when they're both at at full

569
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:37,039
strength. So that's what I went
with. But it is splitting already like

570
00:38:37,119 --> 00:38:40,079
thrice split hairs. And if you
picked Mobli just because I do think he's

571
00:38:40,119 --> 00:38:44,800
a transcendent defensive talent in a way
that I don't know Barnes will ever get

572
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:46,320
there, I value more what Barnes
is going to do away from the ball.

573
00:38:46,599 --> 00:38:52,079
I value every single thing ever that
Evan Mobley is going to do on

574
00:38:52,199 --> 00:38:54,440
defense. So it is close,
but I think just the combination of the

575
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:59,639
playing time and plus Barnes is winning
enough of the advanced metrics, has a

576
00:38:59,639 --> 00:39:02,199
difficult hold enough offensive role and even
difficult enough defensive role when you just look

577
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:07,039
at how much he's been moved around
in Toronto, and yeah, there's sort

578
00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:09,880
of the the madness of Nick Nurse
take in there, where he just is

579
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:14,280
so brazen with some of the matchss
he throws out there. But with Scotty

580
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,000
specifically, in other players, there's
the level of it's also because we can

581
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:22,840
or because we should, and Scotti
fits under that umbrella more than the egregiousness

582
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,079
of Nick Nurse umbrella. Did I
get worked up enough for that one?

583
00:39:27,599 --> 00:39:31,880
I think I'm I'm just like flustered
after going through Rookie of the Years possible.

584
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,719
This next one, though, was
the most difficult one for me,

585
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:37,679
and it was it was even more
difficult than Rookie the Year. I don't

586
00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:42,599
I don't think I feel as passionately
about this one because there isn't that same

587
00:39:42,679 --> 00:39:45,880
Like, all three of these guys
are going to have just ridiculous, jaw

588
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:51,159
dropping careers, and so it feels
like unnecessary disrespect to have Kid Cunningham at

589
00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,440
number three in Rookie of the Year, even if it's justified. But yeah,

590
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,719
I mean this one, this one
was so difficult because of the injuries,

591
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,320
because they're isn't a clear front runner
or even set of front runners this

592
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:08,400
year, So like you can easily
consider janism Dakumpo for the free safety role

593
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:13,960
that he fills for the Milwaukee Bucks, Jaren Jackson Junior for his status as

594
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,400
a defensive centerpiece for the Memphis Prizzlies. I had Robert Williams the third in

595
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,239
my number one spot, and I
think that case gets a little bit harder

596
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:29,199
to make now that he's out for
what four to six weeks. But on

597
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:32,519
the flip side, the Celtics have
lost two straight games since that happened.

598
00:40:32,559 --> 00:40:38,119
There're seven and nine sit without him
in the lineup this season and just clearly

599
00:40:38,159 --> 00:40:42,519
aren't the same defensive powerhouse without him
on the floor. And I want to

600
00:40:42,519 --> 00:40:50,119
look past the numbers here, which
are overwhelmingly positive for him, partially because

601
00:40:50,159 --> 00:40:54,320
defense is so hard to quantify,
but also because I think we often see

602
00:40:54,360 --> 00:41:02,000
players who become schemes unto themselves.
Riddy Gobert is probably the most prominent example

603
00:41:02,519 --> 00:41:09,199
in the last few years within the
NBA. But Williams had such a ridiculously

604
00:41:10,119 --> 00:41:16,760
good skill set as both a primary
rim protector and a smothering help defender who

605
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:23,079
can just kind of warp into whatever
position he needs to be that Emaudoka built

606
00:41:23,199 --> 00:41:28,880
a unique scheme to maximize his abilities, and this kind of ties in with

607
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:32,920
my desire to have him in the
Coach of the Year race, because by

608
00:41:34,199 --> 00:41:40,400
having the Celtics employ these unorthodox switching
schemes, he was showing just how important

609
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:45,280
Robert Williams is to this defense.
There are so many other good pieces.

610
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,800
I actually have Marcus Smart third on
my ballot, as weird as it is

611
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:52,960
to have two players from the same
team on the same ballot, because Smart

612
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:58,039
key's everything that they do on the
perimeter with that switching, because he's impervious

613
00:41:58,119 --> 00:42:01,760
to match up difficulty. But it
was designed in a way that you can

614
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:07,400
make the most of Williams's otherworldly help
defense skills, and it has resulted in

615
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:13,960
a defense that was so far and
away the best unit in basketball. I

616
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:17,679
would say on either end of the
floor for half of the season, the

617
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:22,280
most important half at the second after
the break, and all of that until

618
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,679
he did go down. I have
Bambi, a bio sandwiched between the two

619
00:42:25,679 --> 00:42:30,039
Celtics, again, another guy who
spent a lot of time injured, but

620
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:35,039
is just so impactful because of the
versatility and his ability to bring everything together

621
00:42:35,199 --> 00:42:39,199
on the defensive end for Spolstra that
I just can't stop myself from wanting to

622
00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:45,199
give so much credit to this pair
of Celtics defenders that I legitimately considered having

623
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:50,840
Williams first and Smart second. So
your ballot is Williams at a bio and

624
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,280
then Smart. Okay, we had
drastically different ballots here. I did not

625
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:58,039
have either of the Celtics on my
ballot, and I know Boston now is

626
00:42:58,079 --> 00:43:02,039
the best defens in the NBA.
Very much seems like a success by committee

627
00:43:02,159 --> 00:43:07,239
example, and I'm not trying to
detract from what either of them have done.

628
00:43:07,519 --> 00:43:10,000
I don't think what Robert Williams is
allowed to do on defensive works as

629
00:43:10,039 --> 00:43:15,360
well without having a blanket in Marcus
Smart, who can defend one through four.

630
00:43:15,679 --> 00:43:19,280
I don't think it works as well
without having two really good away from

631
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,280
the ball defenders and Tatum and Brown. I don't think it works as well

632
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:24,440
if you don't have Al Horford as
a luxury in certain lineups as well,

633
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:28,840
and when so much of what he
does is predicated on being sort of a

634
00:43:29,079 --> 00:43:34,239
read and react help rim protector,
the case is diluted a little bit.

635
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:38,119
For me, I think more so
I would I would argue the opposite though,

636
00:43:38,199 --> 00:43:44,559
because much like with most improved player, where it's difficult to go from

637
00:43:44,559 --> 00:43:46,800
good to great, but it's even
harder to go from great to otherworldly,

638
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:52,239
it was an approach by committee,
and Smart isn't a successful that Williams behind

639
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:59,119
him and vice versa. But to
go from otherworldly to whatever this Celtics defense

640
00:43:59,559 --> 00:44:02,800
had been in when operating at peak
powers, I think that speaks to just

641
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:07,119
how unique and impactful those skill sets
were, even if they had to operate

642
00:44:07,159 --> 00:44:12,800
in conjunction with each other. But
I totally get your argument too, and

643
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,880
I think that you can make a
solid case for like seven people in this

644
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:20,199
award, right and look they you
look at the individual defensive numbers, and

645
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:23,679
like when Williams plays without Marcus Smart, like the Celtics defense is still verging

646
00:44:23,679 --> 00:44:27,039
on elite, and so I do
think he's a really good defender. How

647
00:44:27,039 --> 00:44:29,800
do you also reconcile the fact that
now he's going to miss time and he's

648
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,039
not even as of right now,
he's not the most played big on the

649
00:44:32,119 --> 00:44:36,320
roster, like doct belongs to Al
Horford, and so I don't want to

650
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:38,840
say everything around him as a safety
net, I would argue that Boston's defense

651
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:44,800
is I think Marcus Smarts a more
important defender to Boston than Robert Williams.

652
00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:49,039
That's just hands down for me,
And that's really just you watch them and

653
00:44:49,079 --> 00:44:51,880
that's how you feel. And I
know Robert Williams has been a monster,

654
00:44:52,199 --> 00:44:54,480
and I think because you have so
many talented defenders for me, it diluted

655
00:44:54,679 --> 00:44:58,400
their case. And so I'm going
to go in reverse order here. I

656
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,159
didn't have bam At a bio on
here either. Maybe I'm waiting playing time

657
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:05,159
a little bit too much there.
I know he's picked up since he's returned

658
00:45:05,199 --> 00:45:07,199
from his own injury. The stuff
he can do on defense is incredible.

659
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,559
I don't know if I'm thinking him
because he doesn't I feel like he doesn't

660
00:45:09,559 --> 00:45:14,559
do some of the traditional big man
stuff as well enough to qualify, but

661
00:45:14,599 --> 00:45:16,599
like he's even someone that you trust
if you need him to do what Rob

662
00:45:16,639 --> 00:45:20,880
Williams a third does. Bam Adebayo
is going to do it better than Robert

663
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:22,960
Williams a third is sort of how
I look at it, And maybe not

664
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,320
so much of the help in protection. But you're talking about having to defend

665
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:29,000
away from the basket. You don't
have a case or Robert Williams there.

666
00:45:29,039 --> 00:45:30,519
You're shaking your head, but there's
no case. No, there's not.

667
00:45:30,639 --> 00:45:36,480
But Boster has also developed a scheme
that it doesn't need to happen, And

668
00:45:36,639 --> 00:45:38,119
so why are you giving Robert Williams
a third defensive Player of the Year.

669
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:42,760
So you're saying it's more scheme based. Is my point. Boston is a

670
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,719
tricky one because everything has worked together
to create this. I don't think that

671
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:52,760
if you have a more traditional defensive
scheme that Williams suddenly becomes a non DPOY

672
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:55,239
candidate. He's probably not the leading
one because he isn't so fully maximized,

673
00:45:55,519 --> 00:46:00,840
but his ability to do what no
one else can really do allowed them to

674
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:05,159
put this scheme into place. It's
the chicken and the egg argument. Yeah,

675
00:46:05,199 --> 00:46:07,880
I guess that's just interesting to say
that you think that Robert Lillams the

676
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:09,719
Third is already better defensively than bam
Meta Bio. I just I didn't say

677
00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:14,199
that. You're shaking your head when
I'm talking about bam at a bio versus

678
00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:16,079
Robert Williams the Third. So what
are you saying then, I'm shaking your

679
00:46:16,079 --> 00:46:20,320
head when you say bam Aldabio can
do everything Robert Williams does better. I

680
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:23,519
said most things, like I said, I probably trust Robert will then most

681
00:46:23,519 --> 00:46:29,599
things whatever to go to the tape. Then, so I have Now I'm

682
00:46:29,599 --> 00:46:32,760
all thrown after that, I have
I do not have either of those guys

683
00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:37,360
abouts. My belt is actually I
have Yannest third. I know he has

684
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:39,320
a safety net and Drew Holiday that
allows him to do certain things that he

685
00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:43,239
wouldn't otherwise. The Bucks defense actually
been better when you honest plays without true

686
00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:46,920
Holiday his positional maaluability even when the
matchup data is not going to support versatility.

687
00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:50,960
This is someone who has had to
play the five for long stretches in

688
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:53,920
Milwaukee's defense is held up. He
can still party, crash literally everything away

689
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:59,039
from the ball still sort of the
basis or what everything Milwaukee's able to do.

690
00:46:59,079 --> 00:47:00,960
Their defense has not been great,
but it's been great when he's on

691
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:05,719
the floor and including during certain of
his solo minutes there. So he came

692
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:07,960
in at number three for me.
Rudy Gobert was number two. He is

693
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:12,559
still just the foundation of everything Utah
is doing. They are very clearly an

694
00:47:12,599 --> 00:47:15,559
elite defensive team when he's on the
court. I do wonder if he should

695
00:47:15,559 --> 00:47:20,599
be penalized because he's not able to
uplift their transition defense. Then again,

696
00:47:20,599 --> 00:47:24,480
that's not really his responsibility to do
that, and they seem like, you

697
00:47:24,519 --> 00:47:28,440
know, how much do you discredit
some of the moments that he's on the

698
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:32,000
court when it's really just dribble penetration
gets through Utah's point of attack or their

699
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:35,800
perimeter in general, because there's just
no one who can contain it. There's

700
00:47:36,199 --> 00:47:38,840
Royce O'Neill, and that's it,
at least on a semi consistent basis.

701
00:47:39,119 --> 00:47:42,679
So that was tough. But when
you look at and because both Utah and

702
00:47:42,719 --> 00:47:45,360
Milwaukee are not great defensive teams overall
this season, and I think the award

703
00:47:45,599 --> 00:47:50,159
normally does go to great defensive teams, I think it makes their actual cases

704
00:47:50,159 --> 00:47:52,119
a little bit more flimsier when I
look at what they're doing on the floor

705
00:47:52,159 --> 00:47:57,320
and the type of impact they have, and Rudy Gobert specifically, that is

706
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:01,880
someone who's manipulating every single, almost
every single aspect of the opposing offense while

707
00:48:02,159 --> 00:48:07,840
doing it more alone than I think
anyone on this list that we've discussed to

708
00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:10,679
this point. My actual pick,
and I thought a lot about this,

709
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,880
is Michael Bridges had a feeling that's
where you're going. Phoenix is second in

710
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,199
points a lot pro possession overall,
and where a lot of people are gonna

711
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,880
go off is that the Suns are
actually better defensively when Michael Bridges off the

712
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:29,199
court, the assignments that he is
tackling no One we have discussed guards number

713
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:32,400
one options more often. He grades
out as having perby Ball Index's highest matchup

714
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:36,880
difficulty of anyone on this list.
He's actually in the top ten of both

715
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:42,119
matchup difficulty and the time spent guarding
the number one option among everyone who's played

716
00:48:42,119 --> 00:48:44,519
at least fifteen undred minutes this season. He's just in the top ten of

717
00:48:44,559 --> 00:48:49,039
those categories altogether. I think you
also look at someone who blends the off

718
00:48:49,039 --> 00:48:52,840
ball and the on ball like you're
gonna put him on basically every single opponent's

719
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:54,920
best player, unless that best player
is a big. Isn't going to defend

720
00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:59,639
power forward as much as Marcus Smart, but he's equally capable of going after

721
00:48:59,719 --> 00:49:05,480
one and twos and threes. He's
to me one of the most let's say

722
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:09,039
throw a number on at five or
seven most impactful transition defenders in the NBA.

723
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:14,280
The way that he can change plays
when he's forced to guard the ball

724
00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:17,280
handler after screens, or if you
look when we talk about perimeter players being

725
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:21,119
able to defend both sides of the
pick and roll. Whenever we talk about

726
00:49:21,119 --> 00:49:23,280
that I feel like we're focusing on
bigs who doesn't get burned in those situations

727
00:49:23,599 --> 00:49:27,079
you. I think one of the
most recent examples, like McCall bridges,

728
00:49:27,039 --> 00:49:30,760
is guarding Joel Embiid in pick and
rolls against Philly. At certain points,

729
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,800
He's still able to play both sides
of that pick and roll on the same

730
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:37,320
possession, moving back and forth.
It is so hard to make entry passes

731
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:40,719
pick and roll passes with him just
being there. I already mentioned the transition

732
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:45,519
stuff, and you just sort of
combine that with the night to night workload

733
00:49:45,559 --> 00:49:49,119
that he has. He's played in
every single game since he's entered the NBA.

734
00:49:49,159 --> 00:49:53,039
This is someone who's literally doing it
every single night. So I understand

735
00:49:53,079 --> 00:49:58,639
there's more nuance and haziness to this
award, and there are people who are

736
00:49:58,639 --> 00:50:00,760
more qualified to talk about than I
am. I don't think you're wrong for

737
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:05,360
putting the Celtics on this, Marcus
Smart, I have him at number four

738
00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:07,440
right now. Draymond would have been
my clear number one if he's only played

739
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:12,719
He's not even gonna play fifty games
this year. I also think bam Adebio

740
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:15,199
deserves non mention. Also shout out
Dorrian Fitny Smith, who's gonna deserve at

741
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:20,519
least like tangential mentions here as well. I would not have picked Robert Williams

742
00:50:20,559 --> 00:50:22,559
a third. Maybe I'm too low
on him. He's like, I think

743
00:50:22,559 --> 00:50:27,639
he's an egregious winner if I'm being
honest, But I don't like everybody.

744
00:50:27,679 --> 00:50:30,079
He said, like, I totally
get it. This was hard, and

745
00:50:30,199 --> 00:50:34,039
I know that we only have two
non bigs in the last twenty five years

746
00:50:34,039 --> 00:50:37,400
that have won this award, and
I know that the numbers do matter,

747
00:50:37,559 --> 00:50:39,639
and like, when you look at
the advanced metrics, you're gonna come back

748
00:50:39,679 --> 00:50:45,639
with Gobert, Jannis or Draymond.
You're gonna go back with those three plus

749
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:47,639
Robert Williams a third is sprinkled in
some of the advanced numbers. Really love

750
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:52,599
him even in bed and then even
smart sometimes before Michael Bridges when you look

751
00:50:52,599 --> 00:50:57,079
at what he does and how good
Phoenix is defensively, and yes he has

752
00:50:57,159 --> 00:50:59,559
Chris Paul by him, he has
DeAndre and by him, but he makes

753
00:50:59,559 --> 00:51:02,000
a lot of He ties so much
of these different things together, and he's

754
00:51:02,039 --> 00:51:07,239
a huge reason why you're also able
to navigate certain stretches without key players.

755
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:09,679
So it's Michael Bridges for me,
I guess I could change that by the

756
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:14,599
end of the year. That was
the single toughest choice though, and single

757
00:51:14,639 --> 00:51:20,400
toughest Yeah, I think so too, without Draymond Green included, just because

758
00:51:20,599 --> 00:51:24,880
he hasn't played enough. I think
that there are really like seven reasonable choices,

759
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:29,360
the three I mentioned, the three
you mentioned, and then Jaren Jackson

760
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:32,800
Jr. And I don't care that
much what order you put them in,

761
00:51:34,079 --> 00:51:38,599
because ultimately, like I know,
it seems like it's disrespect to leave someone

762
00:51:38,639 --> 00:51:44,039
off your ballot. Entirely to me, the gap between one and seven here

763
00:51:44,519 --> 00:51:47,840
is pretty small, like smaller than
we typically see from two to three in

764
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:52,559
most years. I think in Defensive
Player of the Year you almost rely on

765
00:51:52,639 --> 00:51:55,440
there being a consensus for most people. Yeah, just because so much of

766
00:51:55,480 --> 00:52:00,039
defense is narrative based too, Because
we don't know all the schemes and we

767
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:04,480
don't know if we're watching a game, it's pretty easy to tell when someone

768
00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:07,719
messes up on offense if there's a
breakdown on defense, Like you and I

769
00:52:07,800 --> 00:52:10,880
are not the exes and those experts
who are going to be able to tell

770
00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:15,079
you, like, yep, that's
on that guy. In some cases,

771
00:52:15,119 --> 00:52:17,880
sure, but not every time,
right, And that's what it makes it

772
00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:21,280
tough for me. But I think
it's tough in general even if you are

773
00:52:21,519 --> 00:52:25,039
that person, because even with offense, there's numbers and really granular data that

774
00:52:25,039 --> 00:52:30,360
can back up what you're seeing or
inform how you're watching something. It just

775
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:32,400
doesn't the numbers aren't going to do
that on defense, and it's why I

776
00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:36,559
feel I do feel a little uncomfortable
picking Michael Bridges when you're looking at beyond

777
00:52:36,599 --> 00:52:38,719
and all stuff. We also this
is probably the situation where you need to

778
00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:44,320
rise above it, and so it's
just it's I'm totally with you this,

779
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:45,840
this was the time, and that's
that's why I'm okay with you saying that

780
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:49,880
you feel Williams is an egregious winner
choice, and I'm good with that.

781
00:52:49,880 --> 00:52:52,199
That's not going to change my mind
here, just because I have not watched

782
00:52:52,239 --> 00:52:58,000
a team this season and felt like
one player was more integral to a scheme

783
00:52:58,320 --> 00:53:04,679
than he was, and that's happens
to be except suffocating Except what except Draymond

784
00:53:04,679 --> 00:53:07,440
I'm assuming, yeah, I mean
over a large enough sample, but that

785
00:53:07,519 --> 00:53:10,880
scheme happens to be the most stifling
one in the NBA. This season,

786
00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:15,400
so those two aligned for me,
and my perception of defense is going to

787
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:17,440
be different than your perception. We
can't lean on the numbers as much.

788
00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:22,280
So if you had said that my
MVP choice, my Rookie of the Year

789
00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:23,760
choice, my six Man of Year
choice is an egregious winner, that's going

790
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,719
to bother me a little bit because
I value your opinion. I still value

791
00:53:27,719 --> 00:53:30,000
your opinion here, but it's not
going to bother me as much. And

792
00:53:30,039 --> 00:53:32,400
in a lot of ways, I'm
glad that we deviated from each other on

793
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:37,639
this one because we did not share
these ballots except for Executive of the Year

794
00:53:37,679 --> 00:53:40,000
before we started recording, and we've
been in lockstep through and through. It's

795
00:53:40,039 --> 00:53:43,239
interesting that you say that about Rob
Williams a third though, because like,

796
00:53:43,519 --> 00:53:45,840
I would get that feeling from Gobert
way before Rob Williams a third. I

797
00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:50,719
even get maybe I'm just maybe I'm
just so used to that with Gobert.

798
00:53:51,039 --> 00:53:55,199
And the other thing is, like
I do think Gobert is probably more irreplaceable

799
00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:58,840
to what the Jazz are doing because
there's no one else, but like mchaal,

800
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:02,760
Bridges has a a trickle down effect
that makes everyone better, which is,

801
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:05,760
you know, if you're gonna have
Gobert or eight and calling out your

802
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:07,760
coverages. I actually the article from
I think it was Tim Bontemps where you

803
00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:12,480
had Gobert and be talking about big
men directing coverages. We probably don't consider

804
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,320
that enough. And I know Micaal
Bridges isn't necessarily doing that, but the

805
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:19,599
stuff he's able to do on defense, it changes the way that Chris Paul

806
00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,639
can operate, and even eight and
can operate, whereas with eight and and

807
00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:25,480
Gobert, I don't know if it's
having that same level of trickle down to

808
00:54:25,639 --> 00:54:30,480
the perimeter players weren't. Utah's very
specifically like we need to funnel guys towards

809
00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:32,880
because there's just no other option,
and there's only that's not Gobert's fault.

810
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:36,400
There's only so much he can do
from there. And I think people will

811
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:40,599
generally argue that big men can are
covering more positions and responsible for more things

812
00:54:40,599 --> 00:54:45,800
than perimeter guys. I don't disagree. Michael Bridges just feels like one of

813
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:50,599
the exceptions this year because it's not. I just don't feel like he receives

814
00:54:50,719 --> 00:54:53,960
enough credit for being an all around
guy where I feel like the narrative or

815
00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:58,159
the spin was he's so good away
from the ball. I've always thought he's

816
00:54:58,199 --> 00:55:00,119
been a lot better off the ball
than average guys. The stuff he does

817
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:04,360
off the ball is incredible, but
the ability to toggle between both on the

818
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:08,639
same possessions and then just he can
disrupt transition opportunities, prevent them all together.

819
00:55:09,119 --> 00:55:13,960
Teams when Michael Bridges are on the
floor get out and transition so much

820
00:55:14,039 --> 00:55:19,159
less with against Phoenix, and he's
a big reason why. Whether it's because

821
00:55:19,159 --> 00:55:22,119
he's ending possessions were sort of erasing
them before they start, And I don't

822
00:55:22,159 --> 00:55:25,599
know if when people listen if they're
just gonna strongly disagree. This was just

823
00:55:25,639 --> 00:55:29,840
so tough this year, which I
think is gonna make for just interesting year

824
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:34,559
end summaries. The MVP Award,
though, was similarly difficult for me.

825
00:55:34,719 --> 00:55:37,639
After the number one number one spot, I kind of want to just go

826
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:40,719
through my top five with no commentary, let you do the same, and

827
00:55:40,719 --> 00:55:45,000
then see where we don't align,
in part because this is the one that

828
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:47,840
we've been talking about all year,
and like, I have a little discussion

829
00:55:47,880 --> 00:55:52,119
fatigue on MVP by this point of
the season because so many conversations are centered

830
00:55:52,119 --> 00:55:57,039
around thee. I'm almost wandering to
do we go through the top three because

831
00:55:57,079 --> 00:56:00,599
we know we're gonna have the same
top three because those three that have been

832
00:56:00,599 --> 00:56:06,320
pitted against each other unless you went
I did not go rogue. Yeah,

833
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:07,719
so who what were one, two, and three? Yeah? So Trey

834
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:14,639
Young and number one? Okay,
obviously obviously no I My number one remains

835
00:56:14,719 --> 00:56:17,960
Nicolo, number two remains Joel Embiid, and number three remains Jannis. On

836
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,480
the cupo A number four, Devin
Booker has risen into that spot for me,

837
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:29,280
and five is Lucadantech. We had
the exact same bat cool over.

838
00:56:29,599 --> 00:56:32,480
We didn't. Nicole Loki was one, Jannis is two, and Beat is

839
00:56:32,519 --> 00:56:36,920
three. I was really close to
making that happen too. Jan was five.

840
00:56:37,159 --> 00:56:40,000
A steph. I really I had
him in my last MBP ladder.

841
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:45,039
I had him fourth the time that
he's gonna miss. That's the thing that

842
00:56:45,119 --> 00:56:49,559
swung me, maybe more than it
should, because I think people are continuing

843
00:56:49,599 --> 00:56:52,320
to underestimate his importance somehow, even
when shots aren't falling and we're sort of

844
00:56:52,360 --> 00:56:58,280
seeing how much the like him being
absent is almost boosted his MVP case.

845
00:56:58,320 --> 00:57:00,199
To me. But if I'm not
gonna have John Morant in here because of

846
00:57:00,199 --> 00:57:02,599
the time that he's gonna end up
missing. Curry has played more minutes than

847
00:57:02,639 --> 00:57:06,760
Job. I want to make that
clear exactly. But when Luke is gonna

848
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:08,079
wind up playing more minute, everyone
on this thiss is gonna wind to play

849
00:57:08,119 --> 00:57:10,840
more minutes and stuff. By the
end of the year, I had step

850
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:15,119
six, but that's that was what
was tough. So let's start at the

851
00:57:15,159 --> 00:57:21,559
top here with the Yogis Giannis and
Biad discussion. I'm done with I've always

852
00:57:21,599 --> 00:57:23,480
been done. But like we gotta
the team record stuff like it. It

853
00:57:23,519 --> 00:57:29,000
doesn't fucking matter like the Nuggets are
fifteen games much much less the where you

854
00:57:29,039 --> 00:57:32,519
sit in your in the seating in
your conference. Right and by the way,

855
00:57:32,559 --> 00:57:36,760
the Nuggets are like the Nuggets.
This is how ridiculous is the Nuggets

856
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:39,079
winning percentage is fifty nine point seven. If you were problem with him winning

857
00:57:39,119 --> 00:57:44,559
over a bead with six sixty point
five, they have one few. It's

858
00:57:44,599 --> 00:57:46,639
one loss that's separating them right now. And that's in part because Philly is

859
00:57:46,639 --> 00:57:51,559
if this recording has played fewer games. So I just I can't get there

860
00:57:51,599 --> 00:57:54,039
as the team record. I saw
this beyond that I like looking at SRS

861
00:57:54,119 --> 00:57:59,840
simple Rating system, which weighs margin
of victory and strength of schedule more anyway,

862
00:58:00,119 --> 00:58:04,639
And Denver is eleventh at two point
three six, Philly is thirteenth at

863
00:58:04,639 --> 00:58:08,840
two point two seven, Milwaukee seventh
at three point four four. So Yogas

864
00:58:08,840 --> 00:58:15,480
doesn't even even really have the worst
team argument to me, because not every

865
00:58:15,519 --> 00:58:19,679
win and not every loss is the
same, and it's just like he checks

866
00:58:19,760 --> 00:58:22,840
every box. Like he's gotten better
on defense this year, he's still one

867
00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:27,199
of the most clutch scores when you
look at late in the shot clock,

868
00:58:27,280 --> 00:58:30,199
even specifically some of the most efficient
scores, Like he's shooting I think,

869
00:58:30,199 --> 00:58:34,960
better than seventy percent on drives this
year, which incredible because he's not finishing

870
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:38,079
his drives all the time at the
rim. His passing just absolutely absurd.

871
00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:44,519
He is And look, he's missing
two major pieces to the Nuggets. And

872
00:58:44,559 --> 00:58:46,599
I saw this going around on Twitter
the other day. It's different situations,

873
00:58:46,599 --> 00:58:51,639
but the fact that the Nuggets are
outscoring teams by more points per one hundred

874
00:58:51,639 --> 00:58:53,719
possessions with Yokas on the floor than
the Bucks are doing so with Jannis,

875
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:58,360
that's actually, like, as an
anecdote, impressive to me, it's not

876
00:58:58,440 --> 00:59:01,599
the end all bill case, but
he had a harder time deciding between Embiad

877
00:59:01,679 --> 00:59:05,639
and Yannis because I can't come there
with you. I don't know that I

878
00:59:05,639 --> 00:59:10,079
can actually come up with a case
for having Himbiad and Yannis over Yoki unless

879
00:59:10,119 --> 00:59:15,280
it's because of the impacts they have
on defense, and Yanni specifically would be

880
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:17,440
my pick there if, like,
if that's the route, I kind of

881
00:59:17,519 --> 00:59:22,159
get that a little bit. But
even then, like Yoki's defensive performance has

882
00:59:22,199 --> 00:59:27,840
been so understated in a lot of
conversations. He's not a DPOY candidate,

883
00:59:28,280 --> 00:59:34,239
but when the defensive factor in the
defensive rebounding, the game saving blocks the

884
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:37,000
importance within the scheme, like he's
been a very good defender. I believe

885
00:59:37,039 --> 00:59:43,119
he's actually second in defensive raptor per
five thirty eighth this season. Yeah,

886
00:59:43,159 --> 00:59:49,440
it's just and he's dominating basically every
single Ketchel metric that hasn't really happened except

887
00:59:49,480 --> 00:59:52,519
for Nicole Yoka, like that,
actually that's nothing that hasn't really happened that

888
00:59:52,599 --> 00:59:54,559
tends to happen for a reason,
is my point. And like with Russell

889
00:59:54,559 --> 01:00:00,840
Westbrook when he broke box plus minus
and therefore broke TPA during the sixteen seventeen

890
01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:07,199
season. He wasn't dominating every single
one like yokiches this year, and those,

891
01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:12,760
like all of the advanced catch all
metrics, they have different shortcomings.

892
01:00:13,079 --> 01:00:16,679
So when you're impervious to any of
those shortcomings, that says something. And

893
01:00:16,719 --> 01:00:20,800
look, there was a chance that
the Nuggets are like forget about the Seas,

894
01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:23,159
but like that Thunder team didn't win
fifty games, there are twelve games

895
01:00:23,239 --> 01:00:27,920
under five hundred. There's Nugets team
was probably gonna win fifty games while missing

896
01:00:28,159 --> 01:00:30,800
for basically the entire season their second
and third best players. I don't think

897
01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:37,199
that's a reason time you didn't dismissed
that much time. What's that dismissed that

898
01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:40,760
much time? And that's not to
detract or take away, like you know,

899
01:00:40,840 --> 01:00:45,880
to depreciate the case of Jannie or
Joel and Bad who didn't have just

900
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:50,159
had the Ben Simmons empty spot in
the rotation. And I don't think ironically,

901
01:00:50,159 --> 01:00:52,320
I don't think James Barn's arrivals really
hurt Joel and Bad's case at all.

902
01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:54,679
I thought they would just be always
teammate is too good, and that

903
01:00:54,719 --> 01:00:59,960
has not necessarily been the case with
Harden, the Jannis versus and Bad specifically,

904
01:01:00,039 --> 01:01:01,199
that's what it came down in for
me, I'm looking at the stuff

905
01:01:01,199 --> 01:01:05,800
that Jannis is doing. He has
improved as a passer to the point where

906
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:08,199
I'm going to trust him operating in
those situations, not way more, but

907
01:01:08,239 --> 01:01:16,679
more than Joel Embiid. There is
like there's a greater level of his offense

908
01:01:16,719 --> 01:01:19,920
is more dynamic than it's ever been. That's the best way for me to

909
01:01:19,960 --> 01:01:22,000
state it. When you watch him
a couple with everything he's gonna do on

910
01:01:22,039 --> 01:01:25,960
defense, I think you can say
that joembiad is more of like that back

911
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:31,039
line anchor, but Jannis can do
everything on defense, and it's like,

912
01:01:31,119 --> 01:01:35,760
no, that's probably his best position
to be the back line anchor, but

913
01:01:35,800 --> 01:01:37,719
he's had to be for long stretches
at a time. The stuff that he

914
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:42,199
can still do away from the ball
or just recover and bail out certain possessions

915
01:01:42,679 --> 01:01:45,679
is totally incredible. And it got
to that point for me because the Bucks

916
01:01:45,679 --> 01:01:47,519
have been struggling at points this year. They've been up and down their defense.

917
01:01:47,559 --> 01:01:52,920
Specifically, he seems just so much
and critical that everything they're doing.

918
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:57,079
We've seen Chris Middleton kind of go
through it this year. The Bucks at

919
01:01:57,119 --> 01:01:59,800
times, the top of their roster, just between Drew and Middleton has been

920
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:02,199
better than a lot of Woodbiad's been
working with for most of the season without

921
01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:06,480
Ben Simmons, before the James Warren
arrival, like they have their own,

922
01:02:07,599 --> 01:02:08,960
you know, depth issues. They
didn't have brook Opest for a time this

923
01:02:09,039 --> 01:02:14,039
year. I'm ever so slightly giving
the edge to Johannese And maybe it's also

924
01:02:14,079 --> 01:02:15,119
because look, the Bucks are now
ahead of the Is it easier for me

925
01:02:15,159 --> 01:02:17,639
to say, Yeah, the Bucks
are second in the East, and Johannest

926
01:02:17,679 --> 01:02:20,960
is the main reason why. He's
done it with probably a little bit more

927
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:23,519
help. But they are reliant on
him just as much as the Sixers are

928
01:02:23,519 --> 01:02:28,119
relying on Joel Embiad on both sides
of the floor. That was the there

929
01:02:28,159 --> 01:02:30,880
seemed to me there's a narrow gap
between those two, and Yokich is sort

930
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:34,559
of not in his own tier.
But that was an easier call to make

931
01:02:34,639 --> 01:02:38,239
for me. I think what Embiad
has done as a true center as a

932
01:02:38,280 --> 01:02:44,360
scorer in today's NBA is just ridiculously
impressive. We haven't seen a true center

933
01:02:44,480 --> 01:02:49,239
win the scoring title since Shaquille O'Neal
in two thousand and one, and he

934
01:02:49,280 --> 01:02:52,840
has a legitimate chance to change that, especially if Lebron isn't healthy enough to

935
01:02:52,880 --> 01:02:57,800
play in the final games and doesn't
meet the minimum games threshold and all that.

936
01:02:58,239 --> 01:03:01,000
But twenty nine point nine points game, forty eight point nine percent from

937
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:05,039
the field, thirty six point four
percent on threes, eighty one point six

938
01:03:05,039 --> 01:03:07,480
percent on free throws, while taking
eleven point seven per game, and that's

939
01:03:07,519 --> 01:03:12,960
typically uses a knock against him.
I feel the opposite, where I get

940
01:03:12,960 --> 01:03:19,719
the sense that officials have to change
how they referee when embiad is on the

941
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:27,159
court because he plays such a ridiculous
brand of offensive basketball that features so much

942
01:03:27,239 --> 01:03:31,079
finesse and so much physicality, again
much like Pete Shack, that you have

943
01:03:31,239 --> 01:03:36,559
to foul him to have any hope
of containing him. I think if he

944
01:03:36,679 --> 01:03:39,840
got a fair whistle, he's averaging
fifteen plus free throws a game. So

945
01:03:39,880 --> 01:03:45,159
I would actually argue the opposite,
where as much as it's pointed to as

946
01:03:45,159 --> 01:03:49,719
a criticism of his game, but
he's this foul merchant, yeah, because

947
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:53,519
no one can stop him, and
he should spend more time at the stripe

948
01:03:53,719 --> 01:03:58,280
than he already does. But the
real growth that I've seen on offense from

949
01:03:58,320 --> 01:04:01,000
him, even beyond the scoring numbers, is the playmaking, much like Janis,

950
01:04:01,039 --> 01:04:04,719
where all of a sudden he's way
more reliable in that role and is

951
01:04:04,760 --> 01:04:10,440
making way more advanced reads. He's
got the best assist percentage of his career

952
01:04:10,559 --> 01:04:14,760
by far this season twenty four point
two percent. Previous best was eighteen point

953
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:18,000
four back in twenty eighteen nineteen,
and he's coupled that with the lowest turnover

954
01:04:18,039 --> 01:04:24,639
percentage of his career ten point nine
percent, which continues the decline in that

955
01:04:24,719 --> 01:04:29,320
metric for the last three years.
Previously, the biggest weakness and maybe the

956
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:34,119
only weakness in Embide's offensive game,
was that he could get caught along the

957
01:04:34,159 --> 01:04:40,719
blocks along the baseline by weak side
defenders sneaking over double teaming him, and

958
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:43,440
he wouldn't know what to do and
would throw the ball away or just haven't

959
01:04:43,480 --> 01:04:45,800
wrestled out of his possession or knocked
away. That doesn't happen this year.

960
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:49,920
If you send that second defender,
he's going to find the open guy and

961
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:55,840
you're going to pay for it.
He is just a ridiculously complete offensive player

962
01:04:56,159 --> 01:04:59,639
who is so integral to what that
team does. And I don't think he

963
01:04:59,679 --> 01:05:02,559
has a much help over the course
of the season as the honest has had

964
01:05:02,599 --> 01:05:06,480
because Tobias Harris has been disappointing all
year. Tyrese Maxie, as much as

965
01:05:06,480 --> 01:05:12,679
he's improved, is not of the
same caliber as Drew Holiday or Chris Middleton.

966
01:05:13,039 --> 01:05:17,960
And there is that empty roster spot
that they had for most of the

967
01:05:18,000 --> 01:05:21,920
season until James Harden arrived in Ben
Simmons's place, and then all of a

968
01:05:21,960 --> 01:05:27,119
sudden, you have to adjust to
this new ball dominant force in your lineup,

969
01:05:27,440 --> 01:05:30,159
and he hasn't skipped a beat.
So his case is really impressive to

970
01:05:30,199 --> 01:05:33,519
me. I don't think that it
comes close to matching Yokich is. Right

971
01:05:33,519 --> 01:05:36,119
now, Brian, I know you're
listening to this, and I apologize.

972
01:05:36,119 --> 01:05:41,559
Please don't hate me more than you
already do. But all three of these

973
01:05:41,559 --> 01:05:44,199
guys are so impressive, and I
would just like to note that I don't

974
01:05:44,280 --> 01:05:47,639
think either you or I has said
a single negative thing about any one of

975
01:05:47,679 --> 01:05:51,639
them. No, and I refuse
to. I will not do that because

976
01:05:53,320 --> 01:05:56,960
I will not buy into that we
have to hate one of these guys to

977
01:05:57,239 --> 01:06:00,280
prop up the other. The one
thing that I will that my Coe lines

978
01:06:00,320 --> 01:06:02,840
is I'll be interested to see if
anyone picks either of them over a Yokich.

979
01:06:03,400 --> 01:06:05,360
I'm just going to be interested to
see with the case we'll be and

980
01:06:05,400 --> 01:06:09,119
maybe I'll come away Swade. One
thing to note too, this is why

981
01:06:09,119 --> 01:06:12,000
it was tough for me to put
Jannas over and Beat a little bit.

982
01:06:12,280 --> 01:06:14,639
Is it. Beat has played more
minutes this season than Yannis, which is

983
01:06:14,679 --> 01:06:17,679
just not something that you would ever
expect to say. So it was just

984
01:06:17,800 --> 01:06:21,159
it was tough, and so looking
at the rest of our sins our ballots

985
01:06:21,199 --> 01:06:25,360
for the same I have the definitive
case for Devin Booker right here, and

986
01:06:25,400 --> 01:06:29,719
I do think that Chris Paul is
more important to Phoenix's offense, like he

987
01:06:29,760 --> 01:06:32,760
gives it. It's rhyme and reason, it's shape, it's structure. However,

988
01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:39,119
Booker has now played more. The
Sons have played about nineteen hundred possessions

989
01:06:39,119 --> 01:06:43,599
when Booker with Booker and no Paul. It's about fourteen hundred when with Paul

990
01:06:43,599 --> 01:06:46,280
and no Booker. The Suns are
outscoring opponents by seven point five points per

991
01:06:46,320 --> 01:06:50,239
one hundred possessions when Booker is on
the court without Paul. This season,

992
01:06:50,400 --> 01:06:55,559
when you just look at his numbers
when Chris Paul is off the court.

993
01:06:56,199 --> 01:06:59,239
I already mentioned that Phoenix is gonna
have that positive point differential, but Devin

994
01:06:59,239 --> 01:07:02,960
Booker has really still been like the
heart and soul of that offense. He's

995
01:07:02,960 --> 01:07:06,320
seen his free throw attempt rate go
up, we've seen a decline and sort

996
01:07:06,360 --> 01:07:10,559
of his efficiency from beyond the arc, but his two point percentage has still

997
01:07:10,599 --> 01:07:14,440
been adequately propped up. I don't
think we give him enough credit for his

998
01:07:14,519 --> 01:07:18,320
passing, how purposeful and accurate it
is to where the passes he's gonna throw,

999
01:07:18,599 --> 01:07:23,159
even when the assists numbers are not
like skyrocketing. And by the way,

1000
01:07:23,159 --> 01:07:26,159
he's averaging six point five assists for
thirty six minutes without Chris Paul on

1001
01:07:26,199 --> 01:07:29,239
the court. But maybe he's not
throwing the same number of passes getting the

1002
01:07:29,239 --> 01:07:32,760
same number of assists for the passes
he is throwing matters. There's a scalability

1003
01:07:32,960 --> 01:07:35,719
to his stardom when you look at
how much he will work off the ball

1004
01:07:35,960 --> 01:07:41,440
in addition to on the ball that
I don't think other players of his caliber

1005
01:07:41,800 --> 01:07:48,480
really have. And I do believe
that he really solidified himself during the when

1006
01:07:48,519 --> 01:07:54,079
he returned and Chris Paul was out
with that hamstring injury. We're looking at

1007
01:07:54,320 --> 01:07:57,599
it. It was a really big
example size when Chris Paul wasn't there,

1008
01:07:57,639 --> 01:08:00,880
he shot better than fifty eight percent
on twos, he shot forty point three

1009
01:08:00,920 --> 01:08:04,679
percent on threes, and he was
averaging in those games. I don't know

1010
01:08:04,719 --> 01:08:09,320
why I lost the number, Bruce, just an astronomical amount and to maintain

1011
01:08:09,360 --> 01:08:12,920
that efficiency getting he was having twenty
eight point two points per game over fifty

1012
01:08:12,960 --> 01:08:15,880
eight percent shooting on two is forty
point three percent on threes, nearly ninety

1013
01:08:15,920 --> 01:08:19,840
percent at the foul line, while
getting there at an admirable rate per thirty

1014
01:08:19,840 --> 01:08:24,760
six minutes. This is someone who
is a full flag superstar. And there's

1015
01:08:24,800 --> 01:08:28,880
a chance when you look at what
happened to Marant and Curry like he has

1016
01:08:28,920 --> 01:08:31,199
a first team All NBA case like
he and if he will make he should

1017
01:08:31,239 --> 01:08:34,000
be on at least the second team. I'm renissent to say things like that

1018
01:08:34,239 --> 01:08:38,159
he should be on an All NBA
team period. I don't know how positions

1019
01:08:38,199 --> 01:08:41,720
are going to shape that. But
the definitive case here is I think it's

1020
01:08:41,760 --> 01:08:44,680
been clear or at least evident if
you look deep enough for a while.

1021
01:08:45,359 --> 01:08:49,760
Devin Booker is so much more than
Chris Paul's teammate, and it's really time

1022
01:08:49,920 --> 01:08:55,079
or Chris Paul's co star. He
is an independent superstar. And this is

1023
01:08:55,079 --> 01:08:59,000
when the Suns me as good without
Chris Paul. Absolutely not. But if

1024
01:08:59,000 --> 01:09:02,920
you took Deviner off this team,
the Suns are I'm gonna they are nowhere

1025
01:09:03,039 --> 01:09:08,399
near title favorites. They are nowhere
even near a contender. Devin Booker gives

1026
01:09:08,399 --> 01:09:12,600
the Sons as much of their championship
as Chris Paul, and I do think

1027
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:16,399
this year based on availability and maybe
even scalability, and also Devin Booker has

1028
01:09:16,399 --> 01:09:19,840
been one of the clutch of scores
in the league this season by efficiency,

1029
01:09:19,960 --> 01:09:25,600
but I think that he just based
off the floor time and then maybe the

1030
01:09:25,600 --> 01:09:29,000
the scalability of his role, just
like they're being more layers to it than

1031
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:31,640
necessarily what Chris Paul has, where
there's more of like a dominance to the

1032
01:09:31,640 --> 01:09:35,439
way that Paul needs to play,
particularly on offense. I think he's done

1033
01:09:35,479 --> 01:09:41,159
more for Phoenix this season in that
regard than CP three. The only thing

1034
01:09:41,239 --> 01:09:45,079
I'd really add is just aesthetically watching
Booker this year, it feels easy.

1035
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:49,920
It doesn't matter if he's putting up
forty nine points without Chris Paul in the

1036
01:09:49,920 --> 01:09:55,880
lineup or thirty five with him in
the lineup. Even when he's taking these

1037
01:09:56,000 --> 01:10:02,359
ridiculously difficult self created pull up jumpers
against strong defenders, it doesn't even feel

1038
01:10:02,359 --> 01:10:08,239
like he's breaking a sweat or operating
outside the flow of the offense because he's

1039
01:10:08,319 --> 01:10:12,800
just in this rhythm and it's hard
to get in that rhythm. It's even

1040
01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:15,159
harder to stay in it, and
he has stayed in it all season long.

1041
01:10:16,720 --> 01:10:19,960
Luca nants at five. I wouldn't
say no brainer, pick no.

1042
01:10:20,079 --> 01:10:23,760
I think that you can make you
can make good cases for Chris Paul,

1043
01:10:23,920 --> 01:10:29,119
for John Morant, for Steph Curry. Maybe that's maybe Jason Tatum. That's

1044
01:10:29,159 --> 01:10:32,399
probably it. There's and look,
I know you could point out that Lucas

1045
01:10:32,399 --> 01:10:35,760
started the season slow, Steph went
through his own slump. John Moran has

1046
01:10:35,760 --> 01:10:40,079
missed so much time. And when
you look at Luca's you know, streaky

1047
01:10:40,119 --> 01:10:43,840
heater, it is spanned like one
third of the season at this point,

1048
01:10:43,960 --> 01:10:46,680
which is like, that's not that's
like a normal. So Tatum is a

1049
01:10:46,680 --> 01:10:50,079
good one too. This is the
it was between it was between him and

1050
01:10:50,079 --> 01:10:54,840
to him and Luca for this spot
for me. I think you can also

1051
01:10:54,920 --> 01:10:57,640
Demarc Rosen was here for a while, and I had Chris Paul in the

1052
01:10:57,640 --> 01:11:00,479
top five before his injury, So
not a name that I would putting the

1053
01:11:00,520 --> 01:11:03,279
top five. But my honorable mentions
were Steph jaw, DeMar, Chris Paul,

1054
01:11:03,399 --> 01:11:06,039
and Jason Tin. I think those
are probably the you know, Jimmy

1055
01:11:06,039 --> 01:11:10,680
Butler had float around some discussions defensive
player that you're an MVP were tough though,

1056
01:11:10,680 --> 01:11:15,920
and those are we should mention about
Robert Williams here there's like a week

1057
01:11:15,960 --> 01:11:17,479
and a half left in the season
or whatever it is. These would be

1058
01:11:17,520 --> 01:11:20,479
the two awards where maybe it could
change for me. Defensive Player of the

1059
01:11:20,520 --> 01:11:25,760
Year specifically, I don't think I've
settled on everything else. I wouldn't say

1060
01:11:25,880 --> 01:11:28,199
your Rookie of the Year. I
mean, if Mobiley just comes back as

1061
01:11:28,199 --> 01:11:32,159
a tough awards this year learnting to
a player, I think you could probably

1062
01:11:32,159 --> 01:11:36,319
sell me on who did you have
again? Darius run me on him by

1063
01:11:36,319 --> 01:11:40,520
the end of the year. But
this was fun. If you haven't done

1064
01:11:40,560 --> 01:11:43,680
so yet, if it's your first
time listening and you enjoyed us, please

1065
01:11:43,720 --> 01:11:47,000
remember a rate review and subscribe to
us specifically where your podcast dallin very episode

1066
01:11:47,239 --> 01:11:49,960
that helps us out of ton.
If you've done all that, help us

1067
01:11:50,000 --> 01:11:55,399
out with promotions, Retweet us on
Twitter. Tell people word of mouth recommendations.

1068
01:11:55,399 --> 01:11:57,560
Those go a long way for people
to check out our pot if you

1069
01:11:57,560 --> 01:12:00,439
know they love the NBA at large. Follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox.

1070
01:12:00,479 --> 01:12:04,680
Follow us on TikTok also at Hardwood
Knox. Follow us on Instagram at

1071
01:12:04,680 --> 01:12:09,239
Hardwood Underscore Knox. Follow us on
YouTube. Join our discord. All the

1072
01:12:09,239 --> 01:12:13,279
links are in the podcast descriptions.
Until next time we use the shout out

1073
01:12:13,319 --> 01:12:16,640
to the one the Only should have
probably finished at the top of the MVP

1074
01:12:16,800 --> 01:12:21,960
ballot, but was certainly an honorable
mention Frank Neil kat That should be shout

1075
01:12:21,960 --> 01:12:28,319
out to the one the only soon
to be best selling author of children's books, Frank Neilokatter