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What is Crack Black and Bellow Thermo
nuclear a efforts. I am Dan a

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Badley coming at you with a solo
podcast, going to go through my most

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improved player from every NBA team today. Not something I wrote about, but

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something I was thinking about. So
I decided to watch a bunch of film

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and highlight maybe something or a few
things about each player that I think they've

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improved upon most, and we'll go
through every team in the league. We'll

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try and make this a little snappy
since it's a solo pod. We'll see

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how I do with pacing myself very
quickly. If you haven't already this is

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your first time on YouTube or checking
this out on an audio, subscribe it

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the sub button like comment, help
the algorithm, love us back. Let

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me know who your most improved player
is for every NBA team. You can

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put your thirty team list in the
comments if you want to, or just

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let me know who you might disagree
with. If you're listening to this on

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audio, I'm gonna try or excuse
me. If you're watching this on YouTube,

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bear with me as a production crew
of one at the moment, so

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we'll throw something up on screen so
you can see who and what I'm selecting

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for each team. Grant. I'll
be back later this week with a couple

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more extensive episodes. We've been putting
some out on the weekends because that's worked

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better for mostly my schedule, but
probably his as well. So without further

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ado, let's start talking about the
most improved player on every NBA team,

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as chosen by Wah. But we'll
start with the Atlanta Hawks. I have

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Jalen Johnson, which you know I'm
not gonna lie as a brief aside,

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he might be my most improved player
pick in general if it wasn't now for

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the game's minimum that's he's going to
miss after his latest injury. He's just

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been super great revelatory for the Hawks
in a lot of ways. I really

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love the live feat passing that we
see from him. There's the defensive playmaking

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element. I think the stand still
shooting has improved a lot this year,

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and he's shown some nice offensive counters
when you get in the lane, including

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some turnaround jump. So this is
someone who I think is just it's part

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of a bigger role, but he's
also just improved in so many different areas.

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I am curious though, and we've
only seen it for a couple hundred

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possessions this year. If and then
I might try a little bit more of

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him at center moving forward. That
might just depend on the future of either

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Clincopella and or on Yekakungu and who
they go with long term. On to

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the Boston Celtics. This one was
tough. I'm going to settle on the

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reveal is mister look before I even
reveal it. I think you could have

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gone if you want to talk about
White, if you want to talk about

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Jason Tatum, if you want to
talk about Christops Porzingis even as someone who,

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oh he proved that he could balance
where he wants to get his and

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punished mismatches and still hit kind of
those turnarounds, but also just fit into

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the larger context of a team while
still being incredibly valuable defensively, I think

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you could probably make a case for
him. I ended up going with Jalen

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Brown just the stuff that he has
done defensively this year, and when you

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look at Okay, his three point
percentage is lower than you want it to

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be, but the level of difficulty
on these looks feels like it's gone up.

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And when he's doing that and when
you've seen the three point percentage slump

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a little bit, but he's still
able to score at all these different levels

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and has fully unlocked his offensive counters
even if you want him to pass a

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little bit more, and then just
the degree to which he's been busting his

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ass on the defensive end, I
think it goes to him. But this

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is really a unless you're gonna select
someone who's working from a super low baseline,

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and even their light on candidates for
that, I think Jalen Brown is

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the way to go here, but
that was one of my more difficult ones,

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not going to lie. One of
the more easier ones is the Brooklyn

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Nets. That was Cam Thomas.
I think there's like this tendency to bill

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him as mostly just a microwave six
Man of the Year scorer who won't pass.

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Maybe he winds up being sort of
that microwave guy. I think he's

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incrementally improved his passing. The three
point volume is up this year, and

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he's just sort of I know the
nets. People don't like them or find

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them compelling, and for deserved reason. At this point, he's quietly carrying

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a monster load. Has a usage
rate over there for them. That's just

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like I said, that's monstrous.
And if you kind of look, so,

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here's every player to post a thirty
plus usage rate with a sub ten

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turnover rate before their age twenty three
season. Team Act did it twice,

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Shack did it once, Porzingis did
it once, and now Cam Thomas is

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doing it. He's middle of the
pack. When you're looking at the assist

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percentage here, I think he's a
little bit over fifteen right now. I

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think that's he's made incremental improvements enough
to look at him and say, if

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you're the Nets, oh what do
we do? Is he part of the

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core moving forward? And he is
extension eligible this summer, but I think

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this isn't just someone who, yes, he's seen his role expand, but

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I do think that we've seen some
changes and adaptations to his offensive games,

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and I just don't you can't deny
that statistical company right now. I mean

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whether it can he level up as
a passer, can level up as a

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defender, those are fair debates to
be had, but you just you can't

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argue with the numbers right now and
his efficiency, yeah, it could be

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higher, but it hasn't fallen off
a cliff despite what is an incredibly heavy

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usage from him. Charlotte a other
really tough team. I'm going to go

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with Cody Martin. He has not
played in a ton of games. But

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also this is a team that doesn't
have a ton of really good candidates.

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In my opinion, Like you just
you haven't seen enough Flamelo Ball hasn't played

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enough. You haven't seen enough from
Mark Williams this year. Brandon Miller is

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a rookie and he's kind of,
you know, there's been aspects of his

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game that have impressed me more than
most, but he's kind of, you

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know, not hitting a rookie wall. But it's later in the season.

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Doesn't look as well on the offensive
end from him. You look at Cody

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Martin dealing with another ankle injury,
so he has not played a lot,

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and he's a sub forty seven true
shooting percentage, But he covers super difficult

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assignments on the defensive end, really
good help rotations, contests, close outs,

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pre crafty with his passing in traffic
this year, even if he picks

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up his dribble too soon and doesn't
feel like he's maybe as quick as he

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was, you know, two years
ago. But kind of finding his niche

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was in that game. I've been
impressed with the moments that I've seen from

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him where we always kind of knew
he was this gap filler, and maybe

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this is a case of me just
so much distances between him and his last

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healthy season. I forgot how many
gaps he feels. But you watch him

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and you can kind of just feel
and see his impact all over the place,

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which is just a big deal.
And I do think he has leveled

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it up if I had to pick
the area, as I really looking at

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what he can kind of do as
a passer when he's in traffic, and

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then also just the scale at which
he's or the level of assignments that he's

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defending. Right now, onto the
Chicago Bulls. Shout out to Io deasunmu

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here who I would really like to
pick, But I mean it has to

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be Kobe White. He might be
the favorite to win. Most improved players

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were recording this even though Ale Prinshangun
is still eligible. Doesn't look like Scottie

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Barnes is gonna maintain his eligibility so
and look, he would deserve it.

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His offensive toggling this year has been
great. He seems stronger, more composed

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in the lane, definitely comfortable working
on the ball. But he also leads

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the NBA in spot up possessions per
game. And when you have that coupled

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with someone who is hitting his pull
up threes at a super high clip.

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Here's everyone shooting above forty percent off
the dribble threes and minimum taking one hundred

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of them this season. Luca Harden, Duncan Robinson, Jamal Murray, Mike

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Conley, Drew Aliday, CJ McCollum, and Kobe White. That's a pretty

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good company to be in. And
so to be able to just sort of

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toggle between those two existences for the
Bulls, that's no small shakes and it's

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got We caught shit on the podcast
by wondering if the Bulls had found maybe

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their backcoard the future in io to
Souon MoU and Kobe White. I don't

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think that that'll be what it they
settle on, but it's not outside the

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realm of possibility. That's how good
those two guys have been this season.

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I think for for Kobe White,
there's definitely a better patience in process to

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what he's doing as a playmaker.
That's still something to kind of monitor moving

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forward. Do you ascribe the turnover
issues out of the pick and roll more

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so to the Chicago Bulls as personnel
or spacing or is that just something he

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still needs to learn the ropes for. But if you're a Bulls fan,

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you latch on to what he's done
this season because that is probably the brightest

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spot of the year, if not
what you've seen from Iota Sun Mu onto

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the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was tough. This was tough. Let me read

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my candidates for them first, because
I had a bunch of them penciled in.

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There was Isaaca Corro, Max Strews, I think even Sam Merrill.

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Those were the three that I kind
of really looked at. You could have

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Kate at points this year. Made
a case for Jared Allen. But the

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thing with Sam Merrill, because he
has played a real role, it's just

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he was working from such a low
baseline. I didn't know what to do

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with that, and so I ultimately
ended up settling on Isaacacrro. I think

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this is just a more complete player
who shouldn't be as big of a liability

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in the playoffs. We know he's
hit in his threes. Now we know

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those threes aren't at a great degree
of difficulty, but they hit them as

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a big deal. He does.
When you watch him, though, feel

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like he's quicker at pumping into drives. He's thrown some really nice passes up

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the floor, and also out of
those drives. He knows how to get

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behind defenses, not only in transition
but in the half court. And I

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feel like he's ratcheted up just everything
about his offense that we already maybe would

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have liked, you know, the
secondary ball movement, but it's all just

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sort of increased and co laced better
this year. That's on top of what

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he does defensively. He probably won't
make an All defense team. And I

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don't even know if we gave him
honorable mentions when we went through ours at

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the three quarter pole, but he
certainly at least deserves the honorable mention.

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He covers some of the toughest assignments. His minutes are not as high as

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some of the other guys, and
you would like him to be able to

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scale up a little bit in what
he's guarding. But he's just a super

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disruptive defender and he's been super valuable
to the Cavs. This year. Very

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interested. He's another guy. I'm
just very interesting what his next contract is

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going to look like to see not
only how the Caves value him, but

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maybe if he's gonna end up hitting
restricted free agency, how the rest of

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the league might value him too.
The Dallas Mavericks. I don't think this

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is much of a choice Dante ExHAM
here, it's been really cool, just

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two years away from the league,
and he deals with injuries all before that,

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comes back, stronger, thicker,
no longer a shooting liability. He's

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taking under two attempts for games.
I don't think he's some marksman. We'll

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see how it holds up in the
playoffs. So the fact that he's just

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able to work off the ball in
general, it's not just as a shooter,

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but it's someone who will move.
He's averaging one point eight points per

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possession as the cutter. That's just
not something that we've really I remember seeing

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from him previously in his career,
maybe in like different iterations of the earlier

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Utah days, and so they're not
going to utilize him in that capacity that

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much. When you look at Dallas's
offense, I would also like to see

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him maybe get out and transition a
little more. Again, that's not going

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to be Dallas's style unless you're dealing
with very specific lineups. I am very

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impressed though, also with how he's
still been able to defend the smaller,

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quicker, twitchier bodies despite it feels
like having this extra whether you want to

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call it girth or just just size
in general. And this is someone who

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you know when you're kind of looking
to fill out Mavericks' lineups. Could he

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be a part of some of their
most important units come the postseason? Absolutely,

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and he deserves just a ton of
credit for not just making it back

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to the NBA, but establishing himself
as a as a good player on a

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team that has immediate aspirations. Remember
Nuggets were another team where this was super

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tough. Well, I think people
will view this as super easy. Maybe

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it's well, it's clearly Peyton Watson
the human adrenaline shot. Or look at

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what Christian Brown is doing right now. He might be having his best stretch

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as a Nugget. Is it one
of them? I'm still and I don't

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casep shout out to him, but
he's just doing kind of all the stuff

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he's always done. He's had a
fantastic season. Maybe you could go with

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Aaron Gordon does feel like he has
leveled up his defense again and he's able

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to really hang in some of those
small ball units that they run out.

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I went with I ultimately settled on
Michael Porter Junior. I think this is

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just way more of a complete player
than we've ever seen. When you look

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at the defensive rebound and gets more
consistent. The defensive effort as a helper

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continues to catch my eye and to
have all that while you're able to be

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this super scalable plug and play guy
on the offensive end, even though per

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your skill set, per your size, per your background, you're supposed to

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be so much more than that.
I think he's just done an excellent job

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more than ever this season, a
fitting into the bigger picture while also making

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sure he leaves his mark on a
more regular game by game basis, where

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it just felt like even last year
a good portion of the time, not

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so much in the playoffs, but
if he wasn't scoring, or if a

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shot wasn't falling, it seems like
you didn't really feel him. And that

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is just no longer the case this
year, and so I'm gonna give him

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the nod just because I think it's
it was harder than what he did when

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you have Peyton Watson, who was
coming off such a small sample size from

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last year the Detroit Pistons. We
have to say nice things about the Pistons

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for a second here about that.
It's Kay Cunningham. I mean, he's

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going through a little bit of an
efficiency trough right now. I get it

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didn't start off the year too hot
either, but he really cleaned up a

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lot of the decision making and turnover
issues despite never really playing within a better

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spacing environment. Deserves all the credit
in the world for that. The three

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pointer not so much right now,
but it has come around and we're not

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just talking about off a catch like
we're talking about dribbling into pull ups.

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He's able to hit some step backs, the work he's able to do in

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the lane. This is someone who
if you had any out that he could

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be no worse than the second best
player on a really good team. I

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think he's answered those questions this year
for the most part. In the affirmative,

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I would I want to see him
so so badly just around better spacing

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and maybe on a more coherent team
with a better plan in general, I

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think if you're a Pistons fan,
though there's not too many bright spots to

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latch onto. I think you could
argue that guys like Jalen Duran, maybe

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even Jay and Ivy have regressed this
year. But the Simony Pontecio story,

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and then just with Kate Cunningham and
Asar Thompson before his blood caught issues just

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looking at them and seeing those two
players specifically, Okay, we do have

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two core guys here, and then
another high pick on the way where do

220
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we go from here? I still
think Kate Cunningham is more of a directional

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star than not, even if you
just don't know what to do with his

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ceiling at the moment. The Golden
State Warriors another I think fairly easy one.

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I don't know where else you would
go other than Jonathan Kaminga with this.

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He still has this level of inconsistent
and see to me where it feels

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like he can do everything in drips
and drabs, but then he fades into

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the background and you don't hear a
lot of him. But I do think

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he's come a long way offensively,
he can put the ball on the floor,

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He's tested out some step backs,
some pull ups. Shooting twenty two

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of thirty five on floaters this year, that's going to be a nice counter

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for him. Will he ever be
more efficient on the more difficult looks or

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is this someone who's going to thrive
mostly as more of a play finisher,

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and then what is he going to
do as a playmaker. I've yet to

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really see that part of his game
unlocked, which is why I mean the

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other part of it is just Andrew
Wiggins has been so bad, but there's

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been just an inconsistent deployment until the
later half of the year, and even

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then just not a high volume of
Well can you play him with Andrew Wiggins

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together? Or is that just untenable. He's only passing on twenty eight point

238
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five percent of his drives, and
when you're shooting over fifty percent on those

239
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looks, that's fine. That's still
the second And he also has the second

240
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,720
lowest assists rate on drives among eighty
seven players who have used as many as

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him. Jared Jackson Junior is number
one, And so I'm not saying he

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needs to turn into an offensive hub, but this is someone who you kind

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00:15:03,039 --> 00:15:05,360
of can see when the defensive discipline
locks in, and when he's trying harder

244
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on the defensive glass, you see
the skeleton of what's just I wouldn't go

245
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,440
as far as I know some people
think he could be a star, but

246
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just an excellent player at the NBA
level, and the Warriors just need to

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further plumb that moving forward, while
also juggling the fact that, oh Steph

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Curry's you know, thirty six,
thirty five years old, and we still

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need to win immediately around him,
and this team needs him to go super

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00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,360
nova every night. Still the way
it's built, I don't know if is

251
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going to be ready to that degree
to be the second or third or fourth,

252
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bet even fourth best player on a
title contender. But given how this

253
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season started, given the rumors that
came out, it was kind of well

254
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before the trade that deadline that he
was unhappy. I think if you're a

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Warriors SN you have to be I
wouldn't say a static, but at least

256
00:15:46,639 --> 00:15:50,559
somewhat comfortable with how his season has
gone, because it did seem like it

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was going to be borderline disastrous for
a minute. The Houston Rockets another easy

258
00:15:54,759 --> 00:15:58,279
one, alpron Chang Gun, who
still might win the award. I do

259
00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,320
think the ankle injury is probably going
to hurt him in that regard. I

260
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also think there's been some just like
weird talking about, Oh, the Rockets

261
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,759
better off without al Prin Schangun.
Look at the weight rate at which they're

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00:16:08,799 --> 00:16:12,240
winning since he's been injured. No, they've hit a very favorable part of

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00:16:12,279 --> 00:16:15,360
their schedule. Let's see how they
deal now that the competition picks back up.

264
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All the credit in the world to
them, don't don't get me wrong

265
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,919
there, but this is not a
situation where you're better off without al Prince

266
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Shangun. He has I do think
part of this is okay. They finally

267
00:16:25,679 --> 00:16:27,399
started running the offense through him,
giving him more of a role. But

268
00:16:27,519 --> 00:16:33,360
he can rekavoc from anywhere on the
floor as a passer. And you see

269
00:16:33,399 --> 00:16:37,799
these comparisons to Akoljkic and Domasa Bonis. He's not as nearly as flashy as

270
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akk like the IQ like nobody is. To be fair, Demonisa Bonis feels

271
00:16:42,039 --> 00:16:45,080
like he has more of a physicality
to him. But I think Shangun can

272
00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:52,039
probably jump start your offense in a
larger variety of ways. Shangun has improved

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00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:55,840
his defensive positioning around the rim.
That's been a big deal for the Rockets.

274
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,240
He refined his touch outside of the
restricted area. Still not taking threes,

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00:16:59,279 --> 00:17:02,120
but as someone from that, like
you know, four to sixteen foot

276
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:03,839
range, he can be a little
bit of a threat from there. I

277
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,920
do think moving forward that you're probably
gonna need to see a further exploration of

278
00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:11,640
his three point shot. He's not
hitting it, but you want to see

279
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:17,000
that volume go up there so that
you can continue creating space for some of

280
00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:18,880
your on ball attackers. And I'm
talking am and Thomps has done a great

281
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,960
job working off the ball this season. But him moving forward, even Jalen

282
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,880
Green where I think that probably gets. He's going through his usual end of

283
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,359
the season hot stretch, But even
Jalen Green, he's had to deal with

284
00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,559
so many different changes and then also
just hasn't had the best space in context.

285
00:17:34,559 --> 00:17:37,119
It feels like in a lot of
lineups around him, and if you're

286
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,400
five and let's say he's playing with
Jabari Smithchen like, having those two guys

287
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,319
be able to shoot does open things
up for Jalen Green Green's rim game,

288
00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,359
But that's just in general for the
Rockets, So that might be something to

289
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,160
monitor, but the way he just
he's so methodical, but he's also very

290
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,799
physical, has that kind of fu
factor to him, and the passes that

291
00:17:55,839 --> 00:18:00,519
he's able to see from anywhere on
the court are are incredible. And I

292
00:18:00,559 --> 00:18:04,359
also like that we've seen kind of
a more aggressive scoring mode from him this

293
00:18:04,519 --> 00:18:07,759
season, because that you want to
balance that so that teams don't play you

294
00:18:07,799 --> 00:18:12,039
as sort of this over deferential,
non scoring threat. And I think he's

295
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,119
that hasn't been like the hugest issue
with him in the past, but I

296
00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,400
think he's answered questions about, oh, well, he kind of scored enough,

297
00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:19,279
and you look at his averages and
it's, oh, yeah, this

298
00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,880
dude's gonna average twenty plus and five. That's a pretty fucking big deal on

299
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,559
in the Indiana Pacers. It says
a lot about how much Tyres Albert was

300
00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:30,039
struggling. Lad that I thought about
this pick for a minute and I was

301
00:18:30,079 --> 00:18:32,920
like, oh, do I just
go with Aaron E. Smith, Like,

302
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:34,759
look what he's been able to do
compared to last year. And I

303
00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:38,039
really appreciate the defensive body of work
and I trust him to attack close outs

304
00:18:38,079 --> 00:18:42,359
more. Do not. Let's not
over complicate this by any stretch of the

305
00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,680
game, and it helps that Halibert
is playing better over his past couple of

306
00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:51,920
outing shout out to the Clippers drop
defense on what was that Monday Monday Night,

307
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,200
But he's just been this is someone
who's already a star and is now

308
00:18:55,200 --> 00:19:02,839
a megastar and just brutalized his defenses
from in every capacity unmanageable. And like

309
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:04,839
that's the hardest leap to make,
the one that he's made right now.

310
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,079
And so if you wanted to vote
for him as the most improved player overall,

311
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,880
I don't know if he's been good
enough since the hamstring injury, but

312
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:17,079
that type of leap is absolutely one
that can deserve recognition for it. And

313
00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:22,920
like that's kind of wild to say, just when you consider how how improved

314
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,160
he was last year. Just like
that was sort of the yeah, we

315
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,880
saw it a little bit in the
like the lead up, we're not the

316
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,319
lead up with that post trade to
the to the Indiana Pacers, but then

317
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,799
he just comes on last year and
it's just like, oh, that's an

318
00:19:36,839 --> 00:19:38,039
All Star talent And now it's oh, no, that this guy's an All

319
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,720
NBA talent. Had he never gotten
injured, maybe finishes in the top five

320
00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:44,920
of the the MVP ballot. Yes, has his defensive issues, but I

321
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,079
think we've even seen that he's more
adaptable than your traditional offensive Fulkrum. He

322
00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,640
was on the ball so much and
he took a while to kind of figure

323
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:53,839
this out. But now you've without
Buddy healed, there, now Benedict Math

324
00:19:55,039 --> 00:19:57,359
injured, and you're trying to incorporate
Pascal Siakam. We've seen more of him

325
00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:03,400
kind of playoff Siakam and just have
that option in someone who is so good

326
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,359
with the ball in his hands.
That's just that's incredible. And this is

327
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,640
someone who I don't know where he's
gonna end up in the All NBA discussion

328
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,519
because of the injury and then because
of how he played for the most part

329
00:20:12,559 --> 00:20:15,319
after that, But to have I
would argue that he's probably I mean,

330
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,559
he's just showing for All NBA.
I'll say that unless he misses more games,

331
00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,000
but I think that he's probably a
second team lock at this point,

332
00:20:22,039 --> 00:20:26,559
and that that's just we were not
saying that about Tyres Haliburton two years ago.

333
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,039
Just flat out so appreciate the degree
of the degrees of progress that he

334
00:20:30,079 --> 00:20:36,200
has made just in such a short
amount of time. Our next one is

335
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,200
the Los Angeles Clippers. I would
say, no good options here. You

336
00:20:40,319 --> 00:20:42,480
go shout out to of each a
zoo bots for kind of shape shifting,

337
00:20:42,519 --> 00:20:47,559
depending offensively, depending on the lineup
he's in. We've even we've even seen

338
00:20:47,599 --> 00:20:49,240
it and happen against the Pacers on
Monday Night, Like there will be matchup

339
00:20:49,279 --> 00:20:53,839
issues with him defensively. I suppose
you could go with Terrence man Or if

340
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,359
he really wanted to Galaxy bring this
and say, well, look at James

341
00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,240
Harden and the way he's kind of
playing off the ball more. You just

342
00:21:00,279 --> 00:21:02,559
have to go. It's almost by
default a mere coffee. The fact that

343
00:21:02,559 --> 00:21:06,039
he's now carved out a role.
I was in love with him leading into

344
00:21:06,039 --> 00:21:07,839
the twenty twenty two offseason, I
think is when he signed his contract kind

345
00:21:07,839 --> 00:21:12,359
of fades like into the it felt
like nothing last year and now is back

346
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,759
this year, and when you just
watch him play with the stars and then

347
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,960
he's just sort of flying around on
both ends of the floor. And to

348
00:21:18,039 --> 00:21:22,319
have that positional stability from a supporting
cast member who I don't know how many

349
00:21:22,319 --> 00:21:26,000
minutes that rely on him come playoff
time, but this is someone who has

350
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:30,599
mattered to them right now, which
I guess you look at what the Clippers

351
00:21:30,599 --> 00:21:33,079
are doing and kind of imploding in
the moment at your goal. Is that

352
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,400
necessarily a good thing that they're getting
twenty minutes a game of just quality play

353
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,799
from a mere coffee. I think
winds up being a big deal for their

354
00:21:40,839 --> 00:21:44,880
playoff rotation, especially if they ever
want to get to downsizing lineups that do

355
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,119
not include PJ. Tucker when it's
going to matter most there. So it

356
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,119
was kind of an easy decision for
me. There are probably a couple players

357
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:56,960
worth honorable mentioning there, but it
was just one of those teams with I

358
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:03,039
would argue no exceptional options if you're
looking for or that just catchlock improvement factor

359
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,759
there. The Los Angeles Lakers kind
of another team in the same boat you

360
00:22:07,799 --> 00:22:10,839
could go with Austin Reeves. When
you look at he shoulders a lot of

361
00:22:10,839 --> 00:22:14,559
responsibility defensively doesn't always pan out well. The stuff he needs to do off

362
00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:17,359
the ball offensively is kind of exhausting. When you look at his movement,

363
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,480
We've seen him set screens and now
he's taking more threes. Uh, that's

364
00:22:21,559 --> 00:22:23,480
like, like, this is a
guy who I do think he's he's improved

365
00:22:23,559 --> 00:22:26,880
or at least validated his stock as
this isn't Yeah, maybe he got the

366
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,839
plays for the Lakers bump, but
he is a very impactful, very good

367
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:36,519
basketball player. I don't think what
with d' Angelo Russell he is you know,

368
00:22:37,279 --> 00:22:41,119
he's like the same player, but
he's not. He's become one of

369
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,720
the most dangerous off the dribble threats
for most off off the drible three point

370
00:22:44,759 --> 00:22:48,000
threats for most of this season.
And to have that sustain is a big

371
00:22:48,039 --> 00:22:51,400
deal. Uh. I think that
he has done a better job of just

372
00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:55,200
with his patients and slowing it down
as a passer when they actually need him

373
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,559
to do that stuff. And to
that end, he's winning the minutes he

374
00:22:57,599 --> 00:23:02,440
plays without Anthony Davis Lebron James,
and like when you're just the Lakers and

375
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,279
you're propping up an offense and that
to agree without those two guys on the

376
00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:07,240
floor, you can get into some
of the data that shows Anthony Davis,

377
00:23:07,279 --> 00:23:11,400
Dams or Russell. No, Lebron
is actually getting smacked, I believe last

378
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,599
time I checked. So there are
concerns about that. Again, who did

379
00:23:15,599 --> 00:23:17,799
you want to else? Did you
want to go with? For the for

380
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:22,599
the Lakers here, though there's I
would argue there's maybe Ruy I just kind

381
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,559
of understands himself as a player and
his three pointers are going down. He's

382
00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:30,200
it over forty percent this season on
over three attempts per game. If you

383
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,920
wanted to go that route, fine, but there's really no No one else

384
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,759
has played enough. They have dealt
with a ton of injuries. But it's

385
00:23:36,759 --> 00:23:38,960
not Lebron or a d If.
It's not gonna be Austin Reeves, it's

386
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,559
not Spencer Dinwoodie, it's not Torrian
Prince. Dave Vinson is not played.

387
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,519
It's not going to be Cam Reddish. The Lakers seem to be holding out

388
00:23:45,559 --> 00:23:49,200
hope for a minute that it was
just a team with no exceptional options.

389
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,759
The Memphis Grizzlies another team where this
was like kinda difficult, probably more difficult

390
00:23:55,759 --> 00:23:57,240
than it should have been. And
then it was like I was thinking to

391
00:23:57,279 --> 00:24:00,759
myself, No, you don't need
to get bring this. I thought about

392
00:24:00,759 --> 00:24:04,240
Santi al Dama. You can't really
go with the Gigi Jackson. That just

393
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,400
doesn't make you could look at what
he's done, and over the course of

394
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,279
the season, they look at how
much improved from where we thoty initially was

395
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,119
it's Desmond Bay and let's just not
let's not overthink this. I know he's

396
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,599
dealt with his own injuries, but
his ability to remain effective as the focal

397
00:24:18,599 --> 00:24:23,400
point without jaw is kind of undersold. Like every other candidate on the team

398
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,319
anywhere is a come out of nowhere
a guy. Though I really did think

399
00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:30,400
about Santi al Dama just he showed
more as a passer this year. Just

400
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:36,119
look at this. More than half
of Bain's made shots go unassisted. That's

401
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:41,119
up from forty percent last year,
thirty percent as a sophomore and eighteen percent

402
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:45,119
as a rookie. Like this is
someone who has increasingly needed to shoulder more

403
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,160
of a self creation burden. And
you look at him and it's, well,

404
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,480
yeah, you've seen some of the
just ill like the Memphis Crozlies are

405
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,200
not going to have an elite offense
when he has to be the primary driver

406
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,599
of it all. But that's not
really a super insult. You're gonna average

407
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,960
twenty four points five assists per game, and you're going to see your true

408
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,640
shooting okay, dip but by fewer
than two percentage points to where you're still

409
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,960
at fifty eight seven, which is
that's over a league average. I believe

410
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,200
I haven't checked that actually in a
couple of days, so maybe it's not.

411
00:25:12,559 --> 00:25:17,200
It's close enough, and you're still
shooting thirty eight percent from three fifty

412
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,319
four percent on twos. This is
like, this is a legit someone who

413
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,839
could be an All Star Canady.
I think it'll always be. Shouldn't say

414
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,119
always. It's tough to envision it
now when you look at kind of the

415
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,720
pecking order of the West and how
much the Grizzlies have faded from prominence because

416
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,440
of injuries this year. But Ja
Morant isn't up Jamorant. He is an

417
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,640
all star talent, to be fair, I'm not miss speaking on that.

418
00:25:37,839 --> 00:25:40,480
Does it means an all star talent? Like this is a dude that what

419
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:41,720
I predict that he makes an All
Star game in his career. I'm gonna

420
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,240
say yes, just that level of
self creation there. Maybe it doesn't happen

421
00:25:45,279 --> 00:25:48,720
for the Grizzlies if they decide they
need to get bigger on the wings or

422
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,039
something and he's you know, collateral
damage of them getting more expensive and still

423
00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:56,279
not having that player. But yeah, this dude is really good and I

424
00:25:56,279 --> 00:26:00,240
think the combination of, oh,
he's played miss about he's gonna end up

425
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,160
missing like close to half the season
this year. Still not getting to the

426
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,680
free throw line of ton, but
just look at what he's shouldering and the

427
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,279
talent that's around him, and so
that's a huge deal. I'm sorry.

428
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:12,440
Twenty four and five and fifty nine
for a shooting So those are numbers that

429
00:26:12,519 --> 00:26:18,680
are like incompar like they're comparable to
last year. He's only upped his you

430
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,880
know, scoring his assists on a
per posession basis a little bit, but

431
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,400
like they were already a huge jumps. And to do that when you're on

432
00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:29,960
such a team that I would argue
was just not built to put you in

433
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,400
your optimal role. You're outside your
comfort zone. And so all the respect

434
00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:37,880
and shoutouts in the world to Desmond
Bane this year. Next team is the

435
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:44,960
Miami Heat. This one was pretty
easy. It was Duncan Robinson and I

436
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,000
think I can boil it down to
three words live dribble passing. That is

437
00:26:49,079 --> 00:26:52,319
literally all. But this is we
saw kind of the turn last year,

438
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,799
especially in the playoffs. This is
someone who is a legitimate inside the arc,

439
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,759
not ultra dynamic, but threat now
and the Heat are getting him going

440
00:27:02,799 --> 00:27:04,519
down hillmore and part out of necessity, but they do have the bodies on

441
00:27:04,559 --> 00:27:07,720
some nights not to lean on him
in that capacity. And yet they are

442
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,200
four point six drives per thirty six
minutes last year. That's up to seven

443
00:27:11,599 --> 00:27:15,359
this year. That's a big freakin'
deal. And so I think he has

444
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,279
been just to kind of see his
contract like the story that got him the

445
00:27:19,279 --> 00:27:22,720
contract and then it was probably valued
as one of the net negatives in the

446
00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:25,119
league. To now you look at
it and it's, well, did he

447
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,480
make it worthwhile You can look at
some of the earlier portions of it and

448
00:27:29,799 --> 00:27:33,160
you know, say it's a net
even now you might look at that contract

449
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,200
and just say, Duncan Robinson under
twenty million dollars a year is of fucking

450
00:27:36,279 --> 00:27:38,079
steal. That is something that we
can actually say right now, which is

451
00:27:38,079 --> 00:27:41,480
pretty incredible. And so and we
know it kind of holds up in the

452
00:27:41,519 --> 00:27:45,279
postseason because we saw more of this
version of him last year in the playoffs

453
00:27:45,319 --> 00:27:48,440
as the Heat made their way to
the finals. So that's just you know,

454
00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:52,839
as much as part of the job
is to critique and be inflammatory,

455
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:57,119
sometimes are passionate about you know,
holding teams accountable or players accountable, or

456
00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,799
singling out what went wrong. I
love these types of stories like those are

457
00:28:00,839 --> 00:28:04,240
just too Like this entire exercise is
fun to just talk about guys who've who

458
00:28:04,319 --> 00:28:07,279
have improved, maybe not a bunch
in every case, but just to talk

459
00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:11,440
about guys who are getting better.
That's that's contrary to popular belief. A

460
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,759
lot of us do not root for
players to fail, believe it or not.

461
00:28:14,799 --> 00:28:18,039
I know that that might shock a
few people the bucks. I feel

462
00:28:18,039 --> 00:28:22,119
like this might be a controversial pick
and that a lot of people are gonna

463
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,200
want to go with Bobby Portis.
I just keep been good. I just

464
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:29,359
can't get there. Defensively specifically,
I do think he's probably broad in his

465
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,319
offensive horizons a little bit more and
to where you look at like the Giannis

466
00:28:33,319 --> 00:28:37,680
and Brooke big stuff. Is he
kind of maybe a more dynamic guy after

467
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,279
setting screens. If you wanted to
partner him with just Damian Lillard, you

468
00:28:41,319 --> 00:28:44,279
could make that case. I really
think it has to come down to aj

469
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,440
Green just shout out for you know, given the business defensively this year,

470
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,319
and he will throw his body in
front of a runaway freight train. If

471
00:28:51,319 --> 00:28:55,440
it means maybe taking a charge or
I didn't pick him, I picked him

472
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,759
a Leak Beasley, like, this
guy's on a minimum contract. The shooting

473
00:28:57,799 --> 00:29:03,039
comes back and it's in higheroume the
bigger deal for me, and not the

474
00:29:03,079 --> 00:29:06,359
bigger deal, but something that I
think has impressed me, and it's probably

475
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,000
flown under the radar. And I
don't blame people for not caring about it,

476
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,160
because they're even been all over the
place. He's been like, okay,

477
00:29:14,319 --> 00:29:17,319
guarding up this season, whether it's
like kind of on switches or just

478
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,880
not defending a like sized player in
general. And to have that on a

479
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,920
minimum contract from someone who I don't
think minimums imply that he was on the

480
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:27,119
you know, the outskirts of the
league. I don't think it was ever

481
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,519
that even mentioned he had some bigger
offers. He chose the role over this

482
00:29:32,279 --> 00:29:34,359
that that's really cool and it could
end up being a big deal for Milwaukee

483
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,039
in the postseason. It will certainly
be a big deal from Elite's Leis next

484
00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:41,720
contract. The Bucks will not be
the ones offering that just because they're not

485
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,920
gonna have bird rights on him,
and I would argue that he is.

486
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,519
They're not even gonna have the when
you look at their they're gonna be in

487
00:29:47,599 --> 00:29:49,920
danger, like not even having their
mid level available to spend. And so

488
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,960
he's going to price himself out of
Milwaukee, and that's mostly gonna be the

489
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:59,079
shooting. But he has held his
own against some of those larger defensive assignments

490
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,000
the Minnesota Timberwolves. There has to
be a shout out to nas Reed here,

491
00:30:03,039 --> 00:30:06,160
and I do think that he has
improved as a perimeter defender. He's

492
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,039
kind of really clamped up on his
rim protection overall. In certain lineups,

493
00:30:10,039 --> 00:30:11,519
you don't want him being the lone
big, but if he's the second big,

494
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,799
he's actually done as that second line
of defense. I think he's done

495
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,480
really good down low. It has
to be Nikhil Alexander Walker, and not

496
00:30:18,559 --> 00:30:22,319
just because I'm trying to curry favor
with Grant, who, if he's smart,

497
00:30:22,359 --> 00:30:26,680
will never listen to this episode.
This is someone who was just became

498
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,160
a throw in in all these different
trades, didn't even necessarily look like he

499
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,720
would amount to much with Minnesota,
Like, yeah, they re signed him

500
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,960
and he had some nice moments last
year. Now they basically use him as

501
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,640
like four different people on the offense, like sometimes he's a point guard and

502
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,519
sometimes he'll cut, and sometimes he's
a spot up shooter. Sometimes he's again

503
00:30:41,519 --> 00:30:47,200
in to the lane and he's cleaned
up his shot diet and his decision making.

504
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,640
He's hit in his threes, and
when you really start to dig into

505
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,279
the all defense stuff, he has
a fringe case. I don't think he's

506
00:30:53,319 --> 00:30:56,880
gonna make one of my two teams, but you look at his ability to

507
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:02,119
pressure and stick with every ball handler
basically of all separate sizes, and then

508
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:07,160
the contests he provides as the helper
have been really good this year, Like

509
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,480
WHOA, he's he is someone who
and he's been Just to say that he's

510
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,839
been there of the non Anthony Edwards
division, their most reliable wingshooter. That

511
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:21,880
is maybe an indictment more so on
Jade McDaniels, but he's kind of overshadowed

512
00:31:22,039 --> 00:31:26,720
how uneven or disappointing Jane McDaniels' offense
has been for much of this year.

513
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,160
Grant will be happy about that one. You all can tell him that I

514
00:31:30,279 --> 00:31:34,640
picked the heel Alexander Walker instead of
going with my guy nas Reid solely because

515
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,319
I respect Grant as a co host
in person, but also because I think

516
00:31:37,319 --> 00:31:41,279
it's it's the right choice. New
Orleans Pelicans. I guess Trey Murphy's making

517
00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:45,920
a late push here, but I
would go with Herb Jones. The defense,

518
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,319
I think has just gotten better when
you're looking at how he defends sometimes

519
00:31:48,319 --> 00:31:52,000
from like the inside out or even
just the outside in, and the way

520
00:31:52,039 --> 00:31:56,440
that manipulate entire offensive sets for opponents. We know what he can do on

521
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:00,920
those closeouts and sort of fly out
of nowhere, but this is someone who

522
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:06,559
is basically impossible to screen or shake, and he will guard like nine different

523
00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:09,319
actions on the same half court possession. Basically the bigger improvement, though,

524
00:32:09,559 --> 00:32:13,680
has come on the offensive end,
where he is. We will see if

525
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,519
this holds up into the into the
playoffs, assuming that I mean I wouldn't.

526
00:32:16,559 --> 00:32:20,000
It's not even assuming the Pelicans get
there. At this point, looks

527
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,200
like the Clippers might be a playing
team in the Pelicans might just settle into

528
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,759
a top four spot. Shooting forty
three point one percent from three on over

529
00:32:27,799 --> 00:32:30,960
four attempts per game, about four
point two attempts per thirty six minutes.

530
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:34,480
That's like that's a big deal.
Excuse me, over three attempts per game.

531
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,400
Four point two is three point attemps
for their re six minutes, not

532
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,559
a ton. I think you also
need to give him credit though, of

533
00:32:39,599 --> 00:32:43,759
what he's been able to do inside
the arc almost fifty nine percent of his

534
00:32:43,799 --> 00:32:46,359
twos. Doesn't take a lot of
shots there, but he's very quietly been

535
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,960
just and I don't know how much
he's really up to this because you look

536
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,200
at the assist numbers and they're kind
of similar. But this is not someone

537
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,960
who's gonna let the ball stick like
he will catch it. He will make

538
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,160
the decision whether shoot or drive,
and that part of his game has gotten

539
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:02,680
a lot better, and I think
that he's kind of a more trustworthy finisher,

540
00:33:02,799 --> 00:33:07,279
not just as a scorer, but
just decision maker on drives and to

541
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:09,039
have that be such a huge part
of your game in addition to being an

542
00:33:09,079 --> 00:33:15,640
all defense talent that improves your defensive
capabilities just absolutely. While I can't say

543
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,440
enough good things about herb Jones pretty
much just like everyone else on through this

544
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,640
exercise, so this one is a
little bit difficult. I'm not gonna lie.

545
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:29,240
I went with Jalen Brunson, and
you could go I think the answer

546
00:33:29,359 --> 00:33:32,480
might just be deuce McBride, but
his role was so small, basically non

547
00:33:32,519 --> 00:33:36,799
existent for much of the year that
to see what he's doing now, getting

548
00:33:36,839 --> 00:33:39,359
into the ball on defense, hitting
threes of all shapes and sizes, even

549
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:44,920
kind of you know, polishing off. His role is just not a complicated

550
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,799
passer, but as someone you can
trust to get the ball moving sometimes in

551
00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:52,359
traffic as well. But and you
could also go, look, I say,

552
00:33:52,359 --> 00:33:54,279
a Hertenstein, he might get some
all defense votes. I feel like

553
00:33:54,319 --> 00:33:58,000
he's doing a lot of the same
stuff he's always done, maybe not so

554
00:33:58,079 --> 00:34:00,799
much as a passer. The Knicks
don't use him that way, but just

555
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,119
in larger doses. That's a form
of improvement. And so I'm looking at

556
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,519
if you want to go with Dante
Devincenzo, all of a sudden turned into

557
00:34:06,599 --> 00:34:10,159
just like you know, Steph Curry, Steph Curry's understudy. The level of

558
00:34:10,199 --> 00:34:14,360
three point shooting he's providing is gonna
be if that holds into the playoffs.

559
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,119
The Knicks like that is that's mission
critical to what they're doing, and we'll

560
00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:21,000
see if they ever get to full
strength. Mitchell Robinson might have seemed like

561
00:34:21,079 --> 00:34:24,000
he had a case before the injury. Way back when I don't. This

562
00:34:24,039 --> 00:34:28,079
is another instance where I was thinking, all right, don't overcomplicate this,

563
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,639
Jalen Brunson. There's more that you
want from him, particularly as a passer,

564
00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:36,440
maybe in traffic, but when you
look, especially from the start of

565
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,440
the season, with the way that
defenses are still guarding him, his ability

566
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:44,639
to adjust to that to still be
an efficient score, not just overall,

567
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:49,199
but inside the arc where he's facing
a ton of pressure that's not easy to

568
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,960
do. Like he's working within very
narrow confines a lot of the time,

569
00:34:52,119 --> 00:34:55,519
and his job has only gotten harder
since Julius randall injury, and you've seen

570
00:34:55,559 --> 00:34:59,239
his efficiency kind of slump off a
little bit as a result. Still at

571
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,960
fifty one percent from two. He's
had over forty percent from three again for

572
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,719
the third time in four seasons,
which just proves that, Okay, this

573
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:10,199
isn't like like, this isn't an
aberration. He's making those threes though,

574
00:35:10,199 --> 00:35:15,360
while taking just a ton of pull
up jumpers from beyond the arc, and

575
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:16,960
like, this is not someone who, yeah, okay, he would take

576
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,079
those shots in Dallas a little bit, and you're probably okay with him taking

577
00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:22,400
them. Last year as a member
of the Knicks, I don't think you

578
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:27,360
ever looked at him at any point
in his career, and maybe I'm just

579
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:32,119
misremembering swaths of last season looked at
him and said, oh, this is

580
00:35:32,159 --> 00:35:37,840
going to be one of the most
dangerous self created three point shooters in the

581
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:39,440
NBA. And yes, the numbers
have pulled back from that. I think

582
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:44,239
he's now dip below thirty seven percent
on pull up three pointers for the year.

583
00:35:45,119 --> 00:35:46,840
I don't know that I care when
you look at a load he's carrying.

584
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,679
He was working through an injury himself, and he ranks in the top

585
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,000
I think it's about ten at this
point. Yeah, he's tenth, and

586
00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:59,519
it might be eleventh in made pull
up three pointers at ninety nine. So,

587
00:36:00,039 --> 00:36:02,079
as I'm recording this, Donovan Mitchell
Andthey Edwards, tread Van Fleet,

588
00:36:02,159 --> 00:36:06,480
James Harden, Hallie Trey Young,
Jason Tatum, Damian Lillard, Steph and

589
00:36:06,519 --> 00:36:08,079
Luca are the only players in front
of him. And so you kind of

590
00:36:08,079 --> 00:36:12,400
look at that and say, Wow, he's made more pull up threes than

591
00:36:12,519 --> 00:36:15,400
Tyres Maxy, than Daron Fox,
than Devin Booker. He's played more games

592
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,079
than a lot of these guys,
but not by much. It's like,

593
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,440
I mean, making more pull up
threes than a Paul George basically a similar

594
00:36:21,559 --> 00:36:25,280
number of games speaks to the discrepancy
and context of their roles. I want

595
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:30,559
to make that clear, but this
is he I wouldn't call him necessarily in

596
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,199
every level score, but he impacts
the offense in a way that makes it

597
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,840
flow better at every single level you're
looking at, even if you don't value

598
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,559
him as an A plus passer.
And to have that type of a I'll

599
00:36:43,639 --> 00:36:45,559
call it a jump. To have
that type of an improvement when you're already

600
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:49,880
coming off a year where you were
involved in the All NBA discussion, that's

601
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,000
not easy to do. It's not
on the same scale as what we're talking

602
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:57,960
about with Tyre's Haliburton, but it's
sort of the same genre of leap where

603
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,760
it's this was already an All star, type of fringe All NBA type of

604
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:06,280
guy, and he's still managing to
get better and that needs to be celebrated.

605
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,320
And he's just gonna get the anecdotal
bump for me too, because you

606
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,239
look at this and Julius RANNDLS missing
a ton of time. The knicks of

607
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,559
spacing still is not Yeah, there
are lineups and you have Danta di Vincenzo,

608
00:37:15,599 --> 00:37:19,760
but it's not like super pristine.
Defenses don't treat them like it's super

609
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,360
pristine either. Even though they look
they do hit their threes, you can

610
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,000
quibble over whether they need to take
more. So they're not a bad three

611
00:37:24,039 --> 00:37:29,000
point shooting team, but they're not
the spaciest offense is what I would say.

612
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,880
And Jalen Brunson's ability to thrive within
that. I won't say it's beyond

613
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:37,960
compare that would be hyperbole, but
it's huge the Oklahoma City Thunder, this

614
00:37:37,159 --> 00:37:43,280
is pretty easy. Jalhen Williams wing
Jalen Williams. Excuse me, I just

615
00:37:43,639 --> 00:37:46,320
I normally don't consider second year players
for most improved player. He is there,

616
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:51,599
his defense is better. I think
he's him and Lou Door And there's

617
00:37:51,639 --> 00:37:54,199
the element of Chet Holmgrin being behind
everyone, but those two guys having them

618
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:59,880
up top is what makes Shay so
good at being able to pinpoint when he

619
00:38:00,039 --> 00:38:02,199
can go and get steals. It's
also insulated some of his defense assignments.

620
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,719
I am more impressed with the offense
or he can run certain units as kind

621
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:07,760
of like all right, maybe Chet
needs to be on the floor like Shade

622
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:12,119
doesn't need to be there, and
he's probably better off without being untethered to

623
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:15,000
Josh Giddy right now. The counters
he has on offense, the step back

624
00:38:15,079 --> 00:38:17,800
jumper, the pull up jumper,
he's like just basically when you dig into

625
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,760
the numbers, it depends on how
you really want to filter it. But

626
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,760
he's just the most efficient pull up
jump shooter in the NBA right now,

627
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:29,079
and he is, as I'm recording
this, at fifty five point eight effective

628
00:38:29,079 --> 00:38:32,960
field goal percentage on pull up jumpers
while taking over three hundred of them.

629
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,440
If you're looking at everyone who's taken
over three hundred pull up jumpers, the

630
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,559
only player with a higher effective field
goal percentage is C. G. McCollum,

631
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:45,239
and shout out. Maybe CJ should
have been a consideration for the Pelicans.

632
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:46,800
He's been a little bit better defensively. Got the three point volume up

633
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,960
there. That feels like a bridge
too far, but my guy has helped

634
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:53,719
provide them for balance there. I
don't know why I call them my guy.

635
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,440
I never met him. I apologize
for using that for racing, but

636
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,760
Jadubb I just when you look kind
of his ceiling and it's the other thing.

637
00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:05,679
Sorry's skipping over this. There's more
I've been saying, said this a

638
00:39:05,679 --> 00:39:07,719
lot with a thunder and was why
I liked it. They got Gordon Hayward

639
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,599
that I need that. I wanted
someone with more jiggle and joggle to their

640
00:39:10,599 --> 00:39:14,199
ball handling in the half court and
like, no, like Jaln Williams is

641
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:19,039
just it's hidden beneath the explosion sometimes. But there's a lot of directionality to

642
00:39:19,079 --> 00:39:21,760
the way that he can play.
He has counters, he has spins and

643
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,199
fades. I already mentioned the stepbacks
from the perimeter. I don't know that

644
00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:28,559
we can put a ceiling on this
player. And he is gone from someone

645
00:39:28,599 --> 00:39:30,760
who's just like, oh, kind
of pushed Pallow to there's a discussion about

646
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:34,400
Rookie of the year or two.
Would you rather have him over than Pala

647
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,679
long term or even more broadly,
not to make this at Palo's expense.

648
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,719
Could you how many all NBA teams
is Jail Williams gonna make in his career?

649
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,199
And if the answer is fewer than
one, that might teem spice here

650
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,840
than if you're gonna go with like
two or three, or if he becomes

651
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:52,400
a perennial contender at that rate,
speaking of Palo Bankcaro, we move on

652
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,320
to the Orlando Magic where I did
not pick Palo Bank CAO because I picked

653
00:39:55,400 --> 00:40:01,559
Jalen Suggs. Holy crap, this
guy. I So what was interesting was

654
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:05,519
I was I've listened after we did
our all defense stuff and thought that I

655
00:40:05,559 --> 00:40:07,760
needed to ad just my priors because
I didn't hear and I read a lot

656
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,679
of like the mock all defense discussions
and they seem to be coming out around

657
00:40:10,679 --> 00:40:15,559
that time. It was interesting.
He didn't make like there were times where

658
00:40:15,559 --> 00:40:17,599
he was just left off all together. And I'm not gonna I don't want

659
00:40:17,639 --> 00:40:21,880
to frame it because defense is so
hard to quantify and understand, and I

660
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:24,239
won't. I will always operate under
the assumption that I have done something wrong.

661
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:28,079
That's the type of person than I
am. But I was like kind

662
00:40:28,119 --> 00:40:30,039
of surprised at how it felt like
he was being glossed over. And the

663
00:40:30,079 --> 00:40:35,239
difficulty on the assignments is there.
The way he's able to just bust up

664
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,559
possessions even as a shot blocker at
points, it's there. The defensive playmaking

665
00:40:38,559 --> 00:40:42,159
in general is there. The pick
sixes, those are there, and it

666
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,960
just goes beyond counting stats and I'm
surprised he actually hadn't gotten more love in

667
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:51,519
the most improved player'scussion. Probably take
a little little while for his offense to

668
00:40:51,559 --> 00:40:53,199
take off. The shooting is good, but he's really you know, they

669
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:58,079
have him playing the day facto point
guard rule. Now, his full floor

670
00:40:58,119 --> 00:41:00,400
passing has gotten a lot better.
He will keep the ball moving. I

671
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:04,000
don't know if he's still not someone
that you're gonna trust to slow it down,

672
00:41:04,119 --> 00:41:07,360
run a ton of picking rolls and
facilitate the offense. From that regards,

673
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:09,719
also out outside the realm of possibility, we were talking about him as

674
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:14,800
a super charged like Derek White at
one point where it's just like you might

675
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:16,480
be able to it feels like he'll
leave his imprint a little bit more than

676
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:21,480
White, who's an exceptional player and
had an All Star case this year.

677
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,639
But he is going to be like
kind of fill the gaps and like Jalen

678
00:41:24,639 --> 00:41:28,239
Stus might be in your face,
and the fact that he's just younger,

679
00:41:28,559 --> 00:41:31,480
I think there's some stuff to plumb
with him as a passer and maybe even

680
00:41:31,559 --> 00:41:36,039
just as a scorer. Outside of
his driving that could hit and then you

681
00:41:36,159 --> 00:41:38,000
look back and say, oh,
why did people pass judgment? On him

682
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:42,679
after his first year, two years
in the career, two years of his

683
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,119
career, too quickly he started.
He showed signs of this last year,

684
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:50,280
like he's really put it together this
season, and it's made the Magic much

685
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,519
more dangerous, not just in the
context of fighting for a playoff spot in

686
00:41:53,519 --> 00:41:57,360
the Eastern Conference, but what they
could actually do should they get to the

687
00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,599
playoffs. When you're looking at all
these other teams who were just so banged

688
00:42:00,639 --> 00:42:04,880
up, the seventy six ers an
easy choice, Tyres MAXI the counting stats

689
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:07,719
are just gaga. I think he
still is among I have not checked the

690
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:14,039
betting favorites to win Most Improved Player. I wouldn't be Why would I ever

691
00:42:14,079 --> 00:42:15,920
be mad. I don't get mad
about this stuff normally. But twenty six

692
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:20,960
points six assists up from twenty points
and three and a half assist last year.

693
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,079
I think when you look at that, it's, oh my god.

694
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,440
And there's been a real volume uptick
there. Yes, he's under fifty percent

695
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:30,079
from two, under thirty eight percent
from three. The volume and difficulty is

696
00:42:30,079 --> 00:42:35,400
just getting jacked up, especially in
the absence of Joel Embiid. The other

697
00:42:35,519 --> 00:42:39,199
thing, though, is that the
stretch without Joel embiid how poorly the Sixers

698
00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:43,360
have played in general. I think
that's shown the limitations of his game and

699
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,280
kind of how he can be a
little bit more of a reactive passer.

700
00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:51,119
I'm curious to see whether he could
develop into more of a methodical playmaker,

701
00:42:51,119 --> 00:42:54,280
because I think you can see like
he's done a good job shifting the cadence,

702
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:58,760
the speed, the rhythms of his
game, but they're still sort of

703
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:00,480
the I don't know who I'd like
it to be, like if you look

704
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:04,199
at Devin Booker, if you look
at DeMar derozen like the way that,

705
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,199
or if Devin Booker specifically because he
shoots threes the way he's able to leverage

706
00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:12,719
the threat of his three point shot
into doing things inside the arc, that

707
00:43:13,159 --> 00:43:16,000
slowed down element of his game doesn't
feel like it's there yet. That's okay.

708
00:43:16,119 --> 00:43:20,119
He's wrapping up year three and he
could win Most Improved Player, and

709
00:43:20,119 --> 00:43:23,559
I'm not gonna provide much pushback.
The Sixers have an all NBA caliber talent

710
00:43:23,639 --> 00:43:28,320
on their roster, which is just
you talk about mining value out of the

711
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,840
draft to get him with a number
twenty one pick in twenty twenty. That's

712
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:37,519
gonna go down as one of the
best draft picks in recent memory. We

713
00:43:37,559 --> 00:43:42,880
are on to the Phoenix Suns this
kind of fee. So I went into

714
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:45,320
this as a cynic and said I
might just pick Devin Booker. I still

715
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:47,840
feel like I've seen enough from him
as a pastor to make that case,

716
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:51,519
and there's just no one else that
I'm gonna throw here, Like, yeah,

717
00:43:51,559 --> 00:43:53,079
some of the use of Nurkic stuff
on defense has been cute, and

718
00:43:53,159 --> 00:43:57,400
Quentington will see how it holds up
in the playoffs. The answer is actually

719
00:43:57,599 --> 00:44:00,920
Grayson Allen, who is just aside
from leading the league in three point percentage,

720
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:04,920
has been well, I mean that's
a bit by the way, that's

721
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,920
just a really big part of this
when you're looking at his case. So

722
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:09,920
I don't want to dismiss that there's
a three point percentage. He's doing some

723
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:14,880
things inside the arc. I've actually
been really impressed with what he's been able

724
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,679
to do, for stretches on defense
where he's gonna come and go stride for

725
00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:22,719
stride with a player and then contest
their shot resently coming over is as the

726
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:27,760
helper like he's had some really just
good moments like contesting shots on the move,

727
00:44:28,199 --> 00:44:30,920
and that just reinforces how much the
Suns need him, which is an

728
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:36,239
incredibly uncomfortable place to be. I
guess when you're a team that's told us

729
00:44:36,239 --> 00:44:39,760
who you are for you know,
just seventy plus games so far this season.

730
00:44:40,079 --> 00:44:44,559
But he's not like he's He's a
feel good story of the year for

731
00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:45,840
them, and that's someone that you're
gonna want to keep long term, not

732
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:49,719
just to roll over the salary slot, but because I don't necessarily know where

733
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,679
this team would be without him.
That's kind of again a scary proposition to

734
00:44:52,679 --> 00:44:55,519
think about, but also just a
very big testament to how well he's played

735
00:44:55,760 --> 00:45:01,119
this year. We're onto the Portland
Trailblazers. I thought about like the shade

736
00:45:01,119 --> 00:45:05,519
and sharp when you look at the
counting stats and his ability. I mentioned

737
00:45:05,519 --> 00:45:07,559
this on the previous podcast to kind
of show that there's not going to be

738
00:45:07,599 --> 00:45:10,199
a ton of overlap with him and
some of the other core guys that you

739
00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:15,079
care about most. I just couldn't
get there because the like, yeah,

740
00:45:15,159 --> 00:45:16,760
the functionality of the game is there, but there was a lot of just

741
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:21,360
trying stuff from him and he hasn't
perfected that yet. There's also the injury

742
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:23,599
stuff, so that limits his dissample
size. You're still going to want to

743
00:45:23,599 --> 00:45:28,039
see a little bit more from him
on defensively. Can he guard up and

744
00:45:28,079 --> 00:45:30,239
he has the physical tools to be
someone who's going to be more disruptive on

745
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:35,079
that end than he's been when he's
healthy. I went with Anthony Simons,

746
00:45:35,079 --> 00:45:37,039
and I don't think this is going
to be a popular pick. It's about

747
00:45:37,039 --> 00:45:39,039
Matisse Stiebel for a minute, done
a little bit better where you can kind

748
00:45:39,039 --> 00:45:42,400
of trust him to put the ball
on the floor and keep it moving.

749
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,239
When I go and watch Anthony Simons, there is I think there one needs

750
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:50,880
to be credit given to Okay,
what he does on offense as a score

751
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:54,000
it largely is just sustained like all
these different iterations of the team over the

752
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:58,239
past few years, including the eight
different iterations that the Blazers have had this

753
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:01,599
season, three eight and a half
percent from three unnearly nine attempts per game,

754
00:46:02,039 --> 00:46:06,400
and he's averaging five and a half
assist, which is a monster increase

755
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,880
over last year. And he is
throwing No, he is not someone who

756
00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:15,199
is you want spearheading your entire offense
as a playmaker. He is throwing passes,

757
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,760
He would have not thrown tried seen
two years ago and so to be

758
00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,320
there and he's still turning the ball
over only it's like twelve percent of the

759
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:27,400
time on twenty eight usage. Like
this is someone who is twenty four.

760
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:30,199
I don't know where he fits into
the larger context of the Blazers. There's

761
00:46:30,239 --> 00:46:32,639
a lot to kind of be desired
when you're looking at him as a multi

762
00:46:34,039 --> 00:46:37,639
level score. Is it someone that's
gonna you know, can he make the

763
00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:42,880
adjustment or get to a point where
he's getting to the basket more so he

764
00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:45,519
can up his his three throats,
like even his finishing. He's been on

765
00:46:45,559 --> 00:46:47,920
the climb over the past two seasons, including this one, and like he

766
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:52,360
has some in between stuff. He's
shooting forty eight percent between ten and sixteen

767
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,159
feet, so and you know,
do you want him? You look at

768
00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:58,320
he's cleaned up over the past like
two seasons that always felt like oh,

769
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,400
one or two or three too many
long toos. That stuff's kind of been

770
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:05,320
eradicated out. I think the bigger
thing is like, oh, can he

771
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:08,599
get to the basket more? Can
he draw contact more on his place,

772
00:47:08,679 --> 00:47:13,159
like he can slow the game down
in that capacity. He's just really good,

773
00:47:13,199 --> 00:47:15,519
and I think that the how many
times are gonna say that these players

774
00:47:15,519 --> 00:47:17,639
are just really good? Of course
they're really good. That's why they're here

775
00:47:17,679 --> 00:47:21,960
for the most part. If he
can get to a point where he's making

776
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,000
these contributions on a good team,
and when you look at what he can

777
00:47:24,039 --> 00:47:27,920
do as someone who doesn't need the
ball in his hands, that's not far

778
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,559
outside the realm of possibility. The
defense makes it tough, the size makes

779
00:47:30,559 --> 00:47:34,159
it tough. When he's not your
point guard only sixty three. There are

780
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,599
challenges there, and those are ones
that the Blazers need to factor in and

781
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:43,119
consider. I don't think that changes
just the fact that he is a much

782
00:47:43,199 --> 00:47:45,360
better player, even if only viewed
as well. What he's able to do

783
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:52,280
sustains across less talented teams that provide
him with a finite or a more finite

784
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:55,960
margin for error would be the best
way for me to describe it. There,

785
00:47:57,239 --> 00:48:00,639
we're onto the Sacramento Kings. I
want with Key Murray here. I

786
00:48:00,719 --> 00:48:02,639
think you could go with Keon Ellis
again, that's another if you. I

787
00:48:02,679 --> 00:48:05,840
think you can also make a case
from Elik Monk if you really wanted to.

788
00:48:06,199 --> 00:48:08,639
But I think that's just a case
another case of working off such a

789
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:14,159
low baseline with keon Ellis Kiya Murray, one of the bright spots of rookies

790
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,519
as a rookie last year, one
of the best three point shooters or most

791
00:48:17,599 --> 00:48:20,960
dangerous three point shooters in the league. This year, now you dig into

792
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:23,880
his percentages, he's under thirty six
percent from three this year. There could

793
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:29,280
be a lot going into that.
The defense though, and part of this

794
00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:30,559
I wonder if it impacts him on
the offensive end. Does he just not

795
00:48:30,679 --> 00:48:34,880
have the same level of lift because
of the responsibility he's shouldering on defense.

796
00:48:35,199 --> 00:48:38,280
Kigya Murray ranks in the top thirty
of total shots contested at the rim this

797
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:42,800
year. Opponents are shooting under sixty
percent against him there. That is good.

798
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:46,639
They're shooting four point three percentage points
worse against him inside six feet overall.

799
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:52,039
That's another quality mark. Last year, he guarded one of the two

800
00:48:52,119 --> 00:48:55,880
highest usage players on twenty seven point
nine percent of his possessions. That numbers

801
00:48:55,960 --> 00:49:00,559
up to fifty point one percent this
season. That's almost double. That data

802
00:49:00,639 --> 00:49:05,760
came from Basketball Bball Index. Excuse
me, the simons he's covering on the

803
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:08,599
perimeter, the stuff he's kind of
able to do still around the basket because

804
00:49:08,599 --> 00:49:13,559
he does have like that bigger body
and you're going to need your wing or

805
00:49:13,599 --> 00:49:15,559
your four to do that type of
stuff. When Sabona says, your primary

806
00:49:15,639 --> 00:49:20,800
big this is we need to see
some of the offensive stuff normalized. But

807
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,840
the defensive responsibility he is shouldering right
now, it opens up all these different

808
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:30,920
doors as to what he could be
long term. And when you get into

809
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:34,599
why, oh they wouldn't give him
up for Pascal Siakam or og Ananobi,

810
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:37,199
I'm with them. I mean,
I didn't like the Siakam fit. That's

811
00:49:37,199 --> 00:49:40,239
why I'm with them there. And
then also it's clear that og kind of

812
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:43,519
wanted to be in New York or
at least didn't want to be in Sacramento.

813
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:45,840
And so you can see it in
what he's doing defensively, and if

814
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:49,000
he gets to a point where he
can give you not even more self created

815
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:52,239
stuff on the offensive end, though
we've seen flickers and flashes of that a

816
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:53,559
little bit, but if he's just
going to get to a point where,

817
00:49:53,639 --> 00:49:58,559
okay, this is now a thirty
nine percent three point shooter flying around off

818
00:49:58,639 --> 00:50:00,480
movement and can do some stuff on
the ball. In addition, to what

819
00:50:00,519 --> 00:50:05,119
he's providing you defensively where I wouldn't
call it all defense stuff, but that's

820
00:50:05,159 --> 00:50:09,960
a rock solid positional defender to where
let's build out your starting five as the

821
00:50:10,079 --> 00:50:13,760
Kings, and now all of a
sudden you're saying, well, camer needs

822
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,800
to be your second best defender.
That's a really great spot to be and

823
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:20,840
there have just been I think you
could argue stretches too long, stretches where

824
00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:24,800
he is their most valuable defender and
that in a lot of lineups, and

825
00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:30,800
there are limitations there, but it's
easy, or it's expected to improve as

826
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:35,000
a sophomore. From a rookie to
a sophomore, he is gone above and

827
00:50:35,079 --> 00:50:40,079
beyond on the defensive side of things. We are onto the San Antonio Spurs.

828
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:45,079
I thought about Blake Wesley here,
but I'm went with Devin Fasel anyway.

829
00:50:45,199 --> 00:50:47,639
I just value that someone who's gonna
play more minutes the defense can still

830
00:50:47,679 --> 00:50:51,000
sort of be touch and go and
you want him to be better. This

831
00:50:51,119 --> 00:50:53,239
is now officially someone who is on
the three level scoring track, and it

832
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:57,360
can come whether he's cutting, whether
he has the ball in his hands,

833
00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:00,639
whether he's pulling up from mid range, whether he's hitting self create, whether

834
00:51:00,639 --> 00:51:04,400
he's hitting assisted threes, whether he's
out in transition, and so it's like

835
00:51:04,519 --> 00:51:07,559
you say, it's a three leve
level score, it's just in every capacity

836
00:51:07,599 --> 00:51:10,039
scorer at this point and the window, the door is still open for him

837
00:51:10,079 --> 00:51:14,000
to be the second best player on
this team. Moving forward, they're going

838
00:51:14,039 --> 00:51:17,559
to be a contender. But the
way that his game just fits seamlessly into

839
00:51:17,599 --> 00:51:22,159
what feels like any given lineup,
you could bump him down to the number

840
00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:23,599
three and you're not gonna feel his
impact any less. I do think he

841
00:51:23,679 --> 00:51:30,039
deserves a lot of credit for his
movement and being able to find space in

842
00:51:30,119 --> 00:51:37,519
the half court when the Spurs aren't
fielding like the the cleanest of spacing units,

843
00:51:37,559 --> 00:51:39,760
and like Victor Remernam at the five, and the way he's been shooting

844
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,159
threes that cleans up a lot of
that even when you look in some of

845
00:51:43,239 --> 00:51:45,880
the more cramped lineups to see what
he is doing there, Like, this

846
00:51:46,039 --> 00:51:50,400
is just someone who has a nose
for making an impact on the offensive end.

847
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:52,840
If I thought I would be prepared
to give out like some more Devin

848
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:58,039
Booker comps, if I thought that
he would have that type of passing leap

849
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:00,880
in him. I don't know if
he'll ever get the opportun' in San Antonio,

850
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:02,079
and I haven't seen enough of it. That's kind of kind of feels

851
00:52:02,079 --> 00:52:07,119
like more of a tertiary guy in
that role. If you're still feeling or

852
00:52:07,119 --> 00:52:09,159
if you were ever unsettled about his
extension why, I don't. Honestly,

853
00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:12,719
I don't know why. But you
should be feeling pretty good about what they

854
00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:15,199
paid him, because that's going to
age like a fine line regardless again of

855
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:22,079
where he fits into their offensive hierarchy. We're onto the Toronto Raptors. This

856
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:23,960
was easy. It was Scottie Barnes. It's kind of he would have been

857
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:27,719
my most improved player pick. It
doesn't look like he's going to meet the

858
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:31,360
requirements though this season everyone's kind of
focused on. Okay, the shooting and

859
00:52:31,519 --> 00:52:36,280
the overall they like the passing,
those are real things. I think the

860
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:40,079
two things that have impressed me most
about him is the interior passing specifically and

861
00:52:40,199 --> 00:52:44,960
whether he's able to pass it right
away off the catch or when he's maintaining

862
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:49,360
his dribble, and just finding passes
in traffic near the basket that he wouldn't

863
00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:52,760
have seen or been able to throw
at any point before in his career.

864
00:52:52,159 --> 00:52:55,960
And then you look at what he's
done defensively, and I know dark or

865
00:52:57,119 --> 00:53:01,199
Ryakovic just kind of changed positionally what
he's guarding. It's like little fire under

866
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:06,400
what he's able to do as a
closeout defender. They're more disciplined, but

867
00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:08,639
they're more aggressive. At the same
time, he's able to stick through these

868
00:53:08,679 --> 00:53:13,760
guys. He's making better reason when
it comes to screens. This is someone's

869
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,119
what I think because of him improving, The one I think comes closest when

870
00:53:17,119 --> 00:53:21,639
you're looking at, oh did they
improve in literally every facet of the game,

871
00:53:22,559 --> 00:53:25,079
Jalen Johnson comes closest I think to
meeting that criteria in the league,

872
00:53:25,239 --> 00:53:30,960
maybe Shane Goon, just like because
the defensive element there, Like how I

873
00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:34,360
think that Scottie Barnes improved. That's
not something that someone else has maybe Jay

874
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,960
Dubb, but I don't know if
it's been that demonstrative on the defensive end.

875
00:53:37,599 --> 00:53:40,480
So he is my most in my
heart, he is my most improved

876
00:53:40,519 --> 00:53:44,880
player this season, and it completely
just changes what the Raptors can be moving

877
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:47,039
forward to know that they have their
their north star, but also know that

878
00:53:47,039 --> 00:53:50,599
they're kind of short on wings now, which did you ever think we're gonna

879
00:53:50,599 --> 00:53:52,679
say that about the Raptors. I
would love for him to at least be

880
00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:57,039
eligible so that we could have the
discussion about him. But I get it.

881
00:53:57,199 --> 00:53:59,599
He had a great year anyway,
and I think it's the Raptors are

882
00:53:59,639 --> 00:54:01,039
still kind of open ended with their
direction, but the stuff that he has

883
00:54:01,119 --> 00:54:06,679
done, it really it's going to
it's He's the type player that I think

884
00:54:06,719 --> 00:54:12,800
can keep their outlook afloat on the
brighter end of the spectrum onto the Utah

885
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:16,199
Jazz. I thought about going Jordan
Clarkson here just because I was impressed for

886
00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:20,280
most of the season with his passing. I think it could be if he

887
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:22,599
wanted to make a case for Larry
Markin and it could be him. It

888
00:54:22,679 --> 00:54:25,079
has to be Collin sext and the
pressure. This is someone we kind of

889
00:54:25,079 --> 00:54:29,800
always knew that he was underappreciated.
He averaged like twenty four points per game

890
00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:32,400
while shooting over fifty percent on twoes
and thirty nine or thirty seven percent from

891
00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:35,719
three or few years ago with the
Cavs and just no one was talking about

892
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:39,480
it. And there are going to
be restrictions and strictures in which you have

893
00:54:39,639 --> 00:54:44,360
to work if he's running the whole
show for you. Not the type of

894
00:54:44,400 --> 00:54:46,559
slow it down creator that I've referenced
now a couple of times, but in

895
00:54:46,679 --> 00:54:51,400
terms of getting downhill and putting defenses
in rotation, whether it's from off the

896
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:53,639
catch or from sort of this you
know, slower dribble, or even just

897
00:54:53,719 --> 00:54:58,119
a complete stop, he's able to
do that. He still lights out three

898
00:54:58,159 --> 00:55:00,480
point shooter. He's done a pretty
good job of hitting his pull up triples

899
00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:05,239
this season, and that's always been
kind of just the question about his game

900
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:07,639
is, oh, can he hit
those It's not just catching shoots, but

901
00:55:07,119 --> 00:55:10,239
even just methodically dribble into them.
The answer this season has been yes,

902
00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:14,199
He's at thirty four and a half
percent on off the dribble threes. Not

903
00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:17,199
a super high number, it's just
it's good enough. It's it's good enough,

904
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:20,400
and so to make that improvement.
Also, I think he's been a

905
00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:24,000
better passer when he's getting moving downhill. That is the play for Utah,

906
00:55:24,039 --> 00:55:28,239
and they've also been you know,
they shuffled some of their deck this year,

907
00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:30,119
and so there are a lot of
guys where it's Walker Kessler still one

908
00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:34,199
of the most very valuable rim protectors
alive. But when you're kind of looking

909
00:55:34,239 --> 00:55:37,239
at players with a track record,
I really think if you wanted to go

910
00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:39,840
with Lowry just because we'll look at
how good he still is, even though

911
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:43,320
the Jazz have turned over their roster
and things aren't as easy on him.

912
00:55:43,679 --> 00:55:45,039
Clarkson, like I said, he
really has over the past couple of seasons

913
00:55:45,079 --> 00:55:47,880
made a jump as a passer.
That's kind of it though, just like

914
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:52,159
I guess if he wanted to go
Chris Dunn. But we've seen a lot

915
00:55:52,239 --> 00:55:53,119
of the I mean, like the
stuff he was doing. He was doing

916
00:55:53,159 --> 00:55:57,400
this stuff defensively all along. It's
now he's kind of able to stay on

917
00:55:57,440 --> 00:56:00,559
the court. And yes he's hit
some threes of a higher quick that helps.

918
00:56:00,679 --> 00:56:05,719
I just think that Sexton has improved
in more expansive and meaningful ways.

919
00:56:06,239 --> 00:56:09,559
Finally, and not leastly unless maybe
you're you're looking at the standard standings.

920
00:56:09,599 --> 00:56:14,079
We go to the Washington Wizards.
I don't actually know that there is another

921
00:56:14,199 --> 00:56:17,599
candidate here aside from Denny Appia.
I'll be curious to see. I haven't

922
00:56:17,639 --> 00:56:22,880
actually checked his eligibility. I know
he did come back from that right wasn't

923
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:27,320
a right, it was a knee
injury and he's playing again, so that's

924
00:56:27,320 --> 00:56:29,679
good. I'm curious where he's gonna
end up on the games Play Special.

925
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:31,079
I'll double check that very quickly.
Oh, he's all right. He's at

926
00:56:31,119 --> 00:56:35,440
sixty five as I record this.
I'm curious, Seri's gonna fish on my

927
00:56:35,559 --> 00:56:37,519
mostion Pro Player ballot. Now that
thing might be twenty five players long.

928
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:42,639
U fifty thirty nine percent on threes, still does not take enough of them.

929
00:56:42,760 --> 00:56:45,320
That's fine. The passing, there's
I can't remember if I was talking

930
00:56:45,360 --> 00:56:49,840
to Matt mderno about this or was
way back when Quinton Mayo when we were

931
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:52,800
talking about the Wizards, and I
just said, he has that fuck you

932
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:54,920
factor to the way that when he
gets into the lane where you can bounce

933
00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:59,599
dudes off his shoulders if he really
wants to. He's really wanted to this

934
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:01,719
year, and like there's been stages
to his season where we saw his role

935
00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:07,000
kind of gradually increase. There's just
he's trying out different counters when he gets

936
00:57:07,039 --> 00:57:08,679
into the lane, getting to the
basket. More overall, he's a little

937
00:57:08,679 --> 00:57:12,920
bit quicker with the ball in his
hands from that stop position than you would

938
00:57:12,920 --> 00:57:15,800
think. Six point six drives per
thirty six minutes last year, shot about

939
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:20,440
fifty seven percent on them, nine
and a half per sis percentage ten drives

940
00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:23,480
per thirty six minutes this year,
still shooting fifty six and a half percent

941
00:57:23,559 --> 00:57:29,360
on them, and he's upped his
assist percentage to ten. This list it's

942
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:30,480
cherry picked, but I just want
to make it clear that this is how

943
00:57:30,559 --> 00:57:35,599
much he's improved and how effective he
can be in the lane. Here's everyone

944
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:39,960
who has used at least five hundred
drives that is scoring and assisting on them

945
00:57:40,519 --> 00:57:46,440
as often as Deniafia Cole, Anthony, Austin Reeves, Colin Sexton, Hey

946
00:57:46,599 --> 00:57:51,159
making my case for the jazz before
me, Donin Mitchell and Luganancic. That's

947
00:57:51,199 --> 00:57:53,400
fucking it. And this is all
none of which is to say this is

948
00:57:53,400 --> 00:57:57,360
someone who carries real responsibility on the
defensive end. When you look at the

949
00:57:57,400 --> 00:57:59,880
breadth of his assignments, I don't
know if he's been as good on that

950
00:58:00,119 --> 00:58:02,599
end as in year's past, but
when he's taking on the sextual offensive burden,

951
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:07,840
if you're gonna say, well,
he's still a solid defender and can

952
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:09,559
kind of like this is, I
wouldn't say one through four, but like

953
00:58:09,599 --> 00:58:14,000
two through four is fine for him
and he can get after some ones.

954
00:58:14,360 --> 00:58:15,679
And now I'm looking at the Wizards
and there are just a lot of questions

955
00:58:15,719 --> 00:58:20,039
here and we all know that I'm
smitten with Jules Bernard at this point.

956
00:58:20,239 --> 00:58:22,280
But you're looking at the Wizards for
real when you're trying to identify core players

957
00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:25,320
moving forward, and it's yeah,
we know Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole,

958
00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:28,840
even Tyas Jones who comes back,
they're not for long. I don't know

959
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:31,679
where Corey Kisspert fits in the grand
scheme of things. He's more valuable offensively,

960
00:58:31,719 --> 00:58:34,519
I think a lot of people give
him credit for, but just looking

961
00:58:34,559 --> 00:58:38,239
at core players that might impact how
you build out your team. The Wizards,

962
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:42,360
I think now have two where it's
I don't know if any of them

963
00:58:42,400 --> 00:58:44,920
are the best guy as part of
the rebuild, and I would probably bet

964
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:46,639
against either of them being the best
guy. You need a high pick,

965
00:58:47,159 --> 00:58:51,519
high draft pick this year to pay
with the lakool Bali and Danniava, it's

966
00:58:51,519 --> 00:58:54,599
a pretty good spot to be.
And shout out to Daniyavya, who if

967
00:58:54,639 --> 00:58:58,159
this had gone on for longer this
season, I'll be very curiously where he

968
00:58:58,199 --> 00:59:01,480
finishes on my own most Improved Player
ballot, but also the bus Improved Player

969
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:05,400
a ballot in general, and then
as well as yours, which to close

970
00:59:05,480 --> 00:59:07,920
this out, we're gonna be sending
out I'll do I don't think we're gonna

971
00:59:07,920 --> 00:59:10,280
do it for all NBA. We'll
do it for just the awards where we

972
00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:13,719
want. We want to know who
you would pick, and then we'll have

973
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:16,960
our listener audience picks for for every
award. I will send out a sheet,

974
00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:19,920
probably at some time at the beginning
of April. We don't want to

975
00:59:19,920 --> 00:59:21,880
lock it in too soon. So
if you want to be a part of

976
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:23,559
that, join our discord. The
link of that's in the podcast and YouTube

977
00:59:23,559 --> 00:59:28,159
description. Follow us on all the
socials if you've not done so already.

978
00:59:28,719 --> 00:59:31,000
If you've done all those things,
recommend us friends, family members, acquaintances,

979
00:59:31,079 --> 00:59:35,159
randos on the street, coworkers,
enemies, even people on social media.

980
00:59:35,400 --> 00:59:37,679
We've got a lot of shout outs
on Twitter lately. I really do

981
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,360
appreciate you all helping us promote the
show and anyway that we can, so

982
00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:44,599
please continue doing that. Comment with
thoughts, I'm not always gonna respond to

983
00:59:44,639 --> 00:59:45,599
them, but it doesn't have to
be oh, just great job. But

984
00:59:45,800 --> 00:59:50,639
please, I love that stroke my
ego, but this exercise give me your

985
00:59:50,639 --> 00:59:52,159
I want to know your most improved
player or someone that you disagree with and

986
00:59:52,239 --> 00:59:55,800
why or that I glossed over.
Until next time, though, and as

987
00:59:55,840 --> 00:59:59,360
always, I leave you with the
shout outs the one, the only,

988
00:59:59,639 --> 01:00:02,800
be and n E the real most
improved player in our hearts and minds and

989
01:00:02,920 --> 01:00:07,639
our souls and our entire every fiber
of our bodies. Frank heal it Ke